in as much as Noah did obey the commandment of the Lord according as the spirit of the Lord did reveal unto him Noah may be said to be a Preacher of righteousness and he doing all things by inspiration of the spirit of Christ which was not at that time made of flesh but in the fulness of time became pure humane flesh and suffered the pains of death And the same spirit that suffered death that very same spirit that quickned was that spirit that preached to the spirits in prison in the days of Noah as aforesaid And the making of the Ark by the inspiration of Gods spirit in the sight of the people who were in prison in ignorance and darkness of mind is called by the revelation of faith A preaching to the spirits in prison so that the spirit of God in Noah may be said to preach unto those spirits in prison in the days of Noah and that there was but eight persons saved from the Floud So that this place of Scripture doth no way prove that the spirit of Christ did ever preach to spirits in prison without bodies neither did Christs spirit preach in the days of Noah without a body for he always preached with a body himself or else chose men that have bodies and gave them power to preach to spirits in prison and to deliver the captives and to set the prisoner at liberty and the bound in prison to go free So that the Reader may see how and in what manner the spirit of Christ did preach unto the spirits in prison in the days of Noah and how their spirits may be said to be in prison and how their unbelief in the days of Noah was called disobedience to the preaching of Noah all that while the Ark was building And being built by the inspiration of the spirit of God it may and is called the preaching of Christs spirit to them that were in prison in spiritual darkness in their minds for their minds being darkened they did those things that were unseemly yea unnatural as the people of Sodom did Now were not the spirits of these people in prison and led captive of those unnatural lusts I think no sober man will deny yet these were those spirits in prison that Christs spirit preached unto in the body of Noah in the days of Noah and that there was but eight persons in the days of Noah that were saved from the destruction by water by the preaching of that spirit of God in Noah This is the true interpretation and meaning of those words of Peter the Apostle aforementioned and how the spirit of Christ went and preached unto the spirits in prison in the days of Noah CHAP. XIII AGain there are some other places of Scripture which several people have objected as if the spirit or soul of man might go out of the body and subsist in bliss and happiness or in misery and a tormented condition without its body it always lived in from that place Luke 23.43 Jesus said to the Thief on the cross Verily I say unto thee This day shalt thou be with me in paradise Now observe this no way proves that the Thiefs soul went out of his body into a Paradisical place and so escaped suffering death or did not die for if the soul of Christ did die at that time as is clear by Scripture it did then the soul and life of the Thief did die also Then where was the Paradise the Thiefs soul and Christs soul that was heavy unto death where did they go To this I say they went to a place of rest where all righteous souls go which is to the sleep of death for there was nothing did die but the souls of them both and the Paradise Christ and the Thief went into that day they suffered death I declare it was this that Christ was sure in himself that he should rise from the dead the third day and afterward should enter into eternal glory and this assurance in Christ that he should rise again the third day it was Paradise and Peace to his soul that he should pass through that death he was now to suffer that very day into a new life that should not be capable to die any more So likewise when the Thief did truly believe that Jesus was the Christ the Saviour from eternal death to those that did believe as it is certain he did when he said Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom for he did really believe that Christ would rise the third day and that he would raise him to eternal joy and happiness at the last day and the Thief dying in this faith he entered into peace of mind and had rest and freedom to die in hope and full assurance that Christ would raise him up soul and body to eternal happiness at the last day And this was that Paradise that Christ and the Thief were in that very day they both suffered death for the assurance of everlasting life in a mans self here in mortality is the Paradise of peace in this life This I know to be true and this was the Paradise Christ did mean the Thief should be in that very day he believed and not that either of their souls went out of their bodies to any other place or Paradise then what was in their own bodies as aforesaid In like manner people do imagine that the soul of man goeth out of the body at his death from that saying Acts 7.59 from those words of Stepher when he was stoned to death he said Lord Jesus receive my spirit The meaning is this that when any man dieth in the true faith of Christ in the hope and full assurance that Christ will raise him up to eternal happiness at the last day he commits his spirit into the hands of Christ knowing that though he doth lose his life for Christs sake here that Christ will raise it again and save his soul hereafter and so Christ may be said to receive his spirit For this I must tell the Reader that there is not a quarter of an hours time to the dead to his rising again no not a minute for there is no time to the dead not a minute of an hour though a man have been dead 5000 years yet it is not a minute of an hour to him that is dead For all time belongs to the living for after death there is nothing but eternity on the other side of death either eternal happiness or eternal misery so that when men die they may be said to go immediately to Heaven or to Hell to joy or torment to be received into Christs hands of mercy or into the hand of Christs wrath where they shall be tormented with the Devil and his Angels yet shall never see the Devil nor his Angels nor themselves to eternity as they did not know the Devil here neither shall they know or see him hereafter yet be tormented with him And in this sense a faithful
