Theism

Theism, in its most inclusive usage, is the belief in at least one deity. Some narrower usages specify that the deity believed in be a distinct identifiable entity, thereby being contrasted with pantheism. Other narrower usages specify that the deity (or deities) be an active, immanent force in the universe, thus excluding some forms of deism. Theism can be categorized into more particular types, such as monotheism  and polytheism.

Atheism

‘Atheism’ means the negation of theism, the denial of the existence of God. I shall here assume that the God in question is that of a sophisticated monotheism. The tribal gods of the early inhabitants of Palestine are of little or no philosophical interest. They were essentially finite beings, and the god of one tribe or collection of tribes was regarded as good in that it enabled victory in war against tribes with less powerful gods. Similarly the Greek and Roman gods were more like mythical heroes and heroines than like the omnipotent, omniscient and good God postulated in medieval and modern philosophy.

Agnosticism

‘Agnostic’ is more contextual than is ‘atheist’, as it can be used in a non-theological way, as when a cosmologist might say that she is agnostic about string theory, neither believing nor disbelieving it. Agnosticism is the philosophical view that the truth value of certain claims – particularly metaphysical claims regarding theology, afterlife or the existence of deities, ghosts, or even ultimate reality – is unknown or, depending on the form of agnosticism, inherently impossible to prove or disprove.

Agnosticism is often put forth as a middle ground between theism and atheism.

But, Please Be A Theist…

Got the message? Yes…You should know why you believe in something, not like the priest above. Read the Bible, go for group prayer, consult your parish priest, take part in good christian things like Jesus Youth. Know your God and be firm in your beliefs, not that someone told you that its so when you were 8 years of age. You must be capable of explaining to anyone why you are a christian now and why you choose to remain so.

Black magic or Dark magic is a form of sorcery that draws on malevolent powers. It may be used for dark purposes or malevolent acts that deliberately cause harm in some way. This term is also known as the dark arts of magic and dark side magic. In fiction it refers to evil magic. In modern times, people who believe in or claim to practice magic use the term to describe power utilised for means of gaining power and wealth or taking revenge.

Black magic would be invoked to kill, injure, to cause misfortune or destruction, or for personal gain without regard to harmful consequences to others. As a term, “black magic” is normally used to describe a form of ritual that some group or person does not approve of. Not everything that is called black magic truly has malevolent intentions behind it, and some also consider it to have beneficial and benevolent uses, such as killing off diseases or pests (or rather, the effect itself is malevolent by causing death to insects, but as an indirect consequence of black magic, good sometimes results, in the form of less pests around, etc).

The dark forces will only manifest for audiences who believe that they are mere tricks.

You may not have seen it, but the forces of darkness were humiliated in front of hundreds of millions of TV viewers earlier this month in India. Sanal Edamaruku, president of the skeptic group Rationalist International, challenged India’s most powerful black magician to use his dark powers to harm or kill him on live national television. You can read all about it at their website, but suffice it to say, Sanal is alive and well today, despite a lot of spooky black magic theatrics.The incident has generated a lot of blog chatter-and the massive number of people who tuned in to watch it suggests that it’s a topic that interests a lot of people there.

It got me to thinking about Christian beliefs regarding black magic. It wasn’t that long ago that (many branches of) Christianity in the US went through a phase of near-obsession with black magic, satanism, and the occult; I read Bob Larson’s novel Dead Air as a kid, and while I now look back on it rather sheepishly, it had me convinced for a while that dark powers and black magic were alive and well in modern America-and could harm me if I wasn’t on guard against them.

All this came to mind while reading the above account of the black magician’s failure to demonstrate his powers on Indian TV. How seriously do Christians today take the idea of black magic? Do you believe that a black magician in India could tap into real, evil supernatural power, or does the very thought make you roll your eyes in disbelief?

While they don’t take black magic very seriously, it’s not something they’re prepared to completely dismiss. That said, I do know a few Christians who claim to have experienced evil supernatural attacks or incidents.