The Witch Of Endor

The Bible itself, in giving examples of specific witches, casts aside the notion that verses like Exodus 22:18 do not really refer to actual sorcerers and sorceresses, a notion based on the mere assumption that witches do not or cannot exist.  If the Bible simply taught that witchcraft is an impossible sin but one that can be feigned, it would not only have to specifically say that in order to clarify Exodus 22:18--or else it would command executions for merely pretending to commit a capital offense and thus violate repeated instructions to only punish people for things they have truly done--but it would also have to omit or change figures like the Witch of Endor that King Saul is said to have visited.

Deuteronomy 18:9-13 refers to people who are described as if they genuinely are capable of using supernatural power beyond ordinary human abilities, yet the aforementioned Witch of Endor exemplifies what it might look like for someone to actually use some of these powers.  In this story from Samuel 1 28:3-25, King Saul disobeys Mosaic Law by seeking advice from a necromancer when God does not give him military instructions about how to deal with the Philistines.  Saul disguises himself in other clothing to hide his identity as king before setting out.  The passage does not say that the witch at Endor only summoned a demon impersonating Samuel or that the experience was a shared hallucination or trick on her part; it says that the woman brings up Samuel himself.

Some in church history have foolishly assumed that the Witch of Endor must have falsely pretended to summon the dead, with the frightened reaction of the witch serving as supposed evidence.  However, any attentive reader can see that she is concerned because she has been visited by King Saul, a person at least superficially associated with Yahweh's laws, some of which call for the execution of all genuine sorcerers and sorceresses, necromancers, and those who consult demonic spirits.  After all, even before she realizes Saul is the man before her, she voices alarm about Saul's enforcement of Mosaic Law, after which Saul promises that she would not be killed for fulfilling his request (1 Samuel 28:9-10).

The witch recognizes him only two verses later after the prophet Samuel is named and conjured up, at which point Saul again affirms that she does not need to be afraid of execution.  1 Samuel does not take this additional opportunity to state that the witch was actually a fraudulent pretender who only appeared to summon a spirit at whim.  Thus, the textual evidence plainly suggests that the Witch of Endor truly did possess powers of necromancy or sorcery, contradicting the claims of any Christian who say otherwise.  Not only does 1 Samuel say that the witch was genuine, it provides no evidence at all that could be wrongly interpreted in support of the pretender idea!

The only way someone would think that the Witch of Endor was not connected with supernatural abilities is if they make assumptions rather than analyze the text rationalistically.  Such an endeavor is inherently irrational because all assumptions are lapses in rationality, but the error is doubled when a Christian who would say this also thinks they are truly trying to understand the Bible as it is without assuming some incorrect framework and imposing it on the stories and commands therein.  Exodus 22:18, Deuteronomy 18:9-13, and 1 Samuel 28:3-25 are just some of the verses that directly present witchcraft and necromancy as acts that humans can legitimately perform.  Witchcraft, as rare as it might be in Christian theology and in actual history (that is, if the Biblical accounts of history are true), is certainly a legitimate thing according to the Bible.