and not to a natural captivity Neither was it meant the opening of the natural prison doors to them that were bound by the Powers of the nations but the doors of mens hearts were opened at the preaching of Christ and his Apostles in that light and life and salvation was preached unto them that whoever believed that this Jesus is the Christ the Saviour of the world should be saved and delivered from the fear of eternal death so that the soul of man that was lead captive into prison and bound in chains of darkness and strong doors lockt fast to keep the spirit of man in prison by the works of the Law and the expounders of the Law before Christ came the spirit of reason in them did lead the generality of people their spirits into spiritual captivity and shut them up in prison and tied their spirits up in the observation of the Ceremonial Law of Moses Which was as chains of darkness and not onely so but shut the door of hope upon them so that there was no hope to be saved in them but by observing the Law aforesaid which Paul calls beggerly rudiments Gal. 3. So that this spiritual captivity and being bound in prison and the doors being shut it was the spirits of people that were captives and prisoners in their own bodies kept by the Legal and ceremonial righteousness of the Law of Moses and when Christ came to preach and to give power to his Apostles to preach the Gospel of truth both to Jew and Gentile then was the dore of hope opened in peoples hearts and many that were bound in prison whose spirits were led captive they were set at liberty from that bondage of the Ceremonial Law wherein they were bound and brought out of that prison of darkness in the mind into the glorious light and life of faith by the preaching of Christ and his Apostles Then was this prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled in the Apostles commission then was liberty preached to the spirits of many that were bound and in prison in their own minds the word of faith preached unto them it opened a door of hope of deliverance from the bondage of the Law as aforesaid wherewith they were bound so that by faith they had in Christ their chains fell off their feet and darkness of their understanding so that they were at perfect liberty and delivered out of prison and the prison door of hope in Christ being opened all true believers in Christ were set at liberty free from captivity and out of that spiritual prison of darkness into the glorious liberty of the sons and daughters of God for ever and ever So is it now in this commission of the spirit we the witnesses of the spirit have preached glad tidings of salvation and have opened the prison doors of mens hearts and have let many out of that spiritual prison that were bound to the righteousness set up by the imagination of reason now in these last days who were led captive by their own traditions and kept in prison in their own bodies for many years but by the declaration of truth in all our writings and our speakings many people have been delivered out of captivity and out of prison their spirits have been let loose out of the chains of darkness because the door of their hearts hath been opened by the word of faith in the true God which we have preached and written this many can witness at this day the truth of it So that now that Scripture is fulfilled again in these last days and this is the true meaning of the Prophet Isaiah in those words concerning opening the prison and giving liberty to the captives that were imprisoned in their own bodies by the conceptions of the imaginations of their own hearts So that there is not the least colour or ground from those words for the reason of man to think that spirits may be let out of prison without bodies or that the spirit of Christ did preach to any spirit in prison without his body CHAP. XII ANd as for those words of Peter aforenamed where he saith Christ was put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison which sometime were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the ark was a preparing c. The meaning of those words are as followeth that Christ was put to death in the body of his own flesh this is confessed by most people that profess the Scriptures of truth but very few do truly believe that the soul or spirit of Christ did die or was put to death at all notwithstanding the Scripture saith that He poured out his soul unto death and he himself saith His soul was heavy unto death Therefore that the Reader may understand what is meant in that Christ was put to death in the flesh but quickened by the spirit mind I declare that it was the soul or spirit of Christ which was the Godhead life that dwelt in that body of flesh and bone of Christ for as the Scripture saith In him all the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily and this Godhead life that dwelt in the body of Christs flesh it was put to death in the body of Christs flesh and the same Godhead life that was put to death in the body of his flesh and when Christs body was crucified upon the cross then was the soul and life of Christ or the Godhead life did die and was put to death in that flesh of Christ for that flesh of Christ was God become flesh as the Scripture saith and the soul and life of Christ was the soul and life of God And When Christ poured out his soul unto death it was the Godhead life that was poured out unto death so that the Godhe d spirit was put to death and did die in the flesh of Christ when he was crucified But this Godhead life which was put to death in the flesh of Christ it quickened again where it was put to death even in the same flesh where it was put to death And in its quickening agâ—in it raised the same flesh again and so spiritualized the same flesh that suffered and made it uncapable to suffer death any more For this I say no spirit or life that is put to death whatsoever could possibly quicken again in the same body but the life of God onely so that Christ must needs be God as well as Man for it was Christ that was put to death in the flesh and the same life that was put to death and did die that which did die did quicken again and so is called a quickening spirit Now observe it cannot properly be called a quickening spirit if it had not been once dead for if the spirit and life of Christ did not die nor was not dead then I say there was no need that this spirit and life should quicken again
for it was always quick and alive For the spirit quickening doth imply a sensible life is quickned out of an insensible life as a child in the womb before it is quick it feeleth no pain neither doth it stir in the womb and the midwife doth not care to destroy it to save the womans life because the child was not quick it was an insensible life no more capable of pain then there is in death or a dead lump of earth but when a child is quick in the womb it is capable of pain though it hath not strength to express it to us that are strong yet it is capable of pain because it is quickened into a sensible life that is a living soul a living spirit and so may be called a quickened spirit of life out of that which was dead yet by the appointment of God in his creation and the warmness of the womb there is a new life or spirit doth quicken in the womb in its season according to the appointment of God when he created all things and placed a law of generation in them So likewise the spirit or life of Christ was put to death in his own body of flesh as aforesaid and in its season he himself had appointed before namely three days and three nights this spirit of Christ so put to death it quickened again in the same flesh a new and glorious life which made that flesh that suffered glorious also And this is the true interpretation of Peters words and the faith of all true believers that the spirit life and soul of Christ did die and was put to death in the body of his own flesh that was crucified on the cross by the Jews and that the same spirit that was put to death it did quicken again out of death into a new and glorious