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Witchcraft
Question from a
"post-Christian" (ex-fundamentalist): Are there really
witches, or only New Agers and others thinking they are? If they exist now, why did we
stop burning them in the 18th Century? (Do you suspect, as I do, that some of those
witches may have been innocent unfortunates? Should we re-instate the process?
Yes, there are really witches. Some
call themselves Wiccan, other are proud to be called pagans.
Yes, many of the so-called
"witches" who were burned during the middle ages or later were simply women
who looked or acted differently, who didn't pass a certain "weight" test, or
who were victims of false accusation and public distrust. See Biblical versus Cultural Christianity.
No, of course the burning of
witches should not be re-instated. Jesus taught us to love and forgive as we live and
walk among the people of the world. We are called to be "in the world" but
not "of the world." That implies that we demonstrate His love to those
caught up in witchcraft but abstain from their practices. In America and elsewhere,
witches have as much right to express their beliefs as do Christians.
Runes & Witchcraft:
Question:
One of
the speakers on the [televised National Geographics] show (I don't know if he
was a witch or not) said PRECISELY what Voldemort says at the end of Harry
Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: basically that there is no good or evil, only
power. The Cornish witch was using quotes from the Bible (!) to cast a blood
spell just before he slices his hand open. He drips the blood onto a printout
of Bible verses.
I
am not slamming this poor deceived man because I did the same thing nine
years ago by carving runes into a stick and pricking my finger to bleed onto
them. When I lived in the Bay Area, I went to the spring equinox celebrations
of an Asatru group called Freya's Folk. Most of them were very kind and polite
and I'm sure none of them realized what they were doing was evil. I knew it.
and I still participated in it 'till God revealed to me through nightmares and
hallucinations exactly what kind of horrors I was fooling around with. I'm
glad He did!
Oh
yeah, the Cornish witch used a spell when he was a kid to get revenge on a
thug at school, like Harry Potter.
One question I have about runes: are they evil in and of themselves? I like
writing in runes, specifically the Elder Futhark, but I don't ascribe any
supernatural power to them. I don't think I ever really did. I knew all along
that I was doing evil, that nature and inanimate objects had no power of their
own, and that the spirits were demons. But I was still dumb enough to try to
convince myself that dabbling in Paganism was safe.
I
was an ulfhedhinn or werewolf, i.e., I had a dog/wolf familiar that I hope
I've gotten rid of. I think it was a demon that took the form of a dog because
it knew I liked animals in the dog family. I even tried to do shape-shifting
even though I knew I couldn't really change into an animal.
I
don't practice Paganism any more, so I would like to know if it's safe to
write in runes just as a form of alphabet and not as a religious practice. If
I draw a picture with a Viking/Norse theme I like to sign my last name in
runes. If runes are always connected with demons I'll get rid of the Futhark
font on my Mac. (I'm gladI
found a Scandinavian Christian to ask about this.) Fortunately I now have a
real, God-created flesh-and-blood pet dog, not a demonic-familiar cheap
imitation.Answer:
Originally, the
Norse runes were primarily a way of writing messages -- like hiroglypics or
(as you said) our modern alphabet. But they were also used in occult rituals
to transmit energies or invoke occult forces. In our times, thanks in part to
Tolkien, the latter use is gaining popularity. Any ritual object showing runes
can continue to cause spiritual trouble through demonic attachments. Since you
were involved in the occult, it's all the more important for you to eliminate
all traces of the old symbols and links to those dark forces.
Yes, please get rid
of the Futhark font right away. By earnest prayer -- affirming the freeing
victory that Christ won for us at cross and the power of His blood to cleanse
you from all occult entanglements -- "clean" your home of all the old stuff
associated with paganism.
Magic
Question:
When
is majic okay? This has become an issue in our house. Is the use of majic in Thomas Tank
Engine movie okay or what about the Hobbit. We do not wish to be legalistic in our
household but are looking for some standards that are clear cut. I know the bible speaks
against wizards, sorcery and divination but how is this applied to the world we know.
Are fairy tales acceptable? Just trying to stay ahead of my young children.
Answer:
(This is only the
beginning of an answer.) You ask good questions. First let's see what God tells
us:
"And many who had believed came confessing and
telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their
books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the
value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the
word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed." Acts 19:18-20 [These verses have
become offensive to many, especially those who consider burning a book more
offensive than swearing or dishonoring God.]
"There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his
son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices
witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or
one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For
all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these
abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you.You
shall be blameless before the Lord your God. For these nations
which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the
Lord your God has not appointed such for you." Deuteronomy 18:9-12
"For rebellion is as the sin of
witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He also has rejected you from being king." 1 Samuel
15:23
"They
shall come upon you in their fullness
Because
of the multitude of your sorceries,
For
the great abundance of your enchantments.
For
you have trusted in your wickedness;
You
have said, ‘No one sees me’;
Your
wisdom and your knowledge have warped you....
Stand
now with your enchantments
And
the multitude of your sorceries,
In
which you have labored from your youth....
Let now the astrologers, the stargazers
and
the monthly prognosticators
Stand
up and save you from
what shall come upon you."
Isaiah 47:9-12
Next, consider the wisdom of godly
Christians whose biblical understanding was not compromised by today's emphasis on
personal pleasure, good feelings, multicultural "tolerance" and a
"creative imagination.".
