They give the first share to the most visible and shining as the Celestial Lamps which they look upon as Lights placed in Heaven by the Sovereign Creator for a proof of his Eternal Power and Deity The Inhabitants of Dâ—mute a Country lying very near the Equinoctial Lâ—ne those that live under the Dominion of the Great Negus and those of Ballagata in the Kingdom of Monopotapa have time out of mind adored the Rising Sun Those of the Kingdom of Mâ—ngibur Subjects to the Great Negus render him the same worship and hold him for the Creator himself Those of Suarim capital of the Kingdom of Morat under the same Empire have the same Faith But they say according to the relation of le Blanc that Heaven is only for the Gods by which they show that they acknowledge other Gods who are doubtless inferior to and in less credit than the Sun Those of Songo in the Kingdom of Congo look on the Sun and Moon as Husband and Wife and as the First and Second God They adore the Earth as the Mother of all things They worship likewise some Birds particular to theâ—â— Country and as it seems what ever comes into thâ—ir fancy Sect. 3. When those of Jaloffe in Guinea discover the Moon they adore her with great Cries They have the same Custom at Mandimanca in the same Country where the Moon is named Bariomari or the Goddess of the Night Daviti says that the Berbeseins in the Kingdoms of Ale and Brocale worship her at the foot of certain Trees But other People of Guinea make even of certain Trees and Herbs their Fetissos or Gods They worship the speckled Starry-Hern as a Divine Bird. Amongst the Fishes they venerate the Tunny as Fetissos and put them before the Emperadors or Emperor's Fishes which they venture to Fish but not to Eat until they have cut off their Sword which being dry becomes then a Fetisso too When it Lightens or Thunders upon very high Mountains fear makes them believe that those Mountains are likewise Fetissos The Lybians divided into 4 Nations do all agree that there is a particular virtue and even Deity in Garlick Some Inhabitants of Capo Verde worship the Moon and others the God Conculi because of his Malice Sect. 4. Few among them believe the Mortality of the Soul or if they do their Faith is attended with many doubts and mix'd with the Opinion of the Metempsychosis so far the Sect of Pythagoras reaches The Inhabitants of Mongibur in Ethiopia make a favourable reception to strangers provided they be no Christians who they esteem less than others The cause of that kind reception is that they imagine the Souls of their Relations or Friends may be passed into those Persons They admit pains and punishment during this Life but without any larger explication of it In Guinea the Hollanders were told in 1600 that the belief of the Country was that the Souls of the Deceased came again upon Earth and that they took from Houses what they stood in need of so that when they have sustained some loss they easily suspect that those Spirits have taken it away The Inhabitants of Capo Verde imagine that after their Death they are transform'd into white Men and in that State come to dwell upon Earth Sect. 5. I find no other particular Observation on the sentiments of those Nations and much less upon their practices In the mean while what may be learned of it sufficiently shows that they proceed from the same Original with the others they have very near the same Gods and the same Oracles which they get from their Gods by the same means viz. Divination and Witchcraft In The new History of the Abyssines by Ludolf may be seen how the Inhabitants of the Kingdom of Zendero have themselves in the Election of a King He is chosen from the greatest Men of the Kingdom who go together in a Wood whither they expect the flight of a certain Bird that nearks by his Cry who is to be their new Prince As they have a great Inclination to Witchcraft the new Prince gives immediatly a proof of his Proficiency in that Art for as soon as by his Conjurations he has Notice of his choice he draws by the same virtue Lyons Tygers Vipers and Dragons about him and in the middle of that stately Pomp he is received by all the great ones of his Kingdom who go to meet him This is what that Author relates and the pure Truth in his Judgment but we shall examine hereafter what virtue such a Witchcraft may have Sest 6. The Inhabitants of the Kingdom of Baiafar on the East of that Benin are accused to be the greatest Magicians in the World because they boast of obtaining Rain and causing Thunder and Lighting whenever they please and even of effecting all they desire The Brames in the Kingdom of Loango know how to hinder by their Inchantments the Fruits of the Earth from being taken away by Thieves who are in great numbers amongst them and yet not so bold as to touch any thing where there is a Basket with a pair of Goats Horns Parrots Feathers and other trifles of Nature because they are consecrated to their God Maguschi otherwise Moquische or Mohilo of whom however Daviti has no reason