Faithful Fridays: Philippians 4:8: PART TWO: On Magic ***Updated***

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, 

whatever is honorable, whatever is just, 

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, 

whatever is commendable, if there is any 

excellence, if there is anything worthy of 

praise, think about these things." 

Philippians 4:8

(English Standard Version)

Alright! So who wants to talk about magic?? =D

I’m not trying to intentionally step on toes; and once again, I don’t want to cause division! I’m thinking that a lot of you might disagree with me on some things ... But for real, I don’t know everything. You don’t know everything. But God does. And all I’m trying to do here in this post is see what God has to say about magic … And also Satan’s part in magic.

Wait, wait! Don’t rush down to give me your raving-mad comments yet!! Read the rest of the post. You may be surprised at what I say (or what I try to say anyway. Haha.)

I love you all, dear readers, and it’s not my aim to hurt you by careless words. So. I’ve found some relevant Bible verses (which you can’t simply ignore…) And I’ve been reading a lot of Christian/conservative posts on magic, Harry Potter, and whatnot. So I’ve researched. And I’m not alone in my opinions. And I do believe this is something we as Christians should ponder. So hear me out.

Magic. Is it pure, lovely, commendable, worthy of praise? Here’s some verses from the Bible on wizards and magicians (bold and underlining my doing):

“There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer  or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead,  for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you.” Deuteronomy 18:10-12 

     Well, that was pretty straightforward. What else …

"Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 19:31

“So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance.” 1 Chronicles 10:13

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” Revelations 22:14-15

“idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:20-21

So, clearly, sorcery (in other words, wizardry or witchcraft) is a sinful thing. And that’s God’s judgement, not mine. I’m just pointing it out.

I think the first thing we need to discern is: what’s in the novels you’re reading? Is it Magic or Witchcraft?

Gift or Craft?

Because, from what I’m seeing, "magic" and "witchcraft" can be two different things.

Magical things like tiny fairies flitting about; fictional races with supernatural gifts; dragons; uh, superheroes and the like … I have yet to see the problem with them. Theirs is a “magic”/gift they had from birth, or is gifted exclusively to their race. A lot of times, the "magic" they have isn't really even magic, but just abilities they have that are natural abilities to their race. In "innocent magic", from what I'm seeing, there's often a higher Being (God figure) that gifts power (not really magic) to certain races or angelic beings or whatnot. They're not free to learn all this spell, divination, sorcery stuff and use it at random or at their will.

However, then there’s craft. Where one learns how to do magic. How to cast spells, make potions, put curses on people, and all that. They're doing divination and conversing with dead people and dark spirits, and charming things into obeying them through a dark supernatural force. This makes me leery. From what the Bible verses I listed above say, this kind of stuff is witchcraft or sorcery.

Sorcery: the art, practices, or spells of a person who is supposed to exercise supernatural powers through the aid of evil spirits; black magic;witchery. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sorcery

Witchcraft: the practice of magic, especially black magic; the use of spells and the invocation of spirits. 
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=defination%20of%20witchcraft

And witchcraft and sorcery are a real things. Real people in our real world are involved in this craft of learning magic—and are doing dark things. And they have power. Now where do you think this power comes from? The earth? Hmm. God created the earth, and so any power “coming from the earth” would actually be coming from God. Is the power good that it could be coming from God? I think we could all agree that, no, it is not good. Witchcraft/sorcery is dark and evil. I don’t know much about it, but all I need to know is that these people are called witches, satanists, occultists, and so on. Witchcraft is a very dark, sinful, devious thing.

So what I want to know is, how does putting witchcraft in a fantasy world suddenly make it okay? Even to Christians? I’m just not seeing it. It makes me feel a bit sick. Because Satan is the Enemy of God! Why would we involve ourselves in the Enemy’s evil doings?

Now, to those of you who like Harry Potter, I truly am sorry if it feels like I’m bashing your favorite book. But I just need to get my thoughts out; because I've been confused and wondering about this for a long time.

