Salem Witch Trials: Introduction

0:02 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good afternoon everyone. It is Monday, March the third, twenty twenty five. It is currently two eighteen pm Central Time, and I am coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now outside, I have a window right behind me. Outside that window, right now, we are in a wind warning here in Texas. There's possible chance for severe storms. So if you hear like lots of noise in the background, I hate even trying to explain it. But at the same time, if I don't explain it, every time I hear a sound in the background, I'm going to think I need to explain to you what's going on. So let's just get this out of the way right now. There, we are in a wind warning here in West Texas. So if you hear all kinds of craziness going on in the background, I apologize for that. I know it does distract, and I know it kind of takes away from what I want to accomplish here, but I'm going to do my very best to try to accomplish it in spite of the fact that, well, it sounds like the end of the world going on outside, all right, So we're going to ignore that and we're going to talk about well another time, Well, well we're going to talk about what kind of the weather. Let's let's do this. Are you ready? Let me set the

1:32 scene for you. It was October twenty eighteen. October twenty eighteen. I get inside a car. Now to get to the car, I had to walk a little ways. And let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, it was freezing outside that October twenty eighteen. I get in a car and I start driving. I leave one city and I arrive at another city. I get out of the car, and we were going to walk to a museum, and it's a very long walks. It's in the evening time. It's a pretty good distance, and it is freezing outside. And from the I really even before I stepped out of the car, just when the car drove into this new again, I left one city to drive to another city. As soon as the car kind of pulled into that city. There's no way for me to ever be able to explain this that makes any sense. But there was just this feeling that I begin to get I cannot put it into words, I cannot describe it, but I begin to go, WHOA, there is something about this place. And then when I got out of the car, and as much as I hate cold weather, and anyone who knows me knows I despise cold weather, I get out of the car, I am freezing, so typically any other feeling at that point, it's not going to be entering my mind or thoughts,

3:03 because I'm just going to be thinking it is too cold to be out here. But we get out of the car and we start walking, and we start walking and then I see the museum ahead and I'm like, oh wow, this this is awesome. And I go to the museum. I watch the presentation at first, and I go look at all the displays and everything they have and kind of listen to the tour guide talk about everything and the second half of my time there, and then I get I leave the museum, walk back to the car, freezing cold, and then I drive out of the city. Again. That's all I do. I just drive into the city, go to the museum, and leave. I don't see anything else. I don't look at anything else, but from that very moment, October twenty eighteen, me and that city become like almost like connected in a very deep way. And that city that I'm referring to is the city of Salem in Massachusetts. Salem, Massachusetts, I visited my very first time October of twenty eighteen, and I cannot explain my connection to it. It makes no sense.

4:18 There's no logical explanation for it. I'm not trying to say it's something supernatural or anything or spiritual. It's just sometimes you walk into a maybe a location or a city and there's just something about it and you're you're always going to be connected to it for some particular reason. Now, that night, it was October. If you have ever ever been to Salem, Massachusetts, and during October, you know what I'm referring to. There were people everywhere. That place is packed in October. But I there and I went to the Salem Witch Museum on that particular October evening and twenty eighteen, and from that point on, I mean, I already knew a lot about Salem. I already knew a lot about well, the Salem Witch Trials. I already I mean, I thought I knew a lot. But then that led me to. I mean, year after year after year of studying it, reading books, studying it, trying to create my own chronological timeline, trying to do all of this just work and to understand it even more. And I'm still here.

5:29 We are twenty twenty five, and I'm still studying and still reading everything I can find about the Salem Witch Trials. Now, why am I talking about this my trip in twenty eighteen. Well, in some ways we need to go back even further. Forget twenty eighteen. Let's go back to March the first sixteen ninety two March, the first sixteen ninety two. In fact, we kind of, well probably none of you, but I kind of celebrated this anniversary on March the first, sixteen ninety two, because that was three hundred and thirty three years ago, sixteen ninety two, March, the first, three hundred and thirty three years ago, and that day kind of, really, I guess, in many ways starts what we know as the Salem Witch Trials. March the first, sixteen ninety two, three hundred and thirty three years ago, all right, And it's really interesting because that starts really on March the first.

6:33 My birthday is March the second. I always connect my my birthday, March the second, to obviously Texas Independence Day, because that's that's what it is here in Texas. Texas Independence Day. I always connect it to that. I didn't realize it that March the second is also very close to the beginning of the Salem witch Trials. Now, for those who are historians, you may argue, well, March the first, sixteen ninety two, zoo is not really the start. It kind of started before that. Well, the hysteria and the things happening actually started January of sixteen ninety two. We'll get to that. In fact, I believe we have to go even back further and we have to leave Salem and we have to go to Boston and we're going to talk about well, well, I don't know if we're going to get to it in this episode. This episode is going to kind of serve as a kind of just as an introduction, because I don't know how many episodes we're going to do, but we're going to be doing a number of episodes about everything that happened in Salem, and I'm going to put forth my own ideas, hypotheses and theories, and I feel like that I have. I feel like I earned at least, I will put it this way. Maybe in your mind, I have it. I fell in my mind, I earn at least some freedom to be able to offer some speculation and some hypotheses and some theories, just because of the sheer number of hours of reading and studying everything I can about Salem.

