Two Kinds of Enemy, Seen and Unseen

We are made of two distinct natures, body and spirit; the one is visible to all, the other invisible. And against both these natures two kinds of barbarous and savage enemies are constantly arrayed, the one invisibly, the other openly. The one kind attacks our bodies with bodily force; the other besieges the naked soul itself with bodiless assaults. The visible barbarians, like the wild nomad tribes, no better than savage beasts, attack the nations of civilized people. They lay waste their country and enslave their cities, rushing on those who live in them like ruthless wolves of the desert, and destroying everyone who falls into their power. But those unseen enemies, far crueler than any barbarians, I mean the soul-destroying demons whose path runs through the regions of the air, had succeeded, through the snares of the vile worship of many gods, in enslaving the entire human race. People no longer recognized the true God, but wandered in the mazes of godless error. For they got hold, from I know not where, of gods who never existed anywhere, and set aside the one who is the only and the true God, as if he did not exist.

So they counted the coming into being of bodies as a god, and then they made a god as well of the opposite principle, the breaking up and destruction of bodies. The first, as the author of the power to beget, was honored with rites under the name of Venus. The second, as rich and mighty in its rule over the human race, received the names of Pluto and Death. For people in those ages knew no life except the life that comes by natural birth, and so they declared the cause and origin of that life to be divine. And since they believed in no existence after death, they proclaimed Death himself to be a mighty god who conquers all. So, thinking they would answer to no one, since death would wipe them out, they lived a life unworthy of the name, doing things that deserved a thousand deaths. No thought of God could enter their minds, no expectation of God’s judgment, no memory of their own spiritual existence and no reflection on it. They acknowledged one dread master, Death, and were convinced that when he broke up their bodies they were wiped out entirely; so they gave Death the title of a mighty and a wealthy god, and from this came the name of Pluto. So Death became a god to them. And not only Death, but whatever else they valued as precious compared with death, whatever added to the luxuries of life. [a] So animal pleasure became a god to them; food, and the growing of it, a god; the fruit of trees, a god; drunken revelry, a god; bodily desire and pleasure, a god. From this came the mysteries of Ceres and Proserpine, and the carrying off of Proserpine by Pluto and her later return. From this came the orgies of Bacchus, and Hercules overcome by drunkenness as by a mightier god. From this came the adulterous rites of Cupid and of Venus, and Jupiter himself infatuated with love for women and for Ganymede. From this came the lewd legends of gods given over to unmanly softness and pleasure. [b] These were the weapons of superstition with which these cruel barbarians, the enemies of the Supreme God, afflicted the human race and in fact subdued it entirely. Everywhere they set up the monuments of ungodliness, and in every corner they raised the shrines and temples of their false religion.

Indeed, the rulers of those times were so enslaved by the power of error that they appeased their gods with the blood of their own countrymen and relatives. They sharpened their swords against those who stood up to defend the truth. They waged a ruthless war and raised unholy hands, not against foreign or barbarian enemies, but against people bound to them by the ties of family and affection, against brothers and kinsmen and dearest friends, who had resolved to honor and worship God by practicing virtue and true godliness. Such was the madness with which these rulers sacrificed to their demon gods men consecrated to the service of the King of kings. Their victims, for their part, as noble martyrs in the cause of true godliness, resolved to welcome a glorious death rather than life itself, and utterly despised these cruelties. Strengthened with patient courage as soldiers of God, they laughed at death in all its forms: at fire and sword and the torment of crucifixion; at being thrown to wild beasts and drowned in the depths of the sea; at the cutting off and burning of limbs, the gouging out of eyes, the mutilation of the whole body; and lastly at hunger, forced labor in the mines, and captivity. They counted all these sufferings better than any earthly good or pleasure, for the love they bore their heavenly King. Women too, in the same way, showed a spirit of steadfastness and courage no less than that of men. Some of them went through the same contests as the men and won the same reward for their virtue. Others, dragged away by force to be violated and defiled, welcomed death rather than dishonor. And many, very many more, could not bear even to hear the same threats with which the provincial governors assailed them, but boldly endured every kind of torture and every form of death sentence. So these brave soldiers of the Almighty Sovereign kept up the fight, with steadfast courage of soul, against the hostile forces of the worship of many gods. And so these enemies of God and adversaries of human salvation, far crueler than any fierce savage, delighted in offerings of human blood poured out to them. So their ministers drained, as it were, the cup of unjust slaughter in honor of the demons they served, and prepared for them this dreadful and ungodly banquet, to the ruin of the human race. [c]

In these sad circumstances, what should the God and King of these suffering people do? Could he be careless of the safety of his dearest friends, or abandon his servants in such great distress? Surely no one would think a pilot careful who made no effort to save his fellow sailors, but let his ship sink with all her crew. Surely no general could be found so reckless as to hand over his own allies to the mercy of the enemy without a fight. Nor can a faithful shepherd look on unconcerned when a single sheep strays from his flock. He will rather leave the rest in safety and risk everything for the wanderer’s sake, even, if need be, to fight with wild beasts. [d] But the zeal of the great Sovereign of all was not for sheep without reason. His care was for his own faithful army, for those who fought the battle for his sake. He himself approved their contests in the cause of godliness. Those who had returned to his presence he honored with the prize of victory that he alone can give, joining them to the choirs of angels. Others he kept alive on earth, to hand on the living seeds of godliness to future generations, and to be at once eyewitnesses of his vengeance on the ungodly and the tellers of what happened. [e] After this he stretched out his arm in judgment against his adversaries and utterly destroyed them with the stroke of God’s wrath. However unwilling they were, he forced them to confess with their own lips and to take back their wickedness. But those who had long been oppressed and disowned by all, he raised from the ground and gloriously exalted.

Such were the dealings of the Supreme Sovereign. He appointed an unconquerable champion to carry out his vengeance sent from heaven, for our emperor’s surpassing godliness delights in the title of Servant of God. And he has made him victorious over all who opposed him, raising him up, one man against many enemies. For they were indeed countless, being the friends of many evil spirits, though in reality they were nothing, and that is why they are now no more. But our emperor is one, appointed by the one Almighty Sovereign and acting in his place. They, in the very spirit of ungodliness, destroyed the righteous with cruel slaughter. But he, imitating his Savior, and knowing only how to save people’s lives, has spared even the ungodly and instructed them in godliness. And so, as one truly worthy of the name of Victor, he has subdued the twofold race of barbarians. He has calmed the savage tribes of men by wise embassies, compelled them to know and acknowledge their betters, and won them back from a lawless and brutal life to the rule of reason and humanity. At the same time he has shown by the facts themselves that the fierce and ruthless race of unseen spirits had long ago been conquered by a higher power. For the Preserver of the universe had punished these invisible spirits by an invisible judgment. And our emperor, as the deputy of the Supreme Sovereign, has followed up the victory. He has carried off the spoils of those who long ago died and crumbled into dust, and has shared out the plunder with a generous hand among the soldiers of his victorious Lord. [f]