Okay. I do not think we as Christians should read books or watch movies with witchcraft (portrayed as good) in them. Witchcraft is human beings getting power from Satan. From Satan, guys! And for those of you who believe that Satan is not real—he’s just figurative … listen to these verses:

“And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” 2 Corinthians 11:14

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12

“And he said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’” Luke 10:18

"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy..." John 10:10

Be very sure that Satan is a very real being, and he has dark power, and he is out there seeking who he may devour.

For those of us who are Christians, we are children of the Light, and are protected from such devouring because of our salvation through Jesus Christ.
     But I still don't think it's advisable to mess around with darkness. (I especially think about this when I hear of my Christian friends watching horror movies).

About Harry Potter … Well, from my research, it does appear to be promoting witchcraft as a good thing ... as I've always been told it has. Why am I talking about Harry Potter books? Well, they're really popular and lots of people read them. And they're the only books I really know of that seem to have witchcraft stuff in them.

I don't want to read the books because of all the dark things I’ve heard about them—including lack of morals, glorifying evil, mixing up right and wrong, and rather gory descriptions of dark deeds and gross stuff. So yeah. Haven’t read them. But I researched them. And here’s some things I found:

First off, it seems that a witch colony opened up after the Harry Potter series released. My mom remembers radio speaker, Paul Harvey, saying something like, “Thanks to Harry Potter, a witch colony has opened…”

Alright. That's really, really disturbing to me. I don't know about you. And I know it would be hard to give up Harry Potter if it's like your favorite book! But perhaps you should research the author and other things ... and pray about it. I am NOT trying to be condemning here. I know there's a lot of things in my life that I'm still trying to decipher if they're actually weighing me down as I run the race God has set before me.

But I just want people to be aware. Especially if they're recommending series such as these to little children.

There’s also these disturbing bits about the Harry Potter series:

“Throughout Rowling’s four books there are instances of names, people, and items that are taken directly from occult history. She, herself, admits that she has based about one-third of her material on actual occultism.” 
http://www.edocere.org/articles/harry_potter.htm

“Witchcraft is shown to be very good and something to be desired. The Potter books are jam-packed with mysterious information about witches, warlocks, sorcerers, crystal balls, spells, curses, potions, charms, numerology, divination, astrology, palmistry, out-of-body travel, and communication with spirits. All these are part of ancient and modern occultism.” 

http://harrypotterpower.com/

“This is not a made-up fantasy world that Rowling has "created," although she likes to say it is. These characters live in our world and in our time period. They play with the same video games, use the same computers, and drive the same cars. They have a Quidditch "World Cup," just like our soccer World Cup. The teams competing in the "World Cup" are Bulgaria and Ireland, real countries. There are even characters in her books that really existed. Where is the line between fact and fiction?” http://www.edocere.org/articles/harry_potter.htm

“One man who spoke with Rowling during a radio call-in said he was a male witch and the Harry Potter books had helped his daughter like what he was doing (WMUR interview, October 12, 1999). The occult practices found in the Potter books are regularly performed by members of satanic arts.” 

http://harrypotterpower.com/

"So ... how do I know it's occult magick? Well, let's do some definitions here: occult magick includes the practices of divination, astrology, witchcraft, charms, spells, wizardry, and necromancy (communicating with the dead). Harry goes to school to learn these things. Spells that Harry casts consist of the gesturing of a wand combined with a verbal or mental incantation; they are an every day occurrence, along with charms, used on both friends and enemies in and out of the school. Some of Harry's friends consist of dead spirits who have been summoned to the present, and one of his classes is distinctly labeled as a divination class."

http://liannetaimenlore.blogspot.com/2012/09/magic-harry-potter-vs-lotr-narnia-and.html

“Linda Beam with Focus on the Family sounds the warning: “‘Any time the dark side of the supernatural world is presented as harmless, there is the danger that children will become curious and find out—to late—that witchcraft is neither harmless nor imaginary.’ –Linda Beam, Teachers in Focus, December 1999.”

