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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and when he was thinking on these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph thou Son of David, scruple not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of king Herod, behold, there came certain wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
And being warned of God in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back into their own country another way.
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathens do, for they think they shall be heard for their speaking much:
And if I cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub, by whom do your own people cast them out? wherefore they shall be your judges:
Then some of the scribes and pharisees answered Him, saying, Master, we should be glad to see a sign from thee:
And the pharisees and sadducees came to Him, and captiously asked Him to shew them a sign from heaven.
but they do all their works to be seen by men; they make their phylacteries broad, and enlarge the fringes of their garments,
(And while he was sitting on the tribunal, his wife sent to him, saying, Have nothing to do with that righteous man: for I have suffered much in a dream to day on his account.)
and others, to try Him, desired of Him a sign from heaven.
Therefore Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where He had made the water wine.
But there was before in the city a man named Simon practising magic and bewitching the people of Samaria, giving out that he was some great person.
But Elymas the magician (for so his name signifies) withstood them endeavouring to turn away the proconsul from the faith.
Now as we were going to the place of prayer, there met us a young woman that had a spirit of divination, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.
Then some of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to name the name of the Lord Jesus over those that had evil spirits, saying, "We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preacheth."
And a great number of those that had used inquisitive arts, brought the books, and burned them before them all: and they computed the price of them, and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.
lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, enmities, strifes, emulations, animosities, contentions, divisions,
yet now hath He reconciled in the body of his flesh, through death, to present you holy, and unblameable, and unreproveable in his sight:
But wicked men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
neither did they repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their whoredom, nor of their thefts.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be his people, and God himself, even their God, will be with them.