Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits

human? society; yet God does sometimes allow such things to happen original: "evene," from the Latin evenire so that we may know how much we are indebted to Him for the restraint He places upon the infernal spirits, who would otherwise reduce the world into a chaos. It cannot be denied that the resolution of such cases as these is a proper task for the servants of Christ in the ministry. The timeliness of doing so now will be justified by considering the current necessity for people to have correct information for their judgment about these things, and the danger of them being misinformed.

The reverend, learned, and wise author of the following cases Increase Mather (1639–1723), a leading Puritan clergyman and President of Harvard College is too well known to need our praise. Our only concern is to assert our heartfelt agreement and concurrence with the substance of what is contained in the following discourse. With our earnest request to God that He would reveal the depths of this hellish design, direct the entire management of this affair, and prevent any wrong steps from being taken in this dark path; and that He would specifically bless these faithful efforts of His servant toward that end, we commend this work and you to His divine blessing.

These signatories represent the religious elite of 17th-century Massachusetts. Many, such as Samuel Willard, became known for their increasing skepticism toward the methods used during the Salem Witch Trials.