Augustine mocks those worshipping Neptune.
But now let us see how they interpret the statues. "I do not," he says, "say that the statue of Neptune is Neptune, but Neptune is something else which is signified by this image." What is Neptune? "The sea," he says. This is the entire understanding because Neptune is the sea. But the Christian neither worships that statue which you call Neptune, nor the sea which you interpret as Neptune. And whom does he worship? The one who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them. But what do you say? "The sea is signified by this statue." And this is said as if it were something secret, whispered into the ear, so that it might be considered a great mystery that this statue signifies the sea, so that if anyone worships that statue, it might seem to them that they are worshipping the sea. Therefore, only those who live inland should have statues of Neptune, who do not see the sea itself, so that those who do not have the thing itself might have the sign instead of the thing. But now they have made a sanctuary of Neptune next to the sea itself, and turning their backs to the sea, they worship Neptune. Nor do the waves crashing behind them draw back to the worshipper, and what is more foolish, the one who prays wants the sea to be silent and the statue to hear, because apparently the sea, not with its salty waves, but with the foreign bronze ears, has the ability to hear.
The earth is to be tended not by worshipping but by plowing.
Thus also with the image of the Earth. "Not," he says, "this which you see is worshiped, but this signifies the earth.” That, even if he did not say it, would be apparent. In vain he wants to draw forth as if from a mystery what is openly proclaimed in its name. For 'Tellus' is another name for the Earth. They nonetheless call the same earth the mother, to whom they have made a temple and an image. Behold, I understand, just as with the sun, just as with the moon: there is no need for an explanation; for those images are called by the same names as the things themselves whose images they are, which we certainly see and recognize very well. Or perhaps is it that what they add, the term 'mother,' is the thing that must be learned? "She is," they say, "the mother of all that is born." And let her be the mother of all that is born: am I therefore to worship the earth for this, and not Him who said: "Let the earth produce whatever it produces”? For without His word it would not only be barren, but altogether nonexistent. What then is this person, as though the narrator of mysteries, wanting to turn us away from the Creator and convert us to the creature, what does he expound to me as a great thing, that I should worship the earth? Indeed, this is rightly said to farmers, that if they do not want to suffer hunger, they should cultivate the earth, not by worshipping but by plowing.
The pagans hide their books, the Christians bring them forth.
Thus, I inquire about the statue of Juno: here we already desire a mystical interpreter. For Juno, unlike Mother Earth, does not reveal by her name what she signifies, nor is there an image of the sun or the moon. Therefore, the secret of Juno is great. What is this secret, I ask you? "This," he says, "few know." Perhaps many have heard from those few and have spoken. Perhaps their writings also reveal to those they do not wish to reveal what they worship, although our writings also reveal to them what we worship, but we do not fear. Our books are publicly sold: light does not blush. Let them buy, read, believe; or let them buy, read, mock. That Scripture knows how to hold guilty those who read and do not believe. The book is sold publicly, but He who is proclaimed in the book is not for sale. Or is He also for sale, because He exposed Himself to be bought by the nations at such a price as anyone has? Zacchaeus bought Him with half of his estate, the widow bought Him with two small coins, the poor guest bought Him by offering a cup of cold water; and He is possessed by all buyers: He is not too small for anyone, He enlarges all. Such is He who is proclaimed in the book. Buy the book yourself and read, we do not blush. Hide your sacred books in hidden caves, there is such curiosity of men that they both investigate and reveal.
We do not worship Juno, as she is a creature.
What then is Juno? "Juno, they say, is the air." Long ago they urged us to worship the sea in Neptune, to worship the earth in the image of Tellus; now they invite us to worship the air. These are the elements by which this world consists. Therefore the Apostle Paul warning in his epistle: Beware, he says, lest anyone deceive you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the elements of this world. For he was speaking of those who explain idols as if more wisely. Therefore when he said: Through philosophy, he added in the same place: According to the elements of this world. Not just any worshippers of idols, but those who interpret signs as if more learned should be avoided. "Therefore, they say, Juno is the air." Let them call a familiar thing whatever they want: I will not worship the air, for it cannot be cultivated in the way the earth is cultivated by farmers. For the farmer works on the earth, as I said before, not by worshipping, but by working, to find fruit. But the air cannot be cultivated in this way nor is it to be worshipped. Praise the work, adore the worker. "To know," they say, "that the air is Juno, the Greeks call her thus: Hra is said in Greek; era, however often repeated, sounds like air. But we, who say that we must serve the one Creator in religion, for that reason we do not worship Juno, because it is an idol; for that reason we do not worship, because it is a creature.
