The Height of Israels Heathenish Idolatry, Section 2 · Chapter 4
CHAP. IIII. Of the diuers wayes and meanes whereby Satan imitated the true God in his predictions, and miracles.
BY the forenamed meanes Satan became furniſhed with knowledge, whereby hee was able to giuegive ſuch anſwers to the Heathen as he did: not but hee alſo foretold through his impudency ſuch things as whereof he had no certainty: for ſuch is the preſumption of wicked Fiends, that they dare foretell what they certainely doe not know, foreſhewing diuers things, as Thomas Aquinas ſaith, onelyonly, quoad ſuperbiam & temerariam praeſumptionem: through pride, raſhneſſe and preſumption.
Now ſee how Satan mocks God in the manner and meanes of the manifeſtation of his knowledge, and how (to winne himſelfe credit) hee would ſeeme to hauehave all things anſwerable.Satan imitated God in his predictions. 1. By giuing forth Oracles. Exod. 25 22. Numb. 7.89. God diuers wayes reuealed himſelfe and his will: ſometimes by voyce, either his owne immediately, or of his Prophets: ſometimes without voice, as by lots, and by the Ʋrim and Thummim: So the Deuill. And therefore, firſt, as God himſelfe immediately gaue anſwers and Oracles from the propitiatory; ſo Satan indeuoured to giuegive anſwers by Oracles alſo, whereof there were many among the Heathen; and alſo by Images, which we reade hauehave ſometime ſpoken, or rather he himſelfe in and by them. For the winning of credit vntounto which, the Heathen in their dedication of Images, vſed to annoint them with holy oyle, as they called it, ſuppoſing hereby to binde the power of God vntounto them: herein imitating the Patriarch Iacob, who annointed the ſtone he reſted on; and Moſes, Pet. Martyr in loc. com.who annointed all the inſtruments almoſt about the Tabernacle.
Secondly, as God had his Prophets, ſo had the deuill his,2. By inſpiring his Prophets. whom he either really poſſeſſed, or otherwiſe inſpired, who yet had the glorious name of foreign, Prophets of God. For as Gods Prophets gained authoritie to their ſermons by deliuering all in the name of God, (ſaying euer and anon, Thus ſaith the Lord) and as from God and from peculiar reuelation, as did Moſes, who was for many dayes alone with God in the Mount: ſo in imitation hereof, Minos, Zoroaſtes, Zamolxis, Charondas, Licurgus, Pompilius, and Solon, to winne eſtimation to their lawes, pretended to hauehave conferences and conſultations with Iupiter, Horomaſis, Veſta, Saturne, Apollo, Minerua, and the goddeſſe Aegeria. Hermes alſo (ſurnamed foreign,Hermes dial. 1. thrice-great) before he could inſtruct Eſclepius, Tatius, and others in the principles of his profound philoſophie, beares them in hand, that himſelfe was firſt inſtructed and inſpired by one Pymander, whom he calleth the Word, the Sonne of God.
Thirdly,3 By reuealing himſelfe in viſions and dreames. God often inſpired his Prophets with the knowledge of things to come, by viſions and dreames: ſo did the Deuill his. Therefore Apollo or the Deuill did caſt his Prieſts into a ſleepe in the den by the Oracle. And whoſoeuer came to conſult with the Oracle of Mopſus, vſed to ſleepe in his Temple, as Plutarch relates.Plutarch. de defectu oraculorum. So wee read that Aeſculapius had his Temple at Epidaurus a citie of Achaia, to which a great multitude of ſicke perſons did reſort, and ſome in their ſleepe had ſhewed vntounto them that medicine by which they might be cured.
4. By manifeſting his will by V…im and T…r…m…Fourthly, God often manifeſted himſelfe by the iudgement of Ʋrim and Thummim. Anſwerable hereunto the Heathen had their Chryſtallomantia, and Hydromantia, where, water being put into a violl of glaſſe, a childe was ſet to view it, who had ſomewhat therein ſhewed him, namely (as Pſellus ſaith) deuils in ſome appearance were ſeene creeping in the bottome, and heard to vtter ſome obſcure and whiſpering ſound, yet nothing diſtinctly, that ſo whatſoeuer the euent ſhould be, it might ſeeme to hauehave beene foretold by them. So Pauſanias tels vsus of the Temple of Ceres in Achaia, by which was a fountaine (and as ſome relate,…lot…. V…ad Alig…ll de …. Dei, lib. … cap. 5. a glaſſe in it) into which ſicke folkes after ſacrifice offered, looked, and by the reſemblance of a face which appeared either of a dead or liuing m…, ſaw what ſhould become of themſelues.
So we might inſtance in their diuination by Lots, by their foreſight of danger from Thunders, ſtrange cracks, and the like, which God often alſo makes forerunners of iudgements. So alſo, in their foreſhewing of the conditions and future ſtate, courſe and fate of men, by names giuen them and impoſed at their birth,G…eoctus M… tius de promiſiua doctrina, cap. 1. and in die luſtrico, as of Tantalus, Ariſtoteles, &c. for ſo God gaue names to the Prophet Iſaiahs children, as ſignes of ſomewhat to follow, Iſa. 7.3. and 8 3. ſo to Ioſhua, Ieſus, Matth. 1.21. But let that ſuffice which hath beene ſaid. And thus much for Predictions.
