Christian Writers

Cole

Cole · Jul 14, 2011

Is writing about witchcraft/witches evil?

Ranger Hawk Admin

Ranger Hawk · Jul 14, 2011

I hope not. >.>

Personally, I don't think so. I think it could give people the wrong impression, though. Also, you have to be careful if you're easily impressionable because you're probably going to do research on it, and that could lead you down some iffy roads.

However, look at the fairy tales we all grew up with: Hansel & Gretel, Rapunzel, even the Wizard of Oz. As long as you view them as a story and nothing more, I'd say you're fine.

Just my two cents, though. You've got to know yourself, where you are with God, and what's going to be a challenge for you. Make your own decisions from there.

XxMattxX

XxMattxX · Jul 19, 2011

It depends on the context in which you write.

Who wins in the end? What is being promoted?
What is the overall message?

It's like sex.
In my youth group, we just finished discussing sex and purity and all that good stuff. Sex is a subject. Anyone can talk about sex, so it all just depends on the motive.
Are we talking about to to educate and provide awareness, or are we just trying to be vulgar and crack jokes?

That's what sets good apart from evil, for the most part.

Witchcraft is not of the Lord.
It's not a godly subject, period.
But it's not wrong for us to utilize the topic to educate, train young believers, or provide realistic entertainment based on God's victory over witchcraft. it al depends on what you are promoting...

As a child, I wasn't allowed to watch Harry Potter stuff or anything that promoted witchcraft/portrayed it to be positive. So I can't say that I've ever found it to be an attractive subject or whatnot. Even now, when I have control over what I view, I don't even find it appealing-I'm not missing anything.

Everything has a deeper meaning, and regardless of what you *think* your intentions are when you write something, you need to be careful about how it actually ends up looking in the end.
So realize that nothing on earth is just superficial. It all has a deeper meaning.

Just read up on what God thinks, you know? He tells Christians to stay way from this sort of stuff for a reason. It's not always as harmless as it seems.
So I probably seem paranoid to most of you, but in the bible it tells us to be aware of false doctrine or lies that sounds harmless and pleasing. Everything means something more, just don't be naive.
It's like sugar-coated poison.

It depends on the context in which you write.

Who wins in the end? What is being promoted?
What is the overall message?

It's like sex.
In my youth group, we just finished discussing sex and purity and all that good stuff. Sex is a subject. Anyone can talk about sex, so it all just depends on the motive.
Are we talking about to to educate and provide awareness, or are we just trying to be vulgar and crack jokes?

That's what sets good apart from evil, for the most part.

Witchcraft is not of the Lord. 
It's not a godly subject, period.
 But it's not wrong for us to utilize the topic to educate, train young believers, or provide realistic entertainment based on God's victory over witchcraft. it al depends on what you are promoting...

As a child, I wasn't allowed to watch Harry Potter stuff or anything that promoted witchcraft/portrayed it to be positive. So I can't say that I've ever found it to be an attractive subject or whatnot. Even now, when I have control over what I view, I don't even find it appealing-I'm not missing anything.

Everything has a deeper meaning, and regardless of what you *think* your intentions are when you write something, you need to be careful about how it actually ends up looking in the end.
So realize that nothing on earth is just superficial. It all has a deeper meaning.

Just read up on what God thinks, you know? He tells Christians to stay way from this sort of stuff for a reason. It's not always as harmless as it seems.
So I probably seem paranoid to most of you, but in the bible it tells us to be aware of false doctrine or lies that sounds harmless and pleasing. Everything means something more, just don't be naive.
It's like sugar-coated poison.

shiney1

shiney1 · Jul 19, 2011

What Jojo said.

Just another important point that I learned in Sunday school:

Some Christians are mature enough that they can watch something with witchcraft in it (not for teaching or God's triumph purposes) and not be affected at all.
If this is you, that's perfectly fine. It's not a sin, and if you can take it, then that's you. Just know your own limits.
But that's not what i am getting at. Most of the times, without knowing it, people are watching, to see what a real Christian is like. like my teacher says, "You may be the only "Jesus" they see in their life.
Especially for young, "baby" Christians who are trying to grow in the faith. Things like Harry Potter, Twilight, etc may not affect you at all, but to them they are still spiritually weak, and when they see you watching something with witchcraft in it, they thinks is okay. I am NOT saying it is bad, but they are just growing, and are not mature enough to handle hardcore things. So just be careful, because you could be promoting what you watch, listen to, talk about, etc. as okay to do in someone's eyes, and they may not be ready for that yet

What Jojo said.

Just another important point that I learned in Sunday school:

Some Christians are mature enough that they can watch something with witchcraft in it (not for teaching or God's triumph purposes) and not be affected at all.
If this is you, that's perfectly fine. It's not a sin, and if you can take it, then that's you. Just know your own limits. 
But that's not what i am getting at. Most of the times, without knowing it, people are watching, to see what a real Christian is like. like my teacher says, "You may be the only "Jesus" they see in their life.
Especially for young, "baby" Christians who are trying to grow in the faith. Things like Harry Potter, Twilight, etc may not affect you at all, but to them they are still spiritually weak, and when they see you watching something with witchcraft in it, they thinks is okay. I am NOT saying it is bad, but they are just growing, and are not mature enough to handle hardcore things. So just be careful, because you could be promoting what you watch, listen to, talk about, etc. as okay to do in someone's eyes, and they may not be ready for that yet :)

Cole

Cole · Jul 19, 2011

Just to state my experience first, Harry Potter taught me about good and evil before I ever read Scripture.

