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Christian views on magic ormagick[1] vary widely amongChristian denominations and individuals. Many Christians actively condemnmagic assatanic, holding that it opens the way fordemonic possession while other Christians simply view it as entertainment. Conversely, some branches ofesoteric Christianity who partake in a mystical version of Christianity actively engage in magical practices.
There are several references towitchcraft in theBible that strongly condemn such practices. For example,Deuteronomy 18:11–12 condemns anyone who "casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you", andExodus 22:18 states "Do not allow a sorceress to live" (or in theKing James Bible "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live").
It has sometimes been suggested that the word "witch" (Heb. מְכַשֵּׁפָ֖הməḵaššêp̄āh) might be a mistranslation of "poisoner."[2] This view was advanced the 16th century byReginald Scot, a prominent critic of the witch trials, on the basis of the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible.[3] His theory still holds some currency, but is not widely accepted, and in Daniel 2:2[4]כָּשַׁף is listed alongside other magic practitioners who could interpret dreams: magicians, astrologers, and Chaldeans. Suggested derivations ofכָּשַׁף include 'mutterer' (from a single root) orherb user (as a compound word formed from the rootskash, meaning 'herb', andhapaleh, meaning 'using'). The Greekφαρμακεία literally means 'herbalist' or one who uses or administers drugs, but it was used virtually synonymously withmagos andgoēs as a term for a sorcerer.[5] The Hebrew Bible provides some evidence that these commandments were enforced under theHebrew kings:
AndSaul disguised himself, and put on otherraiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, Ipray thee, divine unto me by thefamiliar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and thewizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?"[6]
The Hebrew verbהכרית, translated in theKing James Version as "cut off", can also be translated as "kill wholesale" or "exterminate".[7]
Others point to a primitive idealist belief in a relation between bewitching and coveting, reflected in the occasional translation of theTenth Commandment as 'Thou shalt not covet'.[8] This may suggest that the prohibition related specifically tosorcery or the casting of spells to unnaturally possess something.
Some adherents of near-east religions acted asmediums, channeling messages from the dead or from afamiliar spirit. The Bible sometimes is translated as referring to "necromancer" and "necromancy" (Deuteronomy 18:11). However, some lexicographers, includingJames Strong and Spiros Zodhiates, disagree. These scholars say that the Hebrew wordkashaph (כשפ), used in Exodus 22:18 and 5 other places in theTanakh comes from a root meaning "to whisper". Strong, therefore, concludes that the word means "to whisper a spell,i.e. toincant or practice magic". TheContemporary English Version translatesDeuteronomy 18:11 as referring to "any kind of magic".
At the very least, older biblical prohibitions included those against 'sorcery' to obtain something unnaturally; 'necromancy' as the practice of magic or divination through demons or the dead, and any forms of malevolent 'bewitchery'.
TheApostle Paul'sEpistle to the Galatians includes sorcery in a list of "works of the flesh".[9] This disapproval is echoed in theDidache,[10] a very early book of church discipline which dates from the mid-late first century.[11]
During theEarly Middle Ages, the Christian Churches did not conduct witch trials.[12] The GermanicCouncil of Paderborn in 785 explicitly outlawed the very belief in witches, and theHoly Roman EmperorCharlemagne later confirmed the law. AmongEastern Orthodox Christians concentrated in theByzantine Empire, belief in witchcraft was widely regarded asdeisidaimonia—superstition—and by the 9th and 10th centuries in theLatin Christian West, belief in witchcraft had begun to be seen asheresy.
Towards the end of theMiddle Ages and the beginning of theearly modern period (post-Reformation), belief in witchcraft became more popular and witches were seen as directly in league with theDevil. This marked the beginning of a period ofwitch hunts among earlyProtestants which lasted about 200 years, and in some countries, particularly in North-Western Europe, tens of thousands of people were accused of witchcraft and sentenced to death.[13]
TheInquisition within theRoman Catholic Church had conducted trials against supposed witches in the 13th century, but these trials were to punishheresy, of which belief in witchcraft was merely one variety.[12] Inquisitorial courts only became systematically involved in the witch-hunt during the 15th century: in the case of theMadonna Oriente, the Inquisition ofMilan was not sure what to do with two women who in 1384 and in 1390 confessed to have participated in a type ofwhite magic.
