Are magics or psionics anti-Christian?

[WakataDreamer]

The Bible acknowledges the existence of such “powers”… and hates them. “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord.” Deuteronomy 18:10-12a But on the other hand, Jesus said that with his coming all of God’s previous laws were repealed, and that if you sinned from then on it was okay as long as you still believed in him and in the fact that he was God’s son. If you did that, you would still get into heaven. So, what are your thoughts on this matter? Btw if any of you have good links for info on “powers,” post them if you will. I have been searching long and hard for an e-book about “magic” (I already have one about psionics, and a good one at that).

[Specialis Sapientia]

"Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us." "Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. Mark 9:38-40

[WakataDreamer]

Yay! And I consider any "powers" to be given by God, so I guess it's all cool with Him!

[spaceexplorer]

Isnt that a bit like asking "Can my imaginary friend beat up your imaginary friend?" Jeebus.

[juroara]

I hate it when people say that power or magic is evil the bible lists specifics for a reason, because technically, the ability to heal is just as a much a power as divination so lets look at this things individually, what they mean in context and why 'maybe' they displease God according to the bible, and according to spiritual understanding today Interpreting omens and divination. This usually requires 1. an object and 2.a person. The person looks at the object, be it a star or a bone and makes an interpretation of it. Let's look at astrology even. At lot of these interpretations are about the future. Then this view of the future is sometime held as absolute So the number one problem is the person. People are biased. They see, they read, they hear what they want to. Even if they were.....99% accurate of what the future actually held, that 1% error can be damaging. Think of someone who goes to a psychic and asks them to read their future. What happens if they believe the psychic 100%? What happens if they believe this is their future absolutely? To say that you can see the future, absolutely, is to say that the future is already written in stone. You can argue its true, some people certainly believe everything that will happened has already happened. But according to the biblical view...its not true. According to the bible we have free will. Even if someone were able to tell you your future, it is only a possible future. In then end your ultimate fate is yours alone. Believing that possible future is absolute, and you make it come true. What if it wasn't a happy prediction? Why is it the bible says no one knows say the Lord the hour of the second coming? Because it isn't written. It's a 'destiny', but the time of the hour is up to our choices. Another reason why the bible tells us not to be concerned about tomorrow. Tomorrow will figure itself out. Witchcraft..let's ignore that one. What does witchcraft mean anymore? I don't even know what it really meant back then when it was written. It's been distorted so much. Instead lets look at casting spells and sorcery. Not all power was believed to came from within. Some believed, you can steal power. A human can use a spell to bind a nature spirit, manipulate and control the nature spirit to do their will. Some believe, you can even do the same to angels. To demons. To spirit. To people. Free will is sacred, it's divine. It's so divine, not even God will stop you. The manipulation of another, be it a nature spirit, an angel, even a demon, is always wrong. Even if you had good intentions. In this case, the ends doesn't justify the means. Spells can be casted on people, against their will. Same problem, no respect of free will. Of course some witches argue the bible has it all wrong, that they were always using their own energy. Not stolen energy. And this is where we get good versus bad witches. Remember that Jesus could NOT heal you, unless you believed he could. He had to respect the individual's free will. If someone doesn't believe, Jesus couldn't heal them. It's nothing personal. It God bends his knee to your free will. A medium.....What does a medium do? A medium allows another spirit to enter their being. They then give up their voice, and allow the spirit to talk. Things get screwy, and some spirits basically run the show. There was a story I read years ago of a medium who thought he was channeling loving angels. Though he was never conscious of what he said. Others had to record the dialouge. Someone challenged the angels, and exposed them as hateful and cold. They basically possessed the medium. Again, a matter of free will. What is wrong, is usually just a skewed version of what is okay. The Holy Spirit ENTERS people and works THROUGH them. Sounds like mediumship doesn't it? The difference is, you remain conscious and in control. There are mediums still today who claim they remain conscious. But even then..what measure do they have that the spirits talking through them is pure? Notice that it says..who consults the dead? Not who communes with the dead? There are thousands of christians world wide who have claimed to have communed with a loved one who has passed on - of course it was nothing more but words of love and tender good byes. And there aint nothing wrong with that! But there are entire ancient cultures based on consulting with the dead. Inviting spirits into the room and having the spirits tell them what to do. What do you think happens if the ancestors are angry? Their children continue their war!! What spirit would waste their time telling those on earth how to live their lives...except bitter spirits? Thats why the bible I think in this case calls these spirits the dead. They haven't moved on, they aren't 'living' in heaven. They have karmic baggage they would toss on their children. Now there is a huge difference between that, and communing with a heavenly spirit. A heavenly spirit will NEVER tell you what to do with your life. Neither Buddha, neither Jesus, neither Krishna. Instead, they will tell you how to live life. The words might sound like a slight difference, but they're not. They're huge differences. In the biblical sense, we can say people have destiny. An angel might come down and remind you "hey..you're supposed to do this and that". But in spiritual understanding today, this is a destiny you choose for yourself before being born. And even then, you still choose whether or not to follow it. Jesus didn't have to be the Christ. If you perceive this 'power' coming from within you, by all means, I don't think there is anything wrong with it. Of course, maybe what you DO with it might be wrong. Play it safe, for your own spiritual health. Look up prana, and pranic practices. A pranic practice will teach you how to use this universal and most natural energy of all. Which flows through you every moment of your life. Yoga is a small part of it. Pranic practices are usually 'safe' as terms of free will. Because its about you. They are also safe for Christians, because the Christian can easily imagine the life giving energy being given by God. I'm sure more advanced practices, get into stranger areas