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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>SUMMA THEOLOGIAE: The assaults of the demons (Prima Pars, Q. 114)</title><script src="https://dtyry4ejybx0.cloudfront.net/js/cmp/cleanmediacmp.js?ver=0104" async="true"></script><script defer data-domain="newadvent.org" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1114.htm"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="description" content="Are men assailed by the demons? Is proper to the devil to tempt? Are all the sins of men to be set down to the assaults or temptations of the demons? Can they work real miracles for the purpose of leading men astray? Are the demons who are overcome by men, hindered from making further assaults?"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://feeds.newadvent.org/bestoftheweb?format=xml"><link rel="icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><link rel="shortcut icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><meta name="robots" content="noodp"><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="../utility/screen6.css" media="screen"></head> <body class="summa" id="1114.htm">  <br/> <div id="capitalcity"><table summary="Logo" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="100%"><tr valign="bottom"><td align="left"><a href="../"><img height=36 width=153 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></td><td align="right"> <form id="searchbox_000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0" action="../utility/search.htm">  <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active"> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0"/> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:9"/>  <label for="searchQuery" id="searchQueryLabel">Search:</label> <input id="searchQuery" name="q" type="text" size="25" aria-labelledby="searchQueryLabel"/>  <label for="submitButton" id="submitButtonLabel" class="visually-hidden">Submit Search</label> <input id="submitButton" type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" aria-labelledby="submitButtonLabel"/> </form> <table summary="Spacer" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td height="2"></td></tr></table> <table summary="Tabs" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../"> Home </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../cathen/index.html"> Encyclopedia </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_white_on_color" href="../summa/index.html"> Summa </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../fathers/index.html"> Fathers </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../bible/gen001.htm"> Bible </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../library/index.html"> Library </a></td> </tr></table> </td> </tr></table><table summary="Alphabetical index" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"> <a href="../cathen/a.htm"> A </a><a href="../cathen/b.htm"> B </a><a href="../cathen/c.htm"> C </a><a href="../cathen/d.htm"> D </a><a href="../cathen/e.htm"> E </a><a href="../cathen/f.htm"> F </a><a href="../cathen/g.htm"> G </a><a href="../cathen/h.htm"> H </a><a href="../cathen/i.htm"> I </a><a href="../cathen/j.htm"> J </a><a href="../cathen/k.htm"> K </a><a href="../cathen/l.htm"> L </a><a href="../cathen/m.htm"> M </a><a href="../cathen/n.htm"> N </a><a href="../cathen/o.htm"> O </a><a href="../cathen/p.htm"> P </a><a href="../cathen/q.htm"> Q </a><a href="../cathen/r.htm"> R </a><a href="../cathen/s.htm"> S </a><a href="../cathen/t.htm"> T </a><a href="../cathen/u.htm"> U </a><a href="../cathen/v.htm"> V </a><a href="../cathen/w.htm"> W </a><a href="../cathen/x.htm"> X </a><a href="../cathen/y.htm"> Y </a><a href="../cathen/z.htm"> Z </a> </td></tr></table></div> <div id="mobilecity" style="text-align: center; "><a href="../"><img height=24 width=102 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></div>  <div id="mi5"><span class="breadcrumbs"><a href="../">Home</a> > <a href="../summa/index.html">Summa Theologiae</a> > <a href="../summa/1.htm">First Part</a> > Question 114</span></div> <div id="springfield2"> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='summa-728x90-top' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <h1>Question 114. The assaults of the demons</h1> <ol><li><a href="../summa/1114.htm#article1"> Are men assailed by the demons?</a> </li><li><a href="../summa/1114.htm#article2"> Is proper to the devil to tempt?</a> </li><li><a href="../summa/1114.htm#article3"> Are all the sins of men to be set down to the assaults or temptations of the demons?</a> </li><li><a href="../summa/1114.htm#article4"> Can they work real miracles for the purpose of leading men astray?</a> </li><li><a href="../summa/1114.htm#article5"> Are the demons who are overcome by men, hindered from making further assaults?</a> </li></ol> <h2 id="article1">Article 1. Whether men are assailed by the demons?</h2> <p><strong>Objection 1.</strong> It would seem that men are not assailed by the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a>. For <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angels</a> are sent by <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> to guard <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a>. But <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> are not sent by <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>: for the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a>' <a href="../cathen/08069b.htm">intention</a> is the loss of <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">souls</a>; whereas <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God's</a> is the <a href="../cathen/13407a.htm">salvation</a> of <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">souls</a>. Therefore <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> are not deputed to assail <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a>.