Not all Inquisitorial courts acknowledged witchcraft. For example, in 1610 as the result ofa witch-hunting craze the Suprema (the ruling council of theSpanish Inquisition) gave everybody an Edict of Grace (during which confessing witches werenot to be punished) and put the only dissenting inquisitor,Alonso de Salazar Frías, in charge of the subsequent investigation. The results of Salazar's investigation was that the Spanish Inquisition did not bother witches ever again though they still went after heretics andCrypto-Jews.[14]
Martin Luther shared some of the views about witchcraft that were common in his time.[15] When interpreting Exodus 22:18,[16] he stated that, with the help of the devil, witches could steal milk merely by thinking of a cow.[17] In hisSmall Catechism, he taught that witchcraft was a sin against the second commandment[18] and prescribed the Biblical penalty for it in a "table talk":
On 25 August 1538 there was much discussion about witches and sorceresses who poisoned chicken eggs in the nests, or poisoned milk and butter. Doctor Luther said: "One should show no mercy to these [women]; I would burn them myself, for we read in the Law that the priests were the ones to begin the stoning of criminals."[19]
Luther's view of practitioners of magic as quasi-demons was at odds with the Catholic view that emphasized choice and repentance. He also argued that one of the most serious perversions wrought by magic was the threatened degeneration of traditional female roles in the family.[20]
In the era of theInquisition and anti-witchcraft sentiment, there was a more acceptable form of "purely natural" occult and pagan study, the study of "natural" phenomena in general with no evil or irreligious intent whatsoever.[21]
Renaissance humanism (15th and 16th century) saw a resurgence inhermeticism andNeo-Platonic varieties of ceremonial magic. Both bourgeoisie and nobility of that era showed great fascination with these arts, which exerted anexotic charm by their ascription to Arabic, Jewish, Romani, and Egyptian sources. There was great uncertainty in distinguishing practices of vain superstition, blasphemous occultism, and perfectly sound scholarly knowledge or pious ritual. The people during this time found that the existence of magic was something that could answer the questions that they could not explain through science. To them it was suggesting that while science may explain reason, magic could explain "unreason".[22]
Marsilio Ficino advocated the existence of spiritual beings and spirits in general, though many such theories ran counter to the ideas of the laterAge of Enlightenment, and were treated with hostility by theRoman Catholic Church. Ficino however theorised a "purely natural" magic that did not require the invocation of spirits, malevolent or malicious.[21]BenedictineabbotJohannes Trithemius reportedly createdincantations of his own related to beneficial communication with spirits. His works, including theSteganographia, were immediately placed on theIndex Librorum Prohibitorum.[21] However these works were later revealed to be concerned withcryptography and steganography, and the "magical" formulae werecover texts for cryptographic content.[23][24] Behind their methods however, is an underlying theological motive for their contrivance. The preface to thePolygraphia establishes the everyday practicability of Trithemian cryptography as a "secular consequent of the ability of a soul specially empowered by God to reach, by magical means, from earth to Heaven".[25]
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535), a German magician, occult writer, theologian, astrologer, and alchemist, wrote the influentialThree Books of Occult Philosophy, incorporatingKabbalah in its theory and practice of Western magic. It contributed strongly to theRenaissance view of ritual magic's relationship with Christianity.[26]Giambattista della Porta expanded on many of these ideas in hisMagia Naturalis.[27]Giovanni Pico della Mirandola promoted asyncretic worldview combiningPlatonism, Neoplatonism,Aristotelianism, Hermeticism, and Kabbalah.[26]
Pico's Hermetic syncretism was further developed byAthanasius Kircher, aJesuit priest, hermeticist, and polymath, who wrote extensively on the subject in 1652, bringing further elements such asOrphism andEgyptian mythology to the mix.[28]Lutheran BishopJames Heiser recently evaluated the writings of Marsilio Ficino andGiovanni Pico della Mirandola as an attempted "Hermetic Reformation".[29]
John Dee was an intense Christian, but his religiosity was influenced by Hermetic andRenaissance Neo-Platonism and pervasivePythagorean doctrines.[30] FromHermeticism he drew a belief that man had the potential for divine power that could be exercised through mathematics.[31] He immersed himself inmagic, astrology, and Hermetic philosophy. Much effort in his last 30 years went into trying to commune withangels, so as to learn theuniversal language of creation and achieve a pre-apocalyptic unity of mankind.[32] His goal was to help bring forth a unified world religion through the healing of the breach of theRoman Catholic andProtestant churches and therecapture of the puretheology of the ancients.[33]
During theAge of Enlightenment, belief in the powers of witches and sorcerers to harm began to die out in the West.[34] But the reasons for disbelief differed from those of early Christians. For the early Christians the reason was theological—that Christ had already defeated the powers of evil. For the post-Enlightenment Christians in West and North Europe, the disbelief was based on a belief inrationalism andempiricism.