8:00 And I don't even I'm still I think in some ways I've only scratched the surface of everything. I think a lot of people are like, okay, well, there was some witch trials and people died. Well that's said, Okay, move on. Some people are like, ooh, Salem, you know October Halloween. It's creepy, it's spooky, let's go visit. Okay, some people like that. For me, all it goes much deeper than all of that. So let's do an introduction to the Salem witch trials. Let's so, let's at least give you the foundation, and then I'll build on the foundation. And I'm going to be looking at this from a very specific point of view. I think. All right, so I'm sorry. I wish my introduction could have been a little bit better. I hate that I had to mention the wind outside, and I tried to I mean my connecting the wind outside to the cold night and October of twenty eighteen when I drove into Salem. I didn't really put that together perfectly. But what we're going to do here, I am going to go to do my very best to try to make this work as much as possible, because at least I have a passion about this, and I feel like it serves as some strong warnings for everyone, Okay, especially those who claim to be Christian and for the church. I think Salem. A lot of people connect the warnings and lessons to Salem to the culture, and I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no no. Salem is not teaching lessons to the culture. Salem is not just teaching lessons. It's slapping anyone who claims to be a Christian and the church at large in the face

9:32 and go, hey, guys, we need to talk because that, to me is what makes Salem so powerful. But let's do a brief overview, all right, for those who do not know the Salem witch Trials Salem, Massachusetts, right. The Salem witch Trials were one of the most infamous episodes of mass hysteria and religious extremism in early American history. The Salem Witch Trials were one of the most infamous episodes of mass hysteria and religious extremism and early American history. Mass hysteria and religious extremism. I will argue it was their religion. In many cases, it was their theology that led to the mass hysteria. Now, this entire situation took place between sixteen ninety two and sixteen ninety three, sixteen ninety two and sixteen ninety three, and it occurred in Salem Village. Now, if you ever go visit Salem, everyone should go visit Salem. Everyone should. Everyone should go. Buy a plane ticket, get in a car, go to Salem, Massachusetts.

10:47 Go and do everything you can when you're there. It's an amazing place. However, if you go to Salem, there's all these museums, there's all kinds of things. There be tour guides, there's walking tours, there's just so much. But a lot of times the people sharing things with you, I mean, I'm not trying to be mean, but they just have memorized a script, and a lot of cases they don't really have a lot of working knowledge about the history. So just let me just go ahead and just this is going to be disappointing for some of you if you go to Salem, just remember you're kind of been the wrong place, all right. If you're driving from Boston to Salem, which was what I did my first time there, you're gonna see some road signs for a place. If I remember correctly, I believe you see the road signs for a place called Danvers Danvers, Massachusetts, s DA and ve Rs Danvers, Massachusetts. All right, that's really where you want to go. Now. I love Salem, and trust me. In Salem, the city of Salem as we know it today, there's still a lot there, and there is connection to the Salem Witch trials. Salem has the name Salem Danvers, which would used to be referred to as Salem Village. Well they got rid of it.

12:12 It's like they were like, no, what, we don't want this name, we don't want to be associated with Salem. Let us get rid of the name. And then someone in Salem like, well we'll keep the name Salem here. Well we'll be like this is Salem village versus the city of Salem. We can get into all the distinctions but someone in Salem realized it. I mean, this is what it feels like. Hey, I know this was a really horrible thing that happened, but we could probably make this work in our favor. And well, now it's a you know, how many hundreds of thousands of people descend on Salem every October. It is crazy. But Danvers is kind of like nobody really talks about it. But really what it was called Salem Village at the time, and that is modern day Danvers, Massachusetts. All right, that's really the place. Okay, So all of this takes place between sixteen ninety two and sixteen ninety three. In fact, my next time I go to Boston, I think my priority is going to be go to Danvers first before I'll obviously go back to Salem. Because if I'm going to be anywhere near Boston, I'm going to Salem. Like that's that's almost that's I mean, that's like it's a rule.

13:26 If I'm going to be in Boston, I don't care about Boston. I want to go to Salem. Now, in preparing for a lot of this, I begin to realize, well, maybe I need to go do some walking around Boston. I've done a lot of walking around Boston. Maybe I need to do some more walking around Boston, because Boston, I think is the source of all of the problems here. Okay, in a particular Puritan minister that I think deserves a lot of the blame here. But okay, but we will, we'll get into all of that. So just note this all takes place in sixteen ninety two and sixteen ninety three and what we would refer to as Salem Village at that time, Danvers, Massachusetts and modern times. All right, The trials, the trials plural, resulted in the execution of twenty people, mostly women, and the imprisonment of many others.

14:18 This was all based on accusations of witchcraft. This was rooted in Puritan beliefs, social tensions, and fear of the supernatural. The trials revealed the dangerous consequences of fear driven justice and unchecked authority. Once you can instill fear in people, you instill fear, you give them an enemy, you give them some place. Hey, you need to be fearful. Look over here, that's your enemy. That's the threat, that's the danger. The minute you can have a little bit of fear and you give someone an enemy who cares. I don't care, even within the church, even within Christianity, we don't care about just we don't care about love. We just want well, we just want our the threat to be removed. And we don't care if we conduct ourselves in a correct manner or not. Now, the origins of the hysteria, Now, I'm just gonna for this introduction. I'm just gonna kind of do the origins of what happened right there Salem village, what happens right there at the kind of the beginning.

15:25 We need to take the origin story back. We need to go back to Boston, right, That's what we're where we really need to go. We will get there. We will get there because I because there what happened in Boston. Man, all this story gets just crazy, okay, and nobody talks about this. Everyone wants to run to Salem. Nobody even runs. Everyone skips Danvers. They they don't even bother going there. But you need you need to go to Boston really to kind of figure this all out. But here's where it all kind of started. All right. We go to January sixteen ninety two. Now the trials are kind of March. The first, sixteen ninety two, three hundred and thirty three years ago. But you really need to go back to January of sixteen ninety two, and you have to start with these two young girls. Just keep this in mind.

16:18 Oh this is so crazy, all right, how this all when we put this all together? To me, you should just be blown away by it. But here we go. The witchcraft panic began in January sixteen ninety two when Betty Paris remember that last named Paris pa r rs. When Betty Paris and Abigail Williams now Betty was nine years of age, Abigail was eleven. Please keep that. Keep their ages in mind. They're nine and eleven, all right, keep that in mind. Okay, because you would think adults, You think adults, You think reasonable thinking adults. You know, those those Christians who believe in God, and we supposedly have insight and scriptures gives us light and all that.

17:10 You know, you would think the adults would be able to figure some things out here. But it takes a nine year old and an eleven year old really to forget, you know, striking the match. They like, they put the gas on the they gather all the wood, cover it and gasoline, strike the match, throw in a couple of grenades. I mean there, I mean, really this nine and eleven year old? Really? Oh man? Okay, So Betty, she's nine, Abigail's eleven. They are the daughter and niece of Reverend Samuel Parris. Right, so Betty Paris, pastor's daughter, Abigail Williams, the niece of Reverend Samuel Parris p A. R. R.

