The distinction between Moses and the magicians

Just as both blood and frogs were made—'so did the magicians of the Egyptians do' (Exodus 7:20-24)—since the narrative does not even here divide the voices of the two classes, and since it said the magicians had performed them in the same way, someone might say that what was done by the pharmacists is similar to what happened through Moses.

Not so, one might say, nor is it even proper to say that the strange and absurd things resemble the heavenly imitations. Whatever was being done through Moses, the truth was revealed from the things being done; but whatever was being performed through the magicians, it only appeared to seem like the truth; for the falsehood was brought forward by its own inactivity, since how could one rod suddenly swallow all those many rods (Exodus 7:12)?

Nor is it right to suppose that those from the lifeless ones were able to suddenly make the rods produce a dragon; for perhaps those of us who are able to give life to dead wood would have been even less remaining. Perhaps even Moses was doing nothing paradoxical, if he was performing things near to these.

And yet, how is it not unjust to make them appear inactive through that graphic message? For if God, defending against the Egyptians, commanded all the water-streams to be changed into blood for the sake of punishment, and those being struck by such plagues respond to the idea of blood by turning the vessels in the same way, skillfully increasing the passion, for what reason are they worthy and required, being pressed by thirst, to have the waters throughout all Egypt cleansed of the blood-bearing mixture? Or again, having suddenly seen frogs in infinite numbers, whenever they were turning away the crowds of them, did they not again flatten others, unless they did not care for those appearing as if in shadow and illusion, but were terribly tormented by the work being shown by the others? For no one would catch the enemy by adding another countless multitude instead of recruiting spear-bearers for an alliance, nor would one raise a fever to escape a fever by licking the first, nor would one, being beaten by unceasing plagues, bring other plagues upon himself, to be released from these by a clean remission and by embassy and by prayer of the survivors.

But not even of houses being sold, instead of sprinkling vessels with ashes, on the contrary, pouring oil or pitch to raise the flame to an immeasurable height, and the passion being burned increases more, and fire burns without limit. Thus, through which the magicians were eager to practice, through these they brought forth manifest reproaches, thinking they must lead themselves by a semblance of divination. It is indeed not difficult to see from this that even now, much more and greater than these, the voters in the theaters are accustomed to act.

However, by a spontaneous power, as these are being salted against marshes, nothing less is the narrative written: 'And the celebrants of Egypt did likewise with their magic arts.' It was necessary, then, as the dogmatist Origen legislated, to say: 'The celebrants of Egypt did things similar to what it seemed,' but not to say 'likewise,' so that no one might suppose them to be of a similar impulse of power. For if they were such as to practice things similar to those around Moses, surely they would have been able to defend themselves against the opponents with equal things, so that the contests on both sides would exist as equals. But if they did not harm anything by which they were making a show, then the word has been used correctly, but the imprints of the soul's fantasy are made manifest.

Thus, having placed here the name of the celebrants and the advantages of magic, the writer demonstrated how it would not be necessary to dispute everything, saying: 'each thing is practiced by the magicians with curiosity.' Such things are also written as dramas in this history; for he himself, having named Engastrimythos, and then exposing the impious divinations of prophecy, and having shown that the face being demonized was the one prophesying, fully expressed that each thing was practiced by the wicked through fantasies of divination. But these things are to be understood by us in this way.

Let us go again, tracing the tracks of the words. What then? As Saul praised the Engastrimythos, saying, 'What have you seen?' (1 Samuel 28:5), at first the deception responded crying out: 'And I have seen gods ascending from the earth.' For because the devil wished to utterly cast the man aside by seizing him, he attempted to show clearly that the demon had power not only over the soul of one righteous master, but also all the souls of the holy men at once. And he, having armed the host of the demons from the opposites and a company in a single moment of time...