A few weeks ago I gave a talk entitled “The Issue of Magic: Lord of the Rings vs Harry Potter.” I used these two book series as a foundation for talking about what magic is, what part it plays in these series, and what Scripture has to say about magic.
As a Christian, a blogger, and an author, the issue of magic is one I have studied and considered a lot. I think many people assume magic is only something an author would need to consider if they were writing fantasy or speculative novels, but let me assure you that is not the case.
First, though, in order to talk about magic we need to ask the question: What is magic?
Or if you are in a conversation with someone, you might phrase this as: “When you say magic, what do you mean by magic?”
The word “magic” is rather an ambiguous word. We don’t have a clear cut definition on the specific word “magic” in Scripture. Even when we use the word “magic” as an English speaking culture we have to define what we mean, because there are a number of different ways as a culture we have come to think of “magic.”
There are three distinctly different types (concepts/realities) of magic we could be referring to in the English language when we use the word “magic.” There is also a plethora of ways we use “magic” and “magical” when describing people, places, events, etc.
Usually these descriptors for magic are employed in the sense of something being different from normal, spectacular, amazing, astounding, wonderful, unexpected, etc. And, though they can relate to one or more of the three types of magic we are going to discuss today, these descriptors aren’t typically useful in helping to actually differentiate between the three types of magic.
So we will focus in these posts on the three types (concepts/realities) of magic in order to talk about the word and meaning of “magic” rather than on all the varied and complicated uses we have for the word “magic.”
Here are the Three Types (Concepts/Realities) of Magic:
- Entertainment Magic (deception and trickery)
- Fantasy Magic (make-believe)(un-real)
- Supernatural Magic (accessed/sourced power)
Click the name of the type of magic in order to read my next posts talking about the definitions and meaning of each type of magic.
It’s important to ask for a definition or to supply a clarification of what is being talked about before trying to have a whole long conversation on the topic. Lots of times we can agree or disagree falsely with someone simply because we have an incorrect understanding of the concept being discussed.
Challenge: Don’t hesitate to ask the question “What do you mean by…?”
When the rocks speak 