Yep, they did. They had her babble insanely, then they "translated" it into "prophesy", for which they were paid. Not uncommon in those times. So lesseem the demon granted the poor demioniac the "power" to bable incoherently, and the "power" to be a slave. Wow, 'ol Satan is really free with the "powers" he dispenses, isn't he?
Thank you for that ad hominem reply. And yes, I am ugly, and my wife does dress me funny. And "Wiccans" are still incredibly silly people, playing at a "religion" which they don't actually believe. They have no "powers" of any kind, and their "magick" is precisely as powerful as wishing really, really hard. There is no magic, or majick either.
We don't do jack. God responding to prayer is powerful. But God's responses are based on His approval, and may take any form. He may also reply, "No". To believe that our prayers have power in and of themselves is simply thinking in terms of "magic" again.
If the outcome of "the war" is depending on my efforts of any kind then we're pretty much skunked from the outset. You've chosen a very slender reed to lean on.
Any kind of "witchcraft" is phony, based on lies, manipulation, fear, deceit, and the threat, real or implicit, of violence. And that of course is the "power of Satan" in full effect.
The Bible doesn't address "magic" of the Harry Potter variety because it doesn't exist. You can't sin by doing HP magic because there is no such thing. For instance, it can't be considered sinful to wave your stick, say "lumos", and have it light up, because it won't (unless, of course, you've wired it with lights, a battery, and a voice-activated switch, which hardly counts as magic, does it?).
But you still can't unlock a door by waving a stick at it and saying "alohomora", can you? And no, there is no recorded instance of Satan ever granting anyone the power to do that, or anything else, for that matter. There is no magic. You can't sin by doing magic, because you can't do magic. You can sin by being a witch, because witches (aka psychics, aka spirit mediums (media?), aka soothsayers, aka wizards, cons, grifters, astrologers, swindlers, spiritualists, ad nauseum, who wield the real power of Satan - the power of the lie. Satan is the Father of what, again? The lie. He is the original bunko artist. He promises everything, and he gives nothing except misery and degradation. There's your diabolical magic, and its destructive powers can never be underestimated.
If the "magic" in quesion is the kind that makes for flying motorcycles and mail delivery owls, be of good cheer, there are no such things and there is no such "magic". That is pure childhood fantasy.
I'm curious, would you allow your children to see performances of Shakespeare plays such as A Midsummer Night's Dream (fairies and magic), Hamlet (a ghost) or Macbeth (three witches)? Would you allow them to listen to Camille Saint-Saëns tone poem The Danse Macabre (death and dancing skeletons) or Modest Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain (a witches' sabbath occurring on St. John's Eve)? Would you allow them to read Grimms' Fairy Tales (witches and fairies and all sort of magic)? Where do you draw the line?
So youy'd have us believe that satan has the power to haul the blessed dead back to life to do his bidding, and that he can delegate that power to "witches"? Seems rather a stretch to me, especially considering the utter absence of anything in Scripture that indicates that Old Nick can do any such thing. I believe that God sent Samuel to declare Sauls doom, as He alone has that power.
There may very well be, but that only makes the case for people being supremely gullible, and nothing as to whether Satan has the power raise the dead, or to delegate that power to others, And again, Scripture says no such thing.
Haven't, and won't. Let's review: If I say "your argument is ridiculous", I am criticizing your argument, not you. That is not ad hominem. If I say "you are ridiculous", then I am attacking you and not your argument, and that is ad hominem. Unless you are a "Wiccan", and thus personally insulted by my contention that Wiccans are silly, I have not subjected you to ad hominem attack.
Yep, Lot prayed, and God acted. The prayers, of themselves, did nothing. No magic.
There is no "real magic", and no spooky powers given to anyone by Satan.
I will simply reassert what I have said - there is no magic, diabolical or otherwise. If you believe that you observed "real magic", I would have to conclude that you were deceived.