I'm asking this question because I'm in the process of completing a novel.

It takes place in the near future, America has fallen due to government infighting and a new authority has taken over called "The Infinite Order", usually just called the Order. The Order is ruled by a group of High Priests and Priestesses, thus it is a theocratic government.

The Order, during its reign, has seemingly ruled with justice. But, it is secretly carrying out a dark agenda. The Order is performing witch hunts to kill people suspected of being witches... or who actually are real witches. The High Priests believe they are doing God's will by going on these crusades.

The story focuses on two people. One of the main focuses is a young preacher named Nate. Nate believes all is well in the Order, until he discovers the truth of the witch hunts. The second focus is young woman named Sera, who is a witch. She's trying to escape from the Order to avoid being killed.

The two meet in the story and become companions. Sera, a believer in God, struggles between her dark art of magic and her faithfulness to God. And Nate must make a choice to either betray the Order, the church, or allow innocent people to be killed under the Order's rule.

One thing fear is that it might appear I'm writing against the Church, which is not my intention. I also fear that it will be disliked among Christians because of the witchcraft. In my novel, I blunty say that magic is of the Devil and that even if it is used for good, it is a dark practice.

Just to state my experience first, Harry Potter taught me about good and evil before I ever read Scripture.

I'm asking this question because I'm in the process of completing a novel.

It takes place in the near future, America has fallen due to government infighting and a new authority has taken over called "The Infinite Order", usually just called the Order. The Order is ruled by a group of High Priests and Priestesses, thus it is a theocratic government.

The Order, during its reign, has seemingly ruled with justice. But, it is secretly carrying out a dark agenda. The Order is performing witch hunts to kill people suspected of being witches... or who actually are real witches. The High Priests believe they are doing God's will by going on these crusades.

The story focuses on two people. One of the main focuses is a young preacher named Nate. Nate believes all is well in the Order, until he discovers the truth of the witch hunts. The second focus is young woman named Sera, who is a witch. She's trying to escape from the Order to avoid being killed.

The two meet in the story and become companions. Sera, a believer in God, struggles between her dark art of magic and her faithfulness to God. And Nate must make a choice to either betray the Order, the church, or allow innocent people to be killed under the Order's rule.

One thing fear is that it might appear I'm writing against the Church, which is not my intention. I also fear that it will be disliked among Christians because of the witchcraft. In my novel, I blunty say that magic is of the Devil and that even if it is used for good, it is a dark practice.

XxMattxX

XxMattxX · Jul 19, 2011

Spoiler

Lovely, sounds really interesting.Like "Christianity's" past. This sort of thing has actually happened before.
It's almost a historical fiction piece. Almost.

So you have a fake, misguided, human-altered 'church' v.s. the witches and warlocks...
But who wins?
That's what matters in your story. Is God's promise ringing true, or are you condoning the practice of witchcraft, even though you say it is bad.

Sera, a *believer in God, struggles between her dark art of magic and her faithfulness to God.

* I'd also like to add that it is ~~nearly~~ impossible to truly serve God and be a witch at the same time. You can't "play" both sides. Either you are black or white. Lukewarmness has no place in the presence of the Lord.

So she has to truly choose a side and get serious about it , right?

-----
But don't worry about offending the "church". The true church is the body of Christ working together for his glory and divine purpose. A peaceful society.
It's the religious people that feel as though their rituals and sacraments will be insulted. Just be careful not to send the wrong message that's it's wrong to be against witchcraft.

Other than that, I think you're fine.

[spoiler]Lovely, sounds really interesting.Like "Christianity's" past. This sort of thing has actually happened before.
It's almost a historical fiction piece. Almost.[/spoiler]

So you have a fake, misguided, human-altered 'church' v.s. the witches and warlocks...
But who wins?
That's what matters in your story. Is God's promise ringing true, or are you condoning the practice of witchcraft, even though you say it is bad.

[quote]Sera, a *believer in God, struggles between her dark art of magic and her faithfulness to God.[/quote]
* I'd also like to add that it [b]is[/b] [s]nearly[/s] impossible to truly serve God and be a witch at the same time. You can't "play" both sides. Either you are black or white. Lukewarmness has no place in the presence of the Lord.

So she has to truly choose a side and get serious about it , right?

-----
But don't worry about offending the "church". The true church is the body of Christ working together for his glory and divine purpose. A peaceful society.
 It's the religious people that feel as though their rituals and sacraments will be insulted. Just be careful not to send the wrong message that's it's wrong to be against witchcraft.

Other than that, I think you're fine.

Snoink

Snoink · Jul 19, 2011

Well... the thing is, if she's struggling between the dark magic world and God, then the dark magic world is like a huge temptation, so she is struggling to get over her sin! After all, Satan tempts us to sin in many different ways and though the witchcraft route is a more overt way, it still is a temptation to abandon God. And all sins do that.

So, I don't think that is particularly bad, but you should probably make certain that this is a temptation that she is struggling with. But it doesn't sound bad at all.

Also, I come from a Roman Catholic background -- and you really can't get more hierarchical than that as far as churches go! Plus we definitely have had our share of corruption through the ages. Anyway, if it makes you feel better, I don't think that having a corrupt religious organization is a bad thing. I think it's good as a warning, in fact, that we should always struggle to stay godly, especially in the church! False prophets and stuff are never a good thing.