Concerning Witchcrafts

Satan's appearing visibly to them, pretending to be a good angel. And moreover, he may be said to transform himself into an Angel of Light because of his appearing in the form of holy men who are the children of light—even taking on the appearance and clothing of distinguished ministers of God. For example, he appeared to Mr. Earl of Colchester in the likeness of Mr. Liddal, a holy man of God; and to the Turkish envoy original: "Turkish Chaous"; a "Chiaus" was an Ottoman messenger or sergeant-at-arms. who was baptized in London in the year 1658, pretending to be Mr. Day, an excellent minister of Christ. And how often has he pretended to be the Apostle Paul or Peter or some other celebrated saint? Church histories are full of instances of this nature. Yes, sometimes he has even transfigured himself into the form of Christ.

(r) Sulpitius Severus, in The Life of Martin. original: "Sulpitius severus in vita martini"; Sulpitius (c. 363–425) was a Christian writer and biographer of St. Martin. (s) Guaccius, Compendium of Witches original: "Guaccius compend: malefic"; Francesco Maria Guazzo's Compendium Maleficarum (1608) was a famous manual on witchcraft., page 342.

It is reported that he appeared to (r) St. Martin Martin of Tours, a 4th-century bishop and popular saint. gloriously dressed as if he had been Christ. He did the same to (s) Secundillus, and to another saint. This second saint suspected it was Satan transforming himself into an Angel of Light and said, "If I may see Christ in Heaven it is enough; I do not desire to see him in this world," at which point the ghost vanished. It has been told of Luther Martin Luther, the famous Protestant Reformer. that after he had been fasting and praying in his study, the Devil came pretending to be Christ. But when Luther said, "Away, you cursed Devil! I acknowledge no Christ except the one who is in my Bible," nothing more was seen. Thus, the Devil is able (with God's permission) to change himself into whatever form or figure he pleases.