and skill And to this opinion do the Schools both of the ancient and later Academicks wholly incline and seems to be favoured both by Dr. Moor and Mr. Glanvil himself and if there be any such matters doubtless from thence did arise all the strange stories and gests that former Generations have told and believed concerning the Apparition of these kind of Creatures which the common people call Fayries of which the Reverend and Learned person Bishop Hall giveth us this touch The times are not past the ken of our memory since the frequent and in some part true reports of those familiar Devils Fayries and Goblins wherewith many places were commonly haunted the rarity whereof in these latter times is sufficient to descry the difference betwixt the state of ignorant Superstition and the clear light of the Gospel And whosoever shall seriously read and consider that little Piece that was printed some few years since though written long ago and by some that pretend to no small share of Learning cryed up exceedingly for a most convincing Relation to prove the Existence of Spirits called The Devil of Mascon may easily gather that if the thing were truly related as to the matter of fact that it must needs be some Creature of a middle Nature and no evil Spirit both because it was such a sportful and mannerly Creature that it would leave them and not disturb them at their devotions as also as far as I remember for I have not the Book by me because it denied that it was a Devil and professed that it hoped to be saved by Christ. 4. That the Scriptures contain in them all things necessary to Salvation is so clear a truth that none but those that are wilfully blind can deny it for Christ taught his Disciples all things that he had learned of the Father and the Father sending him to be the Saviour of the World and to preach the Gospel of eternal Salvation was not defective in declaring all things that were necessary to accomplish the work and end for which he was sent forth of the Father And the glorious Apostle St. Paul tells the Disciples and Brethâ—en That he had not shunned to declare unto them all the counsel of God which must of necessity be abundantly sufficient for their Salvations And he telleth Timothy That he had known the Scriptures from a child which were able to make him wise unto salvation All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness That the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good works Nay the Woman of Samaria had so much knowledge and faith that she believed that when the Messias was come he would tell them all things Now to the obtaining of Salvation there is nothing more necessary than to know what enemies men have to fight against in their Christian Warfare which the Apostle tells in these words For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places Wherefore they are to take unto them the whole armor of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that made the Apostle say in another place We are not ignorant of his devices or crafts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now the Scriptures being able to make us wise to Salvation it hath sufficiently declared the natures powers knowledge and offices of both the good and bad Angels and is a sure word of Prophecy unto which it is good to take heed and not unto old wives fables of Apparitions and Goblins such as Mr. Glanvil would perswade us that they are tydings of another World when we are taught by unerring testimony of Truth That those that have Moses and the Prophets and do not hear them neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead And therefore we must be bold to tell Mr. Glanvil that the Sacred Scriptures do with infallible certitude teach us that both good and bad Spirits have most certainly an Existence and therefore we need none of his feigned nor forged stories of Apparitions which if they were certainly known to be true and real by undeceivable matters of fact yet he that doth not believe what is written of the Being of Spirits by Moses and the Prophets will not believe Apparitions no not of a man if he came from the dead And therefore I will conclude with that precious and pithy Sentence of St. Austin who saith Major est hujus Scripturae authoritas quà m omnis humani ingenii perspicacitas And believe not them that say If you would know the power of Devils and Witches go to the Writings of Dr. Casaubon Mr. Glanvil and to the rest of the Demonographers and Witchmongers that amass and heap together all the lying vain improbable and impossible stories that can be scraped forth of any Author ancient middle or modern when we are commanded to go to the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no truth in them And so I shall shut up this Chapter wherein I suppose I have sufficiently proved that the denying of such a Witch as I have described doth not infer the denial of the Being of Angels or Spirits and that Apparitions are no sufficient grounds for Christians to believe the Existence of Angels and Spirits by but the Word of God which was the thing undertaken to be proved CHAP. IV. That the Scriptures and sound Reason are the true and proper Mediums to prove the Actions attributed unto Witches by and not other improper ways that many Authors have used And of the Requisites necessary truly to prove a matter of Fact by AS we have in the former Chapter proved that Apparitions though true are no sufficient warrant to ground our belief upon for the Existence of Angels or Spirits but the Word of God so here we shall endeavour clearly to manifest that the Sacred Scriptures are the only Medium joyned with sound Reason of deciding this point of the power and operation of Demons and Witches and not other improper Mediums brought in by divers Authors and first we shall answer the Objection of Mr. Glanvil that runs thus That though the New Testament had mentioned nothing of this matter yet its silence in such cases is not argumentative He said nothing of those large unknown Tracts of America nor gave he any intimations of as much as the existence of that numerous people much less did he leave instructions about their Conversion He gives no account of the affairs and state of the other World but only that general one of the happiness of some and the misery of others He made no discovery of the Magnalia of Art or