to believe that he is the Devil Sect. 7. When those of Guinea meet not with a happy Fishing they compel their Gods with their Conjurations to drive Fish into their Nets which is done by the frightful noise of the Fetisseres who are their Priests Wives or by branches of Trees hanging about their Neck supposing those Trees to have a Divine virtue as has been observed or by the beating of Drums or by some words that the Fetissero or Priest mutters as grumbling against his Wife or by some Corn or other matters variously Painted and thrown into the Sea If the King happen to have occasion for Money and impatiently desires to know whether there are Merchants in the way from whom he may hope to get an Advantage the Fetissero goes with his Wives to interrogate a Tree thereupon at first he makes a great many postures then offers Sacrifices uses Ashes the branch of a Tree cut on purpose Water drawn sucking from a Beason into his Mouth wherewith he besprinkles the said branch then he says some words to his Wives upon whom he likewise makes aspersion afterwards he pronounces the questions aloud then there is heard without seeing any thing a Voice answering which sometimes manifests it self under the shape of a Dog but that 's only practised for things that concern this Life especially for the Kings prosperity Sect. 8. But they use another sort of Witchraft either for the King or the Subjects to obtain a good condition in the future Life When any body comes to Die they chuse a new Fetisso for that time whom they intreat to conduct the Soul of the Deceased into the other World The nearest Relations come together kill a Hen and
it was possible that whatever the Vulgar and the Learned say of Devils and whatever they ascribe to them were true I would not have spar'd so much time as to search into this matter had not I perceiv'd that the Opinions of most Men and perhaps of all the World are only grounded upon an unsure and wavering Foundation This has moved me impartially to examine several things which my Calling and common Conversation offered to me This examination forced my Mind to reject many Opinions which I had admitted at first only because they were common though grounded upon insufficient Reasons as I came by degrees to be sensible of so that I find that at present I know much less than I formerly imagined to do especially as to the subject in hand This however I do not say with a design to Censure or Destroy what others have Written I only intend to joyn my Thoughts to theirs for a fuller Instruction of such Readers as love Truth and are enquiring after it Sect. 2. I am not afraid to mistake if I say that whatever belongs to this matter has not been exhausted Those that have written upon it before having been somewhat retarded by Prejudices that stick to their Mind though they had freed themselves of many others for I own they have proceeded so far as to destroy most of the works of the Devil at least so far as 't was necessary to free Men from Superstition and frivolous Fears But as for me I would if it were possible altogether overthrow them and not leave one Stone upon another that should not be demolished And therefore I 'll try whether I can bring my Countrymen to my Opinion especially those of my Profession desiring them to read this Treatise with as little prejudice as I have written and not to suffer themselves to be persuaded by other Reasons but such as proceed from Natural Light from a clear Interpretation of the Holy Scripture and from certain Experiments I have right to require these Conditions from the Reader since they cannot be rejected by any Rational Person that they are a Law to which I submit my self and that the great consequence of the matter requires them Sect. 3. I am Confident and I hope that the Reader will more plainly perceive it hereafter that no point of the Christian Religion is more important than this and that no certain and sufficient proofs may be had of all the others than by rejecting the Opinion commonly receiv'd amongst the Vulgar concerning the Craft and Power of the Devil Can it be imagin'd a small Matter to know whether the Devil has a Kingdom upon Earth and what are the Limits that separate his Dominions from that of God Almighty Or is 〈◊〉 unserviceable to examine whether such a cursed and detestable Creature can do more wonderful things than God ever did and consequently whether the trust we repose in God and the fear we have of the Devil ought to be equal Such Thoughts ought never to enter into a Christian Heart yet they creep into it unawares at least I think so and can scarce doubt of it for the more I search into this matter the more it seems evident to me that whoever entirely believes all that it used to be ascrib'd to the Devils and his Angels and all that is commonly said of them both by the Learned and the Vulgar saving the bottom of the Doctrine publickly receiv'd and taught in our Church he can have no convincing proof that JESVS is the Messiah or that there is but one God