Cultural Fascination with Evil

This time of year, I am always surprised at the lack of seriousness with which we generally take the occult. It is concerning to me how many of our students are entertained by the dark side of our culture. Dr. Mohler, in an article called Christianity and the Dark Side: What About Halloween?¹ that he has publish at least three times in the past ten years, places Halloween at the center of a “cultural fascination with evil and the demonic.” He says, “Over a hundred years ago, the great Dutch theologian Hermann Bavinck predicted that the 20th century would 'witness a gigantic conflict of spirits.' His prediction turned out to be an understatement, and this great conflict continues into the 21st century. The issue of Halloween presses itself annually upon the Christian conscience. Acutely aware of dangers new and old, many Christian parents choose to withdraw their children from the holiday altogether. Others choose to follow a strategic battle plan for engagement with the holiday. Still others have gone further, seeking to convert Halloween into an evangelistic opportunity.”

Is Halloween really that significant? Mohler answers, “Well, Halloween is a big deal in the marketplace. Halloween is surpassed only by Christmas in terms of economic activity.” He sites cultural experts who view “a celebration of Halloween as a transgressive holiday that allows the bizarre and elements from the dark side to enter the mainstream,” and study it by “looking at the cultural impact of Halloween on the rise of horror movies and the nation’s fascination with violence.” After a review of the origins of Halloween and the Christian response throughout history, he notes, “This fascination with the occult comes as America has been sliding into post-Christian secularism. While the courts remove all theistic references from America’s public square, the void is being filled with a pervasive fascination with evil, paganism, and new forms of occultism.”

Dr. Mohler presents the various ways that the church has dealt with this phenomenon in recent years, acknowledging that some Christians, “argue that the pagan roots of Halloween are no more significant than the pagan origins of Christmas and other church festivals.” He concludes, “the issue is a bit more complicated than that. While affirming that make-believe and imagination are part and parcel of God’s gift of imagination, Christians should still be very concerned about the focus of that imagination and creativity. Arguing against Halloween is not equivalent to arguing against Christmas. The old church festival of 'All Hallow’s Eve' is by no means as universally understood among Christians as the celebration of the incarnation at Christmas.”

Dr. Mohler says, “Christian parents should make careful decisions based on a biblically-informed Christian conscience. Some Halloween practices are clearly out of bounds, others may be strategically transformed, but this takes hard work and may meet with mixed success. The coming of Halloween is a good time for Christians to remember that evil spirits are real and that the Devil will seize every opportunity to trumpet his own celebrity. Perhaps the best response to the Devil at Halloween is that offered by Martin Luther, the great Reformer: 'The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him for he cannot bear scorn.' On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther began the Reformation with a declaration that the church must be recalled to the authority of God’s Word and the purity of biblical doctrine. With this in mind, the best Christian response to Halloween might be to scorn the Devil and then pray for the Reformation of Christ’s church on earth. Let’s put the dark side on the defensive.”

By God's providence, we talked about some of this in FUEL Wednesday night, in the context of Acts 19:11-20. I have included some notes below. I pray it will provide a good context for a family discussion on the topic.

When Paul came to Ephesus on his second missionary journey he left Aquila and Priscilla in Ephesus to establish the infant church there until his promised return. While Paul is away, God raised up a new generation of church leader, in the person of Apollos, to take Paul's place in Corinth. We saw that while Apollos was competent and eloquent, he was deficient in at least one way. Apollos knew only the baptism of John, and was not teaching people about the person and work of the Spirit of God.

When Paul arrived back in Ephesus, on the heels of Apollos' ministry, he had to correct the people, and teach them about the Spirit of God. We will see that meant correcting misunderstandings about the spiritual realm, misuse of spiritual authority, and rooting out evil. Paul worked many miracles at Ephesus, as previously in Acts, opening the door for hearing the gospel and giving confirmation that God himself was working through Paul and his message. However, he encountered others who pursued a false way of working “miracles,” including some Jewish exorcists and those who practiced cultic faith in magical spells. Now this is a sensitive subject, as we have to find a balance and respect regarding the Holy Spirit and the spiritual realm.

The Power of God (11-12)

God was doing this. We are not told that Paul did these unusual miracles, but that God worked them by the hands of Paul. Luke states that these were unusual miracles, and gives an example; Paul’s handkerchiefs or aprons could be laid on a person even without Paul present and that person would be healed or delivered from demonic possession. Literally, the phrase “unusual miracles” could be translated, miracles “not of the ordinary kind.” This implies and assumes miracles of an ordinary kind. However, even if we should “expect” miracles, these are the unexpected sort! We should not expect that God would continue to use this method to bring healing, or deliverance. It was unusual for God to use handkerchiefs or aprons used by Paul in such a way. The handkerchiefs or aprons worked in the same way that the shadow of Peter (Acts 5:15) or the hem of Jesus’ garment (Matthew 14:36) might heal: the item became a point of contact by which a person released faith in Jesus as healer. So, we receive whatever is proven to be from the hand of God, but pursue only that for which we have a Biblical pattern.

