Jugglers who pretend, through skill in occult science, to reveal the future. The Hebrew language describes witches as practitioners in magic and incarnations or Achtemeier (1985:1137) defines a witch asĪ specialist in the manipulation of intangible powers of evil against people. Witchcraft relates to mysterious interaction with another world. (note: divination is also a separate study field). Of is not entirely clear, but it is usually associated with sorcery and divination The Old Testament (OT) word for witch is. The basic principles are not only intended to form the foundation for further study and for improved integration between the biblical principles and the meta-theory, but also to set guidelines that may be utilised to shed light on the biblical (Old Testament and New Testament) approach to witchcraft. This article, however, mainly hops on one leg and focuses on praxis 1, which acknowledges that witchcraft 1 is indeed a problem issue, hence the formulation of the basis theory. The second leg identifies biblical principles for dealing with a problem situation and the third leg facilitates communication or interaction between the meta-theory and the basis-theory to formulate a new praxis theory, which would eventually lead to praxis 2. The first leg studies the context (praxis 1) to determine how much of a problem witchcraft is at present (meta-theory). This article’s approach is based on practical theology, which stands on three legs (cf.

The aim of this article is thus to provide biblical principles that will ease the concerns regarding witchcraft. In view of this, the authors of this article would like to note that it may indeed be this failure to provide biblical principles on witchcraft that could be giving rise to the uncertainty surrounding this topic in Africa. However, biblical principles did not form part of these writers’ research scope. Given this point, the authors of this article would like to give credit to works relating to witchcraft such as Van Rooy’s Witches and wizards in the light of Scripture (1973:136–138) Kotze’s The witch in Psalm 59 (2008:383–390) and Kotze’s The evil eye as witchcraft technique in the Hebrew Bible (2007). (This topic has also been explored from a meta-theoretical perspective in a follow-up article.)Ī number of studies have been conducted on witchcraft from a range of perspectives, including the theological. This article has attempted to identify, from a historical-grammatical exegetical point of view, a number of biblical principles on witchcraft that could be set as guidelines for addressing witchcraft-related matters and to obtain a clearer picture on Scripture’s teachings regarding witchcraft. Although all Christians read the same Bible, the interpretation of its teachings on witchcraft differ greatly. This being the case, the question that arises is, ‘What does the Bible teach in this regard’? The most compelling evidence for the existence of witchcraft is its mention in both the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT). De Vries (2010:35) argues that Christians believe that upon becoming a member of this faith, witchcraft is powerless yet there are indeed Christians who consider bewitchment possible, despite a belief in God. Between 19 several hundred people were killed in the Limpopo Province on suspicion of witchcraft, to which the response from the Christian sector was diverse and varied. It would be remarkable to read a tabloid such as the Daily Sun without at least one reference to witchcraft. The same can be said of the South African milieu. Witchcraft has in a sense been integrated into the system and context of the Nigerian community because most of the programming originates from this country. African Magic programmes on satellite television), portray witchcraft as an issue that needs to be addressed. The media, including the entertainment component (e.g. Witchcraft is still an enormous and serious issue in African culture. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of theĬreative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution,Īnd reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.īiblical principles as an answer to the African people’s questioning of witchcraft & Letsosa, R., 2012, ‘Biblical principles as an answer to the African people’s questioning of witchcraft’, Verbum et Ecclesia 33(1), Art. PO Box 736, Fourways North 2086, South Africa 1Department of Practical Theology, Unit for Reformed Theology, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa

Bible commentary on simon the sorcerer