17:57 I s. Please remember his Reverend Samuel Parris. And just so that you know, they lived in Boston and moved to Salem our Salem Village, which is Danverse. Okay, he was in Boston, and he was in Boston during a very significant event in history that very much I believe is the origin of the Salem Witch Trials. Everyone says the Salem Witch Trials starts with Betty Parris and Abigail Williams. In some ways it does, but I think it actually begins well, and Boston was something that takes place, and oh that's where we're gonna have to ultimately get but we won't get there now, all right, So so the daughter and niece they begin exhibiting strange and violent fits.

18:50 Soon other young girls in the village including Anne Putnam Putnam Putnam. I think it's how you would say the name. Putnam Junior reported similar symptoms. Right, So you have Betty Paris nine, Abigail eleven, and then you have other young girls in the village who begin to show these strange behavior, violent fits. There's all kinds of theories where they have in seizures. What were they doing or what was these violent fits? Why were they acting so strange? All these things? And then Anne Putnam junior reported similar symptoms, So guess what, They're acting weird, They're acting crazy. There's something going on.

19:32 So they receive medical examinations and they were not able to find a medical explanation. The doctor's like, I don't know, I can't find anything wrong with these kids. I can't. They seem to be perfectly okay, there's nothing wrong. So and thinking, well, if we can't find a medical explanation, you know, do we just need to say, girl, snap out of it? What do you do and stop this? Rightwa? Do you stop playing around? Okay? I know, I know it's in the sixteen hundreds. I know there's no TikTok. I know. Okay, obviously I'm joking. You're bored. Let's find something else to do. No, they don't do that. The adults. The adults, in fact, in this particular case, a doctor diagnoses them. Not with a medical diagnosis. The doctor says, these girls are victims of witchcraft. These girls are victim of witchcraft. Some witch is tormenting them, some witches bewitching them, some witch is doing that. A doctor comes up with this, great what what a great way to go doctor, Way to go, doctor, Okay, way to go. Hey, that's what's going on here. So then the girls are called in, are like, come on, tell us, tell us who is tormenting you? Who who's doing this to you? Tell us we need an answer because there's no medical explanation. Now the girls are now kind of if there's no medical explanation, either the girls have to say, well, we're just messing around.

21:05 We just wanted you to all be scared, or we got to name someone, right. So the girls accuse Tituba t i t u b a Titchapa, Oh, poor Titchuba, she's an enslaved woman and the Paris household. So the pastor has a slave. Okay, we won't get in, we won't get into all of that. Okay, all right, Oh but so the slave woman, this woman is enslaved there and guess what the girls Titchuba our slave. She's doing it to us. She she's the bad person. Oh but wait.

21:48 They also then accuse Sarah Good, who is a poor beggar in town or in the village, I should say, and Salem village at the time, right, they accuse her, So they go after a slave woman, they go after a beggar. You kind of see that they're picking their their ac they're they're they're they are choosing who they're accusing. It seems like these girls may be young, but they seem pretty smart. Who's gonna believe a slave? Who's gonna believe a beggar? I mean, after all, I'm the pastor's daughter, after all, I'm the pastor's niece. We are we would be considered upstanding citizens. A slave, a beggar. Oh, and they often go and they off. They also accuse Sarah Osborne.

22:38 So they accuse Titchiba, they accuse Sarah Good, and they accuse Sarah Osborne. Okay, they accused these three women. Now why why did they go after Sarah Osborne? Well, guess what she She's kind of scandalous because she was known as defying Puritan norms, didn't go along with all the Puritan rules, didn't necessarily want to play the Puritan reindeer games. So the girls go after a slave, they go after a beggar, and they go after a woman who's already probably talked about, you know, because Christians, I mean, of course, Christians never gossip at all. Right, there's never any you know, gossip going on around the Christian table, right, I'm assuming they heard some people talking about her, right, Titchiba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne. There's a lot here I can say about these names, but I won't. I won't get into this right now, all right now. This marked the beginning of a rapidly expanding wave of accusations which ultimately ensnared people from all levels of Salem society. These two girls accused, three women, and chaos erupts, absolute total chaos erupts. In

24:10 March sixteen ninety two, many will say March the first sixteen ninety two formal legal proceedings began, with judges relying heavily on spectral evidence. Keep that in mind, spectral evidence. We'll talk more about that I've talked about it before, and sermons talked about every time I go to Salem and come back, you end up hearing me talk about some of this stuff from the pulpit. All right, we'll talk about that spectral evidence, which is crazy because they go against their own rules. But all right, well we'll talk about that, all right. And when you say, well, what is spectral evidence? That is the claim that a witch's spirit could torment victims even while their physical body was elsewhere. So the girls could say, Ooho, they were tempting me, or they were tormenting me. Not tempting me, they were tormenting me, they were bewitching me. And they'd be like, well, but that woman was here or that woman was there, doesn't have to be it was horror.

25:04 It was her spirit. She showed up. Well, how do you know it was her because she was in my room. She showed up. She was tormenting me, she was bothering me, she was causing me to do these things. But we have proof that she was here or she was there, It doesn't matter spectral evidence. They started accepting the idea that these women's spirits could be so separate from where they were physically, So then the girls could accuse anyone. You didn't need any therefore, you didn't need any evidence. Now, for the most part, even many of the Puritan ministers up to this point condemned the use of spectral evidence. They were like, no, no, no, no, no, no, you can't use this. But all of a sudden, these girls could say they did it, they did it, and they would be like, but they weren't there. Well, it was their spirit kind of thing, so they begin to accept this kind of this kind of accusation. The controversial method of proof blurred the lines between reality and paranoia. So because now you what's real, what's paranoia? All you gonna do is just think or feel this person was doing something and dare I say, or you could just make it up because you had a problem with someone. Well just keep that in mind. Now you had a special court, a special court. Now you may have heard of this.

