Recite The Bible Flawlessly From Memory
PixabayAccused witches were forced to publicly recite the Bible without any mistakes. Errors were deemed evidence of their association with the Devil.
One of the most commonly held tenets of witch lore was that anyone who played with evil would not be able to speak the words of scripture. As such, a frequent witch test required the accused to recite prayers from memory.
Based on the belief that witches could not speak words from the Bible, only the innocent would be able to recite scripture without any mistakes or falters. This left little margin for error and any stumbling of words could be construed as evidence of the accused’s guilt.
Cotton Mather, an influential Puritan minister in 17th-century New England, defended the prayer test as one of the most reliable ways to detect a witch, according to a letter he sent to a judge:
“I should not be unwilling that an experiment be made whether accused parties can repeat the Lord’s Prayer, or those other systems of Christianity which, it seems, the devils often make the witches unable to repeat without ridiculous depravations or amputations.”
Many of the accused were peasants likely because they were unable to read the Bible simply because they were illiterate. But this reading test was also difficult because even if the accused had memorized the Bible, they might be unable to speak in public due to nerves — indeed, their very life was on the line.
The Print Collector/Getty ImagesMartha Corey, one of the accused witches in the Salem Witch Trials. She was found guilty and executed by hanging.
For example, in 1712, accused witch Jane Wenham was condemned after she supposedly struggled to speak the phrases “forgive us our trespasses” and “lead us not into temptation” during her witch test.
Those who knew the Bible by heart were not safe from accusations of devil worship, either. As he stood on the gallows before his execution for witchcraft in Salem, Reverend George Burroughs recited the Bible perfectly — and was still executed on the grounds that his perfect performance had been a trick by the Devil.