And if in this Writing I do not make the Reader very sensible of it I grant that I have composed it to no purpose Sect. 4. But if I succeed it will at the same time plainly appear that it was altogether necessary to publish this Treatise because the Vulgar are still confirm'd in their Errors by Men of Letters and of great Name who being full themselves of those prejudices make use of their Tongue and Learning to lead others into the same Labyrinth To that end they wrest several Expressions and Histories of the Holy Scripture which being not accurately examined nor conferr'd with others give a great probability to the common Opinion concerning the Devil but if taken in the ordinary Sense they prove evidently oppos'd to other clear Expressions concerning the Fundamental Articles of our Faith It follows that such a Sense cannot subsist without overthrowing the grounds of our Salvation that I can hardly bear since a long time the nicety with which Points of small consequence or at least of little certainty use to be treated of since one cannot discuss them without getting into a suspicion of entertaining Erroneous Opinions whilst in the mean time we are not yet agreed upon Matters of the utmost consequence or if we are agreed upon them it 't is without any foundation And therefore since none was ever found fault with for defending an Article of Faith or giving out a new Explication of it so I persuade my self that I do well by publishing the Illustrations upon a matter on which the whole Edifice of our Salvation is grounded in order that whoever will carefully and impartially examine it may become Wiser and Learneder Sect. 5. As to what concerns this Book I will at first set down the subject matter of it before the Reader The design is to examine to the bottom what the Devil can do and what he really doth that is How far his Knowledge extends either in Natural or Supernatural Things Either as to the Presence as it is conceal'd from Men or as to the Future as it is contingent or possible and not necessary Moreover what Direction or Power he has to operate in Nature what Communication he has with Men with the Human Soul and with all sorts of Bodies That he should transmute himself into them or put on their various Forms That he should act upon the Soul or upon the Body That he should direct Thoughts Words Actions and Gestures What is his Power over the Beasts and Fruits of the Earth Over the Air and Winds What his help may contribute to the Knowledge of Man and his Actions Herein consist Auguries or Soothsaying Witchcraft the Art of Conjuring up Ghosts and of Divining Dreams All which things are methodically and in the same order that is mentioned here treated of in this Book Sect. 6. But because the perfect Knowledge of them depends upon another viz. which is the Nature of a Spirit wherein it consists and how it 's distinguished from that of the Body for Devils are undeniably Spirits and Man is composed of a Body and a Spirit so it will be necessary in this Treatise to proceed farther and to examine first the Nature of Spirits Good and Bad and then that of Man Besides God himself being a Spirit but infinite and independent we ought not to pay our selves with the conformity of the Name but by reason of the manifest difference betwixt
whom has a share in the Government of the World They say that Brama has power over all the Souls and distributes them to Men and Beasts as he pleases that Baffiuna teaches Men the Commandments of Permiseer and provides with all things in this life those that are obedient to him and that Mais calls to Judgment before Permiseer the Souls separated from the Bodies who sends them according to their deserts into the Bodies of Men or Beasts to be afterwards with them purified of their Fits in a certain purging Fire The Gentives in the Kingdom of Goleonda believe also one only God who has been from all Eternity but in process of time has associated himself to some inferior Gods chosen from amongst Men which notion is agreeable with the Semidii Indigetes or Heros of the Ancient Romans Sect. 7. Those Ancient Persians who have remained in their Religion since Mahometism has setled in their Country deserve to be taken notice of Some remained in Persia and live for the most part at Ispuhum the Capital of that Empire Others have retired into the Indies especially into the Kingdom of Gusuratte where they are in great numbers Here you have the belief of the people in the very words of Carolinus extracted from de Laat Varenius and Tuist They believe that there is one God present every where who Governs all things aâ— pleasure without needing the assistance of any one tho' in the mean time he has seven Ministers by him almost of the same Dignity with himself who have each their particular Office of which they are accountable to him The 1st is Hamalda the Governour of Men. The 2d is Baman who has inspection over the Beasts and the Creatures of the Sea The 3d. is Ardi Best who preserves Fire and hinders it from