"Pride of the devil must be avoided."
But I ask this of them, if I worship only God, will the air be angry? For if I worship the air, God is angry; although He is always tranquil and administers and governs all that He created without any disturbance, in some ineffable way God is, however, angry. When He wants to be worshipped alone, He does not want this out of arrogance: for He alone is worthy of worship, and He does not want to be worshipped for His own exaltation, but so that man may be better. For He does not need worshippers, but you need the One who is worshipped. The prophet says, "I said to the Lord: You are my God, for You do not need my goods." Therefore, if He alone demands to be worshipped without arrogance, whoever else demands and arrogates this for himself privately, as if he deserved to be worshipped in his own right, and does not find it sufficient to be worshipped in Him who created, he demands this out of arrogance. And the arrogance of the devil must be avoided, so that we may humbly reach the height of God. For the devil alone wants to be worshipped instead of God, because he said: "I will place my throne in the north and I will be like the Most High."
On the Worship of Vulcan.
For what will they say about the symbol, for example, of Vulcan, to recall all the elements—since it is said there are four: earth, water, air, fire; and about the sky we have already spoken, when we spoke of the sun and moon? "Vulcan," they say, "is fire," not the ethereal fire where the sun and moon and other stars are, but this fire which is on earth adapted for the uses of men. "For this reason," they also say, "Vulcan is depicted as lame because the movement of this fire quivers as if it were limping." So what then? Since man has fire in his control, he who kindles it and extinguishes it at will, uses it as he pleases—do men have so much power over a god, and does anyone who blows out the lamp extinguish a god? I do not know whether it is worse to worship the idol itself by itself or to offer such an interpretation of it. But what is that to us? Perhaps they will even interpret invisible things: for these are visible. Let us quickly come to the security of our faith, so that we are not at all corrupted by them.
Those who offer worship to Mercury are slaves of the devil.
"Mercury, he says, I worship with intellect; intellect is not seen, it is something invisible." Certainly, we also concede that intellect is something invisible, and it is indeed invisible and such an entity that is better than the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all those things which are seen; for an invisible substance, being as it is a kind of life, is better than any visible substance, because everything visible is a body. And a great thing indeed is intellect: however, if you consider that very intellect which they say they worship, what has it done? Do not many err with great intellect? And perhaps most especially those who think that intellect should be worshipped in the image of Mercury. Therefore, if human intellect can err without God as its guide, when human intellect is sound, it does not wish to be worshipped as God, but it wishes Him to be worshipped, by whom it desires to be enlightened. For unless human intellect is enlightened by the illuminating God, it is darkened in its errors. But I ask you, what do you worship in Mercury? "Intellect," you say. Intellect is a sort of intermediate thing, because intellect, either turned away from the Creator, is darkened and becomes foolish, or turned to the Creator, is enlightened and becomes wise. But you have said an intermediate thing, when you said you worship intellect. "Yes," he says, "intermediate, for even the name Mercury sounds like one who runs in the middle." For it is said that Mercury is called as if running in the middle. Therefore, if he is worshipped for that reason, because he is an intermediate thing, why is not He rather worshipped, who recalls the intermediate intellect, as you say, to Himself, so that it may cling to Him, being suspended and turned away from the inferior things, such as the intellects of the saints, the intellects of the martyrs, and the intellects of the angels? For if the intellect were such as this angel I mentioned, illuminated by God, it repels the adoration of man from itself and advises its worshipper to rather adore God. "Worship God," it says, "for I am a fellow servant of you and of your brothers." Therefore, should you worship an intermediate intellect, from which a better intellect reproaches you? For if you worship an intermediate intellect, the enlightened intellect will reproach you. Why? Because the enlightened intellect does not wish intellect to be worshipped but rather the illuminator of intellects. Indeed, by that illumination it is benign and benevolent, and wants all intellects to turn to Him, by whom it also knows itself to be enlightened. Or perhaps does a foolish intellect want itself to be worshipped? Clearly, this is true. Beware, then, lest, when you wish to worship Mercury as intellect, you worship the devil, who has a foolish intellect. For the devil, even when he said: "I will place my seat in the north and I will be like the Most High," did not want to worship God and wanted to be worshipped as God, rising against God. But because he departed as if from the south to the north, his intellect became darkened, and because it is darkened, also proud, and because it is proud, thus he wants you, deceived, to worship Mercury, so that while you worship Mercury, you end up worshipping the devil.
