Monday, January 6, 2020

"Magic" being used by Old and New Testament Figures


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).

As with many criticisms levelled against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, critics must engage in double standards and even accuse biblical figures of lying(!) as Geisler did.