Much like the Pharisees of Jesus' day, Christians have our own group of judgmental hypocrites who make up rules and seek to enforce them as if God Himself had named them His inquisitors. Often, these people ban what should not be banned, and in some cases allow that which should not be allowed.
In this article, I will be focusing primarily on magical fiction as my example, first because it is a common example, and second because I don't want it to be a commonly used example on Bible Brain. As much as I do enjoy it, I am not so invested in it that I want half the Christian Liberty section to be "this is why you can watch Harry Potter without offending God". Neither, by the way, am I so invested in it that I could not give it up if, indeed, the Lord so desired. However, I do feel the topic needs to be addressed for two main reasons.
The first of these reasons is unity. It cannot be denied that the Lord desires His people to be united. In Ephesians 4, for example, He tells us, through our brother Paul, "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." (Ephesians 4:1-6).
This excludes quarreling over issues which do not affect our doctrine or our salvation. It may be that these issues still offend the conscience of some believers. Romans 14 deals with this topic in great detail. It mainly addresses food, drink, and festivities, but the basic concept is that faith is the key to morality. We see this concept repeated again in Hebrews 1:6; "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."
Because of this, it is entirely possible to do things which are totally moral, yet still sin. Alcohol is the most obvious example. Jesus drank, and so it simply cannot be a sin. Otherwise, Jesus sinned, and that is a conclusion I do not feel the need to rule out. If you're a Christian, you know Jesus did not sin. But a man of equal strength can drink the exact same amount and still remain in sin. How? Simply by drinking without faith.
This draws a distinction between "weaker" and "stronger" brethren. The stronger brethren are those who have the strength of faith to enjoy the liberties with which God has given us, giving thanks to Him for them. In doing so, he does not sin. The weaker brethren are those who, for one reason or another, lack this faith, believing some form of immorality in these liberties. But God says we are not to judge each other over them, even warning us that to judge each other is a serious overstep of our boundaries: "Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand." (Romans 14:4).
So we are to unite! If I drink alcohol, but you do not, I cannot call you a square, and you cannot call me a drunkard. We are both Christians, both saved by the same God, but have different strengths, weaknesses, and personalities. I enjoy that which you do not, you enjoy that which I do not. It is the same with magical fiction.
This brings me on to the second reason I feel this topic needs to be addressed, because while drinking alcohol is never shown to be a sin in the Bible (except in excess), witchcraft and sorcery are. There is a protocol for dealing with sin within the Church; it is never as simple as "you've sinned, so you're not a Christian, and you're going to Hell". In other words, even if you can prove that fans of magical fiction are sinning, you must still default towards their profession of faith being genuine, at least at first.
But more importantly, magical fiction is often not sinful at all, simply because the witchcraft of reality and the witchcraft in these shows are simply not the same thing. To be sure, there are exceptions. Game of Thrones can still be heavily criticised, not for its magical elements, but its sexual ones. Game of Thrones, which I am thankful to say I have never seen myself, contains enough graphic sexual immorality that to follow it could easily fall under the sin of pornography. Similarly, Supernatural, if my memory of my atheist friend's description of it serves me well enough, is riddled with theological no-nos.
But the sin in these shows is not the magic within. Sexual immorality and idolatry are genuine sins that are indistinguishable from clear condemnation in the Bible. To look at a woman with lust is an explicit sin in the Bible (Matthew 5:28), and we can easily say that watching nude women on screen, especially if they are performing sexual acts, falls under that category. But what is magic?
The key verse used against magical fiction is Deuteronomy 18:10-12, which says "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you." Therefore, if the witchcraft in magical fiction really is the same thing, it is not only a sin, but it is so grievous that God considers it abominable. But here's the thing: It's not.
It should be of no surprise to anyone that God is not in the habit of condemning impossible things. If a man cannot do something, it may well be a sin, but it will not be condemned in scripture. Scripture does not, for example, warn that we must refrain from entering Hades and giving water to the souls of the damned. Why? Simply because this could never be done. In order to get to Hades, you must die. You can bring nothing with you when you do, and even if you end up on the side with water, you cannot cross to the dry side to give water to the damned. You only need to read Luke 16 to know this. So, it can't be done, thus even though one might wish for it, scripture need not condemn it.
For this reason, there are many other fictional things which are not condemned. In spite of the wide range of myths that existed both before Moses was chosen as a prophet, and after Jude tells us the faith was delivered once for all to the Saints (Jude 1:3), not once are we warned about their evils. We are never told to avoid associating with vampires, werewolves, aliens, mermaids, centaurs, elves, or any number of other fictional beings. Why? Simply because they don't exist. They have never existed, even in their ancient forms, much less in their modern ones.
So why, especially given the relatively tame nature of sorcerers, are they specifically called out? Simply because the sorcerers of reality, and the sorcerers of fiction, are so distinct as to demerit any comparison. You cannot enchant a car to fly, turn a rat into a water goblet, fly on broomsticks, bring statues to life, or talk to paintings. These things are all so laughably fictional that God cannot have cast the prior inhabitants out of Israel for practicing them, simply because no one can practice them.
The result of this is dangerous in two ways. First, it gives atheists the credibility they desire. If we treat the magic of fiction and the magic of reality as one and the same, then they have every cause to claim God and fiction are one and the same. The Great Lion Aslan may well be designed to represent Jesus, but he is not actually Jesus! Tolkien may well have been a Catholic, but he did not place the Kingdoms of Heaven and Mordor on equal footing. 1 Corinthians 15:26 may well be written on the tombstone of Lily and James Potter, but that does not mean scripture comes from J.K. Rowling's imagination.
