Reality vs. fiction - MAGIC AND THE OCCULT

FICTION is invented either to entertain or to deceive.

REALITY is the state of things as they actually exist.

A list of bestselling books for teens on Amazon includes the following: “The Necromancer” (A necromancer is one who speaks to the dead); “The Sorceress”; “Spirit Bound” (The cover has a young lady offering her neck to a vampire); “Hex Hall” (A young lady discovers she’s the daughter of a warlock and that she has powers); “Dark Flame” (It is described as the author’s “most darkly seductive Immortals novel yet”); “Love Bites” (The main character wonders whether or not her vampire boyfriend will ever bite her and make their love immortal); “Spells” (One critic calls it, “Brilliant and Lovely”); “The Demonata #10: Hells Heroes”; the “Twilight” series.

American teens are fascinated with magic and the occult. But this is not exclusively a teenage interest. Humanity has always been intrigued by supernatural power and the spiritual realm. But why? Many times we have no idea why we’re attracted to something or someone. There’s something about “it” that raises our curiosity. This can be dangerous. To blindly follow someone only because there’s something about them that you like is probably not a good idea. We are attracted for unexplainable reasons sometimes. Our knowledge is limited and when something is beyond what we can understand we are intrigued by it. We have an innate desire for the unknown. This is good when we use discernment, but bad when we don’t. Do we consider what it might mean to read some of the above mentioned books or to watch some of the top grossing movies? Are they really harmless? Maybe we think we know, but are we really strong enough Christians to not be influenced? Or, more to the point, should Christians even take part in these things?

Magic is a predominant and widely accepted manifestation of the occult in our culture. But being predominant and accepted doesn’t make it profitable. Because it is appealing does not mean that we should pursue to engage it.

Do you think that Satan only speaks through the outspoken and self-appointed witch, warlock, and sorcerer? Or just through the demonstrably and visibly evil person or just through the hideous and grotesque? Think again. Satan is an Angel of Light (2 Corinthians 11:14-15) and a blood-thirsty lion (1 Peter 5:8). He is both and, therefore, subtly disguises his intent through desirable appearances. He speaks through people whom are held captive to his ideas and words. His servants appear innocent, as do his methods. Satan takes things out of the spiritual realm and puts them into the entertainment realm. Revelation 12:9, describes Satan as the Deceiver of the whole world. All of this amounts to another gospel: good news about how you or I can attain to happiness, success, joy, romance, riches, power, eternal life and god-likeness, all the while sowing to reap our own destruction. Any other gospel that does not preach Jesus as the source, center and goal of life and salvation is false. Any gospel that does not honor and glorify Jesus as King and Lord over all else is false. Paul writes in Galatians 1:9, that even if “an angel”, whether Satan or another, or a person comes preaching (proclaiming) words that are contrary to the Word of God, then that messenger should be handed over to God for judgment and their message should be discerned as being deceitful.

To not be deceived by lies, we need to know the truth. A biblically illiterate Church is a deceived church. The same could be said of any Christian. Hence, the great and urgent need of the church today is to teach and preach the Word of God - the Truth. Christians need to know what God says about what they need to believe. That being said, Christians live their lives under the banner (bumper sticker?) of What Would Jesus Do?. This is good and wise, but this is not learned apart from the Bible and the Work of the Spirit. So, concerning magic and the occult, here is the one BIG question that stands over all the others: DID JESUS USE MAGIC? If the answer is yes, then let’s define magic:

1. DICTIONARY.com says, MAGIC is “the art of producing a desired effect or result through the use of incantation or various other techniques that presumably assure human control of supernatural agencies or the forces of nature.” The key here is HUMAN CONTROL. But from whom and where does a person acquire this control?

2. Collegiate Dictionary says, MAGIC is “the use of means (as charms or spells) believed to have supernatural power.” But how and from where are these means acquired?

3. MAGIC is a skill that is developed in secret. “According to magical theory, the potency of a spell is bound up with it’s secrecy; if it be divulged, it becomes ineffective.” (F.F. Bruce, ACTS) The greater the skill the greater the level of secrecy. But who teaches this skill?

Back to our question. Did Jesus use magic? If we define magic as above, then the answer is no. Jesus did not use magic. Magic is always associated in the Bible with Astrology; Necromancy (speaking with the dead); Sorcery (divination by an alleged assistance of evil spirits); Witchcraft (the use of sorcery or magic). Magic is the power and witchcraft is the use of magic or sorcery. The key here is human control through demonic control.

What about witchcraft? What does “witch” mean? “One that is credited with malignant supernatural powers; practicing black witchcraft often with the aid of a devil.” What does “craft” mean? “An occupation or trade requiring manual dexterity or artistic skill.” Witchcraft is the learned craft (skill or art) and occupation of using supernatural power that is demonic in nature.

DID JESUS USE WITCHCRAFT? No. Jesus did not practice witchcraft. Jesus did not consult the heavens and he did not try to discern something by the assistance of evil spirits. Jesus was not a wizard. His craft or occupation was not supernatural power. Furthermore, Jesus did not speak to dead people. Dead people do not talk. Demons pretend to be dead people and talk. Magic is occult and the occult is not just magic, but much much more. The occult speaks of what is hidden, and things hide in the darkness, not in the light.

