by other words in the text which affirme that the Egyptian Sorcerers they did in like maner by their enchantments Where you may plainely perceiue the particle of likenes purposely put down to set foorth the difference as if he should say the Sorcerers they did the very like in shewe although not in substance For marke I beseech you there is in that text both the maner and meanes of their working precisely put downe The manner of their working was by a likenes of serpents in an onelie appearance the meanes of effecting that worke was the Sorcerers inchantments From which words of the text I may reason thus A like cause argueth a like effect But the Sorcerers inchantments which are altogither deceiueable false and standing onely in outward appearance were the very efficient cause of that likenes therefore the effect I meane that likenes it selfe must needs be deceiueable false and onely exist in an outward appearance Thus then the case it selfe being by all the premisses apparantly euident I will now returne at the last to answere your maine or principall argument which was this in effect Satan by the Egyptian Sorcerers transformed rods into serpents therefore he is much more able to doe the same by himselfe This I must tell you is a false and deceiueable argument For first in your antecedent you do shamefullie begge the cause in question before it be prooued and now when it comes to the triall it is not able to holde the hammering Againe your consequent also is false for therein you do make the diuell a verie free and absolute agent in transforming of bodies as well without as with meanes at his pleasure which onely is a power peculiar to God whereas the diuels can accomplish nothing in nature but by naturall causes and meanes no more then the Carpenter can frame an house without fit matter and instruments to worke withall So then both parts of your argument being apparantly false you cannot possiblie conclude from thence any power in the diuell for an essentiall transforming of bodies Lycanthropus Well sir Howsoeuer you passe ouer this argument taken from the sorcerers rods transformed to serpents and all this forsooth by a pretie distinstion of a thing in existence and of a thing in appearance yet haue I one argument more which you shall neuer be able to auoide with that cunning deuise Physiologus Let vs heare that irrefragable argument for hitherto you haue afoorded vs none that needes any great cunning in answering Lycanthropus Nebuchad-nezzar it is very well knowen was essentially transformed into an oxe therfore the diuel may easily change himselfe into any shape whatsoeuer Physiologus Or euer I come to answere directly your argument doe tell me how it is certainly knowen that Nebuchad-nezzer was essentially transformed into an oxe Lycanthropus Iosephus writing of the Iewish antiquities he flatly affirmes it so Physiologus Iosephus doth so I confesse Howbeit Iosephus he hath beene so often discredited and tainted in other points of more waightie importance as the lesse credit is to be giuen him in this especially the very words of the text being otherwaies euident and testifying plainly vnto vs that Nebuchad-nezzer he was not essentially transformed at all either in minde or in bodie Lycanthropus Neuer goe about to make vs thinke so for the very text it telleth vs plainly he did eate grasse like an oxe Physiologus It doth so in deede and what of that will you hereupon inferre that therefore he was essentially transformed into an oxe That were a mad kinde of inference So conies and geese they doe eate grasse like an oxe and yet notwithstanding they still retaine their proper essential being without any essential transformings into either oxen or asses Besides that if you will wilfully insist vpon any essentiall transformation in Nebuchad-nezzer you might with more shew of sense and better probabilitie of reason auouch that he was transformed rather into an eagle both bicause the haires of his head saith the text were growen like to an eagles feathers and for that also the very nailes of his hands and feete they were like to the clawes of a bird And therefore it would be more consonant you see to conclude that Nebuchad-nezzer was rather transformed into some fowle hauing feathers and clawes then into a beast that hath hornes and hoofes Howbeit there was in him no corporal transformation at all but only a changed minde for so saith the text Let his hart be changed from mans nature and a beastes hart be giuen vnto him Lycanthropus If you yeeld vnto him a changed hart I make no doubt at all of an altered bodie For if the minde it selfe which is the first substantial forme in man be transformed as you say to an oxe what other forme or being at all can be giuen to the bodie it being the organical partes of the minde but only the forme of an oxe Physiologus What meane you by Nebuchad-nezzer his hart transformed Lycanthropus I meane thereby that his very hart it selfe was essentially changed into the very hart of a beast for so saith the text Physiologus The text vnderstandeth there no reall transmutation or transformation of substance but only an alteration or change of qualities For there is no doubt at all but that in Nebuchad-nezzer there still remained a reasonable hart howsoeuer by the iust iudgement of God for his pride he was for the determined time euen vtterly depriued of all vse of reason Hauing his said hart for the present so plunged in beastly corruptions and so wholy ouerwhelmed with brutish affections as that thereby he differed nothing at all from a beast being more blockish and senselesse in humane knowledge then the very oxe that feedeth on grasse So that how honorable soeuer before in princely dignitie yet hauing now in him no vnderstanding at all he is not vnlike to the beastes that perish Lycanthropus If there were in his hart no substantiall change at all how could there possibly be wrought in the same such altered or changed qualities Physiologus There is nothing you knowe impossible to God By whose eternal decree the hart of Nebuchad-nezzer was so thoroughly ouertaken and tainted with such an outragious furie or madnes as that he being vtterly depriued of humane sense did presently depart the Court very wildly wandring ouer the wildernes like to a beast conuersing in brutish manner among the brute beastes themselues and leading for the time a very sauage and beastly behauiour Exorcistes If Nebuchad-nezzer was not essentially transformed at all in bodie or minde but possessed only with furie and madnes it is vnlikely his Courtiers would suffer him then to conuerse with beasts abroad in the fields but would rather haue bound him and kept him vp close in the darke and therefore for any thing hitherto heard he might be essentially transformed into a beast Physiologus That he was not essentially transformed at all it is very
essentiall transforming of Satan into an Angel of light Lycanthropus Conclude what you please yet will I at no hand be perswaded but that the diuell can essentially transforme himselfe into the verie substance of an Angell of light Orthodoxus Euen as readily I warrant you as the priest can transubstantiate bread and wine into the very naturall bodie and bloud of Christ. If you be able throughly to prooue this transformation of diuels you may pleasure the papists with an vnanswerable argument for their popish transubstantiations and surely they should therein be highly beholding vnto you But vntil your selfe and they do sensiblie demonstrate vnto vs how two substantiall formes may possiblie be inherent togither and at once in one and the selfesame subiect and that also without confusion of substances say what you can for your matters we will beleeue you alike In the meane time let vs heare some sounder reasons concerning this point or put an end to our speech Lycanthropus Whether the reasons be sound or vnsound it makes no great matter It hath beene taught for an infallible truth from age to age that diuels can transforme themselues essentially into what substance they please and therefore for my part I vnfeinedly beleeue and subscribe to the same Orthodoxus Antiquitie how gray-headed soeuer hath no authoritie at all to priviledge errour and therefore you are ouer rashlie to resolute in setling your faith vpon such an inueterate dottage Physiologus Maister Orthodoxus do rest you a while and let me argue this point a little Come on Lycanthropus you do beleeue you say that Diuels can transforme themselues into what substance they please what is your reason hereof Lycanthropus My reason is this They can forme bodies therefore also they can transforme bodies To denie them an absolute power herein were to yeeld lesse vnto diuels then we do vnto men For a Taylour we see he is able of a peece of cloth to forme a gowne and able also to transforme the same into either a cloake or a coate Physiologus You haue forgot I perceiue what was taught you of late Namely that the worke of creation is onely proper to God and beyond the power of diuel or angel and yet now againe you wil haue the diuel if not a creatour of substances yet an Artist at least very skilfull in forming and transforming of gownes and cloakes which I beleeue would trouble both him and the Tailour if they had neither cloath nor other stuffe to forme them vpon But goe to proue that the diuels are able essentially to forme or transforme true naturall bodies Lycanthropus I prooue it thus The diuel was able by the Egiptian sorcerours to transforme their rods into serpents and therefore he is much more able to do the same by himselfe Physiologus Forbearing a while to answere directly the very point of your argument I must tel you this by the way that through such an inconsiderate reasoning you dangerously make the diuel a very free agent in forming and transforming of bodies Howbeit letting these ouersights slip doe tel me whether those your supposed serpents made by the sorcerours were true serpents in deede or serpents onelie in outward appearance Philologus They were true serpents no doubt Physiologus If serpents without doubt as you say then were they such either necessarily or contingently Pneumatomachus Nay not contingently but necessarily such or no serpents at all Physiologus If necessarily serpents in deede then tel me whether they were such by a naturall or supernaturall necessity Lycanthropus What meane you by a