Of Ghostes and Spirites, Walking by Night And of Straunge Noyses, Crackes, and Sundrie Forewarnings, Which Commonly Happen Before the Death of Men: Great Slaughters, and Alterations of Kingdoms

As touching this my treatise concerning Spirits, and straunge wonders, I haue deuided it into three partes for the more cleare vnderstanding therof. In the first parte I shewe, that there are visions and spirits, and that they appeare vnto men sometimes, and that many & maruellous things happen besides the ordinarie course of nature. In the second I discusse what maner of things they are, that, is not the soules of dead men, as some men haue thought, but either good or euill angels, or else some secret and hid operations of God. In the third I declare why God doth somtime suffer Spirits to appear, and diuers forewarnings to happen: and also how mē ought to behaue themselues when they happen to meete with such things. In these points or partes, the chiefest thing wheron men vse to reason touching this matter, are conteined. Now I mean to handle this matter, being very obscure and intricate, with many questions, (I trust) so plainly, & clerely out of the holy scriptures, whereon we may surely stay our selues, out of the anciēt fathers, allowed historiographers, and other good writers, that those which are studious and louers of Gods truth, may well vnderstand what may be denied & thought of those apparitions, & other straunge & maruellous matters. And I also trust that euen our aduersaries also, (in case they wil lay their affections aside, but a litle while) wil say that I haue truly alleaged all their arguments, and confuted thē without any railing or bitternesse. For my purposed ende is according to the doctrine of Saint Paule, to edifie and not to destroy.