life by his own power therefore called a quickening spirit So that here is no ground at all for that vain conceit in people who do believe that spirits may be raised without bodies or appear without bodies but altogether to the contrary And as for that saying of Peter By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison which sometime were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the ark was a preparing These words do seem to carry some shew as if the quickening spirit of Christ after he was risen from the dead or in the time he did lie in the grave as if his spirit in that interim of time went into some local place where spirits were in prison without bodies to preach unto them who had been disobedient in the days of Noah this is the vain conceit of most people from those words of Peter who saith By which he went and preached unto the spirits in prison as if the spirits of the disobedient people in the days of Noah had been in prison in some local place in the earth without bodies who had been departed in the days of Noah in the destruction of the world by water This the imagination of reason in man doth imagine that spirits may be shut up in prison without bodies and that the quickening spirit of Christ might preach unto them without a body But the true light and revelation of faith doth know to the contrary that no spirits can have any being at aâ—l without bodies neither of God Angels nor Man nor no other living creature who hath the breath of life in it But to give the interpretation of this Scripture that the Reader may understand it is thus the spirit of Christ that quickened from the dead to life again I say is the same spirit that preached to the spirits in prison in the days of Noah and the spirits of the disobedient world were in prison in their own bodies in the days of Noah as they were when Christ came upon earth for then he opened the prison to them that were bound by preaching glad tidings of freedom to those that were bound and liberty to those spirits that were in captivity Now as I said before this captivity is spiritual captivity and to be bound and in prison it is meant a spiritual imprisonment in the mind and not a natural imprisonment of the body And this I say the very same spirit of Christ that preached to the Jews when he was upon earth did preach to the old world in the days of Noah though in a twofold manner And as the spirits of men were in prison in their own ignorance blindness and darkness of understandings in that they were led captives and prisoners by their wicked and unnatural lusts in the days of Noah so were both Jews and Gentiles in the days of Christ when on earth their spirits were led captive and into the prison of unbelief and persecution of the Lord of Life in that their fathers persecuted the Lords Prophets and Messengers he did send so did these Jews persecute the Lord himself when he preached to their spirits that were in prison and led captives by their wicked murdering wills into the prison of unbelief for he did preach when on earth that whosoever did believe in him should be saved And as many as did truly believe in him their spirits were brought out of that captivity of unbelief and out of the prison of darkness in the mind into a glorious liberty and light of life eternal And thus did the preaching of Christs spirit deliver many spirits of men and women out of prison in the days when he was upon earth So likewise this quickening spirit of Christ it preached unto the spirits in prison in the days of Noah And why were their spirits in prison in the days of Noah Because they were disobedient And how may they be said to be disobedient Because they did not believe that good man Noah who was a preacher of righteousness And how did he preach righteousness unto that wicked people In that he prepared the Ark and being so many as a hundred years in building all that while God is said to wait for their repentance and that they might believe that God would destroy the world by water But instead of repentance and believing they hardened their hearts and mocked at Noah and the Ark so that while the Ark was preparing God waited for the peoples repentance and all that while that Noah was building he preached to the people that the world would be drowned And the spirit of Christ which is the spirit of God which was put to death in the flesh but quickened by the spirit by which he went and preached unto the spirits in prison in the days of Noah it was the same spirit that instructed Noah to build the Ark so that the building of the Ark by Noah he being a Preacher of righteousness in that he believed God and built it as the spirit of God had commanded and instructed him as God did Moses shewed him the pateâ—n of the tabernacle in the Mount And
spirit or soul as Stephen was may be said to commit his spirit into the hands of Christ and that Christ doth receive his spirit into his hands and will raise it up at the last day which will not be a minute of an hours time to the dead as I said before therefore let not the seed of faith think the time long between death and the salvation of their souls because so many of the faithful have been so many hundred years in the grave and let not the wicked unbelieving people comfort themselves that the dead shall never rise again because the Fathers are dead and the Prophets are dead and we see none of them rise again therefore we conclude their spirits are gone to Heaven without bodies and the spirits of the wicked are gone to Hell without bodies but as minute of an hours time will deside this matter when the dead are raised for they shall not remember they have been asleep in the dust one minute of an hoâ—r for there is no remembrance of time in the grave Therefore let that vain conceit that is in most people fall of spirits going to God without bodies for I can assure you there is no such thing neither can there be any true peace in that conceit I know it by faith now and by experience for I was of that opinion once my self when I was zealous in religion according to the Puritan way but I knew no Scripture truly neither was there one true Interpreter of Scripture no not one in those days that could shew a man the true righteousness of God or the true way to everlasting life CHAP. XIV THere is another place of Scripture that is objected that seems is if the soul went out of thâ— body when they die as in 1 Kings 17.21 where Elijah prayed that the childs soul might come into him again The meaning is this that Elijah did pray in faith unto God that he would assist him in this as in other things as iâ— shutting up the Heavens that it should not rain and calling for fire from Heaven to destroy those two captains and their fitties and m ny other wonderful things he did so he prayed unto God to strengthen his faith so that he might have power to raise this childs life out of death again Therefore he stretched himself upon the child and prayed that the childs soul might come into him again that is that the childs soul or life might quicken in the body of the child again for Elijah knew the soul of the child was dead and by the warm flesh of the Prophet laid upon the childs dead flesh and