http://harrypotterpower.com/

“In an interview with CBN.com, Abanes remarked that, ‘One of the easiest ways to know whether a fantasy book or film has real world magick in it is to just ask a simple question, 'Can my child find information in a library or bookstore that will enable them to replicate what they are seeing in the film or the book?' If you go to The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings what you see in, story magic and imagination, it is not real. You can't replicate it. But if you go to something like Harry Potter, you can find references to astrology, clairvoyance, and numerology. It takes seconds to go into a bookstore or library and get books on that and start investigating it, researching it, and doing it.’”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_debates_over_the_Harry_Potter_series

“On top of what the Bible says about witchcraft, don’t forget that the Harry Potter movies have become increasingly dark. Having read the books, I’m pretty sure that the next two movies will involve murder, torture, cursing, and things of that sort that Christians should think twice about before viewing. I think that a lot of people (me in the past included) are willing to write off those blemishes in the movies and books because they like the story. Let us never become desensitized. At some point we have to go back to Philippians 4:8.” 

http://www.studyyourbibleonline.com/culture/why-christians-shouldnt-readwatch-harry-potter/

Tell me, Harry Potter fans, does this stuff sound accurate to J.K. Rowling’s stories? If so, then it seems to me that we need to take a step back and really reevaluate what we're reading. I really want to know your (HP fan’s) response to the above quotes … because I’m confused. Read the full posts of the links I provided. It’s disturbing, especially what children are saying after reading the Harry Potter books. Things like “these books make it seem like you can really be a witch—I want to go to a school to be a witch”. That bothers me a lot - has me leery.

After all that, maybe you’re still like, “Well, even if Harry Potter and the like are witchcraft, it really doesn’t affect me—it certainly doesn’t make me want to get into an occult! I just see it as fantasy.” And so justify reading books with witchcraft in them. Well … what if the friend or child that you recommended Harry Potter to DID notice the occultism in the books and started messing around with it in real life? Yikes! Do you really think we should brush off worries about such books, when they could have the potential to be very harmful to someone?

"To give you a statistic, a poll was taken a few years ago in

which one out of ten children admitted that they were more interested in witchcraft after reading Harry Potter. Human characters acting as peers and role models and using magick are a dangerous thing as it encourages readers in the wrong directions."

http://liannetaimenlore.blogspot.com/2012/09/magic-harry-potter-vs-lotr-narnia-and.html

I don't know. It just seems to me that these books are really dark, and portraying something evil in a good light.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So what’s the difference between Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings? You watch The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit; Are they bad also?

(Turiel the elf)

Though I don’t have all my thoughts together on magic, I’m inclined to believe that The Hobbit is a whole different issue than Harry Potter.

Here are my findings:

“There are really only two options when dealing with the issue of magic: either magic is a craft that can be learned and mastered by any person who applies themselves, much like any skill in the natural world, or it is something that must be innate within a being, something one is born with, not unlike the concept of the Jedi in Star Wars.”
http://unamsanctamcatholicam.blogspot.com/2010/03/fantasy-magic-and-christian-author.html

“J.R.R. Tolkien adopted the latter model, that of magic being innate. The elves possess magical powers by virtue of their nature, which they understand not as magic but as part of what they are – “magic” is what the human peoples of Middle Earth refer to it, a reflection of their lack of understanding of the powers and nature of the elves.” http://unamsanctamcatholicam.blogspot.com/2010/03/fantasy-magic-and-christian-author.html

Now that sounds like good and simply fantasy to me. No witchcraft involved. It goes on:

“The wizards also use magic, but as any Tolkien fan knows, Gandalf and Saruman are not truly men; rather, they are powerful angelic beings called istari who only appear in the forms of men, and their powers are as natural to them as the angelic powers are to the angels.” http://unamsanctamcatholicam.blogspot.com/2010/03/fantasy-magic-and-christian-author.html

So while J.R.R. Tolkien used the controversial term ‘wizard’, he seemed rather to base these beings off angels. Messengers sent out and gifted with power from a higher Being. Once again, no dark powers/witchcraft involved. Of course … there are good and bad angels … and that concept is reflected in The Lord of the Rings as one “wizard” strays down an evil path.

