reality of demoniacal possessions; for this was done by the entire sect of the Sadducees, among whom most of the rulers and great men in Palestine were found, and who, although they went so far as to deny even the existence of good and evil spirits, were left to the undisturbed enjoyment of their belief. That accommodating policy which some have ascribed to Christ and the apostles can hardly be reconciled with the principles of that pure morality which they themselves taught, and according to which, in other cases similar to those now under consideration, they themselves unhesitatingly and invariably acted.

The whole dispute may be summed up in the following points-viz., (a) Those who consider Christ as merely a human teacher, and yet one who acted on the highest moral principles, must allow that he at least sincerely believed what he so often asserted; and in no other way can his | moral character be vindicated. Such persons might still doubt, notwithstanding the declaration of Christ, whether this doctrine is true, since they might suppose that he, like other human teachers, might err from the imperfection of his knowledge, and thus be the means of leading others astray, or of confirming them in their errors. (b) But those who regard Christ as an infallible divine teacher, in the full and proper sense of the word, and as he is declared to be in the New Testament, must assent to his decision on this, as on every other subject, and they must have the courage to profess this, however many difficulties they may find in the way, and although philosophers and illuminati | should array themselves in opposition, and scoffers should treat them with ridicule and contempt. (c) In order to avoid the pressure under which they feel themselves placed by the above-mentioned alternative, many will say, that while they would not deny that Jesus was an upright man, and a teacher worthy of esteem, they cannot yet receive him as a divine teacher, in such a sense as to require them to believe a doctrine like this on his mere authority. But if they will be consistent, they will bring themselves in this way into great straits. For Jesus declared himself, on every occasion, and in the most decisive manner, to be an infallible divine teacher, whose words were true, and must be believed on his mere authority. Now if Christ was not such a teacher as he declared himself to be, the following dilemma arises; either Christ did not think himself such, although he expressly affirmed it, and then he forfeited his character for integrity; or he only imagined himself to be such, and then, though a good man, he must have been a weak and deluded enthusiast, and thus he forfeited the character which the New Testament gave him, and which

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he claimed for himself, of a sure and venerable teacher, upon whose guidance and instruction men might safely rely. Everything, therefore, depends upon the belief of the divine mission and authority of Christ; and from this point, therefore, which many would be glad to evade, the discussion must proceed.

3. The following are the views and principles respecting demoniacal possessions, and the design with which they were permitted, which are found, without intermixture of philosophy, ancient or modern, in the New Testament, and which therefore should be laid before his hearers by the religious teacher, as far as they are capable of being understood. (a) Satan and other evil spirits feel a hatred to men, which is manifested in various ways. Vide loc. cit. s. 64, II. (b) It was important that this hostility should be rendered very clear and obvious to men, and especially at the time of Christ, when a new era commenced, which needed to be strongly distinguished, at its very introduction, from every other. For this reason, power was granted to evil spirits to possess the bodies of men, or to affect them with dreadful diseases-a power which they had not possessed before, and of which they have since been deprived. Vide Matt. xii. 28; Luke, xiii. 16, coll. v. 11, and x. 17-20; John, xvi. 11; Acts, x. 38, seq. (c) But, on the other hand, power was granted to Jesus and his apostles to shew, in a manner equally clear and striking, by the cure of the diseases which demons inflicted, that the object of the coming of Christ was to destroy the power of evil spirits, to render their hostility to our race harmless, and to free all those who wished to be freed from the evils ascribed to demoniacal agency. Cf. loc. supra cit. and John, xvi. 11; 1 John, iii. 8, and those cited s. 64. The permission of these possessions, therefore, secured an important moral end, which could not be as well secured in any other way, at that particular age of the world. (d) In no other way could the great object for which Christ came into the world, and to which he so often alludes, be so strongly represented, or so deeply impressed, as by these facts falling under the cognizance of the senses. The mere teaching of this religion, unaccompanied by any such facts, would have produced on hearers like his a feeble impression, compared with that made by those wonderful works which proved both the teacher and his doctrine to be divine. Facts produce always a greater effect upon men than abstract instruction; and hence God so frequently employs them, as we see both from the Bible and from experience, in the instruction which he gives to men, at least makes use of them to render the instruction he has otherwise imparted more impressive and certain.

SECTION LXVI.

OF MAGIC AND SPECTRES.

