The displaying of supposed witchcraft

by John Webster

3. Therefore what signs and wonders soever Satan doth work, they are no real and true miracles, for as Dr. Stillingfleet saith: “God alone can really alter the course of nature. I speak not (he saith) of such things which are apt to raise admiration in us, because of our unacquaintedness with the causes of them, or manner of their production, which are thence called Wonders; much less of meer juggles and impostures, whereby the eyes of Men are deceived; but I speak of such things as are in themselves either contrary to, or above the course of nature, i. e. that order which is established in the universe.” And this cannot be altered by any diabolical power, but only by that which is Divine and Omnipotent, which never doth it but for considerable ends and important causes, as may be manifest from these unshaken grounds. 1. That Devils can work no true miracles is manifest from the definition of a miracle which is this: Verum miraculum est opus, quod fit præter, et contra naturam et secundas causas, cujus nulla Physica ratio potest reddi. But Satan cannot alter or change the order and course of nature. Therefore Satan cannot work or effect a true miracle. The proposition may be illustrated by an induction made of many great miracles, of which there is mention made in the Old and New Testament, all which are of that sort, that are repugnant to the order and course of nature, and of which no natural or physical reason can be rendered and given. Such were the taking of Enoch and Elias into Heaven, the conserving of Noah and his Family in the Ark, the confusion of tongues at the building of Babel, the fecundity of Sarah being old and barren, the passage of the children of Israel over the red Sea and over Jordan, the standing still of the Sun in the battel of Joshuah, its going back in the dial of Ahaz, its eclipse at our Saviours suffering, the preservation of Daniel in the Den of the Lions, and of the three companions of Daniel in the fiery furnace, the preserving Jonas in the belly of the Whale, the raising up of the dead, and the curing of the Man born blind, and all the rest of those most true and wonderful miracles wrought by our blessed Saviour and his Apostles. 2. The assumption of the Syllogism is thus proved. It is the part of the same power to change the order of nature, and to create things that were not existent, and so the mutation of the order of nature is a certain kind of new creation. But Satan hath not power, by which he can create things that as yet had no existence, as all persons of reason must needs confess. From whence it must follow that Satan hath not power to change the order of nature, and consequently that he cannot work true and real miracles. 3. The working of true miracles is only a proper attribute of God, and incommunicable to any creaturely power, for the Text saith: Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doth wondrous things. And again, thou art the God that dost wonders. And these two things the changing of the order of nature, and creation S. Paul attributeth to God as only proper to him: God who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things that be not, as though they were. Upon which Beza gives this note: Eo qui vitæ restituit. Apud quem jam sint quæ alioqui reipsa non sunt, ut qui vel uno verbo quidvis possit ex nihilo efficere.

Vid. Rolloc. in Thess. 2.

But if it be objected that though Satan and his Angels of themselves, and by their own proper power, do not work true miracles, yet may not God work real miracles by them, as he did by the Prophets, Apostles and his Ministers? It is answered: That the wonders which are wrought by Satan, do tend to that end, that they might confirm lies against God and his glory. But God doth not accommodate his power, to confirm lies, contrary to his glory, and against himself. Therefore Satan by the power of God, as his Minister, doth not work true miracles, for God doth use the faln Angels as executioners of his wrath and judgments, for the afflicting and punishing of men, but when God worketh any thing for the good of mankind, either in Soul or Body, he doth not use Devils as his Ministers, but the good and blessed Angels, who are ministring spirits sent forth for the good of those that shall be heirs of Salvation.

And if it be queried, what things and of what sort and kind, are those wonders that are wrought by Satan and Antichrist? I answer, that either they are indeed nothing but prestigious juglings and illusions: or if they be any thing, they are not brought to pass contrary to the order of nature and second causes, although they may seem so to us, who do not know the causes that are in nature, so well as that old serpent: neither do we apprehend the manner by which he worketh and acteth his tricks. From which ignorance it proceedeth, that those wonders, that in themselves are no true miracles, nor done contrary to the order of nature, are by us taken to be true miracles.

De Oper. Dei, l. 4 c. 12. p. 191.

But we will draw towards a conclusion of this point, with that definition and corollaries that learned Zanchy gives us in these particulars. Miraculum (ait) igitur est externum & visibile, verum & simpliciter mirabile factum, ad optimos fines atq; imprimis ad salutem hominum, & ad Dei gloriam promovendam editum. From whence these points are to be observed.

1. That a Miracle is external and made visible. For so (he saith) are all those things that we read of in Scripture that are taken to be true miracles: And therefore that the pretended invisible miracle of Transubstantiation (as they call it) in the ordinance of the Lords Supper, is a meer figment, because no such thing was ever made visible, or truely witnessed. But let us press this his argument a little further. If it be (as indeed it must be) a certain property of a true miracle that it be external and visible, that there may be witnesses of it, otherwise that which none ever saw or knew may be the property of a miracle: Then those great wonders that Witchmongers do affirm that the Devil worketh with and for Witches, as having carnal copulation with them, sucking upon their bodies, making a corporeal and oral league with them, carrying them in the air, changing them into Cats or Dogs, must of necessity be a meer figment and an impossibility: Because never yet seen, witnessed, or proved by any that were of sound judgment, right understanding or of clear reason, but are meerly the works of darkness, having existence no where, but in the minds and brains of the Witchmongers, who are ruled by the Prince of darkness.

2. A miracle ought to be really and truly done, that is, that indeed it be such a thing as it appeareth, as the water that Christ changed into Wine, was really such, that is, it was truely Wine to the sight and taste of all those that drank of it. Therefore those things that are brought to pass by the prestigious juglings of Devils and Magicians, are indeed no true miracles. And to apply this to our present purpose, it is manifest that those things that Witchmongers do believe that the Witches do or suffer, as to fly in the air, to be present at dancings and banqueting, and yet to remain empty and hungry, and the like, are but meer delusory dreams and cheating fancies in their brains, and if any thing be done ad extra, it is but meerly as Juglers do by drawing the eyes from observing the manner of their conveyances, by substituting one thing in the stead of another, and the like. So that at the best Satan in respect of what he performeth in these aforesaid actions, is but as a chief Hocus Pocus fellow, or Jugler, and one that acteth to a worse end, than our common Juglers do, who act but to move sport and delight, and thereby to get something to be a livelihood, but Satan works his tricks to blind and delude the Soul, and to lead it to error and destruction.

3. A true miracle ought to be simply miraculous and wonderful, that is with and unto all. And such are those miracles, whose causes are hid from all, and therefore are those things that are done contrary to the order of nature, by the only virtue and power of the Almighty God. Therefore those things that are done by natural causes, though occult to many, as are oftentimes done by Devils, are no true miracles. From whence therefore we may conclude, that whatsoever is performed in Physical actions, by natural causes, (and it is the general Tenent of all, that Devils in these cases can work nothing but by natural causes,) are no miracles, and that as they are agents, are not evil, but only become so in the use and application.

4. Every true miracle is wrought above all for most good ends, and especially for the Salvation of Men, and the true Glory of God. By this particular therefore all those signs and wonders that are wrought by Devils, are excluded from the name of true miracles, because they are all wrought for evil ends, and contrary to the Glory of God, and for the deceiving and perdition of Men. And therefore all prodigies wrought by Devils, are called lies.