A Nation of Witches and Sorcerers

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Tom, you said, “I haven't been following this discussion very closely...” I hope by now you have (as earlier you admit you spoke without knowledge), lest you run afoul Proverbs 18:13, “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it…”.

It seems to me that you have misunderstood me. I meant that I have not read every reply from every participant, so I do not know all the directions the discussion has gone.

I also said that my thoughts are incomplete on the matter regarding the effect of the Fall on God's good creation. (You said I spoke without knowledge, which, as I see it, is not really the same thing.) If you can make a case against the point I raised, I'm quite ready to hear it.

It might serve your cause better if, instead of dismissing me as speaking without knowledge, you actually engaged with my thoughts. Have I misunderstood you? Have I made some exegetical error?

From your replies, it has seemed to me that you are against any use of cannabis or related substances for any purpose, recreational or medical, because you believe them to be an avenue to demonic activity. Is my understanding incorrect?
 
[Y]ou may have a change of heart were you to find yourself in a dimension you are not supposed to be in, and whose influence you may not be able to escape from, even when the effects are worn off.

From what I have read in your paper, and in all your lengthy replies, this is precisely what remains unproven.
 
Tom, about your saying I am “against any use of cannabis”, have you seen my acceptance of the CBD extract from cannabis being of great medical use? (see post #9 or the attached article) Or my post #33 when I clearly state, “please note that I do not assert that demonic power is in the substance of marijuana or LSD, etc.” and give my reasons why such is not the case?

Did you read the attached article in the OP, “A Nation of Witches and Sorcerers”, where on page 2 I talk about Genesis 1:29 and people thinking that because God made all the plants that is warrant to smoke the cannabis plant, and consider it “good” for us?

Tom, there is amply enough testimony to prove the assertion that we enter into a dimension we are forbidden by God to enter into, as per the shamans and Hindu users of cannabis to enter the realm of spirits in order to make contact with them—which I speak of in the attached article, on page 3. Are you missing a lot of material, or just not reading carefully?
 
Tom, about your saying I am “against any use of cannabis”, have you seen my acceptance of the CBD extract from cannabis being of great medical use? (see post #9 or the attached article) Or my post #33 when I clearly state, “please note that I do not assert that demonic power is in the substance of marijuana or LSD, etc.” and give my reasons why such is not the case?

Thank you. I missed those replies.

Did you read the attached article in the OP, “A Nation of Witches and Sorcerers”, where on page 2 I talk about Genesis 1:29 and people thinking that because God made all the plants that is warrant to smoke the cannabis plant, and consider it “good” for us?

You have to understsnd that I am not in favour of smoking marijuana. But nowhere do we read that any plant (whether ingested or smoked or whatever) is a passage to another dimension.

Tom, there is amply enough testimony to prove the assertion that we enter into a dimension we are forbidden by God to enter into, as per the shamans and Hindu users of cannabis to enter the realm of spirits in order to make contact with them—which I speak of in the attached article, on page 3. Are you missing a lot of material, or just not reading carefully?

This is the problem. You trust the testimony of shamans. They may say whatever they like, that they are entering a spiritual world. Why should we believe them?
 
Tom, did you read the article, or not? When the government of a major city in India, Benares, runs the cannabis shops so the Shiva worshippers can make contact with the demon they cleave to—and this is common knowledge—what's amiss with acknowledging this?

There are many occultists and gurus who seek to bring others into such spiritual bondage, and they are not bereft of dark power. It is good to ponder their realm, so as to win the captives to Christ. They come to our shores to find gullible "devotees" for their gods.

Proverb 21:12. The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness.

Prov 21:22. A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty, and casteth down the strength of the confidence thereof.

Good night—time for me to retire.
 
Hey JBlade, good to see you too. Thanks for the reply. I can appreciate the integrity of your convictions, that you would not want to sin under the pain of torture or any other pain. And yeah, we may be headed that direction, although a giant civil war with millions of guns comes first I think.

