Why demons must not be served
We are not the only ones to speak of wicked demons; nearly all who hold that demons exist do so. Not everything, then, has a law from the greatest God. For whatever has fallen away from the divine law, through its own heedlessness, vice or wickedness, or ignorance of what is good, does not have the law of God; rather, to use a new name, the one found in Scripture, it has the law “of sin” (Romans 7:23; 8:2). According to most of those who hold that demons exist, then, the wicked demons do not have the law that comes from God, but transgress it. According to us, however, all demons have fallen away from the road that leads to the good, and were not demons before; and the demons are one kind among those who have fallen away from God. Therefore whoever worships God must not serve demons.
The truth about demons is made plain also by those who summon demons for what are called love-charms or hate-charms, or to hinder undertakings, or for countless other such purposes. This is done by those who have learned through incantations and sorceries to summon demons and draw them to whatever they wish. Therefore the service of all demons is foreign to us, who worship the God over all. And the service of the reputed gods is service of demons, for “all the gods of the nations are demons” (Psalm 96:5). This is plain also from the fact that, at the very founding of such wooden images and temples, magical rites of installation were performed in those of the so-called sanctuaries that are thought more potent; and these rites were performed by those who devote themselves to the service of demons through sorcery. For this reason we have resolved to flee from the service of demons as from destruction; and we say that all the worship of gods practised among the Greeks at altars, images and temples is service of demons.
Greek
Φαύλους δὲ δαίμονας οὐ μόνοι λέγομεν ἡμεῖς ἀλλὰ καὶ σχεδὸν πάντες. ὅσοι δαίμονας τιθέασιν εἶναι. οὐ πάντα οὖν ἔχει νόμον ἐκ τοῦ μεγίστου θεοῦ. ὅσα γὰρ παρ᾿ ἰδίαν ἀπροσεξίαν, κακίαν ἢ πονηρίαν ἢ ἄγνοιαν τῶν καλῶν, ἀποπέπτωκε τοῦ θείου νόμου, οὐκ ἔχει τὸν νόμον τοῦ θεοῦ ἀλλ᾿, ἵνα ὀνομάσω καινῷ ὀνόματι καὶ τῷ κατὰ τὴν γραφὴν, τὸν νόμον ἔχει „τῆς ἁμαρτίας.“ κατὰ μὲν οὖν τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν τιθέντων εἶναι δαίμονας καὶ οἱ φαῦλοι δαίμονες οὐκ ἔχουσι τὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ νόμον ἀλλὰ παρανομοῦσι· κατὰ δὲ ἡμᾶς πάντες δαίμονες ἀποπεσόντες τῆς ἐπὶ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ὁδοῦ, πρότερον οὐκ ὄντες δαίμονες· καὶ ἔστιν εἶδος τῶν ἐκπεσόντων θεοῦ τὸ τῶν δαιμόνων. διόπερ οὐ χρὴ θεραπεύειν δαίμονας ὅστις σέβει θεόν. δηλοῦται δὲ τὰ περὶ τοὺς δαίμονας καὶ ἐκ τῶν καλούντων δαίμονας ἐπὶ τοῖς ὀνομαζομένοις φίλτροις ἢ μισήθροις ἢ ἐπὶ κωλύσεσι πράξεων ἢ ἄλλων τοιούτων μυρίων· ἅπερ ποιοῦσιν οἱ δι᾿ ἐπῳδῶν καὶ μαγγανειῶν μεμαθηκότες καλεῖν καὶ ἐπάγεσθαι δαίμονας ἐφ᾿ ἃ βούλονται. διόπερ ἡ πάντων δαιμόνων θεραπεία ἀλλοτρία ἡμῶν ἐστι, τῶν σεβόντων τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεόν. καὶ θεραπεία δαιμόνων ἐστὶν ἡ θεραπεία τῶν νομιζομένων θεῶν· „πάντες“ γὰρ „οἱ θεοὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν δαιμόνια.“ δῆλον δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ἐκ τοῦ εἰς τὰ δοκοῦντα ἐνεργέστερα τῶν νομιζομένων ἱερῶν κατακλίσεις περιέργους γεγονέναι καὶ κατὰ τὰς ἀρχὰς τῆς ἱδρύσεως τῶν τοιῶνδε ξοάνων καὶ νεῶν, ἅστινας κατακλίσεις οἱ τῇ τῶν δαιμόνων διὰ μαγγανειῶν θεραπείᾳ σχολάζοντες πεποίηνται. διὸ δέδοκται ἡμῖν φεύγειν ὡς ὄλεθρον τὴν τῶν δαιμόνων θεραπείαν· δαιμόνων δὲ θεραπείαν εἶναί φαμεν πᾶσαν τὴν νομιζομένην παρ᾿ Ἕλλησι παρὰ βωμοῖς καὶ ἀγάλμασι καὶ ναοῖς θεῶν θρησκείαν.