</p> <p><strong>Objection 2.</strong> Further, it is not a fair fight, for the weak to be set against the strong, and the <a href="../cathen/07648a.htm">ignorant</a> against the astute. But men are weak and <a href="../cathen/07648a.htm">ignorant</a>, whereas the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> are strong and astute. It is not therefore to be permitted by <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, the author of all <a href="../cathen/08571c.htm">justice</a>, that men should be assailed by <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a>.</p> <p><strong>Objection 3.</strong> Further, the assaults of the flesh and the world are enough for <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man's</a> exercise. But <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> permits His <a href="../cathen/05374a.htm">elect</a> to be assailed that they may be exercised. Therefore there is no need for them to be assailed by the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a>.</p> <p><strong>On the contrary,</strong> The <a href="../cathen/11567b.htm">Apostle</a> says (<a href="../bible/eph006.htm#verse12">Ephesians 6:12</a>): "Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against Principalities and Powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of <a href="../cathen/05649a.htm">wickedness</a> in the high places."</p> <p><strong>I answer that,</strong> Two things may be considered in the assault of the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a>—the assault itself, and the ordering thereof. The assault itself is due to the <a href="../cathen/07149b.htm">malice</a> of the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a>, who through <a href="../cathen/08326b.htm">envy</a> endeavor to hinder <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man's</a> progress; and through <a href="../cathen/12405a.htm">pride</a> usurp a semblance of Divine power, by deputing certain ministers to assail <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a>, as the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angels</a> of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> in their various offices minister to <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man's</a> <a href="../cathen/13407a.htm">salvation</a>. But the ordering of the assault is from <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, Who <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knows</a> how to make orderly use of <a href="../cathen/05649a.htm">evil</a> by ordering it to <a href="../cathen/06636b.htm">good</a>. On the other hand, in regard to the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angels</a>, both their guardianship and the ordering thereof are to be referred to <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> as their first author.</p> <p><strong>Reply to Objection 1.</strong> The <a href="../cathen/05649a.htm">wicked</a> <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angels</a> assail men in two ways.</p> <p>Firstly by instigating them to <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a>; and thus they are not sent by <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> to assail us, but are sometimes permitted to do so according to <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God's</a> just judgments. But sometimes their assault is a punishment to <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a>: and thus they are sent by <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>; as the lying spirit was sent to punish <a href="../cathen/01101b.htm">Achab</a>, King of <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israel</a>, as is related in <a href="../bible/1ki022.htm#verse20">1 Kings 22:20</a>. For punishment is referred to <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> as its first author. Nevertheless the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> who are sent to punish, do so with an <a href="../cathen/08069b.htm">intention</a> other than that for which they are sent; for they punish from <a href="../cathen/07149b.htm">hatred</a> or <a href="../cathen/08326b.htm">envy</a>; whereas they are sent by <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> on account of His <a href="../cathen/08571c.htm">justice</a>.</p> <p><strong>Reply to Objection 2.</strong> In order that the <a href="../cathen/04211a.htm">conditions</a> of the fight be not unequal, there is as regards <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> the promised recompense, to be gained principally through the <a href="../cathen/06689a.htm">grace</a> of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, secondarily through the guardianship of the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angels</a>. Wherefore (<a href="../bible/2ki006.htm#verse16">2 Kings 6:16</a>), Eliseus said to his servant: "Fear not, for there are more with us than with them."</p> <p><strong>Reply to Objection 3.</strong> The assault of the flesh and the world would suffice for the exercise of <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">human</a> weakness: but it does not suffice for the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demon's</a> <a href="../cathen/07149b.htm">malice</a>, which makes use of both the above in assailing men. But by the Divine ordinance this tends to the <a href="../cathen/06585a.htm">glory</a> of the <a href="../cathen/05374a.htm">elect</a>.</p> <h2 id="article2">Article 2. Whether to tempt is proper to the devil?</h2> <p><strong>Objection 1.