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Should Christians dabble with magic?
I know some think that magic is harmless, but, the Bible clearly speaks against sorcery, witchcraft and magic (I’ve noticed the Bible uses these terms somewhat interchangeably at times).
I wanted to talk about a man named Simon who’s mentioned in the book of Acts. He was a magician/sorcerer.
Everybody thought he was so great and people followed him – I’m even led to believe that some may have worshiped him. However, Philip came, proclaiming the word of God, Simon “believed” and was baptized. However, after Simon noted Peter and John laying their hands on the baptized, to give them the Holy Spirit, Simon offered them money, wanting them to show him how he could have that very same talent (bestowing of the Holy Spirit by the laying of his hands).
Peter blasted Simon for his disbelief about the gospel, telling him he needed to repent. Simon obviously didn’t accept the gospel with a believing and humble heart, he still had that magic rooted in him, and I don’t think he really let go of his love of sorcery.
I think sorcerers do have power, but that power doesn’t come from God. I don’t believe the Lord wants us to dabble with magic or sorcery.
I know some will argue and say a few card tricks are okay, but…I don’t know. Dabbling with any type of magic has always left me feeling a bit leery. Simon was great and people followed him, made me think: What, exactly, was Simon doing to gain such a following? I know he was doing magic, but, what exactly, did he do to gain that much power? Kind of scary when you think about it.
What do you think? Do you think it’s okay to dabble with harmless magic tricks, or do you think people should refuse to dabble at all? I’d be interested in hearing your responses.
I’ve copied and pasted the scripture from Acts that mentions Simon the Sorcerer. Also, I’ve been blogging about the early Christians and the book of Acts recently. You can see more posts about the early Christians here.
Acts 8:9-25 (NIV)
Simon the Sorcerer
9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”
24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
25 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
Magic is evil. Period. Yet sometimes those that practice magic are successful. In other words, magic really works despite how evil the practice actually is.
There is a lot more I could say on this topic.
Remember when God turned Moses’ walking stick into a snake? Well, the King of Egypt’s sorcerers were able to conjure up smakes, too, using magic. The smake Moses had was stronger than the ones the King’s men had because Moses’ smake ate up the other smakes. Nevertheless, the fact remains. The magic the King’s sorcerers had was strong — just not strong enough to defeat God.
I believe that all powers not from the Lord come from the evil one– better known as Satan or the devil. And that includes magic.
Love,
Molly
Molly, thanks much for commenting! Surprisingly, I thought about the snakes mentioned in the Old Testament – the example about Moses that you just mentioned, while writing this blog post. We, as Christians, should not dabble with magic.
One more thing that I forgot to mention. There is no such thing as “good magic’ or “white magic.” All magic is evil magic because it offends God. In fact, the Bible calls it is an abomination to God.
Certainly, good magic can seem harmless and nice.
Remember the story of Snowwhite? Her wicked stepmother was a very beautiful woman. But one day her mirror told that Snowwhite was prettier than the stepmother. When that happened, all the evil within her came out, and the stepmother looked on the outside like she had always looked on the inside.
Again, there is no such thing as good magic because its power does not come from God.
Love,
Molly
You are right, Molly. I do recall the scene from Snow White. Also, I’ve heard (and met) those who call themselves a “white witch” or practice “white magic”. I think we need to stay away from magic because the power of magic/sorcery/witchcraft doesn’t come from God.
Interesting discussion, Cecelia.
I will agree with the above comments and add this. Even seemingly innocent card tricks involve ‘sleight of hand’, with sleight of hand being defined as ‘ways of deceiving people which you need skill to do’. So basically even the most innocent tricks are done trying to deceive someone. Deceit is opposed to the truth.
Jesus says He is the way, THE TRUTH, and the life, so anything that is contrary to that is not of God.
Jenny, I’m glad you commented. Interesting thought about the deceit involved with card tricks. I’d never thought of it that way before, but, ya know, it does make sense!
I think harmless “magic tricks” are okay because they are for entertainment and are obviously TRICKS versus calling upon supernatural spirits and forces to do things that God did not design us to do. But taking cards and moving them in away that people are just to slow to understand is okay because it’s not really sorcery as it is a trick that both parties are agreeing to.
