I have twice listed books on the subject, most recently in post 484. Apparently you did read those posts. I listed three books on the subject written by noted experts. As I have already said twice, if your local college or university does not have them they should be able to get them for you on ILL. I have spoken nationally on the Salem witchcraft trials and consulted all three when I prepared my remarks.
Again, I have provided you with the titles of three excellent treatises on the subject. I suggest that you consult them.
There were a great many witch executions by Christians are that time. Yes, they prayed over it and acted accordingly based on the answers they received.
ok, I will read your posts but I want a response first. How can you "prove" they were governed by God? I know you said they prayed, and they may have. But how do you prove they were governed by God. After all in the old testament if their was sin in the camp and they would consult the priests and the urrim and the thumin, and God would tell them to go out to war, and they would get defeated, and get slaughtered, and 40% of their army would die in battle. And they would cry out and God would say in a quiet patient voice, "there was sin in the camp." See the Bible says that sin is like a cloud (in lamentations), and if you have known sin in your life. It will hinder prayer. So they prayed and God confirmed to go out to war, and they ran with their tale between their legs. So again how does one prove that this alleged 'theocracy' listened to God tell them to burn witches? Further more, let me help out. We know God's will first and foremost by the word of God. The Bible says in 2 timothy 3:16-17 that the Bible is able to thoroughly equip unto every good work. It is of my view that they didn't know the new testament well enough to be able to have a proper theocracy. And the fact that they burned witches is my primary evidence for this. You quote all these passages saying this is proof of theocracy when I say that it's proof AGAINST theocracy. So in conclusion, they should have known about Jesus words 'love your enemy." "bless and do not curse." They did not. So they performed something ANTI GOD. Lastly even if they prayed, and I am not sure they did. But say they did. God can send lying spirits into the hearts of the prophets. He has done so in the past, and He can do so in the future. It is my view that this sin they did was not the only sin, but was the end result of a long line of disobedience. So too when israel fell to the benjaminites. It was because of a long time, a good many years of disobedience that culminated in a lost war and a lot of casualty. God loves to bless us. God loves to show mercy. But God also loves to correct. And when He corrected Israel that day, they wept bitterly over their sin. But that day showed that they were not in fact "governed by God." And so too the witch trial prove beyond a shadow of a doubt from first hand eye witness stories that this group was not in fact 'governed by God."
so again I have no problem reading your stuff. But I doubt that it will accomplish what you think it will. The more we talk about this, the more I believe they were in fact not "governed by God' at all.
(sources for the war between Israel and Benjamin - Judges chapter 20)
"And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah
shall go up first."
Judges 20:18
After God said to send Judah into battle, they did so and lost 22,000 men the first day.
"(And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until even, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD said, Go up against him.)"
Judges 20:23
so they cried before the Lord after losing. But they did not repent yet, so God told them to go ahead and go out to war again.
And Israel lost 18000 men the next day.
So the body count right now is 40,000 men lost due to sin.
Then they fasted and repented of national wickedness and God delivered them to Israel in the 3rd day. But only after repentance and fasting.
See God will give you false answers to prayer, He can do whatever He wants. He is God.