I would like to know whether or not there is something wrong with white magic. I know that it exists, otherwise God would not have warned us against it, but what could be wrong with helping people?

Many people are in rebellion when it comes to the occult, and ministers should not assume that their congregations are free from it. This question comes from one who claims to be a Christian, but it shows that wickedness has taken root in him.

First, he affirms an unbiblical distinction on magic.

Scripture does not distinguish between “black” magic and “white” magic, and then forbid one or the other or both. It forbids “magic” – any and all magic. The illegitimate distinction arbitrarily concedes that some kinds of magic are to be condemned, but maintains that other kinds of magic should be allowed. Of course, this is especially convenient for those who practice “white” magic.

However, since Scripture condemns magic itself, inventing a distinction between “black” magic and “white” magic is like inventing a distinction between bad sin and good sin, between bad adultery and good adultery, or bad devil worship and good devil worship. Sinners attempt to excuse themselves, and even some who claim to be Christians tell “white” lies. But God will condemn to hell all adulterers, all liars, and all who worship the devil.

Second, he assumes an unbiblical standard of good.

Disregarding what the Bible says about magic, he suggests that good is defined by “helping people.” No wonder there is confusion. The Bible defines good one way, but he favors a different meaning. He is in fact asking, “How can God define something as evil when it contributes to what I consider as good?” or “How can God call something evil, when it is good according to my standard? How can God be right, when he disagrees with me?”

The Bible indeed teaches that it is good to “help” people, as it defines help, and at the same time it forbids magic. Thus we must consider what it means to “help.” From God’s perspective, do you “help” someone when you use magic for this person? Is it “helpful” to rebel against God and spit in his face, so that we can produce an effect that we desire? According to Scripture, one who uses magic commits an abomination, and the one who requests or assents to its use is also guilty. This is not helpful.

The more we think about it, the more sinister this man seems. He demands: What is wrong with a “good” evil, if it attains what I need? What is wrong with “good” rebellion against God if it achieves what I desire? Or, to illustrate: What is wrong with the Tower of Babel if it promotes unity among men? But they were united in defiance against God. One Baha’i woman said to me, “Isn’t religion supposed to promote unity?” – as if human unity is the ultimate end. That is the religion of Babel. The Christian religion aims to unite the good around the truth against the evil, and not to unite the good with the evil against the truth.

Third, he accepts an unbiblical basis of power.

Let us assume that magic indeed produces the effects that it claims. Our present concern is not whether magic “works,” but the basis of the power, or the object to which the practitioners appeal.

God is not the basis of this power (Isaiah 8:19; 2 Kings 1:3).[1] Many magic books freely designate the devil as the basis of power, including what is called “white” magic. Others claim only to unleash man’s natural potential. Thus in one book on using the pendulum for supernatural guidance, the devil is designated as the basis of knowledge, but in another one, the subconscious mind is said to be the basis.

Since God condemns magic, we know that whatever the practitioner thinks or claims that he is doing, he is not seeking God for his power. Samuel associates witchcraft and divination with rebellion (1 Samuel 15:23), because at the root of magic and the occult is not a selfless desire to help people, or even a godly motive to preserve oneself for humble service. Rather, at the root of magic and the occult is rebellion. It is an attitude that says, “If God will not let me have my way, then I will make a deal with the devil.”

Therefore, God declares that someone who practices magic deserves to burn in endless hellfire: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

[1] Of course, God is the one who causes and sustains all things, so that even Satan has no power of his own. Here we are not discussing ontology, but the object to which the practitioner appeals.