Thursday, January 07, 2010

Faith Tidbit #11

Who were the wise men? The term used for them in our English Bibles, transliterated from the Greek New Testament, gives a good idea: Maji. (Magoi in the Greek.) These were foreigners who dealt in magic. While they were serious students of astronomy, the study of the stars, they also were practitioners of astrology, the Biblically-forbidden superstition that stars controlled human actions and destinies. Magic and astrology are both condemned in the Bible, undboubtedly because they're kinds of idol worship, giving human or demonic power or created objects a place of authority that rightfully belongs only to God.*

*The form of entertainment we call magic has nothing to do with what the Bible condemns and is harmless.

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