“They trust me to kill the Devil, and to save the world. And
that's exactly what I'm gonna do!” ~ Dean Winchester, Supernatural (TV Series)
Two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, modern saviors of
mankind in the TV series, Supernatural,
exist as hunters in the world of demons and the accompanying characters of
horror and lore that surrounds it. They
slay all that is not considered of this realm, yet they themselves concoct
weapons and defenses in many forms with a myriad of witches’ brews to do
battle. They cast spells, they conjure
spirits, and form alliances with both sides that are of good and evil,
manipulators of black and white magic, and everything in between. And most notably, they do battle with Satan. In all of this, having killed many a witches,
could they themselves be considered also witches?
Though the above is of total modern fiction, much of the
material is derived from a subject more prolific in history, and that is the
battle between Satan and God, or rather, Jesus Christ, son of God. After reading an excerpt in Kors and Peters
book, Witchcraft in Europe 400-1700,
the example of the Winchester characters came to mind immediately. Casting out evil magic using magic in
witch-like fashion without ever claiming to be such. It’s in this frame of mind that while reading
The History of Satan within the
introduction, it was surprising to learn that theorists of witchcraft debated
that in a battle between Satan and Jesus (Matthew 4) resulted in the transport
of Jesus to the top of the Temple, and was proof that in fact Satan had the
power to move witches (Kors and Peters).
Jesus, a witch? It’s no secret
within the Bible that Jesus repeatedly performs acts considered impossible by
mere humans such as turning water to wine, raising of the dead, healing the
sick and lame with a touch.
Systematically, Jesus produces magic as one could only consider the
powers of a witch/magician in this context. Son
of God, a man that battles in the world of supernatural, using abilities that
are impossible otherwise. To further
this point, Elaine Pagels, a Professor of Religion at Princeton University,
also points out that the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote
explicitly about how Jesus repeatedly defeats Satan in a struggle between supernatural forces, until eventually
Satan takes form as Judas and betrays resulting in the final demise of Jesus
(Thurston). However, Jesus even
prophesized this. A magician's supernatural power
indeed.
Considering the above, to what extent do we delineate between faith and magic? (Is there a distinction?)
Considering the above, to what extent do we delineate between faith and magic? (Is there a distinction?)
Kors, Alan C., and Peters, Edward. Witchcraft in Europe
400-1700, A Documentary History (Second Edition), Introduction: History of
Satan, p. 6-7, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.
Thurston, Robert. The Witch Hunts: A History of the Witch
Persecutions in Europe and North America. The Devils Climb to Prominence, page
number unknown. Web. https://books.google.com/books?id=xCUuAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT58&lpg=PT58&dq=Elaine+PAgels+jesus+witch&source=bl&ots=ujErG-scGv&sig=keJDzVrX0xvRSbyKo4oCNyC8MVY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAWoVChMI48eT0-rKxwIVwlweCh2lLwnB#v=onepage&q=Elaine%20PAgels%20jesus%20witch&f=false
(visited August 27, 2015).
I really enjoyed this article and found it to be a very interesting point. Being a Christian and raised in Church on the matter of faith, I believe Jesus was performing magic rather miracles. The difference to me is that Jesus was and is God and was therefore performing miracles through His power as God. Whereas magic is a failure to duplicate the use of the power of supernatural beings.
ReplyDeleteI am glad I was able to engage some talking points on the topic of magicians in history. It was very thought provoking for me when just merely skimming the research surface for this blog. We inherently want to know how everything works, and have come a long way in the world of science and magic. In that respect, I think it promotes our fascination and notion of faith in knowing certain things are not simply magic based on our current knowledge; fits the supernatural category instead.
DeleteKevin, Thurston was one of my professors as an undergraduate--very cool to see you use him! No matter anyone's personal beliefs, scholars of history are interested in seeing things through the lens of the past. This could also be seeing things through the lens of other cultures--such as the way that some Romans referred to Jesus as a magician even in the centuries after his death. That might be offensive to some degree--but more complexly we're actually seeing in class the way that magic was admired and it was not necessarily demonic. Magic as a term can be used in multiple ways-so there is no clear singular definition that fits every situation though we want to produce one. The fact that early Christians saw Jesus as a potential magician added to his appeal--not because he was a fraud--but because he was real, and got things done! Try to find the image of the sarcophagus with Jesus and a "wand" from the early Christian world online. And why does he carry a staff? These are actually reassuring messages that magic (or religion) can protect, bring good fortune, all the good stuff. Here's the question: what happens, like in the 1520s, when priests are no longer seen as "magicians" with the ability to exorcize demons?
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for the expansion on this topic. To answer your question briefly, they would have surely been persecuted in manners prescribed by the Church. But, at the time in question, the practice of exorcizing demons was one considered more or less a direct conduit to God and the powers of healing that Jesus performed. If I understand correctly, they were basically like rock stars sought out to satiate the 'craze' of being possessed. I am sure this was very much dictated regionally and by proximity of major population areas as we have discussed so far.
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