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heaven_n	church_n	earth_n	triumphant_a	4,427	5	11.4398	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09402	A discourse of the damned art of witchcraft so farre forth as it is reuealed in the Scriptures, and manifest by true experience. Framed and deliuered by M. William Perkins, in his ordinarie course of preaching, and now published by Tho. Pickering Batchelour of Diuinitie, and minister of Finchingfield in Essex. Whereunto is adioyned a twofold table; one of the order and heades of the treatise; another of the texts of Scripture explaned, or vindicated from the corrupt interpretation of the aduersarie.	Perkins, William, 1558-1602.; Pickering, Thomas, d. 1625.	1610 (1610)	STC 19698; ESTC S114527	101,186	282

described Witchcraft is a wicked Arte seruing for the working of wonders by the assistance of the Deuill so farre forth as God shall in iustice permit Sect. I. I say it is an Arte because it is commonly so called and esteemed amongst men and there is reason why it should be thus tearmed For as in all good and lawfull arts the whole practise thereof is performed by certaine rules and precepts and without them nothing can be done so Witchcraft hath certaine superstitious grounds and principles whereupon it standeth and by which alone the seats and practises thereof are commonly performed If it be demaunded what these rules be and whence they had their beginning considering that euery Arte hath reference to some author by whom it was originally taught and deliuered I answer that they weare deuised first by Satan and by him reuealed to wicked and vngodly persons of auncient times as occasion serued who receiuing them from him became afterward in the iust iudgement of God his instruments to report and conuey them to others from hand to hand For manifestation whereof it is to be considered that God is not onely in generall a Soueraigne Lord and King ouer all his creatures whether in heauen or earth none excepted no not the deuills themselues but that he exerciseth also a speciall kingdome partly of grace in the Church militant vpon earth and partly of glorie ouer the Saints and Angels members of the Church triumphant in heauen Now in like manner the Deuill hath a kingdome called in Scripture the kingdom of darknes whereof himselfe is the head and gouernour for which cause he is tearmed the Prince of darknes the God of this world ruling and effectually working in the hearts of the children of disobedience Againe as God hath enacted Laws whereby his kingdome is gouerned so hath the deuill his ordinances whereby he keepeth his subiects in awe and obedience which generally and for substance are nothing else but transgressions of the very lawe of God And amongst thē all the precepts of Witchcraft are the very chiefe and most notorious For by them especially he holds vp his kingdome and therefore more esteemeth the obedience of them then of other Neither doth he deliuer them indifferently to euery man but to his owne subiects the wicked and not to them all but to some speciall and tried ones whome he most betrusteth with his secrets as beeing the fittest to serue his turne both in respect of their willingnesse to learne and practise as also for their abilitie to become instruments of the mischiefe which he intendeth to others If it be here asked whence the deuill did fetch and conceiue his rules I answer out of the corruption and deprauation of that great measure of knowledge he once had of God and of all the duties of his seruice For that beeing quite depraued by his fall he turnes the same to the inuenting and deuising of what he is possibly able against God and his honour Hereupon well perceiuing that God hath expressely commanded to renounce and abhorre all practises of Whitchcraft he hath set abroach this art in the world as a maine pillar of his kingdome which notwithstanding is flatly and directly opposed to one of the maine principall lawes of the kingdome of God touching the seruice of himselfe in spirit and truth Againe the reason why he conueies these vngodly principles and practises from man to man is because he finds in experience that things are farre more welcome and agreeable to the common nature of mankinde which are taught by man like vnto themselues then if the deuill should personally deliuer the same to each man in speciall Hereupon he takes the course at first to instruct some fewe onely who beeing taught by him are apt to conuey that which they know to others And hence in probabilitie this deuillish trade had his first originall and continuance Sect. II. In the second place I call it a wicked art ●o distinguish it from all●good and lawfull a●●s taught in schooles of learnin● which 〈◊〉 they are war●antable by the word of God so are they no lesse profitable and necessary in the Church Againe to shewe the nature and quali●ie of 〈◊〉 that it is a most vngracious and wicked art as appear●th by the Scriptures For when Saul had broken the expresse commandement of God in sparing Agag and the best things Samuel tells him th●t rebellion and disobedience is as the sinne of Witchcraft that is a most horrible and 〈…〉 like vnto that wicked capitall and 〈◊〉 sinne 1. Sam. 15. 