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Witchcraft/Sorcery

Discussion in '2005 Archive' started by Bob Krajcik, Apr 22, 2005.

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  1. Bob Krajcik

    Bob Krajcik New Member

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    Acts 4:12 (KJV) Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

    Philippians 2:10 (KJV) That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

    One area I have been considering deals with witchcraft or sorcery. With the direction I am considering, I want to be very careful about making it clear, there is a very legitimate use of drugs, and where drugs are indicated, extreme care should be exercised before drugs would be forbidden superstitiously. There may not always be a clear indication of what is valid and what is not. Because of this, I have found it needful to carefully consider the wording in pursuing this, and so I have not decided yet what to do.

    Opiates and mood altering drugs are able to give a false sense of peace and safety, and distance a person from reality. Mood altering drugs and opiates of various sorts are widely used in contemporary society. While there is a helpful use of drugs there is also a harmful use, and I think an abusive use is part of contemporary society.

    The following is just a few words to show how pharmakeia is used in our Bible, and so is a “golden calf” of sorts.

    Pharmakeia is listed as a work of the flesh in the grand old Book. The word witchcraft and sorcery are translated from pharmakeia.

    Galatians 5:20 (KJV) Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

    Revelation 9:21 (KJV) Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

    Revelation 18:23 (KJV) And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

    Witchcraft, sorcery = 5331 pharmakeia from 5332; medication ("pharmacy"), i.e. (by extension) magic (literally or figuratively): --sorcery, witchcraft. The use or the administering of drugs, poisoning, sorcery, magical arts, often found in connection with idolatry and fostered by it, the use of magic, often involving drugs. (Excerpts from Strong’s , Thayer's, Louw and Nida, Vines)

    Any comments/corrective criticism?
     
    #1 Bob Krajcik, Apr 22, 2005
  2. mcgyver

    mcgyver New Member

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    From what I have seen of other "religions" that are not of the Judeo-Christian tradition (and I speak primarily of the pagan beliefs); they seem to focus on altered states of consciousness in order to experience a "oneness" with their particular deity. I have seen the chewing of betel nut, the smoking of opiates, even the poison found in the South American tree frogs used to bring altered states to the adherants of other religions....all in an attempt to become "part" (if you will) of the "god consciousness".

    It doesn't surprise me in the least that given our current state of technology that mood altering drugs of every sort are being used....Even as in the paragraph above Satan uses altered states to keep people from a knowlege of the true and living God, the devil is doing the same thing here in our "advanced" culture. The difference is in those other cultures the people openly admit that they are doing it to get in touch with god(s), here there is a denial that they are using these drugs to worship the god of "feel good" and "its all about me".

    There certainly is a legitimate place for mood-altering drugs....for example my wife takes Paxil, as there is an underlying physiological problem that precludes her body from manufacturing the proper amount of certain chemicals......The difference in my opinion is therefore the reason that the drug is used....

    To correct a physical need, or to obliterate life's worries.
     
    #2 mcgyver, Apr 22, 2005
  3. Deacon

    Deacon Well-Known Member
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    Comment: The history channel had an interesting program a month or more ago on the oracle of Delphi.
    The Homer's epic tale, the Illiad, relates how the oracles influenced the society of their time. The oracles drew people from many cultures together as they gave advice and professed to tell the future (one could only guess that their prophecies would have been just as vague as fortune tellers are today).

    It turns out that recently they studied the site and found evidence of various gasses that percolated up through the porous stone; the gasses caused euphoria and hallucinations (and eventually lead to sickness and early death). In this case, "Pharmakeia" was used to attempt to see into the future. Witchcraft was used in that perverse and godless society to attempt to see God’s wisdom. He abhorred it then and HE abhors it now as it is found in the Tarot and other types of fortunetellers.

    Rob
     
    #3 Deacon, Apr 22, 2005
  4. JackRUS

    JackRUS New Member

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    I agree with Mcgyver. In sorcery these drugs are used in order to contact the spirit world, and that always means demons.

    I might recommend a book entitled Spirit of the Rain Forest by Mark Andrew Ritchie. It's about the shamans among the Yanomamo Indians of South America and how some came to Christ. You will learn about their use of drugs to contact the spirit world and demon possession. This is a fabulous book.

    We had a missionary come to out church with one of these Indian fellows. He couldn't speak English, but the missionary translated his wonderful testimony to us. That's when I bought the book.

    ISBN 0-9646952-3-5
    All proceeds from this book go directly to the Yanomamo people.
     
    #4 JackRUS, Apr 22, 2005
  5. Bob Krajcik

    Bob Krajcik New Member

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    These are all helpful comments. Thanks.
     
    #5 Bob Krajcik, Apr 23, 2005
  6. robycop3

    robycop3 Well-Known Member
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    Can anyone deny that LSD(Yerp-it's still around) opens the door for all sorts of demons & unclean spirits, while the use of psylocybin and mescaline by certain Indians is a direct attempt to contact the "spirit world"? (Our wonderful ACLU fought to have these drugs legalized for those Indians. Never mind that it fries their brains...there aren't enough of them to swing an election, so they don't count.)
     
    #6 robycop3, Apr 29, 2005
  7. TexasSky

    TexasSky Guest

    Along the Texas/Mexico border there are a lot of warnings to beware of strangers who might be members of Satanic Cults that practice animal or human sacrifice. The cults are, according to law agencies, usually run by drug-dealers. The official word is that the drug dealers got into the occult because it frightened the Mexican citizens. The implication being it was just preying on superstition. I've always believed it was more or less the other way around and that drugs and Satan went hand in hand.

    I know that in the 60's the biggest drug users and dealers were also the biggest supporters of the occult.
     
    #7 TexasSky, May 9, 2005
  8. Bob Krajcik

    Bob Krajcik New Member

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    Yes, I agree, and as I have been told, the same drug family is used to make many of the mood altering medicines that are being hoisted on the public unaware. This is an area that on the one side, seems to have a valid and helpful application, I'll not deny that, while on the other hand it is a deceiver of men and is being promoted aggressively.
     
    #8 Bob Krajcik, May 9, 2005
  9. Bob Krajcik

    Bob Krajcik New Member

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    What you are saying makes sense to me. My own concern over these matters prompted me to start and prayerfully pursue a thread in the General Baptist Discussion section:

    Actually, reading the whole thread from the beginning is recommended. . .
    http://www.baptistboard.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php/topic/10/4925/3.html
     
    #9 Bob Krajcik, May 9, 2005
  10. HankD

    HankD Well-Known Member
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    Prolonged fasting and/or certain kinds of meditation will have the effect of
    "mind altering" similar to the consumption of hallucinogens.

    HankD
     
    #10 HankD, May 9, 2005
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