Why is it ok for Jesus to do magic, but not Harry Potter or Gandalf?

Question

What the Bible says about Magic

Exodus 4:2-6
And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
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And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand.
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And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he [Moses] put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.

Numbers 5:27
And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot.

Numbers 21:8-9
And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole:and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

Answer 1

The lord loves all magic doers equally. Even Harry Potter and Gandalf. (And also the witches of Eastwick) But he's sick to death of David Blaine and is considering Smiting him righteously! Gandalf have you used your magicks to morph into the mutant Magneto?

Answer 2

And on the third day, there was a marriage in Canaa of Galilee. And it came to pass that all the wine was drunk. And the mother of Jesus said unto the Lord, "They have no more wine." And Jesus said unto the servants "Fill six water pots with water." And they did so. And when the steward of the feast did taste of the water from the pots, it had become wine. And they knew not whence it had come. But the servants did know, and they applauded loudly in the kitchen. And they said unto the Lord, "How the Hell did you do that?!" And inquired of him, "Do you do children's parties"? And the Lord said, "No." But the servants did press him, saying, "Go on. Give us another one." And so he brought forth a carrot. And said, "Behold this, for it is a carrot". And all about him knew that it was so: for it was orange... with a green top. And he did place a large red cloth over the carrot and then removed it. And lo, he held in his hand... a white rabbit. And all were amazed and said, "This guy is really good! He should turn professional!" And they brought him, on a stretcher, a man who was sick of the palsy. And they cried unto him, "Maestro, this man is sick of the palsy." And the Lord said, "If I had to spend my whole life on a stretcher, I'd be pretty sick of the palsy, too!" And they were filled joy and cried out, "Lord, thy one-liners are as good as thy tricks. Thou art indeed an all-round family entertainer." And there came unto him a woman called Mary, who had seen the Lord and believed. And Jesus said unto her, "Put on a tutu and lie down in this box." And took he forth a saw, and cleft her in twain. And there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. But Jesus said, "Oh ye of little faith". And he threw open the box, and lo, Mary was whole. And the crowd went absolutely bananas. And Jesus and Mary took a big bow. And he said unto her, "From now on, you shall be known as Trixie. For that is a good name for an assistant." And the people said unto him "We have never seen anything like this. You shouldn't be wasting your time in a one-camel town like Canaa. You should be playing the big arenas in Jerusalem." And Jesus did harken unto their words. And he did go unto Jerusalem. And he did his full act, before the scribes and the Pharisees and the Romans. But alas, it did not please them in their hearts. In fact, they absolutely crucified him. Here ends the lesson.

Answer 3

Because there is a difference in God's miracles and the devils "magic".

Exodus 7:8 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 9 When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent. 10 And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. 12 For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.

Answer 4

Magic is an attempt to make people believe something that didn't actually happen. Those events DID happen as written. Harry Potter and Gandalf are fictional. David Blaine just does some tricks that people WANT to believe is magic. If you saw how he prepped for them, you'd know that there's nothing special about it. Making someone's belly swell and leg rot? THAT takes real skills.

Answer 5

Jesus did not do magic.magic is illusion of the hand.magic has no power.magic is mans attempt to copy God.for Satan is the father of all magic,and uses magic to persuade believers away from God.harry potter and such, are harmless in the sense that kids,watch them for entertainment.on the other hand,kids are impressionable, and should not be thought to put their faith in false idols,like harry potter.
God Bless

Answer 6

Oddly enough, they are ALL fictional characters. So why should one form of fictional magic be ok but another form be "evil"?
The more you think about religion, the less it makes sense. I suppose that's why the greatest sin ever committed in the bible is that adam and eve ate from the tree of KNOWLEDGE. The message? Thinking bad, blind faith good.

Answer 7

Ignorance borne of fear, I'd say.
Also, the Bible says it's ok to sell your daughter as well as own slaves. Funny, no minister mentions that.
While the book may have some common sense values,
I consider it a total work of fiction.

Answer 8

It depends on who you talk to. Some Christians do rip on Harry Potter and maybe even Gandalf for "doing magic," but I disagree.

My conclusions up front:
1. Jesus did not do magic; his power came from God.
2. Harry's magic is more representative of his world's version of "technology," not gained by worshipping some demonic being.
3. Gandalf's power came from his authority as an archangel serving heaven and was not conventional "magic" either.

More explanation is given below.
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The differences are all where the source of the magic comes from. Magic was considered wrong Biblically because (1) surrounding cultures were using it in pagan idolatry (so those magic rituals were attached to wrong things) and (2) it shifted man's reliance on God to an artificial and inferior object [magic] and weakened the relationship.

Magic Biblically is an appeal to someone other than God, to harness power than one normally cannot gain.

1.Jesus
Jesus never did "magic." His power came directly from God, was ordained by God, and was used to draw men together to God and each other. Everything he did, he did by God's will; and he refused to use his power in situations (such as escaping the cross) where he knew God did not want him to.


2. Harry Potter
Harry Potter exists in a different reality than ours. In our world, magic does not occur and is not part of the "laws of our universe." In fact, we have developed what we call science based on how our world works, as a way to control our environment.

In Harry's world, magic is actually more of a "science" because there are established rules in his universe that say, "If you do THIS, than that will occur." A direct cause and effect can be set up, and Harry uses it by learning the right rules, just as "technology" exploits science in our world.

The power is not derived from supernatural forces that want to supplant God in man's relationship with Him.

3. Gandalf
Gandalf is a special case. Although Tolkien was not trying to create an allegory here, much of his Christian faith was incorporated into the mythology of the Lord of the Rings. And if you read many of the letters he wrote to friends about the series (and his book The Silmarillon), you will realize that Gandalf is the equivalent of an *archangel* in Tolkien's mythology -- similar to Michael or Gabriel.

He was sent from the West (i.e., from Heaven) to specifically fight Sauron (another angel, but a fallen one) by stirring up the hearts of men and infusing them with passion for good.

While Jackson showed Gandalf wielding magic as a destructive weapon, Tolkien shied away from that. Often Gandalf's magic consisted of claiming the "authority" of who he was (an angel) in order to dominate what was happening. It is not really about him wielding magic for his own ends, it is more the essence of "who he is" as an angel of heaven that permits him to simply do and command what he wants.

Answer 9

You missed the water into wine trick, and the walking on the water gig, Roland Atkinson does a realy good routine about Jesus and the wedding party. Jesus must have been just amazing on stage, I can Imagine him double billing with Zigfried and Roy. Or maybe some card tricks. great question thanks

Answer 10

No one religion or practice is known more for its use of magic than witchcraft. Witchcraft has most referred to the human harnessing of supernatural powers for the purpose of practicing Black Magic. For this reason, witchcraft, sorcery and magic are nearly synonymous. ...Black Magic is magic used in the occult to bring evil, cursings, or negative effects on the persons to whom it is directed. The witch, sorcerer, or magician conjures up evil spirits and invokes them to carry out the intended harm (Mather and Nichols, p. 312, p. 40). Witches get their power to affect spells and curses by becoming one in mind and spirit with the universe, in worship of nature whose name is Mother Goddess.