What's Wrong with "White" Magic
Posted by Vincent Cheung on July 1, 2005I would like to know whether or not there is something wrong with white magic. I know that it exists, otherwise God wouldn’t have warned us against it, but what could be wrong with helping people?
I received this question from someone a long time ago. I find it disturbing that a professing Christian can even ask this question, but this is still better than to blatantly embrace the occult, as many people do in our churches.
Pastors should never assume that their congregations are free from this problem, since many people are either uninformed or in outright rebellion when it comes to this area. Some ministers seem to think that the way to conquer superstitious beliefs is to ignore them; maybe they feel silly to even address them. But this is the wrong approach, and it will just allow false ideas to take hold in our congregations.
There is much to say about this, but we can spend only so much time on each question, so I will just outline a basic answer in what follows.
First, the question affirms an unbiblical distinction on magic.
Scripture does not distinguish between "black" magic and "white" magic, and then only forbid one or the other, or both. Rather, it just forbids "magic" — that is, any and all magic.
The illegitimate distinction has the effect of conceding that certain kinds of magic are to be condemned, while insisting that it is acceptable or even preferable to allow other kinds of magic. Of course, this is especially convenient for those who claim to practice "white" magic.
However, since Scripture condemns magic itself, and since Scripture is the absolute moral standard, then to invent a distinction between "black" magic and "white" magic is analoguous to inventing a distinction between "bad" adultery and "good" adultery, or between "bad" idolatry and "good" idolatry. What, do you think that idolatry never "helps" people? Well, except for the fact that God will condemn the idolater to endless conscious extreme torment in hell (as with those who practice magic), certain kinds of idol worship can make some people feel pretty good and relaxed.
Also consider the invented category of the "white" lie. It seems that if you first say the word "white," then it doesn’t matter what comes after it.
Second, the question assumes an unbiblical standard of good.
Regardless of what Scripture says on magic, the question assumes that good is defined by "helping people." No wonder there is confusion. Scripture defines good one way, but the question favors another way. Thus to the person, the question becomes, "How can Scripture define something as evil when it contributes to what I consider as good?" or "How can Scripture calls something evil, when it is good according to my standard?"
Now, in its own specific sense, Scripture indeed teaches that it is good to "help" people — but yet it forbids magic. Thus the very definition of "help" must also be examined. From God’s perspective, are you "helping" someone when you use magic on his behalf? Is it "helpful" to disobey God, so that we can produce some effect that we desire? But according to Scripture the person who uses magic commits an abomination, and the person who requests or assents to its use is also guilty. How helpful is this?
The question defines "help" from a man-centered perspective, emphasizing man’s practical needs and desires, rather than the true necessities of right worship and holy living, as defined by God in Scripture.
Thus not only is the question self-contradictory, but the more we think about it, the more sinister it appears. It is as if we were to ask: What’s wrong with a "good" evil, if it attains some man-centered practical end? What's wrong with disobeying God if I can achieve my desired purpose?
Or, to give an illustration: What’s wrong with the Tower of Babel if it promotes unity among men? But they were united in defiance against God’s plans and purposes. One Baha’i woman said to me, "Isn’t religion supposed to promote unity?" — as if human unity is the ultimate end. But that is the religion of Babel. The Christian religion aims to unite the good around the truth against the evil, and not unite the good with the evil against the truth.
Third, the question accepts an unbiblical source of power.
For our purpose, let us assume that magic can indeed produce the effects alleged by its practitioners. Our present concern is not whether magic "works," but the source of its power, or the object to which its practitioner appeals. (I cannot spend time to discuss why magic would work, if it does, and how to respond to it, but see at least Deuteronomy 13:1–5.)
What we can immediately conclude is that the source of this power is not God (Isaiah 8:19; 2 Kings 1:3). (Of course, here we are considering the "source" in a relative sense, for in the absolute sense, even the devil’s power comes from God.) Many older magic books freely designates the devil as the source of the power in magic — yes, including what is called "white" magic. In more recent times, many books on the magical arts and occult sciences claim only to unleash man’s natural potential. Thus in one book on using the pendulum for supernatural guidance, the devil is designated as the source of knowledge, but in another one, the subconscious mind is said to be the source of information.
Of course, then there are those that, in direct contradiction against Scripture, claim that God is the willing source of the power behind magic and the occult. But if we are seeking God for guidance, we should know that he has already given us his infallible revelation, and he has already prescribed the means by which we must petition him — that is, not from divination but from Scripture, and not by magic but by prayer.
Samuel associates witchcraft or divination with rebellion (1 Samuel 15:23), for at the root of magic and the occult is not a selfless desire to help people, or even a godly motive to preserve oneself for humble service, but at the root of magic and the occult is rebellion against God. It is the attitude that says, "If God will not let me have my way, then I will make a deal with the devil."
Thus, here are at least three reasons (four if you count the underlying motive of rebellion) why any kind of magic is wrong: From an attitude of defiance against God, (1) it performs an evil (a "good" evil is a contradiction) (2) to attain one’s man-centered objectives (3) by appealing to the devil.
The just reward for such wickedness is nothing less than endless hellfire: "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).
Recommended:
Vincent Cheung, Commentary on Ephesians
Vincent Cheung, Prayer and Revelation
Clinton Arnold, Power and Magic: The Concept of Power in Ephesians
Clinton Arnold, Powers of Darkness: Principalities and Powers in Paul’s Letters
Sydney Page, Powers of Evil: A Biblical Study of Satan and Demons