I. Of Magic.

1. We shall here present some historical observations on the subject of magic, and then some conclusions drawn from them; for nothing more is necessary for the refutation of magic than that it be exposed to the light of history. The existence of spiritual agents, either friendly or hostile to our race, is here presupposed; and magic is founded on the belief of their influence, and secret and invisible power. Wherever this secret, invisible power of superior spirits is granted to men, there is a foundation for magic, whatever may be the nature of the spirits by whom it is granted, whether they are gods, or angels, or demons, or of some other denomination. The many erroneous conceptions of ignorant and uncultivated men with respect to the influence of these spirits, and the custom of ascribing to their agency everything which cannot be easily explained on natural principles, these, with other things, furnish a sufficient ground for the propensity to magic which is seen among so many persons, and in so many nations. This superstition has indeed appeared in different forms among different people; but as they all proceed from the same general ideas, they bear a strong resemblance to each other in all their diversities, and agree in the means which they prescribe to propitiate or appease these superior spirits, or to avert the threatened evil. Magic, in its largest sense, is the art of performing something which surpasses the natural powers of men, by the aid of superior spirits. And the less general cultivation one has, the less knowledge he possesses of the powers of nature and their effects, the more inclined will he be to magic, and to all kinds of superstition which relate to the natural world. The question has sometimes been asked, In what nation was magic first practised? and, Who was its first inventor or teacher? And in answer to these questions, the Chaldeans and Persians have been mentioned. Sine dubio, says Pliny (xxx. 1), orta in Perside à Zoroastre, ut inter auctores constat. But this inquiry is useless, since magic is practised by all savage nations, and they would be led to it naturally by the superstitious ideas above mentioned, and need not be supposed therefore to have derived it from other sources. Vide Tiedemann, De Magia; Marburg, 1787.

When rude and uncultivated man wishes in any way to better his condition, or to accomplish what appears to him difficult or impossible, he resorts to magic, or the aid of spirits. (a) Those who wished to be rich, or prosperous, to live comfortably, to regain their own health, or to

procure health for others, were accustomed to resort to supernatural assistance, to magic medicines, cures effected by incantation, alchymy, philtres, &c. The more mysterious, dark, and enigmatical the means prescribed by this art, the more welcome were they, and the more effica cious were they believed to be. Even the effects produced by the natural virtues of herbs, medicines, &c., were ascribed by some to the influence of spirits; hence Pliny says (xxx. 1), Natam primum (magiam) e medicina nemo dubitat, ac specie salutari irrepsisse velut altiorem sanctioremque medicinam. (b) Those who wished secretly to injure others, or to be revenged upon them, were wont to employ various herbs, roots, or formulas of speech, for the purpose of bewitching or enchanting the objects of their dislike; and, on the other hand, resorted to amulets, charms, &c., when they wished to repel the injury to themselves from like practices in others. Real injury has been done in magical practices by the use of actual poisons, though the operation even of these is ascribed by many to spirits. Hence, veneficium (papμaxsía) signifies both the mingling of poison and sorcery. So Pliny (xxx. 2), Habet (magia) quasdam veritatis umbras; sed in his veneficia artes pollent, non magicæ. (d) Those who wished to acquire the knowledge of things unknown to them, (e. g., who their enemies were, who stood in the way of their success, who had stolen their property, &c.,) or who wished to learn their future destiny, supposed that by consulting spirits they could best obtain the desired information. Pliny, in the passage above cited, says, " Nullo (homine) non avido futura de se sciendi, atque de cœlo verissime peti credente." Hence divination, dreams, and apparitions, have always been among the instruments of which the magician has availed himself.

Among men entertaining the superstitious opinions here described, the supposed confidant of superior spirits would naturally command respect and influence. These magicians (for so those were called who were supposed to possess familiar spirits) were sometimes impostors, sometimes themselves deluded, sometimes both at once. The various practices to which they resorted in ancient and modern times may be easily explained from what has already been said. The most common are the followingviz., fascination by evil glances, by words, prayers, incantations, (carmina, formulas which were sung,) Eccl. x. 11; Ps. lviii. 5, 6; Hom. Odys. de Circe; Virgil, Ecl. viii. 69, seq.; En. iv. 487, seq. Necromancy, the art of obtaining the secrets of the future by conjuring up the dead; Homer, Odys. xi.,-a very common practice in the East, and among the Hebrews, who were addicted to idolatry. A male practitioner of this art among the Hebrews was

called 2, and a female, (for it was practised by | females,) -ɔ, a woman who has a spirit of necromancy; in the plural, na, surceresses. Lev. xx. 27; Is. xxix. 4. Of this class was the witch of Endor, whom Saul consulted, 1 Samuel, xxviii. Cf. Is. viii. 19. Enchantment by magic herbs, ointments, medicines, and different means of exciting the feelings and passions.