</strong> It would seem that to <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a> is not proper to the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a>. For <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> is said to <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a>, according to <a href="../bible/gen002.htm#verse1">Genesis 22:1</a>, "<a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> tempted <a href="../cathen/01051a.htm">Abraham</a>." Moreover <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> is tempted by the flesh and the world. Again, <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> is said to <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a> <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, and to <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a> <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a>. Therefore it is not proper to the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a> to <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a>.</p> <p><strong>Objection 2.</strong> Further, to <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a> is a sign of <a href="../cathen/07648a.htm">ignorance</a>. But the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">know</a> what happens among men. Therefore the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> do not <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a>.</p> <p><strong>Objection 3.</strong> Further, <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">temptation</a> is the road to <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a>. Now <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a> dwells in the <a href="../cathen/15624a.htm">will</a>. Since therefore the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> cannot change <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man's</a> will, as appears from what has been said above (<a href="../summa/1111.htm#article2">I:111:2</a>), it seems that it is not in their province to <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a>.</p> <p><strong>On the contrary,</strong> It is written (<a href="../bible/1th003.htm#verse5">1 Thessalonians 3:5</a>): "Lest perhaps he that tempteth should have tempted you": to which the <a href="../cathen/06586a.htm">gloss</a> adds, "that is, the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a>, whose office it is to <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a>."</p> <p><strong>I answer that,</strong> To <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a> is, properly speaking, to make trial of something. Now we make trial of something in order to <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">know</a> something about it: hence the immediate end of every tempter is <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a>. But sometimes another end, either <a href="../cathen/06636b.htm">good</a> or bad, is sought to be acquired through that <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a>; a <a href="../cathen/06636b.htm">good</a> end, when, for instance, one desires to <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">know</a> of someone, what sort of a man he is as to <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a>, or <a href="../cathen/15472a.htm">virtue</a>, with a view to his promotion; a bad end, when that <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a> is sought with the purpose of deceiving or ruining him.</p> <p>From this we can gather how various beings are said to <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a> in various ways. For <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> is said to <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a>, sometimes indeed merely for the sake of <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowing</a> something; and for this reason it is a <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a> to <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a> <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>; for <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a>, being uncertain as it were, presumes to make an experiment of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God's</a> power. Sometimes too he tempts in order to help, sometimes in order to hurt. The <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a>, however, always tempts in order to hurt by urging <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> into <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a>. In this sense it is said to be his proper office to <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a>: for thought at times <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> tempts thus, he does this as minister of the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a>. <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> is said to <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a> that He may <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">know</a>, in the same sense as that is said to <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">know</a> which makes others to <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">know</a>. Hence it is written (<a href="../bible/deu013.htm#verse3">Deuteronomy 13:3</a>): "The Lord your <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> trieth you, that it may appear whether you love him."</p> <p>The flesh and the world are said to <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a> as the instruments or <a href="../cathen/10053b.htm">matter</a> of <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">temptations</a>; inasmuch as one can <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">know</a> what sort of <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> someone is, according as he follows or resists the desires of the flesh, and according as he despises worldly advantages and adversity: of which things the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a> also makes use in <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempting</a>.