going out The 4th is Sariuard on whom Metals and Minerals depend The 5th is Espendaar who takes care lest the Earth should be fill'd with filthiness and grow wild The 6th is Arendaar who has the direction of the Waters and who takes care that they be not soiled with nastiness The last is Amadaat who has the inspection of the Trees and Fruits of the Earth and of Herbs All these Gods are only Inspectors and Directors it being not in their power to inflict death upon any thing or to give it a new Life for they are solely established to give an account to the Sovereign God and to inform against those that have ill used corrupted or violated the things that are under their keeping Sect. 8. Besides those 7 Ministers there are yet 26 of an inferior Order each of which has his particular district Sorach is the first whose Office it quickly to bring the Souls separated from the Bodies before their Judges viz. Mees Resna and Saros The 4th is Beram Carrasedaats who directs War at his pleasure The 5th is the Sun The 6th is Anoa who has dominion over the Waters The 7th is Ader who is established over Fire The 8th is Maho who governs the Moon The 9th is Tiera that is the Rains 10th Gos governs and preserves Cattle 11. Tavardi takes care of the Sâ—uls who are in Heaven 12th Aram brings Joy to tâ—e World and banishes Pains and Sorrows from thence 13th Goada rules the Winds tho' he be not the Wind himself 14th Dien gives to Nations information and understanding of the Laws and inclination to keep them 15. Appersone affords Riches 16th Astaat gives Vnderstanding and Memory 17 th Assamaan has the inspection of Wares 10. Gimninaat has the conduct of the Earth 19. Marisipant is the God of Goodness which he communicates to those that have recourse to him 20. Armira is the director of Money 21. Hoem is the Author of the conception of Women and gives life to their Fruit. 22 23. Dimnia and Base are established to succor those that stand in need of them The three last Befadeer Defemeer and Defyn stand by God to serve him and are always ready to perform his Orders These are the Names of those 26 Ministers whom the Country men of Persia honour with the Title of Gestio or Saint and whom they believe to have Authority and Power all the things that are under their direction For which reason they also adore them trusting that they will be their Intercessors to God and obtain from him whatever shall be necessary for their good Sect. 9. Having thus sufficiently spoken as to the Gods we 'll now treat of the Spirits tho' we find but little information upon this point in Authors saving in what concerns China and the East-Indies on this side the River Ganges I only find mention made that the Japanders in a place not farr from Osacca venerate a God or Spirit named Tiedebaie lest he should hurt them and that another God called Goquis frequently appears to them in a humane Shape In the Town of Micao They worship in a Statue of a frightful Figure another Spirit to whom the Christians give the name of King of the Devils There is no Pagod in all Japan saith Carolinus which is so frequented nor enriched with so great Presence because thereby they think to redeem their sins Sect. 10. Martinius Kircher and Trigaltius three Jesuits have written large Histories of China but very little insisted upon this matter However considering what they observe of the Worship of that People it may be concluded that they believe the existence of Spirits as we shall show hereafter The Siamese likewise venerate some wicked Gods though against the sentiment of many of their Doctors under pretence of charging those bad Spirits of such evils of which they will not make God the Author It is said of the same Nation that they give two Spirits to every Man one of which makes them to be good and the other evil Sect. 11. But the greatest knowledge we have of the Opinions of those Countries comes from the Coast of Choromandel Carolinus who has gatherd what Rogerius says of it in many places says That they believe good and bad Spirits that is Angels and Devels They name the Angels Deuetas and the Devils Ratsiasias They hold that both were begotten by Men and that their common Father was Cassiopa the first Bramaine or Priest and Legislator The Mother of the Deuetas was Diti and that of the Ratsiasias was Aditi both Wives of Cassiopa Sect. 12. There are two sorts of Deuetas For such Men as go after their Decease into the Happiness of the Worlds under the Sun and above the Earth are also called Deuetas but those places are not for them an eternal abode since after the succession of some Ages they must come back into the World and be Born again As to the other Deuetas who are in great numbers they never depart from their Abode The Sun Moon and Stars are in that number they ascribe unto them both Soul and Life Sect. 13. The Ratsiasias are also of two sorts some of them are Wicked Men who are condemn'd