naturall necessity Physiologus By a naturall necessity I do here vnderstand the necessary beginning or cause of motion and rest in euery such naturall thing as nature it selfe is especially inherent in by it selfe alone and not by accident So that this naturall necessity is you see some certeine secret power not perceiueable by sense but by vnderstanding alone yea and the same is so throughly instructed of God by a secret instinct as it is able of it selfe to supply an essentiall being with other naturall faculties to euery corporall substance whether element stone hearbe tree lyon horse egle woolhe man beast or any other like naturall essence Now then doe tel me whether they were true serpents in deed by such a naturall necessity Lycanthropus Yea euen by that selfe same naturall necessity Physiologus Then vndoubtedly they were such either by the orderly or the vnorderly course of nature Lycanthropus Such they were euen by an orderly course of nature Physiologus Then did they also consist vpon true and orderly beginnigs namely vpon true matter and forme Lycanthropus They consisted of true matter and forme I warrant you Physiologus Doe you warrant me A wise man would euen blush for shame to auouch such palpable and grose absurdities Know you not that the orderly course of nature in her ordinary producing of liuing creatures is onely and altogether by generation And dare you then thus boldly affirme that a sory twig or rod of a tree was such a true naturall matter as that from thence might possibly haue been produced some naturall serpent in any orderly course of nature Againe could any true liuely forme of a naturall serpent be possibly giuen to the twig of a tree by any possible power of either angel or diuel Indeed the diuel and those his Egyptian sorcerers if they had so much spare time at that present they might then I confesse haue cunningly carued or cut out from a peece of wood some lineament all fashion figure proportion or shape of serpents and very skilfully haue cast the same into a serpentine colour howbeit such a formed kinde of serpents both for matter and forme had onelie beene artificiall and accidentarie but neither might that matter nor forme of theirs haue truely beene said to be naturall Lycanthropus Let matter and forme be whatsoeuer it will true serpents I am certeine they were Physiologus How certeine soeuer you are they could not possiblie be true serpents indeed in any orderly course of nature as you haue hitherto heard For then also they must necessarilie haue had their true matter and forme verie certeine within themselues and the same also very absolute and constant by nature Euen as we see the selfesame matter and forme of a dogge an horse a bird a man or a serpent which was at the first creation the same continueth in an orderly course of nature certeine and constant now at this present to the end of the world But these your supposed serpents they had no such true matter and forme at all in themselues and therefore no true serpents indeed in any orderly course of nature Lycanthropus Then were they such in an vnorderly course of nature for true serpents I am sure they were Physiologus True serpents you saie you are sure they were and yet can you not possiblie shew how they should be such except as
catholike faith doe iointly auouch that spirits and diuels are of an Angelical nature and that howsoeuer by malice corrupted their naturall faculties doe still remaine absolute in them we may consequently conclude that therefore no sensible matter or corporall vertue is able of it selfe directly or indirectly to effect in them any such action they beeing properly of a spirituall substance So that the diuels themselues they cannot by any such created or corporall meanes be compelled to any thing much lesse may they be violently expelled from their actuall possessions in men Although yet I dare not deny but that by a diuine and supernaturall power whether immediate or mediate they may be dispossessed or driuen from their hold Exorcistes But the very text it selfe doth plainely auouch that when Dauid did play on his harpe the euill spirit of the Lord departed from Saul Physiologus My answere is this It is generally doubted and our selues do flatly deny that Saul was euer essentially possest with either spirit or diuel Howbeit because you labour with tooth and naile to prooue the dispossessing of Demoniakes by an onely created or meere naturall meanes and thereupon also would threape vpon vs a supposed essentiall possession in Saul go to let it for arguments sake be granted which will neuer be prooued that Saul in deed was so possest as your selfe do happely imagine what then infer you thereof Exorcistes I infer from thence his vndoubted dispossession and that also by the onely bare meanes of a melodious instrument For Dauid but plaid with his harpe and the euil spirit of the Lord departed from Saul Physiologus Howsoeuer your selfe may conceiue of the matter it is doubted of some whether the euil spirit did euer depart from Saul neither is any man bound to beleeue the same as a certeine truth For this is vndoubtedly true that a man may be alwaies actually possessed and yet not alwaies apprehend the violent or actuall outrage of satan Besides that if Saul had been dispossessed in deed yet that selfesame dispossession was effected neither by the inherent holinesse of Dauid himselfe nor by any supposed helpe of his harpe For a meere created nature it hath of it selfe no possible power to expel the possession of spirits or diuels as was shewed before no that is onely an extraordinary and supernaturall work of the Lord. Exorcistes Yea but the text it telleth vs plainely that when Dauid once handled his harpe the euil spirit of the Lord departed from Saul Physiologus That is the euill spirit he shewed not his outragious force as before in Saul Vnderstanding thereby that the torments of Saul through the melodious sound of Dauids harpe they might for the time be something abated though the euill spirit it selfe if any such there was not vtterly expelled from Saul himselfe and thus much also affirmeth the text Namely that when Dauid did handle his harpe king Saul was refreshed or eased Yea and the seruants also of Saul they accordingly aduised him a little before to procure to himselfe some excellent harper that when the euill spirit should vexe him the said harper might play with his harpe And wherefore I pray you to expell the diuell nay but to ease the king for the present Exorcistes How should the king be eased at all and the spirit not expelled out of his bodie Physiologus Verie well I assure you For this we may boldly auouch namely that by meanes of a melodious sound or some other like sensible matter such as are actually afflicted of Satan they may haue their afflictions for some season abated notwithstanding the actuall possession of Satan it selfe be not vtterly expelled and this also in a double respect First because the action of all actiues are euermore actuall in a predisposed patient in such a subiect I meane as is proportionably appliable and fitted before to the orderly apprehension of those selfesame intended actions For spirits or diuels they cannot essentially alter any one qualitie in a corporal matter when and so oft as it pleaseth themselues they onely may effect some such kinde of thing by meanes of some corporall actiues And for that selfe-same consideration when they would afflict any man with their actuall torments they doe eftsoones respect the naturall disposition of some corporal matter whereupon they may worke their intended effects Knowing this by experience that in euerie such matter as naturally hath in it the selfesame naturall qualities a transmutation of qualities may more easily be effected by much And hereof also it is that certaine Lunatike persons are eftsoones verie strangely and diuersly afflicted at some one time more then another according to the variable disposition of the Moone it selfe as was shewed before Because the Moone being predominant ouer all moist bodies and the braine also of man it being naturally more moist then any part else the said braine is therefore more apt at one time to receiue the actions of Satan then it is at another according to the variable dispositions of the Moone it selfe being then more effectuall in them â—uen as also we see by dayly experience that all shel-fish in the seas they are at the increase of the Moone verie full and eftsoones againe by the onely decrease thereof they become verie emptie So surely the diuell he obserueth those selfesame seasons wherein the bodies of men being weake are more subiect to sicknesses and abuseth those times to his pestilent purposes And therefore euen as by the onely obseruation of meere naturall causes the diuell he may aggrauate his actuall torments in men so surely on the other side by the onely bare meanes of a melodious harmonie or some other such sensible matter there may be procured in the bodies of men such an apt disposition as is lesse subiect by much to those the operations of Satan And so by consequence those sefesame afflictions or torments which were actually inflicted vpon them by Satan they may verie well be abated or lessened notwithstanding the diuell his actuall possession be not vtterly expelled Lycanthropus In what respect else may their said torments be abated Physiologus Secondly this said mitigation of satan his actuall torments inflicted on men it may very easily be effected also if we but consider aright as we ought that to the actuall afflicting of any there is required in the patient an apt apprehension of the intended affliction For euen as delectation or pleasure is none other thing els but the coniunction of some conuenient actiue to some conuenient passiue with an apt apprehension of the present delight in so much as where there is no such apprehension there is no delectation so surely in affliction or heauinesse which is the coniunction of some conuenient actiue to some conuenient passiue there must needs be an apt apprehension of the obiected affliction otherwise where such apprehension is wanting there the affliction is