I did some reading online to try and figure out what exactly is the difference between opioids and pot, and frankly, I can't find anything that even hints to the conclusion that the latter leads to demonic sorcery and the former does not. I read some of your stuff a couple years ago and was left with the same puzzlement. They are different plants, as is coca and cocaine, as is kratom, as is wild lettuce.....but lots of plants have these effects and I don't know why you single out pot. I'm not going to read your very long work on it, but if you can tell us the dummies version in brief form it would be helpful I think. What separates opium poppies from marijuana?

If anything, more recent studies with thousands of patients in chronic pain show that pot (with THC) is generally as effective in pain relief as opioids, without the addiction of the opioids. Why on earth would I want to risk addiction from an opium product when I could get the same relief from eating pot cookies (if legalized)? I've read about narcotic addition and it is so horrible...how is that is preferable to non addictive pot?

I also pulled up some stuff about xanax and those substances- another subject, but whew, possibly as bad as anything. World Net Daily did some articles years ago on SSRIs making people crazy and violent and shootings linked to it. Not saying it is demons, may just be the brain, but the results are awful either way.

The thing is, I've known two people clearly demonized. They fit all the descriptions. One is dead now. Neither of them ever went near pot, and rarely alcohol either or any shrink drugs, but they were probably the two most arrogant people I have ever known. And pride is what brought down the king of Tyre. So when we talk about opening doors for Satan, you seem so focused on pot, but I wonder how much of what is happening today (I think trannys cutting off their body parts are probably tormented by unclean spirits) including outright Satan worship is rooted in so many other sins and selfishness. I don't really know, and of course we don't want to open any door at all to demons, but I question if pot is so major compared to the arrogance of the culture today. Just speculating.

Well, I'm was getting ads for drug rehab places on my tablet before I quit. Maybe I better erase my history and hope the cookies don't follow me. Lol.
 
Tom, did you read the article, or not? When the government of a major city in India, Benares, runs the cannabis shops so the Shiva worshippers can make contact with the demon they cleave to—and this is common knowledge—what's amiss with acknowledging this?

I don't believe in Shiva, you see. Just like Elijah didn't believe in Baal.
 
Sarah, the issue between us is, as regards “faulty truth claims” (your post #46), if it is “bad theology”, or theology wrongly encroaching upon legitimate medical treatment to give THC-laden marijuana (in whatever form) to a suffering Christian (a worldly person is another matter, as I noted in the OP), that is one thing—and has not in any wise been proven or demonstrated, only claimed; and those who are familiar with court proceedings know that mere claims are a dime a dozen. However, if you deny it per se opens a person’s soul to demonic influence, then it is you—a medical practitioner—who are encroaching upon a spiritual matter, illicitly. And that will be demonstrated below.

If you were to try any of this supposed “medicine” yourself, that you claim is so beneficial and benign, and think to foist upon others, particularly suffering Christians, you may have a change of heart were you to find yourself in a dimension you are not supposed to be in, and whose influence you may not be able to escape from, even when the effects are worn off.

You have been warned abundantly that this is evil.

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TimFost, you said in post #45, “Since you are continuing in this conversation, I'm wondering if you could interact with Chris's post (#18). in my opinion, he got to the heart of the issue and you ignored it...”

Okay.

It is easy to make unsubstantiated claims, as you have, Chris (TheOldCourse), where I must then answer in detail what is essentially a cavil arising from uninformed opinions, but for the sake of making this matter even clearer to those looking on I will interact with your objections.

Because you said for my “exegesis of Scripture [to] accordingly have the authority of the Lord behind it, the reasoning needs to be far, far tighter”; I shall proceed to respond to your sayings:

First, you state my contention “that drug use per se is condemned by God on pain of spiritual death is not warranted by the evidence put forth. Even the definitions of pharmakeia that have been marshaled in support as the most friendly to your argument include sorcerous use of drugs as only part of the semantic range of the word.” Let’s look at your unsupported claim, which is what really “needs to be far, tighter” to validly object to what I’ve said, and will further say.

