spirites speake them but bicause they are comprysed in the woorde of god But in case they are repugnant to the woorde of God they ought in no wyse to be receyued albeit an angell from heauen vtter them Thou wilt not beléeue a man of thy familiar acquaintaunce otherwyse worthy of credite who sounde of bodye and soule nowe liueth togither with thée if hée affirme any thyng whiche thou knowest to be contrary to the holy Scriptures why then wouldest thou beléeue a spirite which thou doest not know In ciuill causes the euidence or witnesse of deade men is reiected why then in causes of religion shold we giue eare to the testimonie of runagate and wandring spirites It is no harde or difficulte matter for the Lorde oure God to sende his angels vntoo vs whome otherwyse hée vseth for oure profite and by them to instructe vs in the Fayth but it hathe pleased him to appoynte the matter otherwyse Wée reade in the tenth chapter of the Actes that by an angell he commaunded Cornelius to sende for Peter that he might instruct him in the fayth He myghte haue commaunded the Angell to teache Cornelius but he folowed an orderly meanes It shal be best for vs therfore to stand to the holy Scriptures simply and that all appearing of spirites as also all dreames and reuelations be tried by the holy scriptures as vpon a touchstone and so to admit nothing but that whiche is set foorthe in the holy Scriptures for excepte wée go thus warely to woorke there is greate daunger least wée bée deceyued If the aunciente Fathers had so doone they had not estrayed so farre from the Apostles simplicitie S. Augustine in his thirde booke and .6 chapter writing agaynste the letters of Petilianus sayeth thus If concerning Christe or any other thing whiche appertayneth to fayth and euerlasting lyfe I will not say we for comparyng with him that sayde Albéeit that wée but simply where as he goyng on sayd If an Angell from Heauen shall teache you any thyng besydes that whiche you haue receyued in Scriptures conteyning the law and the Gospell bée he accursed S. Chrysostom vpon the Epistle to the Galathians the firste chapter Abraham sayeth he when he was desired to send Lazarus sayd They haue Moyses the prophets if they will not heare them they will not giue eare vnto them which rise from the dead And when he bringeth in Christ vttering these words he sheweth howe he woulde haue the holy scriptures more worthy of credite than any raised from the dead S. Paule when I name Paule I name likewise Christ for he stirred vp his mind preferreth the Scriptures before Angels descending from Heauen and that for very iust cause For albeit Angels are great yet are they seruants and ministers For all holy scriptures were not commaunded to be written and sent vnto vs by seruants but by almightie God the lord of all things Thus write these two holy fathers What things soeuer are necessarie for vs to knowe are conteined in the holy scriptures those things which are not expressed in them we muste not curiously enquire of as things profitable for our saluation Who wil therfore say against the commaundement of God that these things are to be sought and learned of dead men and by diuelishe visions These things which are secrete and hidden we shal thorowly sée when we come to eternall life May not god if we be not content with his holy word say that vnto vs which sometimes he spake by the mouth of Helias vnto the messangers of king Ochosias Is there no god in Israell that you now go to Accaron to aske councell of Belsabub Yea Thomas Aquinas denieth that diuels are to be heard which deceyue simple menne feyning them selues to be the Soules of dead men and by that coloure especially terrifie menne whiche some tymes also happened vnto the Gentiles If it were certayne and sure that the Diuel coulde not appeare and deceyue menne and also shewe greate and straunge miracles then perchaunce some men would thinke that we shoulde giue eare vnto suche Spirits but nowe we sée the contrary happen An euill spirite cloaketh his erroures vnder the coloure of diuine seruice and vnder the pretence of religiō he endeuoreth to ouerthrowe religion For as S. Hierom sayth the Deuill sheweth not himself with al his deceites that he may be known what he is And therefore it behoueth vs to be very circumspect and warie Moreouer myracles are onely testimonies and seales of the word neither may any thing be approued by them whiche is repugnant to the worde of god All miracles which lead vs away from our creator vnto creatures do attribute that vnto our works which is only due vnto the merites of Chryste and to be shorte all those whiche induce vs any wayes into errour are to be eschued If we must néedes beléeue these appearing soules no man could be assured of his estate for newe things shoulde be continually deuised as we sée playnely it happened in the olde time Therefore we must let passe all manner of spirits and embrace true religion and therein constantly abide CHAP. VIII Testimonies out of holie Scripture and one example vvhereby it is proued that such