Great Ideas of Philosophy

coercion, sickness, insanity, and the like have always been recognized. However, the emphasis thatChristian teaching will place on moral freedom is new and more significant, because the stakes are nownothing less than eternal salvation.C. Part of this teaching is that the powers of Satan cannot be deployed in such a way as to rob us of our moralfreedom; if that were the case, there would be no basis on which to judge us at all. The law could nevertease out the difference between someone acting in a malign way by intention and someone whoseintentions had been so corrupted that the person was merely an instrument of Satanic purposes.D. On this understanding, how do we account for any supernatural event—any occurrence that is outside thenatural order of things?1. Miracles are one form of supernatural event and are performed by saints. The power to performmiracles comes only from God.2. The witch’s supernatural power, in contrast, comes by way of the devil. It makes no difference, then,whether she uses that power to perform acts that are harmless or hurtful. Obviously, she has enteredinto a pact with the devil.3. In this way, the act of witchery becomes a crime of heresy, which may be punishable by death.IV. By this time, formal trial procedures for witchcraft had already been rediscovered, replacing medieval tests oftrial and ordeal. The 13 th -century European courts, both secular and ecclesiastical, were in full possession ofRoman legal procedure.A. One of the benefits of the recovery and dissemination of Roman law was the replacement of theaccusatorial scheme with an inquisitorial procedure, but this proved to be a mixed blessing.1. Before the recovery and the reapplication of developed Roman law, complaints between parties weregenerally in the form of accusations. The accuser must make his case against the accused or himselfface multiple penalties.2. In the medieval period, the way some of the more serious charges were judged was through trial,ordeal, and compurgation. A defendant could choose between trial by jury or by God. In the lattercase, under the supervision of the coroner, the defendant passed barefoot over burning coals, or carriedwhite-hot metal by hand, or was tested in scalding water for burns.3. Compurgation was based on a different principle. Here, the defendant was required to summon a fixednumber of persons willing to swear before God that they believed the defendant’s oath of innocence.The outcome depended as much on the faithful performance of the required procedures as thecredibility of the compurgators. This mode of trial, however, was not available for those charged withwitchcraft.4. On the whole, the inquisitorial procedure was an advance in adjudication. Through it, the authoritiesdid not have to wait for a complaint but could bring an action, engage in an inquisition, compileevidence, take testimony, and order the appropriate remedies. Properly applied, the inquisitorialprocedure functioned much like a grand jury in our system of law.5. This system worked to the disadvantage of those tried for witchcraft, because now the accuser did nothave to face the accused. The inquisitor could bring the charge, never divulging the names of thosewho made the accusation.6. Torture was permitted, but no confession made in the torture chamber would count as evidence againstthe witch. Rather, a period of time had to elapse, two or three days, and the same admission wouldhave to be made in open court. Torture typically was not needed, however, because many of thosecharged with witchcraft, typically older, eccentric women, actually admitted to the charges!B. The number of executions cited in the literature ranges from hundreds of thousands to a million andupwards. Witches could offer very little by way of self-defense in these actions, and their execution wouldhave had the necessary chilling effect on the community. The church authorities knew that it was far moreimportant to save the soul than to preserve the body, and if burning the witch is a means to salvation, thenin the flames one will find redemption.C. What kind of evidence was relevant in a trial for witchcraft? The offenses themselves were not enough,because such outcomes could arise from accident or from uncomplicated criminal motives. It was notsufficient that someone has accused another of witchery. Substantial and incriminating evidence wasrequired.©2004 The Teaching Company Limited Partnership 35