Belief that people could be possessed by the Devil or his demons soon gave rise to a collective paranoia​—a hysterical fear of sorcery and witchcraft. From the 13th to the 17th century, fear of witches swept across Europe and reached North America with the European colonists. Even the Protestant reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin approved of witch-hunts. In Europe witch trials based on mere rumor or malicious denunciations were conducted by both the Inquisition and secular courts. Torture was commonly used to extort confessions of “guilt.”

Those found guilty could be sentenced to death either by burning or, in England and Scotland, by hanging. As to the number of victims, The World Book Encyclopedia states: “From 1484 to 1782, according to some historians, the Christian church put to death about 300,000 women for witchcraft.” If Satan was behind this medieval tragedy, who were his instruments​—the victims or their fanatic religious persecutors?

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Fear of witches led to the execution of hundreds of thousands

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From the book Bildersaal deutscher Geschichte