Part 16

4. He proceedeth: _Or else how can one enter into a strong mans house, and spoil his goods? except he first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his house._ “My dispossessing Satan of his goods, and turning him out of those whom he possesses, is an argument that I have mastered him, and so that I do not use his power, but that mine is greater than his, and imployed most against his will, and to his damage.” _Quòd enim_ (as saith a learned Father) _non potest Satanas Satanam ejicere, manifestum ex dictis est: sed quoniam neq; alius potest eum ejicere, nisi priùs eum superaverit, omnibus est manifestum: Constituitur ergo quod & anteà, cum manifestiori abundantia. Dicit enim: Tantum absisto ab hoc quòd utar Diabolo Coadjutore, quòd prælior cum eo, & ligo eum: Et hujus conjectura est, quòd vasa ejus diripio. Et sic contrarium ejus quod illi tentabant dicere, demonstrat. Illi enim volebant ostendere, quòd non propriâ virtute ejecit Dæmones. Ipse autem ostendit, quòd non solùm Dæmones, sed & eorum Principem ligavit: quod manifestum est ab his quæ facta sunt. Qualiter enim Principe non victo, hi qui subjacent Dæmones direpti sunt?_

5. Lastly he concludeth: _He that is not with me, is against me: And he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad_. “And it’s proverbially known” (saith Dr. _Hammond_) “that he that is not on ones side, that brings Forces into the field, and is not for a mans assistance, he is certainly for his Enemy, engages against him, doth him hurt; and consequently my casting out Devils, shews that I am Satans declared Enemy.” By all which arguments he flatly overthrows the false supposition of the Pharisees.

[Sidenote: _Absurd. 4._]

4. These Tenents do overthrow the chief Articles of the Christian Faith, to wit, the rational and infallible evidence of the Resurrection of Christ in the same individual and numerical body in which he suffered: and this we shall elucidate in these particular Considerations.

[Sidenote: 1 Cor. 15. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.]

1. The whole strength of the Christian Religion consists in the certainty of Christs Resurrection in his true and individual body. For as the Apostle argueth: _And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain: yea and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God, that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ risen. And if Christ be not risen, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then also they which are fallen asleep in Christ, are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable._ So that all these sad consequences must needs follow, and the whole Christian Religion be found a lye, if Christ be not truly risen from the dead.

2. And though the Apostle do enumerate sufficient Witnesses of his Resurrection and appearance after death, _and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the Twelve, after that he was seen of above five hundred Brethren at once, then of James, then of all the Apostles, and lastly of himself_: Yet all this Cloud of Witnesses will prove little, but dissolve into vapour, if there were or are either Angels or Spirits, that in their own or assumed bodies, may appear in his form, shape, and likeness, and to sight and tangibility be in all properties as his body was, to have flesh and bones, the print of the nails in the hands and feet, and to eat and drink.

[Sidenote: Mar. 6. 49.]

[Sidenote: Mat. 27. 51.]

[Sidenote: Mar. 15. 38.]

[Sidenote: Mat. 28.6, 9.]

[Sidenote: Mar. 16. 1.]

[Sidenote: Joh. 20. 1.]

[Sidenote: Luk. 24. 37.]

[Sidenote: Joh. 20. 19, 26.]

[Sidenote: _Vid. Rolloc. in Joh. 20._]