Nature no not of those whereby the propagation of the Gospel might have been much advanced viz. the Mystery of Printing and the Magnet and yet no one useth his silence in these instances as an argument against the being of things which are evident objects of sense To which we answer 1. He falleth into a common mistake in making the Proposition universal and dolus versatur in universalibus when it ought but to be particular so for him to say that no silence of Scripture is argumentative is too universal for its silence in point of Geography as in describing America and the people thereof nor in discovering the Magnalia Naturae Artis is not argumentative and we do not say that all silence of Scripture is argumentative but yet we affirm that some silence of Scripture is argumentative So we cannot universally say that nothing hath a being but what is mentioned in Scripture but we may very well affirm that some things have no being of truth of existence because not declared in Scripture 2. The Scriptures were not written to teach Naural Philosophy Arts or Sciences humane Policy or the like but were given that the man of God might be perfect furnished for every good work and it is by them that we have the doctrine of eternal Salvation revealed unto us and we positively affirm the sufficiency of the Scriptures unto Salvation which thing no Orthodox Divine we suppose will deny and Bellarmine himself did confess in these words Prophetici Apostolici libri sunt verum verbum Dei ac stabilis regula fidei And if it be a certain Rule of Faith and the true Word of God then whatsoever it is silent of we ought not to believe and so its silence is argumentative in that point The Scriptures are utterly silent concerning Purgatory and therefore it is a good argument to affirm there is no such place as Purgatory because the Word of God is silent as concerning it but if it had been necessary to have been believed then there would have been mention made of it 3. And as the Scriptures are sufficient in matters of Faith and circa credenda and what they are silent in are not to be received as Articles of our Faith but to be rejected as having no truth of Existence So likewise what Worship God requireth of his people is fully revealed in his Word and therefore I am to reject the worshipping of Mahomet with the Turks or Images and praying to Saints with the Papists because I have neither precept nor president in the Word but it is silent in such matters nay tells us That he is the Lord our God and him only we ought to serve 4. Though Mr. Glanvil say that God hath given no account of the state of the other World but only that general one of the happiness of some and the misery of others yet Am I to believe as Mr. Glanvil somewhere in his Book affirmeth that Samuels Soul was raised up by the Woman at Endor and that those that he feigneth to make Leagues and Contracts with Witches are the Souls of such as had been Witches when they lived and asketh Who saith that happy Souls were never imployed in any ministeries here below Or am I to believe that both the Souls of the godly and wicked do rove up and down here upon earth and make Apparitions because the Popish Teachers do hold it to be so I hope not and therefore I shall in part give an answer here to some of these and handle that of the Woman of Endor in another place 1. The Word of God doth particularly teach us the state and condition of the Souls after death that they shall be like the Angels in Heaven and all other things necessary to move and draw us to believe the immortal Existence of Souls as that most able and learned Divine Dr. Stillingfleet hath asserted in these words The Scriptures give the most faithful representation of the state and condition of the Soul of Man The World he saith was almost lost in Disputes concerning the Nature Condition and Immortality of the Soul before divine Revelation was made known to Mankind by the Gospel of Christ but life and immortality was brought to light by the Gospel and the future state of the soul of man not discovered in an uncertain Platonical way but with the greatest light and evidence from that God who hath the supreme disposal of souls and therefore best knows and understands them A Sentence truly pious and orthodoxal 2. Hath not God in the holy Scriptures amply and plainly taught us the state of the other World in describing unto us such a numerous company of Sâ—raphims and Cherubims Angels and Archangels with their several Orders Offices Ministeries and Imployments and this is more than a general account as may be seen at full in that learned and godly Piece of Bishop Halls called The invisible World And hath he not given us a particular account of the very Kingdom of Darkness telling us of the Devil and his Angels and precisely in this enumeration For we wrestle not with flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiâ—al wickedness in high places And this is more than a general account and we must needs fay that what he holds is very derogatory to the wisdom and goodness of God and the sufficiency and truth of the Scriptures 3. Must I believe him that the souls of the Saints do rove and wander here below when as Bishop Hall saith where he is speaking against the opinion of those that hold that Souls do sleep until the Day of Judgment Indeed who can but wonder that any Christian can possibly give entertainment to so absurd a thought whilst he hears his Saviour say Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with â—e where I am and that not in a safe sleep they may behold my glory which thou hast given me Sure if the Souls departed be with Christ where he is and do behold his glory then it is a Popish Fable of Mr. Glanvil to feign their coming upon Messages hither The saying of St. Bernard is remarkable in this case Advertisâ—is 〈◊〉 esse sanctarum status animarum primum videlicet in coâ—pore 〈◊〉 â—cundum sinâ— corpore tertium in corpore jam glorificatoâ— Primum in militiâ— secundum in requie tertium in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And if the second state of holy Souls bâ— without 〈◊〉 body and be at peace and rest then it must necessarily be a truth that they do not wander here nor run upon Errands For the souls of the righteous are in the hands of the Lord and there shall no torment touch theâ— And our Saviour told the Thief upon the Cross This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise that is as Dr. Hammond giveth the Paraphrase Immediately after thy death thou shalt go to a
may err yet I have no mind or will pertinaciously to persevere in an error and these things that we have treated of lying so far from the ken of our senses and experiments of this nature either so rare or uncertain that we may rationally expect pardon rather than reprehension But I shall say no more but let the Book speak for it self only desiring the Readers first to peruse and seriously to consider before they censure that so I may have cause to bid them Farewel Dated February 23. 1673. THE CONTENTS CHAP. 1. Of the false irrational and unchristian censures that have been and yet are cast upon learned Men for writing of abstruse subjects As also for treating of Apparitions and Witchcraft especially if they crossed the common stream of vulgar opinion Page 1. Chap. 2. Of the Notion Conception and Description of Witches and Witchcraft according to divers Authors and in what sense they may be granted and in what sense and respect they are denied p. 19. Chap. 3. The denying of such a Witch 〈◊〉 is last described in the foregoing Chapter doth not infer the denying of Angels or Spirits Apparitions no warrantable ground for a christian to believe the existence of Angels or Devils by but the word of God p. 37. Chap. 4. That the Scriptures and sound reason are the true and proper mediums to prove the actions attributed unto Witches by and not other improper ways that many Authors have used And of the requisites necessary truly to prove a matter of fact by p. 43. Chap. 5. That these things now in question are but barely supposed and were yet never rationally nor sufficiently proved And that the Allegations brought to prove them by are weak frivolous and absolutely invalid with a full confutation of all the four particulars p. 63. Chap. 6. That divers places in Scripture have been mis-translated thereby to