Jeremiah 46:23: “The Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel says, “Behold, I am going to punish Amon of Thebes and Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her gods and kings, even Pharaoh and those who trust them.” This is a verse in which God describes the judgment He will exact on those who worship other gods. And, strangely, also on those false gods? He says He will punish “her gods and kings”. And this is one of several similar verses and passages in the Bible, times when God seems to take the false gods of various nations as real entities. Some of these can be explained by metaphor and figurative language—but not all of them. God is very serious about this—and He’s also serious about keeping his people from engaging in the practices of the surrounding nations, things like witchcraft and idol worship. 

This, of course, is because He knows what they could be communicating with, and what they’re worshiping. Yes, these are real things. Some of these false gods were probably real entities, and the practices God forbade did real things. That’s something that hasn’t changed today: demons (and other spiritual forces) are still real. Many Christians believe this, but roll their eyes any time it’s truly mentioned, as if the supernatural is confined to Biblical events. But the Bible never tells us anything like that. Calling everything fake and adopting this strange pseudo-materialism doesn’t protect people from sinful thoughts or mindsets—it just prevents them from thinking deeply and correctly about important issues. As Christians, we need to stop ignoring the existence of the supernatural so we can think and teach about it effectively.

It can be strangely difficult for Christians to believe or acknowledge the existence of the supernatural—especially the evil supernatural. But it does exist, both in the past and today. For one thing, there are plenty of Bible verses against witchcraft; “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them,” Leviticus 19:31. Leviticus 20:6 says that God will, “Set his face” against anyone who, “turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them”. Harsh language, especially for something we’ve been told is fake or ineffective, something that’s not even dangerous. Leviticus commands putting mediums and necromancers (also translated as “spiritists”) to death. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says, “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD; because of these same detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you.” Interesting that God would be so passionate about something that (excluding the child sacrifice, which is only a small part of this verse) had no real affect. It seems, if these practices were ineffective or impossible, God wouldn’t see them as such great evils. But He forbids all of it. And this, of course, is because all God forbade was very real and very dangerous—and still is. Why would he punish such things with death if they didn’t exist? Why would He talk about destroying the false gods of other nations unless they were not false entities, only false deities? Such things are real, and are dangerous not just because they are not God, but because they are against God, and they are both harmful and attractive to humanity.

And this harm is, in a way, clearly the church’s domain. As Christians, we need to acknowledge this darkness if we want to teach effectively. Ignoring issues is clearly not the way to solve them when people are constantly being sucked in. Many of these ideas are taking over the culture—non-Christians are becoming attracted to the idea of a spiritual world beyond our own, but they are doing so in a harmful way that only puts them in danger. Sets of tarot cards for kids are being sold in stores, people flock (as they have for years and probably centuries) to the sites of paranormal activity to search for spirits, and people—even children, such as a ten-year-old in my sister’s class at school—are attempting to communicate with the supernatural. And instead of realizing the danger and trying to draw people out of it with honest discussion, much of the Church sits around and says, “That’s not real. You’re just making things up because your lack of Jesus drove you insane.”. 

But this can’t last. Not only will it put people in great danger from forces we don’t understand (sometimes when you try to contact demonic forces, you actually get what you’re looking for), but it will make them less trusting of the church. People will feel like the things they know and the things they’ve experienced are going unacknowledged, like their concerns are being brushed under the rug. The Christian church needs to give them somewhere to turn.

But this can be difficult for Christians to do. Many would argue that thinking about this darkness from a Biblical perspective will just cause one to be attracted to it or to get mixed up in dangerous things. And while they would have a point—it is, after all, possible to look at things from the right angle but for the wrong reasons, or to think on darkness too long—this argument actually proves the necessity of Christian thought on this topic even more strongly. Christians haven’t been acknowledging this, meaning the only people who care are those who seek out danger and turn from God. The only ones listening to these stories, thinking about these ideas, are those who have been lured by the wrong side. We Christians can be guilty of ignoring difficult topics, and this is another example. But the non-Christians who don’t ignore this are growing more and more popular while sinking deeper into these ideas. It’s possible to think about these issues while acknowledging the evil of spiritual practices and delighting in God’s triumph over His enemies—in fact, it’s necessary.

Of course, not every story of demonic power is true. A great many instances of supernatural activity are scams, and often it’s pretty clear. Many people want to believe in these sorts of things, and so it can be easy to believe in stories that are really just attention-grabs that don’t deserve to be seriously contemplated. But they have to come from somewhere to be based on something. The existence of something fake doesn’t prove that something else can’t be real, and all other evidence still stands.

In order to truly live in reality as Christians, we need to acknowledge and discuss the existence of demons and other spiritual forces. If we don’t, it could hurt the people who need the church’s guidance—and only by acknowledging the darkness, can we truly see the light.

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