Is it evil to summon demons to make you virtuous?

[Rainaldo]

Does the question make sense to you?

Sure it does. When something falls short of what it’s supposed to be, that’s evil. Like a dog born without eyes.

 

[Rainaldo]

Ontological perfection is not akin to moral perfection. The devil is an ontologically perfect being, since there is no potentiality in him, only pure actuality, however he and all demons are morally vicious.

I’d prefer to say there is potentiality in an angel, because angels are able to think about one thing, then think about another. God, however, cannot.

 

[fakename]

Ontological perfection is not akin to moral perfection. The devil is an ontologically perfect being, since there is no potentiality in him, only pure actuality, however he and all demons are morally vicious.

I think that the two are related though, perfect being must be perfectly good and vice versa since good ethics is good for being and bad ethics is bad.

After all, what is ethically good, is that which fulfills a thing’s nature. However, perhaps free-will alone is often not sufficient to get to that goal just as the bare existence of a seed does not suffice to produce a tree.

 

[fakename]

Wow, this is…weird.

It is weird since it is a contradiction. Is there a way to resolve the contradiction? I think an answer may lie in the definition of the word “want” in the sentence “the good man wants virtue”. Now a man cannot want a thing more than he wants that thing (w/o equivocating on the uses of that thing). So a good man does not want virtue to the extent that he would want vice to get virtue. Therefore a person should not ask the devil for virtue.

Also, a good man wants what is reasonable. But one cannot want something above itself since it is unreasonable. So that’s another reason not to do what I asked about.

Does anyone think this solution is good or if there are any other solutions?

 

[underacloud]

a) As others have posted, if a demon offers you virtue, it is undoubtedly a deciet and an attempt to ruin your soul. We teach our kids not to talk to strangers…and the Church teaches us not to summon demons.

b) No demon can offer you something good that cannot be obtained from God. God is the source of all goodness and teaches us to ask Him directly in prayer for our needs, material and spiritual. God will provide…no need for demons.

c) Consider that the devil tempted Christ. The devil offered Him the whole world. But it was to tempt Christ away from His mission, which is our salvation. Christ resisted his temptations and banished him. Use Christ as your example here.

Have nothing to do with demons. They cannot offer you anything good and only wish, through hatred, to destroy you.

 

[Hadrianus]

For Judaism, this would most likely mean summoning demons within yourself, or creating external demons by committing sins. In either case, the demon created would not honor your request to be virtuous since its being is the product of your own vice.

Metzerboy,
I am interested in your comment, because I have the impression that Judaism does recognize the existence of demons. I suspect that Reform Judaism wouldn't, but my guess is that Orthodox Judaism would. I am just curious on this point. After all much angelology and demonology does derive from the Talmud and Jewish tradition. Hence, I am interested in your opinion upon this.

 

[LegoGE1947]

Sure it does. When something falls short of what it’s supposed to be, that’s evil. Like a dog born without eyes.

More like a dog born without a sense of smell or hearing. Smell & hearing are a dog’s best developed senses. A dog without these would be pretty near useless I would think! :shrug:I