Ahead of the First Annual Christian Witches Convention to be held in Salem, Massachusetts, USA this April, some in the organisation have claimed Jesus was a conjurer of tricks, rather than a miracle worker.
The shocking claims, which are bound to upset certain sections of Christianity, were made by chief Christian witch, Reverend Valerie Love, who is the organiser of the witches convention and recently launched the Covenant of Christian Witches Mystery School.
Rev Love confirms that she is a follower of Jesus Christ, but believes he is little more than a magician.
Speaking on her Facebook page, Rev Love said in a video:
“The Bible is a huge book of sorcery. You literally can’t get around that. You can’t get around Jesus being a magician. There’s just no way. You’re talking about sorcery at its base understanding, it’s really just being able to change the natural by supernatural means. That’s really it.
It’s an alchemical process. It’s to say that you turn water into wine. One, two fish and five loaves of bread, feeding the multitude – absolutely forms of sorcery. Walking on water defined the natural realm and laws that govern this physical plane. That’s all realms of sorcery.
Magic is simply just using the props to do it.
You’re talking about the whole of Jesus’ adult ministry is all magic, all sorcery. Even if we just say ‘Jesus.’
Every particular miracle Jesus does defies human law, defies the laws of the universe and the world. So you can’t really talk about being a Jesus follower without doing what he did which is magic.”
However, some Facebook users were appalled by Rev Love’s claims.
One person simply wrote:
“This is not the truth.”
Another said:
“Offensive in abundance.”
But Calvin Witcher, “an internationally recognised Prophet” according to his website, did not dismiss Rev Love’s claims, and said the Bible is open to interpretation.
Mr Witcher said:
“The interesting thing is, most of the time when people come against magic, sorcery, mysticism, the occult, you name it, the new age community they are not really coming against the Bible because the Bible honestly doesn’t teach that when you understand it and break it down. The Bible is not against magic. The Bible is a magic book. The Bible is a grimoire, hands down.”
The Bible & Sorcery & Magic
The Bible condemns sorcery, magic and witchcraft in Leviticus 19:26.
According to Webster, the word “sorcery” means “magic; enchantment; witchcraft; divination by the assistance or the supposed assistance of evil spirits, or the power of commanding evil spirits.”
An always contested truth, however, is that the Bible also includes stories about people who practised magic and sorcery, and in it, not all magicians are viewed as evil.
Remember the three wise men of the Christmas story who brought gifts to baby Jesus? They were Magi.
Historically, Magi weren’t known for pulling rabbits out of hats, but they were a part of a long line of consultants to kings who worshipped various gods, practised the occult, studied the stars, foretold the future, interpreted dreams, and probably experimented with spells, potions and elixirs.
Then around 600 B.C., the Old Testament prophet Daniel was put in charge of the Magi of Babylon (Daniel 2:48). That’s when there was a noticeable shift in how the Magi of Babylon worked. They operated more like a priestly order, became monotheistic (worshipped one God), and even sacrificed animals for their sin.
Daniel no doubt turned them to depend upon God for their powers. So while sorcery is condemned by the Bible, not all the magicians in the Bible are ‘bad guys’.
The difference?
The three wise men bowed before Jesus, and Daniel was clear that he could interpret dreams by God’s power, not his.
What the Bible warns against is interacting with the powers of the spirit world without God being a part of it.
God outright forbids worshipping other deities (goddess worship, animism), using divination (fortune-telling, psychics, tarot cards, numerology), interpreting omens (astrology, horoscopes), consulting mediums (channelling spirits, contacting the dead), and practising witchcraft (spell-casting, shamanism).
The Bible wouldn’t warn against these things (Deuteronomy 18:10) if their dangers weren’t real.
“There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations, the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.” (Deuteronomy 18:10-14)
So what’s wrong with them?
Two things.
First, contacting evil spirits places us under the influence of the Evil One. Lucifer is known as “the father of lies.” This means he usually makes things look harmless or fun—for a while. And fortune-telling, curses and horoscopes can seem harmless at first. But the longer we dabble in Lucifer’s laboratory, the more likely it will affect our faith and thinking.
Second, a deeper danger is your motivation for dabbling in such things. Doing magic tricks like “the disappearing coin” may be just a fun way to entertain your friends, but people who get into real sorcery do it to exercise power over other people, to influence them to do something they wouldn’t do otherwise or to get knowledge that isn’t humanly available.
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