Of the Soul's Union with God and Its Demonical Assistance
New in 1533Perrone Compagni — Table of Comparison
1533 edition (3:33): new
This chapter, 3:33 (“Of the Soul's Union with God and Its Demonical Assistance”), occupies a significant place in Agrippa's systematic exposition of occult philosophy. In the 1533 Cologne printed edition (De occulta philosophia libri tres, sigla K in Perrone Compagni's critical apparatus), the text represents Agrippa's mature formulation of the ideas it addresses, the product of over two decades of reading, travel, and revision since the composition of the Würzburg draft.
According to Perrone Compagni's table of comparison, this chapter is entirely new in the 1533 edition: it has no antecedent in the Würzburg draft (W). Its presence marks one of the conceptual expansions that distinguish K from W — the addition of material reflecting Agrippa's subsequent reading and intellectual development.
The absence of this chapter from the Würzburg draft invites reflection on what prompted its insertion in the mature edition. Agrippa's intellectual biography between 1510 and 1530 — including his engagement with Neoplatonism, Kabbalah, Hermetism, and scholastic natural philosophy — provides the context for understanding such additions. The partial edition A (sigla A in Perrone Compagni) may offer clues about when the material was composed.
Scholarly Perspectives
Lehrich's monograph is, in its entirety, an argument about how Agrippa theorises contact with the angelic and demonic hierarchy. The angel/demon chapters of Book III provide the theological and cosmological taxonomy within which the magician's operations are classified as licit or illicit: angelic operations are legitimate because angels mediate the divine will; demonic operations are dangerous because demons can deceive. Van der Poel (1997) situates this demonology within Agrippa's broadly orthodox Catholic theology, in which the proper relationship between humans and supernatural beings is governed by faith, prayer, and moral purity.