</p> <p>Thus the reply to the first objection is clear.</p> <p><strong>Reply to Objection 2.</strong> The <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">know</a> what happens outwardly among men; but the inward disposition of <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> alone <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knows</a>, Who is the "weigher of spirits" (<a href="../bible/pro016.htm#verse2">Proverbs 16:2</a>). It is this disposition that makes <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> more prone to one <a href="../cathen/15403c.htm">vice</a> than to another: hence the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a> tempts, in order to explore this inward disposition of <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a>, so that he may <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a> him to that <a href="../cathen/15403c.htm">vice</a> to which he is most prone.</p> <p><strong>Reply to Objection 3.</strong> Although a <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demon</a> cannot change the <a href="../cathen/15624a.htm">will</a>, yet, as stated above (<a href="../summa/1111.htm#article3">I:111:3</a>), he can change the inferior powers of <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a>, in a certain degree: by which powers, though the <a href="../cathen/15624a.htm">will</a> cannot be forced, it can nevertheless be inclined.</p> <h2 id="article3">Article 3. Whether all sins are due to the temptation of the devil?</h2> <p><strong>Objection 1.</strong> It would seem that all <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sins</a> are due to the <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">temptation</a> of the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a>. For <a href="../cathen/05013a.htm">Dionysius</a> says (Div. Nom. iv) that "the multitude of <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> is the <a href="../cathen/03459a.htm">cause</a> of all <a href="../cathen/05649a.htm">evils</a>, both to themselves and to others." And <a href="../cathen/08459b.htm">Damascene</a> says (De Fide Orth. ii, 4) that "all <a href="../cathen/07149b.htm">malice</a> and all <a href="../cathen/04010c.htm">uncleanness</a> have been devised by the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a>."</p> <p><strong>Objection 2.</strong> Further, of every sinner can be said what the Lord said of the <a href="../cathen/08386a.htm">Jews</a> (<a href="../bible/joh008.htm#verse44">John 8:44</a>): "You are of your father the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a>." But this was in as far as they <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sinned</a> through the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil's</a> instigation. Therefore every <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a> is due to the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil's</a> instigation.</p> <p><strong>Objection 3.</strong> Further, as <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angels</a> are deputed to guard men, so <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> are deputed to assail men. But every <a href="../cathen/06636b.htm">good</a> thing we do is due to the suggestion of the <a href="../cathen/06636b.htm">good</a> <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angels</a>: because the Divine <a href="../cathen/06553a.htm">gifts</a> are borne to us by the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angels</a>. Therefore all the <a href="../cathen/05649a.htm">evil</a> we do, is due to the instigation of the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a>.</p> <p><strong>On the contrary,</strong> It is written (De Eccl. Dogmat. xlix): "Not all our <a href="../cathen/05649a.htm">evil</a> thoughts are stirred up by the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a>, but sometimes they arise from the movement of our <a href="../cathen/06259a.htm">free-will</a>."</p> <p><strong>I answer that,</strong> One thing can be the <a href="../cathen/03459a.htm">cause</a> of another in two ways; directly and indirectly. Indirectly as when an agent is the <a href="../cathen/03459a.htm">cause</a> of a disposition to a certain effect, it is said to be the occasional and indirect <a href="../cathen/03459a.htm">cause</a> of that effect: for instance, we might say that he who dries the wood is the <a href="../cathen/03459a.htm">cause</a> of the wood burning. In this way we must admit that the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a> is the <a href="../cathen/03459a.htm">cause</a> of all our <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sins</a>; because he it was who instigated the first <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> to <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a>, from whose <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a> there resulted a proneness to <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a> in the whole <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">human race</a>: and in this sense we must take the words of <a href="../cathen/08459b.htm">Damascene</a> and <a href="../cathen/05013a.htm">Dionysius</a>.