{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>The same Apuleius, when speaking concerning the manners\r\nof demons, said that they are agitated with the same perturbations\r\nof mind as men; that they are provoked by injuries,\r\npropitiated by services and by gifts, rejoice in honours, are\r\ndelighted with a variety of sacred rites, and are annoyed if\r\nany of them be neglected. Among other things, he also says\r\nthat on them depend the divinations of augurs, soothsayers,\r\nand prophets, and the revelations of dreams; and that from\r\nthem also are the miracles of the magicians. But, when\r\ngiving a brief definition of them, he says, \"Demons are of an\r\nanimal nature, passive in soul, rational in mind, aerial in body,\r\neternal in time.\" \"Of which five things, the three first are\r\ncommon to them and us, the fourth peculiar to themselves,\r\nand the fifth common to them with the gods.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_308_308\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_308_308\">[308]</a> But I see\r\nthat they have in common with the gods two of the first things,\r\nwhich they have in common with us. For he says that the\r\ngods also are animals; and when he is assigning to every\r\norder of beings its own element, he places us among the other<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_330\">[Pg 330]</a></span>\r\nterrestrial animals which live and feel upon the earth. Wherefore,\r\nif the demons are animals as to genus, this is common to\r\nthem, not only with men, but also with the gods and with\r\nbeasts; if they are rational as to their mind, this is common\r\nto them with the gods and with men; if they are eternal in\r\ntime, this is common to them with the gods only; if they are\r\npassive as to their soul, this is common to them with men\r\nonly; if they are aerial in body, in this they are alone. Therefore\r\nit is no great thing for them to be of an animal nature,\r\nfor so also are the beasts; in being rational as to mind, they\r\nare not above ourselves, for so are we also; and as to their\r\nbeing eternal as to time, what is the advantage of that if\r\nthey are not blessed? for better is temporal happiness than\r\neternal misery. Again, as to their being passive in soul, how\r\nare they in this respect above us, since we also are so, but\r\nwould not have been so had we not been miserable? Also,\r\nas to their being aerial in body, how much value is to be set\r\non that, since a soul of any kind whatsoever is to be set above\r\nevery body? and therefore religious worship, which ought to\r\nbe rendered from the soul, is by no means due to that thing\r\nwhich is inferior to the soul. Moreover, if he had, among\r\nthose things which he says belong to demons, enumerated\r\nvirtue, wisdom, happiness, and affirmed that they have those\r\nthings in common with the gods, and, like them, eternally, he\r\nwould assuredly have attributed to them something greatly to\r\nbe desired, and much to be prized. And even in that case it\r\nwould not have been our duty to worship them like God on\r\naccount of these things, but rather to worship Him from whom\r\nwe know they had received them. But how much less are\r\nthey really worthy of divine honour,—those aerial animals who\r\nare only rational that they may be capable of misery, passive\r\nthat they may be actually miserable, and eternal that it may\r\nbe impossible for them to end their misery!</p>","headings":["THE WORKS OF AURELIUS AUGUSTINE,","BOOK EIGHTH.","ARGUMENT."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45304-paragraph-594"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"fa267722807acfeaa32a7bbda76bec8cd032830b4b3b04bc5b2fbd92a94c2829","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_308_308","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_308_308","source_ebook":45304,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_308_308\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_308_308\"><span class=\"label\">[308]</span></a> <i>De Deo Socratis.</i></p></div>","source_sha256":"d89e9a2b80bb59f394f0fb1bf313b39fab162f06af6642166d62c5912c1195f1","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45304/pg45304-images.html#Footnote_308_308","text_sha256":"8b8461f2d0e7c2fe6870803170873b396c991c8fed19e0767f33a607b8fbf1d0","verified":false,"work_id":null}