thereby it may be easily understood that Marriages must be very happy and attended with great Sweetness and Tranquillity when one marries with his peculiar Soul that is with that which was created with her Whereas they cannot be but unhappy and turn to the punishment of Men when they are bound to a Body whose Soul was not created with the Soul of him that Espouses her We have to strive against that Vnhappiness until we be rid of it and that we may be united by a second Marriage to the Soul that was made our Partner in the Creation to lead a happier Life Manasse Ben Israel gives a more large account of that belief in several places as in his Conciliador Quest 6. Pag. 12. In his second Book of the Resurrection Chap. 13. as also in the third Book Chap. 9. and in his Treatise de Termino Vitae Sect. 8. pag. 207. which he more largely confirms after the Jewish manner in his third Question Sect. 19. As to the State of Souls after Death the Metempsychosis of Pythagoras is also received amongst the Jews which Transmigration they call Gilgul that is to say the Revolution of Souls for they imagine that after Death the Soul wanders for a year about the Body whence she is gone out and goes still rambling till she meets with another Body into which she may enter to be born again with it They fancy that this happens three times as it is observed in the Thisbi upon the word Gilgul in this manner The Opinion of the Cabbalists is that every Soul is created thrice to let us understand that she introduces her self successively into the Bodies of three Children or Men. This they hope in some manner to confirm from the Book of Job ch 23. v. 19. according to that they say That the Soul of the first Man enter'd into the Body of King David and is now to pass into that of the Messiah that Mystery being contained in the three Hebrew Letters of Adam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taking the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the initial Letter of the name of Adam the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the first of that of David and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the first of that of Messiah Their learned hold that the Souls of the wicked pass into the Bodies of Beasts each Soul according to the nature of the Sins she has committed Thus the Soul of a Man that has debauch'd his Neighbours Wife is to enter into a Camel And therefore says David I shall sing to the Lord ki gamal alaii 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because he has deliver'd me from the Camel as they interpret it using this Reason that when the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is punctuated it is read otherwise and pronounced Gamaal which signifies a Camel Sect. 20. There are some however who believe that the Souls of the wicked perish with their Bodies Josephus says of the Pharisees of his time that they asserted the Transmigration of the Souls of the good only but that they sent those of the impious to the eternal Torments in his second Book of the Wars of the Jews Chap. 7. The Sadducees according to the Testimony of the Holy Scripture believed neither Resurrection nor Angels nor Spirits in St. Matth. Chap. 22. v. 23. and in the Acts Ch. 23. v. 8. but now the Jews have invented a great many Chimaera's that powerfully confirmed them in their Magick and the practice of their Conjurations for as it has already been said the Soul separated from the Body must wander a whole year about her Corps during which the wicked Spirits that abide in the Air and are call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Malachi Chabbalah or Devils of Torments and have yet several other Names find occasion to make them reenter into their Bodies as they have power to do when they are required to it by Conjurations Thence proceeds in their meaning That the Witch of Endor called again the Soul of Samuel into his Body because he had not been dead a whole year Manasse Ben Israel teaches the same Doctrine and assures us 't is that of the Ancients which he has extracted especially from Gemara Siabbas There are some however who have more rational Opinions as we shall see in the second Book when we have occasion to examine that instance CHAP. XIII That the Witchcraft anciently Practised and still in use amongst the Jews proceeds from the same Original Sect. 1. WE have examined the Opinions of the Jews upon that matter as much as they differ from the holy writ for as far as their belief is consonant to it we receive and approve of the same Let 's now see what they practise as to Witchcraft the Holy Scripture may fully convince us of the great inclination that People ever had for it which doubtless proceeded First from the practices they had seen in Egypt and of which perhaps they had not abstained but had seen the continuation of them in the Country they inhabited that was surrounded and intermixed with so many Nations addicted to that Art 'T is for that Reason the Law gives them such frequent warnings to beware of it Exodus 22 18. Levit. Chap. 18. v. 31. Cap. 5. v. 27. Deuter. Chap. 13 8 9 14. Isaiah Chap. 6. v. 12.20 And that he threatned them so severely because they could not resolve to forsake that impious exercise as may be seen especially in Manasseh King of Judah 2 Kings Chap. 21. v. 6. 