kynde of apparitions are not to be credited and that vve ought to be verie circumspect in them THat wée ought not by and by to beléeue all things whiche we heare not onely experience and many common Prouerbes but also the holie Scriptures teach vs especially in cases concerning our saluation touching the which thing we wil alledge only a fewe places and examples When Christ first sent abroad his Disciples to preach the Gospell he sayd vnto them Matthew .10 Be yée wise as serpentes and simple as Doues beware of men howe muche more than ought we to take héede of diuels Christ prophecieth in the 24. of Matthew that many false techers shall come in the latter dayes and shall shewe straunge myracles to confirme their erroures and therefore hée commaundeth the faythfull to be héedefull and circumspect and not without cause hée addeth Beholde I haue tolde you before Saynte Paule to the Galathians the firste Chapter sayth in great eanest vnto them that if an Angell come from Heauen and preache vnto them any other Gospell hée shoulde be accursed Euen so if at thys tyme spirites appeare and doe vtter any thyng repugnant to the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophetes they are to be reiected The Apostle in hys firste Epistle and fourth Chapter to Timothie dothe prophecie of false teachers which shoulde come and saythe the spirite speaketh euidently that in the latter times some shall departe from the faythe and shall gyue héed vnto spirites of errour and doctrines of Deuils whiche speake lyes through hypocrisie and haue their consciences burned with an hote yron forbydding to marrie and cōmaunding to absteyne from meates whiche God hath created to be receyued with gyuing thanks of them whiche beléeue
learne by the riche mans words if we will wey and consider with our selues what he demaunded coulde not obteine For if after death mens soules might any longer haue their conuersation here on earth no doubte the riche man him selfe woulde haue retourned as his desire was and certified his friends of hell torments Out of which place of scripture it is most cleare that soules immediatly vpon their departure from their body are caried vnto a certein place whence they cannot of themselues returne but néeds must wait there for that terrible daye of iudgement Also in his secōd homily of Lazarus amōg other things he saith It is most playne not only by that we haue before rehearsed but also by this parable that soules parted from the body haue their abiding here no longer but are forthwith lead away For it came to passe saith he that he died and was caried away by the Angels And not only the soules of the iust but of the vniust and wicked are hence lead away caried to their proper places which doth euidently appeare by another rich man of which mētion is made in the 12. of Luke to whome the Lorde said Thou foole this night will they take thy soule from thée And in hys fourthe homily of Lazarus he plainly teacheth that we should giue more credite to holy Scripture than to one that came from the dead or an Angell from Heauen Herewithall he also sheweth that the dead do not only make no apperance vnto men liuing but yeldeth reasons wherfore they do not returne hither in these words If god had knowen that the dead being raised might haue profited the liuing he would neuer haue let passe so great a benefite who otherwise dothe giue and prouide vs all things profitable Furthermore he addeth that if it were requisite still to raise vp dead men to make relation vnto vs of such things as there are done this no doubt in continuaunce of time would haue bin neglected and so the Diuell very easily would haue broched and brought in damnable opinions into the world For he might often haue made counterfeit sights or suborne suche as should fayne their selues to be dead and buried and by by to present themselues before men as if they had bin in déede raised from death and by suche manner of persons might so haue bewitched simple soules that they would beleue whatsoeuer he would haue For if now when there is in déede no such thing the vayn dreames as it were of men decessed that haue bin shewed to mē in sleep haue deceyued peruerted destroyed many surely much sooner wold the same haue fallen out if it had bin a thing truly done this opiniō had preuailed in mens heads For if many dead persons had retourned backe again into this life the wicked spirit the diuell would easily haue deuised many sleights wiles brought in much deceit into the life of mā And therfore god hath cleane shut vp this dore of deceit not permitted any dead mā to returne hither shewe what things be done in the other life least the diuell might gredely catch this occasion to plant his fraudulēt policies For whē the prophets were he raised vp false prophets when the Apostles were he stirred vp false Apostles and whē Christ appeared in flesh he sent hither false Christs or Antechrists And when sincere sound doctrin was taught he brought into the world corrupt damnable opiniōs sowing tares whersoeuer he came And therfore