26:26 Let me see, I think I may play this for you. I think I have it. Yeah, here we go. There was a special court. Maybe you've heard of this, a special court known as Orior and Terminer orir and Terminer. That's the special court that's that's going to be put together, all right, Ori, your and Terminer if I can find this, I had some notes here. So a special court known as the Court of Orir and Terminer was established to handle the trials. So it's a special court. It's known as the Court of Oarrior Oyer, Terminer, Ternr. They are established to handle the trials. Prominent judges. I could give you their name. It's not gonna matter too much unless you visit Salem. Some of these names may mean something, all right, but they preside over the cases. The first person convicted. The first person convicted, Bridget Bishop, was hanged on June tenth, sixteen ninety two. Bridget Bishop is hanged on June tenth, sixteen ninety two. Over the next few months, nineteen more victims, fourteen women and five men were executed by hanging, and one man, Giles Cory, was pressed to death with heavy stones for refusing to enter a plea.

27:57 So twenty people total, nineteen are basically are hung and one Giles Corey, he is pressed to death with heavy stones. They keep putting heavy stones on him, you know, basically confess. He refuses and was basically crushed to death. I mean all in the name of Jesus right, all in the name of Christianity. Okay, yeah, Oh, the whole thing gets messed up right now. By October of sixteen ninety two, the trials began losing credibility prominent figures, including including Increase Mather m A t h R. He is the father of Cotton Mather. Now this is very important. Remember that name, Cotton Mather, Cotton Mather, m A t h e R.

28:51 Do not forget the name Cotton Mather, because he is He was in Boston, and he is. Dare I say he's actually the father of the Salem witch Trials? Can I say Cotton Mather is the father of the Salem witch Trials in many ways? I want to say, yeah, Cotton Mather, Yeah, yeah, he's involved. What's interesting is his father. His name is Increase Mather I N c R e a SE Mather. He is the father of Cotton Mather. He begins to criticize the reliance on spectral evidence. He begins to go, hey, guys, the spectral evidence thing is crazy.

29:34 Anybody can accuse anyone. So we can say, well, Sarah showed up and started tormenting me. Sarah was five hundred miles away doesn't matter spectral evidence. So how do you defend yourself? Now, I was I was here. We know you were here, but your spirit showed up. How did your spirit show up? Well, I mean, I don't know. I didn't do anything. Oh that's what a witch would say. So Massachusetts Governor William Phipps intervened, dissolving the Court of Warrior Interminer and replacing it with a new court that prohibited spectral evidence. So basically, the governor in Massachusetts is like, guys, we forget this court. We need a new kind of court, and you cannot use spectral evidence. That's got to go now.

30:24 From my understanding, and I don't know if it was Phipps himself, but I think it's someone in Phipps's family gets accused of being a witch, and then all of a sudden he's like, no, no more spectral evidence. This is all gotta stop. Yeah, nobody cared until someone in power gets accused, and then all of a sudden, the people in power are like, what hey, guys, you can't accuse anybody in my family. This has got to stop now. I don't know if it's exactly that way, because again, you hear stories you have to constantly do confirmation and we will work on some of these things to see what we can find or not find. All right, So, as a result of him basically changing the evidence, many of the remaining accused were acquitted or had their sentences commuted.

31:07 By May sixteen ninety three, Governor Phipps officially a pardon the remaining prisoners, effectively ending the Salem witch trials. However, the damage had already been done. Twenty people dead, two hundred people accused, and there were deep scars left in the community. Don't you think there was some deep scars left in that community? Yeah? Yeah, your child that they accused my so and so of being a witch? What is wrong with you people? I mean so obviously there was. There was some deep rooted problems here, deep rooted problems here, deep rooted problems. Now the Salem witch trials should they should be? They should? And I stress this because I don't think for most people. I don't think most people care.

31:57 I mean, look, I've been in Salem in October, been Salem in July. I've been in Salem at different times, and you know, I love to watch everyone, you know, watching and looking at things and so many times you can just tell that the people there it's fun. It's like, oh, Salem scary, which is vampires, you know, satanist you know, seances, you know, uh, there's you know, palm readers, and there's there's there's there's fortune tellers. There's just all kinds of stuff in the city. And it's like a big game. It's like a it's like everyone wants to play dress up and play and it's and and and on one hand, I understand why, I understand the the interest in it, and just because Salem is just a really like telling you, there's a feeling that comes over you in the city.

32:49 It's amazing. But it there's a part of me that's said because I'm like, is anybody learning the lessons here? Is anyone learning the lessons here? Anybody? Now? The average person there, they can go and do whatever. Anyone, though, who walks into the city who claims to be a Christian or just Christians who've never even been to Salem, if you haven't learned the lessons of Salem, it really bothers me because I think every Bible college, every seminary should really talk about how Salem serves as a powerful cautionary tell about the dangers of mass hysteria, religious fanaticism, and a very flawed judicial process. A very flawed judicial process.

33:33 And I will say the flawed judicial process is because they probably relied on Christianity way too much. Oh, I'm going to take off a lot of Christians. Christians like to think if people would just think like us and act like us, everything will be perfect. History seems to argue against that. One could argue that the Salem witch trials expose the fragility of justice and a time of crisis, and it led to future legal reforms. Yah, there needed to be some serious legal reforms coming out of the Salem witch trials, including greater skepticism of spectral evidence. No, no, it shouldn't have led to skepticism about spectral evidence. It should have been thrown out as some lunatics believing in this stuff. And it began to give the idea that maybe we need concrete proof in illegal proceeding. Maybe maybe we need some concrete proof today Salem. I think I think it's fair to say stands as a historical reminder of those tragic events. I think I mean those tragic events are still remembered. When people go to Salem, I think it turns into a party, you know. But I think the tragic events are still very much at the forefront. There.

