They claimed demonic witchcraft had no biblical justification, it was a type of witchcraft that was absent from the scriptures. Therefore though the bible still wrote of witches to exist, the writers condemned the type of witchcraft that was attributed to the devil, the type of witch that was popularly hunted. .
Scot's 'Discoverie of Witchcraft,' written 1584, claimed that most accused were in fact innocent of witchcraft. Events that did occur, happened by the will of God and not witches. His work proved to be very persuasive, as his view came to be the 'standard skeptical position' shared by others. (Thomas 1971, p. 684) Therefore with all these new theories challenging traditional views, by the eighteenth century witch hunts appeared pointless and ignorant. It seemed futile to hunt people which these new works claimed not to exist. However it must also be taken into consideration that most scientific discoveries were made after witch hunts came to a end, and that most writers published their work after judicial systems already started to become stricter and reluctant in persecuting innocent people accused of witchcraft (Griffiths, N. 2010). Therefore, while the changing of the educated mind did certainly have an impact on the ending of witch hunts, it can not be the only reason. .
The development of the judicial system was extremely significant in ending the witch hunts. Here the judges and officials held influence over whether a case had enough evidence to convict. These people who continually had to witness the mass trials that took place gradually began to question the sanity of condemning innocent people to torture and execution. They examined the negative effects that was brought upon society, as people were encouraged to watch their neighbors in suspicion, and that the means of the way the trials took place were inhumane and cruel. The use of torture had allowed witch hunts to continue in large numbers, therefore the eventual reduction in tormenting the convicted helped to contribute to the decline of witch hunts.