the faith and prayer of the Prophet together it begot life in the child again so that the soul that was dead it became life in the child again and that life that was quickened it run through the veins of the childs body and so the childs soul did come into him again For this I say if the soul of the child had been gone out of the body then Elijah did not raise the dead child to life again for how can a man be said to be dead whâ—nas life doth not die but slips out of the body as most people do vainly imagine but it may be clear to those whose understanding are enlightened that Elijah did raise the child from death to life and that the childs soul was dead in its body and that the soul of the child was revived in the childs body again by the power of faith in Elijah And the very same thing was done by the Prophet Elisha as in 2 Kings 4.34 the Prophet Elisha did the same thing to the Shunamite womans son he went up and lay upon the child and put his mouth upon his mouth and his eyes upon his eyes and his hands upon his hands and he stretched himself upon the child and the flesh of the child waxed warm and Elisha stretched himself upon the child a second time here the Reader may see that the child was dead and by the faith and prayer and by the warmness of the Prophet Elisha his flesh the child revived to life again both body and soul And Elisha did use the same means and way as Elijah did for he went in and shut the door and prayed unto the Lord as Elijah did and stretched himself upon the child as Elijah did and raised the child to life again by the power of faith Yet Elisha maketh no mention of the soul coming into the child again but he delivered the body and soul of the child that were both dead together he delivered them both alive together to the childs mother It was the same thing done by Elijah onely some difference in the words but the sense and meaning is all one So that the Reader may understand if any true light of life be in him that the soul of the child went not out of its body but died in the body and by the power of faith in the Prophet it quickned alive out of death in the childs body again for the soul or life of the child never went out of the body as is vainly imagined but the soul life and spirit of the child was absolutely dead in the body and by the power of faith in the Prophet the dead soul or life of the child was quickened alive again and caused the body to live also For if the woman should have had the soul of the child given unto her without the body she would have given the Prophet no thanks for raising her childs soul without a body but the body and soul being one person they were both dead together and the Prophet raised them both together alive and the woman received them both together and rejoyced greatly in God and gave honour to the Prophet Thus in short I have given the true interpretation of all those Scriptures that most seem or most commonly are objected against the mortality of the soul or to prove that spirits do go out of the body at the time of death or that spirits may be raised without bodies or have any being without bodies and that a spirit may appear in a shape without a body or that a spirit can assume what shape it please yet have no body or substance These things the vain imagination of reason in man hath created in it self to fright it self with for there is no such thing as spirits walking without bodies neither doth any spirit go out of the body when men die as is imagined by most people but these are factions of mens brains created by the imagination in the dark minds of men and women for God never created any such thing as I have shewed before And as for that saying of Solomon Eccl. 12.7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return to God who gave it His meaning I suppose in these words is as is generally conceived by all people the body to the dust and the
A TRUE INTERPRETATJON Of the VVitch of Endor Spoken of in 1 Sam. 28. begin at the 11. Verse Shewing 1. How She and all other Witches do beget or produce that familiar spirit they deal with and what a familiar spirit is and how those Voices are procured and Shapes appear unto them whereby the ignorant and unbelieving people are deceived by them It is clearly made appear in this Treatise that no spirit can be raised without its body neither can any spirit assume any body after death for if the spirit doth walk the body must walk also 3. An Interpretation all those Scriptures that doth seem as if spirits might go out of mens bodies when they die and subsist in some place or other without bodies Lastly Several other things needful for the mind of man to know which whoever doth understand it will be great satisfaction By LODOWICK MUGGLETON LONDON Printed in the Year 1669. TO THE Reader I Have been desired by several Friends to set forth the Inâ—â—â—pretation concerning the Witch of Endor and King Saul how it may be understood how she raised Samuel and how familiar spirits came to be procured and with what power they do such strange things Many Enemies also have objected this place to prove that spirits may be raised without Bodies and that spirits may walk or be happy or miserable without bodies though I have given Answer in discourse to these Doubts and Questions but few can retain in their memory what is spoken in Discourse therefore I thought it convenient and necessary to set it forth in Print for the Information and Satisfaction of many friends who desire it and for the Convincement of all Gain-sayers and let them seriously read it over without prejudice and they may see this Point clearly opened which hath layn hid this many hundred years with other Places of Scriptures opened which manâ— have objected against this Interpretation and all th se places of Scripture that is commonly brought or doth most seem to hold forth that spirits may he without bodies are likewise opened and expounded in short in this Treatise as followeth I. SAM XXVIII from the 11 to the 18. Verse I Shall give the Interpretation what is meant by that familiar spirit the Witch of Endor did raise Samuel by so much spoken of in the book of Samuel and o her places of Scripture and so much objected by many to prove that spirits may be raised without bodies and may appear unto people in what shape they please The belief of this lying principle it did proceed out of the imagination of reason the devil the Imagination that doth arise or proceed from the seed of reason in man is that familiar spirit that Witches deal with and that familiar spirit it proceedeth from no spirit or devil without a man but from the seed of reason within man for look what evil thoughts doth arise out of the heart of man it proceedeth out of the seed of reason in man and not from any thing without man for the imagination of the heart it is placed in the seed of reason therefore it is said in Scripture That the imaginations of mans heart was evil and that every imaginations of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually as in Gen. 6.5 so that there is no other devil or spirit or familiar spirit for Witches to deal withal or to work any Enchantments by but their own imagination there the familiar spirit