With all of the talk of theonomy, OT Law and penalties we get this news today. What a co-inky-dink!

Couple of thoughts:
3,500! And we take grief over Salem?!?!?
Witches Remembrance Day? Come on....

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http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/10/29/br....ap/index.html

Town to officially pardon executed witches
3,500 women and children killed in witch hunts
Friday, October 29, 2004 Posted: 12:00 PM EDT (1600 GMT)

PRESTONPANS, Scotland (AP) -- Accused witches -- and their cats -- executed during a wave of hysteria and religious ferment centuries ago will be pardoned on Halloween in this Scottish township.

"There'll be no witches' hats, dress-ups or that sort of thing -- it will be a fairly solemn occasion," Adele Conn, spokeswoman for the baronial court that granted the pardons, said by telephone interview Friday.

Sunday's ceremony will publicly declare pardons for 81 local people executed in the 16th and 17th centuries for being witches. The pardons have been granted under ancient feudal powers due to be abolished within weeks.

More than 3,500 Scots, mainly woman and children, and their cats were killed in witch hunts at a time of political intrigue and religious ferment. Many were condemned on flimsy evidence, such as owning a black cat or brewing homemade remedies.

Prestonpans region had recorded one of the largest numbers of witch executions in all of Scotland, said Conn, who is the "mountjoye," or official spokeswoman, for the Barons Courts of Prestoungrange & Dolphinstoun.

She said Gordon Prestoungrange, the 14th baron, granted the pardons for the convictions in the last session of his court, which is due to be abolished on November 28.

"'Most of those persons condemned for witchcraft within the jurisdiction of the Baron Courts of Prestoungrange and Dolphinstoun were convicted on the basis of spectral evidence -- that is to say, prosecuting witnesses declared that they felt the presence of evil sprits or heard spirit voices,"' the court said in its written findings.

"Such spectral evidence is impossible to prove or to disprove; nor is it possible for the accused to cross-examine the spirit concerned. One is convicted upon the very making of such charges without any possibility of offering a defense."

The court declared an absolute pardon to all those convicted, "as well as to the cats concerned."

Conn said 15 local descendants of executed witches had been invited to attend the ceremony and inaugural Witches' Remembrance Day, which will become an annual event in the township each Halloween.

"It's too late to apologize but it's a sort of symbolic recognition that these people were put to death for hysterical ignorance and paranoia," said local historian Roy Pugh, who presented evidence to the court in support of the pardons.

The last execution for witchcraft in Scotland was in 1727. Such cases were outlawed by the Witchcraft Act of 1735, which made it a crime only to pretend to be a witch.

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Chris Rhoades -33
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church (PCA) Nashville, TN-Under Care

Vera theologia non theoretica, sed practica est; Finis siquidem eius agere est hoc est vitam vivere deiformem. - Martin Bucer
""True theology is not theoretical, but practical. The end of it is living, that is to live a godly life."

The execution of witches should be remembered.......as the days of justice.

"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." (Exodus 22:18)

One more great reason to be a Puritan!

Also, I go to a private "Christian" high school, and I found myself be attacked by a witch (yes, the Christian school allows witches, as long as they're closet, to attend!) for defending Puritanism. It was a vicious little encounter, but I hope I put a good defense forth.

(btw, at this school, I have had my Spanish II teacher tell me that digging up the bones of ones ancestors, so their spirits might return to the bones, is ok in some cultures, and we should respect their cultures, though primitive)

[Edited on 11-11-2004 by ConfederateTheocrat]

[Edited on 11-11-2004 by ConfederateTheocrat]

Good to see you back, Mark

Reference this:
Puritans vs. Witches: What is the Truth behind the Salem Witch Trials?

3500, eh? Reminds me of the scene in Braveheart where Wallace and Co. ride to the fort dressed as Englishmen. After seizing the fort, the magistrate said, "I have dispatched 100 soldiers to Lanark! They shall be returning NOW!"

Wallace: "Were they dressed like this? Actually it was more like fifty?"

[Edited on 20-11-2004 by Finn McCool]

[Edited on 20-11-2004 by Finn McCool]

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J. B. Atken
John Knox PCA
Layman, M.A. student at Louisiana College

I will check that out.