uphold this horrid opinion of the Devils omnipotency and the power of Witches when there is not one word that signifieth a familiar Spirit or a Witch in that sense that is vulgarly intended p. 106. Chap. 7. Of divers places in the Old Testament that are commonly wrested and falsly expounded thereby to prove Apparitions and the power of the Devil and Witches p. 136. Chap. 8. Of the Woman of Endor that pretended to raise up Samuel and of some other places in the Scriptures not handled yet and of some other objections p. 165. Chap. 9. Of Divine permission providence and prescience p. 183. Chap. 10. Whether faln Angels be corporeal or simply incorporeal and the absurdity of the assuming of Bodies and the like consequents p. 197. Chap. 11. Of the knowledge and power of faln Angels p. 215. Chap. 12. If the Devils or Witches have power to perform strange things whether they do not bring them to pass by â—ere natural means or otherwise And of Helmonts opinion concerning the effects caused by Devils or Witches p. 241. Chap. 13. That the ignorance of the power of Art and Nature and such like things hath much advanced these foolish and impious opinions p. 267. Chap. 14. Of divers Impostures framed and invented to prove false and lying miracles by and to accuse persons of Witchcraft from late and undeniable authorities p. 270. Chap. 15. Of divers creatures that have a real existence in nature and yet by reason of their wonderous properties or seldom being seen have been taken for Spirits and Devils p. 279 Chap. 16. Of Apparitions in general and of some unquestionable stories that seem to prove some such things Of those Apparitions pretended to be made in Beryls and Crystals and of the Astral or Sydereal Spirit p. 288. Chap. 17. Of the force and efficacy of words or charms whether they effect any thing at all or not and if they do whether it be by natural or diabolical virtue and force p. 321. THE DISPLAYING OF SUPPOSED WITCHCRAFT CHAP. I. Of the false irrational and unchristian Censures that have been and yet are cast upon Learned men for writing of abstruse Subjects As also for treating of Apparitions and Witchcraft especially if they crossed the common stream of vulgar Opinion BEING about to treat of the mysterious and abstruse Subject of Witches and Witchcraft I cannot but think it necessary especially to make the things we handle more plain and evidential to imitate Architectors who when they intend to raise some fair Fabrick or Edifice do not only provide themselves of good and lasting Materials but above all take care to lay a firm and sure foundation which they cannot well accomplish unless the earth and rubbish be removed that a firm ground for a foundation may be found out So before I lay the foundation of what I intend in this Discourse I shall labour to remove some censures and calumnies that are usually cast upon those learned persons that labour to unmaâ—acle imprisoned truth and to adventure to cross the stream of vulgar Opinion backt with seeming Authority Antiquity or universality of Votes especially if they have intermeddled in Subjects occult and mysterious And these Censures how unjust soever have often deterred the most able and best learned from divulging their opinions or publish their thoughts upon such difficult and intricate matters which I conceive ought not to be done for these reasons 1. Because the best part of a man as naturally considered is his Courage Resolution and Magnanimity which should make him resolute and couragious to declare and maintain what he upon sound and rational grounds apprehends to be truth and not at all to fear the censure or judgment of others who may have had no better means to inform themselves or perhaps have been less diligent and however are subject to the same errours and mistakes of Mankind who must all confess the verity of that unerring Oracle Humanum est errare And therefore he must needs be a person of a poor base and low spirit that doth conceal his own sentiments of the truth for fear of the censure or calumnies of others 2. He that is afraid to declare his thoughts for fear of censure or scandal must of necessity be very weak in his Morals as having little affection for verity which is the chief object of the intellect and consequently ought above all things to sway and lead the affections And to be frighted from owning or declaring of the truth for fear of the vain aery groundless and erroneous censures of others must needs speak a man weak in the grounds of Morality and to have small affection for vertue whose guide is verity The Learned Father said exceeding well to this purpose Qui veritatem occultat qui prodit mendacium uterque reus est Ille quia prodesse non vult ipse quia nocere desiderat 3. He that conceals the truth that he knows for fear of the censures of others must needs have little of Christianity in him for we are commanded to buy the truth and not to sell it but
drew the people to Idolatry the thing that God most hateth and against which he hath pronounced the most severe and terriblest judgments of all Nay these people were the very false Prophets especially of one sort and the very Priests to the Idols as is manifest in the wicked and filthy Idolatry of all sorts set up and practised by Manasses even all the sorts or the most of them mentioned in the Scriptures And God declareth himself to be a jealous God and that he will not give his glory to another but is the only Lord God and him only we ought to serve and therefore will most severely punish those that attribute that unto Idols that is only proper unto himself and for this cause and upon this ground are all those terrible Comminations used in the Scriptures and especially against this sort of people who were the chief Instruments of promoting Idol-worship ascribing the power of a Deity unto them when the Prophet tells us Their Idols are silver and gold the work of mens hands they have mouths but they speak not eyes have they but they see not they have ears but they hear not noses have they but they smell not they have hands but they handle not feet have they but they walk not neither speak they through their throat neither is there any breath in their mouths 3. That many great and abstruse things may be lawfully done by Natural Magick is well known to the best Naturalists and how great Feats may be performed by the Mathematicks and Mechanical Arts are well known to the Learned and that there is and may be a lawful use of Astrology and many things may be foretold by it few that are judicious are ignorant that the Prognosticks in the Art of Medicine are necessary and of much use and certainty all learned Physicians know very well that observing of times and many other such like things may for divers respects be lawfully practised But if all or any of these be used to draw people to Idolatry and their strange effects ascribed unto dumb and dead Idols then what horrible sin and abomination were this and no punishment could be too heavy for it And so it is in the case of these sort of people called Witches or Diviners they perswaded the multitude that their false Gods or rather Devils in their Idols could foretel life or death and so led the people a whoring after them as Abaziah sent to inquire of the god of Ekron whether he should recover or not and therefore he had that sharp judgment That he should not come down from that bed whither he was gone up but should surely dye And did not the Priests of Baal which were the same rabble named Deut. 18. 