WitchCraft and The Bible

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WitchCraft and The Bible

• What does the bible really say

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Common Definitions

• A woman of such incredible beauty that she
  bewitches men.
• An old woman, often portrayed with an evil
  appearance sometimes called a "hag."
• A follower of Religious Satanism who either
  worships Satan or recognizes Satan as a virile
  pre-Christian, pagan concept. They may perform
  evil magic, but only against their enemies.
• A person devoted to evil sorcery using rituals,
  spoken curses, etc to injure or kill others.

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Common Defintions Part II

• A Wiccan a follower of a modern religion that
  was reconstructed partly from an ancient religion
  of the Celts. Wiccans are prohibited from harming
  others.
• In Africa, a native healer who practices
  alternative, holistic medicine and may engage in
  evil sorcery.
• In TV programs like Bewitched, a person, usually
  a woman, who was born with supernatural abilities
  and is capable of performing miracles by waving a
  wand, wiggling a nose, etc. 

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Exodus 2218

• American Standard Version "Thou shalt not suffer
  a sorceress to live."
• The Answer Put to death any woman who does evil
  magic.
• Amplified Bible You shall not allow a woman to
  live who practices sorcery.
• King James Version Thou shalt not suffer a witch
  to live.
• Living Bible A sorceress shall be put to death.
• New American Standard Bible You shall not let a
  sorceress live
• Exo 2218 En trollkvinna skall du icke låta
  leva.
• Sorcery, Magic The art or science of putting
  into action the power of spirits or the science
  of producing wonderful effects by the aid of
  superhuman beings, or of departed spirits
  sorcery enchantment

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Deuteronomy 1810-11

• American Standard Version There shall not be
  found with thee any one...that useth divination,
  one that practiseth augury, or an enchanter, or a
  sorcerer, or a charmer, or a consulter with a
  familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
• Amplified Bible There shall not be found among
  you anyone who... uses divination or is a
  soothsayer or an augur or a sorcerer, or a
  charmer, or a medium or a wizard or a necromancer
  
• New American Standard Bible There shall not be
  found among you... one who uses divination, one
  who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets
  omens or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell,
  or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up
  the dead.
• eu 1810 Hos dig må icke finnas någon som låter
  sin son eller dotter gå genom eld, eller som
  befattar sig med trolldom eller teckentydning
  eller svartkonst eller häxeri,
• Deu 1811 ingen som förehar besvärjelsekonster,
  ingen som frågar andar, eller som är en spåman,
  eller som söker råd hos de döda.

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Hebrew words

1. yid'oni knowers wizards persons who make
   contact with spirits who are not of God. (Some
   Wiccans have engaged in spiritism and have
   attempted to contact the dead. However, this is
   not necessarily an integral part of the Wiccan
   religion)
2. sho'el 'ov making forbidden contact with the
   dead. (Ditto)
3. qosem q'samim predicting the future by using
   lots or a similar system. (Many Wiccans as well
   as Christians sometimes use tarot cards, runes,
   scrying etc. to foretell the future, but this is
   not an integral part of the Wiccan religion)
4. m'onen predicting the future by interpreting
   signs in nature

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Hebrew words continued

• m'nachesh an enchanter (perhaps a snake charmer,
  because "nachash" means snake. We have never
  heard of Wiccan snake charmers)
• chover chavar use of knot-tying to perform
  magic. (Wiccans sometimes engage in knot-tying,
  but only for positive healing magic. Again, it is
  a practice that some engage in and is not an
  integral part of their religion)
• m'khaseph an evil sorcerer (as in Exodus 2218)
  a person using spoken spells to harm others.
  (Wiccans do not engage in this activity they are
  specifically prohibited from doing so by their
  Wiccan Rede.)
• doresh 'el hametim a person who makes contact
  with the dead - probably by another method than
  sho'el 'ov. (Again, there are some Wiccans who
  engage in spiritism, but it is not necessarily an
  integral part of their religion).

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Galatians 519-20

• American Standard Version fornication,
  uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry,
  sorcery"..."
• Amplified Bible "immorality, impurity,
  indecency, idolatry, sorcery
• New International Version "sexual immorality,
  impurity and debauchery idolatry and
  witchcraft,..."
• Gal 519 Men köttets gärningar äro uppenbara de
  äro otukt, orenhet, lösaktighet,
• Gal 520 avgudadyrkan, trolldom, ovänskap, kiv,
  avund, vrede, genstridighet, tvedräkt,
  partisöndring,
• Gal 521 missunnsamhet, mord, dryckenskap, vilt
  leverne och annat sådant, varom jag säger eder i
  förväg, såsom jag redan förut har sagt, att de
  som göra sådant, de skola icke få Guds rike till
  arvedel.

