Religious Hypocrisy and Moral Compromise in Joe Abercrombie’s The Devils

Defining the Thematic Claim

In The Devils, Joe Abercrombie dissects the gap between institutional piety and pragmatic evil. The central claim is that the Church, when faced with existential threats, systematically justifies immoral means by invoking the necessity of a “greater good.” This hypocrisy is concretised in the secret Chapel of the Holy Expediency, a thirteenth chapel where the Church employs sin, monsters, and deception as tools. Every character who crosses its threshold must confront the question: can one fight devils without becoming a devil?

Tracing the Theme Across the Plot

1. The Recruitment of Brother Diaz (Chapter 3: The Thirteenth Virtue)

Brother Eduardo Diaz, a bureaucratic monk with a hidden past of ambition and lust, expects an audience with the Pope. Instead, Cardinal Zizka ushers him into the Chapel of the Holy Expediency and unveils a worldview where “restraint would be sin.” She argues that because elves, demons, and schism threaten creation, the Church must abandon ordinary virtue. When Diaz objects—asking if fighting devils requires using devils—Zizka does not deny it. She answers that the stakes make moral objections “immoral.” Diaz, desperate to advance, accepts with the hollow promise “to do good.”

This scene establishes the core hypocrisy: the Church’s highest officials openly acknowledge their methods are damnable, yet they frame this as a holy duty. Diaz’s weak-willed compliance shows how institutional pressure silences conscience.

2. A Pilgrimage Through Moral Carnage (Chapter 13: Least Worst Choices)

Diaz and his monstrous flock—a blood-drinking knight, a vampire, a demon, an elf, and the swindler-princess Alex—must travel to Venice disguised as pilgrims. The staging ground is a squalid tent city where pilgrims sin openly before seeking absolution. Brother Diaz is horrified but powerless. Alex, a thief who was recently revealed as a princess, dismisses his protests with cynical pragmatism: “Venice is the least worst choice.” Jakob of Thorn, the scarred Templar, echoes that “least worst is the best you can hope for.”

Here the theme expands beyond the chapel to the entire Church apparatus. The journey forces Diaz to witness that the system he serves has already abandoned moral clarity. The “holy” pilgrimage is a farce; the Church’s response to evil is to hire monsters and look the other way.

3. The Binding That Proves Divinity (Chapter 43: My Greed Is a Famine)

The magician Balthazar, bound by the Pope’s spell (the papal red line on his wrist), has tried every means to break free, including summoning a Duke of Hell. All failed. In a stunned exchange, he learns that even Shaxep could not overcome the binding. Jakob of Thorn says, “Finally, He gets it,” implying that the Pope truly is the Second Coming of the Saviour.

This moment subverts the hypocrisy: the Church’s power is authentic, not a fraud. Yet the irony deepens. The same Church that claims divine authority uses demonic pacts, murder, and deceit. Balthazar, a hardened cynic, chooses to stay in the chapel because it serves his ambition—a perfect mirror of the Church’s own calculus.

4. Mother Beckert’s Indictment (Chapter 72: Saint Tabitha’s Day)

Mother Beckert arrives in the Holy City with contempt for its prostitutes and preachers—but she condemns the sickness, not the symptom. Speaking to the mysterious Caruso, she defines hypocrisy as “the pretence that you are something better, nobler, holier than you are.” She knows Cardinal Zizka well: Zizka is “like the sea. Ever hungry, never sated.” Beckert herself is “the rock on which the water breaks.” She explicitly names the Thirteenth Chapel and prepares to confront Zizka.

Beckert’s uncompromising integrity provides the clearest critique. She does not deny that the Church faces threats. She refuses to accept that lying and sinning are the only answers. Her presence sets up a final moral clash, though the novel’s end leaves the conflict unresolved, questioning whether rock or sea will prevail.

Character and Symbol Connections

Complexity and Contradiction

Abercrombie does not allow a simple verdict. The Church is hypocritical, yet its power proves real—the papal binding literally contains demons. Diaz is cowardly and ambitious, but he also grows into a man who risks his soul for others (as when he uses Saint Beatrix’s vial to repel a monster in chapter 68). Balthazar chooses to stay because he finally believes in the Saviour, yet his motives remain selfish. Even Mother Beckert’s purity is a kind of inflexibility; she may break before she bends.

The novel refuses to endorse either side. Instead, it presents a world where moral compromise is inescapable, but acknowledging that compromise as hypocrisy—rather than dressing it in piety—is the only honest stance. The Chapel of the Holy Expediency stands as a permanent contradiction: a place where the Church openly admits it lies.

Five Study Questions and Answers

1. How does the Chapel of the Holy Expediency embody the theme of religious hypocrisy? The chapel is a secret institution within the Church that uses immoral means—demons, murder, lies—to fight threats. Its very existence proves the Church preaches virtue while practicing vice. Diaz is recruited to lead it, and his internal struggle shows how individuals rationalise participation.

2. Compare Diaz’s and Mother Beckert’s responses to the Church’s corruption. What does each reveal about moral compromise? Diaz bends, rationalises, and eventually accepts the role despite doubts. Beckert refuses to bend, explicitly calling out hypocrisy. Their contrast shows that while Diaz represents the majority who compromise, Beckert’s integrity is rare and lonely—but perhaps not effective.

3. What role does the papal binding (the red line) play in exposing hypocrisy? The binding is a magical mark that forces obedience. It is applied by the Pope, who is supposedly holy, but it functions as a tool of control. Characters like Balthazar and Diaz must decide whether to serve because they are compelled or because they believe. The binding literalises the Church’s coercive, hypocritical authority.

4. How does the pilgrimage to Venice in Chapter 13 deepen the critique of religious institutions? The pilgrimage camp is a “pit of vice” where pilgrims sin openly before leaving. Jakob says “least worst is the best you can hope for.” This shows that the Church has normalised moral failure as a pragmatic response, and that the entire system—from pope to pilgrim—is complicit.

5. Does the novel ultimately condemn or excuse the Chapel of the Holy Expediency? Use evidence to support your answer. The novel neither condemns nor excuses; it exposes. The chapel’s members are flawed but sometimes effective. The binding is real, suggesting divine approval, yet the methods are clearly evil. Abercrombie leaves the question open: when facing apocalyptic evil, is any tool permissible? The story suggests that even if the answer is yes, you must not pretend the tool is holy.

For further exploration, see the full book page or individual character analyses for Brother Eduardo Diaz, Princess Alexia Pyrogennetos, Balthazar Sham Ivam Draxi, Jakob of Thorn, Vigga Ullasdóttir, and Sunny Darktooth. Key symbols include the Papal Binding, Split Coin Pendant, Saint Natalia’s Flame, and the Pillar of Troy.