Magic in the Biblical World

Magic in the Biblical World
Author: Todd Klutz
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2003-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780567083623

The category 'magic' , long used to signify an allegedly substantive type of activity distinguishable from 'religion', has nearly been dismantled by recent historical and social-scientific approaches to religious studies. While recognising and at times reinforcing this stance, the essays in this collection show that there is still much to be learned about the cultural context of early Judaism and Christianity by analysing ancient texts which either use 'magic' as a category for purposes of deviance labelling or promote behaviour of a broadly magico-religious variety. Through sustained engagement with texts ranging from Exod. 7-9 and Acts 8 to the Testament of Solomon and the Late Antique alchemical treatise known as the Cyranides, this volume focuses chiefly on materials that challenge the familiar boundaries between miracle and magic and medicine; yet it also heightens awareness of the way unsuspecting use of a sick sign (e.g. 'magic') can impede critical understanding of texts and their respective contexts of production and reception. Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series, Volume 245.

Magic in the Biblical World

Magic in the Biblical World
Author: Todd Klutz
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2004-03-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 056731801X

The category 'magic' , long used to signify an allegedly substantive type of activity distinguishable from 'religion', has nearly been dismantled by recent historical and social-scientific approaches to religious studies. While recognising and at times reinforcing this stance, the essays in this collection show that there is still much to be learned about the cultural context of early Judaism and Christianity by analysing ancient texts which either use 'magic' as a category for purposes of deviance labelling or promote behaviour of a broadly magico-religious variety. Through sustained engagement with texts ranging from Exod. 7-9 and Acts 8 to the Testament of Solomon and the Late Antique alchemical treatise known as the Cyranides, this volume focuses chiefly on materials that challenge the familiar boundaries between miracle and magic and medicine; yet it also heightens awareness of the way unsuspecting use of a sick sign (e.g. 'magic') can impede critical understanding of texts and their respective contexts of production and reception. Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series, Volume 245.

Studies on Magic and Divination in the Biblical World

Studies on Magic and Divination in the Biblical World
Author: Helen R. Jacobus
Publisher: Gorgias PressLlc
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2013
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781611438697

A selection of essays on magic and divination in relation to the biblical world, including Mesopotamian demonology, Akkadian literary influences, exorcism, healing, calendars, astrology, bibliomancy, dreams, ritual magic, priestly divination, prophecy, magic in the Christian Apocrypha and the New Testament, magic in rabbinic literature, and Jewish Aramaic magic bowls.

Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World

Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World
Author: Scott Noegel
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2010-11-01
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 9780271046006

In the religious systems of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Mediterranean, gods and demigods were neither abstract nor distant, but communicated with mankind through signs and active intervention. Men and women were thus eager to interpret, appeal to, and even control the gods and their agents. In Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World, a distinguished array of scholars explores the many ways in which people in the ancient world sought to gain access to--or, in some cases, to bind or escape from--the divine powers of heaven and earth. Grounded in a variety of disciplines, including Assyriology, Classics, and early Islamic history, the fifteen essays in this volume cover a broad geographic area: Greece, Egypt, Syria-Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Persia. Topics include celestial divination in early Mesopotamia, the civic festivals of classical Athens, and Christian magical papyri from Coptic Egypt. Moving forward to Late Antiquity, we see how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam each incorporated many aspects of ancient Near Eastern and Graeco-Roman religion into their own prayers, rituals, and conceptions. Even if they no longer conceived of the sun, moon, and the stars as eternal or divine, Christians, Jews, and Muslims often continued to study the movements of the heavens as a map on which divine power could be read. The reader already familiar with studies of ancient religion will find in Prayer, Magic, and the Stars both old friends and new faces. Contributors include Gideon Bohak, Nicola Denzey, Jacco Dieleman, Radcliffe Edmonds, Marvin Meyer, Michael G. Morony, Ian Moyer, Francesca Rochberg, Jonathan Z. Smith, Mark S. Smith, Peter Struck, Michael Swartz, and Kasia Szpakowska. Published as part of Penn State's Magic in History series, Prayer, Magic, and the Stars appears at a time of renewed interest in divination and occult practices in the ancient world. It will interest a wide audience in the field of comparative religion as well as students of the ancient world and late antiquity.

Magic In The Bible

Magic In The Bible
Author: Ken Goudsward
Publisher:
Total Pages: 90
Release: 2020-04-15
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 9781999216085

Inductive analysis of ancient biblical texts yields shocking conclusions in this controversial, in depth look at the magical practices of such well loved characters as Moses, Abraham, and even Jesus himself.