</p> <p>But a thing is said to be the direct <a href="../cathen/03459a.htm">cause</a> of something, when its action tends directly thereunto. And in this way the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a> is not the <a href="../cathen/03459a.htm">cause</a> of every <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a>: for all <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sins</a> are not committed at the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil's</a> instigation, but some are due to the <a href="../cathen/06259a.htm">free-will</a> and the corruption of the flesh. For, as <a href="../cathen/11306b.htm">Origen</a> says (Peri Archon iii), even if there were no <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a>, men would have the desire for food and love and such like pleasures; with regard to which many disorders may arise unless those desires are curbed by reason, especially if we presuppose the corruption of our <a href="../cathen/10715a.htm">natures</a>. Now it is in the power of the <a href="../cathen/06259a.htm">free-will</a> to curb this <a href="../cathen/01656a.htm">appetite</a> and keep it in order. Consequently there is no need for all <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sins</a> to be due to the instigation of the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a>. But those <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sins</a> which are due thereto <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> perpetrates "through being deceived by the same blandishments as were our first parents," as <a href="../cathen/08186a.htm">Isidore</a> says (De Summo Bono ii).</p> <p>Thus the answer to the first objection is clear.</p> <p><strong>Reply to Objection 2.</strong> When <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> commits <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a> without being thereto instigated by the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a>, he nevertheless becomes a child of the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a> thereby, in so far as he imitates him who was the first to <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a>.</p> <p><strong>Reply to Objection 3.</strong> Man can of his own accord fall into <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a>: but he cannot advance in <a href="../cathen/10202b.htm">merit</a> without the Divine assistance, which is borne to <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> by the ministry of the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angels</a>. For this reason the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angels</a> take part in all our <a href="../cathen/06636b.htm">good</a> works: whereas all our <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sins</a> are not due to the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a>' instigation. Nevertheless there is no kind of <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a> which is not sometimes due to the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a>' suggestion.</p> <h2 id="article4">Article 4. Whether demons can lead men astray by means of real miracles?</h2> <p><strong>Objection 1.</strong> It would seem that the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> cannot lead men astray by means of real <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miracles</a>. For the activity of the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> will show itself especially in the works of <a href="../cathen/01559a.htm">Antichrist</a>. But as the <a href="../cathen/11567b.htm">Apostle</a> says (<a href="../bible/2th002.htm#verse9">2 Thessalonians 2:9</a>), his "coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and lying wonders." Much more therefore at other times do the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> perform lying wonders.</p> <p><strong>Objection 2.</strong> Further, <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">true</a> <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miracles</a> are wrought by some corporeal change. But <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> are unable to change the <a href="../cathen/10715a.htm">nature</a> of a body; for <a href="../cathen/02084a.htm">Augustine</a> says (De Civ. Dei xviii, 18): "I cannot <a href="../cathen/02408b.htm">believe</a> that the <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">human</a> body can receive the limbs of a beast by means of a <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demon's</a> art or power." Therefore the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> cannot work real <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miracles</a>.</p> <p><strong>Objection 3.</strong> Further, an argument is useless which may <a href="../cathen/12454c.htm">prove</a> both ways. If therefore real <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miracles</a> can be wrought by <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a>, to persuade one of what is <a href="../cathen/05781a.htm">false</a>, they will be useless to confirm the teaching of the <a href="../cathen/05752c.htm">faith</a>. This is unfitting; for it is written (<a href="../bible/mar016.htm#verse20">Mark 16:20</a>): "The Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed."</p> <p><strong>On the contrary,</strong> <a href="../cathen/02084a.htm">Augustine</a> says (83; [Lib. xxi, Sent. sent 4, among the supposititious works of <a href="../cathen/02084a.htm">St. Augustine</a>): "Often by means of the magic art <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miracles</a> are wrought like those which are wrought by the servants of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>."