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Magicians are blinded

• And when they had gone through the whole island
  as far as Paphos, they found a certain magician,
  a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus,
  who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man
  of intelligence.  This man summoned Barnabas and
  Saul and sought to hear the word of God.  But
  Elymas the magician (for thus his name is
  translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn
  the proconsul away from the faith.  But Saul, who
  was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy
  Spirit, fixed his gaze upon him.  And he said,
  "You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you
  son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness,
  will you not cease to make crooked the straight
  ways of the Lord?  And now, behold, the hand of
  the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and
  not see the sun for a time."  And immediately a
  mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went
  about seeking those who would lead him by the
  hand.  Then the proconsul believed when he saw
  what happened, being amazed at the teaching of
  the Lord. Acts 13 6-12

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Questions

• They may argue that sorcery is black magic used
  for evil, and that they practice white magic,
  magic for good. 
• Response  The Bible makes no distinction between
  good or bad magic or sorcery.  All sorcery comes
  from the same source and is abhorred by God. 
• Many non-Christians see the return of Christ as a
  horrible thing.  Witches will scoff at this
  saying "Our Goddess isn't some spiteful deity
  that will one day wipe out the Earth.  She loves
  us enough to let us do what we want and make our
  own choices".   
• Response  Love implies a relationship.  If the
  goddess is in us, if the goddess is us, and is
  the earth, trees and that rock over there, it is
  impossible to have a relationship with her and it
  is impossible to be loved by her.  God can be
  separate from you and be closer than anything
  else.  The holy spirit can be in you, yet you are
  not God.  It is this separateness that allows
  Christ to strengthen us.  We are weak, but
  through Him we have strength. 

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Question Part II

• Pagans believe there is no absolute truth,
  therefore, there is no right and wrong.   
• Response  This is immediately a contradictory
  statement because people who believe in an
  absolute truth such as the Bible must then be
  wrong.  The pagan will admit they believe
  Christians are wrong, forgetting they don't
  believe in a right way or a wrong way. 
• Witches believe in endless reincarnation and
  Karma that is passed on from life to life as you
  struggle to reach enlightenment.   
• Response  There is no Choice in Paganism.  No
  matter what you do or what you believe, your life
  is heading toward the same truth, the same
  goddess.  This goddess offers no end to the wheel
  of life cycles and has nothing more to offer you
  than a broken record and eternal punishment for
  past mistakes.  Jesus offers so much more.  He
  loved us so much that He died on the cross so
  that we can spend eternity in heaven.  He gave us
  choice.  The choice to choose Him or not to
  choose to be with Him.  Jesus does not demand
  that we spend life after life trying to improve
  our karma,

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Questions Part III

• For many Pagans the Christian belief in hell is a
  major obstacle.  They see Christians as Cruel and
  heartless for believing that humans would go to
  hell for not believing in Christ.  This usually
  comes from an incomplete understanding of what
  hell is and the free will that God gave us to
  choose our future. 
• Response  First of all, Hell was created for the
  devil and his angels.  (Matthew 2541, 2 Peter
  24).  The devil is a sinner and has sinned from
  the beginning (I John 38).  So, hell is a place
  for sin and death.
• Pagans will also argue that no one would choose
  hell, so it is only because of a lack of
  knowledge that they would go there and that is
  unfair. 
• Response  Throughout our society we see many
  people make bad choices with severe consequences
  and they were fully aware of their actions. .  It
  all comes back to choice and freedom

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Finally

• The Blending of Witchcraft has effected society
  in that we can not see it as it is
• There are no boundaries in Wicca, but there are
  in the bible.
• You are Lord of your destiny but natural
  influences will affect your fate
• Wicca no adequate explanation for creation or
  afterlife, but in Christianity there is
• Wicca mother is creator and sustainer.
• Christianity Christ is creator and sustainer
• Ty i honom skapades allt i himmelen och på
  jorden, synligt såväl som osynligt, både
  tronänglar och herrar och furstar och väldigheter
  i andevärlden. Alltsammans har blivit skapat
  genom honom och till honom.