Spells, Sorcerers and Spirits

Spells, Sorcerers and Spirits
Author: Kirsten Birkett
Publisher:
Total Pages: 112
Release: 2015-08-01
Genre:
ISBN: 9781906327354

Cultures, for as long as we have had history, have had some sense of magic. This book contends that some of it, at least, is real; it describes what that is, and why the Bible is so negative about it. However, to say 'magic is real' in our contemporary culture could be very misleading. In fact, wrong. For what our culture thinks of as 'magic' - as vague and diffuse as that is - is likely to be very different from what was practised in the Ancient Near East (the things that modern English translations of the Old Testament call, for instance, sorcery or witchcraft) or in the Greco-Roman world (what the New Testament calls magic). It also may be very different from what is called 'magic' or 'witchcraft' in animistic or ancestor-worshipping cultures today. This book unpacks the background and explores the implications of the biblical teaching about the supernatural. There is a supernatural world, and it contains more than just God in Trinity; but Christians should not be afraid of it. Kirsty Birkett is Latimer Research Fellow at Oak Hill College, where she is responsible for Learning Architecture and Educational Development, and teaches Ethics, Philosophy and Church History. Her many publications cover the whole area of relationships between science and religion. She has also written on psychology, feminism and the family for both a popular and academic audience.

Magic & the Bible

Magic & the Bible
Author: Becky Fischer
Publisher:
Total Pages: 54
Release: 2020-10-10
Genre:
ISBN:

Our culture today is saturated with magic, witchcraft, witches, celebrations of the dead, casting spells, and much more. Our kids are trapped in a world of movies, books, video games, cartoons, and more. They are at the mercy of this encroaching paganism and few in church leadership ever take the time to explain what it is all about. It is all anti-God and anti-Bible! Even most Christian parents see to be speechless in trying to explain why these things are wrong, and why we don't celebrate Halloween, etc. Well, this book aims to solve all of that. the time has come to spell it out clearly in black and white. No more pussy-footing around! In Magic and the Bible, we tell it like it is. There are 51 full color pages, and each page covers one topic. We discuss things like: Angels * Demons * Satan * The Invisible World * Witches * Zombies * Vampires * Magic * Ghosts * Casting Spells * Witchcraft * Talking to the Dead* Seances* Psychics* Fortune Telling* Ouija Boards* Halloween* Watching movies about Witchcraft * Bible Stories about Magic and Witches What are Christians supposed to do about these things? Great for family discussions or lessons for Sunday School or children's church! It's time to let our kids know the truth and prepare them to confront the culture in which they live with confidence. A beautiful way to let them discover how relevant the Bible is to everyday situations. Dozens of scripture references!

Hoodoo Bible Magic

Hoodoo Bible Magic
Author: Miss Michaele
Publisher:
Total Pages: 96
Release: 2014-05-03
Genre: Bible
ISBN: 9780996052313

"Practical, honest, and straightforward, this book teaches the history and unlocks the mystery of Christian Conjuration with the Holy Scriptures. Learn ancient traditional spells of Psalmic Magic from forgotten books of Jewish wisdom preserved by African American elders, open the Bible's treasure-house of Secret Charms and Sacred Amulets, and prepare yourself for revelations and wonders. The Bible is a magic book! THIS book tells you just how to use it"--Excerpt from Amazon.com.

The Magic Man in the Sky

The Magic Man in the Sky
Author: Carl Gallups
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781936488520

"Carl Gallups challenges both believers and non-believers to consider the consequences of either accepting or rejecting the countless and timeless truths he presents. Based on biblical, scientific and logical theory, Pastor Gallups provides startling insight into the many, often unanswered questions of evolutionary theory and life's deepest mysteries."--Page 4 of cover.

Jesus and Magic

Jesus and Magic
Author: Richard A. Horsley
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2014-10-27
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1498201733

It has become standard in modern interpretation to say that Jesus performed miracles, and even mainline scholarly interpreters classify Jesus's healings and exorcisms as miracles. Some highly regarded scholars have argued, more provocatively, that the healings and exorcisms were magic, and that Jesus was a magician. As Richard Horsley points out, if we make a critical comparison between modern interpretation of Jesus's healing and exorcism, on the one hand, and the Gospel stories and other ancient texts, on the other hand, it becomes clear that the miracle and magic are modern concepts, products of Enlightenment thinking. Jesus and Magic asserts that Gospel stories do not have the concepts of miracle and magic. What scholars constructed as magic turns out to have been ritual practices such as songs (incantations), medicines (potions), and appeals to higher powers for protection. Horsley offers a critical reading of the healing and exorcism episodes in the Gospel stories. This reading reveals a dynamic relationship between Jesus the healer, the trust of those coming for healing, and their support networks in local communities. Horsley's reading of the Gospel stories gives little or no indication of divine intervention. Rather, the healing and exorcism stories portray healings and exorcisms.