is produced from whence it came and there it ceases to be when they are put to death or over-powered by the knowledge and power of faith in other men then the familiar spirit centers in the imagination again it being overpowered by the power of faith so likewise the good thoughts that doth proceed out of the heart of man they do arise or proceed from the seed of faith concerning the true God or any heavenly secret or temporal judgements or temporal blessings if the foreknowledge of these things doth arise or be foretold by the revelation of the seed of faith they are and may be called the Spirit of God Because they were foretold and declared by the revelation of the seed of faith which seed of faith is the seed of God it being of Gods own Nature therefore called the Spirit of God and so foretold and declared by the Spirit of God so likewise what foreknowledge or declaration of things that are above that which is common to the seed of reason as raising of spirits and such like I say they do proceed from the imagination of reason the devil and this strong imagination from the seed of of reason is that familiar spirit by which Witches do divine or foretel things so that the strong imagination of reason being exercised about things that are beyond Trades and Sciences that are necessary needful and lawful so it becomes a familiar spirit because it proceeds from the imagination of reason and the seed of reason being the devil and the devil being the fallen Angel for the devil is man and woman and the seed of reason is their seed and that eed of reason it came from that serpent that beguiled Eve and that serpent was an Angel and his seed was reason and this reason in man is the devil and the imagination of reason is the father of that familiar spirit by which a man or woman doth divine soothsay raise shapes or hear voices or any such thing of that nature they all proceed from the imagination of reason in man and the original being of this seed of reason it came from that Serpent-Angel that was cast down from Heaven unto this Earth who deceived our first Parents as I have abundantly shewed in Rev. 11. and in the interpretation of the whole Book of the Revelation Now I have laid a Foundation for the Reader that he may the better understand the Foundation from whence these familiar spirits that Witches have do proceed and how they are procured and what power they have over the ignorant mind of man Therefore to satisfie the thoughts of many who hath desired and requested of me that I would interpret some chief sayings in the Scriptures that speaketh of Witchcraft and familiar spirits and such like which sayings are very strange and hard to be understood so that most people are very much unsatisfied in these things though clear in their Judgements in many other things that are of more concernment and as I have given the Interpretation of the whole Book of the Revelation with many other places of Scripture to the great comfort and satisfaction of many so I shall adde the Interpretation of this thing also The first place of Scripture I shall insist upon is that in 1 Sam. 28. beginning at the 11. verse concerning the Witch of Endor this is commonly the place that most people fetch to prove that spirits may be raised in what shape the Witch please by their familiar spirits therefore let the Reader mind the
and speaks those voices unto them They count nothing too dear for this their imaginary God no not their own sons and daughters as Manasseh and others did that made their sons and daughters pass through the fire as a sacrifice to their imaginary God that had spake so many voices to them and had whispered to them But all these whisperings and low voices and peeping of spirits out of the ground as they thought I say they were all within them for when they came in any trouble their familiar spirit departs from them and will not comfort them any more let it be either in poor or rich nay Kings that have dealt with familiar spirits when they have been in trouble all their comfort hath been lost as the poorest Witch that is as may be seen by Manasseh and other Kings spoken of in Scripture Now observe when God doth bring upon a people nation or partitular person some great judgment and destruction let it be either outward or inward in the mind when it comes upon a people nation or particular person for their sins and wickedness they have committed in forsaking the Lords Prophets and dealing with Witches and familiar spirits as Sâ—ul forsook the Lord and went to a Witch and Manasseh and several other Kings of Israel who ought onely to have obeyed the Prophets of the Lord but they forsook him and enquired of Witches and Wizards and dealt with familiar spirits themselves and caused the people to worship the Devil whom they imagined to be God instead of the true God whom the Prophets would have had them to worship But when this punishment for sin is inflicted upon a people nation or particular person for dealing with familiar spirits and worshipping of devils when punishment comes it makes the heart or hearts to fail for the spirit is brought down by this judgment even to death and so goeth to the ground so that the very fear trouble and sorrow of heart shall speak as it were out of the dust or out of death for sin will speak out of the ground and the speech of death will below in them that have escaped the destruction which others did go through for there will be a resemblance in those that have escaped how their friends and relations are fallen to the ground or dust of the earth for their wickedness so that sorrow and grief will speak in the mind of those that have escaped with a low speech even as one doth who hath a familiar spirit Or as if their friends and relations the remembrance of their destruction being taken away in wrath for sin it speaks a small low voice of grief and sorrow in the heart of those that are alive even as one thâ—t hath a familiar spirit even a low motional voice of sorrow and grief and it cometh as it were out of the ground or out of the dust That is the very influence of grief and sorrow for their dead friends and people it causeth where grief is to hear as it were low voices and small speeches even out of the ground or out dust of the earth just as it was with Cain in another case the Lord said to Cain Thy brothers bloud crieth from the ground for vengeance and so the bloud of those that were slâ—â—n under the altar did from the ground cry for vengeance as in Rev. 6.10 it crieth for vengeance in the consciences of all bloudy persecutors So in like manner doth the death and destruction of a people who are destroyed for wicked idolatry as those were the Prophet Isaiah speaketh of they spake from the ground a low speech in the conscience of those that were concerned grief sorrow and fear of the same punishment and such like CHAP. VIII FOr where grief and sorrow is rooted and settled in the heart it speaketh with low motional voices in the mind that is the thought of fear in the mind both of temporal losses and the loss of eternal peace The fear moves to and fro in that mind as if it were a speech out of the ground for the thoughts of the heart are low voices which