although it had come to passe that dead mē shold return again yet wold he haue counterfeited the same also by his instruments by some fained raising of the dead through the blinding bewitching of mens eyes or otherwise by suborning of some whiche should feine themselues to be dead as I said before he would haue turned al things topsituruie and vtterly haue confounded them But god who knoweth all things hath stopped his way that he should not thus deceyue vs and of his great mercy towards vs hath not permitted that at any time any shold returne frō thēce tel vnto mē liuing such things as there are done héerby to instruct vs that we shold be of this opinion iudgemēt that the scriptures oughte to be beleued before other things whatsoeuer bycause that God in them hath most clerely taught vs the doctrine of the last resurrection Further by them he hath conuerted the whole world banished error brought in truth and cōpassed al these things by vile base fishers and finally in them hath giuē vs euery where plentifull argumentes of his diuine prouidence c. S. Cyril in his .xi. booke .36 chap. vpon S. Iohns gospell saith We ought to beleue that when the soules of holy men are gone away from the bodies they are commended vnto the goodnesse of God as into the handes of a most déere father that they do not abide in the earth as some of the heathens beleued vntil such time as they abhorred their graues neither that they are caried as the soules of wycked men vnto a place of excéeding tormēt which is hel Christ hauing first prepared this iorney for vs but that they rather mount vp aloft into their heauenly fathers hands c. And in the Popes canon law causa 13. quaest 2. Fatendū we read that many do beleue that some come from the dead to the liuing euen as on the other side holy Scripture doth witnesse that Paule was caught vp from the liuing into paradise Uppon these words the glose saith that some doe in dede so beleue but falsly sith they be but fansies vayne imaginations as it is in causa 26. quaestione 5. Episcopi What farther may be saide to those men that knowe these things and neuerthelesse do beleue that soules stray in the earth I knowe not yet that I may lay out al things plainly I wil here confute their chiefest arguments CHAP. VI. A confutation of those mennes argumentes or reasons vvhiche affirme that dead mens soules do appeare And firste that is aunsvvered vvhiche certaine doe alleage to vvitte that God is omnipotent and therfore that he can vvoorke contrary to the ordinary course of nature FIrst our aduersaries do lay against vs that by the vsual cōmon course of things the souls of the godly abide in heauē the soules of the wicked in hell vntil the last day do not walk at all but yet that god may dispence with them to appere here somtimes therby to instruct admonish vs And then Samuel did appere after his death vnto king Saule Moses also which forsooke this life many yeres before Likewise Elias who was taken vp into heauen in a fyrie charet appered vnto Christ our sauior his iij. disciples whō he toke with him at his transfiguratiō in the mount Lazarus also of Bethanie returned from death into the earth and many other also wer raysed from death by Christ his apostles and prophets Farther
to deliuer vs from euill to strengthen our fayth and to giue vs pacience and other necessarie things Neither should we be touched with compassion of other mennes miserie which are vexed with spirits but we woulde rather say that they can not tell what they speake and that they imagine many vayne feares Moreouer if other vnderstande that godly men are for their exercise vexed by spirits they become more pacient when soeuer they are sicke or otherwise troubled acknowledging theyr owne harmes to be but small in comparison of other mens For nothing is more greuouse than when a manne is tormented by the Diuel Nowe as touching infidells they are constrayned will they or nill they to confesse that there are diuels for there are many which would neuer be persuaded there are good or euill Angels or spirits except sometimes they had experience therof in déede God suffreth these things to chasten them For so muche as they will giue no place vnto truth but are wilfully deceyued it is good reason they be taught by diuelishe illusions what they must do or leaue vndone and that they be illuded by euill spirits after some other meanes Thus we reade in the .13 chapter of Deuteronomie if there arise among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreames and giue thée a signe and wonder and that signe or wonder that he hath saide come to passe and then say let vs go after straunge Gods which thou hast not knowne and lette vs serue them hearkeÌ„ not thou vnto the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreames For the Lorde thy God proueth you to wit whether ye loue the Lord your God with all your soule Ye shall walke after the Lorde your God and feare him kepe his commandements and hearken vnto his voice serue him and cleaue vnto him And he addeth further that the same Prophete or