Confutation of Unwritten Verities, Chapter 5
¶That apparitions of the deade be vnsuffycyente to proue trueth.
¶The .v. Chapter.
DEuteronomyum .18. When thou art come into the lande / whiche the lorde thy god geueth thee / see that thou folowe not the abominacions of those nacions: let ther not be found among you any one / that maketh his sonne or daughter to gooe through the fier / or that vseth witchecraft / or a chuser of dayes, and that regardeth the flying of foules / or a sorcerer or a charmer / or that coūselleth with spirites / or a sothesayer / or that asketh the trueth at thē / that be dead. For the lord abhorreth al these: & for suche abominacions / the lord thy god doth cast them out / before thee. But the lord / thy god, hath not suffered the so to doe.
ESai. 8. And if they saye to you / axe counsell at the sothesayers / witches / charmers & coniurat…: then make them thys aunswere: is there a people any where / that asketh not counsell at his God?Read the place. shoulde men roonne vntounto the deade for the liuing? If any manne wante lyght / lette him loke vponupon the lawe / and the testymonye / whether they speake after thys meanyng.
LVke .16.Read the Chapter If they heare not Moses and the Prophetes / neyther wyl they beleue / if one arise frō death.
LActancius in his institucions lib. 2. Cap. 2.He laugheth theyr foolishnes to scorne. The rude sort thīk that mens soules walke aboute the graues / and reliques of their bodyes.
CHrysostome in his .4. Homilie of Lazarus. That thou mayest knowe / that the doctrynes of the scriptures / and Prophetes / are of more force / then if they that be raysed frō death shold tel any thīg:the scripture ought to be beleued rather thē the testimonye of the dead: for it is gods owne word, and the other oft times the deuils. consider this / that whosoeuer is dead / is a seruaūt. But what the scripturs speak / the lorde himselfe speaketh: therfore though a dead mā arise / yea although an angel cōe down frō heauē / yet chiefly we ought to beleue the scryptures. For he / that is master of Aungels / and lord of the quicke and the dead made them. If dead men should come again from thence vntounto vsus / the deuil might hauehave brought to vsus false doctrines: and that very easely. For he myghte hauehave shewed of ten tymes gostes / and hauehave subornated men / that shold coū terfet death and burial / and within a whyle after shew thēselues / as thogh they were raysed agayne from death / and through them to perswade the people so begiled / what so euer hym lyst. For if now… when no suche thyng is done in dede / yet dreames sene of many men in their slepe / as thoughe it wer of them that are departed hēce / hauehave deceyued / destroyed / and ouer throwen many menne: muche more it should hauehave chaunced / if the thynge had bene done in dede / and gotten credite in mens mindes / (that is to say) if many of the dead had returned againe to lyfe / that wycked deuil wold hauehave wroughte innumerable deceits / and brought muche fraude into the life of men.The dead neuer returne after the death to tel their state that be dead. And for that cause God hath shut vp that waye / neyther doth he suffer any of the dead to come againe hether to tel what is done ther: lest he by that meanes should brynge in al his wiles and subtilties. For whē ther were Prophetes / he styrred vp false Prophetes: when the Apostles wer / false Apostles: when Christ appeared / he raysed false Chrystes: whā …ounde doctryne was broughte in / he brought in corrupte doctrine / sowing …ockle eueryevery where. But God / from whom nothing is hidde / hath …ropped his way to those snares / and he fauouring vsus hath not suffered that any sōe at any tyme should come from thēce hether / to tel what is there done to any men lyuing / teachyng vsus that we shold rather beleue the scrypturs / thē all other thinges.The scripture is to …e beleued aboue all thinges.
THe same in Math. Cap. 8. Homilie .2.9. I wil not denye / but that men hauehave bene kylled of cursed charmers and sorcerers:It is not the soule of the dead that saith I am such a mans soule, but the devyl counterfeteth the dead to deceue the liuing: for soules departed the bodie can not walke her on earth. but that dead mennes soules worke wyth them / how shal they make me beleue that? because thou haste heard dead mens soules many times crye / I am the soule of such a one. Yea but these wordes procede out of the fraude and deceit of the deuil. For it is not the dead mans soule / that sayth this / but the deuill that sayneth thys / that he maye deceaue the hearers. For these ought to be taken as olde wyues fables / the wordes of liars / and fraye bugges of children: neyther canne the soule / beyng departed from the body / walke in this earth. For the soules of the righteous are in the hand of god / and the soules of synners ar streight / after their death / caried awai. Which is manifest by Lazarus and the ryche man. The lord saieth also in another place: this day shal they fetche away thy soule. The soule therfore / after it be departed from the body / cannot wā der here amongest vsus. It may be proued by maniscripturs / that the souls of the ryghteous cannot wander here after their death.
For Steuen sayd / Lorde receiue my spirite. And Paule desyered to be losed from the bodye / and to be wyth CHRISTE. Of the Patriarkes also the Scripture sayth / he was laid vp wyth his fathers / he dyed in a good age. And that the soules of sinners canne not tarye here with vsus / harken to the ryche manne / what he sayeth: consyder what he asketh / and obtayneth not. But yf mens soules myghte bee conuersaunte here / he woulde hauehave come as he desyered / and hauehave certified his brethren of the tormentes in hell.
Of the whiche place of Scripture it is manyfeste / that after the departynge from the bodye. the soules are caryed into a certayne place, from whence they cannot returne at their pleasure: but loke for that terrible day of Iudgement.
HIerome in the .8. Ca. of Ieremy. If you doubt of any thīg (sayeth the prophete) knowe that it is written / that those nations / whiche the lord shal scatter before thy face / shal harken to dreames and sothsayers: but the Lord thy god hath cō maunded thee not so to doe / but if you wil know thynges that be doubtful / geue yourselues rather to the testimonies of the law & the scriptures. But if your congregacion wil not searche the worde of the lorde: they shall not hauehave the lyghte of the trueth but shal wander in darkenesse of errors. You ought to knowe thys / that eueryevery nacyon asketh counsell at theyr owne gods / and enquireth of the deade for the health of the quicke: but god hath geuen you the law for youre helpe / so that you may say / the soothsaying of the heathen / which deceiue their worshippers / is not lyke ours: whyche is spoken oute of the lawe / without any coste.
SAīct Augustine also saith / that the spirite of Samuel / which the woman sorcerer raysed to Saul / was not the soule of Samuel / but the deuil / which appeared in Samuels likenes / for to deceiue Saul: this doeth he proue both by euydente scriptures / and stronge reasons.