Erasmus Sarcerius on the Devil’s bewitching influence

[Reformed Covenanter]

The devil is a bewitcher who deceives and ensnares the minds of people by his spells and delusions, which seem to shine with what is right and good, so that they will accept false doctrine in the place of sound teaching, false worship instead of true worship, wrong interpretations of words instead of true ones, false ways of justification for true ones. False teachers are also bewitchers who under the guidance of Satan and the pretext and appearance of true godliness deceive and ensnare the minds of people in the same way. False doctrine is bewitching doctrine, which appears in the guise of the truth, and so on.

Faced with these bewitching and subtle deceptions stirred up by the tricks of the devil, we need the greatest Christian wisdom, because otherwise it is very easy to be misled by them. Just look at the papacy, which has arisen by means of such bewitching and subtle deceptions and has now spread all over the place. Moreover, since the devil and false teachers operate by means of enchantments and delusions under the guise and appearance of true godliness, nothing could be easier than to be led astray by them. Heretics always use the Bible and Scripture to deceive people by distorting the true meaning, understanding and judgment of spiritual things.

For the reference, see Erasmus Sarcerius on the Devil’s bewitching influence.

 

[Miss Marple]

Thank God for the Holy Spirit