dreamer shall dye the death By these words we do not only sée that God doth suffer suche leude fellowes to worke maruellous things but also to what ende and purpose he permitteth it that is to trye his faithfull how constant they be and how faithfully they would beleue in him if at any time spirits do come and foretell things to happen hereafter Our sauioure Christ saith in the thirde chapter of Saincte Iohn This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loued darknesse more than light bicause their déedes were euill for euery one that doth euill hateth the light neyther commeth he to the light least his déedes shoulde be reproued c. By the which woordes our Sauiour sheweth the cause why the worlde is condemned whiche is bycause they receyue not the lyght of the woorde of God or Christe himselfe who is the light of the worlde sette foorth vnto vs in his woorde but rather shut their eyes agaynst the cleare light preferring darkenesse that is errours superstition and wickednesse before the woord of god If God then condemne and reiecte the vnthankfull worlde what maruell is it if he vexe them with spirites and vayne apparitions Chryst sayth in the fyfth of Iohn I come in my Fathers name and you receyue me not yf an other come in his owne name you receyue him Christe laboured for their health and saluation this they woulde not acknowledge but refused him therfore was it the iust iudgement of God that they shold receyue others that hunted after their owne coÌ„moditie and profite suche as were Theudas Iudas of Galilee and many other false doctours and seditious seducers Wherefore if any refuse to giue eare to Christe and his ministers it is by the iust iudgemente of God that they hearken vnto Spirites and suche like things Saincte Paule in the seconde to the Thessalonians and seconde chapter writeth of Antichrist that he shoulde exercise greate tyrannie in the Churche of God and sheweth agaynst whome and for what cause God will suffer him so to do saying Among them that perishe bicause they recyued not the loue of the truth that they might be saued And therefore God shall sende them strong delusions that they shoulde beléeue lyes that all they myght be damned whiche beléeue not the truth but had pleasure in vnrighteousnesse And in the fourth chapter of his seconde Epistle to Timothe he earnestly beséecheth his scholer to be diligent in preaching dayly He giueth this reason for the tyme will come when they shall not suffer holsome doctrine but after their owne lustes shall they whose eares itche get them an heape of teachers and shall withdraw their eares from the truth and shal be turned vnto fables Now we sée the cause why god dothe suffer seducers false teachers and wicked spirites to deceyue men in the place of true doctours which is for that eyther they vtterly despise his woorde or little esteme it and can not abide godly and constant preachers Touching which matter wée will alleage a fewe examples Pharao contemned God and his seruants Moyses and Aaron wherfore God blynded his eyes that he gaue himself to be ruled by his Magi or wyse men and at the last perished miserably in the red Sea. Saule woulde not giue eare vnto Samuell who bare a ryght hart and good affection towardes his king he loued him not as by reason he shoulde haue done but haâ—ed him and all other that loued him right wel for he contemned the woord of god Wherfore it came to passe that being in extreme daunger he sought help of a witch to reare Samuel froÌ„ the dead that he might now vse his aduise whoÌ„ he despised béeing aliue disdayned to heare him This woman reareth one who is no otherwise called Samuel than when false gods are called gods when in very déede they are not gods but wood and stones or rather as Paul sayth .1 Corin. 10. very diuels This counterfait Samuel giueth him neither comforte nor counsell but driueth him to vtter desperation The same hapned vnto Saul whiche chaunceth vnto those stubborne children whiche despise their pareÌ„ts contemne their counsel wold gladly wishe their death at the last grow vnto y point that they wold willingly take in haÌ„d a great iourney on coÌ„dition it might be graunted them to heare them giue their last counsell An other example herof Achab king of Israel Iezabel his wife had many godly prophets amoÌ„gst whoÌ„ Elias was a man indued with the gifâ—e of shewing working miracles But they did not only conteÌ„ne those prophets but also cruelly murdered so many of them as they could catche Yet amongst the rest they especially laboured to intrap Elias who was exceading zelouse The Baalamites were in greate fauoure with the king but especially with the Quéene as hir chief dearlings And when the time approched that Achab shoulde suffer due and worthye punishement for his Idolatrie and wickednesse wherein he had long time liued he entred councell with his kinsman Iosaphat that they ioyning their powers togither might recouer agayne the
