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Should paganism/witchcraft be illegal?

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old comment by Bashibozkedi

The illustration looks like medieval England. Witches were never burnt in England , the records still exist.
Witches were hung ,which is bad enough, burning was reserved for heretics.

The late very lamented writer ,Terry Pratchett, offers an interesting historical explanation. There was a witch called .Agnes Nutter who was arrested and taken to the stake. However before her immolation she had concealed 60 pounds of gunpowder and 40 pounds of roofing nails beneath her skirts. When the fire was lit she said to her tormentors" Come closer, so that you may see what happens to those who meddle in things they don't understand"
The resulting explosion levelled the village and killed everyone in it. As a result witches were never again burnt in England. Well that's Terry Pratchett's explanation anyway.

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Do not allow a sorceress/witch to live?

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I saw a witch a while back being mistreated, which deeply troubled me. I am strong proponent for Luke 6:31.

I am familiar with Exodus 22:18 which usually translates to something like: Do not allow a sorceress/witch to live.

This brings to mind one main question:

Is there anything in the Bible suggesting a better way to interpret this? Are Christians expected to commit murder? I understand innumerable witches have been murdered over the millennia but this is just not acceptable to me. The society I live in deems this illegal as well.

Then I have two sub-questions:

Is there a biblical difference between witches and sorceresses? I know there are witches out there but I have not met a sorceress.

In the Bible is the word sorceress truly gender specific? e.g. male sorcerers are exempted from this?

I am trying to reconcile this with other portions of the Bible that denounce the mistreatment of others.

Answers that cite more clear and easily understandable Bible passages will get preferential treatment for approval. The sub-questions are optional but will count towards approval should all other elements of the answer be deemed equal.

mosaic-law bible-translation exodus ethics witchcraft
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edited Aug 30 '15 at 2:45

ThaddeusB
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asked Sep 2 '11 at 13:29

Jenny Thomson
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"I saw a witch a while back being mistreated". Could you be a little more specific? DJClayworth Sep 2 '11 at 13:32
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"Are Christians expected to commit murder?" See this question for why this would not be considered murder. However, I still think this is an excellent question. I will answer it later when I have more time if it hasn't already been answered. Flimzy Sep 2 '11 at 13:37
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@DJClayworth She was being bullied, shoved, and ridiculed. One of the perps was yelling at her in a derogatory manner about being a witch. Jenny Thomson Sep 2 '11 at 13:46
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@Jenny Any reason to think the people doing this were using the Bible as justification? DJClayworth Sep 2 '11 at 13:48
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Well, I am really looking for insight on how I should live my life. The beliefs of the aggressors here are irrelevant to me (other than their behavior was horrifying). I live in a western country and am thankful our legal system is encouraged to look at this the same way and not treat offenders differently based on their beliefs. (note: I said "encouraged" and not something more definite). Jenny Thomson Sep 2 '11 at 14:00
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Under the old testament law then that is what God commanded, yes; but Christ is the fulfillment of the law. The law was a tutor to bring us to christ. The law is not so much finished as fulfilled. When the pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery to jesus. He said .... "fine, stone her then, in accordance with the law just let one who has committed no sin throw the first stone". Christ teaches that while technically all sin should be punished yet there is no one worthy of wielding the whip but a sinless one ..... and that single sinless one ( jesus ) doesnt condem us, and so we are in a new revelation, a new testament, the church age, the age of grace, not under condemnation. There will come a day when every bit of evil will be punished, when the lord returns with a sword but meanwhile, no, he doesnt expect us ( or even allow us ) to exact punishment on the breaking of old testament laws which were for a previous generation. Read the book of romans for more information on this particularly chapters 6 to 8. This is a HUGE subject requiring a lot of study to understand, in essence it is a large part of the core of the gospel, but it does make an awful lot of sense and in retrospect it's actually quite simple, just that we are conditioned in this world to sin righteousness, judgement and the like and not to grace, which is an entirely different animal.

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answered Sep 2 '11 at 13:53

byronyasgur
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The commands God gave to Ancient Israel are normally divided into three kinds: moral, civil and ceremonial. This question and this question have more information. This one, and any of the others invoking the death penalty, certainly fall into the 'civil' category. The state of Israel (loosely speaking) would have the authority to impose the death penalty for a variety of offences, as many states do now.

