The Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft, chapter 4: That the Scriptures and sound Reason are the true and proper Mediums to prove… (part 2 of 3)

4. The Scriptures (especially the Writings of Moses) considered only as Historical, are of more antiquity, verity, and certainty both as to Doctrine, Precepts, matters of Fact, and Chronology, than all other Histories whatsoever, whether of the Phenicians, Egyptians, Chaldeans, or Grecians, as the learned person Dr. Stilling fleet hath sufficiently proved. Now if there had been such an one as a Witch, that made a visible League with the Devil, and upon whose body he suckt, and with whom he had carnal Copulation, something of that nature would doubtless have been recorded in the Scriptures, of which notwithstanding there is not the least tittle or mention. And Moses who was so perfect a Law-giver, as in a manner to omit no kind or sort of sin or evil that men possibly could commit, but to forbid it, and make a Law against it, could never have left out such an horrid, unnatural, and hellish wickedness as carnal Copulation with the fallen Angels, if there had been any such matter. For he saith, after he had forbidden all sorts of Fornications, Adulteries, and Incests: Thou shalt not lye with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Neither shalt thou lye with any beast to defile thy self therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lye down thereto: it is confusion. Defile not your selves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled, which I cast out before you. Now it cannot be rationally imagined, that Moses having named and prohibited the less sins of bestial Copulation and Sodomy, would have left out that which is the most horrid and execrable of all others, to wit, carnal Copulation with Devils, if there had been any such thing either in possibility or act. And therefore we may conclude according to the rules of sound reason, that there is no such matter, and that the Scriptures are the most fit Medium to decide these Controversies.

5. The Scriptures and sound reason are the most fit Mediums to determine these things by, because there is nothing that any hath written upon this Subject (though the Authors be superfluously numerous) but if it agree not with the principles of right reason, and the rules of the Scriptures, they ought to be rejected. For what is not consonant to right reason, ought not to be received by any that truly are rational Creatures; and what agrees not with the Word of God, ought not to be entertained by any that are or would be accounted good or true Christians. And if all the gross fables, lyes, impossibilities, and nonsensical stories that Demonographers and Witchmongers have related and accumulated together, were brought to the test of the Scriptures and sound reason, they would soon be hissed off the Stage, and find few believers or embracers of them. But alas! all (nay few men) have the right use and exercise of their rational faculty, but men to see to are in themselves as beasts; and therefore we may all pray with the Apostle to be delivered from unreasonable men, or men without reason, or absurd men, that make no right use of reason, [non-Latin script].