34:54 There are numerous sites, there's museums, and there's ongoing research dedicated to understanding why such panic unfolded and how we can prevent history from repeating itself. Now, I will argue that nobody's going to learn the lessons and we're going to continue to repeat that history. I don't think anyone's going to learn the lessons. The fact there's ongoing research, I think that's awesome. I would love to meet those researchers. But I can continue to do my own research and have my own ideas about what occurred. Now, I want to give you five significant reasons. I want to give you five significant reasons why the church and Christians should study the Salem witch Trials. I think every church, I think every youth department, every church should have at least a study on the Salem Witch Trials, maybe every few years.

35:50 I think the kids need to learn about what I mean, really, the kids definitely need to learn about what happened the same witch trials because there was two girls who started all of the nonsense. And you said, but you said, it starts in Boston. Boston. Oh, just wait till you hear how it starts in Boston. Just wait, just wait. It is crazy. It is crazy. What went down in Boston? Okay? Yeah, forget the Boston tea party, all right, forget the Boston Celtics, forget the forget anything about Boston. Just yeah, whoa what happened there? Okay? All right, all right, we'll get to that. All right, But here's the five reasons why I think Christians should study and learn about the Salem Witch Trials.

36:31 Your church should. If you're a homeschool Uh, if you're a homeschool parent, you need to teach your kids about the Salem Witch Trials, right, and then you need to take a field trip to Salem. All right, here we go, right, yeah, it's you have to Number one, I think we should study and learn. Here's here's some key reasons why we should study and learn from the Salem Witch Trials. Number one, I think we learned the danger of religious extremism. And oh, I'm just gonna put these together, the danger of religious extremism and the misinterpretation of scripture. The danger of religious extremism and the misinterpretation of script. When you see Salem and you read about everything, I'm like, maybe if people had some I don't know, basic hermeneutics, we wouldn't end up in this nonsense. Okay, maybe I don't know, but hey, the same kind of thing that I that I learned about in Salem, I watched it play out right here in West Texas, right right here in West Texas as a teenager during the Great Satanic Scare. That it's talked about in popular culture, I think stranger things they talked about it. It's talked about in popular culture because here in West Texas when I was a teenager, there was like, oh, there's teams of Satanists marching around trying to kidnap children.

37:59 We're all gonna die. We gotta be careful. Satan is everywhere. And then churches were holding these rock conferences. Oh, this Satan is in the music. And if you listen to this music, demons, we'll crawl out of the speakers and they will get it. We'll get you. And Satan is here. And if you play this song backwards, it's evil messages from Satan. Oh and do this, And I remember at least one year, many of the small towns around here they gave a curfew on Halloween night. I can't remember exactly which year there was a curfew and no kids could be out after Dart because they were fearful of Satanists kidnapping and sacrificing children. It was it got that crazy mass hysteria, panic, paranoia, craziness. And you talk about scriptures being ripped out of context, it was like it was like a crazy just It was an explosion of insanity, and I watched it all unfold right here in West Texas. Well, it happened way before West Texas when I was a teenager.

39:02 Goes all the way back to the sixteen ninety two, all right. So the Puritan leaders of Salem, even though they were deeply committed to their faith, I think they had a zeal without wisdom and it led to misguided theology that justified persecution. They were committed to their faith. I'm not gonna die. I'm not gonna be one of those. Oh, those Puritans weren't real believers. They were committed to their faith. They had a zeal for their faith, but there was no wisdom and it led it to It led to a misguided theology, and it justified persecution. I mean, obviously they were justifying other things as well, but we could get into all of that. Basically, they began to take scriptures about spiritual warfare and resisting evil, were taking to extreme interpretations, and it began to fuel fear and hysteria rather than truth than justice. They had they had bibles, you know, and people were taking their Bibles and oh how about this scripture and the scripture and next thing, you know, well, it was chaotic. And one of the best things to do when you study the Salem witch Trials is to go research the sermons preached prior to the beginning of the witch trials, the sermons that were preached during the witch trials, and the sermons that were preached immediately after. And you need to track down a copy of a specific book written by a specific person

40:32 who I think is the father of the Salem witch Trials. I already mentioned his name. Well, we're going to talk about that book and great detail, because that book, that book is the problem in my mind. All right, But so the church must always ensure that zeal for righteousness, our zeal for our faith is guided by some kind of actual wisdom, some proper hermeneutic, some sound doctrine, some idea of biblical justice, not fear based reaction and cultural pressure and cultural war and all the craziness. No, no, we have to say, look, we want zeal for our Christianity, but we don't allow it to be hijacked by fear and bad theology and prejudice and bigotry and politics. I think we have a scripture. In fact, I'm going to reach down here. I don't have my normal Bible because it's in the book bag way over there at the top of the stairs here to the studio. But I can see if I can find this scripture, because I think this is a good scripture right here to memorize, or not well, maybe even to memorize, but to definitely quote right here. Let's go to Second Timothy. I think you already know where I'm going to go. Let's go to Second Timothy, chapter one, verse seven. Now this has specific textual context, but I think I think it's fair

42:04 to quote this here two Timothy one seven. For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound mind. Now now Christians. You have to hear that so many especially. I mean I was watching some conference the other day on the Sermon's two point o app and it was like, you know, oh, there's this group and this group and they're trying to take over this and they're trying to and here are the elites and they're coming after us, and Satan is going to use this. And it's like, you know, the liberals and wokeism and whoever the new enemy is, whoever it is. We Christians love to create this sense of we have an enemy and we need to be worried or concerned because it's gonna destroy us. But the Bible says, no, God is not giving you the spirit of fear. Stop with the fear, stop with the panic, stop with the worry.

42:52 Stop thinking everything is gonna everything that goes bump in the night is going to kill you. And maybe we need a spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind. We need to have logic and reason and rationality and correct understanding of scripture and stop allowing our fear and dehumanizing and creating enemies so that we start thinking like I don't know, crazy wacked out conspiracy theorist and paranoia and superstition, and fear and insanity. So the first, I think main reason we need to study the Salem witch trials is because of the danger of religious extremism and misinterpretation of scripture. Second, the dangers of false accusations and bearing false witness. The false accusations and Salem led to the destruction of many innocent lives. Many of the accusers accusers acted out of personal grudges, fear, or pressure from others. Please note that many of the accusations were made out of personal grudges. I don't like you, Boom, I'm gonna accuse you of this. This is where you dehumanize your enemy. Now, Christians have been playing this game way before the sixteen hundreds, but it's very popular today. Look, we don't like them, we can accuse them of whatever.

