Demoniality; or, Incubi and SuccubiSinistrari, Ludovico Maria
Religion
Demoniality; or, Incubi and Succubi
Sinistrari, Ludovico Maria
Catholic Church -- Doctrines; Demonology -- Early works to 1800
We also read in the Testament, _Genesis_, chap. 6, verse 4, that giants
were born when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men: that
is the very letter of the sacred text. Now, those giants were men of
_great stature_, says _Baruch_, chap. 3, verse 26, and far superior
to other men. Not only were they distinguished by their huge size,
but also by their physical power, their plundering habits and their
tyranny. Through their criminal excesses the Giants were the primary
and principal cause of the Flood, according to Cornelius a Lapide,
in his _Commentary on Genesis_. Some contend that by Sons of God are
meant the sons of Seth, and by Daughters of men the daughters of
Cain, because the former practiced piety, religion and every other
virtue, whilst the descendants of Cain were quite the reverse; but,
with all due deference to Chrysostom, Cyrillus, Hilarius and others
who are of that opinion, it must be conceded that it clashes with the
obvious meaning of the text. Scripture says, in fact, that of the
conjunction of the above mentioned were born men of huge bodily size:
consequently, those giants were not previously in existence, and if
their birth was the result of that conjunction, it cannot be ascribed
to the intercourse of the sons of Seth with the daughters of Cain, who
being themselves of ordinary stature, could but procreate children of
ordinary stature. Therefore, if the intercourse in question gave birth
to beings of huge stature, the reason is that it was not the common
connection between man and woman, but the performance of Incubi Demons
who, from their nature, may very well be styled sons of God. Such is
the opinion of the Platonist Philosophers and of Francis Georges the
Venetian; nor is it discrepant from that of Josephus the Historian,
Philo the Jew, S. Justinus the Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, and
Tertullian, who look upon Incubi as corporeal Angels who have allowed
themselves to fall into the sin of lewdness with women. Indeed, as
shall be shown hereafter, though seemingly distinct, those two opinions
are but one and the same.
33. Si ergo Incubi tales, ut fert communis sententia, Gigantes
genuerunt, accepto semine ab homine, juxta id, quod supra dictum est,
non potuerunt ex illo semine nasci nisi homines ejusdem staturæ plus
minusve, cum eo a quo semen acceptum est: nec enim facit ad altiorem
corporis staturam major seminis quantitas, ita ut attracta insolite a
Dæmone, dum Succubus fit homini, augeat ultra illius staturam enormiter
corpus ab eo geniti; quia, ut supra diximus, hoc residet in spiritu, et
non in mole seminis: ut proinde necesse sit concludere, quod ab alio
semine, quam humano, hujusmodi gigantes nati sint, et proinde Dæmon
Incubus non humano, sed alio semine utatur ad generationem. Quid igitur
dicendum?
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