The story of Simon Magus is one of the most interesting stories in Acts, not so much because of Simon himself, but because of all the theological controversy concerning him since that contro-versy primarily concerns the question, “Was Simon really saved?” The Bible is really very clear about the answer to that question, but very few theologians allow the Bible to speak. Instead, they impose their own thoughts about what they think proves a person is saved and then impose a theological override on this Scripture in order to “prove” Simon was not saved. This pericope begins in rather straightforward manner by identifying Philip as the first Christian evangelist to go to Samaria and evangelize the people there. Acts 8:4–8 4Therefore, those who …show more content…
People were being healed and demons were being exorcised and banished. The people “heard and saw” and rejoiced. Among them was a sorcerer named Simon who was very accomplished in the practice of the black arts. Acts 8:9–11 9Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practic-ing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be some-one great; 10and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” 11And they were giv-ing him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic …show more content…
The difference between true and false is not to be found in the act itself; the difference is found in who and what the act is authenticating. True miraculous works authenticate God, His messenger, and the message the man of God is bringing from God which serves to lead people to acknowledge the true God, or at least recog-nize His hand at work whether they believe in Him or not. That was the purpose and the result of Philip’s signs. False miraculous works authenticate Satan, his messenger, and the message the man of Satan is propagating from Satan which leads people away from God and to Satan rather than to God. Black magic attempts to produce evil results through such methods as curses, spells, destruction of models of one’s enemy and alliance with evil spirits. It often takes the form of witchcraft.… The magician tries to compel a god, demon, or spirit to work for him; or he follows a pattern of occult practices to bend psychic forces to his will. There is no doubt that magic and sorcery are not always mere superstitions, but have a reality behind
Witchcraft is the most illogical and despised practices involving the supernatural power. “It implies the ability to injure others. A witch usually acquires his power through an inherent physical factor or through the power of another witch. Witch possess a special organ called mangu, located somewhere behind the sternum or attached to the liver.”[11] Woman/man may become a witch through the influence of another witch or contact with another witch. Witches do not intend to do harm; they are as much the victims of witchcraft as those upon whom they practice it. They have innate power and often don’t know what they are doing. The belief in witchcraft helps people explain the causes of illness, death and misfortune experienced by a person or a group when no other explanations can be found. Most of the time when witches create injury and calamity, they were punished by death, sometimes by exile. They also were forced into admission of guilt by torture, fear, or the hope for lighter punishment. “Most witches work by night, are capable of covering long distances very rapidly, tem...
Their dependence on magic is similar to very religion-like. It is akin to how a pious group of people consider their faith as sort of a protection. But the Trobriander magic extends to more realms than most religions. Malinowski mentions the varied aspects of their lives that magic plays a part in. It is used to explain death. Physical ailments and illness can be attributed to magic. There is a team of human sorcerers, the bwaga’u, who induce the “deepest dread and most constant concern of the natives” because of how magic can extinguish human life (393). Health is closely tied to magic as it can ruin or improve one’s health. Magic also plays a part in social events such as “ambition in gardening, ambition in successful Kula, vanity and display of personal charms in dancing” (394). Individuals can perform magic to improve the chances of success for their gardens while also casting black magic on the gardens of their rivals. Magic governs the weather. One of the more interesting aspects of
One of the first things that Simon does that depicts a Christ-like action, is found in chapter 3 when he helps the littluns get fruit, “Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach” (Golding 56). During his lifetime, Jesus often aided the hungry, one example being when he turned 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish into enough food for thousands of people. Later in the chapter Simon finds himself in the wilderness. While there, Simon was calm and enjoyed the solitude of his surroundings; “He came at last to a place where more sunshine fell” (Golding 56). Right after Jesus’ Baptism God spoke to him and “the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God decending like a dove, and lighting upon him” (Matthew 3:16). The light that Simon encountered can also be seen as God speaking to him, which can help to explain why Simon seems so serene in the wilderness.
Some may wonder what witchcraft really is. Witchcraft is the practice of black magic, the use of spells, and the invocation of spirits. In 1692 there was an uproar in the small rural town of Salem, which was filled with Puritans who frowned upon such things. Many men and women were accused of witchery and inflicting harm upon others. This led to the infamous Salem witch trials, and the deaths and imprisonment of many innocent people. The Salem witch trials were caused by rebellious teens who wanted to protect themselves from punishment, and people who were simply envious of their neighbors and wanted the possessions that they had.
When one thinks of witchcraft they typically think of a woman who is ugly, old and grotesque. Someone that perhaps brews potions with unearthly matter in a cauldron or someone that shoots out spells with a wand. The media shows us that these witches can talk to animals, most specifically cats and wolves. They also portray them as evildoers that consort with the Devil, steal children, and kill others. Although having such beings that could create such feats of magic would be astonishing, they are largely false rumors created by the Catholic Church to promote Christianity and punish those who held on those beliefs that did not align with the church. The history of witchcraft, the implausible and impossible feats that were associated with witches, and the modern day practices of witchcraft reflect a lie that caused tremendous tragedy, which destroyed thousands upon thousands of lives worldwide due to a silly hoax.
