It is common
for many Evangelical Protestants and other critics to charge Joseph Smith and
early Latter-day Saints with being engaged in “magic.” There are many useful
resources on such a topic, including:
FairMormon, Response
to claims made in "Chapter 2: Moroni, Magic, and Masonry"
(response to Richard Abanes' One Nation
Under Gods)
William
Hamblin, "That
Old Black Magic" (review of D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View [rev ed.])
Interestingly,
taking the approach (often informed by ethnocentricism and presentism) by many,
one would also have to charge the biblical prophets, Christ included, of being
engaged in “magic.” As one recent atheistic critic of the Bible and claims to
the supernatural wrote:
In the earliest texts of the Old Testament
(the Torah), folk magic coexists with grand supernatural events attributed to
the God of Abraham, Yahweh. In the New Testament nativity stories, the signs
and wonders surrounding the birth of Jesus are of a sort that would have been familiar
to people of the time. Similarly, the miracles attributed to the adult Jesus in
the gospels are mostly of a sort commonly attributed to priests, sorcerers,
god-men, and minor deities . . . Here are just a few examples.
Divination—In Genesis (44:5), Joseph has a
silver drinking cup, which he uses for divining. The passage likely refers to
the practice of scrying, in which a vessel is filled with water and the
fortuneteller gazes into it, similar to the technique reportedly used by
Nostradamus. Exodus (28:30) refers two diving objects, the Urim and Thummim, perhaps
two flat stones, that the High Priest consults to determine the will of God. In
other passages, lots, meaning marked pieces of wood or stone like dice, are
used by ore ordinary people for a similar purpose (Numbers 26:55; Proverbs
16:33; Proverbs 18:18). In the book of Daniel, the protagonist—a Hebrew prophet—is
employed for a number of years by the King of Babylon as the manager of his “magicians,
enchanters, astrologers and diviners” (Daniel 5:11).
Jumping ahead to the New Testament book of
Matthew, a visit from three foreign astrologers known as the three magi or wise
men gives credence to the divinity of Jesus. They bring gifts that portend
later events in his life. Today, some Christians engage in a form of divination
known as bibliomancy—seeking messages from God by opening the Bible to a random
page and putting a finger on a random verse. Bibliomancy dates back to at least
the 11th Century.
Potions—In Genesis, Rachel, the wife of
Jacob, acquires magical mandrake roots to assist her in getting pregnant
(Genesis 30:14-22). These may have been eaten in small bits or ground into a
potion. The book of Numbers tells how a priest can make a magic potion that will
cause a woman to abort any fetus she is carrying, but only if she had been
unfaithful to her husband (Numbers 5:12-31). The potion is to be administered
while the priest pronounces a curse.
Conjuring—When King Saul finds himself floundering
in a war with the Philistines and can’t get God’s advice through his priests
and prophets, he disguises himself, visits a witch and asks her to call up the
spirit of Samuel, which she does. The spirit appears. (1 Samuel 28:11-15).
Numerology—Ancient peoples often attributed
special meaning or significance to some numbers, and this pattern can be seen
in the Bible. The number 12 (also significant in Babylonian, Zoroastrian, and
classical Greek religions) stand out. Thin of the 12 tribes of Israel and 12
apostles of Jesus. The book of Revelation speaks of 12 pearls, 12 angels, 12x12
(144) righteous virgin men who will reach paradise, and 12 foundations of the
heavenly Jerusalem, which has walls that are 12x12 stadia, 12 gates, and a size
o 12,000 furlongs. Still today, some Jews and Christians analyse the numbers in
the Bible for special hidden meanings.
Spellcasting
and curses—in
the book of Genesis (30:31-43), Jacob gets his father-in-law to agree that he
can keep any spotted sheep and goats, which are uncommon. He then puts spotted
sticks in front of the animals whenever they are breeding, causing them to have
spotted offspring—ultimately building great flocks and becoming wealthy. In
modern times, a breed of piebald sheep in England are called Jacob sheep, after
the story.
Although the Bible specifically prohibits sorcery—casting
spells to harm people (see, especially, Deuteronomy 18:10-11)—some of God’s
messengers do just that, and they seem to do so with God’s approval. In the
Hebrew book of 2 Kings (2:23-25), for example, the Prophet Elisha calls down a
black magic curse on 42 boys who are taunting him, and they are killed by a
bear. In the New Testament book of Acts, Paul similarly kills two people by
cursing them (Acts 5:9-10) and, in another story, makes one go blind (Acts
13:6-12). Jesus himself curses a fig tree so that it withers and dies (Mark
11:12-25).
Magical
healings—Miracle healings
performed by Jesus are in integral part of the gospel stories. Like many other
kinds of magic in the Bible, these would have fit patters familiar at the time.
From the standpoint of modern trinitarian theology in which Jesus is an avatar
of God almighty, he could have eradicated an entire category of malaise like
leprosy or blindness. Instead, the Jesus of the gospel writers performs
healings on people in front of him. Often, he cures with words or touch. One
time he makes mud out of dirt and spit and then pastes it onto the eyes of a blind
man (John 9:6). (Valerie Tarico, "Why Do Christians Believe in Miracles?"
in John W. Loftus, ed. The Case Against
Miracles [Hypatia Press, 2019], 202-27, here, pp. 205-7)
With respect
to Joseph of Egypt using divinization, some Evangelical apologists have tried (lamely)
to get around this. Writing
in response to Norman Geisler ("Scripture" in The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism), Alma Allred wrote:
Geisler claims that "God's servants were
forbidden to use physical objects to 'divine' things." As evidence he
cites passages forbidding the practices of witches, soothsayers. sorcerers,
mediums. spiritists, and interpreters of omens and conjurers or making children
pass through fire. None of these restrictions mentions physical objects-nor do
they apply to any of the practices of Mormonism or Joseph Smith. This is
because God's servants have, in fact used physical objects to obtain the word
of God. The clearest example comes from Genesis, where Joseph-a man who
previously had given inspired interpretations of dreams-instructed his servant
to tell his brothers that he used a silver cup for divination (see Genesis
44:4-5).
Geisler discounts this in a footnote (see p.
48 n. 3), concluding that Joseph lied as part of a ruse to trap his brothers,
or. Alternatively that if he had used the cup he too would stand condemned by
God. But Geisler's effort results in the unhappy conclusion that Joseph of Egypt
was either an occultist or a liar. In leveling this accusation, Geisler should
recall that the scripture tells us, "The Lord was with Joseph"
(Genesis 39:2 1). Joseph's cup, however, is not the only biblical example of a
physical object used in obtaining the words of God. Gideon used a fleece to
determine the will of God (see Judges 6), and God's high priests used the Urim
and Thummim-the same objects Joseph Smith claimed to use to receive revelation.
Additionally, the apostle Paul used handkerchiefs and aprons to heal the sick
(see Acts 19:12).
