Study of Cults and False Religions Week 5 Wicca and Witchcraft

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1 1 Study of Cults and False Religions Week 5 Wicca and Witchcraft Occasionally in the Bible, you will see mention of witchcraft and sorcery, or the description of witchcraft practices. o Here is a good example of that: 2 Chronicles 33: For he [Manasseh] built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. 4 - Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. 5 - And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 - And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. Manasseh had given himself to all kinds of pagan religions. o Thankfully, he turned to God at the end! It s a wonderful story of God s grace. While it may not be an entirely accurate mental picture, most people think of witches as 1) casting spells or performing real magic, and 2) conjuring up spirits. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, there are many people even Christians who do not believe that witchcraft is real or that people can tap into demonic power. I see lots of Biblical evidence to the contrary, and I also believe that there are plenty of anecdotal accounts worthy of consideration from modern times. LET S LOOK AT SOME BIBLE EVIDENCE FIRST: One of the strangest, if not THE strangest, stories in the Bible: 1 Samuel 28: Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.

2 2 By the way, this shows just how far Saul had turned from the Lord. Witchcraft was strictly forbidden by the Lord in Exodus and Deuteronomy, and the passages make it clear that the pagan nations of Canaan were practicing these things prior to Israel s possession of the land. 8 - And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee. 9 - And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? God had forbidden any witchcraft/sorcery/necromancy because these were tied to idolatry and pagan worship in the ancient world and God did not want the Holy worship of His people to become intermingled with pagan rituals and idolatry. o As you read the stories of the kings, you will see how frequently it is stated that they either did away with pagan worship in Israel, or they promoted it And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. It has been speculated that the woman was startled for one of the following reasons: o Either, she was a fake and was not used to actually seeing spirits, or o She was used to dealing with FAMILIAR spirits that she regularly contacted, and therefore seeing an unfamiliar figure was startling, or o She had not started her conjuring ritual yet, and Samuel s spirit appeared suddenly And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods (meant in general as spirits) ascending out of the earth And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. There is no evidence in the text to suggest that this was merely a vision. The plain and obvious interpretation is that it really was the spirit of the dead prophet that appeared to Saul.

3 3 On top of this, the mere fact that the Bible specifically forbids the practice of witchcraft is enough evidence that it is real (we ll see some verses later). ***I have also heard and read what I believe to be credible accounts of witchcraft. ILLUSTRATION: I mentioned before about the witch that visited the pastor in Georgia and performed magic in his office. I also have read some accounts, such as the book, The Beautiful Side of Evil by Johanna Michaelsen. This lady worked with a psychic healer/witch named Pachita in Mexico who would channel a spirit named Hermanito to perform her operations. Johanna had many vivid encounters with demons/spirits, and was eventually delivered by the Gospel of Jesus Christ presented to her by loving friends. WATCH - There has been a significant rise in the popularity of witches and wizards probably due in part to film and tv. o Bewitched o The Sword in the Stone o The Sorcerer s Apprentice o Sabrina, the teenaged witch o Lord of the Rings o Harry Potter o Wizard of Oz o Witches feature prominently in Shakespeare s Macbeth if you recall! o The list goes on and on In some of these stories, the witchcraft performed is taken lightly or humorously, and is seen as harmless and even playful. The truth of the matter is, the power that is called upon by witches is not the power of Christ or the Gospel, therefore it must be the power of Satan. - As a side note, there is a wide variety of opinion on stories such as these as entertainment. People feel strongly on both sides. o I, personally, have read The Hobbit and greatly enjoyed it knowing that Tolkien wrote from a Christian world-view, although his stories were not explicitly Christian (the themes certainly were). o But, this is not an area that I would encourage parents or grandparents to be careless about. Children are impressionable, and positive portrayal of things like witchcraft and wizardry CAN (in some children) promote an unhealthy curiosity. Every child is different, and the wise parent or grandparent will teach