10 11 12 13 c. obstinately labour to make Ahab and all the people believe that the Gods or Devils that they worshipped in their Idols could and would answer by fire and pertinaciously persisted in their obstinacy cutting themselves with knives and lancets from morning until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice and yet nothing was effected so that they were justly guilty of that punishment which they received which was death for ascribing that to a dead Idol that none could perform but the only true God of Israel and yet in the mean time could neither by their own skill nor the skill of their Idols foresee that sudden death that fell upon them which punishment fell deservedly upon them for labouring to deceive the people and confirm them in Idolatry in ascribing that unto a dead stock which was only in the power of the Almighty to perform So if all those sine Knacks and neat Tricks that Athanasius Kircher performed at Rome by the help and means of the Loadstone and mentioned in his Book de Arte Magnetica had been by him ascribed unto some Saint thereby to have drawn the people to the adoration of that Saint and so to Idolatry it had been active imposture deceit and knavery in him and he might justly have been inrolled in the Catalogue of these Witches or Diviners and had really been an active Impostor as they were and so had deserved the same punishment when on the contrary for ascribing effects unto their true and proper causes and clearly shewing the manner and means of producing those effects he hath justly deserved the title of a learned and honest man And though a common Hocus Pocus man or one that playeth Tricks of Leger-de-main or slight of hand to get a livelihood by do labour to make the ignorant multitude believe that he doth his Feats by virtue of his barbarous terms or non-significant words or by the help of some familiar Spirit must therefore a prudent or learned person believe the same and not labour to understand that those pretences are but used the better to deceive the senses of the beholders and so that pretence but a cheat and imposture 4. We affirm that all these mentioned in the Scriptures nay and that the Priests attending all the so famoused Oracles were but meer Cheaters and Impostors and that for these reasons 1. They could not be nor were ignorant that all their numerous Idols were but the works of mens hands and that they could not of themselves move see hear smell or breathe much less eat and drink and therefore were notorious Cheaters and Impostors in labouring to make the people believe the contrary 2. They could not be ignorant but what answers were given and what acts were done were performed by themselves and not by the Idols and yet they laboured to make the people believe the contrary as the Bramines and Priests do to this day all over the Eastern parts of Asia and in many other places and so must needs be notorious Knaves and Cheaters because as Isaiah saith With part of the wood whereof he hath made himself an Idol he maketh a fire and warmeth himself 3. They could not be ignorant that their Idols could not nor did declare any thing truly that was to come but what Answers were given or Divinations were uttered were of their own devising and invention and no other Devil in the case but Diabolical inspirations in their minds And this is manifest by their pitiful shuffling equivocations especially of all the Oracles their responsions being always ambiguous and bearing a double sense which caused Cardan to say Oracula si non essent ambig◠non essent oracula And commonly if not always they were given in the favour of those that gave the largest gifts which made Demosthenes say that the Oracle at Delphos did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it always spoke in favour of Philip and his proceedings And it was with the Oracles as with the Temple of Neptune All the Offerings of those that escaped shipwrack were preserved and to be seen but of those that had suffered shipwrack there was no memorial nor knowledge of their number so many have noted some
place of bliss and there abide with me a Member of that my Kingdom which thou askest for Now if the soulâ— of the godly after their death be immediately in a place of bliss and abide with Christ as Members of his Kingdom then they do not wander up and down here as Mr. Glanvil and the Papists vainly fancy and believe for as Chrysostome saith upon that place of Lazarus his being carried by Angels into Abrahams bosome What is it then that the Devils say I am the Soul of such a Monk Truly I therefore believe it not because the Devils say it for they deceive their Auditors 4. Or must I believe that the souls of the wicked do wander and make Apparitions here because Mr. Glanvil and the Popish Writers tell me so I hope not for the Text telleth us plainly that the rich man presently after his death was in Hell in torments and could not come hither unto earth again to warn his brethren otherwise he would not have prayed Abraham to have sent Lazarus And whether it be taken for a real History of things done or but a Parable yet the spiritual meaning of our Saviour must be infallibly true that immediately after death the souls of the godly are by Angels carried into Abrahams bosome and the wicked go down into Hell from whence there is no redemption and therefore do not wander up and down here nor make any Apparitions for I imagine that the authority of holy King David a Prophet and a man after Gods own heart is to be preferred before the authority of a thousand Popish Writers and he tells us when the child was dead But now he is dead wherefore should I fast can I bring him back again I shall go to him but he shall not return to me And Job tells us As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more he shall return to more to his house neither shall his place know him any more And therefore it was a vain argument of Bellarmine when he said Apparitiones animarum ex Purgatorio venientium idem testantur To which the Protestants answer But who shall bear witness of these Apparitions that they were not either feigned fables or Satanical illusions They were men and might be deceived even the best of them with whom doth rest the faith of these Narrations 5. And whereas he audaciously asketh Who saith that happy Souls were never imployed in any Ministeries here below I shall tell him who they are that say that happy Souls departed are never imployed here in any Ministeries and they are all the learned Divines of the Reformed Churches and all those that were true Sons of the Doctrine of the Church of England such as were Bishop Jewel Bishop Hall Dr. Willet Dr. Whitaker Mr. Perkins and many more such the authority and reputation of the least of which is far above the simple question of Mr. Glanvil And therefore saith the latter Confession of Helvetia Now that which is recorded of the Spirits or Souls of the dead sometimes appearing to them that are alive c. we count those Apparitions among the delusions and deceits of the Devil 5. And as the Scriptures are sufficient both in respect of matters of Faith and concerning divine Worship that their silence in those two particulars