In the article attached in the OP, “A Nation of Witches and Sorcerers” (ANWS), I gave the full semantic range of the words pharmakeia (sorcery) and pharmakon (drug); it has three meanings in both Koine and modern Greek: medicine, poison, and magic potion. The consensus of lexicons and commentators agree that in the New Testament usage the semantic range of the word is narrowed to magic potion. Joseph Thayer in his Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 4th Edition, p 649 does include a metaphorical use as part of its meaning:

φαρμακείαthe use or administering of drugs…sorcery, magical arts, often found in connection with idolatry and fostered by it…trop. of the deceptions and seductions of idolatry, Rev. xviii. 23​

To show why the use of “sorceries” in the Rev 18:23 passage refers to activities involving certain drugs for sorcerous use rather than only figuratively for mere deceptive practices, consider the classes of transgressors in Rev 21:8 who are consigned to the lake of fire: “the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars”. Sorcerers (from pharmakeus) here specifically means one who administers or uses a certain class of drugs to “enchant”, to cast a psychic spell upon by use of these drugs and accompanying demonic power. It doesn’t mean a deceiver – a liar – generally or even figuratively, but specifically one who uses sorcerous potions. Liars / deceivers are already classed separately in this listing. Likewise in Rev 22:15 where a similar Greek word, pharmakos, is used for sorcerer, with the same meaning as pharmakeus in 21:8, again with liars / deceivers listed separately. In these verses the usage clearly refers to drug-using-and-promoting people, so it is clear pharmakeia / sorceries in Revelation 18:23 – “by thy sorceries were all nations deceived” – refers to drug-related activity and not deceptive practices. On the other hand there is no doubt at all that Thayer’s, “the deceptions and seductions of idolatry” are a result of and part of Babylon’s sorceries, but the sorceries themselves are distinctly pharmakeia / sorcery (i.e. drug) activity. Pharmakeia is about drugs—the question has been what kind of drugs; this is what “semantic range” concerns, and what I have specifically addressed.

Also, in both the Revelation passages just examined, poisonous use is eliminated as murderers are also listed; included are abortifacients, which kill babies in the womb.

Your objection, Chris, concerning semantic range, is without merit.

You then opine, “It remains to be demonstrated that pharmakeia necessarily includes an element of psychoactive drug use (which not generally supported by the linguists)”. I have shown, both in ANWS and here, that this assertion of yours is likewise false.

You remark, “that drug use per se is condemned by God on pain of spiritual death is not warranted by the evidence put forth”, and say that I “couch this conclusion in exegetical language”. How cynical of you, as though these unsupported doubts were equal to substantial objections to what I have said!

The final disposition of this matter really depends on whether sorcery / pharmakeia is narrowed in the semantic range to the use of “drugs that induce magic spells” (Kistemaker in his Revelation commentary, as noted in ANWS); “a magical tradition of herbs gathered and prepared for spells, and also for encouraging the presence of spirits at magical ceremonies” [emphasis added] (The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology – again, noted in ANWS); and yet once more, “Pharmakeia means the occult, sorcery, witchcraft, illicit pharmaceuticals, trance, magical incantation with drugs” (The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, by Spiros Zodhiates, and again in ANWS). I could furnish many more lexical examples to prove my point, but for reason of space I have held off. What can you show, Chris, to back up your opinion disputing what I have written, besides unwarranted opinions and doubtings? I’m sorry to be so tough on you, but before God and men this is life and death stuff!

Thanks for your anecdote about your “giggling”. I don’t know what this is supposed to prove. What you say about alcohol having “psychoactive properties” is inconsequential, for so do tobacco and caffeine, but not at all after the manner of the psychedelics. Sure, alcohol may be used along with sorcerous agents (witches get thirsty, and some like alcohol), but again, that proves nothing. Please don’t bring in superstitions and occult lore re alcoholic drinks and sorcery. Your objections, upon examination, do not pass muster.

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TimFost, now that I have addressed what you have called “the heart of the issue”, are you satisfied? Possibly not, but what more can legitimately be said, apart from redundant attempts to gainsay?

