The Treatises of Cyprian

1. That the devil has no power against man unless God have allowed it.

In the Gospel according to John: “Jesus said, Thou couldest have no power against me, unless it were given thee from above.”(John xix. 11) Also in the third of Kings: “And God stirred up Satan against Solomon himself.”(1 Kings xi. 23) Also in Job, first of all God permitted, and then it was allowed to the devil; and in the Gospel, the Lord first permitted, by saying to Judas, “What thou doest, do quickly.”(John xiii. 27) Also in Solomon, in the Proverbs: “The heart of the king is in God’s hand.”(Prov. xxi. 1)