“The Christian thaumaturgist once having broken all association with the Mysteries of the temples and with “these schools so renowned for magic”, described by St. Hilarion, could certainly expect but little to rival the Pagan wonder-workers. No apostle, with the exception perhaps of healing by mesmeric power, has ever equaled Apollonius of Tyana; and the scandal created among the apostles by the miracle-doing Simon Magus, is too notorious to be repeated here again.
“How is it”, asks Justin Martyr, in evident dismay, “how is it that the talismans of Apollonius have power in certain members of creation, for they prevent, as we see, the fury of the waves, and the violence of the winds, and the attacks of wild beasts; and whilst our Lord’s miracles are preserved by tradition alone, those of Apollonius are most numerous, and actually manifested in present facts, so as to lead astray all beholders?” This perplexed martyr solves the problem by attributing very correctly the efficacy and potency of the charms used by Apollonius to his profound knowledge of the sympathies and antipathies, (or repugnancies), of nature.
Unable to deny the evident superiority of their enemies’ powers, the fathers had recourse to the old but ever successful method – that of slander. They honored the theurgists with the same insinuating calumny that had been resorted to by the Pharisees against Jesus. “Thou hast a daemon”, the elders of the Jewish Synagogue had said to him. “Thou hast the Devil”, repeated the cunning fathers, with equal truth, addressing the Pagan thaumaturgist; and the widely bruited charge, erected later into an article of faith, won the day.
But the modern heirs of these ecclesiastical falsifiers, who charge magic, spiritualism, and even magnetism with being produced by a demon, forget, or perhaps never read the classics. None of our bigots has ever looked with more scorn on the abuses of magic, than did the true initiate of old.”
H. P. Blavatsky
The Mark Of God: Understanding Your "I AM Presence" 