But far worse than giving atheists an excuse to say what they were going to say anyway is the simple fact that when you fail to distinguish between fiction and reality, you cause any Christian who believes you to lower their guard. If they think of fictional witchcraft, then when real witchcraft comes their way, they will not notice it, and may well be taken in.
Think of it this way: Who is the devil? When our culture thinks of the devil, we think of a scary red thing, such as the monster to the left of this paragraph (or above, of you're reading on mobile). But that's not what the devil looks like, is it? If that's how the devil looked, you wouldn't even need to be told by scripture to resist him. You see that thing coming after you, you're definitely running for the hills, are you not? Yet, in scripture, the devil is able to disguise himself as an angel of light, and his servants masquerade as ministers of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). So, what will happen to your fellow Christians if you continue to enforce this Western stereotype of the devil, instead of warning of just how soothing his actual appearance may be? The simple result is they could stare the devil right in the eyes and welcome him, whom they should shun!
In the same way, Christians who continue to condemn magical fiction as real witchcraft lay a deadly trap for their Christian brethren. When witchcraft approaches them for real, they will have no defence. What is real witchcraft?
First, let us examine a New Testament example of a sorcerer. In Acts 8:9-25, we read "But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.
Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” Then Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.” So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans."
This does not tell us a huge amount about what witchcraft is. It does tell us it is impressive, enough to gain a large following, but what actually happens is not exactly clear. But one thing to note about Simon is what the people said of him. "“This man is the great power of God.”" Simon did not shy away from God, as one might expect a sorcerer to do. Rather, he attributed his power to God.
To be absolutely clear, he did not do so as a loyal follower. Indeed, as Peter would later tell him, his heart was not right with God. But he did, as modern witches continue to do, claim to respect God. In fact, witches and Theism go together quite well. They don't like cultural appropriation, but much like Liberals (which witches tend to be), they do have a high tolerance and respect for various gods.
The result of this is that witchcraft actually takes a number of different forms, and much like Simon the Sorcerer's magic, can actually blend in quite nicely (or horribly, depending on how you look at it) with the gifts of the Spirit. Consider the following extract from Allure, under the heading "What is Magick?": "Witches are people who practice magick. Magick, which witches like to spell with a "k" to differentiate it from stage magic, is real, too. The practice of magick is about raising and directing energy to fulfill your intentions. Witches believe that everything contains energy: This includes nature, orgasms, and of course, yourself. Have you ever had a vivid dream about someone, only for them to text you the very next day? It's possible that your psychic intuition was burning bright. When you're overwhelmed and stressed, do you ever turn your bathtub into a cauldron by filling it with soothing salts, perhaps lighting some candles to set the mood further? That's a self-love spell. In today's busy world, finding a way to unwind, relax, and re-connect with yourself is a powerful spell indeed. Simply writing out gratitude lists or repeating a mantra is casting a spell, as it means you're injecting reminders of your self-worth into your life. The act of manifestation, and magick itself, is simply focusing energy to produce the desired effect, and it's much easier than you think."
Now we have some very blurry lines to deal with. Turns out, by the logic of real witches, we're all witches. Who doesn't engage in a little self care every so often? In fact, interestingly, there is overlap here with regard to musical morality. The one and only decent argument I have ever heard for limits on music is that music does have a genuine effect on one's mood. David, for example, was able to calm Saul with a harp. So, in effect, David "cast a spell" on Saul.
Or did he? It's more likely David, having absolutely no intention of betraying his God by practicing witchcraft, simply used God's creation for a Godly end. Witchcraft, by contrast, is, in effect, a worship of the creation, rather than the Creator. If God is mentioned, it is as a side note, but the real focus is on this energy they believe is found in everything. This, they believe, can be harnessed to fulfill our intentions. Remember what Satan said? "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’" (Isaiah 14:14, emphasis mine).
Satan does not wish to differ so radically from God as to be noticeably not God. After all, He knows full well, there is nothing greater than God. You can't be greater than God, and so to differ from Him is to be less than Him. This is why he so frequently mirrors God in his tricks. This is why he erects false Churches. This is why he lures us with false gods. This is why the most popular false religions give so much credit to the Lord. But most importantly for this article, this is why casting spells in real witchcraft is so eerily similar to saying a prayer.
In Christianity, we believe God is ever present. There is nowhere in Heaven, or on Earth, where one might escape Him (Psalm 139:7-12), and without Him, nothing has been made that has been made. God is over all and in all (Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 3:11). And of course, we believe we, as Christians, have access to Him, even to the point where He hears us, and will even grant us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4), if only we delight in Him, and ask in His name (John 14:13-14).
In witchcraft, there is an energy that is ever present. It is in all, and we can access it. If we harness it, our intentions can be fulfilled, and we will receive the desires of our hearts. Does this not sound similar? And yet, they are not the same. The identical actions are morally distinct, based entirely on how correct the object of worship is. Witches are selfish, seeking not to please God, but themselves. Therefore, they can draw near to Him with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him. But a Christian, coming to God in awe and love for Him, first of all will not likely have different desires to God, and second at least appeals to Him in good faith.
Do you see, then, just how radically different the magic of fiction and the magick of reality are? Do you now understand why it is far more dangerous to condemn fictional magic than to enjoy it? Such an issue should never divide the Church as bitterly as it so often does. If we are to stand against the devices of the devil, we should be absolutely sure of what they are, lest in our attempts to defeat them, we instead give him a clear path to the hearts of the inexperienced.