TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS AND NOBLE

LORD, LORD ARNOLD, COUNT OF BENTHEIM,

Tecklenburg, Steinfurt, Lord in Rheda and Wivielinhoven,

JOHANN WEYER wishes

happiness.

I find by the facts themselves that it is most true, illustrious Count, what that divine herald and Apostle of Christ, Paul, prophesied so many years ago when instructing his disciple Timothy: namely, that in the last times there would be those who fall away from the faith, adhering to deceiving spirits and the doctrines of demons. original: "spiritibus impostoribus & doctrinis dæmoniorum." Weyer frames the "witchcraft" phenomenon not as actual magic, but as a spiritual deception predicted in the New Testament. For although before the time of Christ the devil had defiled the whole world in various ways with his mockeries, yet with the coming of that eternal Son of God, the innumerable deceptions of demons began to vanish; the oracles ceased everywhere, as did all kinds of impious divinations. Hence, carrying out the ministry of his mission for over thirty years, Christ—by both teaching and deed—strongly opposed, repressed, and broke the fraudulent attempts of Satan, afterwards entrusting the same task to his disciples. These disciples, in turn, performed their work here with the greatest faith and tireless labor, attacking Satan's kingdom on all sides and nearly overturning it completely. But indeed, when the light of Gospel truth began to be obscured again as those who followed fell asleep in this pursuit, the Devil, having found a new opening, attempted to undermine the doctrine of Christ, bewitch the minds of men, and dazzle their eyes with various tricks and all sorts of new illusions—such as those of which our Lamiæ original: "Lamiæ." A Latin term for "witches" or "hags." Weyer uses it to refer to the elderly women being accused of sorcery, whom he argues are victims of delusion. are falsely accused. Great then was the ruin of the Church; yet, out of His immense mercy, the most kind God deigned to preserve its remnants for many years, even under a thick darkness. Meanwhile, mortals deprived of that unique splendor could neither seek out the truth nor judge what was false; but quite imprudently, as if the light were snatched from their minds, wavering here and there, led by a certain blind impulse of the passions and the urge of demonic illusions, they fell into even the thickest errors as if into hiding places of perpetual obscurity. This continued until the heavenly Father mercifully looked upon His own and, having driven away the shadows that Satan had poured out, graciously enlightened us all again with the rays of His truth. For that reason, whoever in this age of ours has been made a participant in that light owes infinite thanks to the divine power—especially those who, more skillfully distinguishing the genuine doctrine of the Son of God from the vain persuasions of men and the treacherous machines of the devil, have religiously embraced the former with true faith and burning zeal, and have conversely constantly condemned and rejected the latter. Therefore, for several years now, that sworn enemy of the human race and architect of a thousand arts original: "mille artiū architectus." A traditional epithet for the Devil, emphasizing his role as a master of deception and trickery. has felt himself greatly frustrated in the outcome of his attempts; so that, consequently, the common hope of all the pious was that the boundary of the Christian domain would be extended further every day. But...