Thomas Ady facts for kids
Thomas Ady was an English doctor and scholar who lived in the 1600s. He wrote two important books that questioned the idea of witchcraft and the hunting of witches.
His first and most famous book was called A Candle in the Dark. It was published in 1655. Later, a man named George Burroughs, who was a minister, tried to use this book to defend himself during the famous Salem witch trials. Sadly, it did not help him.
In 1661, Ady published his second book, A Perfect Discovery of Witches. This was actually a new version of his first book, but with a different title. It might have been named after an earlier book by Reginald Scot called Discoverie of Witchcraft. Many books about witchcraft at the time used the word 'Discovery' in their titles. Ady wanted to show that he was discovering the truth: that many people accused of being witches were actually innocent.
His third book, published in 1676, was called The Doctrine of Devils. In this book, he continued to argue against the common beliefs about evil spirits and demons.
Contents
Ady's Book: A Candle in the Dark
In his book A Candle in the Dark, Thomas Ady strongly disagreed with the popular ideas about witchcraft. He did this by carefully looking at what the Bible actually said. Ady believed that the people who translated the Bible had made mistakes. He argued that words often translated as 'witch' really meant something else.
For example, he explained that a verse in the Bible (Exodus 22:18) was not about witches. Instead, he said it was about "jugglers" or tricksters. These were people who used "false Miracles" to trick others into worshipping false gods. Ady thought such frauds should not be allowed to live.
He also read many parts of the Bible in a symbolic way, not always literally. In the first part of his book, Ady discussed a well-known Bible rule against witches (Deuteronomy 18:10-11). He said this rule was actually about Catholic people who used charms to trick others.
Ady questioned why the ways people tried to prove witchcraft at the time had no support from the Bible. He was very against the Catholic Church. He even thought that the English Civil War was God punishing England. He believed this was because innocent people had been killed in witch hunts.
He was especially angry about how Matthew Hopkins, a famous witch-hunter, forced people to confess. Hopkins would keep people awake for a long time until they confessed. Ady was also upset about the execution of an 80-year-old minister in 1645. This minister was killed based on strange stories and marks on his body, which Ady said were just haemorrhoids.
Ady pointed to Scotland and Germany as examples. He said that these countries tried to stop God's anger by hunting witches. But in reality, their actions only brought more trouble upon them.
When people confessed to being witches, Ady had a different idea. He thought they were often just sad or mentally unwell. He believed that the ideas about demons gave these people a story to follow in their confused minds. He wrote that if such ideas had not been taught, these people's minds would not have had "such objects to work upon." He wondered who would be responsible for their false confessions. He thought it was those who had "infected the mindes of common people with such devillish doctrins." This idea was very advanced for his time.
Ady wrote like a typical scholar of the 1600s. His arguments were very detailed and built up step by step.
The third part of his book attacked other writers who supported witchcraft beliefs. Ady suggested that the book Daemonologie, supposedly written by King James, was actually written by someone else. He also strongly disagreed with Thomas Cooper, calling him a "bloody persecutor." Cooper wrote The Mystery of Witchcraft (1617). Ady also criticized William Perkins's book, Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft (1608). He called it a mix of ideas from "popish blood suckers" who wrote "horrible lies and impossibilities." Perkins was a very respected religious leader. Ady cleverly suggested that Perkins' book was printed by mistake after he died. He thought it might have been Perkins' own notes for a book that would *disprove* witchcraft.
Ady also corrected John Gaule, who wrote Select Cases of Conscience touching Witches and Witchcrafts (1646). Ady personally asked Gaule to change his wrong ideas. He was gentler with George Gifford, who wrote A Discourse of the Subtle Practices of Devils by Witches and Sorcerers (1587). Ady said Gifford had more "spirit of truth" than many other religious leaders.
A scholar named George Lincoln Burr called A Candle in the Dark "one of the bravest and most rational of the early protests" against witch hunts.
Quotes from Ady's Work
Ady wrote about a trickster from King James's time:
I will speak of one man ... that went about in King James his time ... who called himself, the Kings Majesties most excellent Hocus Pocus, and so was called, because that at the playing of every Trick, he used to say, Hocus pocus, tontus tabantus, vade celeriter jubeo, a dark composure of words, to blinde the eyes of the beholders, to make his Trick pass the more currently without discovery (Thomas Ady, "A Candle in the Dark", 1655).
This quote from A Candle in the Dark was used at the beginning of Dan Chapman's 2014 novel, "Closed Circuit."
