Ibid. 16. 16, 18.
Act. 19. 13, 16.
2 Thess. 2. 9.
Chrysost. in loc.
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 μαγεύων κὶ ἐξισῶν 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; τῶς μαγείαις ἐξεσακέναι αὐτὺς, seducebat populum suis magicis præstigiis, saith Tremellius; and Beza, Exercuerat artem magicam, & gentem Samariæ 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) ὁ μάγος 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 τέρασι ψεύδοις, 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 ludificantibus, aut ad mendacium inducentibus.
Pag. 9.
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 authority and sense; no, far be it from me to run into that wild and senseless 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.
Epist. lib. 7. pag. 252.
De defect. oracul. p. mihi 700.
Plutarch. in vit. Marc. Brut. pag. 361.