The Damned Art of Witchcraft

Perkins's sober theological treatise on witchcraft, built on Exodus 22:18 and delivered to an early-seventeenth-century audience ready for calm scriptural reasoning rather than hysteria. Across seven chapters he defines what witchcraft actually is, classifies its ancient forms, weighs the grounds of a confederacy with Satan, and carefully distinguishes diabolical deception from genuine spiritual power. The work closes by addressing the magistrate's duty and the proper use of Scripture in discerning sin. A measured Puritan analysis of evil, spiritual temptation, and civil jurisdiction in a fearful age — landmark Reformed demonology.