John Hale (minister)

The Reverend John Hale
Title page of A Modest Enquiry Into the Nature of Witchcraft by John Hale (Boston, 1702)
Born	John Hale June 3, 1636 (1636-06-03) Charlestown, Massachusetts Bay Colony
Died	May 15, 1700(1700-05-15) (aged 63) Salem, Province of Massachusetts Bay
Education	Harvard College
Occupation	Pastor
Known for	Minister associated with the Salem witch trials
Spouses	Rebecca Byles ​ ​ (m. 1664; died 1683)​ Sarah Noyes ​ (m. 1656⁠–⁠1697)​

John Hale (June 3, 1636 – May 15, 1700) was the Puritan pastor of Beverly, Massachusetts, and took part in the Salem witch trials in 1692. He was one of the most prominent and influential ministers associated with the witch trials, being noted as having initially supported the trials and then changing his mind and publishing a critique of them.

His book, A Modest Enquiry Into the Nature of Witchcraft was published posthumously, two years after his death. The book provides an alternative Christian theory for what actually happened in Salem in 1692, with Hale theorizing that demons impersonated the accused and appeared in their forms to the afflicted. He most likely changed his views about those executed for "being witches" after his own wife was accused of being a witch, though never prosecuted.