44:22 We can accuse them. We can accuse them and accuse them and call them names because we dehumanize our enemy. And then we just attack, attack, attack, attack, attack, attack, attack, making any claim that we want. Beyonce is the Illuminati, Taylor Swift as a Satanist, Taylor Swift as a witch. Whatever, we can say whatever we want about anybody. Well, guess what. I don't know. I thought the Bible said something about not making false accusations, not bearing false witness. But Christians don't care. If we go after some politician or celebrity whom we don't like or agree with, we feel like we can accuse them of anything, we can call them names.

45:02 We haven't learned a thing from the Salem witch trials. The biblical command against bearing false witness was ignored in a rush to eliminate perceived evil. Christians must uphold truth and due process, resisting the temptation to judge others without clear and just evidence. We must be careful on how we handle accusations, whether in the church and personal relationships are in society. Oh, I think it's still in my Bible. I don't know. I mean it is twenty twenty five. It is three hundred and thirty three years after the Salem witch Trials, or at the at the three hundred and thirty three years from the beginning of the Salem witch trials. Exodus twenty three to one Exodus twenty three to one, thous shall not rise or raise a false report, Put not thine hand with the wicked, to be an unrighteous witness. Do not raise a false report. I don't care if you're talking about Beyonce. I don't care if you're talking about Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga. I can just go name every I can start with. You can go all the way back to Ozzy Osbourne Kiss. It doesn't matter that I can go from old to new musical acts.

46:26 Christians have been lying about musical artists, I don't know forever behind the pulpit. They said lies about the Beatles, they said lies about Elvis Presley, lies, and you just go on and not Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, lies, lies, misrepresentations, And you know what, nobody in the church stinking cares. They don't care if it's true, lie, lie, false, accusation, false, Who cares if it destroys their career? Who cares if it hurts them? Because we're doing it in the name of Jesus. We care about Jesus. And you don't stink in care about truth or anybody other than you're stinking supposed care for doctrine impurity. Well, when your supposed concern for doctrine impurity means you destroy people's lives, because of half truths, misrepresentations and false accusations that maybe you need to look in the stink and mirror because what needs to be cleaned is yourself. I get sick of it. And we did an entire episode where there was some pastor ooh, who Taylor Swift and oh this represents this and it's satanic and it's this, and it's like and it completely lied and misrepresented everything that was going on. And that concert performance of Taylor Swift we saw this with Beyonce was Illuminati, Illuminati, Illuminati, Illuminati, Illuminati.

47:49 Even Toby Mack from DC Talk Christian artist. I can't remember the name of the album, but it had like a picture of the eye and they were like, oh, that's the all seeing eye of a Toby Mack is even Illuminati. Accuse accusations, accusations, accusations, accusations, fraudulent misinformation, half truths, and pastors will stand behind the pulpit share this stuff, lie of people. You know what, Nobody do Pastors who do that ever get in trouble. Do they even have to come back and apologize. They don't have to come back and apologize. Nobody cares. Now, dare he say something negative about I don't know things Christians like. If he says something maybe not quite accurate about I don't know even if it's accurate, to probably get in trouble. But if it's accurate about Donald Trump, oh they'll get mad.

48:39 Oh you can say anything you want about Nancy Pelosi, or you can say anything you want about Hillary Clinton or any anybody else. That's okay, but make sure you don't see anything negative about our favorite politicians and our favorite Christian celebrity. The dangers of false accusations and bearing false witness. It happened in Salem, and it's been going on in the church forever. We attack and we accuse. Number three. These are the reasons we need to study what happened at Salem. The role of fear and mass hysteria and distorting judgment. It was fear and mass hysteria.

49:24 That's that's what impacted how they were making their judgment. The trials were driven by fear, fear of the unknown, fear of the supernatural, fear of divine judgment. Mass hysteria blinded people to reason, mercy and justice, leading to tragic outcomes. Look, I've seen pastors so and still fear into parents that oh, your kids could have this album in their room and they're gonna become demon possessed. And the parents are like, ah, go run into the room, open the door. Where's your music? We gotta burn this album. We're gonna get Satan out of this house. You're like, what you want to slap them in the face. What are you doing? You're losing your mind. You're being manipulated. It's fear, superstition, paranoia, insanity.

50:08 There's no reason, there's no logic, there's no wisdom. Oh I remember when Oh Dungeons and Dragons? Remember that? Oh man, I remember when that controversy was spreading. Oh, if you play Dungeons and Dragons, you're gonna be possessed by a demon. Oh my goodness, we got to burn these board games. We gotta get rid of this. This is the end of the world. Just stop it. Every single and it's almost always parents who have no clue what they're even talking about. They just heard some pastors say, ooh, this musical artists is a part of the illuminati. Oh no, my kids can't listen to it. It's the end of the world. Fear should never be the foundation for your decision making as a Christian, and not in the church, not in your personal life. The Christian life should be marked by faith, should be marked by discernment, should be marked by wisdom, not insane panic. The Church must guard against fear based movements that rely on emotion rather than sound theology and biblical truth. Whenever you're getting all worked up and it's like this, just stop it, stop stop it, and you still see these videos sometimes all over YouTube and Christian YouTube. Ooh exposed, I saw the I saw just the other day. Ooh exposed. How many of our top celebrities today are actual witches? Ooh oh no, remember when there was all of the panic. Disney movies are

51:39 sending subliminal messages. Oh no, don't watch The Little Mermaid, don't watch this. It's satanic, it's evil. They're trying to get into your kid's brain. They're gonna make them evil. Your kid was born evil for crying out out stop with your nonsense. And it was like, we're not gonna watch Disney movies. Oh no, we're not gonna watch this. Oh no, don't look here, No, don't don't do don't poke out my eyes, rip off my ears, say is everywhere, it's gonna get inside of me. It's the same hysteria, same craziness. And then we move on to the next thing. All of a sudden, we forget that. Oh wait, the Disney was the greatest threat to the world. Oh no, now it's the illuminati. Oh wait, wait, wait, now it's this.

