HARRY POTTER BOOKS, A Biblical View                          CFTF.com
David A. Reed 9/17/00

Discussion Guide (Basic Lesson + Advanced Discussion)

===========================================================

BASIC LESSON:

READ Malachi 3:5
"So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify
against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud
labourers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and
deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty.

God groups "sorcerers" with what other types of people?
-----------------------------------------------------------

READ Exodus 7:10-13
So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded.
Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it
became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned the wise men and sorcerers, and the
Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one
threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron's staff swallowed up
their staffs. Yet Pharaoh's heart became hard and he would not listen to
them, just as the LORD had said.

Who opposed Moses and Aaron in Pharaoh's court?

What made Aaron's walking stick turn into a snake?

What made the sorcerers' and magicians' sticks turn into snakes?

Whose power was more powerful? How do we know?
-----------------------------------------------------------

READ Revelation 21:8
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually
immoral, those who practise magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their
place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second
death.

READ Revelation 22:15
Outside are the dogs, those who practise magic arts, the sexually immoral,
the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practises
falsehood.

People who "practise magic arts" end up receiving the same judgement from
God as what other people?
-----------------------------------------------------------

READ Acts 19:19-20
A number who had practised sorcery brought their scrolls together and
burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the
total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord
spread widely and grew in power.

When people who used to practice sorcery learned about Jesus and put faith
in Him, what did they do with their books on sorcery?

Why didn't they keep on practicing sorcery?

Is there really such a thing as "good" sorcerers and "evil" sorcerers?
..."good" witches and "bad" witches?
..."black" magic and "white" magic?

-----------------------------------------------------------
READ Galatians 5:19-23
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and
debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of
rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness,
orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like
this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness
and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

The Holy Spirit gives Christians special power to display what qualities?

Why might some people want magical powers?

Whose power is behind magic, witchcraft, and sorcery?

Why is it better to ask God for the Holy Spirit and to trust in God's power?


===========================================================

ADVANCED DISCUSSION:

READ Isaiah 47:10-15
You have trusted in your wickedness...you will not know how to conjure it
away...your magic spells and with your many sorceries, which you have
laboured at since childhood....your astrologers come forward, those
stargazers who make predictions...the fire will burn them up. They cannot
even save themselves....

Babylon had been involved with sorcery "since childhood" like what hero of
a popular children's book series today?

How do some people try to "save themselves"?

How can people really be saved from evil?
-----------------------------------------------------------

READ Acts 13:2-12
Elymas the sorcerer...opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the
faith. ...Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and
said, "You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is
right!...

Why did the sorcerer oppose the Apostle Paul's teaching?

What did the Holy Spirit do through Paul?

Who had greater power?
-----------------------------------------------------------

READ Acts 8:5-25
Philip...proclaimed the Christ... miraculous signs...evil spirits came out
of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. ...Simon had
practised sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He
boasted that he was someone great...he had amazed them for a long time with
his magic....Simon himself believed and was baptised.... When Simon saw
that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he
offered them money and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on
whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." Peter answered: "May your
money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God
with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart
is not right before God. Repent...

How did sorcery and magic make Simon feel?

What did he want from the Apostles? Why?

Can there be such a thing as a Christian sorcerer?

What was Simon's problem?
-----------------------------------------------------------

READ Revelation 9:20-21
The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not
repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshipping demons,
and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood--idols that cannot see or
hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their
sexual immorality or their thefts.

How do magic and sorcery relate to worshipping demons instead of God?
-----------------------------------------------------------

READ Daniel Chapter 2
...the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers
to tell him what he had dreamed. ...Daniel replied, "No wise man,
enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has
asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries....The king
said to Daniel, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings
and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery."
Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on
him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him
in charge of all its wise men. Moreover, at Daniel's request the king
appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province
of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.

Why couldn't the sorcers tell the king his dream?

Why could Daniel?

Did Daniel take credit for himself? Who did he give credit to?
-----------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY:

Why is magic and sorcery always against God?

Will God put up with sorcerers forever?

What did sorcerers at Ephesus do with their books on sorcery when they
believed and turned to Christ?