Lewes Lavater, Anti-Witch Writer of Zürich

Lewes Lavater (1527-1586) was the Chief Pastor of the Calvinist Church of Zürich. In 1572 he wrote Of Ghostes and Spirites walking by nyght. "The main argument of his book is that, after making the fullest allowance for ocular illusion, hallucination, and jugglers' tricks, there can be no doubt that genuine ghosts do really appear. All literature, sacred and profane, as well as an abundance of experiences among men now living, put this beyond all possible doubt."

Lavater says that ghosts are not the dead, but are in fact devils. He says the power of the Devil is proved by fact of witchcraft. He quotes from the Chronicles of Johannes Tritenhemius:

Hagges, witches and Inchaunters are sayde to hurt men and cattell, if they do but touch them or stroake them, they do horrible things whereof there are whole bookes extant. . . . Magicians, iugglers, inchanters and Necromanciers, are no others than servants of the Diuel: you do not thinke their mayster reserveth some cunning to him self (Davies 30-31)?

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Lewes Lavater, Anti-Witch Writer of Zürich copyrighted 1996-1998 to Shantell Powell.