appointed praier and fasting an onely effectuall meanes for the powerfull expelling of diuels he notwithstanding all this doth make a speciall choice of persons of places and times for the more orderly effecting of euerie such admirable enterprise Orthodoxus Your answeres without doubt are suddenly fallen to such deadly debate among themselues as the one is readie to pull out the throate of the other by reason of some bad disposition or present defect in your memorie For praier fasting ere while was the only appointed meanes to expel the power of the diuel and now the efficacie thereof is restrained to places times It was not long since a publike ordinance appointed generallie for all men and now it is imposed vpon some speciall persons Not long since it might well be effected by the partie himselfe and his parents but now the powerfull dispatch thereof is peculiar onely to preachers and pastours Not long since it was an ordinarie power incident to any godly Minister or others but no Minister now how godlie soeuer hath the good hap to hit on that matter saue onely your selfe Thus then you see that as the disease so also the cure it doth ebbe and flowe with the Moone Howbeit these doubtfull vncerteinties doe sauour verie shrewdly of some legerdemaine at the least And howsoeuer your selfe auouching that God maketh speciall choise of persons of places and times woulde cunningly shelter your cause vnder Augustines credite verie certeine I am that the same is onely a Iesuiticall iuggling deuise and therefore it deserueth the selfesame answere with theirs For be it that the Lord as Augustine saith doth make a speciall choice of persons of places and times for the orderly effecting of euery such admirable action this prooueth not that the power of working myracles continueth still to this present Onely it sheweth that whensoeuer the Lord worketh any woonderfull worke he is free to make choise of persons of places and times as seemeth best to his wisedome And therefore admitting all this for a truth do tell me withall by what meanes you are certeine that the Lord made speciall choise of your selfe for such speciall busines Exorcistes Why sir the verie effect it selfe doth fully declare the truth of the matter for I cast foorth the diuell Orthodoxus Be it that some such effect as your selfe surmizeth did forthwith succeed your saide enterprize yet forsomuch as your selfe did no more in the matter then was ordinarily incident you say to any godly preacher or others how comes it to passe that those other performing the very selfesame things you performed your selfe no such admirable effect should follow their labors Was it for that the rest of the Ministers were all but vngodly wretches in comparison of you Or was it so rather for that those Ministers fearing the Lord aright the Lord would not suffer their innocent soules to be falsly seduced by any such sleights or for that you your selfe being at that time more destitude of grace had for the present some power to effect such a false deceiueable signe to your greater condemnation without speedie repentance Exorcistes Howsoeuer I may not impure a lesse measure of godlinesse to others neither yet arrogate any more to my selfe then to any of the rest verie certeine it is that onely my selfe had then the speciall power to expell the diuell Physiologus Master Orthodoxus let me argue this point Come on Exorcistes If your owne selfe as you say had then a more speciall power to expell the diuell by prayer and fasting then any of the rest that your said power it must needs be a vocall or personall power at the least My meaning is that such a speciall power it proceeded either from your prayer or your person but not from your prayer at all for the others also they prayed and fasted as deuoutly as you did your selfe albeit in vaine and therefore your prayer of it selfe it could haue no more power then theirs vnlesse hapily you haue some speciall prayer for that speciall purpose beyond the rest of your brethren Yea and when all comes to all it was not your prayer but your preaching it should seeme that expelled the diuell Againe if such a speciall power proceeded from your person alone then surely that selfe same personall power it was either some naturall or supernaturall power at the least Howbeit a meere naturall power it might not possibly be because no created or meere naturall power may possibly extend foorth it selfe to any such supernaturall action as hath been sufficiently shewed before Exorcistes That followeth not For the body of Christ it was vndoubtedly a created or true naturall body and yet notwithstanding there went vertue or power from out of the same for the admirable curing of people And therefore if it so seemed good to the Lord for the glory of his name why might not some power in like manner proceed from my person for the timely expelling of that spirit or diuel Physiologus Besides your shamelesse pride in matching your body with the body of Christ you do monstrously mistake the very point of your purpose For do you imagine that there went any power essentially from out of the body of Christ for the admirable curing of any Exorcistes I make no question thereof And the scripture it telleth vs plainly that the whole multitude thronged to touch him for there proceeded vertue out of him and healed them all Physiologus Though it be said in the text that vertue proceeded out of Christ to the curing of many yet that must not be vnderstood as though any vertue essentially existing in the naturall body of Christ did passe foorth essentially from him vnto others in that selfesame absolute number no but this proceeding of vertue from the bodie of Christ vnto others is so farre foorth to be accounted a going foorth as the effect may be said to proceed from the cause Or it is to be interpreted according to the maner of a cause producing an effect The which are said to go foorth the one from the other in as much as the verie cause it selfe doth apparantly shine foorth in that selfesame effect which it worketh And euen after such a manner we must vnderstand this matter in question Because the Diuine vertue it selfe essentially existing in the person of Christ did effectually procure present health to the parties oppressed Otherwaies how must that text be vnderstood which telleth vs that the wisedome of God being but one the same can do all things it selfe that it renueth all and entreth eueh into the holie soules making them the friends and prophets of God Now sir because it is said he entreth into the holie soules must we therefore imagine the holie spiriâ— of God to be any where now where it was not before not so for the same of necessitie at all times and seasons is euerie where present Howbeit because the holie spirit of God doth then
possession we tolde you was ment an essentiall or personall entring in men the which we vtterlie reiected as a palpable vntruth absurd in Philosophie and vnsound in Diuinitie as by vnanswerable arguments authenticall authorities and plaine euidence of Scripture was apparantly prooued vnto you Telling you further that if such a reall possession be granted the same must be either a mentall or corporall possession The real-ment all possession we flatly denied Because else the possessed mans minde it must needs be a locall-receptacle essentially and substantially comprehending the diuell for the present which by the verie swaie of arguments the authoritie of writers and plaine euidence of Scriptures we fully confuted And this also in effect was the verie summe or scope of our second conference Exorcistes I remember it well Orthodoxus Then next concerning the reall-corporall possession that also we reiected as fond and friuolous it being a matter neuer purposed by the Lord himselfe in the first creation of bodies For else the minde it selfe must be vniustly charged to answere all those her animall and organicall operations which without any her consent and approbation are violently enforced vpon the possessed mans bodie or if the possessed himselfe being freed from those operations the diuell alone should be called to account for the guilt of those actions then something concerning the possessed himselfe should be acted by him to no purpose Besides that such a real corporall possession the diuell being onely a spirituall substance cannot possiblie be perceiued of the possessed himselfe but onely effectiuely and therefore there can be no sensible perceiuance of any such essentiall possession vnlesse we retaine the Platonists opinion concerning corporall diuels A thing directly opposite to reason to the testimonie of writers and the plaine euidence of sacred Scriptures And this also as I take it was in effect the summe of our third conference Exorcistes I may with no good conscience denie it Orthodoxus Then next because your selfe so earnestly insisted vpon the reall corporall possession it was further declared vnto you that if the same should be granted the diuels then they must necessarily haue such a kinde of possession either by assuming to themselues some true naturall bodie or by transforming themselues into some true naturall bodie at least Their assuming of true naturall bodies wee flatly reiected as an opinion too too vnreasonable absurd and most senslesse whether we vnderstand the same of bodies created before or of bodies then foorthwith to be created And that therefore the diuell his tempting of Euah by the Serpent the Angell his deliuerie of a sensible speech by Baalam his Asse the diuell his supposed assuming of Samuels bodie with such other examples and Scriptures which verie manie doe most ignorantly vrge for this matter they are too too grosly and fondly abused as we prooued vnto you by arguments by writers and by the sacred scriptures And this also if I be not fowly deceiued was in effect the summe of our fourth conference Exorcistes I dare not denie any part thereof Orthodoxus Then next for the diuell his transforming of himselfe into any true naturall bodie we declared vnto you the impossibilitie and most palpable absurditie thereof notwithstanding the Sorcerers rods transformed as you thought into true naturall serpents the supposed transfiguring of Nebuchad-nezzer into an oxe with such other examples Shewing you withall by the conference of places that that place of Scripture which speaketh of Satan his transforming of himselfe into an Angell of light was misunderstood of the most Neither may the same or any like places of scripture be litterally vnderstood of any essential transformations because that work was neuer in the power of a diuel No he cannot possibly