City of God - Augustine - XVI - Book 9
Required reading
City of God by Augustine (available from Amazon or free on the internet, here for example) - Read Book Nine.
My summary
In Book Nine Augustine examines demons.
Firstly he looks at the Platonist definitions of demons, particularly how they are distinguished from gods and men.
Then Augustine shows that by the Platonists' very definitions, demons cannot be the intermediaries between God and man. For example, if demons are more evil than man, the gods should be more ready to have contact with man than with demons.
This discussion leads Augustine to exalt Christ as the only mediator between man and God.
What grabbed me
It was a bit of an aside, but Augustine made an interesting comment on terminology, particularly the term 'good': 'The Stoic insistence that such things are not to be called "good", but "advantageous", should be regarded as a quibble about words, not a question of the realities they signify...There is a difference of terminology, but an identical judgement of value. Both schools certainly maintain that if they were urged to any disgraceful or criminal act by a threatened danger to these "goods" or "advantages" as the only way to ensure their retention, they would prefer to lose all that guarantees the life and health of the physical body rather than commit any violation of justice.'
If you live in this world you will continue to distinguish between 'good' and 'evil' whether you like it or not. You may not like the terms 'good' and 'evil' and so replace them with other terms that seem softer, like 'ethical and 'unethical' or 'advantageous' or 'disadvantageous'. But you're kidding yourself if you think that 'good' and 'evil' do not exist.
Next week's reading
Begin Book Ten by reading Chapters 1 to 11.
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
2 comments:
I found this a most interesting chapter, particularly Augustine's showing so clearly the crafty mix of truth and lies that Satan uses to deceive people. To the ancients, who postulated the need of a mediator, our great adversary twists the gospel truth that “[w]e need a Mediator who, being united to us here below by the mortality of His body, should at the same time be able to afford us truly divine help in cleansing and liberating us by means of the immortal righteousness of His spirit, whereby He remained heavenly even while here upon earth,” into the lie that we need “... a mediator who resembles the highest order of being by possessing an immortal body, and the lowest by having a diseased soul, which makes him rather grudge that we be healed than help our cure.” A subtle change, but so damaging to souls!
Today, as we rationalistic moderns are more inclined to think of a mechanical, far-off god, Satan has fitted the lie to our times by saying we can pull ourselves up into heaven by our own mighty works, no mediation at all required. How careful we must be to look always to Jesus for our salvation, and pray for His strength, discernment, and wisdom to defeat our foe.
I was also intrigued by the different world-views that a change in cosmological structure produced; from a far-off uncorrupted and incorruptible god abiding in the farthest heavens beyond the reach of mortal man, to a mechanical deistic god made in man's own image who is there at our beck and call. Much food for thought in this chapter!
CJ, it is encouraging to know that you're following along with the City of God and finding Augustine helpful as well. I thought I was the only one reading him.
If you are able, please continue letting us know what grabbed you in the readings.
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