The Discoverie of WitchcraftFolk Magic / White MagicScholarly ReconstructionEarly Modern EnglishShareThe Discoverie of Witchcraft 8.31886 reprint of 1584 edition - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 available1886 reprint of 1584 editionLanguageEnglishEspañol‹The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.1The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.2The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.3The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.4The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.5The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.6The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.7The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.8The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.9The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.1The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.2The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.3The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.4The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.5The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.6The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.7The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.8The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.9The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.10The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.11The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.12The Discoverie of Witchcraft 3.1The Discoverie of Witchcraft 3.2The Discoverie 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Witchcraft 16.28The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.29The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.30The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.31The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.32The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.33The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.34›Book 8, Chapter 3: That Oracles are ceasedThe Discoverie of Witchcraft 8.3ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1Touching oracles, which for the most part were idols of silver, gold, wood, stones, &c: within whose bodies some saie uncleane spirites hid themselves, and gave answers: as some others saie, that exhalations rising out of the ground, inspire their minds, whereby their priests gave out oracles; so as spirits and winds rose up out of that soile, and indued those men with the gift of prophesie of things to come, though in truth they were all devises to cousen the people, and for the profit of preests, who received the idols answers over night, and delivered them backe to the idolaters the next morning: you shall understand, that although it had beene so as it is supposed; yet by the reasons and proofes before rehearsed, they should now cease: and whatsoever hath affinitie with such miraculous actions, as witchcraft, conjuration, &c: is knocked on the head, and nailed on the crosse with Christ, who hath broken the power of divels, and satisfied Gods justice, who also hath troden them under his feete, & subdued them, &c. At whose comming the prophet Zacharie saith, that the Lord will cut the names of idols out of the land, and they shall be no more remembered; and he will then cause the prophets and uncleane spirits to depart out of the land. It is also written; 2I will cut off thine inchanters out of thine hand, and thou shalt have no more soothsaiers. And indeed the gospell of Christ hath so laid open their knaverie, &c: that since the preaching thereof, their combes are cut, and few that are wise regard them. And if ever these prophesies came to take effect, it must be upon the cōming of Christ, whereat you see the divels were troubled and fainted, when they met him, saieng, or rather exclaming upon him on this wise; Fili Dei cur venisti nos cruciare ante tempus? O thou sonne of God, whie commest thou to molest us (or confound us) before our time appointed? Which he indeed prevented, and now remaineth he our defender and keeper from his clawes. So as now you see here is no roome left for such ghests. 3Howbeit, you shall heare the opinion of others, that have beene as much deceived as your selves in this matter: and yet are driven to confesse, that GOD hath constituted his sonne to beat downe the power of divels, and to satisfie Gods justice, and to heale our wound received by the fall of Adam, according to Gods promise in Genesis. 3. The seed of the woman shall tread downe the serpent, or the divell. Eusebius (in his fift booke De prædicatione Evangelii, the title whereof is this, that the power of divels is taken awaie by the comming of Christ) saith; All answers made by divels, all soothsaiengs and divinations of men are gon and vanished awaie. Item he citeth Porphyrie in his booke against christian religion, wherein these words are rehearsed; It is no mervell, though the plague be so hot in this citie: for ever since Jesus hath beene worshipped, we can obteine nothing that good is at the hands of our gods. And of this defection and ceasing of oracles writeth Cicero long before, and that to have happened also before his time. Howbeit, Chrysostome living long since Cicero, saith, that Apollo was forced to grant, that so long as anie relike of a martyr was held to his nose, he could not make anie answer or oracle. 4So as one may perceive, that the heathen were wiser in this behalfe than manie christians, who in times past were called Oppugnatores incantamentorum, as the English princes are called Defensores fidei. Plutarch calleth Bœotia (as we call bablers) by the name of manie words, bicause of the multitude of oracles there, which now (saith he) are like to a spring or fountaine which is dried up. If anie one remained, I would ride five hundred miles to see it: but in the whole world there is not one to be seene at this houre; popish cousenages excepted. 5But Plutarch saith, that the cause of this defection of oracles, was the divels death, whose life he held to be determinable and mortall, saieng they died for verie age; and that the divining preests were blowne up with a whirlewind, and soonke with an earthquake. Others imputed it to the site or the place of the planets, which when they passed over them, carried awaie that art with them, and by revolution may returne, &c. Eusebius also citeth out of him the storie of Pan, which bicause it is to this purpose, I will insert the same; and since it mentioneth the divels death, you may beleeve it if you list: for I will not, as being assured that he is reserved alive to punish the wicked, and such as impute unto those idols the power of almightie God. ‹Previous chapterThe Discoverie of Witchcraft 8.2Next chapterThe Discoverie of Witchcraft 8.4›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain in the United States via Project Gutenberg