The Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft, chapter 11: Of the Knowledge, and Power of faln Angels (part 3 of 4)

8. Lastly, we shall now examine the particulars wherein learned Zanchy doth acknowledge the faln Angels to have power over our and other sublunary bodies, and they are principally these.

1. Upon the supposition granted that the faln Angels have permission, he holdeth that by their own proper created natural power, they can as they please move in place: as to lift a Body up from the earth on high, and then to let it fall or throw it down to the earth; that they can transfer or carry a body from one City to another in a very short space of time: Lastly, that they can move and agitate bodies with every kind of local motion that none can resist them. And that therefore all those strange transportations of Witches in the air into forraign and far distant places (he holdeth) need not be thought strange or impossible, and that they may be done with great celerity, and in a short time. And this he thinketh he proveth by the example of Philip, who when he had instructed the Eunuch in the faith and baptized him, was caught away by the spirit of the Lord, that the Eunuch saw him no more, and that he was found at Azotus. Upon which we must make these animadversions. 1. That upon the supposition or ground that faln Angels are simply and meerly incorporeal, this must be false, for then they cannot move in place, nor agitate any bodies, as we have sufficiently proved before. 2. And though upon the supposition that they are corporeal, they may move in place, and may move and agitate other bodies, yet that must be understood in a proportionable measure, according to their power and strength, and not in an infinite, or indefinite respect; for though one Devil may be supposed to move or lift up that which would load an Horse, yet it will not follow that he can move or lift up as much as would load a Ship of a thousand Tun; and though one Devil might remove a Millstone by his own created power, yet it will not follow that he can remove the greatest mountain that is to be found. 3. And whatsoever motion Devils may have here in the air, or power to remove and agitate bodies, yet the least of these cannot be performed but by licence and permission from God, which licence and permission is always for ends agreeable to his Wisdom and Justice; but for God to license or permit Devils to appear to Witches in the shape of Cats, Dogs, Squirrels or the like, to the end to suck upon their bodies or to have carnal copulation with them, or to transport them in the air to places far distant, to dance, revel, feast and to do homage to the Devil (as the Witchmongers alledge) is for so impure, filthy, horrid and abominable ends, as can no way agree with the Wisdom or Justice of the Almighty, and therefore must needs be false and frivolous. 4. And that which the faln Angels are in the Scriptures recorded to have performed, may be considered, whether they accomplished those things by their own created power, or by the power of God granted to them when they are sent forth to perform such or such an act: For as it may not be rationally granted that the two Angels that were instruments for the destroying of Sodom and Gomorrha did bring down fire and brimstone from Heaven by their own created power, nor that the destroying Angel in Egypt did in one night kill all the first-born by his own power, but by the power of the Almighty granted unto him in that mission; so it is not rational to suppose, that although Satan might by internal motions and spiritual temptations prevail with the Sabaeans and Chaldaeans who were his Vassals, wherein he could work what he would, to take away the Oxen, Asses and Camels of Job, and to slay his Servants: though (I say) he might do this by his created power; yet that he should bring fire from Heaven to destroy the sheep, or that he by his created power could raise such a wind, as could blow down the house in which the Sons and Daughters of Job were, and slay them, is not probable, but that it was performed by that assisting power that was granted him of God, to effect that affliction upon Job, that God had determined for the trial and manifestation of his Faith and Patience, which cannot in any reason be said to be done by Devils in their transactions with Witches, and therefore must needs be Fables and Chimeras. 5. And whereas he addeth that the Devils can perform all kind of motions with natural bodies, and that none can resist them, it is too large by far; for by that rule they might shake and remove the earth, which they cannot do, for it abideth firm according to Gods appointment in the creation: And it is absurd to think that the superior and good Angels cannot resist them, who have far greater force and might than the faln Angels have. 6. And whereas he would prove the power of Devils by that of the spirit of the Lord conveying of Philip from the Ethiopian Eunuch, which supposing it to be a good Angel, it must likewise be granted to be furnished from God to have that power to carry him away, and doth not necessarily conclude that the Angel did it by its proper created power: neither is the consequence good, to argue that what a good Angel may do, that therefore a bad one may do the same or the like, for their powers and strength are not equal, the one retaining what he had by creation, the other losing much by reason of his rebellion and fall; as an outlawed person hath not in a civil respect the same power that another person hath that is under a legal capacity, and as a prisoner that is loaden with chains, gives and fetters, can neither walk, leap, or run so fast, as he that hath none, no more can the fettered Devils move with that agility and celerity that the good Angels can do that have no fetters nor chains at all.

