De betoverde weereld ... in vier boeken

20, 21

and has fallen heavily upon me, as I very unwillingly contradict men of renowned gifts, or rebuke the translators; knowing therein that people always mostly esteem those they have not known, and that a prophet is as little regarded in his time as in his country. Therefore, I had also intended in the beginning to pass by most of the scriptural passages where I found myself compelled to deviate from the common interpretation. But seeing that my work would then appear crippled, and those so well-known passages would later be thrown back at me; to which I would nonetheless have to answer: I have thus conquered myself therein, that going straight through the sea, I have avoided no blow. Meanwhile, no one shall show me that I have explained away any of the scriptural passages based on the people's opinions or natural understanding, or from any of my suppositions (as people say) that a Spirit does not work on a Body or on other spirits. I have used therein no other than ordinary means that linguistics teaches: therefore no accusation is more unjust than the one made against me in this matter.

Following from all this: comparing those things which are generally said of the Devil's great understanding, and power and operation, of his haunting through the world, of his companionship, and of his Kingdom, as set up against that of Christ, with the entire thread of the Holy Scripture, the foundations of our Theology, and the rules of a godly life: I conclude further that all such is not only not grounded therein but is also clearly contrary to it, when one pays good attention to the consequences. And here it is that I first begin to dispute, and further from reasons, both of Scripture and of the people, have served to investigate such means and ways through which one should come to the right understanding of the matters that actually concern the Devil. It is not then a matter of this or that dispute over man's fall, the Enpozde This likely refers to the "Witch of Endor", and the one who so plagued Job, or similar things that only come up by the by: but this is the main matter, here one must aim; and see then where the Devil shall remain in the end.

This I show in the five last chapters: and I do not shrink in the first three of those, namely in the 32nd, 33rd, and 34th chapters, from taking Reason also to my aid, after I had already pointed out from the beginning that the Scripture is silent on these things: Namely, I first show in the thirty-second that the appearances of evil spirits are contrary to healthy reason and are not at all provable from God's Word. Thereafter in the thirty-third, that the Devil's Kingdom, whether it be in natural, in civil, or primarily in spiritual matters concerning our salvation, is not at all what people believe of it. On the same two grounds of Scripture and reason, I go further to prove that the Devil's Kingdom is nothing but a fiction: and that he does not have such great power and governance as people commonly attribute to him. And this is in the thirty-fourth chapter.

Having treated all this according to my best knowledge and understanding, with much and earnest investigation, I finally close my Second Book, showing the weight of this investigation, in view of such a great work as is made of the Devil, and of the business that he has in this world. My saying is that such speech makes the foundations of the Doctrine of our salvation uncertain, and that it hinders Godsaligheid Godliness/Piety in many things. The first I show in the thirty-fifth, the other in the thirty-sixth chapter. Concerning the Doctrine, I prove there the thing I had assured in the first chapter of my First Book: namely, that the general opinion of the Devil takes away our proof that Jehovah is God, that Jesus is the Messiah, and the books of the Prophets and Apostles are God's Word. And as concerns the duties of Godliness: that God is shortened by that opinion, in His Service the childlike fear is much diminished by the fear of the Devil, the esteem of the holy Angels is slighted, and the honor and power of the Miracles of the Lord Jesus, the Prophets, and the Apostles are much reduced. That also thereby man's high pride is puffed up, or else the comfort of humble Christians is hampered and prevented. Thus far goes the second Book.

Opening of the Third Book.

As I then have thus far merely considered the Spirits, and especially the Devil, according to that which can be understood by sound reason; and where that stands still, further to be drawn from God's Word: I now proceed, according to the once established order and constant distinction made in the first book, to the Humans, who are said to have some fellowship with the Spirits, and especially the Devil, as the common opinion brings with it. I also keep therein the same order as in the Second Book; so that I first seek after everything, and at the last then show how much it amounts to that I have thus found. The one part is presented in the first 18 chapters, and the other in the last 5.