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The Second Apology
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Chapter 5: How the Angels Sinned.
If someone thinks that acknowledging God as our helper means we shouldn’t be oppressed and persecuted by the wicked, I will address this as well. When God created the world, He gave humans dominion over earthly things and arranged the heavenly elements for the growth of food and the changing seasons. He established this divine law and created these things for humanity, placing angels in charge of caring for people and everything under heaven. However, the angels violated this role, became infatuated with women, and had children, who are known as demons. They then enslaved the human race, partly through magical writings, partly through instilling fear and inducing punishments, and partly by teaching people to offer sacrifices, incense, and libations, which they desired after being overcome by lustful passions. Among humanity, they spread murders, wars, adulteries, excessive deeds, and all forms of wickedness. As a result, poets and mythologists, unaware that it was the angels and demons born from them responsible for these actions against individuals, cities, and nations, mistakenly attributed them to god himself and those considered his true descendants, as well as to those called his brothers, Neptune and Pluto, and their descendants. Whatever names the angels had given themselves and their children, the people used those names for them.