transforme him selfe into any true forme whatsoeuer if Christ his argument concerning the non visibility and palpability of spirits and diuels be without contradiction which it could not be if the diuel was able but onely in outward appearance to transforme him selfe into any true forme whatsoeuer as wee proued by reason by fathers and by the canonicall scriptures And this also was in effect the summe of our fift conference Exorcistes I wil at no hand contradict your report Orthodoxus Hauing thus dispatched the supposed real possession of spirits and diuels we entred then into a like serious consideration of their actuall possession shewing you first what it was and then next the seuerall parts thereof Namely either a mentall afflicting and greeuing or a corporall tormenting and vexing We shewed you further that this actuall possession was onely in vse in the daies of Christ and of his disciples Howbeit the maine ends thereof namely the declaration of Christ his deity and the confirmation of his glorious Gospel being in those daies very effectually accomplished the possession also it was by our Sauiour himselfe verie fully and finallie determined Yea and the determination of this actuall possession we confidently auouched notwithstanding any one matter pretended by you for the perpetuitie thereof as was directly prooued by force of argument by the plaine testimonie of ancient writers and the ineuitable euidence of the sacred Scriptures And this in effect was the summe of our sixth conference Exorcistes It was vndoubtedly so as you say Orthodoxus And then next because you insisted still vpon the perpetuitie of actuall possession by an argument drawne from common experience in all that beheld your supposed action wrought at Mahgnitton wee prooued directly vnto you that this their supposed experiēce it could be accoūted no currant experience in deed Both because manie like admirable matters may be demonstrated from meere naturall causes effects and diseases and for that also a meere naturall experience when the same is brought to the best it may be no competent Iudge in such supernaturall matters A thing opposite to Diuinitie to Philosophie to Physicke to Nature to Lawe and to Conscience as may verie plainely appeere whether we respect the action it selfe or the manner of doing the same Then after all this we came to entreate of Satan his power of obsession which consisteth especially in an outward assaulting and circumuenting or in an inward suggesting and tempting And this also in effect was the summe of our seuenth conference Exorcistes The whole truth thereof is without contradiction Orthodoxus Hauing thus handled the power of spirits and diuels whatsoeuer we came next to entreat of that extraordinarie working power whereby their saide power was subdued Shewing you directly that the same was either immediate in Christ the stronger or mediate in some certeine speciall persons extraordinarily mooued to that selfesame busines Againe the mediate power we told you it was either Apostolicall I meane in the Apostles themselues an admirable extraordinarie good meanes to confirme their extraordinary preachings or else Ecclesiasticall that is in the seuentie Disciples and some others succeeding And that therefore this Ecclesiasticall power it was more especially to be considered againe in
to answere Augustine by Augustine himselfe both in the very same booke and else where besides Wherein he flatly affirmeth that the angels do outwardly helpe vs by certaine visible apparitions or sights which they propose offer before our eies Those selfesame apparitions hauing not onely an apt resemblance of naturall bodies but which also are subiected vnder their Angelicall auctoritie and power Thus the Augustine you see is so variable in himselfe concerning this point as no certaintie can be concluded of that which he speakes Lycanthropus By this one shift you may easily shift ouer what truth soeuer the holy fathers affirme Ortâ—odoxus I neuer yet sought to shake of any truth by shifts Neither doe I preiudice Augustine or any of the fathers by viewing and reiecting their variable opinions for so Augustine in his latter Retractions oft times reiecteth himselfe And howsoeuer Augustine or your selfe doe dreame in this point very certaine I am as was shewed before that the good Angels of God in their orderly execution of any peculiar office appointed by God were neuer essentially mingled with the minds of the godly No verely but in all their ambassages they doe either manifest themselues by seeing and hearing or assist vs eftsoones by some other sensible meanes howbeit they at no hand do helpe vs by any reall commixture of their proper substances together with ours No that God of order who ordereth all things in number in waight and in measure hauing decreed no such course at all would at no hand permit such confusion of substances nor endure such shamefull disorder among anie his creatures in heauen or in earth Lycanthropus Tell me then by what meanes they do hurt men Orthodoxus Not by any essentiall possession or reall commixture of themselues with mens mindes but by that selfesame effectuall power which euen now worketh mightily in the disobedient children By the efficacie also of which working power they become lying spirites in the mouthes of false prophets they worke lying woonders in all deceiueablenes of vnrighteousnes they buffet mens mindes with fearefull tentations they endeuour to sifte and to winnowe mens soules as men winnow wheate they circumuent them with wiles they make men vncleane they possesse them by deafenes they strike them with blindenes they subdue them through dumbnes they ouercome them by lamenesse yea and euen binde them as it were with diseases a long time togither Brieflie the diuel hauing power ouer death by the efficacie of that power he doth vexe and torment men within and without compassing ouer the earth running like a ramping roaring lyon continually about to deuoure Lycanthropus Yea but how should they possiblie either hurt or deuoure hauing in men no reall possession Orthodoxus You do ouer-grosly conceiue of the matter and with as good reason might aske me howe an enimie should possiblie hurt the captaine which keepeth an hold he hauing in the saide captaine no reall possession Howbeit this me thinke you might know by experience that notwithstanding the want of reall possession the enimie may many waies hurt the said captaine as by giuing him bribes to betray the hold by assaulting by battring by undermyning by pyning by wounding yea and by slaying some of his souldiers before his face All these and many moe annoiances the enimie may offer the captaine though not essentially inherent in the captaine himselfe yea and by the dispatching of these he cannot choose but vexe and torment the captaine himselfe euen as if he had really and substantially possessed his person After the selfe-same maner dealeth Satan with such as he is said to possesse For albeit he doth not substantially enter into the possessed mans minde which is as it were a grand-captaine ouer the bodie yet for all this the diuell that sworne aduersarie of man by deuising procuring applying and by ministring many strange sicknesses diseases and deathes to the bodie he doth no lesse violently vexe and torment the minde it selfe then if he were essentially entred therein Yea and all these the forenamed annoiances he effecteth at his owne will and pleasure Partly for that he is of long experience in mischief hauing bin a practitioner therein from the beginning of the world Partly thorough a more easie maner of knowing things he being very sharpe sighted throughly acute not needing those meanes which earthlie men neede to vnderstand and to find forth the natures effects and causes of things And partlie also by reason of the excellencie of their proper nature they being most speedelie caried from place to place being of infinite power in comparison of vs and being also of such an exquisite knowledge as eftsoones they vndertake by obseruing euents and by conferring of causes to coniecture the timelie successe of manie their mischeiuous enterprises By al the premisses then it is verie apparant that the diuel he hath such an effectuall power permitted vnto him as he needes not essentiallie enter mans mind to accomplish any his diuellish enterprises Lycanthropus If diuels enter not essentiallie into the possessed mans mind how should they possiblie encline or bow his saied mind to their purpose Orthodoxus Touching the enclining of mindes if we speake herein according to truth God alone is properlie said to worke in the minds of men and to encline their wils which waies he please although yet spirites and diuels they may also be considered as helpers herein howbeit such helpers no doubt as doe rather moue by external reasons then encline at al by internal actions And euen so the lying spirite in the mouth of Ahab his prophets was after a sort an helper to God Concerning therefore the enclining of minds we must here distinguish betweene the interiour efficient who onlie is God and the exteriour agent namelie spirites and diuels Againe the meanes whereby the exteriour agent doth worke is twofold The first is the external obiect of the mind it being apprehended of the vnderstanding for good and effectuallie offered also vnto the wil. For euerie facultie of the mind is especiallie moued by his proper obiect not only offered but apprehended also effectually The other external meanes enclining the mind is seated in those affections and passions that are placed in the sensitiue appetite namely lust anger loue and such like by which also the wil after a sort is inclined to something Now then spirites and diuels they are able by external obiects to stirre vp affections and passions in the sensitiue appetite Howbeit not simplie and absolutelie as God who is said to haue the hearts of kings in his hand and who also is able alone to encline mans wil effectuallie to whatsoeuer he please but after a sort and so far forth also as they by external reasons are able like councellours to perswade the wil vnto something For they cannot possiblie compel the wil the same
