Thesis (doctoral)--Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin, 1857. / Vita. Includes quotations in Greek. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Western Seminary, Portland, OR, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-126).

Thesis (M. Div.)--International Christian Graduate University, School of Theology, 1987. / Bibliography: leaves 49-55.

Thesis (M.A.)--Briercrest Biblical Seminary, 1999. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-105).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1940.

Proefschrift (Doctor in de Godgeleerdheid)--Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, 1982. / Summary in Dutch. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 523-559).

Thesis (M. Div.)--International Christian Graduate University, School of Theology, 1987. / Bibliography: leaves 49-55.

This thesis gives an account of Augustine’s understanding of demons, a full-length study of which has yet to be published. I argue that the scriptural assertion that pagan gods are demons fully encompasses what demons are for Augustine, and I proceed by elucidating the theology with which he contextualizes this assertion and makes it intelligible. Demons emerge as a highly integrated component of Augustine’s broader theology, having not a merely conceptual but a fully religious significance. The dissertation begins with the intellectual nature of the angels and their Christocentric mission to reveal God in creation. The second chapter considers the fall of the angels and Augustine’s questions about its cause and the timeline of its occurrence. These questions pertain to the matter of embodiment, which becomes the starting point for Chapter 3, where we discuss the demons’ putative aerial bodies, their appearance in bodily visions, and some of Augustine’s reports of wondrous demonic phenomena. These phenomena are identified together as demonic not by a common aerial nature but a common meaning. Chapter 4 begins our analysis of what is the most significant demonic phenomenon for Augustine, viz. pagan religion. There we give an account of Augustine’s notion of the devil’s body, which, like its counterpart in the body of Christ, is constituted by sacraments, whose production is best described in terms of Hermetic “god-making.” The last chapter examines Augustine’s account of pagan sacramental theology more specifically, in terms of both a more straightforward understanding of pagan religion, and the more philosophical one offered by the Platonists. The demons’ association with pagan religion represents the full inversion of the angels’ Christocentric ministry, such that the only true freedom from demons is found, according to Augustine, through incorporation into the sacramental life of the church. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis gives an account of Augustine’s understanding of demons. Christian Scriptures declare that pagan gods are demons, and I argue this fully encompasses what demons are for Augustine, as they have not a merely conceptual but a fully religious significance. This study explores the theology with which he contextualizes this assertion and makes it intelligible. Demons are a highly integrated component of Augustine’s broader theology, rooted in his conception of angels as the ministers of all creation under God. They take shape through Augustine’s doctrine of evil as privation and understanding of the fall, his thoughts on embodiment, desire, and visions, as well as his theology of sacraments and social bodies. The demons’ association with pagan religion represents the full inversion of the angels’ Christocentric ministry, such that, for Augustine, the only true freedom from demons is found through incorporation into the sacramental life of the church.

The Puritan theology and practice of spiritual warfare differed in significant ways from that of their medieval precursors and their Roman Catholic contemporaries. These differences are primarily attributable to the Puritan doctrines of divine sovereignty and human depravity. Puritan theology and practice is categorized under four systematic headings of demonology: the origin and nature of Satan and his demons; demonic operations in history; how Satan assaults believers today; and how Christians can defend themselves from those assaults. Each chapter draws together the teaching found in Puritan spiritual warfare literature about that heading and demonstrates how the doctrines of divine sovereignty and human depravity undergird that teaching. The thesis concludes by proposing some historically responsible applications for modern-day spiritual warfare practitioners from the Puritans. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

A profound concern with demonic spirits was central to a large body of literature from the Latin Middle Ages and early modern period. This dissertation shows the ways in which learned writings about demons reveal insights into the cultural and intellectual history of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century western Europe. In particular, an interest in how and in what (visible or invisible) form demonic beings afflicted humanity emerged as larger issues of theological debate from approximately 1400-1600 CE. As I demonstrate, orthodox theologians maintained that demons existed solely as fallen angels, and that they were the primary culprits of myriad haunting phenomena (e.g., visible apparitions, unsettling movements, and wayward sounds and feelings). In rebellion against the Christian divinity, these wicked spirits were consistently associated with sinful behavior, temptation, and illusory tricks. At the same time, vernacular and folk storytelling suggest that fallen angels were but one of many possible spiritual creatures inhabiting the cosmos. Rather than a strict binary between good and evil spirits, many instantiations of spiritual creatures resisted and survived alongside ecclesiastical teachings on the subject. Informed by multiple overlapping traditions, the premodern Christian imaginary perceived a world filled with invisible agents of both benevolent and malevolent intentions, as well as other ethereal forces with moral ambiguities.