are fully argumentative to deny whatever is not contained in them as unfit to be received to either purpose So in respect of a Christians warfare all things for the obtaining of a perfect and compleat victory and for standing and perseverance are in them fully declared and what they mention not is to be rejected as wanting the seal of Divine Authority whether it be in regard of eschewing what is prohibited or in following what is commanded And therefore we affirm that what the Scriptures have not revealed of the power of the Kingdom of Satan is to be rejected and not to be believed and what weapons we are to use against the wiles of the Devil we are to be furnished withal but have need of no others but what the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures hath made known unto us the rest are to be cast off as fables and lyes or humane inventions because the Scriptures are silent of any such matter and that for these weighty grounds and considerations 1. We shall take the Concession of Bellarmine himself who saith Nullum est vitium ad quod sanandum non invenitur in Scriptura aliquod remedium And again Illa quae sunt simpliciter omnibus necessaria Apostoli consueverunt omnibus praedicare aliorum quae sunt omnibus utilia And to the same purpose is the saying of St. Austin Titubat sides si divinarum Scripturarum vacillet authoritas porrò fide titubante etiam ipsa charitas laâ—guescit Therefore if there be no fault for which the Scripture doth not yield some remedy then surely to make a visible League with the Devil or to have carnal Copulation with him either must have no verity at all in it or that the Scripture hath provided no remedy for it for of such things there is no mention And if Faith must stumble where the authority of the Scriptures is wanting then surely the belief of all rational men must needs be staggering to believe what these common Witchmongers affirm of the Witches visible League and carnal Copulation with the Devil when there is no authority of Scripture at all to strengthen or countenance any such matter 2. The Scriptures do fully and abundantly inform us of the Devils spiritual and invisible power and against the same declares unto us the whole Armor of God with which we ought to be furnished as the Apostle saith Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand And the Apostle St. Peter telleth us Be sober â—e vigilant because your adversary the deâ—il like a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour whom resist stedfast in the faith And in another place For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God From which Scriptures we may take these remarkable observations 1. We are to consider the nature of this Warfare that it is spiritual and against spiritual wickedness in high places and not against flesh and blood and the Holy Ghost could not be wanting nor defective but superabundantly full in describing the nature of this warfare that it is spiritual not
to the mind of the Holy Ghost that gave them forth and by whose inspiration they were indited it is most necessary that we implore the help of that blessed Spirit that did reveal them to those that penned them because as S. James saith If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him For every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father of lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning And it is said of the Disciples of Christ Then opened he their understandings that they might understand the Scriptures So that all Men whether wise or unwise learned or unlearned have need of the teaching and spirit of Christ to open their understandings to understand the Scriptures and therefore have all men need of faithful and servent Prayers that God may enlighten their minds in the understanding of them otherwayes they are but as blind Men that go without a guide and so must needs fall into the Ditch of ignorance and error 2. That a most due and diligent collation and comparison be made of the several versions with the Fountains and Originals themselves that so the truth of the translations may be ascertained For if an error in this point be committed all the expositions and deductions drawn from thence must needs be erroneous and vitious 3. That there be a due comparing of the Antecedents and Consequents in the context that the purpose scope theme arguments disposition and method may be perfectly and maturely considered otherwise the sleighting or omitting any one of these particular points the whole place may be mistaken and an error easily faln into 4. There must a due and serious consideration be had of the Phrases and manner of speaking especially in regard of that language it was first written in For every several language hath its peculiar Phrases and forms of speaking which may not be proper in another tongue the not regarding of which may sooner lead into a great deviation from the genuine sense of the place 5. That there be a most diligent comparing of the place of the Scripture to be explicated with others of the same similitude or dissimilitude For oftentimes one Scripture doth unfold and open another and one Text doth enucleate and make plain another Which for want of a due comparison one with another may occasion the mistaking of the true sense of the place that is to be expounded 6. And chiefly in explicating any place regard must be had to the Analogy of Faith Because the Scriptures do not contradict one another especially in the Articles of Faith and the chief points necessary to be believed 7. There ought a due comparison be made with the judgments and sentiments of other Interpreters according as the Apostle saith That no Prophecie of Scripture is of any private interpretation Which ought to be rendered as learned Beza and Dr. Hammond give it No Prophecie of Scripture is propriae incitationis of a Man 's own or proper incitation motion or loosing forth for so the Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of which Beza gives this learned note The Prophets truly are to be read but so that the gift of interpretation be begged of God that the same God may be the Author and Interpreter of the Prophetical writings For though a Man have by nature never so great endowments of understanding judgment and reason or have never so large and ample acquirements or presume never so highly to be assisted with the Spirit yet his own single judgment ought not to be relyed upon in the exposition of the Scriptures but he ought to call in to his aid and to consider the sentiment and opinion of others For it is obvious into what dangerous errors the Arrians Pelagians and Antitrinitarians of old and the Socinians and Arminians of later years have faln by making their innate notions and the strength of natural reason to be the chief and principal rules for interpreting of the Scriptures by And there is hardly any one thing that the Scriptures are more against or do more condemn than the too much extolling and idolizing of Humane and Carnal reason Because the carnal mind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is enmity against God and is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be of which Beza saith Probatio cur intelligentia carnis sit mors quia inquit Dei est hostis And again the Text saith For it is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And again Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the words of the Hebrew in that place of Isaiah do signifie all that height of wisdom or understanding that Men either have by Nature or acquire by Art and Industry Neither is it safe for a Man to rely upon his own single acquired parts be they never so vast or great because in the most ages the most pestilent Errors and damnable Heresies have been vented and maintained by Men that were of the greatest acquired endowments And that it is often as vain to presume upon having the guidance of the Spirit as are the other two is manifest in the late times of Rebellion and Confusion where every Man pretending the Spirit made such wild and extravagant expositions of the Scriptures as few ages have known before and is still kept up by the giddy troop of Fanatical Quakers and the like There is another rule which the learned do use in expounding of the Scriptures which is often either too far extended or not rightly limited and applied which is this That Men in interpreting of the Scriptures should keep close to the literal sense if it include not an absolute absurdity Whereby Allegorical Metaphorical Mystical and Parabolical Expositions are not only cried down but by some even abhorred and detested which thing ought not absolutely and simply to be approved of and therefore we shall make it plain in some few particulars 1. In Historical relations of matters of fact we ought to keep close to the literal meaning and not to deviate a jot from it otherwise we should overthrow the best part of the Christian Faith and destroy the chief foundation of Scripture truths But notwithstanding this though we ought to hold to the literal sense in respect of the matter of fact yet we are not always to be bound to the bare letter in the mood means or manner of the performance As may be plain in these examples 1. It is apparent that our Saviour Christ cured the Man that was born blind and the means and manner is described He spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the
were suitable to our sense For neither are Souls endowed with Fingers and Eyes neither do they suffer thirst neither have they mutual conference one with another Therefore the sum is that faithful Souls after they be departed from their Bodies do lead a pleasant and blessed life without the World And that most horrible torments are prepared for the reprobates which can no more be conceived by our minds than the immense Glory of Heaven 6. As for an Allegory which is a continuation of a Metaphor and properly signifies a figure expressing one thing by another from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 enuntio and this is very frequently used in the Scriptures as when the Apostle speaking of the two Sons of Abraham the one from Hagar a bond woman the other from Sarah a free woman saith These things are an Allegorie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which things do express one thing by another From whence we may note 1. That Allegories that tend to edification keeping the Analogie of Faith and not perverting or overthrowing the literal sense ought not to be so much cried down nor condemned as some have done both against Origen and others For the Apostle here as Beza hath noted made it manifest that he had followed the footsteps of the Prophet Isaiah who did foretel that the Church was to be constituted of the Children of Sarah that was barren that is to say of those who meerly and spiritually were by Faith to be made the Sons of Abraham rather than of Hagar that was fruitful even then foretelling the rejection of the Jews and the vocation of the Gentiles 2. Allegories may be used and the literal sense nevertheless preserved also for the History is literally true that Sarah and Hagar were two living Women the one Abrahams Wife a free Woman the other his Servant and a bond-woman and yet this did not hinder but that thereby an Allegory might be used and they might and did signifie and express another thing than what was meerly contained in the letter 3. We cannot here but add the grave and learned opinion of S. Augustin upon this very point who rejecting the tenent of some that made Paradise and the things therein contained meerly corporal and of some that made it only spiritual and intelligible doth run a middle course betwixt these two extreams saying thus As though Paradise could not be corporal because also it might be understood to be spiritual As though therefore there were not two Women Agar and Sarah and of them two Sons of Abraham one of the bond-woman the other of the free-woman because the Apostle saith that the two Testaments were prefigured in them or therefore that water had flowed from no rock Moses smiting because there by a figurative signification Christ also may be understood the Apostle saying and the rock was Christ. And after concludeth thus These and some others may be spoken of understanding Paradise spiritually and may be spoken without contradiction while notwithstanding the most faithful verity of that History may be believed in the commendable narration of the things done or performed This same opinion this learned Father doth maintain in another place where he is speaking of the Ark of Noah Having premised these rules for the right expounding of the Scriptures we shall now come to the main things that we purpose to handle in this Chapter And those that would uphold a kind of omnipotency in Devils and maintain their great power in Elementary and Sublunary things the better to defend the great power of Witches do alledge divers places of Scripture and expound them in favour of their gross tenents which now we shall examine and confute in order as they lie 1. The first colourable argument that they produce is from the Devils or the Serpents tempting and seducing of Eve where labouring to prove the Devils power and his visible apparition to Witches and making a compact with them they pretend that in the seducing of Eve he did visibly appear unto her and vocally discourse with her and to that purpose that he essentially entred into the Body of the Serpent and spoke through its Organs or that he assumed the visible and corporeal shape of a Serpent and so discoursed and had collocution with her To answer which that we may proceed methodically we shall lay down and labour to prove these two positions 1. That if it were granted that he did it either way it would be no advantage thereby to prove the ordinary power of Devils or Witches 2. That that place of Scripture if rightly weighed and considered will no way make it rationally appear that the Devil performed that temptation any other way but only mentally and that the History there in the manner and circumstances of it is only to be Allegorically and Metaphorically expounded And as to the first if it were granted it proves nothing to the purpose for the power of Devils or Witches as these two Arguments will sufficiently evince 1. From no single instance or particular proposition can ever a general conclusion be rightly drawn by any known and certain rules of Reason or Logick for Syllogizari non est ex particulari is known to any Tyronist in that Art But if Satan for that once should have entred into the natural Serpent or assumed his shape it is a deceivable and vitious way of arguing that therefore he hath