</p> <p><strong>I answer that,</strong> As is clear from what has been said above (<a href="../summa/1110.htm#article4">I:110:4</a>), if we take a <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miracle</a> in the strict sense, the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> cannot work <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miracles</a>, nor can any creature, but <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> alone: since in the strict sense a <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miracle</a> is something done outside the order of the entire <a href="../cathen/04470a.htm">created</a> <a href="../cathen/10715a.htm">nature</a>, under which order every power of a creature is contained. But sometimes <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miracle</a> may be taken in a wide sense, for whatever exceeds the <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">human</a> power and experience. And thus <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> can work <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miracles</a>, that is, things which rouse <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man's</a> astonishment, by reason of their being beyond his power and outside his sphere of <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a>. For even a man by doing what is beyond the power and <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a> of another, leads him to marvel at what he has done, so that in a way he seems to that <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> to have worked a <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miracle</a>.</p> <p>It is to be noted, however, that although these works of <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> which appear marvelous to us are not real <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miracles</a>, they are sometimes nevertheless something real. Thus the magicians of <a href="../cathen/11788c.htm">Pharaoh</a> by the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a>' power produced real serpents and frogs. And "when fire came down from <a href="../cathen/07170a.htm">heaven</a> and at one blow consumed <a href="../cathen/08413a.htm">Job's</a> servants and sheep; when the storm struck down his house and with it his children—these were the work of Satan, not phantoms"; as <a href="../cathen/02084a.htm">Augustine</a> says (De Civ. Dei xx, 19).</p> <p><strong>Reply to Objection 1.</strong> As <a href="../cathen/02084a.htm">Augustine</a> says in the same place, the works of <a href="../cathen/01559a.htm">Antichrist</a> may be called lying wonders, "either because he will deceive men's senses by means of phantoms, so that he will not really do what he will seem to do; or because, if he work real prodigies, they will lead those into falsehood who <a href="../cathen/02408b.htm">believe</a> in him."</p> <p><strong>Reply to Objection 2.</strong> As we have said above (<a href="../summa/1110.htm#article2">I:110:2</a>), corporeal <a href="../cathen/10053b.htm">matter</a> does not obey either <a href="../cathen/06636b.htm">good</a> or bad <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angels</a> at their will, so that <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> be able by their power to transmute <a href="../cathen/10053b.htm">matter</a> from one form to another; but they can employ certain seeds that <a href="../cathen/05543b.htm">exist</a> in the elements of the world, in order to produce these effects, as <a href="../cathen/02084a.htm">Augustine</a> says (De Trin. iii, 8,9). Therefore it must be admitted that all the transformation of corporeal things which can be produced by certain <a href="../cathen/10715a.htm">natural</a> powers, to which we must assign the seeds above mentioned, can alike be produced by the operation of the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a>, by the employment of these seeds; such as the transformation of certain things into serpents or frogs, which can be produced by putrefaction.</p> <p><strong>On the contrary,</strong> those transformations which cannot be produced by the power of <a href="../cathen/10715a.htm">nature</a>, cannot in reality be effected by the operation of the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a>; for instance, that the <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">human</a> body be changed into the body of a beast, or that the body of a dead <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> return to life. And if at times something of this sort seems to be effected by the operation of <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a>, it is not real but a mere semblance of reality.</p> <p>Now this may happen in two ways.</p> <p>Firstly, from within; in this way a <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demon</a> can work on <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man's</a> <a href="../cathen/07672a.htm">imagination</a> and even on his corporeal senses, so that something seems otherwise that it is, as explained above (<a href="../summa/1111.htm#article3>I:111:3</a> and <a href=" .. summa 1111.htm#article4>I:111:4</a>). It is said indeed that this can be done sometimes by the power of certain bodies.</p> <p>Secondly, from without: for just as he can from the air form a body of any form and shape, and assume it so as to appear in it visibly: so, in the same way he can clothe any corporeal thing with any corporeal form, so as to appear therein. This is what <a href="../cathen/02084a.htm">Augustine</a> says (De Civ. Dei xviii, 18): "<a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">Man's</a> <a href="../cathen/07672a.htm">imagination</a>, which whether thinking or dreaming, takes the forms of an innumerable number of things, appears to other men's senses, as it were embodied in the semblance of some animal." This not to be understood as though the <a href="../cathen/07672a.htm">imagination</a> itself or the images formed therein were identified with that which appears embodied to the senses of another <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a>: but that the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demon</a>, who forms an image in a man's <a href="../cathen/07672a.htm">imagination</a>, can offer the same picture to another <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man's</a> senses.