2. Cron. Chap. 3. v. 6. That Sin became general in the midst of Israel or the Kingdom of the 10 Tribes so that the Scripture says that They used Divinations and observed the cry of Birds 2 Kings Chap. 17. v. 17. In the Apostles time there were Seven Sons of the same Father one of the high Priests who took upon them to be Exorcists and to conjure Devils Acts 19. v. 13 14. But all these things made no part of the contents of their Law and on the contrary were the effects of their Rebellion so that Judaism was not properly answerable for them until they were taught by the Rabbins themselves and at last introduced to make up part of their Religion Such are the Doctrines which I have represented in the preceeding Chapter to which the practices of the present Jews are perfectly agreeable Sect. 2. The inquisitive Lighfoot has shewed by many proofs that the Jews at their return from the Babylonian Captivity having entirely forsaken Idolatry and finding they were destitute of Prophets addicted themselves by degrees to Witchcraft and Divination about the time of our Saviours coming The writings of the Talmud that are full of Instructions for that purpose and are nevertheless in great credit among them give upon that subject a testimony not advantageous to them especially since in the following times they used the same Arts against Christianity Lightfoot assures us That after the Destruction of their City and Temple there were several Impostors amongst
Hearts And our promises in another sense to give us The Morning Star Revel 2.28 So that the name of Lucifer is so far from being that of the Prince of the Devils thâ—t it is the most Christian name to be read in the Bible Sect. 23. Let 's go back to Lactantius he says that Monsters were generated from that odious conjunction of Angels with Women that are half Angels or rather Half Demons or half Men thence he infers Duo genera daemonum unum caeleste alterum terrenum That there are 2 sorts of Demons one of Celestial Demons and another of Terrestrial by Celestial he seems to understand Aerial but after the word Terrenum there follows immediatly Hi sunt immunedi malorum quae geruntur auctores quorum idem diabolus est princeps These are unclean Spirits Authors of all the Evil that happens in the World the chief of whom is the Devil already mentioned From this passage may be clearly perceived that he takes for Demons those very same Spirits whom the Heathens made their Gods as has been seen Ch. 2. Sect. 9 to 13 which still confirms more and more what I have asserted Ch. 5. Sect. 4 5. That the Heathen never adored Demons but in as much as they believed them to be Gods Sect 24. The same Lactantius tells us that the Demons are indeed Spirits but Spiritus tenues incomprehensibiles Spirits of a thin subtle matter and imperceptible This we have heard before from Origen and Tertullian He explains himself very clearly as to the power he ascribe to their understanding saying That they know many future things but that it is not possible they should discover the depths of the secrets of God We have already heard Tertullian confirming this proposition by his Reasonings However Lactantius believes that Divinations by the Contemplation of the Stars by the Inspection of the intrals of Beasts and by the Observation of Birds of which mention has been made Ch. 3. Sect. 4 5 7. Are Diabolical Inspirations and therefore holds that they are still capable of discovering to Men many future things Sect. 25. St. Jerom as far as I can conceive constitutes not the same difference of places betwixt the Spirits Yet he believes Ex Pauli dictis ad Ephe Cap. 2. ver 2. 12. colligi Diabolos in aere vagari ac dominari That from what S. Paul writes to the Ephesians may be inferr'd That the Devils are wandering in the Air and â—â—igning there And writing upon the 6th Ch. v. 12. to the Ephesians he explains more at large that proposition as containing the common Opinion of the Christians of that Age. This is the Opinion of all the Doctors That the Air which is betwixt the Heavens and the Earth separating both from what it call'd the Vacuum is fil'd with powers contrary to each other We must yet examine hereafter whence the Principalities Powers and Dominions of this World have received their powert His Opinion upon this last Question is that they have it from God himself and that they exercise it more or less as a less and greater pain is inflicted upon 2 different Criminals according as 't is resolved to make their life more or less bitter he also supposes that the unclean Spirits as well as the Holy Angels are divided into certain Orders which Opinion of his may be seen in his Commentary on the 3 Ch. of Habakuk As Christ is the head of the Church and of every particular faithful Man so is Belzebub the chief of all