such a power over all Bodies at all times when he pleaseth or that he can assume what shape he please and therefore it certainly and rationally concludeth nothing of validity 2. In the temptation of Eve there was something more extraordinary than can be assigned in any other temptation whatsoever except that of Christ. And therefore was there a more peculiar and extraordinary dispensation from God in that case than can be shewed in any others but that of Christ. For now it pleaseth God in his merciful providence so to order and overrule the malice of his hellish will and to restrain and bridle his envious nature that though his will be never so wicked yet is he kept in his chains of darkness and God will not suffer his people to be tempted above what they are able but will with the temptation also make way to escape that they may be able to bear it Now Adam and Eve were in an extraordinary condition in respect of the Saints of God in this life or of any other persons and there was a more high and greater end in the providence of God in ordering and permitting of that temptation than there is or can be in any others but that of Christ And therefore from what the Lord permitted and ordered to do in that temptation or the liberty that he might grant him to exert his own power then will no argument rationally follow that he can commonly and at his pleasure perform as much and so maketh no firm conclusion And as concerning that
needs have an Internum and externum as the learned and Christian Philosopher Dr Fludd doth affirm in these words Certum est igitur inesse ipsis scilicet Angelis aliud quod agit aliud autem quod patitur nec verò illud secundùm quod agunt aliud quam actus esse poterit qui forma dicitur neque etiam illud secundum quod patiuntur est quicquam praeter potentiam haec autem materia appellatur 6. Therefore to conclude these arguments do sufficiently and evidently prove that Angels are either Corporeal or have bodies united unto them which is all one to our purpose whether way soever it be taken To which only we shall add these authorities and first S. Bernard tells us thus much rendered into English Therefore he saith as we render unto God alone true immortality so also incorporeity because he alone doth so far transcend the universal Corporeal nature of spirits that he doth not stand need of any body whatsoever in any operation whatsoever being content with only a spiritual nodd or motion when he will to perform whatsoever he pleaseth Therefore only that majesty of his is that which neither for himself nor for another hath need of the help of a Corporeal instrument by which omnipotent will he is immediately present at every work And that of Damascen is full to the purpose which is this That Angels quantum ad nos are said to be incorporeal and immaterial but compared to God are found to be Corporeal and material And of this opinion besides were Tertullian S. Augustin Nazianzen Beda and many others as may be seen in the learned Writings of Zanchy upon this subject with whose words we shall shut up this particular Certum enim est ex iis quae scripturae tradunt de Angelis probabiliorem esse Patrum sententiam quà m Scholasticorum utram tamen sequaris non multum peccaveris nec proptereà inter Haereticos haberi poteris And on the otherside if they be holden to be simply and absolutely incorporeal then these absurdities must of necessity follow 1. If Angels be simply incorporeal then they can cause no Physical or local motion at all because nothing can be moved but by contact and that must either be by immediate or virtual contact for the Maxime is certain Quicquid agit agit vel mediatione suppositi as when ones hand doth immediately touch a thing and so move it vel mediatione virtutis as when a man with a rod or a line doth draw a thing forth of the water both of these do require a Corporeal contact that is that the superficies of the body moveing or drawing must either mediately or immediately touch the superficies of the body to be moved or drawn But that which is absolutely incorporeal hath no superficies at all and therefore can make no contact either mediate or immediate and therefore Angels if simply incorporeal can cause no Physical or local motion at all 2. If Angels be absolutely incorporeal then they cannot be contained or circumscribed in place and consequently can perform no operation in Physical things To which if they answer with Thomas Aquinas Quod circumscribi terminis localibus est proprium Corporum sed circumscribi terminis essentialibus est commune cuilibet Creaturae tam corporali quam spirituali This aiery distinction might have taken place if Aquinas had shewed us what essential terms and limitations are but of this we have no proof at all and what was never proved may justly be denied For what a definitive place is was never yet defined neither can we possibly conceive an Idea or notion of any such thing but only as we may make a Chimaera or figment of that which never was nor is For though we may apprehend that they are not circumscribed in place as gross bodies are yet it is not to be doubted but that they move from place to place and do so consist in some place that they occupy a certain space of place and this is most certain if we believe as we ought those things which the Scriptures do declare concerning the mission and motion of Angels And therefore notwithstanding this frivolous and feigned distinction we may conclude with Theodoret Angelorum naturam esse finitam circumscriptam eóque opus habere loco Neither doth that avail to solve the business and make this a good distinction which is brought by D r Moore to wit that there are two acceptions of place the one being imaginary space the other that place is the concave superficies of one body immediately environing another body and that therefore there being these two acceptions of place he concludeth that the distinction of being there Circumscriptivè definitivè is an allowable distinction But by the Doctors leave we must affirm that what he saith is not allowable and that for these reasons 1. Because imaginary space hath no existence in nature but only in the fancy of the Imaginant entia rationalia non sunt entia naturalia ex parte rerum existentia 2. Because it is a certain truth which Des Cartes hath taught us to wit That the names of place or space do not signifie any thing different from a body that is said to be in a place but only do design the magnitude figure and site of it amongst other bodies And that this fite may be determined we ought to have respect unto some other bodies which we may consider as immoveable And as we respect divers bodies we may say that the same thing at the same time doth change place and not change place As when a Ship is carried in the Sea he who sitteth in the Ship doth alwayes remain in one place if respect be had to the parts of the Ship betwixt which parts he keepeth the same site And the same person doth continually change place if respect be had to the shores because he continually receedeth from some shores and cometh more near unto other 3. Neither is this distinction good because as the same Author tells us Non etiam in re differunt spatium sive locus internus substantia corporea in eo contenta sed tantùm in modo quo à nobis concipi soleat 4. D r Moore granteth that spirits are substances and have extension and we affirm that nothing can be so but what is Corporeal and consequently must be in place circumscriptively and therefore the fancy of a definitive place is meerly a fictitious foppery without ground or reason And now let us examine the objections that are usually brought against this opinion the strongest of which is to this purpose that if Angels be Corporeal then of necessity they must be mortal alterable and destructible to which I answer 1. Because no Creaturely nature is or can be immortal per se ab intrinsecâ propriâ naturâ for God only is so as saith the Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who only hath