"Every creature is either bodily or spiritual."
May your holiness pay attention and see from human beings what we say. Apply your mind and understand. Every creature is either corporeal or spiritual. Only the Creator is spiritual; but the creature, as we have said, is either corporeal or spiritual. Pay attention, so that according to our abilities you may have as much as the Lord will assist against the pagans, not just any, but those who consider themselves more learned and interpreters of idols and who are puffed up and inflate and mock the true name of truth. Every creature, as I said, is either corporeal or spiritual. Corporeal like the earth and all that is produced in it, like the sea and all that swims or crawls in it, like the air and all that flies in it, like the sky and all that shines in it. All these creatures are corporeal. But spiritual is better than corporeal. What is the spiritual creature? That which is not perceived by the senses of the body, but by the intellect of the mind, like all souls, whether irrational as in beasts, or rational as in humans, whether deficient as in the impious, or progressing as in the converted, or perfect as in angels and archangels, thrones, dominions, principalities, powers of the higher habitation. Therefore, since a creature is either corporeal or spiritual, and a third cannot be found, the highest bodies, which are not better, are celestial. Now what is beyond - not by spaces of places, but by the nature of force - is not a body, but a spirit: a certain life, but a mutable life, because it is a creature; true immutable life, the Creator. Therefore, mutable life, that is, a spiritual creature, is also formable and illuminable, that is, it can be formed and illuminated; but immutable life, that is, the substance of the Creator itself, is creating and illuminating. The creature is indeed formed and illuminated, but the Creator forms and illuminates.
Of the heavenly regions and their inhabitants.
Pay attention and understand. Therefore, every life that can be illuminated and attain wisdom, when it is of good will, loves God who illuminates it and advances turned towards Him and, clinging to Him, is formed to the integrity and perfection of wisdom, and in its kind to the fullness of blessedness: namely, the rational and intellectual life, such as is of angels, such as is of humans. Therefore, if such a life, when it is praiseworthy, loves its illuminator, every such life, through culpable will, abandoning the life that illuminates it, is darkened and becomes proud, like that of the wicked angel or wicked human: for it does not want to cleave to God, but wants, through a certain private pride, to be considered as God. Fallen and turned into this certain proud and wicked life, the archangel and his angels have become the devil and those demons, and they have taken a certain space in this murky air, where they rule over all wicked humans. Therefore the Apostle says: "According to the prince of the power of the air, who now works in the sons of disobedience." And again, exhorting us to endure the persecutions of this age: "Our struggle," he says, "is not against flesh and blood," that is, not against humans, "but against principalities," he says, "against powers, against the rulers of this world’s darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." For when he said that the prince of the power of the air works in the sons of disobedience, lest they focus on humans and think they are struggling against them, through whom they suffered persecutions, and not perceive with their minds that enemy whom they should overcome in Christ: "Your struggle," he says, "is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, and rulers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." Moreover, lest by calling them rulers of the world he be thought to mean those as rulers of the entire creation that God made, he showed which world he meant by adding and saying: "of this darkness." And what darkness is, you can recognize. For the apostle himself said that infidels are signified by the name of darkness, when he spoke to the faithful: "For you were once darkness, but now are light in the Lord." Thus, also what he said about "in the heavenly places" must be understood, not in those higher resting places of the holy angels, where even the luminaries and stars are placed, but because this air is also called heaven, whence even the birds of the heaven are so called.
Of the light which shines for the purified in spirit.