23. Sect. III. Thirdly I ●dde te●●ing to the working or producing of wonders wherein is noted the pro●er ende of this art whereby I put a further difference betweene it and others that are godly and lawfull Now if question be mooued why man should desire 〈◊〉 Witchcraft to worke wonders 〈…〉 the true and proper cause is 〈…〉 first temptation whereby the deuill preuailed against our first parents had inclosed within it many sinnes for the eating of the forbidden fruit was no small or single offence but as some haue taught contained in it the breach of euery commandement of the Morall lawe Amongst the rest Satan laboured to bring them to the sinne of discontentment whereby they sought to become as Gods that is better then God had made them not resting content with the condition of men 〈◊〉 his sinne was then learned and could neuer since b● forgotten but continually is deriued from them to al their poster●ie and now is become so common a corruption in the whole nature of flesh and blood that there is scarce a man to be found vvho is not originally tainted therevvith as he is a man This corruption shevves it selfe principally in tvvo things both vvhich are the maine causes of the practises of Witchcraft First in mans outwardest●●e for lie beeing naturally possessed with a loue of himselfe and an high conceit of his owne deseruing when he liues in base and low estate whether in regard of pouertie or want of honour and reputation which he thinkes by right is due vnto him he then growes to some measure of griefe and sorrow within himselfe Hereupon he is mooued to yeeld himselfe to the deuill to be his vassall and scholler in this wicked art supposing that by the working of some wonders he may be able in time to releeue his pouerty and to purchase to himselfe credit and countenance amongst men It were easie to shew the truth of this by examples of some persons who by these meanes haue risen from nothing to great places and preferments in the world In stead of all it appeareth in certain Popes of Rome as Syluester the second Benedict the eight Alexander the sixt Iohn the ●0 and twentie one c. who for the attayning of the Popedom as histories record gaue thēselues to the deuil in the practise of witchcraft that by the working of wonders they might rise frō one step of honour to

Scripture For they were so guided by gods spirit in their proceedings that nothing could be hard vnto them This priuiledge no ordinarie man hath assurance of and therefore this author writing vpon his owne priuate motion was subiect to error and no doubt this speach of his beeing contrarie to that which is recorded in the Canonicall Scriptures is a flat vntruth Secondly it is obiected that the Scripture calleth him Samuel that appeared vnto Saul Ans. The scripture doth often speake of things not as they are in themselues but as they seeme to vs. So it is affirmed Gen. 1. 16. that God made two great lights the Sunne and Moone whereas the moone is lesser then many starres yet because in regard of her nearenesse to the earth shee seemeth to vs greater then the rest therefore shee is called a great light In like manner Idols in the Scripture are called Gods not that they are so indeed for an Idoll is nothing 1. Cor. 8. 4. but because some men doe so conceiue of them in their mindes In a word the Scripture oftentimes doth abase it selfe to our conceit speaking of things not according as they are but after the manner of men and so in this place calleth counterfeit Samuel by the name of the true Samuel because it seemed so vnto Saul The third obiection That bodie which appeared prophecied of things that came to passe the day after as the death of Saul and of his sonnes which indeede so fel out and at the same time therefore was like to be Samuel Answ. There is nothing there said or done which the deuill might not doe For when the Lord vseth the deuill as his instrument to bring some things to passe he doth before hand reueile the same vnto him and looke what particulars the deuill learneth from God those he can foretell Now the truth is Satan was appointed by God to worke Sauls ouerthrowe and it was made knowne vnto him when the thing should be done by which meanes and by none other