that soule He also confuteth the opinion of the Ethnikes prouing by the testimonie of the very Magitians whom they highly reuerenced that the soule was immortall These men affirmed and taught that they did call vp soules from the dead the which poynt euen those of the Gentiles beleeued who notwithstanding thought that the soule did streightway die with the bodie Iustine the Martyr in the seconde Apologie whiche he wrote in the defence of Christians hath these wordes I will sayth he say the truth In times past wicked angels through vayn visions deceyued women and children and with straunge and monstrous sightes made men afrayde by whiche meanes they often wroong that oute of foolishe and rude persons whiche by reason they coulde neuer get of them And therefore not knowyng that these were the Diuels engins and policies tendyng to delude them they by one consente termed the workers of these slye conueyances by the name of Gods assignyng to eache of them their propre names as best pleased themselues c. Afterwardes in the same Apologie hée exhorteth the heathens that they would not deny mens soules after this lyfe to be indued with sense but at the least way woulde giue credite to their owne Necromancers who teach that they call vp mens soules Also let them beléeue those that affirm they haue ben vexed with spirits of dead men which persons the coÌ„mon people term furious frantike bodies In Augustin de ciuitate dei many such things be coÌ„teined Now what dreadfull strange and maruellous ceremonies they vsed when they went aboute by their Magicall artes to call vp the soules of the deade a man may sée in the first booke of Lucan the Poet where he setteth foorth howe Erictho a famous Wytche in Thessalye reuiued and restored a souldioure to lyfe againe who was lately slayne before Whiche acte he did at the requeste of Sextus Pompeius that so he myght by him learne what wold be the issue of the battayle fought at Pharsalia This kind of Magike they proprely terme Necromancie or Psycomancie which is wrought by raising vp the spirites and soules of the dead Of whiche there were dyuerse sortes For sometyme appeared vnto menne the whole bodies of the dead but at an other time onely ghostes and spirites and often nothing was hearde sauyng onely a certayne obscure voyce Plutarche in the lyfe of Cimon as hée is translated by Ioachimus Camerarius in the Preface on Plutarches bookes De oraculis quae defecerint de conseruata figura Delphis writeth that Pausanias when he had taken the Citie of Bizance sente for Cleonice a mayden of noble parentage to haue vnhoneste companie with hir Whome hir parentes partely by necessitie and partely for feare sente vnto him But after that the Uirgin had once obtayned so muche of his wayghters in hys priuie chamber that they shoulde at hir fyrst entraunce put out the lyghtes shâ—e in the darke goyng softly towards Pausanias bedde by the waye stumbled on the candlesticke and ouerthrew it agaynste hir will as hée laye asléepe in his bedde who béeing troubled wyth the sodayne noyse drewe a swoorde that laye by hym and therewith slewe the virgin as she had bin his enimie whiche went priuily to sette vppon hym But shée béeing thus slayne wyth that deadly stroake woulde neuer after suffer Pausanias to take his quiet reste but in a vision appearing vnto him in the nyghte season denounced sentence of hatred against this noble captayn in these wordes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is Answere to the lawe for wrong is an euill thing vntoo all men This heynous déede of Pausanias was very gréeuously taken of all his companions who therfore vnder the conduction of captayne Cymo â–ª sette on him and chased him out of Thracia And thus hauyng lost the citie of Bizâ—nce when as it is reported the sight continued in troubling him hée fledde vnto Necyomantium at Heraclea where the soule of Cleonices béeing called vp hée by intreatie pacified hir displeasure Shée didde there bothe present hir self vntoo hys syght and also told hym it shold shortly come to passe that the euill towards him shold cease as soone as he came to Sparta Héereby priuily intimating his death c. This Pausanias did at the first soberly and discreatly demeane him selfe but afterwardes béeing puffed vp with such victories as he had obteined he ruled and raigned lyke a very Tyraunt Wherefore when the Magistrates called Ephori would haue committed him to pryson he tooke Sanctuarie in a Temple where he was shutte vp vntill he famished through hunger I might héere heap togither many such like Hystories to proue euidently what this Samuel was In other matters also if God licence him the Deuill is not destitute of power and howe craftie and ready he is for all assayes experience doth well declare Furthermore graunt that wherein the pith strength of the question doth consist which can neuer be proued by Scripture that God did permit Samuel to return and to Prophesie of things to come after hys death yet will it not thereof followe that suche visions shoulde nowe be shewed also or that those thyngs shoulde be out of hande credited and done which they commaund God in tymes past did often in visible shape sende