The Contested Boundaries of "Magic" and "Religion" in Late Pagan Monotheism

Abstract

The Western concept of "magic" as the demonized other of religion is usually held to originate within early Christian representations of pagan idoloty. This article argues instead that the magic-religion dichotomy was first shaped within pagan monotheistic dicourse. Late pagan thinkers were deeply preoccupied with the reconciliation of theology and cult. They questioned whether the older traditions of cult sacrifice were compatible with the worship of one supreme God. The most prevalent way of addressing this tension was to argue that rituals were address to daimons. Ritual actions that fell outside the bounds of monotheistic piety were illegitimate and magical. The category "magic" as religion's oppositve thus evolved out of tensions between pagan monotheism and daimonology.