Steve, with respect, I have made few claims to even require substantiation. I haven't even ventured to disagree with your conclusions in and of themselves--though as the discussion has continued I've become more doubtful of them. I have, rather, pointed out what I perceive to be holes in your arguments that leave you with a vast chasm between your premises and conclusions. In a rather cavalier manner you imply that only opinions that concur with your own may be informed, otherwise they are empty cavils. I would hope for a bit more charity in such a forum on a non-confessional issue.

With respect to the semantic range, you seem to be begging a question to such a degree that you cannot see that your own sources contradict your claims. Thayer and Zodhiates are not assuming that sorcery is synonymical to drug use, but rather that each is a permissible meaning for pharmakeia and part of its semantic range. To assume an equivalence is to make the classic etymological fallacy. There is no question that there are sorcerous activities that do not involve drug use. Indeed, none of the instances of sorcery recorded in the Bible appear to involve drug use. Even if we were to grant that the primary meaning of pharmakeia refers to sorcerous use of substances, we would have to grapple with the possibility (indeed, probability) that its use in these passage is a synecdoche for sorcery in general. It seems highly unlikely to me that these passages are specifically condemning substance abuse given the generality of the other terms included. Even if we grant everything you argue for semantically, you are assuming a commutativity that needs to be proved (that sorcery implies drug use means that drug use implies sorcery). This appears to me to be a critical weakness to your argument and you do not address it. Perhaps the anecdotal and existential evidences are sufficient in your mind to render it irrelevant?

As for uninformed opinions, Steve, you know as well as I do that the vast majority of commentators (and our English translations), who are better Greek scholars than you or I and are surely familiar with the standard lexicons, do not take your interpretation and yet it is impossible that they are merely unaware of it when the argument is based on the prima facie etymology of the term. That doesn't mean that you are wrong, but it surely means that the burden of proof ought to be rather high.

It's also not clear that you are particularly familiar with the pharmaceutical or biochemical background to the question. That would be fine, as I would not expect many exegetes to be experts in biochemistry, however you attempt to draw arguments from physiological principles which are, at best, incomplete and arbitrary. You continue to focus on the psychedelic nature of marijuana and yet it's debated within the medical and scientific community whether marijuana even has psychedelic effects. Admittedly some of the controversy arises over how to precisely define "psychedelic" since it's become more clear to medicine how many substances and natural phenomena can alter perception (can we consider exercise "psychedelic"?) but that source of controversy is, itself, fatal to your attempts to draw neat lines between marijuana and other substances and experiences.

You also make mention of the dissociative effects. Psychedelic effects with dissociative drugs are dose-dependent, such that milder dissociatives are not usually considered psychedelic (like nitrous oxide) and stronger ones may not be psychedelic at medically useful doses (like dextromethorphan cough syrup, or ketamine in IV anaesthetics). Again, if potentially having psychedelic, dissociative, or sensory-altering properties irretrievably links a substance with sorcery, we need to consider a number of natural constituents of our own biochemistry as sorcerous as well. The reason illicit drugs have any effect at all is that they are closely related to and activate the same pathways (though perhaps to a different degree) as our own naturally produced biochemicals. If we didn't have receptors for them that are already in use, they wouldn't work! Thus the endocannabinoid system.

You seem rather satisfied that you have met the burden and seem to be unwilling to muster further evidence in support. That is your right, but the evidence seems somewhat paltry from the outside.
 
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Steve,

I know that THC can be taken in low quantities without a high just as small amounts of alcohol can be consumed without getting drunk. We know that drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:10). Do we then condemn alcohol outright? THC can also be used in small doses for good, such as pain relief, etc. We know that abuse of any good thing is sin. We also know that nothing in itself is unclean. Correct?

I say the following respectully. Your correlation between any amount of THC and the demonic realm is probably what makes your whole argument seem so extraordinarily weak and, frankly, a little bizarre. Rather, wouldn't it be better to warn others about the effects of abusing this substance? Abuse gets at the heart, not the thing itself. Since THC is of itself not unclean, why not talk about man who abuses the substance?
 