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Magic ...
All
magical arts were distinctly prohibited under penalty of death in the Mosaic law. The
Jews were commanded not to learn the “abomination” of the people of the Promised
Land (Lev. 19:31; Deut. 18:9–14). The history of Saul’s consulting the witch of
Endor (1 Sam. 28:3–20) gives no warrant for attributing supernatural power to
magicians. From the first the witch is here only a bystander. The practice of magic
lingered among the people till after the Captivity, when they gradually abandoned it.
Matthew
Henry’s Commentary on the Bible
Acts 8:4-9?
"2. They said of [Simon], This man
is the great power of God—the power of God, that great power (so it might be
read), that power which made the world. See how ignorant inconsiderate people mistake
that which is done by the power of Satan, as if it were done by the power of God. Thus,
in the Gentile world, devils pass for deities; and in the antichristian kingdom all
the world wonders after a beast, to whom the dragon gives his power, and who
opens his mouth in blasphemy against God, Rev. 13:2-5. 3. They were brought to it by
his sorceries: He bewitched the people of Samaria (v. 9), bewitched them with
sorceries (v. 11), that is, either, (1.) By his magic arts he bewitched the minds
of the people, at least some of them, who drew in others. Satan, by God’s
permission, filled their hearts to follow Simon. O foolish Galatians, saith Paul,
who hath bewitched you? Gal. 3:1. These people are said to be bewitched by Simon,
because they were so strangely infatuated to believe a lie. Or, (2.) By his magic arts
he did many signs and lying wonders, which seemed to be miracles, but really were
not so: like those of the magicians of Egypt, and those of the man of sin, 2 Th.
2:9. When they knew no better, they were influenced by his sorceries...."
Matthew
Henry’s Commentary on the Bible
- Acts 19:13-20
1. Those that had been guilty of wicked practices confessed
them, v. 18. Many that had believed and were baptized, but had not then been so
particular as they might have been in the confession of their sins, were so terrified
with these instances of the magnifying of the name of Jesus Christ that they came to
Paul, or some of the other ministers that were with him, and confessed....
2. Those that had conversed with wicked books burnt them (v. 19): Many
also of those who used curious arts,
ta
perierga—impertinent things; multa nihil ad se pertinentia satagentes—busy
bodies (so the word is used, 2 Th. 3:11; 1 Tim. 5:13), that traded in the study of
magic and divination, in books of judicial astrology, casting nativities, telling
fortunes, raising and laying spirits, interpreting dreams, predicting future events, and
the like, to which some think are to be added plays, romances, love-books, and
unchaste and immodest poems—histrionica, amatoria, saltatoria.—Stres. These,
having their consciences more awakened than ever to see the evil of those practices in
which these books instructed them, brought their books together, and burnt them
before all men. Ephesus was notorious for the use of these curious arts; hence
spells and charms were called Literae Ephesiae. Here people furnished themselves
with all those sorts of books, and, probably, had tutors to instruct them in those black
arts. It was therefore much for the honour of Christ and his gospel to have such a noble
testimony borne against those curious arts, in a place where they were so much in
vogue. It is taken for granted that they were convinced of the evil of these curious
arts, and resolved to deal in them no longer; but they did not think this enough unless
they burnt their books. (
1.) Thus they showed a holy indignation at the sins they had been
guilty of; as the idolaters, when they were brought to repentance, said to their idols, Get
you hence (Isa. 30:22), and cast even those of silver and gold to the moles and
to the bats, Isa. 2:20....
(2.) Thus they showed their resolution never to return to the use of
those arts, and the books which related to them, again. They were so fully convinced of
the evil and danger of them that they would not throw the books by, within reach of a
recall, upon supposition that it was possible they might change their mind; but, being
stedfastly resolved never to make use of them, they burnt them.
(3.) Thus they put away a temptation to return to them again. Had
they kept the books by them, there was danger lest, when the heat of the present
conviction was over, they should have the curiosity to look into them, and so be in
danger of liking them and loving them again, and therefore they burnt them. Note, Those
that truly repent of sin will keep themselves as far as possible from the occasions of
it.
(4.) Thus they prevented their doing mischief to others. If Judas had
been by he would have said, "Sell them, and give the money to the poor;’’ or,
"Buy Bibles and good books with it.’’ But then who could tell into whose hands
these dangerous books might fall, and what mischief might be done by them? it was
therefore the safest course to commit them all to the flames. Those that are recovered
from sin themselves will do all they can to keep others from falling into it, and will
be much more afraid of laying an occasion of sin in the way of others.
(5.) Thus they showed a contempt of the wealth of this world; for the
price of the books was cast up, probably by those that persuaded them not to burn them,
and it was found to be fifty thousand pieces of silver, which some compute to be
fifteen hundred pounds of our money. It is probable that the books were scarce, perhaps
prohibited, and therefore dear. Probably they had cost them so much; yet, being the
devil’s books, though they had been so foolish as to buy them, they did not think this
would justify them in being so wicked as to sell them again.
(6.) Thus they publicly testified their joy for their conversion from
these wicked practices, as Matthew did by the great feast he made when Christ had called
him from the receipt of cu[2]
[1]Henry,
Matthew, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson
Publishers) 1997.
[2]Henry,
Matthew, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson
Publishers) 1997.
Q & A