Christians are no longer expected to obey "the law", which includes this kind of law, though most would say that they are expected to follow the 'moral laws', of which this is not one. That's not to say that 'witchcraft' is now OK,and God approves of it, but the authority to punish with a specific penalty doesn't apply to Christians in these times.

Because 'the state' is given power to punish an offence that does not give a random mob of people the right to harass someone.

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It goes without saying that the Bible condemns witchcraft. Therefore, Wicca is condemned because Wicca is witchcraft. But, unfortunately as a result of some of the Biblical passages about witchcraft, some Christians have killed witches. The Burning Times is a term Wiccans use to describe the persecution and killing of witches in the 1500's and 1600's. The truth is that Christians were involved in this atrocity citing Old Testament passages as justification for their actions, i.e., Exodus 22:18, “You shall not allow a sorceress to live."

The OT passages were written under a theocracy, that is, they were written during a time of Jewish theocratic rule where God told the Jews to restrict themselves from many false teachings and practices. The reason for this and the harsh punishments for violating those rules was that such false practices could ultimately undermine the coming of the Messiah, and thereby jeopardize the salvation of all people. This is why you see such harsh treatment by God upon so many in the Old Testament. Since God was using the Jewish people to be those through whom the Messiah would come, it was necessary to keep the messianic line pure.

But, since the Messiah has come, there is now no more threat to the messianic line, and we are free to "turn the other cheek" and to love people as God loves them (Matt. 5:43-48). Unfortunately, many of the Christians of the 1500's and 1600's did not apply love and kindness to those who practiced witchcraft. Instead, they used Old Testament law while abandoning New Testament grace. The result was that thousands were killed. This is why many Wiccans see the past actions of the Christian Church as well as the present behavior of many Christians as evidence that Christianity is false. If this kind of behavior is what Christianity produces, then, the Wiccan would reason, why not turn to nature religion? Oftentimes, all that Wiccans and pagans have to judge Christianity by is the bad behavior of those who claim to be Christians. This is not good.

If you are a Christian dealing with a Wiccan, you need to be respectful of the individual, listen to what is said, and lovingly offer correction. Outright condemnation and anger only pushes a Wiccan further into his or her deception. Jesus forgave the adulterous woman, forgave the disciples' sins, and taught us to be loving and kind. That is how you are to be as well.

If you are a Wiccan, please understand that we mean you no harm and our concern is for your eternal salvation. We believe the Bible is true not because of subjective feelings and bigotry but because of the work of love and forgiveness that the Lord has brought into our lives. We condemn the actions of those who claim to be Christians and walk in hatred and abject condemnation.

old comment by TheGoose

I do know the OP is asking about making witchcraft and pagan religions illegal but this person also shows a picture of a woman being burnt alive, and does quote Exodus 22:18, so I'm going to use this as an excuse to ask something I've always wanted to know about Exodus. Maybe it's going to seem super obvious to more religious people; humor me.

Exodus is the one that tells you "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13), right? But then it lists a whole bunch of different types of people who should be killed... presumably killed by believers. It's not like the differences between the Old Testament and the New Testament; in which case people usually argue that various stuff done and said by God/Jesus means people don't need follow the old laws anymore. This stuff exists within the same book. It basically goes directly from Don't kill to Now, here's a whole, long list of people...

How has that been justified historically or even generally?

old comment by Anon-e-moose

@TheGoose

"Okay, thanks guys, that does make a kind of sense."

Meanwhile, Hosea 13:16.

What had those Samaritan unborn done to the fundies/'pro-Lifers' God at that point in time, to warrant their hideous terminations? Frankly the whole 'Murder'/'Kill' thing is little more than an excuse, considering that war crime.

Fundies worship a Hitler-esque war criminal. 'Murder'? 'Killing'? No difference.

At least the Minbari moral code is based on 'Minbari do not kill Minbari'. Which is why, when the Minbari were about to annihilate Humanity during that war between these races, they stopped, when the Religious Caste discovered that the souls of Minbari migrated into the bodies of humans, thus killing them meant they themselves were breaking that ultimate taboo. [/"Babylon 5"]

Also:

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The prosecution rests.

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