to observe our ordinary Gallus Turcicus vel Gallopavus how quiet and demisly sometimes he goes and then again upon the suddain by some emotion of spirit how will his train be advanced and extended his barbles swelled and puffed up and the appendicle that comes over the bill or rostrum be extended or contracted at the pleasure of the animal And much more to consider the quick and suddain change of the colours of both those parts as sometimes to a whitishness or an ash-colour sometimes purple sometimes blewish and sometimes pure red so quick a motion that creature can give to the spirits and blood that they can so quickly alter and change not only the colours but also the magnitude And much more may we rationally believe that Angels can alter and change the figure and colour of their bodies according to the ministrations they are imployed about 3. The Scripture informeth us that in or at the resurrection the bodies of men shall be as the Angels that are in heaven sicut Angeli Now this Analogy comparison or assimilation would be altogether false if Angels had no bodies at all but were meerly incorporeal then it would follow that the bodies after the resurrection were made meer Spirits and so ceased to be bodies which is false according to the doctrine of S. Paul who sheweth us plainly that after the resurrection they are changed in qualities into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spiritual bodies for there is a natural Soul or Animal body and so likewise there is a spiritual body From whence we necessarily conclude that Angels have Bodies and that they are pure spiritual ones Now we shall come to the other point intended in this Chapter that is to shew that the opinion of Angels assuming bodies of the Elements here below is a meer figment as must of necessity follow if this be a truth that we have proved to wit that they have bodies for then assuming of other bodies must needs be in vain and to no purpose but we shall also shew the weakness and folly of that Tenent by these positive reasons following 1. Those that maintain the assumption of bodies dare not affirm that they are so invested with those bodies as are humane souls with their bodies for then there must be vital union which cannot be but by Divine Ordination But it doth not any where either by Scripture or sound rational consequence appear that either God appointed or gave power to Angels to assume to themselves bodies of what shape they pleased or that he ordained a vital union betwixt the Angels and those bodies they are supposed to assume either by Creation or Generation and therefore if they did assume any such bodies it must but be as we put on and off our Garments or as Players put on and off their Perukes Vizards and Garments according to the several things or persons they intend to represent ad personate 2. But the great question will be who are the Taylors that shape and frame them these vestments what must it be themselves that shape and figurate these bodies as snails are supposed to frame and make their shells and houses Surely not because if they be simply incorporeal then they can make no contact with corporeal matter and without a corporeal contact there can be no alteration nor organization of matter and consequently they cannot frame or shape themselves such vestments neither can any other actor or agent be assigned that can frame them and therefore the Tenent is a most ridiculous figment And again if they should have such solid bodies framed of the inferior Elements as the body of a Serpent as the Witchmongers do suppose the Devil assumed when he deceived Evah and such bodies as Demons are vainly supposed to assume to carry the heavy bodies of Men and Women in the air then those bodies must needs be of that solidity and compactness that they cannot suddainly be wasted and dissipated and then doubtlesly we should find them sometimes as we do the sloughs Exuvias or skins of Snakes for they could not be consumed in a moment And it were horrid to suppose that God should instantaneously create them and as suddainly dissipate and waste them So that in verity there is nothing of certitude but it may be looked at as a Chimera and a Poetical Fable 3. And if the Angels had not such bodily organs wherein they could move walk speak and perform other such actions withal before they assumed or crept into such vestments their being inclosed and invested with them and in them would no more fit and inable them to walk or speak in them than would an hollow Image inable a lame Man to walk or a dumb Man to speak that were inclosed in them Therefore suppose as the Witchmongers hold that the Devil should appear to a Witch in the assumed shape of a Cat Dog Foal or such like and walk and talk with him or her if before that assumption of such a shape the Devil could not walk and speak the having crept into such a vestment would no more inable him to speak than a dead Cat in an empty hogshead or wind pent in an empty bladder CHAP. XI Of the Knowledge and Power of faln Angels THese evil Angels of which we treat did doubtless before they left their habitation and did not keep their first estate participate of the same knowledge and power that those Angels still retain that did not fall into that defection and rebellion so that our disquisition must be what knowledge and power they have lost and what they still do retain and this we may consider in these particulars 1. That there are many things of which they are totally ignorant and nescient 2. The knowledge that they have is dark and confused 1. Concerning the first this must of necessity be a certain rule that what the holy and elect Angels do not know the evil and faln Angels must much more ignore except the knowledge of evil and guilt from which the good Angels are free and these may be reduced to these few points 1. We here may consider that the knowledge of Angels is to be restrained into these three ranks first either their innate and congenerate knowledge or secondly their infused or revealed knowledge by God in his Son Jesus Christ or thirdly their experimental knowledge that they gain by observation and experience and it is of the first only that we speak in this Paragraph and the rest we shall handle anon 2. That our cogitations desires and affections are not known to the Angels unless they manifest themselves either by external signs or effects or be revealed from God Andtheseways they may be known but not otherwise for it is manifest that Satan had darted it or put it into the mind of Judas to betray Christ yet had he so cunningly carried himself that neither by any effect nor sign did the Disciples know it until our Saviour did reveal it unto them