cannot be heard by any but themselves So is it with those that have a familiar spirit their voices and speech they hear from spirits without them as if spirits did speak to them out of the ground which speech they say they hear is nothing else but the thoughts that pass to and fro in their own minds a low motional voice in themselves as if spirits did speak to them with a low voice out of the ground or out of the dust For their faith is strong and above all those that come to enquire of a Witch they do all believe that spirits may be raised without bodies out of the ground as the Witch doth so they both do believe that the spirit come out of the ground that spake those low voices to the Witch and she tells it to the other that enquire of her and they believe her as King Saul did So they are wholly departed from the Lord and believe a lie to think that spirits can be raised out of the ground without bodies after men have been dead it is a thing God never did we never read in Scripture that God or his Prophets did ever raise any spirits out of the ground without bodies after they were dead but we read in Scripture that God and his Prophets have raised some from the dead with bodies as that of Lazarus being raised out of the ground by Christ and the Child that was raised from death by the Prophet Elijah and another Child raised from death to life by the Prophet Elisha and several others come forth out of the ground at the rising again of Christ from death as those Saints that did arise out of the graves and appeared to many that were alive these all did arise out of the graves with bodies after they were dead and Lazarus came forth out of the ground after he was dead but his spirit came not out of the ground without his body but body and soul came out of the ground together For it was always Gods practice to raise soul and body together and because the imagination of reason in those that have a familiar spirit cannot do so nor those that enquire of them therefore they do imagine that spirits may be raised out of the ground without bodies or assume a shape and appear like a body yet it shall be of no substance a shape that can neither be felt nor handled by the hand of man Now mind all those God doth raise out of the ground after they were deâ—d they may be handled and felt though they be spiritual bodies yet they may be felt and handled as Christ said to Thomas Feel me and handle mâ— after he was risen from the dead and Thomas laid his fingers in the print of the nails and on his side Yet Christ was at that time a spiritual body that was risen from the
Man from eternity and his spirit was never divided nor separated from his body but they were both eternal So likewise is it with Angels and Men and all other creatures whereever the spirit of life is there is bodies of life also let it be either in spiritual bodies or in natural bodies For if the body of either of these be dead the spirit is dead also and if the spirit be dead either in spiritual body or natural body the body is dead also for the one cannot have any sensible being without the other And further I say that they weâ—e both together spirit and body from eternity in God the Creator and he hath ordered and created all his creatures both celestial and terrestrial that spirit and body should be one living being and that one should not subsist nor have no sensible being without the other even as God himself could not enjoy no sensible living being without a body he knowing this in himself Therefore he created all his creatures spiritual and natural with bodies sutable to their spirits and spirits sutable to their bodies so that one might not be divided nor separated from the other for if one dieth the other dieth and if the spirit live the body liveth also For this I say that if the spirit of God himself could not be without a body from eternity how then is it possible that his creatures should have spirits without bodies seeing he himself his spirit could not have any being without his body from eternity But this conceit that the spirit or soul of man is immortal and cannot die and may have a being without a body and appear in a shape without any substance this vain conceit proceeded first from the imagination of reason in man even from Cain the first devil in flesh and bone And this imagination in Cain his posterity being heathen men who had no communion with God nor revelation of faith as the sons of Adam and the sons of Sâ—â—h the generation of the righteous had they knew that the spirit and body was all one substance But the imagination of reason Cain his poherity the heathen opinion do imagine the spirit of man to be immortal and cannot dies and that spirits may appear in shapes without bodies and that spirits may go out of the body and go to heaven or hell and leave the body to be laid in the ground as the Quakers and others do And this imagination of reason in man hath created to it self a 〈◊〉 creation which God never created Man hath created and made in his imagination a spirit without a body and that this spirit so created is immortal and cannot die nor is not capable of death that it can slip out of the body and that it can have a being when it is gone out of the body and appear in a shape without substance or hath power to assume what shape it please and yet this shape it doth assume shall have no substance yet it shall appear in a shape and fright people And the imagination of reason in man hath created man in his own image and likeness as God did Adam as thus First he hath conceived in his imaginatâ—on that God is a spirit without a body Secondly he conceiveth in his imagination that the Devil is a spirit flying in the air which can neither be seen nor felt yet this Devil or spirit without a body doth tempt man to evil whereby man is punished and the tempter he is escaped away without punishment Also it is conceived by the imagination that this Devil or spirit is in hell fire and in chains of darkness and can go no further then God will permit him because his chain is no longer then God hath limited him Also it is conceived in the imagination notwithstanding the Devil is chained and in hell fiâ—e tormented yet he being a spirit without a body he is so swift that he can be in all places at one time so that he can tempt thoâ—sands of men and women to sin at one and the same time and they themselves never the wiser nor know him when he tempted them All this the imaginary Devil can do and much more and yet be in hell fire and tied in a chain at the same time and all but one Devil a spirit without a body Also the the imagination hath conceived that the soul of man is a spirit infused or put into the body by God himself and that man begets the body but not the soul or life of man that is conceived to be immortal or a spirit that is so invisible that cannot be seen nor known what it is and that it can live of it self when it is gone out of the body Thus the imagination of reason the devil hath created its own soul in its own image and likeness and this hath been the occasion of producing of familiar spirits and of dealing with those that have a familiar spirit being conformed to the very image of the devil Many