Does Magic Work (Sometimes), and Was Gregory of Nyssa Uninterested in Factual Accounts?

I am sorry that the NewAdvent site has no Life of Moses by St. Gregory of Nyssa on line. Nor did I find any other one. One translation by Philip Schaff of St. Gregory's works looked promising, even if it was a long pdf, but when I had scrolled past "book XII" of sth and did a search for both Balaam and Bileam, I knew, Life of Moses was not on the document. Indeed, I looked back on preview after link on google, and "Life" and "Moses" and "Gregory of Nyssa" all occurred but not the title "Life of Moses".

So, I ask you to believe me on good faith, I just skimmed through the book I of his Life of Moses.

The reason I did this, I wanted to have an earlier source than Father George Leo Haydock on Moses acting as historian rather than prophet for most of Genesis (it is usually considered six days account is a vision given to Moses, or some might say an abbreviated account of a vision given more fully in Jubilees). But, unfortunately for this purpose, St. Gregory didn't mention when in his life Moses wrote Genesis or with what dispositions.

So, was my reading lost? No.

First of all, chapter 74 of book one states that Balaam was usually, by the aid of demons, casting spells of misfortune. This is also what Balac was asking him to do on this occasion. Now, the footnote by, I think Daniélou, or referencing him, states, the text in Numbers does not mention Balaam doing his magic by demons, but, this interpretation is common among early Christians.

In other words, magic in the narrow sense of sorcery is real. Some people can or at least could cast spells and results would follow. Because demons adapted their action to the content of the spells.

It is possible, that where you are, this cannot happen, or not with very grave consequences, nothing perhaps beyond an indigestion directly caused by demons. And an indigestion having so many natural causes, it would be impossible to verify this. Well, if so, and the account in chapter 75 on why Balaam gave up on doing this supports it, is because God is putting, through His Church, obstacles in the way for demons. Valid sacraments, people living in the state of grace, so many sacramentals do pose obstacles to them.

There was a time before the Church spread and there is a time when Apostasy will eliminate this. Balaam could work evil spells, and Antichrist will be able to do so as well. Or his false prophet, whichever of them is going to do that. It is very possible, and therefore to me probable, from sources, that St. Front of Perigueux had to confront a demonic apparition summoned by the priest of Ceres* and one in which matter moved by demons in the shape of a giant snake functioned as a death machine where St. Front didn't stop it in time, until St. Front did catch up with it and forced it to jump into Dordogne, where it resumed the shape of inert rock.

This should be taken into account when reading stories from before the Gospel. Hercules very well could have had to in some sense (socially accepted fact) "fight" a Lernaean Hydra that was in reality a demonic apparition. Jason very well could have had to deal with a dragon which was no longer a post-Flood dinosaur, but a demon mimicking it. And so on. Where Pagan myths do not directly contradict Christian doctrine (like Hercules being son of Zeus or assumed into Olympus as a god, as Christians we know this is not true) or other certain knowledge (Hercules also did not carry heaven on his shoulders and Atlas is not doing so routinely) and also not, on the intersection of certain knowledge and Christian doctrine, Biblical, mainly historic lore (the couple on the Ark was not childless, so Deucalion and Pyrrha didn't happen as told, unless it was a later post-Flod regional Flood in Thessaly), and where it is of the type "heroic legend" (as in some connection to history) and not fake revelation (as most of Theogony, except it is believable Hesiod did see and hear Nine Muses, these being demons or witches) and not novel (Eros and Psyche is set in places as close to Never-Never-Land as Ancient Greek could produce and it is first told in a novel called The Golden Ass, by Apuleius), we normally should believe it, as giving at least a general outline of fact, is possibly garbled, in ways usually not identifiable.

And this is a major table turner in apologetics.

Me

"I believe the Flood because of the tradition from which Moses recorded Genesis 6 to 9."

Atheist

"The Greeks had a tradition about Hercules, do you believe that too?"

Me

"With a few exceptions on detail, mainly yes."

Atheist

[changes the subject or ceases to interact.]

But someone was giving St. Gregory's Life of Moses as a counterapologetics to either factual accounts being there this early or Church Fathers (more likely) being interested in factual accounts. I seem to recall the quotes meant to illustrate that St. Gregory was more interested in spiritual lessons was from ... the parts I saw in book II, or similar.

Now, a few chapters after this, after chapters 74 and 75 of book I, chapter 77 says the author has just gone through the overlook over the facts of the life of Moses, and is going to draw out spiritual lessons in the following.

This argument against factuality in Church Fathers, or interest for factual history, is therefore bypassing that Life of Moses is a bi-partite work and only book I is mainly historic, while book II is meant to give something else.

I do not deny that to Church Fathers the something else than the bare history was higher and more important, it is just that - in the words of C. S. Lewis, or often quoted by him from someone else "the highest does not stand without the lowest" - and the CHurch Fathers were fully aware of this principle.

Hans Georg Lundahl
Bpi, Georges Pompidou
St. Alexis Falconieri
(celebrated earlier, Feb. 12)
17.II.2020

Florentiae natalis sancti Alexii Falconerii Confessoris, e septem Fundatoribus Ordinis Servorum beatae Mariae Virginis; qui, decimo supra centesimum vitae suae anno, Christi Jesu et Angelorum praesentia recreatus, beato fine quievit. Ipsius tamen ac Sociorum festum pridie Idus Februarii celebratur.

* Or, some would now say, of Pachamama.