Therefore, let your holiness attend, that the mercy of the Lord may enlighten you. For we sound these things with our ears; He acts within, as we believe, as we hope from His mercy to whom we sing praises. Therefore, as I had begun to say, a soul turned away from God, as from the light of truth and as from the midday sun, finds itself in the north. The kingdom of the north, however, is the kingdom of the devil who says: "I will set my throne in the north, and I will be like the Most High"; there the hearts of men grow cold, and made cold by that flame, they cannot savor spiritual things of divine wisdom. Therefore, they begin to think only of bodies, and seek even divinity in bodies, that is, in the sea, on the earth, in the air, and primarily in celestial bodies, such as the moon, the sun, or the stars. Since the sense of sight is the most prominent among the senses of the body, whatever shines to the eyes, particularly if it stands out in the world, is thought to be great. But if someone tells them that there is something great which neither eye has seen nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man, they say that nothing which cannot be seen exists. Therefore, such hearts have grown cold. If they have grown cold, they are in the north; if they are in the north, they are governed by the one who said: "I will set my throne in the north, and I will be like the Most High." But those who in any way have lifted up their hearts and sharpened their study as much as they could to see something that cannot be seen with the eyes of the body, transcending—easily indeed—the earth they tread upon and all things that are on the earth, transcending even the sea and whatever swims or creeps within it, transcending also the air and all the birds—for that too is an earthly element—transcending the entire etherial heaven with all the lights that shine therein or perhaps are hidden therein, they saw that there is something not seen, as is the mind, as is intelligence, as is reason; they also saw that this too changes and sought something immutable, moving beyond in thought and the sharpness of the mind even the spiritual creature and understood the Creator Spirit, and as if struck by the unusual brilliance of wisdom, they returned, as if to rest in the darkness of their flesh, and some of them felt the need to purify their soul, which, cleansed from all carnal desires, would become fit to obtain that which had dazzled them with its ineffable light.
The devil offered himself as a mediator to those seeking purification.
Attend, my brothers, and take heed sorrowfully. They saw it necessary to undergo purification so that the light which cannot be grasped by the weak vision of the mind, when the same vision is healed, shaped, and strengthened, can be grasped. They saw the need for medicine, and as they were seeking this medicine, the devil immediately intervened because they were seeking arrogantly, boasting in their supposed doctrines, especially because they were able, if they could, with sharpness of intellect and acuity of mind, transcending all creatures, both bodily and spiritual, to reach the knowledge that there is something both spiritual and unchangeable, and from it, all things that exist both spiritually and bodily come forth; however, the Creator does not move in places, does not move in times, while bodies move in places and times; but the substance of the soul, that is, the spiritual creature, does not move indeed in places but is moved in times through the mutability of various affections, and hence to be something intermediate, because the highest God is not moved either in places or in times, while the substance of bodies, that is, the lowest creature, is moved both in places and in times. Hence, it (the soul) is intermediate because it does not move in places as God does not, but is moved in times as bodies are. Therefore, when they saw and were seeking purification, that proud devil occupied them with proud thoughts and arrogantly presented himself as a mediator, through whom it seemed to them that their souls could be purified. He persuaded them with certain signs of his pride, so that it seemed to men that the soul, which wishes to reach God, could be purified through magical arts, he established sacrileges in the temples, promising sacrilegious purification. Indeed, many images, as Scripture says, were established from the honors of men who were considered great, whether absent or dead. All these things, however, in the name of Christ, are now taken away by public laws and no longer publicly performed, while some of them were once considered public magic. But just as before there was private magic, now these things are done secretly since public performance has been forbidden.
Wise ones from the nations have come to the knowledge of God.
When, therefore, the proud and unjust enemy of souls opposed himself as a mediator, listen to the Apostle teaching why he opposed himself, namely because their pride gave him a place. Hence he admonishes, saying: "Neither give place to the devil." But how we may find their pride, let the same Apostle say. And first let us note that some of them had also attained to the knowledge of God, whom he nevertheless desired to be saved through Christ. For they had attained to the knowledge of God, but had not attained to salvation. For it is one thing to attain to the knowledge of God, quite another thing to attain to salvation, where there is also the fullness of that very knowledge, when the knower cleaves to the known. Among the Athenians, when the Apostle spoke as to pagan men, because they boasted themselves above other nations in the height of their learning, and among them was, as it were, the summit of philosophy - for there stood out the learned and wise of this world - when the Apostle, therefore, spoke among them, he did not put forth testimonies from the prophets, but from their own he brought forth neither did he keep silent about them being theirs, not ours, for, even if something good is found there, many bad things are found there, not like our prophets whose scriptures contain only good. Among the Athenians, therefore, when the Apostle spoke of God, he said: "In him," he said, "we live, and move, and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said."
The invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.