Magical Thinking

Magical thinking can take on many forms within Christianity. One of the aspects of the spiritual warfare and deliverance ministry worldview is that of cursed or familiar objects. Demons are attracted to these objects and may inhabit them. Cursed/familiar objects include items explicitly related to...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Annari du Plessis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Network for African Congregational Theology 2023-07-01
Series:African Theological Journal for Church and Society
Subjects:
Online Access:https://atjcs.netact.org.za/index.php/netact/article/view/91
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1846149874556338176
author Annari du Plessis
author_facet Annari du Plessis
author_sort Annari du Plessis
collection DOAJ
description Magical thinking can take on many forms within Christianity. One of the aspects of the spiritual warfare and deliverance ministry worldview is that of cursed or familiar objects. Demons are attracted to these objects and may inhabit them. Cursed/familiar objects include items explicitly related to other religions, items that are implicitly connected, and even seemingly innocent items. A number of Scriptures have been employed to argue for the existence of cursed objects, the grave results of contact with such objects, and how to react to such objects. Key texts are: Deuteronomy 7: 25-26, Isaiah 2: 6, and Acts 19: 19. The aforementioned texts are taken out of context and haphazardly assembled to strengthen the argument. This is not a responsible interpretation of Scripture. The original language and historical context need to be taken into consideration. The magical thinking about objects hearkens to what used to be called fetishism. It is unfounded in Scripture and boils down to superstition that can have negative effects on the individual and society.
format Article
id doaj-art-3caebc20246544efa8790a3db912cdc6
institution Kabale University
issn 2708-7557
2708-7565
language English
publishDate 2023-07-01
publisher Network for African Congregational Theology
record_format Article
series African Theological Journal for Church and Society
spelling doaj-art-3caebc20246544efa8790a3db912cdc62024-11-29T10:20:16ZengNetwork for African Congregational TheologyAfrican Theological Journal for Church and Society2708-75572708-75652023-07-0141Magical ThinkingAnnari du Plessis0Hugenote Kollege Magical thinking can take on many forms within Christianity. One of the aspects of the spiritual warfare and deliverance ministry worldview is that of cursed or familiar objects. Demons are attracted to these objects and may inhabit them. Cursed/familiar objects include items explicitly related to other religions, items that are implicitly connected, and even seemingly innocent items. A number of Scriptures have been employed to argue for the existence of cursed objects, the grave results of contact with such objects, and how to react to such objects. Key texts are: Deuteronomy 7: 25-26, Isaiah 2: 6, and Acts 19: 19. The aforementioned texts are taken out of context and haphazardly assembled to strengthen the argument. This is not a responsible interpretation of Scripture. The original language and historical context need to be taken into consideration. The magical thinking about objects hearkens to what used to be called fetishism. It is unfounded in Scripture and boils down to superstition that can have negative effects on the individual and society. https://atjcs.netact.org.za/index.php/netact/article/view/91magical thinkingcursed/familiar objectsspiritual warfaredeliverance ministrydemonic oppression
spellingShingle Annari du Plessis
Magical Thinking
African Theological Journal for Church and Society
magical thinking
cursed/familiar objects
spiritual warfare
deliverance ministry
demonic oppression
title Magical Thinking
title_full Magical Thinking
title_fullStr Magical Thinking
title_full_unstemmed Magical Thinking
title_short Magical Thinking
title_sort magical thinking
topic magical thinking
cursed/familiar objects
spiritual warfare
deliverance ministry
demonic oppression
url https://atjcs.netact.org.za/index.php/netact/article/view/91
work_keys_str_mv AT annariduplessis magicalthinking