(I would post more on this site, but I can't understand half the words you guys are saying, and the complexity of your lengthy posts truly baffles my mind. )

Stick with it brother! When I first got on I had no idea what Fred, Scott, and Matt were saying. Since then I have learned volumes from those guys. You might surprise yourself. Every now and then I type something profound (usually by accident and few people are impressed). Hang in there. I enjoyed reading your last post

I have to wonder what the purpose of pardoning "witches" who were burned centuries ago holds for today (assuming they really were witches). It makes me wonder if those behind this action are witches themselves (???).

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Christopher
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."
Ecclesiastes (12:13)
Church Affiliation: Faith Presbyterian OPC

The interesting thing to me in regard to 'witches' is how historically some looked upon uppity women, those who preferred herbs and natural healing methods, as being evil for some reason. Now I do not profess to be an expert, but there have, sadly, been periods when scape goats were sought.

In the early 1900's midwifes here in the states, especially in cities were denounced once male physicians saw that they could make good money delivering babies. Then babies in hospitals. Yet, in rural areas where people didn't make great money midwives were ignored and left to deliver babies. The fact is, midwives simply help the woman do what is natural...birth a child.

There are holistic practitioners in my area, and most are Christian. They believe that God has given mankind food, water, plants as tools for good health. If they were not Christian I am sure that some would think they were pagans up to no good.

I also wonder what role mob rule and simple hysteria played in putting people who may well have been innocent to death. After all there was a period when someone with seizures, now called epilepsy, was deemed pocessed.

~ Beth

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Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found,Was blind, but now I see.'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved.How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed.

I'm a holistic practitioner and I'm definately NOT a witch. I'll admit that there are alot of new agers and goofballs that have taken natural medicine and kind of adopted it as their own but that doesn't mean we as christians should "throw the baby out with the bathwater." Using God given plants and herbs does not make one a witch. I've "brewed" up my own before, I hope you guys don't hunt me down!

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Dan McPherson
Creekside, PA
Faith OPC - Indiana, PA

“The ultimate destiny of every individual is decided by the will of God, and blessed it is that such be the case. If it were left to our wills, the ultimate destination of us all would be the lake of fire.” -- A. W. Pink

So, are these guys going to pardon all the wrongly convicted and executed Christians too???

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Patrick
OPC
MDiv, RTS Jackson.

"He does well, that discourses of Christ; but he does infinitely better, that by experimental knowledge, feeds and lives on Christ." Thomas Brooks.

I think I should make one thing clear: the people hanged for witchcraft in Salem in 1692 were not witches. Even in the judges' lifetimes, this was realized (hence, the court decided to reimburse victims' families, and furthermore, one judge publicly apologized for his part in the trials). This is why the "witches" are being pardoned--this, and, people have lately asked for them to be pardoned. Something like 5 people were not pardoned til just a few years ago because no one bothered to ask for it on their part. Anyway, the innocence of the accused (by the way, there is no proof that they were witches at all; in fact they were simply conveniently enemies of their accusers--funny coincidence, eh?) is what makes the Salem events so tragic. If anybody has any questions about the witch trials, ask me. I've been studying them for 8 years, and I worked in Salem at the home of one of the judges this summer, so I know my stuff.

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"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." Eccl 9:10

G.S.Harwood
Member, St.Paul's Presbyterian
student, University of Toronto (unfortunately)

Thank you!

A friend of mine and a member of the church I am hoping to join is a descendant of one of the executed witches. The woman was wrongly convicted of the charges as far as the surviving records show she was actually a devout woman who had faithfully catechized her children in the Reformed faith. The witch trials were a mess, paranoia was mixed with jealousy and hate. Men bore false witness against their neighbors, and spectral evidence was used to convict innocent parties.

Actual witchcraft is a sin, and I do believe the bible teaches it should be a state prohibiting practice, but the Salem witch trials are a smear on the face of civil justice.

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Andrew Myers
Husband of Jessica, Father of Jackson, Katie and Samuel
Member, Presbyterian Reformed Church of Northern Virginia
Warrenton, VA USA
Editor, The Matthew Poole Project

"Let your Morning Thoughts, and your last Evening Thoughts, be what shall become of you to all Eternity." -- Matthew Poole