the deuill was enabled to Foretell the death of Saul Where by the way obserue that in this case the deuill can reueale things to come certenly to wit if he be appointed Gods immediate instrument for the execution of them or knowes them by light of former prophecies in Scripture Fourthly dead men doe often appeare and walke after they are buried Ans. It is indeede the opinion of the Church of Rome and of many ignorant persons among vs but the truth is otherwise Dead men doe neither walke nor appeare in bodie or soule after death for all that die are either Righteous or wicked The soules of the Righteous goe straight to heauen and the soules of the wicked to hell and their remaine till the last iudgement and therefore of the iust it is said that they are blessed when they die because they rest from their labours Apoc. 14. 13. But how doe they rest if after they be dead they wander vp and downe in the earth If it be said that Moses and Elias appeared when Christ was transsigured in the mount and that Lazarus rose again and at Christs resurrection many dead bodies rose againe and appeared I answer there were two times when God suffered the dead to be raised vp againe either at the planting of his Church or at the restoring and establishing of it when it was rased to the foundation Thus at the restoring of religion in Elias and Elishaes times the sonne of the Shunamitish woman 2. King 4. 34. and the widowes sonne at Sarephta 1. King 17. 21. were raised Againe when God would restore his Church which was fallen to Idolatrie about the death of Elisha he caused the like miracle to be wrought in the reuiuing of a dead man by the touching of Elishaes dead carkeise in the graue thereby to assure the people of their deliuerance and to cause them to embrace the doctrine of the Prophet after his death which in his life they had contemned In like manner at the establishing of the Gospel in the new Testament it pleased Christ to raise vp Moses and Elias and to make them knowne to his Disciples by extraordinarie reuelation that they might beleeue that the doctrine which hee preached was not newe but the same in substance with that which was recorded in the Law and the Prophets both which were represented by Moses and Elias So also he wrought the miracle vpon Lazarus the widowes sonne and lairus daughter thereby to sliewe the power of his Godhead the truth of his calling the testimonie of his Doctrine lastly to make knowne the power of his resurrection he caused some to rise and appeare to others when he himselfe rose againe But out of these two times we haue neither warrant nor example that God suffered the dead to be raised vp Wherefore those instances will not any way confirme Samuels appearing which indeed was not true but counterfeite and forged by the Deuill himselfe Now for the second Opinion of those which denie that there be any Witches and thereupon hold that this was a meere cosenage of the Witch suborning some man or woman to coūterfeit the forme attire and voice of Samuel thereby to delude Saul that also is vntrue For he that spake foretolde the ruine of Saul of his sonnes and of his armie yea the time also wherein this was to come to passe whereas in likelihood no man or woman in all Israel could haue foretold such things before hand of themselues It was not then any cosenage as is affirmed but a thing effected by the deuill framing to himselfe a bodie in the likenesse of Samuel wherein he spake If therefore it be manifest that by counterfeit apparitions of the dead Witches and Sorcerers can foretell things to come hence sundrie points of Witchcraft may be obserued First that there is a league between the Witch and the deuill For this was the cause which mooued Saul to seeke to Witches because neither he himselfe nor any of his seruants could raise vp Satan in Samuels likenesse as the Witch of Endor did But Saul beeing a King might haue commanded helpe from all the wise and learned men in Israel for the effecting of such a matter why then would he rather seeke to a silly woman then to them The reason was because shee had made a compact with the deuil for the vsing of his helpe at her de ●aund by vertue whereof he was as readie to answer as she to call him whereas Saul and the learned Iewes hauing made no such league neither he by his power nor they by their skill could haue performed such a worke Secondly the deuill will be readie at the call and command of Witches and Sorcerers when they are intending any mischiefe For here the Witch of Endor no sooner spake but he appeared and therefore the text giues her a name that signifieth one hauing rule and command ouer Pytho that is the familiar spirit yet when he is commanded he yeelds not vpon