*Moderation*

This thread is being assigned an expiration date. It will close circa 5:00 p.m. (EST) Tuesday, 1/8/19 (or there about). All parties have until then to post their final remarks. Positions are not changed, nothing is new, and all the info for the disputed view is on the thread. :judge:

*End Moderation*
 
I think the moderator notice that this thread will end at 5 PM today (Tues 1.8.19) is good.

Lynnie, you said in your post #66,

“I did some reading online to try and figure out what exactly is the difference between opioids and pot, and frankly, I can't find anything that even hints to the conclusion that the latter leads to demonic sorcery and the former does not.”​

“Reading online” is not where you learn of this stuff, Lynnie. You then said,

“If anything, more recent studies with thousands of patients in chronic pain show that pot (with THC) is generally as effective in pain relief as opioids…”.​

I don’t believe that getting high would be as effective as oxycodone—or Tylenol 3—in pain relief, though the detachment of a high could surely reduce the sensation.

My “very long work” is only 3,000 words—6 pages.

I have not tried pure opium, but have had experience with both heroin, and in a hospital, morphine, both opium derivatives. The difference between them and potent marijuana is one of what the respective drugs do to our nervous systems, and the mysterious connection of our souls / spirits with our nervous systems. Apart from other affects, pot affects our brains and nervous system to allow our spirits awareness in a dimension that heroin and morphine do not. Shamans and occultists do not use morphine or heroin to enter the spirit realm!

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Tom, just like Elijah I don’t believe in Baal or Shiva, though I do believe that demonic spirits can seduce men, just as “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness...” (2 Cor 11:14,15). Behind the Shivas, Baals, Islamic “Allah” (as “Allah” is a generic word for God in Arabic, and Christian Bibles in Arabic use Allah when referring to God—as in the Smith-Van Dyke translation) . . . behind these fake deities are demonic powers, for the gurus who proclaim them are not without spiritual power and counterfeits of glorious light, but it is the true God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Col 1:13), delivering us from “spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph 6:12).

Behind the idols of pagan worship are demons; these I believe are real, and these we war against in the name and power of Jesus of Nazareth, by His indwelling Spirit and infallible word, through the preaching of the Gospel, “for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes” (Rom 1:16).

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Chris (TheOldCourse), how can I show charity to a view that facilitates such error as endangers men’s souls, although to you personally I do acknowledge you are a respectable and godly man. It is your opinions and claims I am uncharitable toward, not you. I have also, in the past, held to false views, but have been shown light that led me to change them. As I have said, this issue of marijuana for Christians is a life and death matter. I do not believe a born-again believer can lose their salvation for using the drug (or I’d be damned and in Hell now) but the Lord will bring such to repentance, whatever it takes, as He did me.

When you say that “Thayer and Zodhiates are not assuming that sorcery is synonymical to drug use, but rather that each is a permissible meaning for pharmakeia and part of its semantic range”, seeing that there are no other viable alternatives (no, not even medicine or poison)—which they themselves do not choose, and which you cannot supply—I therefore see this and your further objections as sophistry, for there are no other “permissible meanings”. Medicine and poison they, and I, have already ruled out. There is no more in the semantic range.

For instance, when you say, “To assume an equivalence [that pharmakeia necessarily refers to drug use] is to make the classic etymological fallacy”, but you yourself put this assertion, a sentence or two later, in the realm of “possibility or probability” (that is, not certain!), when you qualify your statement with,

“Even if we were to grant that the primary meaning of pharmakeia refers to sorcerous use of substances, we would have to grapple with the possibility (indeed, probability) that its use in these passage is a synecdoche for sorcery in general.”
Are you going to try to add synecdochical to the semantic range? But I’m glad you brought up the matter of synecdoche, for it is a linguistic device used in the Scripture and understood by commentators. However, it does nothing to substantiate your claim alleging I indulge in the “etymological fallacy”.