6. The Scriptures and right reason have declared all things concerning Spirits either good or bad, as also all sorts of Diviners (or Witches, if you will have them called so) and the nature, power, operations, and actions of them, more than any other Book that was written before the time of our Saviours Birth (the dreams and whimsies of the Platonists only excepted) or for the space of three hundred years after, and therefore are the most fit Medium and Authority to determine these things by. 1. For first it is manifest, that all things are ordered by the wisdom of the Almighty, who hath done whatsoever he would both in Heaven, and he doth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What dost thou? And these things God doth not by a naked prescience, but by his divine will, providence, and ordination, as a learned Divine hath taught us in these words: Est hoc inprimis necessarium & salutare Christiano nôsse, quòd Deus nihil praescit contingenter, sed quòd omnia incommutabili & aeternâ, infallibili q; voluntate & providet, & praeponit, & facit. So it was only his will, decree, and determination, that Christ should not be born, or assume humane nature visibly, but at that precise time that he had appointed, according to the evidence of the Apostle. But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the law. And when that fulness of time was come that he sent him, then did the divine Wisdom and Providence ordain all means, objects and occasions, whereby the fulness of the Godhead that dwelt in him bodily, might be made manifest, by working of miracles, both by himself and his Apostles, therefore were there so many several sorts of Demoniacks, blind, lame, dumb, deaf, and diseased, not by chance, but by the providence of the Father, and only and chiefly that the work of God might be manifest in them, for the Evangelist tells us: And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his Disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. Upon which place Dr. Hammond doth give this clear Paraphrase: And some of his followers asked him, saying, Sir, was it any sin of his own, when his soul was in another body, or was it some sin of his parents at the time of his conception, which caused this blindness in him? Neither his own, nor his parents sins were the cause of this blindness of his, but Gods secret wisdom, who meant by this means to shew forth in me his miraculous power among you. And though the Doctor would bring in the opinion of Pythagoras of the Transmigration of Souls (of which vain traditional fancies he is almost every where guilty) as received and imbibed in by some of the Jews that then followed him: yet it appeareth plainly, that it was not interrogated by the Jews, but by his Disciples, [non-Latin script], and therefore it is a wonder the Doctor should be so grosly mistaken; and Theophylact tells us thus much plainly: Ne q; enim Apostoli Gentiles nugas receperunt, quo anima ante corpus in alio mundo versans peccet, ac deinde poenam quandam recipiat in corpus descendens. Piscatores cùm essent, ne q; audiverant tale quiddam, quia haec Philosophorum dogmata erant. And so declareth, that the Disciples having seen Christ heal the man that had thirty eight years been impotent and lame, and had said unto him, Behold thou art made whole, sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee, did conceive, that this man being born blind, it had been a punishment upon him, either for his own sins, or the sins of his parents, and so doubting asked the question. And so also do St. Austin and Chrysostome expound the place, which is both sound and rational. And of our Saviours responsion, That neither had this man sinned, nor his parents, the learned Father giveth a satisfactory answer, saying: Nunquid vel ipse sine originali peccato natus erat, vel vivendo nihil addiderat? Habebant ergo peccatum, & ipse & parentes ejus, sed non ipso peccato factum est ut caecus nasceretur. Ipse autem causam dicit quare caecus sit natus, cùm subdit: sed ut manifestentur opera Dei in illo. And to the same purpose Gregory hath this notable passage: Alia ita q; est percussio, quâ peccator percutitur, ut sine retractatione puniatur: Alia quâ peccator percutitur, ut corrigatur: Alia quâ quis q; percutitur, non ut praeterita corrigat, sed ne ventura committat: Alia per quam nec praeterita culpa corrigitur, nec futura prohibetur. Sed dum inopinata salus percussionem sequitur, salvantis virtus cognita ardentiùs amatur. From whence it is manifest, that as the Father in the fulness of time, by his Decree and Providence sent out the Son, in whom dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily, with a purpose to manifest the same by his great and wonderful Miracles: so in his divine Wisdom he had ordered fit subjects and objects upon whom that power might be made manifest. And therefore were there such strange diseases offered, especially in Demoniacks, that can hardly be parallel'd in any one Country of that small compass, and in so short a time, and all that the works of God might be manifest by that ever-blessed Saviour of Mankind, Jesus Christ. And though there were so many persons, so many several ways perplexed and afflicted both in their minds and bodies, as some made deaf and dumb, some torn and contorted in their members, some thrown on the ground, some into the fire, some driven to live amongst the graves and monuments, and yet all these cured by our blessed Saviour: Yet is there no mention made of any that had made a visible League with the Devil, nor upon whose bodies he suckt, nor with whom he had carnal Copulation, nor whom he had transubstantiated into Wolves, Dogs, Hares, Cats, or Squirrels; to have cured which would have been as great a miracle as any of the rest, but there were no such matters; and therefore we may safely conclude, there never were, are, or can be any such matters, whatsoever may be said to the contrary.

2. In the New Testament there is mention made of several sorts of deceiving Impostors, Diviners, or Witches, who were all discovered and conquered by that power that Christ had given unto the Apostles; as for instance: Simon, which before time in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched [non-Latin script] the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one. To whom they gave heed from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries; [non-Latin script], seducebat populum suis magicis praestigiis, saith Tremellius; and Beza, Exercuerat artem magicam, & gentem Samariae obstupefecerat; who when he would have bought the gift of the Holy Ghost with money, was rejected by Peter as an Impostor and Counterfeit, and declared, that he was in the gall of bitterness. Such another was Elymas the Sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) [non-Latin script], who was stricken blind by St. Paul. Such an one was the Damsel that was possessed with a Spirit of Divination, which St. Paul cast forth. And such were the Jewish Exorcists, that took upon them to call over them which had evil Spirits, the Name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. But the man in whom the evil spirit was, leapt on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. But amongst these several sorts of Diviners, Impostors, or Witches, there were none that had made a visible League with the Devil, nor upon whose bodies he suckt, nor that had carnal Copulation with him, nor were changed into Cats, Dogs, or Wolves: but if the Devil had had any such power, or had there been any such sort of Witches, the divine Wisdom and Providence would have ordained some of them then to have been made apparent, that his power by Christ and the Apostles, might have been shewed as well in the greater as in the less: and that for the more full manifestation of the Works of God, as for a more triumphant declaration of the power of Christ in conquering him and his Kingdom, and for a more ample warning and instruction to the Children of God to avoid the snares and wiles of the Devil; but there being no such, then we must rationally conclude, that there now is not, nor ever was, or can be any such matter, but the vain believing of such figments and forgeries, is only the cunning and delusion of Satan, who works by lying and deceiving wonders [non-Latin script], of which St. Chrysostome saith thus: Hoc est, omnem ostentabit potentiam, sed nihil veri, verùm omnia ad seductionem. Et prodigiis, inquit, mendacii. Aut ementitis ac indificantibus, aut ad mendacium inducentibus.

