The Demons Cannot Harm at Will

But that they do not have the power to hurt anyone is shown very clearly by the example of the blessed Job, where the enemy did not dare to test him beyond what God’s permission allowed. It is shown too by the confession of these same spirits recorded in the gospel, where they say, “If you cast us out, let us go into the herd of pigs.” Much more must we hold that they cannot enter of their own free will into any human being, created in the image of God, if they have no power to enter even speechless and unclean animals without God’s permission. No one, I will not say of the younger men whom we see living so steadfastly in this desert, but even of those who are perfect, could live alone in the desert, surrounded by such swarms of enemies of this kind, if they had unlimited power and freedom to hurt and tempt us. This is supported still more clearly by the words of our Lord and Savior, which he spoke to Pilate in the lowliness of the human nature he had taken on: “You could have no power against me at all, unless it had been given you from above.” [a]