2. A second kind of actions that he assigneth unto Devils is, that they cannot only move bodies locally, but also can alter them diverse and sundry ways, as to make hot things of cold, and so on the contrary, white things of black, and black of white, and can make of fair things deformed ones, and so on the contrary, and can make sound bodies sick, and sick bodies sound, affecting them with various qualities. But these particulars he leaves altogether without proof, except one Text in these words: And he cried with a loud voice unto the four Angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the seas. From whence we shall observe these things. 1. It is granted that God doth make use of evil Angels to punish the wicked, and to chastise and afflict the godly, and in the effecting of these things that they have a power given them to hurt the earth and the Sea and things therein, as to bring tempests, thunder, lightning, plague, dearth, drought and the like; but that in the effecting these things, they have a dative power above what they had in Creation, and that they are commissioned and sent by God upon purpose to fulfil and effect these things, and so are as the organs and instruments to perform the will of God in his justice, and are always for such ends as tend to the Glory of the Creator: But for Devils to be sent to play such ludicrous, filthy and wicked tricks with Witches, as is commonly affirmed, suits not at all with the Wisdom and Justice or Glory of God, neither have we any such examples in holy Writ, no further, but that Devils only are Gods Executioners or Hangmen. 2. It doth no where appear that the Devils can alter, or change the shape or qualities of things at his own will and pleasure, but the contrary is manifest in the Priests of Baal in the time of Elijah upon the Mount Carmel, where their Idols or Gods were to shew their power by firing the Sacrifice, a thing which if Satan could have done for them with all his power, it had been most advantagious for his Kingdom; but it is evident that he neither did nor could procure as much fire as would burn the Sacrifice, though earnestly called upon by his best Servants the Idolatrous Priests. But thou wilt say, his power was then restrained and withholden at that time from effecting any such thing. Well, grant it were so, what was the end that God used that restriction upon him at that time for? was it not because God would not contribute to magnifie the Devils Kingdom? nor to suffer him any longer to deceive his people? But to discover the weakness of his power, who is not able of his own created power, to bring forth fire where there is none, not able to break a paper window, unless he have leave and power given him from God. And therefore much less can, for the magnifying of his own power, and to dishonour the Creator, appear as a Cat, Dog, Squirrel or the like to Witches, suck upon their bodies, have carnal copulation with them, or transport them in the air, for this were to advance his credit too much, and utterly derogatory to the Glory of God. 3. Concerning Satans being an instrument and means to bring and cause diseases, it may be considered these two ways. 1. In an ordinary way he seduceth and draweth men to gluttony and drunkenness, by which way of i[…]gurgitation and excess they draw and contract to themselves diverse Diseases, as Coughs, Catarrhs, Dropsies, Scorbutick Distempers and the like. Others he draweth to insatiable lust and concupiscence, that thereby they fall into the Lues Venereae, and the whole troop of those dire and horrid Symptomes that accompany it, whereby Men and Women undergo great misery, pains, sickness, and sometimes death. Sometimes he pusheth Men on so far in malice, wrath, choler and passion, and many other such like ways, that they wound, lame and sometimes kill one another; and in this sense he may be said to cause diseases diverse ways. 2. But there is another way more extraordinary wherein as an instrument he may be said to cause diseases and sometimes death, as in that case of Davids numbring of the people, where there died of the Pestilence seventy thousand, and though this Pestilence was sent by Jehovah, yet was a destroying Angel the instrument and minister in the execution of it, for the Text saith: And when the Angel of the Lord stretched forth his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the Angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: now stay thy hand. And Herod for assuming to himself that honour that was only proper to God, was immediately smitten by the Angel of the Lord, and was eaten up of worms, and gave up the Ghost. And the Psalmist saith: He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, indignation and trouble by sending evil Angels among them, the Hebrew giveth it, the emission or sending out of evil Angels. From whence it is manifest that evil Angels are the organs and instruments of Gods wrath, and as Ministers cause Plague, Pestilence and other diseases. 3. Thirdly, there is another great question whether or not the Devil by his vassals, to wit, Sorcerers and Witches doth not cause diseases and death, as is believed by those vomiting up of strange things exceeding the bigness of the Gullet to get either up or down, of which we shall speak largely where we handle the opinion of Van Helmont concerning the actions of Witches: Here only we shall say thus much, that the Devil is author and causer of that hatred, malice, revenge and envy, that is often abounding in those that are accounted Witches, which desire of revenge doth stimulate them to seek for all means by which they may accomplish their intended wickedness, and so they learn all the wicked and secret wayes of hurting, poysoning & killing, but yet we affirm, that what evil soever they perform, it is by causes and means that work naturally, and so the evil is only in the use and application, and not in the efficients or means.

