Witchcraft In The Bible.

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The Bible carries the notorious line ‘Thou shall not suffer a witch to live’ a line often used to justify the arrest, trial, torture, persecution and execution of suspected witches in Europe and America through to the 18th century, and actually still condemning people to misery and death in some countries today. Surprisingly there are many instants of witchcraft and sorcery that do not lead to the immediate execution of those using witchcraft in the Bible itelf. The first reference to sorcery is in Exodus when Moses tries to impress Pharaoh by turning his staff into a snake. It’s a way of saying look what my God can do. Pharaoh is unimpressed. He and his advisors all throw their staffs down on the floor and turn them into snakes too. It’s the first indication that there can be magical events and beliefs independent of God, but God has his snake fight and swallow all the other snakes to prove he is more powerful. The reference to never suffering a witch to live soon follows that, Exodus 22;18, and this was at a time when Moses was declaring that Yahweh is the only acceptable God. Witches were seen as drawing power from other deities. The name Baal was often used to describe other gods. There wasn’t just one Baal but about 16 of them The most famous Baal was Baal-Zebub, later changed to Beelzebub, a demon serving Satan, and that is what was happening in early Christian teachings. The gods of pagan religions were recognized as existing, but only a demons, not as gods in their own right. Those promoting these other gods and Baals were seen as witches, and often brutally executed. To say another tribe or people were harbouring witches was often good propaganda in rallying the army together to go and slaughter them. Worshipping any non-Judaeo-Christian God was deliberately confused with Satanism though most witches even today are not Satanists. Many witches were still left alone though in Biblical times. King Saul, surrounded by a vast superior army of Philistines, finding that God is ignoring his prayers for a victory over his enemies, consults The Witch Of Endor, and talks her into letting him talk to the ghost of the prophet Samuel. He offers her immunity from God putting her to death for information, but the ghost of Samuel tells him he will lose the war against the Philistines anyway, which he does. Saul ends up committing suicide on the battlefield alongside his own son. The next time we see sorcery in the Bible it is the three Magi (short for maguses or magicians) as they chart the course of the star that will show them the birth place of Jesus. Movies and art depict this as three kings actually pursuing a comet-like star across the desert on Christmas eve, but they are clearly astrologers, working out the Messiah’s arrival through their arts. Christianity was making a major break from Judaism in its willingness to convert non-Jewish peoples into the faith, including the Romans. Non-Jewish converts were called Gentiles and many worshipped other gods and traditions, from Mithras to the Roman gods. By showing tolerance to their beliefs rather than attacking them for witchcraft and idolatry, Christianity was making powerful allies. They eventually converted Constantine the Emperor and the Roman Empire became the Holy Roman Empire. Having the astrologers handing power and recognition of status to Jesus in the Newly created New Testament scriptures was a way of showing pagan religious leaders saying ‘we’ve done our bit, now you’re in charge’. With time, and in order to keep control of its own vast congregations Christianity itself drew back on its Jewish Old Testament roots, including that terrible line, ‘Thou shall not suffer a witch to live’. There were many early Christian sects not toeing the official party line. The very word ‘sect’ is drawn from the word ‘section’, and there were numerous breakaway sections and factions. They included, among hundreds of others; Adoptionists – To them, Jesus was born human but given Godly powers later in life by God. Arianists – Jesus was human and a wise prophet but in no way divine himself. Gnosticism – These held the belief that our souls are as divine and god-like as God and that we can break free of this World and its god to set up as gods ourselves unleashing our full divine potential Manichiesm – Good And Evil are equally powerful, or evil has potential to outdo the good. There is no guarantee that God and Good are best or that they will win in the end. Cathars – Believed this World and everything in it is evil, so God wouldn’t have become human as that would mean he would have had to become evil. The Catholic backlash on the Cathars was total, and genocidal – the last Cathar on Earth was executed in 1321, at the hands of the Spanish Inquisition. An easy way the Church gained public support for its relentless assault on heretical sects was to accuse them of witchcraft practices. When The Protestant Movement began, rejecting the teachings of Rome the same tactics were used, but Protestants from Luther onwards were equally hostile to witchcraft, and the European Reformation grew too strong to stop. The rival churches could gain nothing by accusing each other of witchcraft but both turned on the ordinary people and more and more individuals came under the attention of inquisitors and witch hunters. With that, the story changes pace and I’ll look at it more in future articles. Arthur Chappell