Consider these questions:
1. Does God ever speak of His power as witchcraft or magic?
2. Does God ever use spells or books or command anyone in the Bible to use such?
3. Does God ever put a spell on a person or does He ever use potions?
4. Are the words magic, sorcery, spells, witchcraft, etc. ever used in the Bible with reference to God?

In the Bible magic (withcraft):
-is rebellion (1 Samuel 15:23) Opposition to one in authority
-is a work of the flesh (Galatians 5:20) They will not inherit the Kingdom of God
-is deception (Revelation 18:23) God’s face will not shine on them, His voice will not be heard by them
-is immoral (Revelation 21:8) Their portion will be in the lake of fire that burns with fire and sulfur.
-is under punishment of death (Deuteronomy 18:9-22) Whoever speaks in the name of other gods shall surely die.
-is idolatry (Leviticus 19:31) I am the LORD (Yahweh) your God.
-is as murder (Ezekiel 13:17-23) It is like hunting souls.
-is secret (hidden), imitation and impersonation (Exodus 7:11; Exodus 8:7) God will expose you.
-is another teaching (1 Timothy 4:1)

Clearly, the Bible does not condone magic and witchcraft and will surely punish those who practice it. God has power, not magic. God does mighty works and does not work spells. God has always judged magic, not used it or excused it.

In addition, there’s an interesting story in Acts 19:18 that speaks to the sinfulness of magic. Paul comes preaching the Gospel to Ephesus and as a result many come to believe in Jesus that formerly were practicing magic. We read that “the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.” (Acts 19:20) The Word of the Lord grew and became greater in influence. It spread. The Word of the Lord was strong to overcome with great power. It increased in strength. The Gospel increased and prevailed, but over what? In general over wicked acts, but in context over magical practices. The influence the magicians had in the culture was great and the power of their magic over the people’s hearts was also great. But the influence that God had through His Word increased above all other influences and the power of His Word prevailed over all other strongholds and strangleholds of Satan. Those who practiced magic arts brought and burned their books in the sight of all. There was bold confession of Christ as their new Lord and Savior. There was clear repentance from their old and sinful practices, i.e. those things they devoted themselves to, things they were busy with. There was unmistakable joy as they abandoned their sin to abandon themselves to Christ and His work.

As Christians, we are to walk in power like Jesus and Jesus never used magic. He destroyed it, as seen above. But like Jesus did, we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that we pursue power. Rather, the Holy spirit is given so that we can continue to do the works of Jesus on earth, where we are. But at the opposite end of this, magic is pursuing power through the learning and developing of secret and hidden techniques and means to acquire power and to control super natural forces. Any power that does not come from the Holy Spirit comes from an evil spirit and, therefore, Satan. There are only two powers in the world: God and Satan.


Satan deceives through culture and engages our hearts. How many Christians would grow in their faith if they simply exercised discernment in their daily lives. Instead they are starving themselves. When we hear that Jospeh Smith, Jr., founder of Mormonism, received a secret, sacred text of faith from an angel; that the text was written in an ancient Egyptian language and needed to be translated by a seer stone, we would be quick to dismiss that message as false. But when we hear that author Stephanie Meyer, who is also a Mormon, received the idea for Twilight in a very vivid dream; that the vampire she saw was “fantastically beautiful”; that she couldn’t stop thinking about the dream; that the character’s were, “quite literally”, voices in her head and “They simply wouldn’t shut up”; that these conversations were continually happening, we are quick to accept it as fiction. When a messenger appears supernaturally with a secret message, or a new revelation or idea comes to us in an extraordinary way, what are we to make of it? Who were these literal voices speaking to the author? Where did they come from and where does their message come from? Is it possible that if one person follows the teaching of a man who was visited by an angel, that that person, believing in receiving messages via angels or visions or dreams, will be more susceptible to such a thing occurring to them? But more importantly, does what you believe in make you either more vulnerable to being deceived or better equipped not to be? Yes. Since the Bible speaks of Satan and lies and of God and truth, to not believe in God and to believe in something or someone else is to be victim to all forms and degrees of deception under Satan. But to believe in God and to follow Him is to be set free from Satan’s lies, and to be brought to a knowledge of the truth of God and of Jesus Christ. We cannot be bewitched by the many “angels” or beautiful things that appear, for it is then that we are seduced. If we yield to them we come under the power of untruth. Satan speaks through people that he deceives - people to do his every beckoning, promoting his desires in fantastically attractive ways. While some are outspoken in their service to Satan and knowingly advance his purposes, others are simply blinded to the fact that they are being used by him and for him. But it’s not the former that we have trouble identifying. It’s the latter. It’s through seemingly harmless things that we are destroyed and beautiful things that we are deceived.

Why should a Christian knowingly associate with Satan? Why should a Christian engage with evil power? Why should a Christian share in demonic desires through entertainment? All these things arouse and awaken ungodly desires and thoughts in our hearts. In fact, a good indicator and media filter for Christians is the fruit that results from something. We need discernment. We need the Word of God to increase and prevail over every tendency toward sin in our hearts, every hint of evil in the church and every stronghold of Satan in the world. We need to guard our hearts and our minds with godly wisdom and healthy fear, not blissful ignorance and blind arrogance. We need to be aware that magic and the occult are a doorway to demonic activity and influence, and that they are everywhere and everyday presented to us in a light that makes them appear on the surface what they are not in reality.