Hmm. Anon, you’ve given me something to think about. I’m still leery of using innocent card tricks, but, if one uses them, I think it’s best not to get carried away. I think it might all depend on the personality. Like somebody can have a drink and not get drunk, but an alcoholic can’t stop drinking. I think one gets hooked on the tricks and finds himself digging deeper and deeper to do cooler and better tricks…it could lead to evil. However, someone who’s level-headed about the tricks, and is just doing them for fun, would probably be okay?
I am constantly amazed at the number of Christians who see no problem is dabbling in magic. I agree with Molly that there is no such thing as “good magic”. Any source of power other than God is evil. God’s power is not magic or hocus pocus. It is the HOLY SPIRIT. The key word here being Holy. God’s power does not deceive or confuse. We may not understand it always, but it does not produce confusion or lead us to view anyone or anything as powerful but God.
As parents we must be aware of the messages that we sent our children and grandchildren when we promote certain books, toys, and activities. Are we promoting things that will lead them to Christ or away from HIS power.
Beemama, I’m glad you commented and you bring up a good point. One thing I’ve noticed – that you mentioned – is things that kids deal with, like stories. I’ve noticed, several years ago, and a great amount of children’s stories and fables are rooted with magicical things: magic crystals, witches, warlocks, fairies, etc. Some of these classic stories have been widely read for several decades, but, we’ve read them so much that I don’t think we stopy and think about the effects of the sorcery-like elements of these stories.
Cecilia wrote:
“Some of these classic stories have been widely read for several decades, but, we’ve read them so much that I don’t think we stopy and think about the effects of the sorcery-like elements of these stories.”
That’s a really good point and unfortunately, it seems like it is becoming more widespread with time.
I’ll add another point: although the Bible is clear about these issues, maybe it is a direct consequence of many Christians not reading a Bible much anymore…or worse, not taking it seriously.
I’m glad you brought that up, M. Galloway. I’ve noticed a lot of people that I’ve met in my life, who are Christians, and may have been going to church regularly for years, don’t read the Bible. Some only read the verses quoted during weekly Sunday sermon and that’s about it! 🙁
At times, I’ve referenced something in the Bible, something pretty basic, and they’ll have no idea what I’m referring to. Kind of sad, actually.
Very true. It’s not only sad, it can also significantly affect their relationship with God. It can also open up the door to a lot of deception.
Real magic is evil and we need to stay away from it. But the word magic can mean something other than witchcraft. Like in CS Lewis Narnia his story talks about D
magic, but it is meant to convey in common terms the power of God and His law. It’s not talking about the magic people in witchcraft are talking about. We simply don’t have a word that could be used in allegory to compare to the power of God. And we Christians can go a little nuts over symantics. I knew a lady who would not let her kids watch Barney b/c he used “the magic of imagination”. Again, it’s not talking about pagen rituals.
So with that, if someone has a device up his shirt spitting out hankies, that’s not a problem for me. If someone is meditating to gain the power of nature, or whatever, that is evil.
Hi, Missy
Thanks for commenting. I understand what you’re saying about semantics. I’d never not let a kid watch Barney because of the “magic imagination.”
As far as Christianity goes, I prefer using other words to convey the “magic” of God because some may misinterpret what I’m saying. I guess I’d use the term, the “power of the Holy Spirit” instead.
This has been an interesting discussion and I think I’ll continue blogging about the supernatural aspects of the Bible. Hopefully it’ll encourage others to read The Word as well as discuss it.
https://fcm.org/usa/should-a-christian-do-magic/ust discovered this and joined in nearly five years later…
There’s a difference between magic with supernatural sources and physical sources and it’s often the difficulty to separate the two which causes fear amongst Christians…
I was somewhere where a Christian friend was very disturbed that someone had “read his mind”. It’s the only time I’ve ever revealed how the effect was done and the relief he felt when he knew how it was done was a real release from fear. So the question would be, what was causing the fear, was it a supernatural source or supply ignorance and a preposition that being able to “read minds” is always linked with the demonic.
The link above is a great website dealing with all of the issues raised above in a biblical and rational way.
For some reason the url has an extra ust on the end. Please clip that off when visiting the link
Hi, Matt
Thanks for visiting my blog and for leaving the helpful link. I’ve only had someone to claim to read my mind once. She said she saw chaos – which is vague. I hope you have a blessed day.