To ye 1st Quest whether a
plurality of witnesses be necessary, legally to evidence one and ye same
individual fact? Wee answer."
"That if the proofe of the fact do depend wholly upon testimony, there
is then a necessity of a plurality of witnesses, to testify to one & ye
same individual fact; & without such a plurality, there can be no legall
evidence of it. Jno 8, 17. The testimony of two men is true; that is
legally true, or the truth of order. & this Cht alledges to vindicate ye
sufficiency of the testimony given to prove that individual facte, that
he himselfe was ye Messias or Light of the World. Mat. 26, 59, 60."
"To the 2nd quest. Whether the preternatural apparitions of a person
legally proved, be a demonstration of familiarity with ye devill? Wee
anser, that it is not the pleasure of ye Most High, to suffer the wicked
one to make an undistinguishable representation of any innocent person
in a way of doing mischiefe, before a plurality of witnesses. The reason
is because, this would utterly evacuate all human testimony; no man
could testify, that he saw this pson do this or that thing, for it might
be said, that it was ye devill in his shape."
"To the 3d & 4th quests together: Whether a vitious pson foretelling
some future event, or revealing of a secret, be a demonstration of
familiarity with the devill? Wee say thus much."
"That those things, whither past, present or to come, which are indeed
secret, that is, cannot be knowne by human skill in arts, or strength of
reason arguing from ye corse of nature, nor are made knowne by divine
revelation either mediate or immediate, nor by information from man,
must needes be knowne (if at all) by information from ye devill: & hence
the comunication of such things, in way of divination (the pson
prtending the certaine knowledge of them) seemes to us, to argue
familiarity with ye devill, in as much as such a pson doth thereby
declare his receiving the devills testimony, & yeeld up himselfe as ye
devills instrument to comunicate the same to others.
Pages:
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73