…. The Deuill Gods Ape… miracle….Now ſecondly, more briefly for Miracles, (by which alſo Satan bewitched the mindes of the Heathen) and for the doing of good or euill. God we know did often great miracles for the manifeſtation of his truth and Godhead, and for other ends: as in Aegypt by Moſes; and ſince, by the Prophets of old, our Sauiour, and his Apoſtles. So alſo the deuill in his inſtruments would at the leaſt ſeeme to doe the like by the Magicians in Egypt. And therefore ſeeing our Sauiour Chriſt to doe ſuch wonders in healing the ſicke, lame, blind, and men hereupon to beleeue in him, and in God whom he preached; he muſt likewiſe take vponupon him to eaſe men of their torments, and to free Cities from the peſtilence, as once he is ſaid to do Rome whither he was brought, being fetched from Epidaurus in his owne likeneſſe, namely in the forme of a great Dragon or Serpent, yet vnderunder the name of Aeſculapius, as Liuy, Ʋalerius, and Lactantius relate, who expounds it of the Prince of Deuils himſelfe, that old Serpent, and great red Dragon, as he cals him, Ipſe foreign. So for the manner of working, he being a ſpirit incorporeall, can eaſily wind himſelfe into mens bodies, corrupt their health, cauſe ſickneſſe, blindneſſe, &c by theſe meanes cauſing men to flye to him for helpe: well, being inuocated, he remoues the malady which himſelfe inflicted, and ceaſeth to hurt: ceaſing to hurt, hee is thought to helpe and to doe good, whereby men are confirmed in their ſeruice of him.
Thus he would ſeeme to imitate Gods greateſt workes and miracles and his manner of working:And in the manner of working them. and therefore as God by his onelyonly Word, made the world of nothing, Chriſt and his Apoſtles gaue life to the dead, limbs to the lame &c. ſo the Deuill in imitation hereof hath perſwaded ſilly credulous men and women that there is in words and ſpeeches, if rightly rehearſed, a certaine naturall and effectuall power of working ſtrangely vponupon things and perſons ouer which they ſhall be vttered So nothing can fall out extraordinarily, as ſtrange births, monſters, and ſuch like things as are wrought by the hidden and ſecret operation of naturall cauſes,Auguſt. de Ciuit. Dei. lib. 10. cap. 16. (not without Gods ſpeciall hand of prouidence) but by his craft he will ſeeme to be the author of them.
And thus, to ſpeake iointly both of his predictions and miracles, of his words and works, when he perceiues beforehand, by the meanes formerly mentioned, Gods will or purpoſe concerning any thing, he foretels it and intermeddles in it, whereby it might ſeeme not onelyonly to be foretold, but alſo effected by him, hereby winning the praiſe and credit of it if it be good; if otherwiſe, yet comes he to bee feared and reuerenced. Whereunto the practiſe of Columbus, the firſt diſcouerer of America, ſeemes not vnlike; who being in the Iland of Iamaica, ſicke and in want, the barbarous inhabitants denied him food, commerce and trafficke: whereupon, he, foreſeeing an Eclips of the Sun, which they worſhipped as God, threatned to be reuenged on their god ſhortly, vnleſſe they did relieue him, telling them the time when: which being obſerued and the Sun eclipſed, they forthwith ſupplied his wants, feared and reuerenced him exceedingly.Dae…one, …ene…ntur homines quaſi terreſtr…s d…os, & depalſores malorum quae ipſi faciunt & arrogant: coli ſe volunt ne noceant, La…tant. Inſtit. lib. 2. cap. 15. Hinc Febris culta fuit & Pallor, & à Babyloniis Draco apud Danielem ne mal…m inferant, N…ſtus Bethul. ad Lactant. Inſtit. lib. 2. cap. 16. Auguſt. de ciuit. Dei. lib 10. cap. 32. So Satan, if any good thing be to befall any according to Gods appointment, this he promiſeth in his owne name to doe for them, but on a condition, they muſt dedicate temples and ſacrifice vntounto him; but now let any danger be towards, then (for ſome friuolous cauſe or other) he is exceeding angry, and therefore pronounceth ſome direfull ſentence or other vponupon them, which indeed he knowes that God will execute: yet this he doth that it might ſeeme to come vponupon them for ſome contempt of him: ſuppoſe it come not, then will he ſeeme to hauehave beene appeaſed with their ſacrifices; ſo that indeed they muſt needs both feare him in regard of euill, and ſue to him for good things, and for the remouall of euill.
Now by theſe meanes hauehave theſe wicked ſpirits attained their end, which was as Saint Auguſtine ſaith, Ʋt ſibi jus quodammodo vendicent in materiâ infirmâ fragilitatis humanae, to domineere ouer mans frailty. And thus for a generall concluſion of this point, we ſay with a certaine Father, Satan hominum credulitatem mentitâ diuinitate deludit, that Satans ſuttlety through mans credulity hath wonne himſelfe the name and credit of a god vponupon earth: and that not onelyonly among the Heathen, but with Gods owne people alſo. But what ſaith my Text for all this? Is the Deuill ſo indeed, or doth God ſo acknowledge him? No: for, they ſacrificed their ſonnes and their daughters vntounto Deuils.