Calvin says, commenting on Malachi 3:5,

“And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers [pharmakos in LXX], and against the adulterers, and against false swearers”, [emphasis added –SMR]

“as the word is found here all by itself, the Prophet no doubt meant to include all kinds of diviners, soothsayers, false prophets, and all such deceivers: and so there is here again another instance of stating a part for the whole”, [saying of the Jews of that time,] “they were then so given up to gross abominations, that they abandoned themselves to magic arts, and to incantations . . . of the devil.” (Calvin’s Commentaries; Vol 15, p. 577). [See, for instance, king Manasseh in 2 Chronicles 33:6.]​

Very often we find, in both the OT and the New, this use of synecdoche (stating a part for the whole) when the word pharmakeia and its cognates are used, the use of drugs are the essential and common component in almost all of the “magic arts”. Consider, the Jews who translated the Hebrew OT into the LXX Greek invariably used a word signifying “drugs used as magic potions” whenever referring to the magic arts and its practitioners.Why would they do that – use that particular word – were it not actually so?

The prohibition against pharmakeia forbids the magic arts absolutely, both as regards the generally essential component of drug use, as well as by synecdoche the entire enterprise. This is especially clear in the OT use of pharmakeia.

Likewise with the apostles – Paul and John – we see them using the words pharmakeia and its cognates as such drugs are always connected by them with the magic arts, and in fact stand for them, even as Washington stands for the United States. Drugs stand for the magic arts – by synecdoche – being an essential ingredient in most of their activities.

As an example, I quote from the old ISBE,

“The word translated in the AV ‘witchcraft’ in Gal 5:20 (pharmakeia) is the ordinary Greek one for ‘sorcery,’ and is so rendered in the RV, though it means literally the act of administering drugs and then of magical potions. It naturally comes then to stand for the magician’s art, as in the present passage and also in . . . the LXX of Isa 47:9 . . . translated ‘sorceries’.” (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, James Orr, Ed., Vol. 5, p. 3097.)​

In Acts 8 and 13 Simon and Elymus are respectively called “sorcerers”, and the underlying Greek there is mágos, a magician or sorcerer, a practitioner of the magic arts. It is the admittedly strange phenomenon of a drug facilitating entrance into the spirit world and allowing men and women to avail themselves of demonic power, such as Simon the sorcerer exhibited, so that it is written he bewitched the people, and they referred to him saying, “This man is the great power of God”, as “of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.” (Acts 8:9-11). Except for yogis and the like who subject themselves to remarkable austerities and disciplines to enter the demonic plane, sorcerers generally use drugs to get there. This appears to be the case with Simon. But when Philip preached there in Samaria, and later Peter and John arrived, he was exposed and rebuked, for the Spirit of God dispels such satanic power like a torch among cobwebs. In our times, Charles Manson was such a one, though clearly demonic.

In the LXX usage mentioned just above, when pharmakeia– sorcerous drug use – is made to refer not just to the drugs but to those activities related to and involved with it, this linguistic device is called synecdoche, a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa. To show how common this use of synecdoche is in the Bible – and it bears in our discussion – the following are a few examples of it:

(Romans 1:16) “Greek” means Greeks and Gentiles – simultaneously

(Matthew 6:11) “Give us our daily bread” means the necessities of life and (in that culture) the food staple bread – simultaneously

(Romans 13:4) “the sword” (in Paul’s day) means the actual sword and the punitive authority and power of the state – simultaneously

(Jeremiah 29:17, 18) “I will send upon them the sword” means actual swords and all the weapons and killing methods of warfare – simultaneously

(Malachi 3:5) “sorcerer” [pharmakosLXX] means sorcerers and soothsayers, false prophets, diviners – simultaneously, Calvin concurring in his commentary.

(E.W. Bullinger in his, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, has a large section on Synecdoche starting on page 613, for those wishing to study more on this.)

The linguistic device of synecdoche does not at all invalidate what Scripture teaches (and thus what I teach) on this topic of sorcery, rather it shows that drug use is but one—albeit the essential and primary—aspect of sorcery, including all the wicked things that accompany and derive from it, such as manipulating people, psychically intruding into others minds and hearts by “stealth”, i.e., unnoticed (just as demons try to do), seeking demonic agency so as to harm people, contaminating the psychic / spiritual environment of a family or close community with unclean influence, powerful verbal and psychological aggression, etc. Terrible things and influences are done by sorcerous men and women, even though they may think they are “angels of light” doing good with their heightened consciousness. All those who use these drugs—including grass—fall into the category of “sorcerous people”. Hence the title of the article in the OP, “A Nation of Witches and Sorcerers”. It is everywhere now. Only those men and women who have the seal of God in their “foreheads” (minds, hearts) are protected (Rev 9:4; see also Eph 1:13,14). Full protection is given those who fully walk in the refuge given us, the word of God.

