From Wikipedia -
"Matthew Hopkins (c. 1620 – 12 August 1647) was an English witch-hunter whose career flourished during the English Civil War. He was mainly active in East Anglia and claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament.
The son of a Puritan minister, Hopkins began his career as a witch-finder in March 1644 and lasted until his retirement in 1647. Hopkins and his colleague John Stearne sent more accused people to be hanged for witchcraft than all the other witch-hunters in England of the previous 160 years, and were solely responsible for the increase in witch trials during those years."
Now maybe in the febrile atmosphere of a civil war, excesses happen. But why did his unbiblical practices like pricking, looking for the Devil's Mark and non-bleeding, sleep deprivation, the swimming test, continue even under an evangelical, revivalist parliament and in an area of strongest puritan influence?
Eventually he was bravely opposed by John Gaule, vicar of Great Staughton and the Hopkin's carnage finished in 1647.
I am asking because I have noticed in the times of revival and evangelical renewal or even in earnest bible studies that I have experienced, there do seem to be cruel excesses that are winked at and it takes time for leaders with sufficient integrity to address them.
"Matthew Hopkins (c. 1620 – 12 August 1647) was an English witch-hunter whose career flourished during the English Civil War. He was mainly active in East Anglia and claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament.
The son of a Puritan minister, Hopkins began his career as a witch-finder in March 1644 and lasted until his retirement in 1647. Hopkins and his colleague John Stearne sent more accused people to be hanged for witchcraft than all the other witch-hunters in England of the previous 160 years, and were solely responsible for the increase in witch trials during those years."
Now maybe in the febrile atmosphere of a civil war, excesses happen. But why did his unbiblical practices like pricking, looking for the Devil's Mark and non-bleeding, sleep deprivation, the swimming test, continue even under an evangelical, revivalist parliament and in an area of strongest puritan influence?
Eventually he was bravely opposed by John Gaule, vicar of Great Staughton and the Hopkin's carnage finished in 1647.
I am asking because I have noticed in the times of revival and evangelical renewal or even in earnest bible studies that I have experienced, there do seem to be cruel excesses that are winked at and it takes time for leaders with sufficient integrity to address them.