3. That the Apostles held the opinion, that there was Apparitions and Spirits that did shew themselves in any form or likeness, is most plain and evident; for when they saw Christ walking upon the Sea, they supposed it had been a Spirit or Apparition, for the Greek is φάντασμα, and cryed out. That is, either being cruelly affrighted and amazed, their Phantasies did represent strange thoughts in their minds: or else (which doubtless was the truth) seeing Christ walking upon the Sea, which they thought was not possible for a man to do without sinking or drowning, they in great fear cryed out, and forgetting his former Miracles, did vainly suppose it some Spirit that had made an apparition in his likeness. But it is most strange, that the Disciples that had seen and been eye-witnesses of so many Miracles wrought by him during his life, and those that accompanied him at his death, as the renting of the veil of the Temple from the top to the bottom, and the Earth-quake, and the renting of the Rocks, and the Darkness that was over the Land from the sixth hour unto the ninth; and that after his Resurrection the Graves were opened, and many bodies of Saints that slept arose, and came out of the Graves, and went into the holy City, and appeared unto many, of which they could not be ignorant; It is (I say) most wondrous strange, that after all these they could doubt of the verity of his Resurrection, and imagine that it was a Spirit in his form and likeness. And most especially, considering that his Sepulchre was made sure, the stone sealed, and a Watch set to attend it, of which they could not be ignorant; and likewise the certain affirmation and evidence of the two _Maries_, from the mouth of the Angel, and their own sight who worshipped him, and held him by the feet, and _Peters_ finding the Sepulchre empty, and his appearing to the two Disciples that went to _Emmaus_, and yet for all this at his next appearance, not to be satisfied, but to be terrified and affrighted, and to suppose they had seen a Spirit, is beyond all wonder, but that doubtless the heavenly Father had so ordained it in his inscrutable Wisdom, that the infallible certainty of his Resurrection might be more evidently and punctually proved. For at his next appearing, when they were all together, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and said unto them, _Peace_ be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed they had seen a Spirit, there the word is πνεῦμα. Now the cause of this supposing that they had seen a Spirit, doubtless was because as St. John tells us, _That Jesus twice had stood in the midst of them, the doors being shut, because of the Jews_, and therefore they could not possibly imagine, that he could have a body that could make penetration of dimensions, not considering that he had an omnipotent Power, and therefore nothing could be impossible unto him. Though it may well be conceived to be done without penetration of dimensions, because by his Almighty Power he might imperceptibly both open and shut the doors, and so enter, and suddenly stand in the midst of them, and no humane sense be able to discern it. But however it was, the Disciples did not then believe that it was Christ with his individual body in which he suffered, but either (as some of the Fathers believed) that it was his very Spirit that he yielded up upon the Cross, that appeared in his figure or shape, that was so pure, fine, and penetrable, that it could pass through any Medium, though never so dense or solid: or some other Spirit that assumed his form and shape, which is far more probable and sound. But howsoever it was, they did believe that it was some Spirit in his likeness, and not he himself, in that very numerical body in which he suffered, as may be apparently gathered from the words of _Thomas_ called _Didymus_, who strongly affirmed, saying: _Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my fingers into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe_.

[Sidenote: _Rolloc. ubi supr._]

[Sidenote: _Vid. Caten. Aur. Tho. Aquin. in locum._]

4. To the grounds of all these doubts our Saviour gives a demonstrative and infallible solution, which we shall explain in these particulars. 1. He doth not at all deny the existence or beings of Spirits; neither that Spirits do not, or cannot make visible apparitions: but doth grant both. 2. But he restrains these apparitions to those inseparable properties that belong to Bodies and Spirits, that is, a body (that is to say an humane body) hath flesh and bones, but a Spirit hath neither, as Christs or humane bodies have; and therefore saith a learned Person upon the place: _Docet se non esse Spiritum hoc modo: Spiritus, inquit, non habet carnem & ossa. Ego verò, ut conspicitis, habeo carnem & ossa: Ergo ego non sum Spiritus. Vide igitur ex sensu & sensibilibus: sensu nimirum visus; sensu tactus: ex visibilibus & tractabilibus se corpus esse non autem Spiritum edocet. Per sensum enim fides & gignitur & confirmatur._ So that whether Spirits be taken to be corporeal (and so appear in their own bodies) or to be incorporeal (and so to appear in assumed bodies) yet are they both to sight, and especially to feeling, not as humane bodies are that have flesh and bones. So that however they do, may or can appear (for it must be considered in that latitude, else our Saviours argument would not be irrefragable and convincing) they to the resistibility of touching cannot be as flesh and bones are, for they to the sense of touching do resist, and are solid, but so the bodies of Spirits in what appearance soever have not, nor can have, otherwise our Saviours argument falls to the ground, and proves nothing. 3. He confirmeth this by the Disciples own proof of feeling and touching the prints or scars of the nails in his hands, and the print of the wound in his side, and thereby manifesteth that it was he himself, and the very same individual body in which he suffered, by which _Thomas_ his great unbelief and doubting was unanswerably satisfied, by putting his fingers into or upon the very prints of the nails, and by putting his hand into or upon the wound or scar upon his side. And therefore though the same power that raised him from the dead, and rouled the sealed stone from the Sepulchre, could have perfected his body to be without prints or scars of the wounds; yet did the divine Wisdom reserve them, thereby to cure the infidelity of his Disciples, and undeniably to confirm the truth of his Resurrection; to which purpose one said well: _Ibi ad dubitantium corda sananda, vulnerum sunt servata vestigia_. And the further to establish and settle their Faith, he took a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb, and eat before them; all which concluded him to have a true body, and that he was not a Spirit: from whence we draw these conclusions.

1. That howsoever Spirits do or may appear, they have not, or can have such a body, that in respect of tangibility, is as flesh and bones. For flesh and bones are dense, solid, and make sensible resistance to the touch; but the bodies of Spirits in their apparitions are not, nor can be so. For as we deny not but there are and may be apparitions in any figure or shape, yet they can but be as the figures and shapes in the Clouds, which are often seen, and cause much wonder, though (we suppose) many of them may be rather attributed to the assimilation made in mens fancies, than to their real existence in those forms or shapes. So they may be as shadows, or the species of bodies that we see near or afar off, or as the images that we behold of our selves and other things in Mirrours or Looking-glasses: which though without doubt they be not non-entities, for _nullius entis nulla est operatio_, but these affect the senses, which is an operation or action; yet do they all easily yield to the touch, and have no firmness nor solidity, as flesh and bones have; and this is all that can be justly deduced from our Saviours argumentation.

