by J. Randal Matheny

Who could resist the wiggling nose of Samantha Stevens as she solved problem after problem in "Bewitched"?

Who didn't have fun as a kid dressed up in a costume going door to door collecting delectables?

What's the problem with letting the kids read Harry Potter?

Why the criticism of video games that spice up their offerings with touches of magic?

Magic and witchcraft are all the rage these days. The challenging question is how the Christian deals with its appearance in the arts, literature, holidays, and culture.

What does the Bible have to say about witchcraft?

First, there is no such thing as good witchcraft or white magic.

When people converted to Christ in Ephesus, they burned their magic books. "And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver" (Acts 19:19, ESV). The practice of magic was so evil, it was considered necessary to publicly confess it and publicly destroy its tools. If Judas had been there, he might have complained that the books might have been sold and the money given to the poor. But this fortune was worth only burning.

In the Old Testament, those who practiced witchcraft, sorcery, and necromancy were to be stoned (Lev. 19:31; 20:6, 27; Deut. 18:9-14). These were "abominable practices" before the Lord.

In God's kingdom today, witchcraft is still abominable and damnable. One cannot affirm that the type of witchcraft condemned in the Bible was the evil kind, for all kinds, for whatever purposes, are condemned.

That means there are no good witches, no white magic, nothing positive in sorcery.

Second, the Holy Scriptures condemn all magic and witchcraft unreservedly, because magic attempts to manipulate circumstances and people and put supernatural forces at man's disposal. Man seeks to use lesser forces than God to fulfill his own will, not the divine purpose. Sorcery purports to determine events, not God.

The famous case of King Saul consulting the witch of Endor is a case in point. Saul "took things into his own hands"/1 and tried to work around the word of God to find a way out of his predicament.

For that reason, sorcery is a work of the flesh that will keep one from inheriting the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19-21).

"But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death" (Rev. 21:8).

Third, the Bible prohibits even the "naming" of sinful behavior among the saints.

Paul commanded, "But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness no foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. ... For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret" (Eph. 5:3-4, 12).

The NIV appropriately translates "named" as "there must not even be a hint." The NEB says these things "must not be so much as mentioned" among Christians. Making light of serious sins is not for the follower of Jesus.

What religious people invite their children to pretend at sexual immorality? What church sponsors a festival for impurity and covetousness? So why is sorcery different, that we will make light of magic and use witchcraft as a source of entertainment? The inconsistency here seems obvious.

Practices that might have been considered innocent enough 30 or 40 years ago have acquired sinister meanings today. Wiccan is a growing religion. The Harry Potter books have caught the crest of a wave and incited children's interest in the occult. All the while parents smile over the indoctrination of their children into the wiles of the devil.

The great temptation is to rid yourself of problems with the wiggle of the nose or the wave of a wand. Even in our fantasies.

God wants real people facing life realistically. Playing around with magic flies in the face of true Christian faith.

1/John Willis, First and Second Samuel, Living Word Commentary (Sweet, 1982), p. 261.