It was at this time, however, that Western Christianity began expanding to parts of Africa and Asia where premodern worldviews still held sway, and where belief in the power of witches and sorcerers to harm was, if anything, stronger than it had been inNorthern Europe. ManyAfrican Independent Churches developed their own responses to witchcraft and sorcery.[34]
The situation was further complicated by the rise ofnew religious movements that considered witchcraft to be a religion. These perspectives do not claim that witches actually consciously enter into a pact with Satan because Satan is not normally believed to exist inWicca or other modern neo-pagan witchcraft practices.[34][35]
Several Christian groups believe in witchcraft and view it as anegative force. Manyfundamentalist Christians believe that witchcraft is a danger to children.[36] The 2006 documentaryJesus Camp, which depicts the life of young children attending Becky Fischer's summer camp, shows Fischercondemning theHarry Potter novels and telling the students that "Warlocks are enemies of God".[37] While Fischer's summer camp has sometimes been identified asPentecostal, Fischer is most closely associated with theneo-Pentecostal movement known as theNew Apostolic Reformation (NAR).[38]
Among Christian organizations, the NAR is especially aggressive inspiritual warfare efforts to counter alleged acts of witchcraft; the NAR's globally distributedTransformations documentaries by filmmaker George Otis Jr. show charismatic Christians creating mini-utopias by usingspiritual mapping to locate and drive offterritorial spirits and by banishing accused witches.[39][40] During the 2008 United States presidential election, footage surfaced from a 2005 church ceremony in which an NAR apostle, Kenyan bishopThomas Muthee, laid hands onSarah Palin and called upon God to protect her from "every form of witchcraft".[41][42][38]
Magic in literature, while condemned by some Christians, is often viewed by Christians as non-evil. The key distinction would be between real-life magic and pretend magic. This view holds that in real life, the practice of supernatural abilities (i.e. magic) must have a supernatural power source or origin, which would be either holy or evil. Thus born of Holy Spirit or of demons. (SeeSpiritual gift andChristian demonology for details on these teachings.) Thus, magic in the Biblical context would be viewed as only an act of evil, whereas in literature, pretend magic is a morally neutral tool available to conduct both good and bad behaviors.
In literature, magical abilities have many different power sources. Technological ability (science) can appear as magic.[43] Often, wielding magic is accomplished by imposing one's will by concentration and/or use of devices to control an external magical force. This explanation is offered forthe Force inStar Wars, magic inDungeons & Dragons, and magic inThe Chronicles of Narnia andThe Lord of the Rings.
The latter two works are by notable Christians,C. S. Lewis andJ. R. R. Tolkien, respectively. In the first book inThe Chronicles of Narnia,The Magician's Nephew, Lewis specifically explains that magic is a power readily available in some other worlds, less so on Earth. The Empress Jadis (later, theWhite Witch) was tempted to use magic for selfish reasons to retain control of her world Charn, which ultimately led to the destruction of life there. Lewis related questions of the morality of magic to the same category as the morality of technology, including whether it is real, represents an 'unhealthy interest', or contravenes the basic divine plan for our universe.[44]
Tolkien, a devout Catholic, had strict rules imposed by the ruling powers, angels who had assumed the 'raiment of the earth', for the use of magic by their servants. These included a general discouragement of magic in all but exceptional circumstances, and also prohibitions against use of magic to control others, to set the self up as a political power, or to create a world that violates the natural order.[45] He did however allow his wizard character to entertain children with magical fireworks.[46][47]
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...European courts executed about 45,000 witches during the early modern period.