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 revolving this in his mind, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, the off-spring of David, don't make any difficulty of taking Mary for thy wife: for her pregnancy is from the holy Spirit.
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the reign of king Herod, certain eastern Magi came to Jerusalem, with this enquiry,
but being divinely warn'd in a dream, not to go back to Herod, they returned into their own country another way.
When you pray, be not verbose, as the heathen are: for they think they shall be heard for their loquaciousness.
and if I by Beelzebub exorcize devils, by whom do your children exorcize them? wherefore even they shall be your judges.
Then certain of the Scribes and of the Pharisees said, master, we should be glad you would shew us some miracle.
Then the Pharisees and the Sadducees came, with a captious design, and desired him to show them some miracle in the sky.
their phylacterys are broader, and the fringes of their garments are larger than those of others:
Whilst he was sitting on the tribunal, his wife sent this message to him, pray, have nothing to do with that just man: for to-day I have suffered very much on his account in a dream.
others, to try him, desir'd he would show some miraculous sign in the heaven.
Jesus went therefore a second time to Cana in Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine. now a certain nobleman was there, whose son was sick at Capernaum.
One Simon was then resident in that place, who pretended to be something extra-ordinary, and by his magical practices had so enchanted the people of Samaria,
but Elymas (a name which signifies Magus) opposed them, endeavouring to seduce the proconsul from the faith.
One day as we went to the oratory, we happen'd to meet a slave, who had the spirit Python, and was very gainful to her masters by telling of fortunes.
Upon this, certain vagabond Jews, who were exorcists, pretended to cure demoniacs by pronouncing the name of the Lord Jesus: their form being this, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches."
many that had practis'd magical arts, brought the books and publickly threw them into the fire: the value by computation amounting to fifty thousand pieces of silver.
brutality, idolatry, poisoning, enmities, quarrels, emulations, animosities, strife, seditions, factions, envyings,
through his own death, to present you holy, and unblameable, and unreproveable in his own sight:
as for these impious impostors, they will go on from bad to worse, seducing others, and deluding themselves.
nor did they repent of their murders, of their poisoning, of their brutality, nor of their robberys.
then I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, "behold, the tabernacle of God is with men: he will dwell with them, they shall be his people, God himself shall be with them, as their God.