</p> <p><strong>Reply to Objection 3.</strong> As <a href="../cathen/02084a.htm">Augustine</a> says (QQ. 83, qu. 79): "When magicians do what <a href="../cathen/07386a.htm">holy</a> men do, they do it for a different end and by a different right. The former do it for their own <a href="../cathen/06585a.htm">glory</a>; the latter, for the <a href="../cathen/06585a.htm">glory</a> of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>: the former, by certain private compacts; the latter by the evident assistance and command of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, to Whom every creature is subject."</p> <h2 id="article5">Article 5. Whether a demon who is overcome by man, is for this reason hindered from making further assaults?</h2> <p><strong>Objection 1.</strong> It would seem that a <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demon</a> who is overcome by a man, is not for that reason hindered from any further assault. For <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a> overcame the tempter most effectively. Yet afterwards the <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demon</a> assailed Him by instigating the <a href="../cathen/08386a.htm">Jews</a> to kill Him. Therefore it is not <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">true</a> that the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a> when conquered ceases his assaults.</p> <p><strong>Objection 2.</strong> Further, to inflict punishment on one who has been worsted in a fight, is to incite him to a sharper attack. But this is not befitting <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God's</a> mercy. Therefore the conquered <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a> are not prevented from further assaults.</p> <p><strong>On the contrary,</strong> It is written (<a href="../bible/mat004.htm#verse11">Matthew 4:11</a>): "Then the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a> left Him," i.e. <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a> Who overcame.</p> <p><strong>I answer that,</strong> Some say that when once a <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demon</a> has been overcome he can no more <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a> any <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> at all, neither to the same nor to any other <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a>. And others say that he can <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a> others, but not the same <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a>. This seems more probable as long as we understand it to be so for a certain definite time: wherefore (<a href="../bible/luk004.htm#verse13">Luke 4:13</a>) it is written: "All <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">temptation</a> being ended, the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a> departed from Him for a time." There are two reasons for this. One is on the part of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God's</a> clemency; for as <a href="../cathen/08452b.htm">Chrysostom</a> says (Super Matt. Hom. v) [In the Opus Imperfectum, among his supposititious works], "the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a> does not <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a> <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">man</a> for just as long as he likes, but for as long as <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> allows; for although He allows him to <a href="../cathen/14504a.htm">tempt</a> for a short time, He orders him off on account of our weakness." The other reason is taken from the astuteness of the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a>. As to this, <a href="../cathen/01383c.htm">Ambrose</a> says on <a href="../bible/luk004.htm#verse13">Luke 4:13</a>: "The <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a> is afraid of persisting, because he shrinks from frequent defeat." That the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devil</a> does nevertheless sometimes return to the assault, is apparent from <a href="../bible/mat012.htm#verse44">Matthew 12:44</a>: "I will return into my house from whence I came out."</p> <p>From what has been said, the objections can easily be solved.</p> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='summa-728x90-bottom' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> </div> <div class="pub"><p align=center><font size=-2><em>The Summa Theologiæ of St. Thomas Aquinas</em><br>Second and Revised Edition, 1920<br>Literally translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province<br>Online Edition Copyright © 2017 by Kevin Knight <br><em>Nihil Obstat.</em> F. Innocentius Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor. Theol.<br><em>Imprimatur.</em> Edus. Canonicus Surmont, Vicarius Generalis. Westmonasterii.<br>APPROBATIO ORDINIS<br><em>Nihil Obstat.</em> F. Raphael Moss, O.P., S.T.L. and F. Leo Moore, O.P., S.T.L.<br><em>Imprimatur.</em> F. Beda Jarrett, O.P., S.T.L., A.M., Prior Provincialis Angliæ<br><br>MARIÆ IMMACULATÆ - SEDI SAPIENTIÆ</font></p></div> <div id="ogdenville"><table summary="Bottom bar" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"><center><strong>Copyright © 2023 by <a href="../utility/contactus.htm">New Advent LLC</a>. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.</strong></center></td></tr></table><p align="center"><a href="../utility/contactus.htm">CONTACT US</a> | <a href="https://cleanmedia.net/p/?psid=491-308-20180429T2217479770">ADVERTISE WITH NEW ADVENT</a></p></div> <ins class="CANBMDDisplayAD" data-bmd-ad-unit="30849120210203T1734389107AB67D35C03D4A318731A4F337F60B3E" style="display:block"></ins> <script src="https://secureaddisplay.com/au/bmd/"></script>  <ins class="CMAdExcludeArticles"></ins> </body> </html>