his preposterous actions Physiologus Preposterous actions indeed for the diuell to appropriate to himselfe the peculiar organon of the possessed mans soule Do you imagine the Lord euer propounded any such end to himselfe in the creation of bodies Or do you suppose the Lord euer granted so large a commission or that the diuell himselfe euer receiued such an absolute power concerning the bodies of men But go to what becomes of the soule or spirit all the while the diuell himselfe is really inherent in the possessed mans bodie Remaines the soule still in that bodie as in her proper habitation appointed of God till the day of her vtter dissolution by death Or is it for the whole time of the diuell his being in that bodie vtterly exiled thrust out from the same Lycanthropus Naie the soule is not euen then secluded or shut out from the bodie at al but continueth and lieth therein like a subdued prisoner fast bound hand and foote yeelding ouer to the diuel for that present his whole interest concerning the bodie and endureth perforce his inexorable and tyrannous crueltie Physiologus But tell me I pray you is not the soule or the minde of a man an incorporall substance or a spirit equally diffused and spred throughout the whole bodie and euerie part thereof according to powers and proportion not Arithmeticall but Geometricall so as all the members of the bodie it selfe doth effectually fulfill their peculiar offices accordingly They being the proper instruments of that selfesame minde or spirituall substance furdering freely the organicall operation thereof and excecuting readily whatsoeuer the minde shall giue them in charge And that therefore this selfesame bodie being thus vtterly depriued as you say for the present of the soules organicall operation is in effect but dead to the soule because wheresoeuer is an vtter priuation of the soules operations concerning the bodie there the life of that man is for the present dissolued Hold you all this for a truth Lycanthropus Yea I may not denie any part thereof Physiologus Seeing then you doe flatly conclude that the minde or spirit of man is the first substantiall forme or action in a liuing bodie and the originall or primarie cause of all effects whatsoeuer performed duly therein as being that onlie whereby we doe liue perceiue desire are moued in place and doe also vnderstand how is it possible that the soule or mind of a man being naturally in perpetuall motion should at any time lie idle in her bodie it being the proper Organon of the soule peculiarly appointed vnto it by God yea euen vnto the very dissolution thereof Or how should the said soule or minde lie bound like a prisoner in her proper bodie and not execute effectually those selfesame operations and powers which are peculiarly appropriated vnto it for the special seruice of that selfesame bodie Lycanthropus What meane you by the proper operations of the soule or minde Physiologus I vnderstand thereby all those peculiar actions which doe necessarily succeede the powers of the minde as proper effects peculiarly appertaining vnto it Otherwaies this peculiar power of the minde it being a meane betweene the substance and operations of the minde are the only efficient cause of the said mindes operations should be vtterly in vaine and to no purpose at all vnles the peculiar effects of that selfesame power did vndoubtedly and immediatly succeede the same Howbeit these selfesame effects cannot possibly succeed the saide power of the minde so long at the least as the Diuel himselfe really possessing the bodie doth wholy and absolutely take vp the said bodie with the members thereof to accomplish his mischieuous purposes As for example all the operations of the minde are either organical or animal The organical operations they are those seuerall actions which the minde can in no wise accomplish but in the bodie it selfe and by all the seuerall members thereof as by the proper instruments for that purpose peculiarly appointed vnto it Namely the nutritiue augmentatiue and generatiue operations appertaining especially to the vegetatiue life also the facultie of seeing hearing tasting smelling handling and of common sense moreouer the imaginatiue the memoratiue the concupiscible irascible and motiue faculties being all attendant vpon the sensitiue life Now then these and euerie of these are the organical operations of the minde yea and such also as the minde cannot possibly effect but in her owne bodie and by all the partes thereof as by the peculiar instruments appointed of God And therefore how should the possessed mans minde his bodie it selfe being thoroughly surprised and taken vp as you say by the Diuel at any hand accomplish either all or any one of these organical operations Lycanthropus As the minde her selfe cannot but be in perpetuall motion so surely being forcibly restrained from these her organical operations she must for the present be faine to put in execution and to practise as she may her animal operations Physiologus The animal operations they are such speciall actions as the minde of it selfe both can and may effectually accomplish without the bodie namely those three essential powers of the reasonable soule called the vnderstanding affection and will Whereof the two last are fitly termed the intellectiue appetite whereas the organical affections arising only from out of the hart the lyuer and entralles are called the sensitiue appetite But for as much as these animal operations all the while the minde it selfe is seated in her proper bodie are by the order of God appointed to be the directours and moderatours of all the organical operations I aske you by what meanes the mind may accomplish her appointed dutie concerning the direction and moderation of those her organical actions so long as the Diuel himselfe doth really and wholy take vp the said bodie with her seuerall partes to become the vnhappie instruments of his Diuellish attempts Lycanthropus I see no possible helpe but that the minde it selfe must giue place to the Diuel for a time Physiologus Giue place for a time for how long I beseech you Put case this man be really possest of the diuell for seuen yeeres togither or more and that in the meane time he should die before the diuell be dispossest of his bodie which for any thing knowne to the diuell he may very well do for his daies are determined which he cannot possiblie passe Now then the soule it selfe being surprized by death and so seperate from the bodie it selfe before she recouer her pristinate power concerning the saide bodie or any the organicall actions appertaining vnto it to whom must those the disordered actions wrought in the bodie all the whole time of the diuell his reall possession therein be imputed I pray you Whether to the possessed mans minde or to the diuell himselfe that possesseth his bodie And whether of both must yeeld an account vnto God for those seuerall actions of the sinfull bodie Lycanthropus The verie soule it selfe is answerable
some few but euen in Adam himselfe and al his posteritie or els you must grant that that possession which the diuel hath in anie it is onlie an actual possession Howsoeuer the latter be true the first you may neuer acknowledge for shame Because if the Lord created the members of our bodies for these two onelie respects namelie that they should be for euer the liuelie organons of our owne proper soules and the expresse images of him their Lord creator it is vnlikely that satan should euer haue power through the permission of God to frustrate those former effects by assuming our bodies essentiallie vnto himselfe and by applying them so forcibly to his slauish seruice in an vnuoluntarie action whether they will themselues or not Lycanthropus Why may not the Diuel for a time essentially vsurpe the possessed mans bodie to accomplish therin his Diuelish actions Physiologus The question is not what the Diuel may doe but whether he doth so essentially vsurpe vpon the possessed mans bodie as your selfe doth absurdly imagine For if an humane soule be only made capable of an humane bodie then also an humane bodie it is only made capable of an humane soule But the first in all reason is vndoubtedly true and therefore also the latter and so by consequence there can be no essential possession of spirits and Diuels Lycanthropus Why sir the scripture saith that the strong armed man possesseth his house in peace Physiologus That must only be vnderstood of an actual and of no essential possession at all I prooue it thus Satan so possesseth as Christ inuadeth his house But Christ inuadeth only effectiuely and not essentially therefore Satan he possesseth only effectiuely and not essentially Besides that if Satan essentially and inherently dwelleth in the possessed mans bodie what then for the present becomes of the soule and who must become accomptable to God for those corporall actions which are wrought in the possessed mans bodie as was shewed you before the man or the Diuel If the man how can it stand with the iustice of God to punish those things in a man whereunto he was violently enforced and drawen against his owne will If the Diuel then should something be effected in the possessed mans bodie which nothing concerneth himselfe Briefly you cannot possibly propound to your selfe any one necessarie vse or end for such an essentiall entring of Diuels into the bodies of men Lycanthropus Oh yes sir it is needfull for this special end namely that they might thereby the more fitly afflict and torment such persons as the Lord in iudgement hath committed vnto them Physiologus All this may as fitly as fully and as effectually be effected by an only actual possession as shall be shewed hereafter in the meane time you shall neuer be able to prooue your imagined real possession of Diuels while you haue any breath For if Spirites and Diuels be in deed and in truth in the possessed mans bodie then are they so either as the part in the whole or as the whole in the part or as the special in the general or as the general in the special or as the accident in the subiect and forme in the matter or as the efficient in the effect or as the intention in the end or as the thing placed in the place at the least But he is not in the possessed mans bodie according to any of these respects therefore not essentially or personally in the possessed mans bodie at all Lycanthropus Though not according to any the former respects yet are they in the possessed mans bodie as we say autoprosopos I meane euen personally not putting any other qualitie in the bodie which it had not