(Gandalf...I just love him! *big grin*)

(Two "wizards" from The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit)

     Continuing…

“The Dunedain possess a kind of magic, but only by virtue of the elven blood in their veins. Thus, there is really no opportunity on Middle Earth for anyone to “become” a wizard if they choose; magic is the prerogative of the elves and the Maiar exclusively.” http://unamsanctamcatholicam.blogspot.com/2010/03/fantasy-magic-and-christian-author.html

So. I wouldn’t say that The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and other fantasy books of that kind are wrong. They’re not portraying witchcraft or sorcery as "good". They don't even really have "magic" at all. There is just the good angelic beings gifted with supernatural power from a higher being; and then the blatantly evil guys, who have dark powers, maybe even sorcery stuff. But sorcery is clearly portrayed as evil in this case. The elves have special abilities, healing powers, (something gifted by their Creator to their race - which is an entirely fictional race).

But Harry Potter and the like seem to be the opposite story, from all my research. Even if they are born a witch or wizard, they're still practicing "magic", um, learning spells, divination ... all this stuff that quite sounds like sorcery. Correct me if I'm wrong. But they live in our real world and "witches" and "wizards" aren't a fictional race. Witches and wizards a real people in this real world who ...(yes, I know I'm repeating), get power from Satan.

     Anyway. This post isn't really about condemning Harry Potter, but pointing out that witchcraft and sorcery are sin, and if books portray that sin as "good", that is not okay! If someone could prove to me that Harry Potter has absolutely no witchcraft or sorcery (portrayed as good, because those are always evil) in it/no portraying sins as okay/no glorifying darkness ... then I would not say its a bad book. However, through all my research, I've seen time and time again proof for witchcraft and bad stuff, but no proof for the supposed wonderfulness and really good themes that the book has. Some of my friends have read it in the past, and say that yeah, it does seem to have darkness and sorcery in it. And I've read reviews from Christians (who liked it), but still pointed out some glaring "bads" that they found, but I guess decided to overlook for the most part.

Now, to be honest, I have come across some books that have magic as a “craft”, but don’t seem near as dark or devious as Harry Potter. I’m uncertain, but am leaning toward: if its craft (that's learned and practiced how you so desire), just … don’t. Here's why:

“The other approach, treating magic as a skill to be mastered, is a little more difficult for a Christian to deal with. A Christian acknowledges that there is only one God, and that all supernatural power must come ultimately from that one God, or from His nemesis, the devil, who is a very powerful fallen angel. Now, God dictates that mankind not attempt to contact or harness magical abilities, which leaves us in the real world with no other option than that all magic, both black and alleged “white” magic, are diabolical in origin. Christianity does not deny that magic can be mastered, but asserts that all magic is from the evil one. This means that it is intrinsically evil; there is never a time, place or situation in the real world when it is licit for a person to attempt to use magic.

“All fine and good within the real world, but how does this transfer into a fantasy world?

“This is a dilemma, for once we acknowledge that in the real world magic must always be viewed as an intrinsic evil, this puts the Christian fantasy author in the dilemma of possibly taking something intrinsically evil and making it neutral or even possibly good within the context of the fantasy world (here’s a parallel – imagine a fantasy world where adultery was a positive good). There really is not conflict if we retain acquired magic by reducing its use to evil mages (for evil men may in a fantasy world attempt to harness magical powers just as much as evil men in the real world); but the true difficulty arises when a character that is supposed to be a hero or morally upright person is required to acquire or use magic. Can this ever be licit? One could see in it the equivalence of making an otherwise “good” character commit adultery or theft and present it as justifiable. To present an intrinsic evil as justifiable, even in a fantasy book, is sinful, mortally so, if it leads the reader to conclude that those evil acts are permissible based on what he reads.” http://unamsanctamcatholicam.blogspot.com/2010/03/fantasy-magic-and-christian-author.html

WHOA. For me, as a person who thinks of fantasy ‘as a way to understand reality’ and that fantasy sometimes is ‘realer than life’ (in kind of a spiritual way) … this hits hard.