4 4 their children from an early age the difference between truth and fiction and between good and evil even as it relates to things like witchcraft. Witchcraft and Wicca The amount of variety in Witchcraft and Wicca is even greater than that of Satanism! And, like Satanism, Witchcraft has no unifying movement. There are also literally hundreds probably thousands of varieties of witchcraft all over the world, and it is impossible to give a history of the movement. We are going to deal mainly with the traditional understanding of it, and also some of the modern ideas of Wicca. (As a side note, Satanists and Witches are NOT the same, and actually each tends to disapprove of the other s belief system!) Witchcraft does not take an organized stance on many doctrines including things like earth s origin or the existence of God which leaves each individual to create their own comprehensive worldview, patched together from whatever experiences and teachings they have been exposed to. Experience is a key in witchcraft you formulate your own truth based on your experience. ***NOTE: Witchcraft and Wicca often refer to the same thing, although some claim that Witchcraft refers to an ancient pagan religion that pre-dates Christianity. The authors of World Religions and Cults state that there is no evidence of an organized religion of Witchcraft that pre-dates Christianity. (We will use them interchangeably.) The witchcraft that is referred to in the Bible refers to sorcery and divination practices, not necessarily an organized RELIGION. Many modern witches would reject that the Bible says anything about witchcraft specifically but the ideas and practices are still condemned in principle. Spells and magic THEY BELIEVE IN MAGIC: invoking power from external gods through ritual, or raising energy from within through ritual (Hodge, Patterson) Some believe in words with special power (maybe like we consider spells ), and also sometimes objects can be very significant. o Amulets protect the person who carries it o Talismans bring good luck or special power to the person who carries it o Potions a magic drug/medicine/poison that can be used for healing, for causing memory loss, sleep, and a lot of other things. Magic is believed to be neutral, and can be used for good or evil. (Most popular media representations of Witches reflect this same idea. Good or White Witches tap into the same power as bad witches, they just use it differently.)

5 5 Necromancy and conjuring Conjuring is the contacting or calling up spirit beings whether gods, spirits of dead people, or beings from other realms. Necromancy is conjuring up spirits of the dead for the purpose of divination or to get knowledge. For those that believe in contact with the spirit world, calling upon spirits is not considered a supernatural activity because the spirits are part of nature along with humans and everything else. (A pantheistic idea) Distinguishing between theologies: o Pantheism all is god (or goddess) and god(dess) is all o Panentheism all is IN god(dess) and god(dess) is IN all transcendental, the universe may be a manifestation of god, but they are not the same o Duotheism two gods (common in Wicca) goddess and her consort, the Lord and the Lady o Polytheism many gods, or many divine manifestations of one god Covens Groups and associations of witches are called Covens, and they usually limit their number to thirteen. Most have some sort of ritualistic rite of passage to be accepted, and most require a year and one day of study before initiation is granted. In Wicca, led by a High Priest or Priestess. Other common Wiccan Views and beliefs: o Most will follow some tradition of beliefs (taught by whoever introduced them or lead them into witchcraft to begin with), but many will blend it with their own experience. There is no authoritative writings, although they can receive ideas and instruction from lots of written works by witches. The basic Wiccan ethic is taught in what is called the Wiccan Rede: Do what you will, so long as it harms none. For a religion that believes in subjective morality, it must be very difficult to tell whether or not an action harms someone, since their idea of harm may be different from yours! o While some witches do not believe in a god at all and others believe in many gods it is common in Witchcraft to worship the Earth/Nature/Gaia. The divine spirit is often seen as female goddess, Mother Nature, the nurturer, etc. They tend to believe that religions like Christianity are patriarchal and they deny the femininity of the divine in order to oppress women.

6 6 It is important to witches to have a good relationship with nature they personify many aspects of the natural world. (Again, mother nature, etc.) This is an animistic idea. o Polarity (light and darkness are both necessary and are seeking to balance each other out. Same with good/evil, death/life, etc.) Not strictly the same as Dualism, which tends to see the opposites as two equal and separate things. Witches will say that we should try to live in HARMONY with the universe and nature and other people, which is related to the sense of balance seen in polarity. o Cycles/reincarnation Not like Hindu reincarnation, where in each incarnation, you move closer to a state of harmony and enlightenmnent. In Witchcraft, reincarnation is simply the cycle of death and life, and a new life is a gift from the goddess. (This cycle is in nature, where leaves die and new ones grow in the spring). o We literally don t have time to get into all of it! It is so complex! Here is a short list of things important in Wicca and witchcraft: The Pentagram is a widely used symbol (with the star right-side up, instead of upside down like most Satanists use it.) The elements earth, wind/air, water, fire (some add a fifth: spirit) o Sound familiar? Avatar/benders CAPTAIN PLANET! (Except Captain Planet had heart instead of spirit ) The directions North, South, East, and West are prominent and have meaning Sun and Moon and stars, astrology, tarot cards, Ouija boards, palm-reading, etc. can be used. (Divination gathering information from the collective consciousness) Spirit guides/animal guides are often called upon to help and offer counsel (as Johanna Michaelsen mentioned) o Many think spirit guides to be spirits of the dead who have not been reincarnated yet. (Martin, Kingdom of the Occult) Like Johanna Michaelson mentioned, and like the idea of Obi-wan Kenobi in Star Wars.