the Demons who exercise so many cruelties in this World and each Troop of Demons has it's particular Chief and Captain under him Sect. 26. Lactantius must yet inform us what in his Opinion the Demons were able to Operate in reference to Men. We see Sect. 14. that his Opinion in general is That the Corrupted and Contagious Spirits wander'd through the World endeavouring to comfort themselves under their loss by procuring the ruin of Mankind Immediatly after he explains in particular how they hurt Soul and Body They attack says he The Souls by their craft devises and the snares they lay before them they seize upon them by their delusions and by leading them astray they stick to every private person and are always at his elbow creeping into every house from door to door And in relation to the bodies as those very Spirits are according to him partly corporeal and partly extraordinary sâ—â—tle and consequently imperceptible They insinuate into Human Bodies without being perceived act privately within their Bowels impair their Health cause Diseases cast terror into the mind by Dreams overturn it make it stray and force Men by such vexations to have recourse to them It seems however that he intends to ascribe that power to the Devil only over the Heathens because he disputes against them and that they were those that had recourse to the Demons as believing them to be Gods for over the Christians the Ancient Fathers attributed not so much power to them Sect. 27. We may learn from St. Athanasius what were the Opinions of his time as to the Souls separated from their Bodies after Death In the Book before quoted question 32. he asks Whether the Souls after their separation have knowledge of what is done amongst Men as the Holy Angels have he answers Yes at least as to the Souls of the Saints but not as to those of Sinners for their continual torments take them so much up that they have no leasure to think upon any other thing The 33th Question is What is the employment of the Souls departed from their Bodies Answer The Soul separated from the Body is uncapa ble of doing either good or evil However he says a little after That the Souls of the Saints animated by the Holy Ghost praise God and bless him in the Land of the Living He asserts Question 35. That after Death the Souls never come to bring news of the state of the Deceased which would give occasion to many cheats because wicked Spirits might feign that they are Souls of the Deceased that come back to discover somthing to the Living I desire the Reader to observe this very attentively for it will be convenient to reflect upon it hereafter Sect. 28. St. Austin gives us a more large information for thô he does not expresly reject Purgatory yet he confutes it every where as appears from several places of his Writings that have been quoted by one of my predecessors Andrew Landsman in his Book of the Apostasy of the Church of Rome yet this Father in the 69th Chapter of his Manual expresses himself thus 'T is not incredible but somthing like may happen after this life and it may reasonably be enquired whether it is so and what proof may be brought for or against this Opinion viz. that some of the faithful come sooner or later to the Eternal Felicity passing through a certain purging Fire in which they stay longer or shorter as they are more
or less enamour'd with corruptible things however in that number are not comprehended those of whom 't is said that they shall not possess the Kingdom of God unless by a convenient Repentance they obtain forgiveness of their Sins Sect. 29. We come down to the 5th Age in which we meet with Theodoret who sufficiently explains as to our design the Opinions of the Doctors of his time concerning good and bad Angels for he proposes to us what he thinks of the Angels properly so call'd as well in reference to their Nature as to their Understanding and Administration As to the first point he holds that though they are not Corporeal yet they are Circumscribed and contained in a certain determinate place as he asserts in his 3d Question upon Genesis The Reason of this Opinion is that he supposes every Angel has some proper Administration and is entrusted with the care either of a Nation or Person but he makes still a more particular distinction in his 10th Exposition upon Daniel putting a Man under the guard of a common Angel and a whole Nation under that of an Angel of a Superior Order As to their Understanding he briefly explains his Mind in these Words Let none be surprised at what I assert as to the Ignorance of the Heavenly Spirits for they neither know future nor other things it only belonging to the Divine Nature but as to Angels Archangels and other Coelestial Spirits they know no more than what they learn and therefore the Holy Apostle speaking of them in the the third Chapter to the Ephesians v. 10. says That to Principalities and Powers in the Heavenly Places c. See his Commentary on the 24th Psalm Sect. 30. Theodoret speaks afterwards of the