But the belief in the connexion between wicked men and evil spirits or malignant deities, and the injury to others which wizards of this description could do with the assistance afforded them, has been more frightful in its consequences than any other. The magical practices of such men were called by the Arabians the black art, in distinction from what was done by those who had connexion with good spirits, which was called by them white magic, (magia alba.) This form of magic existed also among the Hebrews, who were addicted to idolatry; for the Canaanites, and other heathen nations with whom they were connected, believed in black deities, atri dii—i. e., harmful gods, the authors of mischief, not morally wicked, like the devils of the Jews after the captivity. So we find ŋg?, (from the Arab., obscuravit, eclipsi affecit Deus solem, and synonymous with, caliginavit oculos,) magic, black art; and que, a magician, practitioner of the black art. Nah. iii. 4; Deut. xviii. 10. Great mischief has been done by the professors of the black art, who, under pretence of magical practices, have not unfrequently committed murder, or administered poison. Hence in many of the ancient languages, the practice of magic and the mingling of poison were denoted by the same word; in Greek, by papuazɛía, in Latin, by veneficium, venefica; hence, too, the operations of poison and of magic are confounded by savage people-e. g., by the African negroes. Vide Oldendorp's History of the Mission to the Caribbean Islands, where the terrible consequences of the belief in magic among barbarous men are described. The practice of black magic was therefore forbidden by many of the ancient legislators, and especially by Moses, Ex. xxii., Lev. xx., Deut. xviii. The latter forbade the practice of it by the Jews, partly from its intimate connexion with idolatry, and partly from the injury done by magicians, as real murderers and poisoners. Magic, however, remained in vogue among the Jews. Before the exile, they supposed the supernatural power of magicians was derived from the heathen idols; but after the exile, when they wholly renounced idolatry, they supposed that black magic was performed by the aid of evil angels. No traces of this opinion, however, are to be met with shortly after the exile; but the Jews at the time of Christ

believed both in the connexion of men with good spirits and in their fellowship and alliance with devils; and of this the Pharisees accused even Jesus, Matt. xii. 24.

2. The source of modern scientific magic which has prevailed so extensively even among the civilized nations of Asia and Europe, must be sought in the principles of the New Platonic philosophy, which first flourished in Eygpt. The enthusiastic adherents of this philosophy during the second and third centuries brought the ancient religion of the Greeks and the superstitious opinions which prevailed among them into a scientific form, and gave them a learned aspect. Vide Meiner, Betrachtungen über die neuplatonische Philosophie; Leipzig, 1782, 8vo. Eberhard, Ueber den Ursprung der wissenschaftlichen Magie, in Num. 7 of his "Neuen vermischten Schriften;" Halle, 1788. They gave out their own notions as purely Platonic, and in order to secure them a more favourable reception, invested them with the Platonic ideas respecting demons, purification of souls, union with the Deity, &c. They divided magic into two parts :-(a) Oɛoupyía, dɛovpyixǹ téxvy, magia alba-i. e., the art of gaining over good deities or good demons, and of procuring their assistance and cooperation by means of appointed ceremonies, fasts, sacrifices, &c. This art was also called Seaywyia, (Seayopia?) the art of enlisting the gods on one's side; Sɛontía, x. 7. 2. (b) гonreía (from yóns, incantator, præstigiator,) præstigiæ, magia atra, witchcraft, the art of securing the assistance of evil spirits. This division was made by Jamblicus, Proclus, Porphyry, and other New Platonists.

