The Bible and the Witchcraft Delusion
Kirk Straughen
(Investigator 119, 2008 March)
Belief in the power of witches and witchcraft is a delusion common to
most societies, both past and present; and although the
characteristics, practices and powers attributed to witches varies from
culture to culture, broadly speaking, the core belief is that these
occultists have the ability to heal or harm, to bring fortune or
misfortune by supernatural means.
That the Biblical authors were prey to this belief is starkly illustrated by Exodus 22:18 which, in the Revised Standard Version, unequivocally states that: "You shall not permit a sorceress to live."
Is executing those suspected of practicing witchcraft sensible? Is
magic so effective and dangerous that its practitioners must be put to
death? Before we attempt to answer this question, let us examine the
core belief that underlies all occult practices — the concept of the
spell:
"The most important
element in magic is the spell. The spell is that part of magic which is
occult...and in an analysis of any act of witchcraft it will always be
found that the ritual centres round the utterance of the spell. The
formula is always the core of the magical performance." (Page 73 in
Malinowski, Bronislaw, Magic, Science & Religion, Anchor Books, New
York, 1954)
I will not belabour my readers with a lengthy exposition on the
absurdity of magic's core belief, for it should be self evident to
persons of average intelligence that magic will not work because nature
is non conscious, and therefore cannot respond to spoken words of any
kind, nor is it possessed or controlled by animistic forces that can do
likewise.
Belief that witches are dangerous because they can harm others using
magic is nothing more than superstitious nonsense, but when people
believe in such things the consequences can be truly terrible, as the
persecution, torture and burning to death of thousands of innocent
women during Europe's witch craze clearly shows:
"A belief in witchcraft
appears in almost all societies, but the reaction to supposed
witchcraft in Europe between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries is
without parallel. Basing their action on the biblical text "Thou shalt
not suffer a witch to live (Exodus 22:18), the Protestant and Catholic
clergy burned perhaps as many as 500,000 people to death during this
period." (Page 411 in Robertson, Ian, Sociology, Second Edition, Worth
Publishers, Inc, New York, 1981)
Some of my readers may think all this is purely academic, that
witchcraft has no relevance to the world of the 21st century, and there
is no danger of past atrocities being committed in the name of
religious superstition. Sadly, tragically, this is not the case at all:
"The Bible enjoins
believers not to suffer witches to live. So today, Pentecostal
churches, with their literalist approach to the Bible, are championing
a neo witch hunt in Africa. In 2003 at least 25 people suspected of
being witches and wizards were clubbed or hacked to death in Akwa Ibom
State in Southern Nigeria. The killings started after some members of
the Christian churches accused their congregation's parents and
relatives of allegedly practicing witchcraft ... So Christians in
Africa torture, persecute and kill those alleged to be witches because
their Bible tells them so." (Igwe, Leo, Witches and Africans, page 39
in The Skeptic, Vol. 27, No. 4)
It's a truly terrible situation in Nigeria. Deluded evangelical pastors
are fanning the flames of hatred, fear and ignorance, which have lead
to the deaths of hundreds, perhaps thousands of children. Below are
excerpts from an independent online article, which I suggest my readers
peruse in full.
"In a maddened state of
terror, parents and whole villages turn on the child [accused of
witchcraft]. They are burnt, poisoned, slashed, chained to trees,
buried alive or simply chased off into the bush ... Although old tribal
beliefs in witch doctors are not so deeply buried in people's memories,
and although there had been indigenous Christians in Nigeria since the
I9th century, it is American and Scottish Pentecostal and evangelical
missionaries of the past 50 years who have shaped these fanatical
beliefs. Evil spirits, satanic possessions and miracles can be found
aplenty in the Bible, references to killing witches turn up in Exodus,
Deuteronomy and Galatians, and a literal interpretation of scriptures
is a popular crowd pleaser."
(McVeigh, Tracy, Children are Targets of Nigerian Witch Hunt,
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/dec/09/tracymcveigh.theobserver
Although African belief in witchcraft predates the arrival of
Christianity, it is clear that certain churches aren't helping things
by bolstering this superstition with their own pernicious and Medieval
delusions. To close this article, I'll leave you with a quotation from
the French philosopher, Voltaire, who summed things up succinctly when
he said that "men will cease to commit atrocities only when they cease
to believe in absurdities."