52:22 Oh wait, now now it's this. Oh wait, now it's this. Oh wait, now it's this. We just wait for the next thing to be fearful of, and then guess what we have to do. We gotta go buy these books, and we got to buy these DVDs, and we got to attend these conferences so that we can be equipped and we can be prepared to defend ourselves. Oh it's LGBTQ. Oh it's transgenderism. It's always the next thing that's out to destroy you. I gone. I have gone through so many of these cycles as a Christian. What am I supposed to be fearful of today? What are we supposed to be worried about today? What's going to destroy us today? What books do I need to buy today? What conference do I need to sign up for? What to do? Because they're all coming out to get me? Just leave you in a perpetual state of fear, a perpetual state of concern. And guess what, it's always weird. You're supposed to be in a perpetual state of fear and concern, and there's always someone there who's there to help you, only if you buy their book for nineteen ninety nine or sign up for their conference for fifty dollars. And it weird that the people who come to help you always will help you if you give them money. All of their helps are always behind a paywall. You don't catch on to the game you're being played. Now, Am I saying there's never a situation to be concerned. I'm not saying that. But it's concern based off thoughtful, considerate rational thought and consideration, not fear, not paranoia, not false accusations,

53:53 not half truths, not misrepresentations, not fraudulent information, And so many times all of the accusations turn out to be half truths misinformation, are just absolute fraudulent bearing false witness. And the Christians who get caught up in it, the Christians never come back and apologize. And guess what, You're not going to get a refund for all the money you spent and getting all the things you need to supposedly defend yourself so that Satan won't come creeping into your room at two in the morning. The church must guard against a fear based movement. We must not rely on our emotion. We must rely on sound theology and biblical truth. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God Philippians four to six. Stop being filled with worry and anxiety and fear and panic because religious leaders give you that so they can sell you the supposed medicine. And in many cases they're selling you a medicine for something that's not even really much of a threat. Because your biggest threat in your Christian life is not all of these things everyone points out. It's what's inside of you. It's called your sinful nature. The thing that's gonna cause you the greatest problems in your Christian life, the thing that's going to cause you to stumble, the thing that's going to cause you to fall, the things that's going to cause you to be unforgiving, unloving, filled with lust, hate, wrath, gluttony, slothfulness, and all every

55:24 other kind of sin. It's coming from inside the house. It's coming inside of you. It's not Netflix, it's not Hollywood, it's not the Illuminati, it's not a team of Satanists. It's not rock music. It's not rap music. It's not Taylor Swift. It's inside of you. That's where the problem has always been and always will be. So why should we study the Salem witch trials Because the danger of religious extremism and misrepresentation and misinter pmtation of scriptures number two, The dangers of false accusations and bearing false witness number three, The role of fear and mass hysteria and distorting judgment number four, the misuse of spiritual warfare and an over emphasis on the devil. The Puritan leaders in Salem were obsessed with the idea that Satan was actively working inside the church. While spiritual warfare may be real, they failed to balance this belief with biblical discernment grace, leading to wrong convictions. But it basically started, Satan is inside this room.

56:39 Some of you are basically filled with Satan. That you're The person sitting next to you could be a witch. The person next to you could have Satan working in them. You can't trust anyone. They're out to get us. Run. Satan is here. We're all doomed. The Bible acknowledges the reality of spiritual warfare, but it teaches that we should focus on Christ, not be consumed by fear of the devil. Obsession with finding supposed hidden evil secret societies leads to paranoia, division, and typically accusing innocent people of wrong doing. James four seven says, submit yourselves to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. We start with our submission to God. And when we submit to God, then we submit to God. And hopefully our rationality are thinking, not bearing false witness, not being consumed with fear and anxiety and worry in paranoia. So why do we need Why does the church today need to study the Salem witch trials?

57:54 Number one because the danger of religious extremism and misrepresentation of scripture. Not only was that going on in the sixteen hundred, it's still going on today. Number two, The dangers of false accusations and bearing false witness, Same thing still going on in the church today. Number three, the role of fear and Massysterian distorting judgment. Same thing goes on today. Number four the misuse of spiritual warfare and no for emphasis on the devil, and number five the need for justice, mercy, and humility and Christian leadership. Many leaders in Salem failed to show mercy, they didn't show any humility. Instead, they used their power to crush dissenters and justify cruel punishments. This abuse of spiritual authority hurt the church's witness and led to a long lasting distrust of religious institutions. Just it's crazy when you go to Salem or Boston, there was like you know, there was the headquarters for the Puritans. In many ways, that area is not the headquarters to Puritanism anymore. Okay, it's long gone.

59:00 Christian leaders must model justice, mercy, and humility. The Church should never rush to judgment, but seek fairness, repentance, and restoration. Leaders must acknowledge our past failures. All of us have failed, every church, every denomination, every pastor, every Christian, every deacon, every Sunday school teacher. We are in We not only have we sinned, we are in sin right now as we speak, and we will continue to be in sin. We need to strive to reflect Christ and how we handle conflict and accusations Micah six'. Eight he has told, you oh, man what is good and what does The lord require of? You but to do justice and to love, kindness and to walk humbly with Your. God The salem witch trials serve as a sobering warning about how, fear how false, accusations how bad, theology and the abuse of power Corrupts christian. Community The salem witch trials are a warning to you to me how, fear how false, accusations how bad, theology and how the abuse of power corrupts The christian. Community, so As, christians what can we? Do what should we? Do we must pursue truth and justice and all things we have to avoid hysteria and emotional emotional.