And whereas he holdeth that Devils as they can cause Diseases, so they can cure them and take them away, we must crave to be excused if we cannot subscribe to his opinion, and that for these reasons. 1. Because of their causing of Diseases we have sufficient evidence in the Scriptures, but of their curing of any, we have not any mention at all; and though some will think this but weak because it is negative, yet it is not probable, but as it expresseth the one fully, so it would have given some hint of the other, if there had been any such matter. 2. But the Scriptures do inform us, that the gift of healing or curing Diseases, is not in the power of Devils by their Creation, much less since as a gift bestowed upon them, but floweth solely from God by the Ministry of good Angels, of whom Raphael (that is, the Medicine or health of God) is the chief. And that it is reckoned amongst the gifts of the Holy Ghost is most plain: For to one is given by the spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same spirit. To another saith by the same spirit: to another the gifts of healing by the same spirit; but these gifts of healing are not given to Devils, but to the chosen ones of God. And the Psalmist where he is speaking how God afflicted and brought low the people of Israel by reason of their sins, saith: Their soul abhorred all manner of meat, and they drew near unto the gates of death, but he sent his word and healed them. And God declareth, that if his people Israel would keep his Statutes, he would bring none of those Diseases upon them that he had threatned, for (he saith) I am the Lord that healeth thee, and this he doth by the ministry of good Angels, or by natural means, and not by Devils. 3. That Devils are no causers or instruments in curing Diseases is manifest, because that were to make him act contrary to his original destination after his fall, wherein in his own propriety, he is a murderer from the beginning, and that both of souls and bodies, and never did, nor doth any good to mankind, either spiritual or natural, either real or apparent; for that were to act contrary to his will, nature and disposition, and contrary to the Ordinance and appointment of God who hath Created the destroyer to destroy. Therefore-Satan after his fall was not ordained of God to be an healer, preserver, or sanator of diseases, but to be a destroyer, a wounder and murderer; for his nature is be come so wicked and malignant, that his whole endeavour is the destruction of mankind, both in souls and bodies, and so no healer, no not of the least infirmity. 4. But he is that grand Impostor, that by lying, cheating and delusion, laboureth to make his Vassals and others believe that he can cure and heal Diseases, when he can do no such thing, and therefore hath and still doth amongst the Pagans, by the wicked Priests his Slaves, make the people believe, that if the sick persons be brought before their Idols, and there worship and pray, that they shall be Cured, when there is not any jot performed in the way of sanation, but what is by natural means, fancy, and imagination, or what is pretended to be done so, by cheating, counterfeiting and imposture. And the very same thing is practised by the Papists unto this day, in the pretence of their false and lying Miracles, fathered upon their Saints and Images, which are nothing else but lying cheats and Impostures, as we shall fully make manifest hereafter. 5. The Devil internally deludeth the minds of men, in making them believe, that Pictures, Charms, Amulets, and such other inefficacious and ridiculous means, have power to Cure these and these Diseases, when indeed they are meerly inoperative, and effect nothing at all; but yet the Witchmongers will needs have them to be media operativa, when they are utterly inefficacious, and are only means of seduction and delusion, to alter, change, or fortifie the imagination, by which alone the Cures (if any such be effected) are brought to pass, and not by any power of the Devil at all; and he operateth nothing at all in them, except a mental and internal delusion, in making the Witchmongers and others believe, that those things are wrought by a Diabolical Power, which are only performed by the force of imagination, and a natural agency and virtue. 6. Again, where there are many occult and wonderful effects wrought by natural causes and agents, as by appensions of vegetables, animals, or their parts, and minerals, by magnetism, as the Hoplochrism, Sympathetic Powder, by Transplantation and many other very abstruse and secret wayes and means, the Devil laboureth to take away the glory of these sanative effects, both from God and his Instrument which is Nature, and to have it ascribed, unto himself; and in this the Witchmongers do him no small service, in giving that power and honour unto the most wicked and wr[…]hed of all Gods Creatures, that is only due to the Creator, and to his instrument Nature. And to conclude this, I cannot but repeat that excellent and Christian Sentence of Helmont: Pigritiae saltem enim immensae inventum fuit, omnia in Diabolum retulisse quae non capimus.

3. A third kind of power that he ascribeth unto Devils, is their changing and transmuting of bodies; which is either in regard of substantial transformations, or of those that are but in the external figure or shape, or in the qualities, accidents and adjuncts only. Of real transubstantiations, after a long dispute, he granteth, that they cannot be brought to pass but by a Divine and Omnipotent Power, which we have sufficiently proved before, and therefore shall forbear to say any further of it here. And for what other portents, prodigies, or lying wonders he can perform, we shall here examine and discuss them to the full in this order.

1. We shall pass by what may be thought of the strange feats the Magicians of Pharaoh, or Simon Magus did perform, as fully examined and concluded before, and shall give those Texts of Scripture that mention the signs and wonders that Antichrist and false Prophets, that are Satans Instruments, can or do work, and they are these. If there arise among you a Prophet; or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign, or a wonder: And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods (which thou hast not known) and let us serve them: Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that Prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul. And that Prophet, or dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God.—Another place is this: But the Prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that Prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a Prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the Prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him. From whence we may take these Observations.