his Angels vnto men but nowe we heare not that many are sent vnto men neither in déed is the same necessarie WheÌ„ the Apostles lyued héere many notable miracles were doone but nowe for certaine good causes they cease and fal away for whatsoeuer is necessarie for our Saluation is expresly conteyned in the worde of god These notes touching Samuels appearing may suffise CHAP. X. Moyses and Elias appeared in the Mounte vnto Chryst our Lorde many haue ben raised from the dead both in body and soule and therefore Soules after they are departed may returne on earth againe IN like manner they obiecte vnto vs out of the 17. of Matthew that Moses and Helias were séene in the Mount whiche is called by the olde Wryters Tabor with our Lord Iesus by the Apostles whom he had chosen for the same purpose and that they dyd speake with him Luke telleth of what matters they coÌ„muned with him to wit of his deth that is the deth of the crosse Thereupon they gather that the soules of dead men may come againe into the earth appeare vnto men we haue grauÌ„ted before the God is able to send soules again into the earth but that it is his will so to do or that it is necessary especially at these days is not yet proued Moses Helias apered not to al the Apostles but only to thrée neither did they speake to those thrée they brought no new Doctrine they coÌ„maunded them not to build Churches in their honor or to do any such like thing whether that their soules came alone or their bodies also sure it is they were not sente to the Apostles but to Chryst only It was very necessarie that they which shuld be
the crafte and subtiltie of the Diuel by this meanes Saincte Paule to the Ephesians the 6. chapter and Peter in hys firste Epistle and fifthe chapter saythe Be ye sober and watche for your aduersarie the Diuel as a roaring Lyon walketh about séeking whome he may deuoure whom resiste stedfast in faith c. When men are secure and negligente wholly giuen vnto pleasures and as it were drowned in drunkennesse in surfettyng couetousnesse adulterie and suche other wickednesse then hathe the Diuell place to shewe him selfe Wherefore we ought to giue our selues to watching praying fasting and godly liuyng we must heare the worde of God often and gladly we must desire too reade and talke of hym contynually that wée may thereby put from vs those diuelishe illusions and sightes If thou haue any publike office or charge do it faithfully restore thy goodes euill gotten either vnto their true owners or else imploy them to some good and godly ende If men care neither for God nor his worde it is no maruell if vayne sightes appeare vnto them For God suffereth such things to happen vnto them to humble them and to make them knowe themselues It is an horrible thing that there are some which giue ouer themselues to the diuel bicause he shold not tormeÌ„t them they ought rather to waigh with them selues that if they so do they shall be perpetually tormented of euil spirits except they truely repent and turne agayn vnto God. CHAP. VII That spirits vvhich vse to appeare ought to be iustly suspected and that vve maye not talke vvith them nor enquire any thing of them WE ought not without greate cause to suspecte all Spirites and other apparitions For albeit God dothe vse the helpe and seruice of good Angels for the preseruation of his electe yet notwithstanding in these our dayes they appeare vnto vs very seldome For things are nowe farre otherwyse since Christes comming into the worlde than they were before in auncient tyme Although perchaunce thou thinke thou haste séene a good aungell yet doo not easily and vnaduisedly giue him credite If the euent of the matter declare afterwarde that it was a good aungell whiche gaue thée notable warning of some matter or deliuered thée oute of some greate daungers giue God thankes that he hath delte so fatherly and mercyfully with thée and hathe suche care ouer thée and endeuour to frame thy selfe to his good will and pleasure But if thou sée an angell whiche flattereth and speaketh thée faire suche a one as thâ—se are whiche craue thy helpe as thou hast heard before in no wise credite their words Men which blaunche and flatter with vs are always suspicious why then shoulde not suche spirites be suspected Enter into no communication with suche spirites neither aske them what thou must giue or what thou must doo or what shal happen hereafter Aske them not who they are or why they haue presented them selues to bée séene or hearde For if they be good they will lyke it well that thou wilte heare nothing but the woorde of God but yf they be wicked they wyll endeuour to deceyue thée with lying When the Angell in the first chapter of Matthew instructed Ioseph in a dreame he by and by alleaged testimonie out of the Prophet If it be so that we must not beléeue an angell comming from Heauen who can iustly blame vs if we giue no credite to spirites and suspitious dreames Althoughe Chryste and his Apostles had the full power to shewe miracles yet did they establishe and confirme their doctrine