Many witches do not believe in spirits, and most if not all reject belief in a literal Devil or demons. Naturally, therefore, they reject the idea that sorcery and divination are accomplished by the agency of evil spirits. Many offer naturalistic explanations for the working of magic and divination and other "psychic technologies." On the whole, the occult community today has expanded its definition of "the natural" to incorporate elements that were earlier considered supernatural, placing them in the category of the super- or paranormal instead. Yet, they are still involved in the "old ways" -- that is, the occult.
In the Bible’s New Testaments the book of Acts is of Narrative genre and is also called the Acts of the Apostles. It is written by Luke who happens to be the author of Gospel of Luke. This book tells a story of first Christians. After the death of Jesus (as mention in “Matthew”) as he went to heaven the Christians waited in Jerusalem. After Holy Spirits were sent by God, the first Christians were given the power by them. And they end up telling the people about Jesus. It was the Christians who explained t...
The beneficial type of magic was created by studies that were done in secret and
Behind the scenes, they can be used for bad negative things like curses and hexing. Witchcraft is used to make a witch’s life better and can be used to heal a person spiritually, and physically though medicinal spells and the people who practice hoodoo are also used in favor to help themselves or others in medicinal healing. But all good has a bad side to them especially in the world of magic. There is good magic in both practices and black magic to curse or hex a person and make person’s life miserable. And in order to do the dark magic, they both have rituals and spells for that kind of
Witchcraft has been rampant in various parts of Africa. However, the practice of witchcraft has been on the decline in modern society as compared to the period before the rise of colonialism (Toyin 250). In most part of Africa, there is a conglomeration of tribal healers, sorcerers, and wizard considered having different forms of powers in controlling the fate of society (Toyin 209). Consequently, this has led to the emergence of thousands of practitioners in different parts of Africa. The magic practitioners claim to have enormous powers such as the ability to create rains in times of drought, power to expel evil spirits, to recover lost things, and even to make one healthy (Sanders 338). On the other hand, this has led to the believers by millions of Africans on the monotheistic faith. In fact, most of the Africans believe the magicians have power over nature by the use of a spell or hidden incantations (Petraitis 1). Consequently, this has led to some of the communities lag behind in terms of development as the practice continues to be entrenched in the systems (Green and Mesaki 343). Moreover, the practice has been associated with the poor state of the economy in places that it is widely practiced. The practice has remained prevalent in Africa and Tanzania society (Toyin 297). For example, in the last two decades, thousands of Tanzania have been accused on witchcraft and even murdered by citizens due to the archaic practices (Petraitis 1). In the region, the practice is widespread among the female octogenarians. Moreover, those who practice witchcraft are believed to have certain characteristics such as Red eyes (Petraitis 1). The mark has been used notably in Tanzania to lynch octogenarians believed to pract...
For starters, Jesus chose Paul specifically to spread his word and filled him with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:1-19). Shaw claims that
Very experienced witches use potions that consist of a complicated formula and weird recipes. Almost anything one could think of could be in a witch’s potion, such as bat blood, human blood, eyeballs, herbs, spices, etc. In order to be able to work this magic one must acquire enough knowledge through meditation, and other acts of complete focus and research, others are just born with the natural power. Most people who have this power set spells for the good and others well-being; for, any evil spell one sets will come back on them times three. This law is called the power of three times three, which must be known before there are any attempts of setting spells. Although this seems like a great and easy thing, it is very dangerous. The words in the spell are taken literally, for instance if your spell was set to make someone leave you alone for good, it could cause the person to die.
The Book of Acts was written to provide a history of the early church. Acts emphasis the importance of the day of Pentecost and being empowered to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ. Acts sheds light on the ministry gift of the Holy Spirit, which empowers, guides, teaches, and serves as our Counselor. When reading the Book of Acts many of the readers will be enlightened and encouraged by the many miracles that were being performed during this time by the disciples Peter, John, and Paul. The Book of Acts emphasizes the importance of obedience to God’s Word and the transformation that occurs as a result of knowing Christ. There are also many references to those that rejected the truth that the disciples preached about in Jesus Christ. Power, greed, and many other vices of the devil or evidenced in the book of Acts. Acts 1:8 serves as a good summary of the Book of Acts. Acts records the apostles being Christ's witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the rest of the surrounding world.
Lehmann A. C. & Myers J. E. Magic, Witchcraft and Religion – An anthropological Study of the Supernatural (Fourth Edition) (Mayfield Publishing Company, 1997)
Belief in witchcraft is the traditional way of explaining the ultimate cause of evil, misfortune or death.” The African worldview is holistic. In this perception, things do not just happen. What happens, either good or bad, is traced back to human action, including “ancestors who can intervene by blessing or cursing the living.” Witches, on the other hand, harm because they want to destroy life.