before but only mouing and stirring the said bodie with the seueral partes to such extraordinarie operations as by the prouident disposing of God are permitted them to accomplish thereby Physiologus He is in the possessed mans bodie you say only as a mouer and stirrer vp of the same to some extraordinarie operations this is too too absurd For then he must be in that bodie either as one hypostatically ioined with that man in his essence which hypostatical vnion is only proper to Christ or els formaliter as the Schoolemen doe call it to giue an essential forme to those the entended operations and so there should be in the selfe-same subiect two essential formes at once which is too too absurd For Diuels being incorporal spirites are also inuisible impalpable insensible yea such spirituall creatures as cannot possibly be discerned by corporall sence such a substance I meane as can neither be seene nor felt nor handled nor possiblie perceiued by corporall or sensible meanes And therefore how should your selfe be able to iudge or the possessed man certeinlie know when the diuel is really and substantially inherent within his bodie as a moouer to such operations Lycanthropus The same is verie apparantly perceiued by the diuell his violent rending and tearing and such other vnnaturall and preposterous actions Physiologus This perceiuance or knowledge is giuen neither to you nor the possessed himselfe by any meanes of the diuell his essentiall being within him but by reason of his effectuall working in the possessed mans bodie By which said effectual working that selfesame rending and tearing with other like vnnaturall and preposterous actions may effectually be wrought in the man though the diuell doth neuer essentially enter into the possessed mans bodie or any part thereof Euen as also the efficacie and heate of the sunne may effectually be perceiued and felt both outwardly and inwardly and yet the verie substance of the sunne it selfe neuer essentially inherent in anie mans bodie And thus at vnawares you do fully ouerthrowe you idle supposall of an essentiall and reall possession concluding withall that the diuell hath onely an actuall or powerfull possession whereof also hereafter we will conferre to the full Lycanthropus Staie heere a while I beseech you me thinke you are somwhat ouerswift in gathering vpon me For albeit I do freely confesse that spirits and diuels are spirituall substances and therefore not sensiblie perceiued or felt of vs by any corporall or sensible meanes yet doe I not hold them for such absolute and simple substances but that they haue also their proper bodies peculiarlie appropriate to them though of another nature and farre different also from ours And therefore the diuels entring into the possessed mans bodie with those their owne bodies they may by meanes of their said bodies so violently worke in the possessed maus bodie as that their essentiall being therein may easily be discerned of others and verie sensiblie also perceiued of the possessed himselfe Physiologus A man had need to be swift in gathering when he lighteth vpon one so lauish in laying abroad For besides your conclusion heere against your owne cause you do flatly discent a fresh from that we concluded before in our first conference concerning the
which is too too absurd as was told you before Lycanthropus I wonder you are so peremptory in denying this point I hauing not onely the Philosophers as you heard euen now but ecclesiastical fathers both old and new on my side Orthodoxus Your philosophers they shoote faire and farre off as you also haue heard euen now You say you haue fathers both old and new on your side let vs see first whether your old fathers doe come any neerer the marke Lycanthropus First Origen he flatly affirmeth that spirits and diuels are endued with their proper bodies Orthodoxus Origen if that booke be his owne is not to be regarded concerning this question because therein he doth nothing but play the Platonist iumpingfull patte with Psellus in euerie point And therefore he deserueth none other answere then that which was giuen to those other before Let vs heare more authentical fathers or end the discourse Lycanthropus Hilarie he saith there is nothing which in it owne substance and in respect of creation is not corporall And therefore spirits and diuels they hauing their substance and being created are also corporall Orthodoxus Hilarie he saith so indeed but giues no one reason of saying so It is not enough for your selfe to crie out and say Hilarie he speakes it vnlesse Hilarie also doth prooue what he speake which he doth not in the place you alleage He onely propoundeth the matter without any proofe and may easily be answered thus The soule of man it hath her substance and was also created and yet incorporall For or euer it was infused into the bodie and after the dissolution thereof it doth substantially exist and is also immortall accomplishing continually her animall operations Neither needes shee an humane bodie in any respect of her proper essentiall being but onely in regard of her organicall operations as was shewed before And therefore Hilarie he helpes you nothing at all Lycanthropus Tertullian verie plainely affirmeth Angels and spirites to haue their peculiar bodies Orthodoxus Whatsoeuer Tertullian saith there concerning this question the Schoolemen they doe excuse and qualifie his speech on this sort They say that Tertullian by the name of bodie vnderstandeth onely the spirituall substance of Angels and nothing else And this he doth saie they in an onely regard of the simplicitie of that people with whom he delt who helde that nothing coulde possibly exist in nature without a bodie Tertullian therefore in that onely regard did purposely call the substances of spirites and diuels by the name of a bodie Lycanthropus Yea but Tertullian auoucheth further that God himselfe is also a bodie and therefore much more that spirits and diuels they haue their bodies His wordes be these Who will deny God himselfe to be a bodie although God indeed be a spirit Orthodoxus This is so farre from confuting as it rather confirmes that qualification which the Schoolemen doe make Namely that by the worde bodie Tertullian vnderstandeth nothing but the spirituall and simple substance of spirits and diuels Besides that it is one thing to be a bodie and another to haue a bodie Tertullian saith onely that God is a bodie he saith not there that God hath a bodie Lycanthropus Notwithstanding all this he saith elsewhere that spirits and diuels are corporall his reason is because the soules of men are also corporall Orthodoxus Herein his pouerty bewraieth it selfe being constrained as you see to beg his cause wherin also he would proue the same by the same namely corporall spirits by corporal soules Howbeit we haue proued before do here affirm it a fresh that the soules of men they are incorporal and therefore by consequence spirits and diuels they are not corporal but spiritual substances Besides all this Augustine verie flatly affirmeth that the incorporall doe differ fully from corporall substances and denieth withall that whatsoeuer is created the same is a bodie yea he sharpely reprehendeth and derideth Tertullian for auouching the soules of men to be corporall And in the end he thinks it too too absurd to hold that a reasonable soule should be a bodie in any respect because the same is onely and altogether incorporall And thus you may plainely perceiue by Augustine how vnfitly Tertullian doth fit your turne Exorcistes But Augustine himselfe elsewhere verie flatly affirmeth that all reasonable creatures are corporall substances yea and that euen the intellectuall creatures namely Angels spirits and diuels are euerie of them also corporall powers howsoeuer they subsist not of flesh and bloud Orthodoxus How Augustine agreeth with Augustine your selfe may plainely perceiue and therein also may wisely consider what credit consists in such varietie But that your Augustine may also receiue his answere let vs heare his argument whereby he would prooue spirits and diuels to be corporall substances Lycanthropus He reasoneth thus We doe therefore affirme the intellectuall powers to be corporall substances onely because they are circumscribed with place euen as humane soules are also inclosed with bodies Orthodoxus This is his argument Whatsoeuer is circumscribed with place that same is corporall but spirits and diuels they are circumscribed with place therefore spirits and diuels they are corporall I answere the proposition is faultie and halteth downe right For the localitie of spirits and diuels doth not simply depend vpon a bodie which after it owne manner I meane circumscriptiuely and sensibly is no doubt in a place but it ariseth properly from the finitouesse and dimensiuenesse of the angelicall nature it selfe Which said angelicall nature being created of God is therefore but finite and circumscribed also with those her owne termes which are competent and proper vnto her And therefore the intellectuall powers they are in a place because they be finite substances although yet they are in a place but definitiuely or determinately So then spirites and diuels you see they are vndoubtedly in a place because they be locall but they are therefore said to be local not because they be corporall as Augustine imagineth but for that being finite they haue their muchnesse or quantity after a sort I meane no predicamental but an intelligible quantity And therefore Augustine he speaketh soundly you see against Tertullian but proueth your purpose nothing at al. Exorcistes But the author of the Ecclesiasticall opinions writeth plainely that we must beleeue nothing to be incorporall or inuisible but onely God Who alone is truely said to be incorporall because he is euery where present replenishing al things and therefore also inuisible to euery creature because he is incorporall His first argument is framed thus Whatsoeuer is incorporall that same is euery where because vbiquity is the cause of incorporality But spirits and diuels they are not euery where therefore spirits and diuels they are not incorporal Orthodoxus The proposition with his prosyllogisme halteth downe right the same being a deceaueable Elench making that the cause which is not properly the
