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
CHAP. IV. FOr the Reader must minde that Witches and all those that doth attain to the Visions and hear Voices within them they do use means to attain unto it also they have some standing Rule or Art by which they come to enquire or to know things that are above that knowledge which is common to other people it is much like unto the ways of God Therefore let the Reader mind the ground-work laid down at the first that the imagination of reason had begotten a son out of the Womb of the seed of reason in man which I call the Mother and Imagination the father and the son that is begotten in the womb of reason by imagination the father is that great wisdom knowledge and power by which they go beyond other people who are of a lower capacity This son is that familiar spirit Witches doth deal with it is another spirit begotten in them which was not in their birth when they were born but begotten in themselves sence by Imagination as aforesaid neither is this familiar spirit produced or doth come from any thing or any devil without them as people do vainly imagin but the familiar spirit it is produced and doth come from within for out of the heart cometh evil thoughts murder adultery c. and all familiar spirits they are all conceived in the heart and being conceived there in its season it bringeth forth such spirits as are conceived in the heart if envy and murder be conceived as it was in Cain then it bringeth forth the spirit or deed of murder if lust be conceived in the heart it bringeth forth the spirit and act of adultery as it did in David and if a familiar spirit be conceived in the heart then it bringeth forth such a spirit that shall speak motional voices within them as if some spirits without them did appear without a body and speak to them and reveal those things unto them Many wicked spirits more then is mentioned are conceived in the hearts of men and women and acted by them spirits essay that were never of Gods Creation but hath been conceived in the minde of man since for when sin is conceived as in James 1.15 When lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death so that there is a conception of sin first in the heart and if it doth not die before it quickens into life that is into act then it bringeth forth death which is the punishment due to such sins that are alive in mans actions after they were conceived in the heart and as the evil of murder adultery and theft is conceived first in the heart so is that familiar spirit witches and wizards have they are first conceived in the mind and in a little season it groweth alive in them and speaketh unto them as if it were without them for this I say that a familiar spirit is conceived and begotten in the heart of man and womâ—n as the other sins aforementioned are and the cause why God is more angry with those that deal with a familiar spirit and hath commanded them to be Put to death more then for other sins conceived in the mind is because they imitate the way of God or the spirit of Prophesie which causeth the people to believe in a meer fiction or shadow without any substance that a spirit may be raised out of the ground without a body and so they forsake the living God who hath a body of his own and gave life to every creature thâ—t hath a body and doth beleeve a lie which hath been conceived in the mind and hath quickned into a familiar spirit and this spirit doth always live within the Witch and not without her and this familiar spirit thus conceived first in the evil minde and afterward quickning in the evil heart it goeth from strength to strength and from one degree of knowledge to a further degree of evil knowledge and evil wisdom as all things else doth that hath life for sin hath life in it and the outward Law causeth sin to revive in every one that doth evil as St. Paul saith Rom. 7.9 thus in some measure the Reader may understand what a familiar spirit is and how it comes to have a being in Witches and Wizards and how the ignorant are partakers with the familiar spirit In the next place I shall shew how those that have a familiar spirit do imitate the way of God or the way of true Prophets observe the way and manner of true Prophets High-Priests and all other people who are richly gifted with the spirit of Prophesie or revelation for the seed of faith planted in the heart is the seed and nature of God as reason is the seed and nature of the Serpent or devil and as the seed of reason is the womb or mother for imagination to get a son So likewise the seed of faith in man is the womb or mother for the revelation of faith to beget a son out of the seed of saith answerable as the Imagination doth out of the seed of reason And this son the revelation hath begotten out of the seed of faith is that heavenly wisdome discerning knowledge and power over the spirits of others and knowledge of things above the Stars and knoweth the true God in forme and nature with many other heavenly secrets which none else can know but those that believe them So that the Revelation of faith hath begotten this heavenly wisdom power and glory out of the seed of faith which is the seed of God even of his divine nature and this wisdom power and glory is that son or spirit by which all Prophets High-Priests Apostles and others that have it I say this is that by which they can truly divine by in that they can foretel truly what shall come to pass according to the knowledge of the revelation of faith and this wisdome and knowledge being produced by revelation out of the womb of the seed of faith it may and is called the spirit of God in man that doth teach and shew the wisdom of God to others so that others cometh to be taught and subjected by it to their great peace here and eternal Joy hereafter CHAP. V. ANd this spirit of wisdom knowledge and power which is produced by the revelation as aforesaid it hath motional voices in the Conscience as the familiar spirit hath in the evil Conscience but the motional voices in a good conscience speaketh peace likewise this motional voice in Prophets High Priests Apostles and others is that by which they do foretel things by whether it be good or bad that shall befal those that shall enquire Also the spirit of revelation hath a standing rule to inquire by as those have that doth tell things by a familiar spirit as I said before for the Witches doth imitate the way of Prophets and the devils way is as like Gods way as he can Now let the Reader minde and
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
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