Having now sufficiently proved, that the Scriptures and sound Reason are the proper Mediums to decide these difficulties by, we shall in the next place shew the invalidity of some ways used by the most Authors, to prove and defend these Tenents, and ab uno disce omnes, take Mr. Glanvil For all, in his own words: That this being matter of fact, is only capable of the evidence of authority and sense: and by both these, the being of Witches and Diabolical Contracts, is most abundantly confirmed. To which we shall give this smart Reply. Not to make the Proposition universal, generally to deny the evidence of authory and sense; no, far be it from me to run into that wild and sensless absurdity, which were in a manner to destroy the credibility of all humane testimony: But we shall here speak of the evidence of authority and sense with this restriction and limitation, to these Particulars. 1. Those Authors that write of Apparitions and Spirits. 2. Those that treat of Diabolical Leagues and Contracts. 3. Those that mention the Devil sucking of the Witches body, carnal Copulation with them, their being changed into Hares, Dogs, Cats, and Wolves, and the like. These Authors we say are to be read with caution, and their relations not to be credited, except better proof be given to evidence the matters of fact, than hitherto hath been brought by any, and that for these especial reasons and necessary cautions.

1. The Authors that have recorded stories of this nature, are to be seriously considered, whether they have related the matter of fact by their own proper knowledge, as eye and ear-witnesses of it, or have taken it up by hear-say, common fame, or the relation of others: and if what they relate, were not of their own certain knowledge or [non-Latin script], then is it of little or no credit at all; for the other that relates it, might be guilty either of active or passive deception and delusion, or might have heard it from another, or by common report: of all which there is no certainty, but leaveth sufficient grounds for dubitation, and is sufficient to caution a prudent person altogether to suspend his assent, until better proof can be brought. There is a story related by Plinius Caecilius to his Friend Sura, of a House in Athens that was haunted by a Spirit in so terrible and frightful a manner, that it was left utterly forsaken, and none would inhabit in it, until that Athenodorus the Philosopher adventured upon it, and abode the coming of the Apparition or Phantasm, and upon its signs followed it to a place below, and then it vanished: he marked the place, and went to the Magistrate, and caused the place to be digged up, and found the bones of a person inchained or fettered, and caused the bones to be buried, and so the House remained free afterwards. It is a wonder to think how many Authors have swallowed this relation (nay even Philip Camerarius himself, who though a very Learned man, yet in things of this nature too extremely credulous) and urged it for proof, as a matter of great credit and authority, when we cannot discern that it affords any credible ground to a rational man to believe it, not only because the very matter it self, and the circumstances of it, do yield sufficient grounds of the suspicion of its verity; but chiefly because Pliny doth but relate it by hear-say, exponam ut accepi, and of it and the rest he desires the opinion of his Friend Sura, from whom we do not find any answer. The story taken from Plutarch (a grave Author, if he be considered as an Heathen and a Moralist) yet of no authority to decide such points as these are) of the voice that called upon Thamus, and commanded him to declare when he came at Palodes, that the great God Pan was dead, which he performed, and that thereupon followed a great lamentation of many: the story at large is related by many, and urged as a matter of great weight and credibility, when indeed there is no ground sufficient to perswade any that it was true. For if it had been related by Plutarch as an ear-witness of it, yet was he but an Heathen, that we know believed many fond, lying, and impossible things, especially of their Gods; and therefore in this case to a considerate Christian could be of no great authority. And if his authority had been great, or of weight in such matters as these, yet was he but singularis testis, which is not sufficient in these things to be relied upon. And lastly (to our present purpose here) he doth not record it as a thing of his own certain knowledge, but of hear-say from Epitherses, who was but a single Relator, and a man of no certain veracity; and therefore we can have no rational ground to believe the truth of the story, but it may be rejected with more reason, than it can be affirmed by. Of no greater credit can his story be of Brutus his malus Genius appearing unto him, because he received this by meer Tradition and hear-say, neither could it have any other rise, but from the relation of Brutus himself, whose guilty conscience, and troubled brain, fancied such vain things; for those that were near Brutus neither saw nor heard any such matter, and therefore must have been a deception of Phansie, and no real Apparition ad extra.