by the holy Scriptures When Almightie God himselfe had enquired of Adam in Paradyse touching the breaking of his commaundement and that he had layd the fault vppon his wyfe Eua and she had put it ouer to the Serpente whiche caused hir to eate of the forbidden fruite God woulde not demaund of the Serpente that is of the Dyuell whiche had vsed him as instrument why he had so doone for he knew right well that he was a lyer Except Eue had talked with the Serpent she had neuer transgressed Gods commaundement If Spirites of their owne accorde woulde gladly tell vs many thinges yet wée must not giue eare vnto them muche lesse ought we to coniure them to tell vs the truth God commaunded in his lawe as we haue oftentymes sayde before that no man shoulde enquire any thing of the dead God himselfe sent his faithfull seruants the Prophets Apostles Euangelists and especially his only begotten sonne Christ Iesu our Lord and sauioure into the worlde by whome he truly plentifully taught his faithfull seruants what they ought to beleue to do to leaue vndone what kind of worshipping did best please him with many other suche things By them he enformed vs concerning great and weightie affaires whiche should happen in his Churche and in kingdomes euen vnto that blessed day wherin Christ shall iudge the world and shall call togither hys generall councell and shall pronounce finall sentence vppon them who haue done well or yll and wherein he shall make a diuision and separation betwene the good and euill Christe himselfe after his Resurrection did not immediatly ascende into heauen but aboade a whyâ—e in earth appearyng vnto his Disciples and others least we should at any tyme say Who euer came agayne to tell vs what estate is to be looked for in the other worlde Moreouer God among suche greate and long persecutions wherin many profytable bookes haue perished hath miraculously preserued the holy Scriptures for oure profite euen vnto this day and hereafter will preserue them in despite of all impious and wicked men He hath also ordeyned the ministerie of the worde that vnto the ende of the worlde there shoulde be some men whiche bothe by lyuely voyce and also by their writings shoulde interprete his woorde and enfourme others of his will and pleasure His woorde is a shining lanterne whiche shineth in this darke worlde whiche is full of errours as we reade Psalm 119. And our sauiour sayth in the eyght chapter of saint Iohn that he is the light of the worlde whome if any man follow he walketh not in darknesse This standeth as a sure grounde wherfore no other reuelations are to be looked for neyther by miracles from heauen nor by wandring spirites or soules as the common people mysterme them But lette vs imagine that they are the wandring spirites of deade bodies then is it necessarie that they be the soules eyther of faithful men or of infidels If they be the soules of the faithful they will say with God the father concerning his sonne Christe Iesus Heare him But if they be the soules of Infidels and of wicked men who I pray you will vouchsafe to heare them or beléeue any thing they say Morâ—ouer those things whiche these counterfayte soules doo speake eyther agrée with the holy Scriptures or else are contrary vnto them If they are agréeable then are they to be receyued not bicause
and knowe the truth c. By the woorde spirite are vnderstoode false teachers whiche vaunt themselues of the spirite of God But what cause is there why it maye not be vnderstoode of suche wandring spirites whiche haue induced men to take in hande many things In the seconde Epistle to the Thessalonians and the seconde Chapter when certayne affirmed the latter daye to be presente at hande Paule foretelleth them that there shall be a defection and that Antichrist shall first come saying Nowe we beséech you brethren by the comming of our Lorde Iesus Chryste by our assembling vnto hym that yée be not sodenly moued from your intent nor troubled neyther by spirite nor by word nor by letter as it were from vs as though the day of Christ were at hande Let no man deceyue you by any meanes c. Which wordes truely in my iudgement may also be verie aptly vnderstood of those wandering spirits Saint Iohn sayth in hys first Epistle and fourth chapter Dearly béeloued beléeue not euery spirit but trie the spirits whether they are of God for many false Prophetes are gone out into the world Héereby shall yée knowe the spirit of god Euery spirit that cōfesseth that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God and euery spirite whiche confesseth not that Iesus Chryst is come in the flesh is not of god c. Héere he speaketh not of spirites which falsly affirme themselues to be mens soules but of those teachers whiche boaste of themselues that they haue the spirite of god But in case we must not beléeue them being aliue much lesse ought we to credite them when they are dead And albeit that neyther Chryste nor hys Apostles had so diligently giuen vs warning not to suffer our selues to be seduced with myracles and with the talke