A while back, I received some taped sermons from a person who attends a "Bible-believin'" Baptist church. I was shocked to hear the pastor say this:
"I know we live in free America, and everybody has freedom of expression and stuff. But I believe if God was honored, witchcraft would be dealt with as a capital crime."
Upon confronting the person, she tried to sidestep it by saying he was not advocating the death penalty, which seemed odd to me considering the verse: "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." Seemed pretty cut and dried to me.
This was the pastor's response when clarification was sought:
"Oh, don't pay any attention to that! :-) Seriously, I do not remember the statement, but I want to observe a couple things that might make it less "stark."
1. In the Old Testament, God expressly told the Israelites that witches were to be killed. (Ex 22:1
That is because He knew they would lead people away from Him. This was while they were under God as a theocracy. In 1 Samuel 8, the nation of Israel rejected God's theocratic rule and insisted on having an election to choose their own leader instead of letting God sovereignty pick the leader. They wanted a leader like all the other heathen nations.
2. The people of Israel sinned against God, allowed the witches to live, and were ultimately led into apostasy and sin, ending up in God judging the nation and having them carried off into the Babylonian captivity. (Allowing witchcraft was only one of the sins that led to this judgment.)
3. America was never a Theocracy - it was set up as a democratic republic (guided by a constitution - not a dictator). We were established with tolerance to all points of view, and religious freedom was afforded to all. This is because our pilgrim fathers had fled from countries with state churches and where there was horrible persecution. We are not Israel, and we are certainly not a theocracy.
4. Because America claims to be "one nation, under God" we have been blessed by God for many of the things we have done that line up with Bible truth. However, at best, America is a hybrid nation between Bible truth and human government. We are a good nation, but far from God's ideals.
So, while I know that America is a wonderful nation, and most of our laws have Biblical foundations, we fall short of the ideal relationship that God had with Israel. As I am sure you know, we used to have laws in America against fornication, but they are no longer enforced. We used to have laws that forbid pornography and abortion, etc. There is a general decline away from all sense of righteousness. Now it is nearly illegal in America to spank your children, where as in OT Israel they were told to bring rebellious children who refused to obey out to the public square for stoning! That sounds unbelievably harsh, but when sin was publicly punished it served as a deterrent to others. I believe this is why God told them to stone witches. It sent a message.
Now, in retrospect, I should have given a more complete explanation to the statement that you quoted. I suspect that I was making a larger point, that America is no longer seeking to honor God with its laws. There is no doubt that IF God was honored, lots of things would be different in this country. I am sure you agree. However, with imperfect men leading the government, and with the abuses and personal attacks that took place early in this country, and with the liberal mind set so prevalent today, we could NEVER have witchcraft be a capital crime today...."
May the wall between church and state stand!
"I know we live in free America, and everybody has freedom of expression and stuff. But I believe if God was honored, witchcraft would be dealt with as a capital crime."
Upon confronting the person, she tried to sidestep it by saying he was not advocating the death penalty, which seemed odd to me considering the verse: "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." Seemed pretty cut and dried to me.
This was the pastor's response when clarification was sought:
"Oh, don't pay any attention to that! :-) Seriously, I do not remember the statement, but I want to observe a couple things that might make it less "stark."
1. In the Old Testament, God expressly told the Israelites that witches were to be killed. (Ex 22:1
That is because He knew they would lead people away from Him. This was while they were under God as a theocracy. In 1 Samuel 8, the nation of Israel rejected God's theocratic rule and insisted on having an election to choose their own leader instead of letting God sovereignty pick the leader. They wanted a leader like all the other heathen nations. 2. The people of Israel sinned against God, allowed the witches to live, and were ultimately led into apostasy and sin, ending up in God judging the nation and having them carried off into the Babylonian captivity. (Allowing witchcraft was only one of the sins that led to this judgment.)
3. America was never a Theocracy - it was set up as a democratic republic (guided by a constitution - not a dictator). We were established with tolerance to all points of view, and religious freedom was afforded to all. This is because our pilgrim fathers had fled from countries with state churches and where there was horrible persecution. We are not Israel, and we are certainly not a theocracy.
4. Because America claims to be "one nation, under God" we have been blessed by God for many of the things we have done that line up with Bible truth. However, at best, America is a hybrid nation between Bible truth and human government. We are a good nation, but far from God's ideals.
So, while I know that America is a wonderful nation, and most of our laws have Biblical foundations, we fall short of the ideal relationship that God had with Israel. As I am sure you know, we used to have laws in America against fornication, but they are no longer enforced. We used to have laws that forbid pornography and abortion, etc. There is a general decline away from all sense of righteousness. Now it is nearly illegal in America to spank your children, where as in OT Israel they were told to bring rebellious children who refused to obey out to the public square for stoning! That sounds unbelievably harsh, but when sin was publicly punished it served as a deterrent to others. I believe this is why God told them to stone witches. It sent a message.
Now, in retrospect, I should have given a more complete explanation to the statement that you quoted. I suspect that I was making a larger point, that America is no longer seeking to honor God with its laws. There is no doubt that IF God was honored, lots of things would be different in this country. I am sure you agree. However, with imperfect men leading the government, and with the abuses and personal attacks that took place early in this country, and with the liberal mind set so prevalent today, we could NEVER have witchcraft be a capital crime today...."
May the wall between church and state stand!