did speak with a low voice to her and present shapes to her dazled eyes which seemeth to the Witch to be a real voice of a spirit without her and a real shape without her when as in deed and in truth it is nothing else but a motional voice begotten in her self and shapes begotten in her self by the imagination in the Womb of reason as aforesaid which is that familiar spirit Which is that familiar spirit she doth deal with she thinking it is from some spirit without her she not knowing it is begotten in her and this familiar spirit begotten in her it whispers within her with a low motional voice as if some spirit did whisper out of the ground According to that saying of the Prophet Isa 28.4 concerning the destruction or Judgement of God upon Jerusalem the words are these And thou shalt be brought down and shalt speak out of the ground and thy speech shall be low out of the dust and thy voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit out of the ground and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust As if the Prophet should say Seeing you have refused to hearken to the voice of the Prophets which hath declared the mind of the God of Israel openly with a loud voice you have heard them speak plain words with your ears but you have not believed they spoke truth unto you therefore you have reâ—ected the word of the Lord by his Prophets and have persecuted and slain some of them as false Prophets because they spake unto you in the Name of the Lord as it was revealed by the spirit of revelation in them They spake plain words unto you as might be heard to the outward ear by the standers by they were visible men that spake unto you so that you need not to enquire after any that hath a familiar spirit who speaketh so softly and so low that no standers by can hear this familiar spirit speak but he or she that hath it But as for plain words openly declared by the Prophets and publickly heard by the outward ear these you have rejected despised persecuted and counted them lyars deceivers false prophets and such like Therefore God hath given you over to strong delusions to enquire of a Witch who makes you believe that spirits may be raised out of the ground and that spirits do come out of the dust and whisper to the Witch with a low voice that none can hear but her self So those that enquire do believe as King Saul did that a familiar spirit can enter into the dust or ground and bring up another mans spirit that is dead without its body and so their two spirits whisper so low together that none can hear that stands by nor tell what this spirit that is raised did say nor whether the spirit so raised is gone into the body again or into the ground from whence the Witch said it was raised which spirit that is said to be raised or said to speak out of the ground I say it was raised out of the Witches own body and no where else and those low voices and whisperings were both within her and not without her CHAP. VII NOw how a man may be said to be brought down and shall speak out of the ground and their speech shall below out of the dust The meaning is when a particular man or woman or a people or nation be in the same distress and condition as King Saul was that is in danger of losing his Crown and Kingdom his natural life and not onely so but his Soul is tormented with the fear of eternal death this maketh the heart of man to melt in him it makes his speech to grow weak and feeble so that his speech can hardly be heard it is even as if a man did speak out of death or out of the ground A man with the extremity of outward and inward trouble he becomes speechless yet he speaks in his thoughts but so low that none that stands by can hear or tell what he saith This many can experience that have seen their friend or relation in this condition this is like speaking out of the ground and low out of the dust And the voice of every such troubled soul who hath the plagues of this life and the horrour of conscience as to the life to come as King Saul had the voice such people have is as one that hath a familiar spirit out of the ground and their speech shall be as if one did whisper out of the dust This place of Scripture hath the same meaning as the place before mentioned Isai 8.19 where such as King Saul was are bade to seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto wizards that peep and mutter that is that whisper out of the ground for whisper peep and mutter signifies all one thing These things did Manasseh 2 Kings 21.6 he dealt with familiar spirits and did great abominations he made his sons to pass thorough the fire in offering them up as a sacrifice to an unknown Devil which he thought was God and this he did by the whisperings of the familiar spirit within him and being acquainted with others who were known to have familiar spirits also And so did several other Kings of Israel deal with familiar spirits and had those low whispering voices in themselves as if spirits had risen out of the ground or from the dust to speak unto them and this they did attain unto by industry in that they forsook the words of the Prophets and would not hearken unto them but gave themselves up to follow the imaginations of their own hearts imagining they might as well know God and what worship would please God as well as the Prophets therefore why should we being Kings hearken to such mean inferiour men as these may not we by our familiar spirit as well know God and what worship will please him by our familiar spirit as the Prophets do by the spirit of prophecy why should we be in such bondage that we can do nothing but what they say the Lord commands us to do so the imagination saith Come we will not be tied up thus we will see what our familiar spirit begotten in us will do we will erect and build altars in several places and sâ—crifice bullocks and lambs to an unknown God and so by this means they procure in themselves low motional voices which whisper in themselves which becomes in them a familiar spirit is produced in themselves and there is a more increase of low motional voices which doth whisper in the mind moving them to a further degree of knowledge and endeavour after more voices so that to attain to this diabolical wisdom in a more high measure They are moved by this low voice within them to offer up their own children in sacrifices to their imaginary God which they believe is an invisible spirit without a body which reveals these things unto them and whispers
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
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