The xiiii. Chapter. 512.
That it pleased God to manifest the power of his sonne and not of witches by miracles.
JESUS CHRIST, Luke. 8, 14.to manifest his divine power, rebuked the winds, and they ceased; and the waves of water, and it was calme: which if neither our divines nor physicians can doo, much lesse our conjurors, and least of all our old witches can bring anie such thing to passe. But it pleased God to manifest the power of Christ Jesus by such miraculous & extraordinarie meanes, providing and as it were preparing diseases, that none otherwise could be cured, that his sonnes glorie, and his peoples faith might the more plainelie appeere;Levit. 14, 7, 8
Luk. 7. 17, 4. as namelie, leprosie, lunacie, and blindnesse: as it is apparent in the Gospell, where it is said, that the man was not stricken with blindnesseJohn. 9. for his owne sinnes, nor for any offense of his ancestors;/368. but that he was made blind, to the intent the works of God should be shewed upon him by the hands of Jesus Christ. But witches with their charmes can cure (as witchmongers affirme) all these diseases mentioned in the scripture, and manie other more; as the gowt, the toothach, &c: which we find not that ever Christ cured.
Mat. 4, 17, &c.As touching those that are said in the Gospell to be possessed of spirits, it seemeth in manie places that it is indifferent, or all one, to saie; He is possessed with a divell; or, He is lunatike or phrentike: which disease in these daies is said to proceed of melancholie. But if everie one that now is lunatike, be possessed with a reall divell; then might it be thought, that divels are to be thrust out of men by medicines. But who saith in these times with the woman of Canaan; My daughter is vexed with a divell, except it be presupposed, that she meant hir daughter was troubled with some disease? Indeed we saie, and saie truelie, to the wicked, The divell is in him: but we meane not thereby, that a reall divell is gotten into his guts. And if it were so, I marvell/513. in what shape this reall divell, that possesseth them, remaineth. Entreth he into the bodie in one shape, and into the mind in another? If they grant him to be spirituall and invisible, I agree with them.
Some are of opinion, that the said woman of Chanaan ment indeed that hir daughter was troubled with some disease; bicause it is written in sted of that the divell was cast out,Matt. 15, 28. that hir daughter was made whole, even the selfesame houre. According to that which is said in the 12. of Matthew;Matt. 12, 22. There was brought unto Christ one possessed of a divell, which was both blind and dumbe, and he healed him: so as, he that was blind and dumbe both spake and sawe. But it was the man, and not the divell, that was healed, and made to speake and see. Whereby (I saie) it is gathered, that such as were diseased, as well as they that were lunatike, were said sometimes to be possessed of divels.