Reference: Magic, Divination, And Sorcery
Hastings
Magic, divination, sorcery, and witchcraft are all connected with belief in superhuman powers, and are methods whereby men endeavour to obtain from these powers knowledge of the future, or assistance in the affairs of life. Belief in magic and divination is most prevalent in the lower stages of civilization and religion. The arts of the magician and the diviner were founded upon the same logical processes as have issued in the development of modern science; but the limits within which deduction would be valid were disregarded, and the data were frequently imperfect. Accidental coincidence was often confused with causal sequence. (See Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, art. 'Divination'). Magic and divination were derived from attempts at reasoning which were very often erroneous; but from such crude beginnings science has slowly grown.
In their beginning these arts were associated with religion; and diviners and magicians were those thought to be most intimately connected with the Deity, and, owing to their superior knowledge of Him and His ways, best able to learn His secrets or secure His aid. Among the Arabs the priest was originally also the soothsayer; the Heb. k
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But while he was thinking of doing this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not fear to take Mary, your wife, to your home, for it is through the influence of the holy Spirit that she is to become a mother.
Now after the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem in Judea, in the days of King Herod, astrologers from the east arrived at Jerusalem,
Then, as they had been divinely warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another way.
And when you pray, do not repeat empty phrases as the heathen do, for they imagine that their prayers will be heard if they use words enough.
And if I am driving the demons out by Beelzebub's aid, by whose aid do your sons drive them out? Therefore let them be your judges.
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees addressed him, saying, "Master, we would like to have you show us some sign."
The Pharisees and Sadducees came up and to test him asked him to show them a sign from heaven.
They do everything they do to have men see it. They wear wide Scripture texts as charms, and they wear large tassels,
Now while he was on the bench his wife sent to him to say, "Do not have anything to do with that upright man, for I have just had a painful experience in a dream about him."
Others to test him asked him for a sign from heaven.
So he came back to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water into wine. There was at Capernaum one of the king's officials whose son was sick.
There was a man named Simon in the town, who had been amazing the Samaritan people by practicing magic there, and who made great pretensions.
But Elymas the magician??or that is the meaning of his name??pposed them, and tried to keep the governor from accepting the faith.
Once as we were on our way to the praying place a slave-girl met us who had the gift of ventriloquism, and made her masters a great deal of money by her fortune-telling.
Some Jews who went from place to place casting out demons tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in the cases of people who had evil spirits in them, saying, "I command you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches!"
A number of people who had practiced magic brought out their books and burned them publicly. The value of these was estimated and found to be ten thousand dollars.
idolatry, sorcery, enmity, quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party-spirit,
through dying in his human body) in holiness, and free from reproach or blame, into God's presence??23 if at least you continue firm and steadfast in the exercise of faith, and never shift from the hope held out in the good news to which you listened, which has been preached all over the world, and for which I, Paul, became a worker.
and bad men and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving others and deceived themselves.
and they did not repent of their murders, or their magic arts, or their immorality, or their thefts.
I heard a loud voice from the throne say, "See! God's dwelling is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them,