Bewitched by Sorcery
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross
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This week: Magic vs Faith. Because of a spooky
week.
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COLUMN: Final Phase
Bewitched by Sorcery
by J. Randal Matheny
Who could resist the wiggling nose of Samantha
Stevens as she solved problem after problem in
"Bewitched"?
Who didn't have fun as a kid dressed up in a
costume going door to door collecting delectables?
What's the problem with letting the kids read
Harry Potter?
Why the criticism of video games that spice up
their offerings with touches of magic?
Magic and witchcraft are all the rage these days.
The challenging question is how the Christian
deals with its appearance in the arts, literature,
holidays, and culture.
What does the Bible have to say about witchcraft?
First, there is no such thing as good witchcraft
or white magic.
When people converted to Christ in Ephesus, they
burned their magic books. "And a number of those
who had practiced magic arts brought their books
together and burned them in the sight of all. And
they counted the value of them and found it came
to fifty thousand pieces of silver" (Acts 19:19).
The practice of magic was so evil, it was
considered necessary to publicly confess it and
publicly destroy its tools. If Judas had been
there, he might have complained that the books
might have been sold and the money given to the
poor. But this fortune was worth only burning.
In the Old Testament, those who practiced
witchcraft, sorcery, and necromancy were to be
stoned (Lev. 19:31; 20:6, 27; Deut. 18:9-14).
These were "abominable practices" before the Lord.
In God's kingdom today, witchcraft is still
abominable and damnable. One cannot affirm that
the type of witchcraft condemned in the Bible was
the evil kind, for all kinds, for whatever
purposes, are condemned.
That means there are no good witches, no white
magic, nothing positive in sorcery.
Second, the Holy Scriptures condemn all magic and
witchcraft unreservedly, because magic attempts to
manipulate circumstances and people and put
supernatural forces at man's disposal. Man seeks
to use lesser forces than God to fulfill his own
will, not the divine purpose. Sorcery purports to
determine events, not God.
The famous case of King Saul consulting the witch
of Endor is a case in point. Saul "took things
into his own hands"/1 and tried to work around the
word of God to find a way out of his predicament.
For that reason, sorcery is a work of the flesh
that will keep one from inheriting the kingdom of
God (Gal. 5:19-21).
"But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the
detestable, as for murderers, the sexually
immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars,
their portion will be in the lake that burns with
fire and sulfur, which is the second death" (Rev.
21:8).
Third, the Bible prohibits even the "naming" of
sinful behavior among the saints.
Paul commanded, "But sexual immorality and all
impurity or covetousness must not even be named
among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be
no filthiness no foolish talk nor crude joking,
which are out of place, but instead let there be
thanksgiving. ... For it is shameful even to speak
of the things that they do in secret" (Eph. 5:3-4,
12).
The NIV appropriately translates "named" as "there
must not even be a hint." The NEB says these
things "must not be so much as mentioned" among
Christians. Making light of serious sins is not
for the follower of Jesus.
What religious people invite their children to
pretend at sexual immorality? What church sponsors
a festival for impurity and covetousness? So why
is sorcery different, that we will make light of
magic and use witchcraft as a source of
entertainment? The inconsistency here seems
obvious.
Practices that might have been considered innocent
enough 30 or 40 years ago have acquired sinister
meanings today. Wiccan is a growing religion. The
Harry Potter books have caught the crest of a wave
and incited children's interest in the occult. All
the while parents smile over the indoctrination of
their children into the wiles of the devil.
The great temptation is to rid yourself of
problems with the wiggle of the nose or the wave
of a wand. Even in our fantasies.
God wants real people facing life realistically.
Playing around with magic flies in the face of
true Christian faith.
__________
1/John Willis, First and Second Samuel, Living
Word Commentary (Sweet, 1982), p. 261.
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