I mean, do you think it would be okay to incorporate adultery, or murder, or idolatry into a fantasy world as a good concept? Why then can authors do that with witchcraft and Christians say, “It’s just fine!”?

One last time, some thoughts from someone else. These quotes are from a post called: Vampires,Werewolves, Witches and Wizards – Exposed! by Brian Mcbride. His thoughts go as follows:

“When you are using one of those beings as a demonic being instead of trying to sugarcoat it as something good, that is fine. In Christian novels, Vampires and Werewolves are often used as the offspring of evil. They often signify darkness and evil. Whereas, in the Twilight Saga, they are set up as something good. They're being sugarcoated, and that is unacceptable.

“If you are using a witch or a wizard as someone entranced by evil's seducing abilities, that is fine. Especially in Christian allegory novels, because things like that represent the evil that a certain character battles. However, in books such as Harry Potter, or Witch and Wizard, they are once again being sugarcoated.”

“In conclusion, I will say this: When we Christians, especially teenagers, are out in the world reading books or watching TV, we must always be wary, for the world will continually try to sugarcoat the evil that lurks around.”

In conclusion (of this massive post) … I am not calling you and all your favorite magical books depraved. But I am saying that books demonstrating actual witchcraft as “good” are wrong. If you want to argue, well, what can I say? …Go take it up with God? After all, He is the one who condemned witchcraft. I am merely restating that … Since right and wrong often seem to get muddled in our world! Even to us Christians.

After all this … Let me say that I love, love, love the Narnia movies adapted from The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. The books are great too! They are an incredible Christian allegory and really show Truth amidst a wonderful fantasy world. And I also really enjoyed the movies made from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. So adventurous. I hope to read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series someday. Fantasy is my favorite genre. LOVE IT!

"'I am [in your world].' said Aslan. 'But there I have another

name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the

very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing

me here for a little, you may know me better there.'" ― C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia

But when books or movies start moving into that "witchcraft/sorcery is good and okay to practice" territory … I pause and step back. I seriously don’t want anything to do with witchcraft.

You might say that I’m coming across rather strongly. That I’m trying to push my opinions on you. But really, as I said time and again, God said witchcraft was wrong. And I think it’s safe to concur that books portraying that abominable sin as good and right, are also wrong. It makes sense, doesn’t it? I’m not being radical. I’m not being judgemental. I’m just looking at what the Bible says and concluding … sin is wrong. No matter if you put it in a fantasy world or not.

What are your thoughts? I would love to discuss this peaceably with you, ;) :)

Links to Posts Discussing Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Magic, and Witchcraft:

http://liannetaimenlore.blogspot.com/2012/09/magic-harry-potter-vs-lotr-narnia-and.html (I highly recommend that you read this post from beginning to end if you are still confused (or even if you aren't). She explains magic, witchcraft, and the different between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings or Narnia MUCH better than I did!)

http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~spence/essays/frodo/IVF.html

http://www.studyyourbibleonline.com/culture/why-christians-shouldnt-readwatch-harry-potter/

http://www.edocere.org/articles/harry_potter.htm

http://unamsanctamcatholicam.blogspot.com/2010/03/fantasy-magic-and-christian-author.html

http://morganhuneke.blogspot.com/2015/03/magic-in-christian-fantasy.html

http://harrypotterpower.com/

http://www.jointhestarcrafters.blogspot.com/2011/12/vampires-werewolves-witches-and-wizards.html

http://www.kotipetripaavola.com/HarryPotterbooks.html

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/harrypotter.html