7 7 Biblical Responses Witchcraft (divination, sorcery, conjuring, etc.) is condemned all through Scripture, in both Testaments. As I said earlier, the power is clearly NOT of God, and must therefore be Satanic or demonic. o Exodus 22:18, Deuteronomy 18:10, Galatians 5:19-21, Revelation 21:8, Revelation 22:15 In fact, in the NT, one of the things people did who came to Christ from witchcraft practices was burn all their witchcraft-related stuff: Acts 19: And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. Creation/Earth is not to be worshipped only God is worthy of worship. He is distinct from creation, creation is NOT divine. Psalms 19:1 - The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Deuteronomy 4: Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: 16 - Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 - The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, 18 - The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: 19 - And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. Revelation 20:11 - And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. God revealed Himself as FATHER. 1 John 4:14 - And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. The Bible more than any other ancient religious document lifts up the role of women and describes their equality with man.

8 8 BOTH made in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 - So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Women in the Bible were filled with the Spirit of God, they prophesied, they judged and lead God s people, they were witnesses to the resurrection, they disciple young believers in the church! Death is not merely a part of a natural cycle it is the result of sin. Romans 5:12 - Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die The most important relationship that needs to be in harmony is your relationship with God and the only way to do that is through Jesus Christ! Colossians 1: And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled Ephesians 2:16 - And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 2 Corinthians 5: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 - To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Romans 5:10 - For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Tips for Conversations Since the beliefs can vary so greatly, my first suggestion is to ask a LOT of questions about what they believe. This will give you clarity about that person s frame of reference. Do not attempt to refute or counter everything they say. There is a time and a place for that.

9 9 o Perhaps a great way to begin a conversation is by introducing what YOU believe first, so that you aren t seen as merely trying to respond to what THEY believe. o The Scripture often sums up the Gospel in a phrase or a few sentences. We can too! I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God Who came to earth to live a sinless life and die in our place so that our sins could be forgiven. The Bible tells us that if we believe the Gospel, we will be saved. When we die, we will spend eternity with the Lord because of His grace and forgiveness. According to the Hodge and Patterson, authors of the World Religions and Cults trilogy, say that many people in Wicca have positive ideas about Jesus (the website that I was researching also said that Jesus was a great teacher/guru but His teachings were perverted by some followers in order to give the church more power over people ). So, a great topic of conversation would be to TALK ABOUT WHO JESUS REALLY IS! o In fact, Johanna Michaelsen was delivered from her involvement in the occult by the influence of a friend who told her to read the Gospel of John and I John chapter 1. It was the revelation of Scripture concerning Jesus Christ that opened her eyes. Once you have a good dialogue going, any of the same conversation points I gave concerning Modern Satanism would be applicable here. o For instance, the fallacy of subjective morality, lack of absolute truth, etc. Tell them about God as the Almighty Creator Who spoke the universe into existence, and Who loved mankind and came down in the flesh to rescue us. o They believe in the spiritual realm, so it is not hard for them to grasp the idea of a transcendent God. They just need to know Who He is and what He did! If you cannot make any good headway in conversation, at the very least warn them of the dangers of tapping into spiritual realms/powers that they don t fully understand and cannot control. o If we love them, we must warn them! And the best thing to do is to BE AVAILABLE for them. o Many people who are delivered out of the occult by the power of the Gospel will first go through a time of demonic oppression. It can be a terrifying time. They need Godly friends who can be there for them and pray for them and lead them to the power of Christ. Johanna s Christian friend wasn t pushy, but she told the truth. She was there when Johanna needed her. She prayed for her, and she opened her home to her. o We would open a lot of doors of opportunity to witness for Christ if we just loved people!

Dying Without God By Bro. Mark Little. Course # 19. Published by Tanner Church of Christ

Dying Without God By Bro. Mark Little Course # 19 Published by Tanner Church of Christ http://tannerchurchofchrist.org Dying Without God Course # 19 Lessons 1-4 Lesson # 1 Dying Without God By Bro. Mark