Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>I know not how it is so, but it seems to me that Porphyry\r\nblushed for his friends the theurgists; for he knew all that\r\nI have adduced, but did not frankly condemn polytheistic\r\nworship. He said, in fact, that there are some angels who\r\nvisit earth, and reveal divine truth to theurgists, and others\r\nwho publish on earth the things that belong to the Father,\r\nHis height and depth. Can we believe, then, that the angels\r\nwhose office it is to declare the will of the Father, wish us to\r\nbe subject to any but Him whose will they declare? And\r\nhence, even this Platonist himself judiciously observes that we\r\nshould rather imitate than invoke them. We ought not, then,\r\nto fear that we may offend these immortal and happy subjects<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_419\">[Pg 419]</a></span>\r\nof the one God by not sacrificing to them; for this they\r\nknow to be due only to the one true God, in allegiance to\r\nwhom they themselves find their blessedness, and therefore\r\nthey will not have it given to them, either in figure or in the\r\nreality, which the mysteries of sacrifice symbolized. Such\r\narrogance belongs to proud and wretched demons, whose disposition\r\nis diametrically opposite to the piety of those who are\r\nsubject to God, and whose blessedness consists in attachment\r\nto Him. And, that we also may attain to this bliss, they aid\r\nus, as is fit, with sincere kindliness, and usurp over us no\r\ndominion, but declare to us Him under whose rule we are then\r\nfellow-subjects. Why, then, O philosopher, do you still fear\r\nto speak freely against the powers which are inimical both to\r\ntrue virtue and to the gifts of the true God? Already you\r\nhave discriminated between the angels who proclaim God's\r\nwill, and those who visit theurgists, drawn down by I know\r\nnot what art. Why do you still ascribe to these latter the\r\nhonour of declaring divine truth? If they do not declare the\r\nwill of the Father, what divine revelations can they make?\r\nAre not these the evil spirits who were bound over by the\r\nincantations of an envious man,<a id=\"FNanchor_422_422\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_422_422\">[422]</a> that they should not grant\r\npurity of soul to another, and could not, as you say, be set\r\nfree from these bonds by a good man anxious for purity, and\r\nrecover power over their own actions? Do you still doubt\r\nwhether these are wicked demons; or do you, perhaps, feign\r\nignorance, that you may not give offence to the theurgists, who\r\nhave allured you by their secret rites, and have taught you,\r\nas a mighty boon, these insane and pernicious devilries? Do\r\nyou dare to elevate above the air, and even to heaven, these\r\nenvious powers, or pests, let me rather call them, less worthy\r\nof the name of sovereign than of slaves, as you yourself own;\r\nand are you not ashamed to place them even among your\r\nsidereal gods, and so put a slight upon the stars themselves?</p>","headings":["THE WORKS OF AURELIUS AUGUSTINE,","BOOK TENTH.","ARGUMENT."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45304-paragraph-735"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"deda625f60e3be51adf6be95a3613ab5d0f96acddae987b710b9f491d542a836","edition_title":"The City of God, Volume I","edition_translators":["Marcus Dods","George Wilson (Book IV)","J. J. Smith (Books V-VIII)"],"edition_year":1871,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg45304-Footnote_422_422","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Provider catalog reports public domain in the USA. Original transcription title leaves state T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1871; printed translator allocation retained. Gutenberg credits Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries without an exact scan identifier. Full provider license preserved with acquired original; republication and per-work metadata remain unreviewed.","source_anchor":"Footnote_422_422","source_ebook":45304,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_422_422\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_422_422\"><span class=\"label\">[422]</span></a> See above, c. <a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#chap9\">9</a>.</p></div>","source_sha256":"d89e9a2b80bb59f394f0fb1bf313b39fab162f06af6642166d62c5912c1195f1","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45304/pg45304-images.html#Footnote_422_422","text_sha256":"d58ea80484a3b15c7b8585b572f3df56bea7e8cb55f16807ff9e41301ecba6d3","verified":false,"work_id":null}

references: [] | work_id: | origin: existing-private-derived-record | source: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45304/pg45304-images.html#Footnote_422_422