2. Either we must believe that our Saviours argument is of no force and validity, which is blasphemous and horrid to affirm or imagine, he being the way, the truth, and the life, and in whose mouth there was found no guile, and thereby overthrow the whole foundation of the Christian Religion: or else we must for certain believe that Spirits whensoever they appear have no such solidity or resistibility as to touch, as flesh and bones have. And consequently that what strange things soever we may by sight and touch take to be the apparitions of Spirits, that to touch have the solidity of flesh and bones, we must conclude that they are not Spirits, but must be some other kind of Creatures, of whose nature and properties we are to inquire; for doubtless (as we shall manifest hereafter) there are many strange Creatures, that for their rarity or strange qualities, have been and are mistaken for the apparition of Spirits. For the Disciples doubts must still have remained unsatisfied, if Spirits could appear to have bodies to touch, of that solidity that flesh and bones are of, and then the truth of our Saviours Resurrection falls to the ground, and the Christian Faith is vain.

3. Therefore that Demons do appear in the shape of Dogs, Cats, and the like, and do carry the heavy bodies of Witches in the air, do suck upon their bodies, and have carnal copulation with them, must suppose them to have bodies as solid and tangible as flesh and bones: and so overthrow the main proof of our Saviours Resurrection, and consequently the very foundation of the Christian Religion; _For if Christ be not risen our faith is vain, we are yet in our sins, and are of all men most miserable_, as having only hope in this life, and no further. And this is sufficient to shew the horrid and execrable absurdity of these opinions; which objection Mr. _Glanvil_ calls spiteful and mischievous, but durst not undertake the solution, but with a plain shuffle leaves and over-runs it, as indeed being too hard a morsel for his tender teeth.

[Sidenote: Gen. 18. 1, 4, 8.]

And if any do object (as we have heard some do) that three Angels did appear unto _Abraham_ in the Plains of _Mamre_, as he sate in the Tent-door, and did eat and drink, and washed their feet, and therefore that they had flesh and bones; to that we return this responsion.

1. It is a very froward and perverse way of arguing, to make one place of Scripture to clash with another, when they ought all to be expounded according to the Analogy of faith, and it is a perfect Harmony which we ought to labour to find out and rejoyce in.

[Sidenote: Heb. 1. 1, 2.]

2. It is no perfect way of arguing from the Dispensations in the time of the Patriarchs and Prophets, to those that God useth now in the time of the Gospel; for so they might argue that God should answer by _Urim_ and _Thummim_, because he did so in the time of the Levitical Priesthood, but that is now ceased, and the Apostle tells us: _God at sundry times, and in divers manners spake in times past unto the Fathers by the Prophets: But in these last days he hath spoken by his Son unto us_. So though God did then vouchsafe to make himself manifest unto the Patriarchs by the visible appearance of Angels: yet it is no rational consequence that he doth so now in these days.

[Sidenote: _Ibid._ _v._ 17.]

3. It is manifest, that though they were in number three, yet it is true that it was Jehovah that appeared unto _Abraham_, and Jehovah said, _Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do_. Now we do not find that the word Jehovah is communicable to any Creature, but only to God himself; and therefore the best Expositors do understand (notwithstanding what _Pererius_ doth say to the contrary) that one of them was Christ the second Person in the Trinity, who after was to take humane nature upon him, and therefore did so appear.

4. However these Angels had with them the assistance of a divine and omnipotent Power, which cannot rationally be affirmed of the common and ordinary apparitions of Demons to Witches, and therefore doth conclude nothing against what we have laid down before.

CHAP. VI.

_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._

[Sidenote: _Wier._ _l._ 2. _p._ 89.]

[Sidenote: A Candle in the dark, p. 10.]

[Sidenote: The Question of Witchcraft debated, p. 1. &c.]