Demons in the same manner for he holds them not capable of making true Predictions He says upon Ezekiel Sect. 8. That the Demons know nothing before it happens unless it be by guessing and yet they venture to foretell He nevertheless owns in his tenth Book of Oracles that the Spirits have foretold something true but by the Stars For says he whatever the Gods of the Heathens say if it happens that they speak agreeably to the Concatenation of things they must needs gather that knowledge from the Stars which undoubtedly was done by such Gods as declared some things that afterwards fell out 'T is evident that by Demons he understands in general wicked Spirits who cause themselves to be venerated as Gods and gave false Oracles to keep up their Authority and the Credit in which they were amongst the Heathens That Opinion was the most common amongst the Ancients and is in being even to this day as we shall show hereafter Sect. 31. The Opinion of that time upon the original of the wicked Race was that they issued from the Conversation of the Angels with Women Severus Sulpitius relates it not as a particular Belief or as received by some Doctors only but as a Story credited by all Christians for at the beginning of his Ecclesiastical History he presumes to assert it upon the Authority of Josephus as much as if he had been present His words are In that time that is after the Birth of Noah Mankind multiplying exceedingly the Angels whose abode was in Heaven being enamour'd with the Beauty of young Virgins plunged themselves in unlawful pleasures forsook the Supream Region whose Inhabitants they were and ally themselves by Marriages with mortal Women by that unhappy Cohabitation and their depraved Morals they corrupted Mankind by degrees and from thence the Giants are said to be born for the mixture of such different natures must needs produce Monsters Sect. 32. As to the state of Souls separated from their Body the Angels and wicked Spirits this Age affords nothing but what has been observed speaking of the foregoing Centuries Wherefore we descend to Gregory the Great who in the 7th Century joyn'd his particular Opinions to the former He was Bishop of Rome and his Memory is still in great Veneration in that Church tho' he took it very ill that John the Father Bishop of Constantinople and his Contemporary should have presumed to take upon him the Name of Vniversal Bishop to which he believed not that any Bishop had a right and even held it for a Mark of Antichrist Besides 't is not without Reason that the Roman Church makes so much of him For he has taken care to provide her with many Legends so suitable to her Humour and Palate and upon which she has put so great a value that she multiplies them every year And indeed St. Gregory was not contented with the Fables of Origen and other Doctors of which mention has been made but he admitted whatever had been proposed hitherto as Doubts and Questions which he passed into Determinations and Decrees And as tho' what had been maintained before had not been sufficient he thought fit to add something of his own So that since his time there were not only 9 Orders of Angels but they knew also the Degrees of each viz. Angels Archangels Virtue Powers Principalities Dominions Thrones Cherubims and Seraphims as is to be found in his 34th Homily upon the Gospels The Schoolmen that have followed him fail not to take much pains to treat of each of these Angelical orders and to break their head with them in which I intend not to imitate them Sect. 33. It must be observed that at that time the curiosity to know whither Souls went after Death gave occasion by degrees to invent Purgatory the discovery of which has been so far finished amongst the Papists that they go now thither by thousands Boetius a Roman Consul who lived about 63 years before the Pontificate of Gregory begun in his 4th Book Prosa 4. to give some Notion of that place by the Answer he makes to the following Question Does there in your Opinion remain no punishment for the Soul after her separation from the Body To which he Answers Yes doubtless and even 't is not a slight Pain for I hold that some Souls are very severely punished whereas others are purified by Grace As to Gregory himself who from a Souldier became Pope he blows heat and cold from the same Mouth with as much sickliness and levity as the Wind against the Custom of the Popes who use to decide so positively and boldly Upon the 7th Chapter of Job giving advice to a Sinner he saith That there is no human Eye that is no Grace of the Redeemer that casts looks upon the Soul after she has laid off the Flesh And farther he adds That when Holy or wicked Spirit receives at the point of Death a Soul departing from her bodily Prison she remains for ever and without hopes of any Change in the hands of him that has taken her so that when she 's once raised to Glory she can never fall again into Pain and Torments whereas when she is once cast down into the Eternal Abyss she can never come