Читать книгу The Discovery of Witchcraft. Facts, Fiction & Conspiracy Theories Behind the Medieval Witch Hunt онлайн

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But my request unto all you that read my booke shall be no more, but that it would please you to conferre my words with your owne sense and experience, and also with the word of God. If you find your selves resolved and satisfied, or rather reformed and qualified in anie one point or opinion, that heretofore you held contrarie to truth, in a matter hitherto undecided, and never yet looked into; I praie you take that for advantage: and suspending your judgement, staie the sentence of condemnation against me, and consider of the rest, at your further leasure. If this may not suffice to persuade you, it cannot prevaile to annoy you: and then, that which is written without offense, may be overpassed without anie greefe.

And although mine assertion, be somewhat differing from the old inveterat opinion, which I confesse hath manie graie heares, whereby mine adversaries have gained more authoritie than reason, towards the maintenance of their presumptions and old wives fables: yet shall it fullie agree with Gods glorie, and with his holie word. And albeit there be hold taken by mine adver/saries of certeine few words or sentences in the scripture that maketh a shew for them: yet when the whole course thereof maketh against them, and impugneth the same, yea and also their owne places rightlie understood doo nothing at all releeve them: I trust their glorious title and argument of antiquitie will appeare as stale and corrupt as the apothecaries drugs, or grocers spice, which the longer they be preserved, the woorsse they are. And till you have perused my booke, ponder this in your mind, to wit, that Sagæ, Thessalæ, Striges, Lamiæ (which words and none other being in use do properlie signifie our witches) are not once found written in the old or new testament; and that Christ himselfe in his gospell never mentioned the name of a witch. And that neither he, nor Moses ever spake anie one word of the witches bargaine with the divell, their hagging, their riding in the aire, their transferring of corne or grasse from one feeld to another, their hurting of children or cattell with words or charmes, their bewitching of butter, cheese, ale, &c: nor yet their transubstantiation;²⁶ insomuch as the writers hereupon are not ashamed to say, that it is not absurd to affirme that there were no witches in Jobs time. The reason is, that if there had beene such witches then in beeing, Job would have said he had beene bewitched. But indeed men tooke no heed in those daies to this doctrine of divels;²⁷ to wit, to these fables of witchcraft, which Peter saith shall be much regarded and hearkened unto in the latter daies.