of spirites yet notwithstanding dayly experience teacheth vs to be circumspect and warie in these cases For as soone as false teachers sée that they haue no testimonie of Scripture to defende themselues withall by and by they turne themselues to spirits and visions whereby they may confirme their Doctrine which thing hath opened a large window to many erroures To what inconuenience Ambition couetounesse enuie hath brought many of the clergie it is both well knowne by many examples and it hath also as it were by the waye béene before declared Haue not the orders of Monkes striued amongest themselues for the preheminence haue not they inuented newe miracles haue they not counterfeited Gods Pilgrimages Saintes spirits The holy Uirgin is a famouse notable exāple that we shuld not rashly beléeue euery spirit For at what time the Angel Gabriel apeared vnto hir in a visible shape saluted hir shewing hir before of the Incarnation of the Sonne of God she thought with hir selfe what maner of salutation that shuld be how this thing could come to passe séeing she had knowen no man Then at the last being enfourmed of the means by the Angel she sayd Behold the handmayde of the Lorde be it vnto me according to thy word Why then should we beléeue euery spirite especially those which teach things quite contrarie to the word of God. CHAP. IX After vvhat sorte the faithfull in the primitiue Churche vsed themselues vvhen they mette vvith spirites I Haue declared out of the word of God how good and godly men ought to behaue themselues when soeuer any spirites appeare vnto thē And truely the auncient Christians behaued themselues after this sorte For they were couragious without feare they gaue themselues to godlynesse and all good workes they diligently auoyded all things which were displeasing vnto God and they were also verie circumspect not to attribute too much vnto spirites and visions It was a cōmon custome amongst thē to blesse themselues with the signe of the Crosse when they met with these things which many also vse at this day Tertullian writeth in his booke De corona militis that the auncient Christians did many times marke their foreheades with the signe of the Crosse. S. Hierom exhorteth Demetriades that he often crosse his foreheade least that the destroyer of Egipt finde any place therein Origen also Epiphanius Chrisostome and Augustine write many things of the vertue of the holie Crosse. S. Athanasius writeth in hys booke de Humanitate verbi eiusque corporali aduentu fol. 67. In times past sayth he the deuils by vaine shewes and mockerie ensnared men abiding somtimes in wels somtime in ryuers in stones and woods and so by craftie deceytes brought vnwise men into sottishnesse But nowe since Gods worde hath appeared vnto vs suche sightes and vaine fantasies haue surceased Fol. 56. and .72 and in other places also he handleth the same matter Lanctantius writeth of the same in his fourth boke Diuinarum Institutionum 26. chapter and also thorowout the 27. Chapter He saythe that the deuill can haue no accesse vnto those nor any wayes hurte them whiche signe their foreheades with the crosse He addeth moreouer that the Christians vsed this ceremonie in olde time in casting out deuils and healing diseases Not for that they ascribed such efficacie and force to the externall signe of the crosse for that were supersticious but vnto the crosse that is to the merytes of Chryste whose worthinesse and excellencie they called withall to their remembrance Touching the holy Apostles or Apostolike Churches we reade not that they euer vsed the signe of the crosse in expelling deuils in curing diseases or in any other thing God spared the Iewes in Egipt whiche marked the doore postes with the bloude of the Lambe not that Lambes bloude is able to deliuer men from death but it was a figure of the bloud and passion of Christ Iesus And the Iewes sprinkled not bloud of their owne good deuotion as they terme it but by the commaūdement of god The holy fathers by the ceremonie that they signed themselues wyth the crosse mente to testifie their confidence in the crosse that is in the deth of Christ Iesus which abandoneth all euill and mischiefe The deuill neuer a whit feareth the crosse wherewith we signe our selues nor yet those pieces fragmentes of Christes crosse which are shewed for reliques but he trembleth at the power and force of Chrystes death by the whiche he was conquered and ouerthrowen If any man attribute too muche vnto ceremonies he cannot be excused from supersticion which worthily deserueth blame We read more in the auncient wryters that they vsed exorcismes or coniurations in the primatiu◠Churche against Deuils You may read in Tertullian in his booke De anima that vncleane spirites haue often times deceyued men haue taken on them the persones of others and haue fayned themselues to be the soules of dead men that men should not beléeue that all soules descended into Hell what is to be vnderstood by the worde Hell I haue shewed before and so to bring the beleefe of the latter Iudgemente