Witchcraft?

[memphis]

Mentioned as a sin in another thread. Could somebody please explain what this is? I don't understand at all.

[Logical Shunt]

Mentioned as a sin in another thread. Could somebody please explain what this is? I don't understand at all.

basically, it is an attempt to tap into spiritual forces by going around God instead of through God.  It is an attempt to tap into the spiritual forces that come from below instead of from above.  The bible has many many verses on the topic, both in the OT and NT.  Under the Law of Moses, the punishment was death.

Exodus 22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

as in...We found a witch! May we burn her? A witch? How do you know she's a witch? She turned me into a newt! A newt..? I got better.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Witchcraft, sorcery, etc., are concepts that Bible translations generally deal with poorly. Largely this is because the descriptions of the various practices covered are often given idiomatic descriptions in the original Hebrew which don't neatly translate into English.  Also many of the translators are of the jmfcst school of thought: it is sufficient that these practices are not of God, therefore the details don't matter.  For instance, the witch in Ex 22:18 is in the KJV sometimes translated as witch and sometimes as sorcerer. The NASB consistently translates this word as sorcerer without any significant increase in clarity.  As best as I understand it, the particular practice referred to in Ex 22:18 is the use of incantations over an idol to get the spirit to do what one wants done.

This might seem redundant to Ex 22:20 "He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed."(KJV) save that I think this verse is poorly translated.  The Hebrew rendered as "shall be utterly destroyed" is literally "shall be left to God" and I think better translated as "shall be shunned by the righteous".  Now for physical objects that had been left to God, that being left to God was indeed accomplished through their utter destruction, which explains why the conventional translation of Ex 22:20 refers to utter destruction. However, there are too many examples in both the OT and the NT of God exhorting those who had sacrificed to other gods to turn to the true faith for the usual translation to be correct, for that translation of Ex 22:20 makes God a hypocrite.

Thus I take Ex 22:20 as calling for the shunning of those who make offerings to other gods, while Ex 22:18 calls for the death of those who seek to force the supernatural to do their bidding.

[Logical Shunt]

agreed...it's kinda like pronography - no rigid definition, but you know it when you see it.

[MasterJedi]

Wikipedia is your friend. What most people who practice "witchcraft" are like and follow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Wikipedia is your friend. What most people who practice "witchcraft" are like and follow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca

Wicca is but a small and insignificant portion of what the Bible means by the term.

[memphis]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=37OWL7AzvHo

[Chief Justice PiT]

Wikipedia is your friend. What most people who practice "witchcraft" are like and follow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca

Wicca is but a small and insignificant portion of what the Bible means by the term.

     Considering Wicca's status as a modern invention, I doubt it has any meaningful connection to Biblical notions of witchcraft.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Wikipedia is your friend. What most people who practice "witchcraft" are like and follow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca

Wicca is but a small and insignificant portion of what the Bible means by the term.

     Considering Wicca's status as a modern invention, I doubt it has any meaningful connection to Biblical notions of witchcraft.

And the US Constitution says nothing about an air force, yet no one doubts that the provisions concerning the military cover it.  The Biblical injunctions against witchcraft and the like were generally not written against specific cults competing with that of Yahweh for the hearts and minds of the ancient Hebrews at the time they were set down.  Rather the Bible banned specific practices, some of which are present in Wicca.

[Chief Justice PiT]

Wikipedia is your friend. What most people who practice "witchcraft" are like and follow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca

Wicca is but a small and insignificant portion of what the Bible means by the term.

     Considering Wicca's status as a modern invention, I doubt it has any meaningful connection to Biblical notions of witchcraft.

And the US Constitution says nothing about an air force, yet no one doubts that the provisions concerning the military cover it.  The Biblical injunctions against witchcraft and the like were generally not written against specific cults competing with that of Yahweh for the hearts and minds of the ancient Hebrews at the time they were set down.  Rather the Bible banned specific practices, some of which are present in Wicca.

     I was thinking more in the historical sense, but after posting that I realized that the Bible would tend to rather admonish other religions on a theological basis, in which case there is no real point in considering historical connections between them.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Mentioned as a sin in another thread. Could somebody please explain what this is? I don't understand at all.

basically, it is an attempt to tap into spiritual forces by going around God instead of through God.  It is an attempt to tap into the spiritual forces that come from below instead of from above.  The bible has many many verses on the topic, both in the OT and NT.  Under the Law of Moses, the punishment was death.

Exodus 22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

[The Mikado]

Look at I Samuel, wherein King Saul, despite his edict that witches be put to death, backs off on it and consults the Witch of Endor to have Samuel's ghost come back so he can consult with it.  The Witch of Endor draws on some non-God-related magical powers and does indeed bring Samuel's ghost up, and Samuel proceeds to chew out Saul and tell him that his impiety is going to get not only Saul, but all of Saul's children killed by the Philistines.

As good as the original story is, I've always preferred Handel's Saul's lyrics for Ghost Samuel's speech.  "Hath God forsaken thee, and dost thou ask my counsel?  Didst I not fortell thy fate when madly disobedient thou didst spare the cursed Amalekite and on the spoils didst fly rapacious?  Therefore God this day hath verified my words in thy destruction, hath rent the kingdom from thee and bestowed it upon David, whom thou hatest for his virtue!  Thou, and thy sons will be with me tomorrow, and Yisrael, by Philistine arms, shall fall!  The Lord hath said it, he will make it good!"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRPZJh48P20  Handel has a great talent for getting into the hearts of the Biblical characters and writing lines that really cut to the core of their personalities, and Saul is one of my all-time favorite pieces of music.