When now the principles of the New Platonic philosophy became prevalent among Christian people, theurgy and witchcraft were adopted among other doctrines, though in a form somewhat modified, and intermingled with Jewish and Christian ideas. Vide Lactantius, Institt. Div. ii. 14, 16. The spread of these opinions was also promoted by the enthusiastical writings which were published in the fifth century under the assumed name of Dionysius Areopagita. It was the almost universal opinion of the ecclesiastical fathers that oracles, auguries, and the whole system of heathen divination, were to be ascribed to the devil, and were a product of this their so called yonreía. Vide Lactantius, 1. 1. Van Dale, De Oraculis vett. ethnicorum; Amsterdamiæ, 1700. Among the Jews, some adopted the opinions above described, others adhered to their cabalistic dreams, and pretended to work wonders with words and phrases taken from the Bible, with the name of God or angels, &c.; all which ran into the theurgy just noticed. Among the Saracens, also, theurgy was very much practised; and especially in the twelfth century, they employed

monstra.

What are spectres? According to the conceptions of the Greeks, Latins, Hebrews, Orientalists, and indeed of most nations, they are the souls of the departed, returned again to the earth, and rendered visible to men. The nations now mentioned, and others less cultivated than these, supposed, indeed, that departed souls (the ghosts or manes of the dead) immediately after death wandered down to Hades (N), (vide Homer, and Isaiah, xiv.;) and that they had definite places appointed them there, secluded from the upper world, to which they were not allowed to return in ordinary cases. Vide 2 Sam. xii. 23; Job, vii. 9, 10; Luke, xvi. 22, 23; Isa. xxxviii. 10, seq. But as the living sometimes saw the deceased in their dreams, and as an excited imagination often depicted before their waking eyes the image of some departed friend, so that they seemed to themselves to see and to hear him, they naturally fell into the belief that the shades sometimes ascend from Hades, and become visible to men, or in some other way (perhaps by knocking) give signals of their presence. In conformity with these conceptions, the rich man in Hades is said in the parable to pray that one of the dead might be sent to his father's house, Luke, xvi. 27, 30. These ghosts in Hades were represented as beings possessing fine, aërial bodies, in which, though they were far less gross and palpable than the flesh and bones of our earthly bodies, they yet sometimes rendered themselves visible to men. Vide s. 59, II., s. 150. Traces of this opinion are found among the Jews, and also among the Latins and Greeks; thus Homer speaks of ẞpoτῶν εἰδωλα καμόντων, and says of them,

Οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ σάρκας τὲ καὶ ὀστέα ἶνες ἔχουσιν. Cf. Luke, xxiv. 39, лvɛvμа σáρxa xai ooria oix Ex. Vide texts from various writers cited by Wetstein in his Com. on Luke, xxiv. 37. From these prevailing conceptions, the passages, Luke, xxiv. 37, and Mark, vi. 49, 50, may be explained, and upon the existence of such superstitions the delusions of the ancient necromancers were founded-e. g., of the witch of Endor, 1 Samuel, xxviii. 7, seq. It was with these notions in his mind that Thomas took the appearance of Jesus to be the apparition of a departed spirit in a shadowy body, (sidwaov,) and was unwilling to believe that he had appeared to the other disciples in the true body

It would naturally occur to the minds of Jews and Christians that the devil, and the demons in subjection to him, might have some hand in these apparitions. Some accordingly maintained that it was the devil who, for various sinister purposes, occasioned the return and appearance of departed spirits; while others asserted that spectres were only illusions practised on us by Satan, that the ghosts of the departed never ap. peared, and that there were no other than devilish spectres. Of this opinion were many of the philosophers and theologians of the protestant church, in opposition to those of the Romish. Nor have there been wanting those who have attempted to explain ghostly appearances from physical causes. Cardanus and Jul. Cæs. Ba nini contended that spectres were exhalations from the wasting corpse, which, becoming condensed during the more damp and silent air of the night, assumed at length the external form of the deceased. Of the philosophers who divided man into three parts-body, soul, and spirit, (s. 51, I.,) some have supposed that it is the spirit only which after death appears as a spectre. This was the opinion of Paracelsus, in the sixteenth century, and in this he was followed by many theosophists and astrologers. He called this spectral spirit astral, because he supposed that it was composed of the two upper elements, air and fire, and was therefore longer in dissolving after death than the material body, and could float about in the atmosphere. He was followed in this by Jacob Boehmen, and also by Rob. Fludd, and others of the ancient Rosecrucians.

But these philosophers would have been better employed in inquiring, in the first place, whether the stories of ghostly appearances which they undertook to explain were real and well-established facts. This inquiry, however. they rarely made, and usually took for granted the truth of what they had heard on this subject. But if we examine impartially the various ghost-stories which are told, we shall be brought to the conclusion that spectres are not, for the