Background:
·
An International Witches Meetup Day is organized
every month for witches in over 600 cities in the world. In one meetup in 2004,
almost 30,000 self-professed witches signed up to participate.
a. Reality:
(1) The Bible describes
supernatural phenomena as real (Ex 7-11; 2Ti 3:8; Da 1:20).
(2) Satan and his
“principalities” are at work in the world today (Jn 8:44; 1Ti 4:1-2;
Eph 6:12).
(3) But Christ has repulsed the
demonic kingdom and broken its power (Col 2:15).
b. Occultism:
(1) “Occult” means “hidden”.
Occultism is a religion which sees itself as a revival of ancient paganism and
of hidden knowledge about the nature and workings of the world.
(2) There are 2 main categories
of occult practice or involvement in occult powers:
(a) Divination: attempt to
foretell future events through interpretation of signs
(b) Spiritism: attempt to
contact superhuman spirits; witchcraft (the practice of supernatural magic and
spells) is a form of spiritism
c. Performing magicians:
Most of them use deceptions in their performance and are not involved with the
occult. However, it is also possible that some magical tricks involve evil
spirits.
d. Proper Christian
attitude:
(1) Understand Satanic powers
yet not fascinated by it.
·
The NT shows no interest in demonology. We don’t
know how the demonic world works and we don’t need to know. We should
counteract “demonomania” (too much interest in demons) and “demonophilia”
(seeing demons all over the place, blaming Satan for anything bad).
(2) Resist demonic powers and
avoid any involvement (Jas 4:7).
a. Main varieties of divination:
o
(1) Astrology:
foretelling events on earth by interpreting relative positions of heavenly
bodies; forbidden by Mosaic Law (Dt 18:10-14).
(2) Cartomancy:
o
It involves forecasting by laying of cards;
similar to other kinds using different mediums; some are purely guesses based
on deduction; some psychics may actually be accurate.
(3) Palmistry: foretelling
through interpreting lines and shape of a person’s palms.
b. Most of the practices
of divinations are false claims and falsifications (Jer 29:8-9; Zec 10:2)
although they may sometimes be accurate. They are forbidden by the Mosaic Law.
c. The future is in God’s
hands and is normally hidden. Because the hidden future is God’s prerogative
(Dt 29:29). Christians should never involve in divination.
a. Spiritism is the
attempt to contact superhuman spirits. These are almost always unclean spirits
(Lk 11:18), including Satan and his fallen angels (Mt 25:41). These
spirits can produce deceptive miracles (2Th 2:9). See examples of Simon
Magus (Ac 8:9), Elymas (Ac 13:8), and woman in Ac 16:16. The
origin of spirits can be tested (1Jn 4:1-3). [Contacts with angels from
God are possible but God does not normally work through such contacts.]
b. Main varieties of
spiritism:
(1) Necromancy (channelling):
attempting to communicate with the dead through a person or a medium. This is
forbidden (Lev 20:6). It actually involved evil spirits.
(2) Ouiji Board: calling evil spirits
to answer inquiries. It may be sold as a game but it is actually equivalent to
necromancy.
(3) Magic and witchcraft:
accomplishing acts beyond human powers. Those acts were not achieved with
supernatural powers of the witches and wizards but rather by superhuman evil
spirits.
c. Christians must not
voluntarily communicate with superhuman spirits. This will expose themselves to
demonic influence or even demonic domination and risk great personal danger.
Spiritism involves practices that are abominable to God (Ex 22:18;
Rev 21:8; 22:15)
a. Demonic possession:
domination of a person by evil spirits, showing abnormal behaviour.
b. Demonic possession of
Christians:
·
A true Christians (with the indwelling Holy
Spirit) cannot be totally “possessed” by evil spirits as evil spirits could not
peacefully co-exist with the Holy Spirit.
·
However, it is possible that the body and the
outer areas of personality can be infested or oppressed. This can occur if a
Christian is voluntarily involved in the occult, but only temporarily.
c. Exorcism (deliverance
ministry against demonic possession):
·
Christians are cautioned against amateurish
attempts of exorcism. At least 2 devout persons of great piety, spiritual
strength, and moral courage should be involved.
·
Exorcism is done with the power of Christ
(Ac 16:16-18). Persons involved must be armed with prayer (Mk 9:29),
preferably corporate prayer.
·
During exorcism, demons should not be talked to
or argued with, but only rejecting, refusing and scorning them with the name of
Jesus Christ. After exorcism, the affected person must submit to Christ and
cultivate a spiritual life (Jas 4:7).
a. Reality: the Potter
books are popular and many children are reading them. The books have caused a
controversy in many churches and there is no unified opinion among Christians.
b. Reasons for opposing
the books:
(1) The books may desensitize us
to witchcraft.
(2) The books do not acknowledge
any supernatural powers or moral authority.
(3) The books contain too much
violent acts.
(4) The books encourage
disobedience to authority.
c. Reasons for supporting
the books:
(1) The books encourage courage,
loyalty, and a willingness to sacrifice for one another.
(2) The magic in the books is
only literary witchcraft, not occultism.
(3) The books can open up the
appreciation for other fantasy books or even to the gospel.
d. Analysis of the
argument:
·
The description of the witchcraft and other
supernatural phenomena in the Potter books are not much different from Lord of the Rings, the Narnia Chronicles, Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins.
·
Children love the Potter books because of their
legitimate needs, such as a sense of control or empowerment, knowledge that
they can face fear and conquer it, love in loving families.
·
Arguments against the books are also valid and
should be considered when making a judgment.
e. Conclusion:
·
This is a disputable matter. Each Christian can
make their own decision on whether or not to read the books. It is advisable to
allow only those children aged 10 and older to read the books.