The World Possessed with Devils, Title page 1 – Dialogue introduction 1
THE WORLDE poſſeſſed with Deuils, conteinyng three Dialogues.
1. Of the Deuill let looſe.
2. Of Blacke Deuils.
3. Of White Deuils.
And of the commyng of Ieſus Chriſte to Iudgement, a verie neceſſarie and comfortable diſcourſe for theſe miſerable and daungerous daies.
Luke. xxi.
Watche ye therefore at all tymes and praie, that ye maie bee worthie to eſcape all theſe thynges that ſhall come: And that ye maie ſtande before the Sonne of man.
¶Imprinted at London, for Ihon Perin, and are t… be ſold in Paules Churchyard a… the Signe of the Angell. 1583.
To the Reader.
I HaueHave intituled this Booke (the world poſſeſſed with Deuilles) for twoo cauſes. The one, becauſe I ſhewe there, how the Deuill ruleth the worlde, he guideth & gouerneth worldly and carnall men as if thei were poſſeſſed with Deuills, and giuen ouer by Gods iust iudgemēt: the other, becauſe that in holie Scripture, the worlde is many tymes taken, for ſuche as are not lead by the Spirit of God, but ſerue the deuill as their prince and God, in ſtead of their true God, and acknowledge him for their Creator, Father and Sauiour.
¶The title and ſomme of the first Dialogue.
This Dialogue is called the Deuill lett looſe, bothe for the reaſon before mentioned, and alſo becauſe of fitt matter ſeruyng to the ſame purpoſe.
Firste, there is talke of the greate couetouſneſſe that now raigneth in the worlde, and ſpecially of the couetouſneſſe of old mē: afterward of the old age and dotage of the worlde, and the diuiſion of the ages of the ſame, whiche is ſet forthe in the last booke, fathered vponupon Eſdras in the Apocripha, & conference of the contentes of that book with that whiche Heſiodus hath written touchyng that matter.
Of the decaye of vertue, and increaſe of vice, & the Prophetes of Ieſus Chriſt & S. Paule thervpon, touchyng the latter daies.
Of the franticke and decaied worlde, whiche can not abide to bee molten againe, and restored to the firſt estate.
Of the worlde wholie poſſeſſed with the Deuill.
Of the Deuill lett looſe in the Apocalips, and of the red Dragon.
Of the Parable and ſimilitude of the wicked ſpirite, wandryng in the deſertes.
Of the iudgement of God vponupon the Iewes, and of the example thereby giuen to Christians.
Of the comming of Ieſus Chriſt, of Mahomet, and of the Pope.
The true Phiſicke for the diſeaſed, frantike and poſſeſſed worlde.
The faultes of worldly Phiſitions, and of their drags: and the cauſe why thei can not caste out Deuilles, nor appeaſe the windes and tempest, that bluster on the Sea of this worlde.
Of the true meane to appeaſe them, and to driue the Deuill out of the worlde, and the power of the Gospell.
Of the ſtate of the worlde, and namely of the courſe of Kynges and Princes.
Of the complaintes of the Prophets for the wickedneſſe, vnrightouſneſſe, and theft that is emongest men.
Of the Anatomie that the Prophetes hauehave made of man and of the worlde.
Of the greateſt crime and daunger that is now in the worlde, and how daungerous a thyng it is to be a good man.