spirits and diuels Thus you reason The Lord sent his euil Angels among the Egyptians therefore spirits and diuels they assume to themselues what bodies they please This consequent hath in it no sequel at al and it is quite contrary to the words of the text For Dauid saith not that the Lord sent his euil Angels essentially into them but among them I meane the Egyptians which proueth nothing for Satan his assuming of bodies Exorcistes But yet we haue a notable example concerning this point from the diuel his tempting of Euah in the serpent Orthodoxus Wel go to frame your argument Exorcistes I frame it thus Satan he did put vpon him the body of the serpent and spake very sensibly in that selfesame serpent therefore spirits and diuels they can and are able to do the like with any body els whatsoeuer Philologus Maister Orthodoxus this argument I beleeue will set you hard Orthodoxus Not so hard as you thinke by then the ambiguous termes are opened more plainely And therefore doe tell me here what you meane by satan his putting the serpents body vpon him Exorcistes I meane this namely that he did really and essentially enter into the very essence and substance of the serpent it selfe Orthodoxus Then it must folow by necessary consequence that the diuel himselfe did essentially become the serpent in deed or the serpent essentially the diuel at least during the whole time of that action Lycanthropus Yea what else Orthodoxus Do you aske me what else I aske you for answere whether your hart be so deeply bewitched with blindnesse as you cannot perceiue the absurdity hereof it beeing so apparantly euident to all the world For is it possible thinke you that the diuel should be able vtterly to annihilate the essētiall being either of himselfe or of any other creature vnder the heauens Or is it likely that satan can cause himsele to be a diuel or no diuel and the serpent to be a serpent or no serpent when and so oft as it pleaseth himselfe If this were certeinely so what one creature in al the world could any long time continue in that proper estate wherein it was first created of God For the diuel hath wil and malice enough to do mischiefe if he had but that absolute power to accomplish the same Moreouer from satan his assuming of the serpents body alone you doe plainely conclude an absolute power in diuels ouer all other bodies else whatsoeuer and so from one perticular example you do cunningly gather a generall conclusion thus Satan he did essentially assume the body of the serpent therefore spirits and diuels can essentially assume what bodies they please This argument is vtterly vntrue in euery part For first whereas I plainely deny that the diuel can so essentially assume a body the which thing you should proue your selfe by a pitifull begging of the cause in question do take it as graunted and thereupon would proue the same by the same attributing also to the diuel such an absolute power therein as is vtterly impertinent to any creature and thereby also you doe highly derogate from the diuinity and power of God Secondly your argument also is faulty in that it concludeth more largely then was put downe in the premisses namely from one particular practize of satan it concludes an absolute power as was said ouer al bodies whatsoeuer which is a deceiueable kind of reasoning For albeit we should grant which will neuer be proued that satan had for that once some speciall preuiledge granted from God and did thereby also essentially enter into the very essence of the serpent as your selfe suppose yet doth it not folow that therefore spirits and diuels they can also essentially assume to themselues what bodies they please Howbeit to the end we may the more directly and plainely proceed doe tell me whether it was the diuel alone or the serpent alone or the diuel and serpent together that gaue the onset vpon Euah in that temptation Philologus It could not be the diuell alone for he is not named at all in the action Orthodoxus If he be not named at all in the action how comes he then to be charged for the principall author in that selfesame action Exorcistes In other places of scripture his malice that way is mightily tainted and himselfe accused for a murderer from the beginning although in the historie of Euahs tentation he be not precisely named any author at all Orthodoxus Yea but how can those places of Scripture in anie sounde reason impose the blame of the action vpon satan himselfe if neither absolutely nor properly nor historically nor Allegorically nor metaphorically nor any waies else he be specially named in that very historie of Euahs tentation wherein the action it selfe with the seuerall circumstances is fully and plainely expressed Exorcistes Moses you know doth not set downe the story of the Bible at large but onely compiles the same in a summary abridgement Orthodoxus But that action especially being so waighty a matter was necessary to be knowen in euery point and therefore it is not to be doubted but that the history concerning the same is so exactly set forth with euery circumstance as that any man may be able to iudge of the principall actors therein at the least So then although the diuel in that history be neither absolutely nor historically nor properly expressed by name yet must we acknowledge him to be therein allegorically and metaphorically set forth at the least or otherwaies impose no blame vpon him at al concerning the action Lycanthropus Yes euen by that selfesame story he is allegorically or metaphorically set forth in the serpent Orthodoxus Then was it no natural serpent but the diuel himselfe metaphorically set forth by the name of a serpent who gaue the onset vpon Euah in that tentation For by allegories and metaphors there is euermore some other thing ment then that which is literally expressed Lycanthropus But yet for all that the serpent is said to haue tempted Euah Orthodoxus That is the diuel alone metaphorically set forth as you say by the name of a serpent was he that tempted our grandmother Euah I proue it thus If in that action the diuel himselfe be not historically and properly but allegorically and metaphorically called a serpent because he is most crafty and subtile then vndoubtedly the obiection of a serpent is very inconuenient but the antecedent is true and therefore also the consequent Exorcistes Proue your antecedent Orthodoxus I wil. First besides that which you grant your selfe it is an accustomed thing in the sacred scriptures to vse the names of other creatures in setting forth to our sense the intellectual creatures themselues Hereupon it is that in the Apocalypse the diuel by a perpetual allegory is called a dragon or serpent and therefore in this history of Euahs tentation by the like perpetuall allegory he is also called a serpent Secondly Moses in that action doth purposely
either you accomplished no woonderfull action at al as touching any your supposed most admirable matters wrought at Mahgnitton or if as your selfe do affirme the same was truely and indeed a true woonder then was it also a woondrous worke I meane a true miracle howsoeuer you shelter the same Exorcistes It was onely a woonder but no woondrous worke as I told you before and onely because of the meanes For whatsoeuer is brought to passe by meanes that is no miracle because of the meanes be it neuer so woonderfull Physiologus But do you speake in good earnest Exorcistes Yea in verie good earnest Physiologus Then tell me what you esteeme of the turning of waters into bloud by Moses his rodde of the Egyptian frogges of the swarmes of lyce which came vpon man and beast of the Egyptian scabbes and botches by the sprinkling of ashes of the thunder and haile by the stretching out of Moses his hand of the Egyptian grashoppers ouerspredding the whole land of the palpable darkenesse throughout the whole land of Egypt of deuiding the red sea by the hand of Moses of the rocke that gushed out water by the stroke of the rodde of Elijah his making the bitter waters sweete by casting in salte of the curing of Naaman his leprosie by washing in the waters of Iorden of the swimming of iron by Elisha his meanes yea what shall we thinke of giuing sight to the blinde by a plaster of spettle and claie first tempered togither of helping to health by touching the hem of Christs garment of curing verie many by annointing with oyle by the shadow of Peter yea and by napkins brought to the sicke from the bodie of Paul In euerie of these actions there was vsed some meanes and yet you dare not denie but that they were euery of them miracles Exorcistes These were euery of them but dead or rather quite contrary meanes to the worke which was wrought and therefore whatsoeuer was brought to passe by such impotent meanes they were notwithstanding true miracles Howbeit praier and fasting being instituted of God to that work performed withall by the power of the spirit and hauing moreouer many promises annexed thereto it cannot possibly be but that with the orderly obseruation thereof there goeth some ordinary power for accomplishing the purpose pretended and therefore the casting out of diuels or the powerfull effecting of any other admirable matter by that speciall meanes is no woonderfull worke but a woonder as I told you before Physiologus And I told you likewise before that praier and fasting hath no power of it selfe to driue foorth a diuel yea you your owne selfe affirmed euen now that the whole efficacy of that woonderfull work dependeth wholly vpon the good blessing of God Without which the meanes it selfe though neuer so duely performed preuaileth nothing at all But to winck a while at these grosse ouersights doe tel me in good sadnesse whether the driuing out of the diuel by praier and fasting be any miracle at all Exorcistes It is then no miracle because of the meanes Physiologus If the onely vse of that meanes may make a flat nullity in miracles my meaning is if praier and fasting is of sufficient force to cause that miraculous works become no miracles and onely because of such meanes then tel me I pray you what you think of remoouing the egyptian frogs and lice by the praier of Moses of Israels preuailing against Ameleck of Elijah his reuiuing the widdow of Zarephthas sonne of Elisha his raising the Shunamits sonne vnto life of the admirable opening of his seruants eies yea what thinke you of the raising of Lazarus from death of Peter his restoring of Tabitha againe vnto life of the earthquake and