If one has been disobedient, wittingly or unwittingly, and you find your mind / heart filled with unwanted thoughts, images, feelings, do not assume these are but your own fleshly depravity, for they well may not be. Renounce any disobedience, then as James says in 4:7 (see also Paul in Eph 6:10ff), “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” We are in a warfare, and our minds are the primary target of the adversary. It is a spiritual warfare. Pot makes this warfare so much more difficult, and it need not be. We should not be ignorant of the devil’s various wiles (2 Cor 2:11; Eph 4:27).

Chris, all this to show that your bringing up synecdoche doesn’t weaken but rather supports my Biblical view. I think I have shown ample proofs of commutativity between pharmakeia and drug use, despite your attempt to discredit them. As I demonstrate below (yet again), the commentators do support what I am saying.

You then say,

As for uninformed opinions, Steve, you know as well as I do that the vast majority of commentators (and our English translations), who are better Greek scholars than you or I and are surely familiar with the standard lexicons, do not take your interpretation and yet it is impossible that they are merely unaware of it when the argument is based on the prima facie etymology of the term.​

I think this is odd, in the face of commentators and lexicons I have already referenced! Now when you say “interpretations”, is not Simon Kistemaker’s statement, “In Revelation it [pharmakeia] means “drugs that induce magic spells”,an interpretation in accord with my own? And The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology’s entry on pharmakeia, “a magical tradition of herbs gathered and prepared for spells, and also for encouraging the presence of spirits at magical ceremonies” [emphasis added], is this interpretation not also the same as my view? You make statements that directly contradict what is shown to be true, according to the commentators!

When you talk of “psychedelic effects” and then refer to nitrous oxide (which you may use in your dental practice) they are not the same, even though the “laughing gas” may give a brief high of sorts.

“Dissociative effects” are not a primary property of psychedelics, nor is their presence necessarily indicative of a psychedelic. I remember when having a severe toothache, it was some NSAID with caffeine in it that afforded me a dissociative effect so that I was significantly detached from the sensation of the pain. Please don’t confuse the distinct class of sorcerous psychedelics with other drugs that may have non-sorcerous yet similar affects in the patient.

As the mod has wisely decided to terminate this discussion at 5PM today, I have no time to muster yet further proofs beyond what I already have—and I think what I have shown is sufficient evidence in support of the Biblical view of sorcery.

It is most remarkable to witness the opposition to this exposition of Biblical sorcery and its prohibition, with all sorts of arguments, none of which really understand the reality and the attendant danger of psychedelics—definitely including marijuana and its derivatives such as hashish and “wax” (highly distilled and concentrated pot). What is so strange and alarming is that the opposition comes from within the church, and from otherwise godly and intelligent people. This sort of opposition was not present when the warnings were sounding back in the 60s through the 80s, when strong Christian men like Os Guiness (in The Dust of Death), and McCandlish Phillips (The Bible, The Supernatural, and the Jews), among others wrote and spoke of these things. Even secular people like Aldous Huxley (The Doors of Perception, and Heaven and Hell) comprehended the immense power of the classic psychedelics, and spread this knowledge throughout the culture. Then when Tim Leary and Richard Alpert, both Harvard Ph.D. psychologists, began experimenting with mushrooms, peyote, and LSD, and began preaching about the uncanny mystical power of these drugs, including grass, this turned an entire generation upside down as regards its values and vision of spiritual life.

It also opened the doors to the dark powers coming into the collective consciousness of the world’s cultures starting back in the sixties, and continuing—actually accelerating—in the present. Pastors and church leaders, it shall be upon you to determine whether to let this worldly pagan influence and power into the churches of the Lord you are given to feed, teach, and protect.

