The Discoverie of WitchcraftFolk Magic / White MagicScholarly ReconstructionEarly Modern EnglishShareThe Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.291886 reprint of 1584 edition - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 available1886 reprint of 1584 editionLanguageEnglishEspañol‹The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.1The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.2The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.3The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.4The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.5The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.6The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.7The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.8The Discoverie of Witchcraft 1.9The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.1The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.2The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.3The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.4The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.5The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.6The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.7The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.8The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.9The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.10The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.11The Discoverie of Witchcraft 2.12The Discoverie of Witchcraft 3.1The Discoverie of Witchcraft 3.2The 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15.40The Discoverie of Witchcraft 15.41The Discoverie of Witchcraft 15.42The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.1The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.2The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.3The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.4The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.5The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.6The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.7The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.8The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.9The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.10The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.11The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.12The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.13The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.14The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.15The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.16The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.17The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.18The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.19The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.20The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.21The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.22The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.23The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.24The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.25The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.26The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.27The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.28The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.29The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.30The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.31The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.32The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.33The Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.34›Book 16, Chapter 29: A confutation of assuming of bodies, and of the serpent that seduced EveThe Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.29ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1They that contend so earnestlie for the divels assuming of bodies and visible shapes, doo thinke they have a great advantage by the words uttered in the third of Genesis, where they saie, the divell entered into a serpent or snake: and that by the cursse it appeareth, that the whole displeasure of God lighted upon the poore snake onlie. How those words are to be considered may appeare, in that it is of purpose so spoken, as our weake capacities may thereby best conceive the substance, tenor, and true meaning of the word, which is there set downe in the manner of a tragedie, in such humane and sensible forme, as woonderfullie informeth our understanding; though it seeme contrarie to the spirituall course of spirits and divels, and also to the nature and divinitie of God himselfe; who is infinite, and whome no man ever sawe with corporall eies, and lived. And doubtles, if the serpent there had not beene taken absolutelie, nor metaphoricallie for the divell, the Holie-ghost would have informed us thereof in some part of that storie. But to affirme it sometimes to be a divell, and sometimes a snake; whereas there is no such distinction to be found or seene in the text, is an invention and a fetch (me thinks) beyond the compasse of all divinitie. Certeinlie the serpent was he that seduced Eve: 2now whether it were the divell, or a snake; let anie wise man (or rather let the word of God) judge. Doubtles the scripture in manie places expoundeth it to be the divell. And I have (I am sure) one wiseman on my side for the interpretation hereof, namelie Salomon; who saith, Through envie of the divell came death into the world: referring that to the divell, which Moses in the letter did to the serpent. But a better expositor hereof needeth not, than the text it selfe, even in the same place, where it is written; I will put enmitie betweene thee and the woman, and betweene thy seed and hir seed: he shall breake thy head, and thou shalt bruse his heele. What christian knoweth not, that in these words the mysterie of our redemption is comprised and promised? Wherein is not meant (as manie suppose) that the common seed of woman shall tread upon a snakes head, and so breake it in peeces, &c: but that speciall seed, which is Christ, should be borne of a woman, to the utter overthrow of sathan, and to the redemption of mankind, whose heele or flesh in his members the divell should bruse and assault, with continuall attempts, and carnall provocations, &c. ‹Previous chapterThe Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.28Next chapterThe Discoverie of Witchcraft 16.30›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain in the United States via Project Gutenberg