Augustine of Hippo on Spiritual warfare
Through those means, and also by commanding evil spirits to leave, or exorcising them, in Christ's name
"It is by true piety that men of God cast out the hostile power of the air which opposes godliness; it is by exorcising it, not by propitiating it; and they overcome all the temptations of the adversary by praying, not to him, but to their own God against him."
THE POSITION
Demons stand behind the pagan gods and seek worship. Men of God cast out the hostile power by true piety, by exorcising it rather than propitiating it, and by praying to God against it. The devil's binding in Revelation 20 is Christ's restraint on his power to seduce the elect during the church age, not something believers do to him, and he conquers only those in league with sin.
5 For all the gods of the nations are idols, but it is the LORD who made the heavens.
6 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Bishop of Hippo. The single most influential theologian in Western Christianity; both Catholic and Reformed traditions claim him. Anti-Pelagian works, the Enchiridion, and On Baptism Against the Donatists.
Cite this page
"Augustine of Hippo on Spiritual warfare", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/augustine/spiritual-warfare (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/augustine/spiritual-warfare).