King James: Daemonologie (1597 First Edition)

...thereby, as much as I am able, to resolve the doubting hearts of many. I intend to prove both that such assaults by Satan original: "Sathan" are most certainly practiced, and that those who serve as his instruments merit the most severe punishment. This is written against the damnable opinions of two individuals in particular in our age. The first, an Englishman named [Reginald] Scot original: "SCOT"; refers to Reginald Scot (c. 1538–1599), whose book The Discoverie of Witchcraft argued that witchcraft was irrational and unbiblical, is not ashamed to deny in a public book that such a thing as witchcraft can even exist. In doing so, he maintains the old error of the Sadducees A Jewish sect at the time of Jesus that was famous for denying the existence of spirits, angels, and the resurrection of the dead by denying the existence of spirits. The other, a German physician named [Johann] Weyer original: "VVIERVS"; Johann Weyer (1515–1588) was a physician who argued that many women accused of witchcraft were actually suffering from "melancholy" or mental illness, published a public defense for all these practitioners of magic. By arguing for their immunity from punishment, he clearly reveals original: "bewrayes" himself to have been a member of that profession. To make this treatise more pleasant and easy to read original: "facill", I have written it in the form of a dialogue, which I have divided into three books. The first speaks...