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Δαίμονες δὲ οἱ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐπιτάττοντες οὔκ εἰσιν αἱ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχαί. Πῶς γὰρ ἂν γένοιντο δραστικαὶ καὶ μετὰ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν, χωρὶς εἰ μὴ ζῶν μὲν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἀνόητος καὶ ἀδύνατος γένοιτο, νεκρὸς δὲ γενόμενος λοιπὸν δραστικωτέρας πιστεύοιτο μεταλαμβάνειν δυνάμεως; Ἀλλ οὔτε τοῦθ οὕτως ἐστίν, ὡς ἐν ἄλλοις ἀπεδείξαμεν. Καὶ χαλεπὸν οἴεσθαι τὴν ἀθάνατον, ὑπὸ τῶν τοῦ σώματος μερῶν ἐμποδιζομένην, φρονιμωτέραν, ἐπειδὰν ἀπ αὐτοῦ μεταναστῇ, γίνεσθαι. Δαίμονες γάρ, τῇ σφῶν κακοηθείᾳ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐκβακχεύοντες, ποικίλαις καὶ ἐψευσμέναις δραματουργίαις τὰς γνώμας αὐτῶν παρατρέπουσι κάτω νενευκυίας, ὅπως μεταρσιοῦσθαι πρὸς τὴν ἐν οὐρανοῖς πορείαν ἐξαδυνατῶσιν.Ἀλλ οὔτε ἡμᾶς τὰ ἐν κόσμῳ λέληθε, καὶ ἡμῖν εὐκατάληπτον τὸ θεῖον τῆς ἀπαθανατιζούσης τὰς ψυχὰς δυνάμεως ἡμῖν προσελθούσης. Βλέπονται δὲ καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ψυχικῶν οἱ δαίμονες, ἐσθ ὅτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἑαυτοὺς ἐκείνων δεικνύντων, ἵνα τε νομισθῶσιν εἶναί τινες, ἢ καί τι βλάψωσι καθάπερ πολεμίους φίλοι κακοὶ τὴν γνώμην ὑπάρχοντες, ἢ τιμῆς εἰς αὐτοὺς τοῖς ὁμοίοις αὐτοῖς τὰς ἀφορμὰς παράσχωσιν. Εἰ γὰρ δυνατὸν αὐτοῖς, πάντως ἂν καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν σὺν ἅμα τῇ λοιπῇ ποιήσει καθείλκυσαν. Νῦν δὲ τοῦτο μὲν πράττουσιν οὐδαμῶς· ἀδυνατοῦσι γάρ· ὕλῃ δὲ τῇ κάτω πρὸς τὴν ὁμοίαν αὐτοῖς ὕλην πολεμοῦσι. Τούτους δὲ νικᾶν ἄν τις θελήσῃ, τὴν ὕλην παραιτησάσθω. Θώρακι γὰρ πνεύματος ἐπουρανίου καθωπλισμένος πᾶν τὸ ὑπ αὐτοῦ περιεχόμενον σῶσαι δυνατὸς ἔσται. Εἰσὶ μὲν οὖν καὶ νόσοι καὶ στάσεις τῆς ἐν ἡμῖν ὕλης· δαίμονες δὲ αὐτοὶ τούτων τὰς αἰτίας, ἐπειδὰν συμβαίνουσιν, ἑαυτοῖς προσγράφουσιν, ἐπιόντες ὁπόταν καταλαμβάνῃ κάματος. Ἔστι δὲ ὅτε καὶ αὐτοὶ χειμῶνι τῆς σφῶν ἀβελτηρίας κραδαίνουσι τὴν ἕξιν τοῦ σώματος· οἳ λόγῳ θεοῦ δυνάμεως πληττόμενοι δεδιότες ἀπίασι, καὶ ὁ κάμνων θεραπεύεται
The demons who issue commands to men are not the souls of men. For how could they be active even after death—unless, while living, a man becomes senseless and powerless, but, once dead, is then believed to take on a more active power? But neither is this so, as we have shown elsewhere. And it is hard to suppose that the immortal soul, hindered by the parts of the body, becomes wiser when it has migrated from it. For the demons, raving against men in their own malignity, by manifold and lying dramaturgies pervert their minds, which are already bowed downward, so that they may be unable to soar upward to the journey in the heavens. But neither do the things in the world escape our notice, and to us the divine is easily comprehended, since the power that immortalizes souls has come to us. And the demons are seen even by the merely soul-bound, the demons sometimes showing themselves to men, either that they may be thought to be somebody, or that they may do some harm—being, like wicked friends with the disposition of enemies—or that they may furnish to those like themselves occasions of honor toward themselves. For if it were possible for them, they would assuredly have dragged down heaven itself together with the rest of creation. But now they do not do this at all, for they are unable; rather, they make war upon the lower matter with matter like themselves. And whoever would conquer these, let him renounce matter. For one who is armed with the breastplate of the heavenly spirit will be able to save all that is encompassed by it. There are, indeed, diseases and disturbances of the matter within us; but the demons themselves, when these occur, ascribe the causes to themselves, coming upon a man whenever exhaustion lays hold of him. And there are times when they themselves, by the tempest of their own folly, shake the constitution of the body; but, smitten by the word of God's power, they depart in fear, and the sufferer is healed.
那些向人發號施令的鬼魔，並非人的魂。因為它們死後怎能仍有作為呢？除非人活著時是愚鈍無能的，一旦死去，反倒被認為取得了更有作為的能力？然而事情並非如此，正如我們在別處已經證明的。再說，要設想那不朽的魂在身體各部分的攔阻下，一旦遷離身體反倒更有智慧，這也是難以置信的。原來鬼魔以其惡毒向人發狂，藉種種虛假的戲碼扭曲人那本已俯向下界的心思，使人無從上升、無法踏上那天上的旅程。但世上的事瞞不過我們，神聖之事於我們也容易領會，因為那使魂得以不朽的能力已臨到我們。鬼魔甚至連那只有魂的人也能看見，因為它們有時向人顯現自己，或為叫人以為它們是某等人物，或為加害於人——它們乃是心懷敵意的惡友——又或為叫那些與它們同類的人有由頭來尊崇它們。倘若它們做得到，必定連天連同其餘的受造之物一同拉垮。但如今它們絕做不到這事，因為它們無能為力；它們不過是用與自己同類的物質，去攻擊那下界的物質。凡想勝過這些鬼魔的，就當摒棄物質。因為那以屬天之靈的護心鏡為甲冑的人，必能拯救凡被這甲冑所圍護的一切。誠然，我們裡面的物質會有疾病與紊亂；但這些一旦發生，鬼魔便把緣由歸到自己身上，每逢疲憊臨到人，它們便趁機而入。也有時它們以自身愚妄所掀起的風暴，撼動人身體的狀態；然而它們一被神大能的話擊打，便驚惶離去，受苦的人就得了醫治。