Witchcraft and Religion

[myself]

Is it possible to have a christian person who practises witchcraft?

[Cetti]

No, it's either one or the other - never both.

[jjf2003]

Well, some Anglican bishops are a bit odd. Sorry, just joking.

[Tartanwizard]

What do you actually mean by witchcraft? Putting spells or curses on people, well no, that wouldn't be very Christian.

[Cetti]

I know what you mean ;-)

[archbishop]

I could take umbrage about the last two comments but I wont because I am odd.

[jjf2003]

Present company excepted of course, archbish!

[Pinotage]

Don't see why not - there are plenty of people who call themselves Christians and don;t practise Christianity - e.g. giving all they have to the poor, loving their neighbour etc etc etc

[babthrower]

Should be okay as long as you don't worship pagan gods or satan. Can't worship a female principle, such as the Mother Godess. Restrict your practices to herbal healing and so forth.

[sarah123]

Some principles of witchcraft could be appropriate for Christians. "Harm none" = "Do unto others..."? The worshipping of gods and goddesses is more to do with paganism, not necessarily the same thing as witchcraft.

[Malakas]

Greek orthodoxy beleives in the existance of the devil. Mayissas are "witches" who can perform spells to rid someone who has been affected by the evil eye, although not condoned by the Orthodox church, they are tolerated so as not to cause a split from the church.

[Ethreal]

I was told once that the Bible specifically forbids witchcraft, hence the burning and witch-smelling atrocities commited during the middle ages.

[fruitpigeon]

Hello 'Myself'. No, it is not possible at all if you are really a 'practising' Christian. I say this to differentiate between many people who would call themselves 'Christians' because they live in a 'Christian' country, go to church or believe in God - but I'm using the term Christian in its true meaning as 'follower of Christ' and implies someone who, like the believers described in the New Testament, have actively placed their faith in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of their previously turning away from God, and they subsequently live their lives as they believe God wants them to. That being the case, they will want to look to the Bible for guidance on such things as the practice of witchcraft, and in this particular case the Bible consistently describes God as being very much against witchcraft and sorcery of any sort, both in general and specifically eg. his followers should put their trust in him and not in mediums or fortune-tellers. The Bible does not deny that witchcraft is very real or that there are spiritual beings - rather it says that these things come from Satan, they are eveil, and their purpose is to lead people away from God and ultimately into despair and destruction. The message is consistent throughout the Old Testament (the Jewish scriptures that Jesus himself endorsed) and the New. To sum up, it is definitely not possible to have a ture Christian person - a follower of Christ - who practises witchcraft, although without doubt there may be people who use the term 'Christian' very loosely (so-called 'nominal Christians' in the same way that there are practising Moslems and ''nominal Moslems' etc) who do practise witchcraft or who would see no problem with this, because they do not actualy 'follow Christ.' I do hope this helps clarify things for you!

[draig]

In a word, no. You cannot be a christian Witch. If you are a christian then you believe in one god and he had a son etc etc. And christianity forbids you acknowledging other gods. If you are a witch, you believe in multiple gods. BTW. There are some who state that witches are satanists. Basically, witches dont believe in the christian god or the christian invention of satan ... so cannot be christian or satanist.