Sermon -“Sorcery and Harry Potter” – Garner Ted Armstrong Sermon, November 10, 2001

The world thrives on, and in, fantasy. Whether it be kiddies fairy tales or “adults” science fiction, all ages from 2 to 102 like at some points to get lost for a period in fantasy. A bedtime story or a story told on the big screen (or the little box).

A multitude of fantasy these days is based in the occult. Dozens, hundreds, of movies out of Hollywood and elsewhere specialise in witches and the “underworld” – dark and demonic spirits. But hey, the makers and actors all think it’s just cool to make believe. They are just making and acting something out of a writers imagination. It doesn’t really exist. They think. Such is the author of the Harry Potter series and the actors that brought the movies to life.

But what does the Bible say about witchcraft and dabbling in the occult? What about  when God says, “18Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” (Exodus 22:18) or Deuteronomy 18:10-14:

“10There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 11Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. 13Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. 14For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.”

God, if He exists, and the Bible, His Word, if it is true, seems to take a very dim view of all who would have a part, even a vicarious spectator part, in the practice of the various evil pursuits listed. And that is because God does not view these pursuits as harmless fantasy, a sometime harmless escape from “reality”. That is because He knows there is an evil spirit world populated by Satan the devil and his demons. And He knows that Satan has and will use every trick in his book to deceive the nations into rebellion against God – including encouraging many to engage in or become involved with the occult and all it’s tentacles. The Harry Potter books and movie franchise may just have been Satan’s greatest coup in the modern era to lure in, en masse, whole new generations of children to make them comfortable with the dark side. It was all just harmless fun after all, wasn’t it?

Garner Ted Armstrong expounds on this subject in this sermon.

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