things more of the like nature might be said in this point But here the Reader may see if there be any true light of faith in him how the imagination of reason in man hath created spirits without bodies and that the Devil is a bodyless spirit and in hell fire and in a chain of darkness and yet at liberty at the same time to tempt people and in hell fire and yet out of the fire when he pleaseth and that he may be câ—lâ—ed out of hell or out of the ground when a Witch by her familiar spirit doth call and that he shall appear in any shape they wiâ—l have him yet he shall have no body nor substance but a mere shadow yet this shadow shall speak with a low voice or speech out of the ground as if speech could proceed from a shadow without substance So that the imagination of the heart of man hath created to it self a devil thâ—t God never created and the imagination of mans heart hath created his own soul in the image and likeness of the devil that is to say a spirit without a body and that a spirit without a body may be capable of joy or sorrow and that a spirit may subsist and have a being injoy or sorrow without a body which thing is impossible But observe the creation that the imagination of man hath created to himself for it is the nature of imagination of reason the devil he always creates spirits without bodies but God the Creator he always creates spirits and bodies together for God never created any spirit without a body for when God made man after his own image and likeness he made him with a body as wel as a pirit else man could not be made in the image and likeness of God if God had not had a body of his own as well as a spirit So that Adam was made or created in the image and likeness of God for Adam had a visiâ—le body and spirit undivided
and unseparable one from the other they were but one visible sensible being and when the life was dead the body was dead and when the body is really dead the spirit and life was and is dead also and both are laid in the ground together as is declared in all our writings but more especially in that book entituled The Mâ—rtality of the Soul CHAP. X. ALso I do further declare that God did never create any spirit without a body neither of Angels nor Men nor no other creature neither in Heaven above nor in the Earth beneath nor in the Waters under the earth There is no spirit or life whatsoever that is created of God but it hath a body to that life or spirit but if a spirit have any being without a body that spirit is none of Gods creation for God never created any spirit whatsoever without a body as I said before But the imagination of reason in man which is the devil hath created all creatures in the imagination to have spirits without bodies both of Angels above and Man here on earth and all creatures upon the earth and in the waters that have the breath of life the imagination of reason saith their spirits may subsist without bodies or go out of those bodies they have and enter into other bodies and appear in the shape of a body and yet be of no substance so that the Devils creation is all of spirits without bodies and Gods creation is all with bodies and spirits together And this darkness hath overspread the nature of man all the world over which is the occasion of that opinion of houses and places being hanted with evil spirits and spirits walking without bodies and deaâ—ing with familiâ—r spirits that peep and mutter and whisper as it were out of the ground These things and many more are produced by the imagination of the heart of man for the imagination of mans heart is evil and continually evil for it hath given a being to spirits without bodies to fright it self to that which hath no being of it self For I declare and perfectly know that there is no such thing as spirits to walk without bodies nor assume any shape after death nor be raised out of the ground by any Witch or any familiar spirit whatsoever it is all produced out of the dâ—rk imagination of the heart where ignorance beareh rule for there is no such thing can be presented but to the ignorant and dark-minded people Thus I have given the Reader to understand something more concerning the power of Witches and how they may be said to raise spirits out of the ground and from whence that low speech doth come with those Scriptures opened that speak as if a familiar spirit did hear whispering out of the dust Also I have given the interpretation of that in Samuel concerning the Witch of Endor and those places of Scripture in Isaiah these places are the most concerning spirits being raised without bodies of any in the Scriptures but there have been some other places of Scripture that do seem to carry a shew as if spirits might rise again without bodies and I have been desired by some to open those Scriptures that seem to tend to that purpose though the common and general objection amongst all people is that of the Witch of Endor and King Saul which I have opened before yet for the further satisfaction of the Reader I shall open and interpret the other places objected that seem to tend to the same thing The places of Scripture are three the first is Isa 61 1. the wordâ— are these The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound So Luke 4.88 the words in Luke are much to the same purpose and little difference onele that which Isaiah did prophesie of it was fulfilled by Christ in his time So the first Epistle of Peter chap. 3. and 18 19 20. verses the words are these For Christ also hath once suffered for sin the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit Verse 19. By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison Verse 20. Which sometime were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the ark was a 〈◊〉 wheâ—â—in few that is eight souls were saved by water CHAP. XI AS for thâ—t saying of the Prophet Isaiah it was a prophecy of Christ that he should be anointed to preach glad tidings unto the meek and that he was sent to bind up the broken-hearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound This prophecy was fulfilled when he was upon earth as may plainly appear by those words in Luke aforementioned Also the Reader may understand that these places of Scripture have no relation at all to the raising of spirits without bodies nor of spirits being in prison nor delivered out of prison by the power of Christ without bodies But the meaning is this that the Spirit of the Lord Almighty was upon Christ and in him and did anoint him to preach glad tidings of salvation to the meek in heart who did believe in him and trusted in his words all such as were broken-hearted who were led captive by the error ignorance and darkness of the mind he came to proclaim liberty to the spirit of man who was in captivity and to open the prison door of mens hearts For this I say all mens spirits by nature are shut up in the prison of spiritual darkness in the mind and are lead captive by the ignorance of truth so that the spirit or soul of man is shut up prisoner in the body of man untill the true God and Saviour hath been preached to them as it was by Christ himself when on earth he was anointed to preach glad tidings of salvation and he anointed his Apostles to preach glad tidings of peace to men and to open the prison and to deliver the captive out of captivity and to set the spirits of many that were in a prison of darkness in their own minds go free this prophecy was fulfilled at that time by Christ and his Apostles in their Commission But the same captivity and prison of darkness is now upon the spirits of all men as it was at that time for this I say and many people can witness that their spirits have been shut up prisoners in spiritual darkness in their own bodies untill the the true God and Saviour hath been preached unto them by his last messengers For this I declare that those words of the Prophet Isaiah they were spoken with relation to a spiritual liberty and to a spiritual captivity of the mind or spirit of man