Why was God acting in such a manner among these people? God delights in doing things in new and different ways. God will stoop down to meet us even in the context of, and in order to confront our crude superstitions; as had happened at Samaria (8:9–13), Cyprus (13:6–11), and Philippi (16:16–18). As we will see, the superstitious practice of magic and sorcery was prevalent in Ephesus. This never means that God is pleased with our superstition, but that in His mercy He may supersede it in order to reveal Himself and affirm the work of the gospel. The powerful forces of pagan magic and religion connected to demonic activity were confronted by the far more powerful work of the Holy Spirit ministering through Paul. But, it should not surprise us that some took a quite superstitious view of the miracles done through Paul.

Occult Religion (13-16)

Here, a group of itinerant Jewish exorcists try to imitate Paul’s “formula” for success. At that time, there were Jewish exorcists who practiced their “trade” with a lot of superstition and ceremony. There are records of extensive ceremonies and spoken formulas that Jewish people in the first century used to try to free themselves from the influence of evil spirits, but it is unlikely that these were very effective, since the people were astounded when Jesus was able to cast out demons with “authority and power” in Luke 4:36. These seven sons of Sceva, seeing the power Paul had, tried to invoke the name of Jesus. They failed because they had no personal relationship with Jesus, they only knew Jesus as the God of Paul.

Similarly, there are many people, even churchgoers, who name the name of Jesus and will perish in Hell because they have no personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Some of you are in this danger. You only know “the Jesus the pastor preaches” or “the Jesus my parents believe in” instead of the Jesus of your own salvation. Do you have the “right” to use the name of Jesus? These sons of Sceva did not, because they had no personal relationship with Jesus, they were not in Christ.

The spiritual danger of claiming the name of Jesus, who you don't know, is made physically obvious. The evil spirit knew exactly who Jesus was, and knew exactly who Paul was. But they didn’t know who the seven sons of Sceva were; they had no spiritual authority. A “reverse exorcism” occurred, with the demon driving out the exorcists. The man in whom the evil spirit was jumped on all seven of them, and beat them naked. Because the seven sons of Sceva had no real relationship with Jesus, they had no spiritual power, and posed no threat, and had little defense from the evil spirit. They left the encounter naked and wounded, insult to injury, their nudity enhanced their humiliation. It was dangerous for them to take the reality of spiritual warfare lightly. It is equally dangerous for us to take it lightly.

Repentance from Evil (17-19)

The incident with the sons of Sceva impressed the people with the reality of the demonic realm. Ephesus was a stronghold of Satan, where many evil things both superstitious and satanic were practiced. Apparently, before the sons of Sceva incident, many believers did not know they were involved in the occultic. They saw their actions in a far more innocent light, until they knew the reality of the demonic. It made them fear the Lord and the demonic: both in healthy ways. Spurgeon said, “You will have enough temptation in your own mind without going after these things. Is there any habit, any practice, that you have got that defiles your soul? If Christ loves you, and you come and trust in him, you will make short work of it. Have done with it, and have done with it forever.”

Many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. It is significant that these practitioners of magic came confessing and telling their deeds; it was thought that the power of these magic spells resided in their secrecy, which was renounced in the telling. They renounced the demonic by confessing and by burning their magic books. The Greco-Roman world put great stock in magical incantations and spells, often collecting them into books that sold for large sums. Converts in Ephesus bought these relics of their pagan past, disregarding whatever value they might have. The estimated total was 50,000 drachma (drachma = about a day’s wage; @ $10 an hour = $4,000,000 today). That is a lot of Harry Potter movies! Judas only got a week's wage.

What about us? Are we mindlessly engaged in the occult? Should we be removing books, movies, statues, charms, games, or whatever else might have connection with demonic spirits? It is a matter of conscience on one level; I cannot tell you for sure what you should and shouldn't have. It is a matter of wisdom on another level; what fellowship has the temple with idols? Why risk the danger of playing with the devil?

The Gospel Prevails (20)

We have seen over and over again, Luke uses this phrase as a summary statement of how the power of the gospel prevails over every obstacle and persecution. He again emphasizes the inherent power of the word of the Lord, showing that the gospel triumphs over all demonic powers. In these summary statements, Luke continues to give glory to God and his word rather than to any human skill, knowledge, or effort. At the end of the day, the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. What are you trusting in? Do you take seriously the reality of the Spiritual realm? Are you being entertained by the darkness of the occult? What risk are you taking? What value does it have?

1http://www.albertmohler.com/2007/10/31/christianity-and-the-dark-side-what-about-halloween/