Ady's Book: The Doctrine of Devils
Ady's third book about witchcraft, The Doctrine of Devils, was published in 1676. He did not put his name on it. This book is a very strong and powerful piece of writing. Ady used a casual style to show how much he disliked the ideas about demons. He wrote in a very direct way:
This doctrine of the unlimited power of Devils in naturals, thus by Christians entertained, is the highest and most abominable Apostacy, that ever was or can be in respect of Christ. (Chapter V)
He also wrote:
I Will not absolutely, positively, and definitively say it of Demonologers, That they worship the Devil directly ... Let Demonologers look out, abroad, round; but let them look home inward, and to themselves too: I fear they may find those abominable Idolators nearer home, than where they look for them. They are not simple or gross Idolators, such as worship wood and stone ... a finer, purer, neater, sprucer sort of Christians, Protestants or Papists (Angelicks as they would be thought) may take themselves by the Nose, and say, we are the Men. Is there any reason, ground, motive or hint, to fasten this to any but them? One Apostle saith, In the latter times, some will obstinately worship Devils, That will be the great villany in the latter age; The other saith, They will give heed to the doctrine of Devils: Put both together and this is the result, They that give heed to the doctrine of Devils, are the great Apostates, and obstinate worshippers of the Devil, which is the worst and most abominable Idolatry of the latter times, or ever was in any time. (Chapter XIX)
Ady was angry that demonology made Satan seem more powerful than Christ. He completely argued against the idea of people being possessed by demons. He said that parts of the New Testament where Christ drove out devils were actually just the gospel writers describing Christ healing people who were mentally ill.
For Ady, the witch hunt was:
Bloody, Barbarous, Cruel and Murtherous Opinion, an Opinion that Butchers up Men and Women without Fear or Wit, Sense or Reason, Care or Conscience, by droves; So many in Somerset, so many in Lancashire---so many in another County, Ten, Twenty, Thirty at a clap (Chapter XXIV)
Ady insisted that the ideas about demons were made up. He called them "this Babel of Confusion" built on "Sandy Foundation of Tales and Fables." He said they were like "Winter-Tales" and "Legendaries." He believed that people who supported demonology tried to prove their points with "Tale upon Tale."
Ady's last book showed that his anger had not lessened. He was still impatient, scornful, and accusing.
Who Influenced Thomas Ady?
Thomas Ady's books were directly influenced by Reginald Scot and his book Discoverie of Witchcraft. Ady called Scot "the Chief and First Anti-demonologist" in England.
Ady was also influenced by books about juggling and stage magic, like Hocus Pocus Junior. Books from that time sometimes used examples of magic tricks to show how people could be tricked into believing in superstition.
Ady's works are similar to other books written then about freedom of conscience. One example is Roger Williams's famous book, The Bloudy Tenant of Persecution for the Cause of Conscience (1644). Like Ady, Williams used many Bible verses to show why it was wrong to punish people for their religious beliefs.
Who Ady Influenced
Ady's book A Candle in the Dark contains the first known record of the children's rhyme "Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John."
His book also gives one of the earliest ideas about where the word "hoax" comes from. It suggests it came from "hocus pocus", a Latin-like phrase used by magicians to distract their audience.
An excerpt from A Candle in the Dark was used by George Burroughs to defend himself during the Salem witch trials. Cotton Mather, a writer who was against Burroughs, wrote about this. He said that Burroughs had agreed there were witches, but then used Ady's paper to argue there were no witches who could send a devil to hurt people from far away. Mather said the court quickly recognized the writing as Ady's. Burroughs claimed he didn't get it from a book, but later said a gentleman gave him the paper. Even though he used Ady's ideas, the jury found him guilty. When he was about to die, he completely denied being a witch. It's interesting that the court in Salem was so quick to spot a text that questioned witchcraft.
Ady's books, along with those by Reginald Scot and Roger Williams, are similar to later books about conscience. For example, books from the Christian Abolitionist Movement also used the Bible to argue against slavery. Examples include A Condensed Anti-Slavery Bible Argument (1845) by George Bourne and God Against Slavery (1857) by George B. Cheever.
Thomas Ady's Life
Not much is known about Thomas Ady's life, which is surprising. We do know some things about him outside of his writings.
On June 10, 1634, Thomas Ady, who was a "famous Dr of Physick" (doctor), married Barbara Sparrow. She was the daughter of William Sparrow. They lived in Wethersfield.
Their son went to Felsted school and then to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge for university. He later joined Gray's Inn, which is a place where lawyers are trained, in 1667.
Records show that Barbara was born on September 9, 1610. Thomas Ady wrote his will on October 15, 1662. He described himself as a "professed member of the true Christian Protestant Church of England." He said he wanted to "live and dye in the true Christian faith." His will was approved on May 20, 1672. In his will, he named his wife Barbara, his daughter Dorothy (who married William Collard), his son Thomas (who was under 21), and his daughters Joana and Barbara. His daughter Barbara later married Mark Mott.
See also
- Discoverie of Witchcraft
- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
- Hocus Pocus (magic)