spirit returns to God that gave it when men die but these sayings of Solomon are no Scripture for Solomon was no Scripture writer for his writings were not written by the revelation of faith but by the revelation of reason yet it was the purest of reason and he had the greatest measure of the wisdom of reason and the knowledge of nature of any that was before him since Adam or any that shall come after him Therefore God chose him King and gave him the purest wisdom of reason according to his desire in his prayer to God that his wisdom might resemble Heaven for glory as it did for what glory could a King have upon earth greater then he had which was a true resemblance of the glory of Heaven and this glory was procured by that power and great wisdom of reason in him yet for all this he was ignorant of the revelation of faith and of spiritual and heavenly things ignorant of the true God and of the right Devil and of some things in Nature As that the spirit of a man should return to God that gave it without a body when as God never gave any spirit to man without a body nor to no other creature but Solomon being ignorant that the spirit or soul of man is generated and begotten by the law of generation as well as the body this was in the creation when God made man in his own image the ignorance of this caused him to speak thus for he knew not where the spirit went when the body is laid in the earth no more then the learned Philosophers do who say A spirit cannot die as if the spirit and life of every creature were the spirit or life of God else they think no creature could move and have a being And though Solomon was a wise man as the Heathen Philosophers were wise men in nature yet they were all ignorant in this one thing of the law of generation or procreation to increase and multiply as God hath placed in nature when he created the world in the beginning for every creature as well as man were to increase and multiply by the law of generation and this I am sure they begot spirit life and soul by generation as well as bodies But if it be objected that God breathed into man the breath of life and he became a living soul and so mans spirit is of a more noble divine life or spirit then any other creatures To this I say the law of generation to increase and multiply was placed in mans seed and nature by God the creator as in other creatures for this is to be observed that Adam did not come to be a living soul by generation as we do ever since but he and Eve were first made as a foundation for generation so that God made or created but one man and one woman all men and women that have been generated and begotten ever since cannot properly be said to be made nor created but begotten by generation for God never made and created but one man and one woman all others are generated and begotten Therefore when man begets a son or daughter in the way of generation he begets the soul or spirit of the child as well as the body and the soul or spirit came out of the mans loins as well as the body as it was said by Jacob Seventy souls came out of his loins if so then that spirit or soul that is begotten by generation it must and doth die for this I say God never breathed the breath of life into no man but into Adam the spirit of life in all men and women else or since have been generated and begotten and what spirit and soul of man that is generated it doth die and turn to dust till the regeneration when God shall raiâ—e it again which will not be a minute of an hour to the dead spirit as I said before So it may be clear to those that have the true light of faith in them that the soul or spirit of man doth die as well as the body they both came into the world together alive and they shall both go out of the world again dead as I have shewed before Also the Reader may see that those Scriptures have been misunderstood through the ignorance and darkness of mens minds to think that the soul or spirit of man doth not die but slips out of the body but to imagine that spirits may walk without bodies or that any Witch can raise any spirit without a body and many other conceits that do arise out of the dark mind of man which have been grounded upon those Scripture-words therefore I have given the interpretation of all those places of Scripture that are of most concernment and seem to bear such a sense as is generally conceived among professors of the Scriptures so that whoever understands the interpretation may receive great satisfaction in their minds in this point so much for the satisfaction of the understanding in heart and for the discontent of the ignorant and dark-minded people who believe by tradition that their spirits do not die but slide out of the body at the time of death and if they have been evil and wicked livers their spirits do walk afterwards and cannot be at rest These conceits have been exceeding brief in the world heretofore when people were in darkness and so it is still where the darkness of mind ruleth CHAP. XV. THere is one thing more that would be necessary for the wise in heart to know which the Scriptures speak of in several places but I never heard any of the Ministry tell what that Satan is the Scriptures speak of therefore I shall speak a word or two to shew what Satan is and so conclude 1 Chron. 21.1 And Sathan stood up against Israel and Job 1.6 And Satan came also among them and chap. 21.22 And the Lord said to Sathan From whence comest thou And God said to Sathan Hast thou considered my servant Job Ezek. 3.1 And Sathan standing at his right hand Mat. 16.23 Get thee behind me Sathan Luke 10.18 I beheld Sathan as lightening fall from Heaven 1 Chron. 21.1 And Sathan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel This Sathan that provoked David it was the motions of reason in himself being lifted up in his own mind in that he had overcome the children of Amon he thought to make nothing of the Philistins therefore the thoughts of his heart moved him to number the people to know his strength And this motion that did arise in his heart it was Satan it is called Satan because those motions proceed from the spirit or seed of reason in him In 2 Sam. 24.1 it is said The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and he moved David against them to say Go number Israel that is the Lord suffered the motions of reason in David to be powerful and strong in him that no arguments should disswade