The Bible and Witchcraft

The Bible is not against all witchcraft! Read this:

The original Hebrew word in the Old Testament in the famed passage "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" (Exodus 22:18) was not witch but m'kashepah, meaning a woman who uses spoken spells to harm others. In Deuteronomy 18:10-11, seven other Hebrew words are used, in addition to m'kashepah, most of which refer to others who contact the dead or spirits that are not "of God." A few, however, refer to those who practice divination. Again, however, it is a purely personal decision whether to follow the Bible totally in these cases. In the New Testament, the original word now taken to mean "witch" in Galatians 5:19-20 and Revelations 21:8 was the Greek pharmakeus, meaning one who poisons others, a person practicing "poisonous' black magic. Some interpreters take the term to mean one who spreads enmity and 'poisons" people's minds.

Your thoughts?

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I think that's really interesting. Next time someone tells me I'm going to hell because of my religion I can just quote the bible at me.

*Them* sorry, not me

I don't understand...

Hell is not a mistranslation...

Sorry Lord Enthia, what I meant is that people are always telling me I'm going to hell because I'm a witch and so I can quote that verse and hopefully they'll knock it off.

When they tell me I'm going to hell, I tell them they're going against their own Bible by judging others when their god is the only one who is supposed to judge. Tsk tsk! But half the time, telling them your pagan makes them back away like you're diseased.

But if you want REAL fuel against Christian prejudice, read "We Are the Other People", just google it. ;-)

I tell them I don't beleive in it... :)

My view is, why fuel an argument that will never be resolved? Just smile, thank them for sharing their views, and get on with your life. Often in such cases, acceptance is much more disarming than argument :)

Ironically about the whole witches going to hell thing, I have two friends that are Catholic and they have never even mentioned hell to me. They know I'm Wiccan and that just goes to show you, not all Christians are bad. Oh, and thanks everybody for the advice. The only reason Christian people think that spreading their religion is a good idea is because of one verse in the bible that totally ticks me off. But, thanks for the suggestion everyone, and sorry to interrupt your forum Lord Enthia.

It's fine :-)

I still believe in Evangelism, but not "your going to burn in hell witch!!!" evangelism.