witchcraft
(1 Samuel 15:23; 2 Kings 9:22; 2 Chronicles 33:6; Micah 5:12; Nahum 3:4; Galatians 5:20)
In the popular sense of the word, no mention is made either of witches or of witchcraft in Scripture.
The “witch of En-dor” (1 Samuel 28) was a necromancer, i.e., one who feigned to hold converse with the dead. The damsel with “a spirit of divination” (Acts 16:16) was possessed by an evil spirit, or, as the words are literally rendered, “having a spirit, a pithon.” The reference is to the heathen god Apollo, who was regarded as the god of prophecy.
Modern witchcraft
There has been a dramatic increase in the number of people in the U.S. who self-identify as witches (Wicca or neo-Pagan) since 1990, according to reported studies by Trinity College (Connecticut), The American Religious Identification Survey and The Pew Research Center.
Examples of common modern Wicca beliefs that are in opposition to God’s revealed Word—
- Virtual worship of nature and “nature’s gods and goddesses”
- Rejection of the Creator God revealed in the Bible
- Rejection of Jesus Christ being the Son of God and that He came to redeem us
- Rejection of Jesus Christ as the only way —as Christ said, “I am THE way, and THE truth, and THE life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
- Rejection of Christ’s physical resurrection
- Dependence on The Craft instead of the Cross
- Deification of self
- There is no need to seek Salvation or the Savior. There is nothing to be saved from.
- Rejection of the existence of Hell and its punishment for sins and its eternal death of separation from the Creator
- Rejection of the Bible as having authority over mankind
- Occult worldview
- Trying to reconstruct ancient, pre- and non-Christian religious systems (Celtic, Norse, Greek, Roman, or Egyptian)
- Reincarnation
- Spells, incantations, hexes and perfection of rituals—seeking to use supposed cosmic or psychic forces to do their bidding
- Seeking personal power, instead of personal sacrifice
- New Age spirituality
- Rejection of Christ’s church
- Denial of the Fall of Man
- Humanism
- Moral relevatism
- Polyamory—a form of fornication
- Feminism
- Lesbianism
- Increasing emphasis on “interfaith,” but with rejection of true Biblical Christianity
- Speaking with the dead (necromancy)
More information
- Witch
- Divination
- Seer
- Necromancer
- Sorcerer
- Enchantments
- Magic
- Magicians
- Chaldea
- familiar spirit
- What is the Occult? Answer
- What does the Bible say about the occult? Answer
- Demons
- Angels
- Satan
- Devil
- Adversary
- SATAN—Is Satan a real person that influences our world today? Is he affecting you? Answer
- DEMON POSSESSSION AND INFLUENCE—Can Christians be demon possessed? In what ways can Satan and his demons influence believers? Answer
- Prophecy
- Prophets
- Visions
- Should Christians participate in Halloween? Answer