It is a sad (to put it most mildly) to see the inroads the cultural wisdom has made into the precincts of God’s house. It has been through the Trojan Horse from Hell—medicinal marijuana—that this has been accomplished, both in the culture and in the church. Please note, this is not to deny the healing and analgesic powers of the marijuana extract, CBD, which has no THC to get one high, and this drug is not connected to sorcery.

As it is written, those who minister before the LORD “shall teach My people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean” (Ezek 44:23). Pastors, the differences spoken of here are highly nuanced (thinking of the CBD just mentioned), and to convincingly and intelligently communicate these things to your flocks is important. The spiritual purity of our Lord’s Bride is what is at stake. These are strange and evil times, and the serpent—who is also lurking as a roaring lion—is after the sheep. The Lord’s word to you is,

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong (1 Cor 16:13).

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Hello TimFost,

You said, “THC can also be used in small doses for good, such as pain relief, etc.”

And, “I know that THC can be taken in low quantities without a high”.

Regarding both of these sentences, first of all, it is touted by those who love the new potency of the contemporary marijuana, and its derivatives, such as “wax”, “One toke will keep you high for three days.” Even regular unprocessed grass is far more potent than it ever was in prior years, due to genetic engineering. So small doses would only be reliable in measured medical amounts. And even then, each person’s response to the drug can be different, and one person could be very slightly high, i.e., very slightly exposed—made vulnerable—to demonic influence. It’s still playing with fire. There are many chemicals that act upon us below the threshold of awareness, and their cumulative effects are disastrous; I think of carbon monoxide; it can, over years at very low ppms (parts per meter), still poison us. Some medicines do that also, such as statins, even low dosages of which over time can lead to fatigue and muscle damage. So many unnoticeable carcinogens over time give us cancers. Sorcerous agents, used at below the threshold of awareness levels for months or years, do we know what the effects can be? Whose health, and spiritual life, are you willing to experiment on?

Abuse in not the main problem—though I realize it canbe a problem—it’s just ordinary use that is the real problem. You find it “bizarre” that I oppose even small amounts of THC? And opine it “makes” [my] whole argument seem so extraordinarily weak”? Apart from what I said above, consider, if a person smoke or ingests a small amount for pain relief, it seems normal, if the pain increases, to simply use more. That’s the Pandora’s Box that has been opened with so-called “medicinal” THC-laden marijuana. And the door has been opened, and it won’t ever be shut until the Lord ends this age with fiery judgment, and inaugurates the new creation of the heavens and earth. And this already wide-open door will allow even more demonic content into the human realm as usage of various sorcerous drugs increases.

After the spiritual darkness of the fifth trumpet of Revelation 9, comes the sixth trumpet and the resulting killing of one third of humankind. The fifth trumpet has already sounded, it appears, and we’re on the cusp of the sixth. These are apocalyptic judgments we are facing. In Revelation the seals, trumpets, and vials (or bowls) are all judgments, some evidently appearing as the end of the age draws nearer, as the trumpets and vials, seeing as the amounts of humans killed in each increase from 1/4 to 1/3 to all humans. Clearly the appearance of global use of psychedelics and their effects is a judgment, and a cause of the mounting chaos we observe in our society and our government. I’ll attach another chapter from the book I wrote on this topic, “New Insights in Amillennial Eschatology”. Some may find it of interest.
 

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I won't have time to read and respond to your post before the thread closes, which is fine. I will read it for my own benefit later! Hopefully enough has been said on both sides for readers to make their own conclusions. I appreciate your passion for godliness, Steve, and your interactions on the matter!
 
Hi- I thought it was hundreds of pages, I don't know what I looked at. Six is more like it :)

This isn't the main point but you mentioned to me stocking up on narcotics for a massive grid down situation or other emergency. It isn't possible, I tried. The doctors wont write the scrips and will barely give you enough for post surgery. And any foreign supplier wont do it either. I suppose there are illegal or black market sources but I never looked into that route.

May God have mercy on us and spare us all excruciating pain. That would be a great blessing.
 
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