Concerning the words in the Hebrew and Greek, that are commonly alledged to prove these things, they have been wrested and drawn to uphold these Tenents by those Translators that had imbibed these Opinions, and so instead of following the true and genuine signification of the words, they haled them to make good a preconceived Opinion, and did not simply and plainly render them as they ought to have been. Which hath been observed by divers, especially by _Wierus_, who got the learned _Masius_ (a great Hebrician) to interpret them, of which he hath given a full account, which was followed by Mr. _Scot_. As also Mr. _Ady_, who hath perfectly rendred them according to the Translation of _Junius_ and _Tremellius_, and likewise Mr. _Wagstaff_ hath prettily opened the most of them. So that our attempt here might seem to be superfluous and unnecessary, and may be condemned of arrogance and vain confidence. To which we reply, That it is far from us to compare our selves with those Learned men that were Masters of the Hebrew and Greek Tongues, being in comparison but a Smatterer in those Languages, yet have in our younger years both studied and taught them to others, and as far as we undertake, we hope we need not fear the censure of the most rigid Critick; intending to note some things that others have omitted, and to handle them to the full, which others have but done briefly. And this we shall prosecute in this order.

[Sidenote: Deut. 18. 10.]

1. We shall take the words in the same order as they are recited in _Deuteronomy_, and the first mentioned is in these words: _There shall not be found among you that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire_. Now here we shall not enter upon that great Dispute, whether they really burned and sacrificed by burning their children unto Moloch, or that they only dedicated them to that Idol, by making them pass through the fire; but examine the reasons, why those that practised this kind of Idolatry are ranked amongst the Diviners or Witches, and were to have the same punishment, seeing it is no where mentioned, that these used any kind of Divination at all, and these we conceive to be the chief.

[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]

[Sidenote: Vers. 14, 15.]

1. The Lord had promised his People to raise them up a Prophet from amongst their Brethren like unto _Moses_, and that therefore they should hear him, and not go after other Gods or Idols. And therefore he sent them many and divers Prophets, of whom they were to inquire: so likewise they gave the Priest order to inquire by _Urim_ and _Thummim_, by which he gave answers, and therefore they were to hearken to his Ordinances, and not to follow after other strange Gods: For the Nations that he cast out had hearkened unto Observers of times and Diviners, but they were not to do so. And though these that caused their children to pass through the fire unto _Moloch_, used not Divinations, yet it was a wicked and abominable Ceremony, and the use and end of it to lead the people to Idolatry, and therefore is reckoned amongst the rest.

[Sidenote: _Reas. 2._]

[Sidenote: Prov. 16. 10.]

[Sidenote: Isa. 3. 2.]

[Sidenote: Exod. 22. 20.]

2. They are solely condemned, because the end of all their Divinations and their other Feats, were only to draw and lead the people to Idolatry, and to serve other Gods. For it is manifest, that all ways and sorts of Divination were not in themselves evil and unlawful, for else Astronomy it self, that foretels the Entrance of the Sun and Moon into such Signs, and when Eclipses will happen, and the like, should be forbidden too, but they were not: so that the chief reason why they were condemned, was _sub ratione finis, non medii_, in regard of the end, and not of the means used, because all their Divinations, and other Arts, Crafts, or Feats, whether performed by natural or artificial means, or otherwise, had still for their chief and principal end the leading of the people unto Idolatry, and the serving of other Gods, which was above all things abominable and hateful unto God, who is a jealous God, and will not give his glory to graven Images. And therefore all Idol-Priests, or those that lead the people to Idolatry, are in the Scripture-sense Witches, Diviners, and the like. And that all Divinations were not forbidden, is most clear from that of _Solomon_, as _Arias Montanus_ translates it: _Divinatio super labiis regis_: and that of _Isaiah_, where the Lord threateneth to take away the staff and stay of _Jerusalem_, that is, the mighty man, and the man of war, the Judge, the Prophet, and the prudent, _Divinum, sive Sagacem_. For it is the same word, and from the same root ‏קָסַם‎ _Divinavit_: For as _Avenarius_, _Schindler_, and others say, _Est verbum medium, nam modò in bonam, modò in malam partem accipitur_, of which _Tremellius_ saith this: _Sagacitas, id est, consultissima prudentia in rebus dijudicandis, præcavendis, & veluti addivinandis: nam vox Hebræa media est sive anceps, quæ non tantùm in malam partem accipitur, sed etiam in bonam_. Therefore was the Law so strict, that if any sacrificed unto any other God, save unto the Lord only, he was utterly to be destroyed, much more those that lead and incited the people to serve and sacrifice unto other strange Gods, were to be rooted out.

2. Is the word we have named before, to wit, ‏קֹסֵם קְסָמִים‎, _Kosem Kesamim, Divinans divinationes_: which, as we have shewed before, was taken _in bonam & malam partem_, and is by the Septuagint fitly rendred μαντευόμενος μαντειαν _vaticinans vaticinium_, and is almost with all Translators rendred in that sense and propriety: so that we need not complain, that it is one of them that is mis-translated; but concerning it, we may note these things.

[Sidenote: 1 Sam. 6. 1, 2. 3, 7, 8, 9.]

[Sidenote: Hos. 4. 12. Ezek. 21. 21.]