shaking of the prison wherein Paul and Sylas were stocked of Paul his reuiuing of Eutychus of the curing of many by the praier of the elders These were all effected by praier you know were these therefore I pray you no miracles Moreouer what must we account of all the miraculous dispossessings of spirits and diuels in the primitiue church If because they were euery of them effected by praier and fasting they were therefore no miracles then it foloweth by necessarie consequence that there were neuer any actuall possessions nor dispossessions of diuels at anie time since the Apostles daies Because those dispossessions how admirable soeuer being effected by praier fasting they could be no miracles by your account in an onely respect of that meanes whereas the possessions and dispossessions of diuels notwithstanding that meanes they were alwaies reputed true miracles with the Church of God And therefore if your selfe did driue foorth a diuell at Mahgnitton by praier and fasting as you beare vs in hand then surely the same was not simplie a woonderfull worke but also a woonder I meane a true miracle notwithstanding anie such your supposed meanes Exorcistes If signes and woonders must euerie of them be esteemed true miracles indeed it foloweth then that not onely the false Christs of euerie age but Antichrist also himselfe may truely be said to accomplish true miracles because they also from time haue beene able to worke many strange and woondrous things Physiologus I told you before there were two sortes of miracles namely either trué or false miracles The first sort is when as a meere naturall matter is either restored or cured or wrought by the onely application of meere naturall meanes Howbeit those said naturall meanes either they are not altogither the same which we commonly vse or they are not vsed after the selfe-same manner and way After this manner the diuell the Egyptian sorcerers the false Christs yea and Antichrist also himselfe they haue done and may daily effect manie woonders And in an especiall regard of the strangenes thereof they also abusiuely and after a sort may be said to be workers of miracles because they accomplish such matters on the sodaine as do make men admire Howbeit this kinde of miracles they cannot truely be esteemed true miracles indeed because either they are not truly effected or not to a true end at the least although yet they may verie fitly be termed terata that is wondrous actions because of the sudden woonder succeeding the same The other sort of miracles are properly called Seimeia that is significant or foreshewing signes and those are onely effected by Iehouah himselfe who alone doth woondrous things Yea and that also either without any meanes at all or quite contrarie to the power of all naturall causes and of nature herselfe For as the mightie Iehouah hath created nature of nothing so is he able when it seemeth good to his wisedome to alter to encline and to ouerturne the orderly course of nature in any one thing whatsoeuer Neither hath the said nature any power to
set out the Diuell who poysoned our grandmother Euah 114 The iudgement of Tremellius and others concerning this point 115 The common receiued opinion herein consented vnto and why ibid. The true interpretation of the word Nachash 116 The Diuell did not essentially enter into the serpents body ibid. Whether the Angell essentially spake in Baalams Asse and how that scripture is to be vnderstood 117 Whether the Angell opened the Asses mouth efficiently or but ministerially 118 Whether the Angell for such a ministeriall opening of the Asses mouth did essentially enter into the Asses bodie 119 Whether Samuels true naturall bodie was essentially assumed by Satan 120 Whether the Diuell appeared to Saul in Samuels likenes 123 Sundrie impossiblities and absurdities concerning such a supposed likenes pag. ibid. The opinion of sundrie writers touching this point ibid. The Witch a cunning ventriloquist coosened Saul 126 The distinction of essentialitér and effectiué is no new but a renued distinction and ordinarie with Schoolemen and Fathers 127 The testimonie of writers touching that point 128 It is absurd to vnderstand literally the things that are spoken of Satan 129 The fifth Dialogue pag. 131. WHether Diuels can essentially transforme themselues into any true naturall bodie 131 This essential transformation of Diuels is opposite to true philosophy 132 Diuels are not essentially transformed into Angels of light 134 The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what it importeth ibid. The place of 2. Cor. 11. 14. is truely expounded 134. 135 The conference of that one with other places of scripture 136 The family of loue is fitly confuted ibid. Transubstantiation very shrewdly cut in the neck 137 Antiquity is no priuiledge for errours whatsoeuer ibid. Whether the Sorcerers rods were essentially transformed into true naturall serpents 138 Whether the Sorcerers rods were true Serpents in deed or serpents onely in an outward appearance ibid. The Serpents rods were no true naturall rods in any orderly course of nature 139. Neither Sorcerer nor Diuel could euer work a true miracle 140 Diuels neuer had any supernaturall power or skill 141 Why the Sorcerers rods were called Serpents not being in deede true naturall Serpents 142 Satan may procure an outward appearance of things three manner of waies 143 Spirits and Diuels they haue a deeper insight into meere naturall causes then men haue by much 144 The Diuel in transforming the Sorcerers rods was vndoubtedly assisted with a twofold power 145 What is ment by the power of nature ibid. What is to be vnderstood by the power of obedience 146 The Sorcerers rods they were trasformed into Serpents not existingly but appearingly 147 Whether Nabuchadnez-zer was essentially transformed into a naturall oxe 148 There was in Nebuchadnez-zer no transmutation of substance but onely an alteration of qualities 149 Fury disordering mens nature doth make them beastly affected 152 Men by tradition haue receiued hand ouer head an error concerning the essentiall transformation of Diuels 153 God hath naturally engraffed in man such a peculiar propriety touching his naturall being as can at no hand be essentially transformed into any other forme 153 154 Mans members may not possibly be transformed into the proportion or lineaments of a beast 155 If there are essentiall transformations of Diuels then Christs argument Ioh. 20. 27. cannot be currant ibid. That there are no essentiall transformations in any sensible appearance 156 Lycanthropus and what the same importeth 159 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a mere naturall disease and how ibid. Lycanthropy and melancholy proceed from one and the same cause 160 The signes and effects of a true Lycanthropy 161 The Anâ—yran Councell against the opinion of essentiall transformations ibid. Councels Fathers and the popes owne Canons condemning the same page 162 The sixt Dialogue pag. 165 ACtuall possession what it is and the causes thereof 166 The actuall possession of Diuels is twofold ibid. The actuall possession of Diuels was onely in Christ and the Apostles daies 168 The perpetuitie of actuall possession was neuer purposed by God ibid. Whether the commission giuen by Christ to his Apostles for the dispossessing of Diuels be a perpetuall commission 169 Reasons against the perpetuitie of actuall possessions ibid. The extraordinarie power for the expelling of Diuels was onely peculiar to Christ and his owne Apostles and why 170 The opinion of anâ—ient fathers for the supposed perpetuitie of actuall possessions considerately examined 171 Extraordinary gifts and graces did determine with the officers themselues on whom they were peculiarly bestowed 172 The continuance of actuall possession auouched in some 173 Whether the actuall possession of Diuels be an ordinarie disease 174 The termes of ordinarie and continually working what they import 176 The instance from the Sunne with the Antipodes verie fitly retorted 177 The actuall possession of Diuels is an extraordinarie and supernaturall matter surmounting the orderly course of nature 178 The perpetuitie of actuall possession long since determined by Christ. 179 The two maine ends of actuall possession are ceased long since ibid. That maine ende which tended to the manifestation of Christ his Deitie is fully determined Ioh. 12 31. 179 Christ his power matter to worke vpon still though the actuall possession be ceased long since 180 The text in Ioh. 12. 31. is cleered by conferring the same with other places of Scripture 181 Scriptures vnfolding that extraordinarie power of Christ for the dispossessing of Diuels before his suffring in the flesh 182 The difference betweene Christ and the Leuitical priesthood verie plainely expressed 183 Scriptures respecting this speciall power of Christ after his suffring 184 Tho words Tsamath and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verie plainely expounded 185 The text of Iohn 12. 31. paraphrasticallie analyzed 187 The Fathers opinion concerning the ceasing of actuall possession 189 The Diuell was subdued in the Fathers before the comming of Christ 190 Though actuall possession be ceased the faithfull are not freed quite from the Diuell his sundrie tentations ibid. The reason why Satans destruction is so confidently applied to the actuall determination of his essentiall possessions 195 This our exposition of Iohn 12. 31. ouerthrowes not but confirmes the ordinarie receiued exposition ibid. Something besides the weakening of Satans dominion was actually accomplisht by the verie act of Christ his death 196 Christ restraines the actuall determination of actuall possession to the verie act of his death ibid. The dispossessions after Christes death were to confirme the Gospel 197 The seuenth Dialogue pag. 199. WHether common experience may concludently prooue the supposed continuance of actuall possession 199 The actions in the yoong man at Nottingham were in experience no admirable matters if we consider the actions well 200 Many naturall experiments as admirable as those in all appeerance 202 Many maruels in nature ouershadowed as yet with natures maiestie ibid. Verie strange and admirable woonders apparant in nature 203 More strange and admirable matters are reported by Augustine 205 As admirable matters may and do proceed from naturall