1:00:29 Judgment so we need to pursue truth and. Justice we need to avoid hysteria and emotional. Judgment we need to reject fear based theology and fear based. Paranoia we must seek, Wisdom we must seek, Discernment we must seek. Mercy we need to try to ensure that all of us that we reflect humility and grace in our. Lives so what do we do As christians when we Consider? Salem we have to become dedicated to pursuing truth and justice and all things, truth not, misrepresentations not false. Accusations we need to avoid hysteria and emotional. Judgment we must reject fear based theology and. Paranoia we must seek, wisdom, discernment and.

1:01:23 Mercy and we must ensure that we reflect humility and grace to the best of our. Ability are we going to do any of these things? Correctly, no we're gonna fall, short but we should pursue. THEM i didn't say we would achieve, this but we pursue. It and if you AND, i and if your kids and your family and your church will learn from The Salem Witch, trials the, church you me as, individuals hopefully we can guard ourselves against making the same stupid mistakes. Go my journey into The Salem Witch trials was An october, night twenty eighteen for freezing outside. COLD i went to The Salem Witch, museum and my life has never been the same because it had that profound of an impact on. Me three hundred and thirty three years Ago march the first sixteen ninety, two those first three women that were, accused that's where they're, interrogated that's where they're, investigated that's where they were. EXAMINED i gave you kind of an introduction to The Salem Witch.

1:02:40 TRIALS i kind of give you a. SUMMARY i talked about the origins and the. Hysteria remember it started with two young, Girls Betty paris nine years, Old Abigail williams. Eleven, Okay remember they accuse three, Women, titchiba which is the enslaved. Woman they Accused Sarah good who was a, beggar and they Accused Sarah, osborne who was a woman who well didn't follow The puritan. Rules the trials really kind of began Again march sixteen ninety. TWO i would Say march. First that's when they really start getting. Examined and then you have The Bridget bishop is the first woman Hung june, tenth sixteen ninety. Two ultimately you have twenty, victims fourteen, women five, men and they were all executed by hanging except one, Man Giles, corey who's pressed to, death pile rocks on. Him basically, confess, confessed and at The Salem Witch, trials at The Salem Which, museum the Main Salem Which, museum there's a lot of. Differentness there's two parts of.

1:03:52 It there's like these all these, displays and they kind of take you through it and tell you different things about the displays and what this, represents and what this represents a little bit about the. Area and then the other you sit in this large like theater and they kind of act out a little bit about the witch trials and they talk about Uh, tishuba they talk ABOUT i think they talk About sarah good there And Sarah, osborne about the girls making the accusations and all of. That and it starts off two, girls these young, girls and next, thing you, know these men of religious, learning these men of, theology these men of, doctrine the leaders in the, city parents lose their ever living mind because two girls start acting crazy and the doctors, like this is, witchcraft and they're, like y, know you're, right it's. Witchcraft but, again doesn't really start. THERE i think there's two. GIRLS i think there was a reason they decided to, say or, well once the doctor said it was, WITCHCRAFT i think the girls then knew what to. Do AND i think there's a reason they knew what to. DO i think it all started In. BOSTON i think that's where it.

1:05:10 All we have to go back To, boston but we can't do that right, now there is The salem Witch, Trials, Salem. Massachusetts Now i've, got like, LITERALLY i got notes and. Notebooks HERE i GOT i got pages and pages of notes and, thoughts And i've got now good thing is there Was Before, AI i would have to kind of put it. All NOW i can just kind of, say, Hey, ai here's, this here's, this here's, this here's, this here's The can you help me put this all? Together can you help me organize? This And ai has been doing a lot of help and organizing and shaping a lot of.

1:05:56 This BECAUSE i got my stuff scattered all over the. Place i'm, like, well, okay what about this? Part what about this? Part and it was it Was ai who just gave me a little tidbit about a very famous book and that was that was published before The salem Witch trials and there's a part where It and as soon as it described it in the, BOOK i was, like oh, wait, wait, wait, wait stop right, there, stop stop forget everything. Else we're on to. Something and well we'll get to that when we. Can all, right thank you for. Listening, everyone have a Great. MONDAY i hope that went. WELL i wanted it to be, perfect. RIGHT i wanted it to be, perfect SO i started to have to explain the wind in the. BACKGROUND i don't even think the wind was that bad during the, broadcast SO i probably should have just Went you. Know it all started In october of twenty. Eighteen it was. COLD i got in a car AND i left one city to drive to another, city, right AND i wanted to just start the broadcast that, way BUT i had to make a decision on the. Spot you, Know i'm getting these weather, warnings you, know, hey And i'm, like, well it's going to mess everything. Up so, Yeah it's almost LIKE i could do the presentation. BETTER i KNOW i.

1:07:15 COULD i KNOW i. CAN'T i KNOW i can make it more, INTERESTING i KNOW i. Can but ALL i can do is try to give you a LOT i want you to take away from. It it's not the it's not only the history those lessons because those, lessons you, know you may not liked the WAY i described some of, that But i've seen a lot of the. Same to, Me i've seen the same nonsense that happened In salem play out in much smaller ways because it doesn't necessarily always lead to, obviously twenty people. Dying but it's the same, insanity the same, chaos the same accusations and craziness and paranoia and fear and and uh, no no, rationality no, truth, no, no it's just. Insane and when you try to talk people out of, it you just you just never. Mind they always got some reason. Why you just don't get, It you don't. See and there's people WHO i try to warn that they're just following a path of vanity and meaningless and lies and. Conspiracy they never come back and, say, WELL i think you're possibly, right because the WAY i was, going we should all basically be you, know marked put in A fema camp and dad by, now, yeah because you were buying into fear and political rhetoric and political manipulation and political. Theater but it's hard for people who get pulled in to EVERY i, mean how many of the people In. SALEM i wonder who actually. Apologized it took a long. Time the problem starts In. BOSTON i don't THINK i think it TOOK i think it was nineteen eighty, eight maybe nineteen eighty eight or nineteen ninety.

1:08:48 Eight i'd have to look Where boston finally kind of acknowledged what happened. Again boston is really the epicenter in my, opinion and look put out by A. Puritan, yeah all, right we'll talk more in our next episode as we kind of really dig in and try to understand The salem witch trials to the best of our. Ability thanks for, Listening god bless