2. And as evidence of the matter of fact recorded from the relation of others, is of no validity to a judicious person: so if the matter of fact be witnessed but by one single testimony (though an eye or an ear-witness) it is not sufficient, because one single person may be imperfect in some senses, or under some distemper, and so be no proper Judge of what it sees or hears; and the Word of Truth tells us, That in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established; and therefore we are not (especially in such abstruse matters as these) to trust the evidence of one single testimony. To make clear this Particular, we shall relate a story or two from the credit of the Reverend and Learned Bishop Hall, joyned with his judgment of such weak and feigned Tales, one of which runs thus: Johannes à Jesu Maria, a modern Carmelite, writing the Life of Theresia (Sainted lately by Gregory XV.) tells us, that as she was a vigilant Overseer of her Votaries in her life, so in and after death she would not be drawn away from her care and attendance: For (saith he) if any of her Sisters did but talk in the set hours of their silence, she was wont by three knocks at the door of the Cell, to put them in mind of their enjoyned taciturnity. And on a time appearing (as she did often) in a lightsome brightness to a certain Carmelite, is said thus to bespeak him; Nos coelestes, ac vos exules amore ac puritate foederati esse debemus, &c. We Citizens of Heaven, and ye exiled Pilgrims on earth, ought to be linked in a League of love and purity, &c. Methinks the Reporter (saith the Bishop) should fear this to be too much good fellowship for a Saint; I am sure neither Divine nor Ancient story had wont to afford such familiarity: and many have misdoubted the agency of worse, where have appeared less causes of suspicion. That this was (if any thing) an ill Spirit under that face, I am justly confident; neither can any man doubt, that looking further into the relation, finds him to come with a ly[…] in his mouth. For thus he goes on; [We Celestial ones behold the Deity, ye banished ones worship the Eucharist, which ye ought to worship with the same affection wherewith we adore the Deity] such perfume doth this holy Devil leave behind him. The like might be instanced in a thousand Apparitions of this kind, all worthy of the same entertainment. This is a story from one single person, a lying Carmelite, one that for interest, and upholding of Superstition and Idolatry, had feigned and forged it; for in it self it appeareth to be a meer falsity and figment, as any rational man may easily discern, and so are a thousand stories of this kind worthy of the like entertainment, that is, to be condemned for most horrid lyes. Another he tells us: Amongst such fastidious choice of whole dry-fats of voluminous relations, I cannot forbear to single out that one famous of Magdalen de la Croix, in the year of our Lord Christ 1545, &c. The third from the mouth of another lying Fryar named Jacobus de Pozali, in his Sermon, That St. Macarius once went about to make peace betwixt God and Satan, &c. Now whatsoever credit this Learned man (who in things of this kind appeareth to be as vainly credulous as any) doth seem to give unto these, or what use soever he would make of them, it is undeniably manifest to all impartial judgments, that they were but absolute forgeries and knacks of Imposture and Knavery, and (according to his own opinion) may justly be ranked amongst those thousand Apparitions of this kind, all worthy of the same entertainment, that is, to be rejected for abominable lyes or forgeries, and that for these reasons. 1. Because they are not attested by any sincere and uncorrupt ear and eye-witnesses, but by reports and relations, and that of those that were corrupt and partial, or Accomplices to bring to pass the fraud and imposture. 2. If they be run up to their first Author or Venter of the Tale, he will but be found a single Witness, which is utterly insufficient in evidencing truly a matter of fact. 3. The Relaters of them did publish them for interest sake, and upon design to advance false Doctrine, Worship, Superstition, and Idolatry, and therefore are not of validity and credit. 4. In themselves (if strictly considered) they will appear to be lying, ridiculous, contradictory in themselves, and contrary to the authority of Divine Writ, and dissonant to sound and right reason, and therefore ought to have no other entertainment, but as abominable lyes and forgeries.