Jesus' Discourse about Magic and Superstition 

During the Third Preaching Tour, Jesus delivered a memorable talk on magic and superstition to his disciples late one evening. The topic surfaced from Andrew asking about the appearance of a bright new star in the night sky. Many people believed that such a celestial phenomenon signified the birth of a great man on earth. After seeing such a star, Andrew asked Jesus if these beliefs were well founded.

Throughout the human evolution of religion, unexplained happenings became the business of a shaman, whose arsenal included medicinal plants and smooth stones that were sacred and keen interpretations of dreams. All these talents secured him a special position within the tribe, and everyone listened to him.

The stories of fables and unusual happenings appeal to our sense of wonder. Awed by Illusionists today, we struggle to come up with even a possible explanation of how it’s done.

In short, while science keeps us skeptical until proven, we love to believe in magic and superstition; it’s in our shared past. Many technical advances would be called magic just a few hundred years ago. This deep-rooted fascination with the mystical often influences our perception of new technologies and phenomena, framing them as magical until understood.

In his lengthy response to Andrew's question about the appearance of the new star and what it might mean, Jesus launched into a detailed discussion of the entire topic of human superstition. The statement that Jesus made at that time can be summarized in modern phraseology as follows:

1. The courses of the stars in the heavens have nothing whatever to do with the events of human life on earth. Astronomy is a proper pursuit of science, but astrology is a mass of superstitious error that has no place in the gospel of the kingdom.

2. The examination of the internal organs of an animal recently killed can reveal nothing about weather, future events, or the outcome of human affairs.

3. The spirits of the dead do not come back to communicate with their families or their one-time friends among the living.

4. Charms and relics are impotent to heal disease, ward off disaster, or influence evil spirits; the belief in all such material means of influencing the spiritual world is nothing but gross superstition.

5. Casting lots, while it may be a convenient way of settling many minor difficulties, is not a method designed to disclose the divine will. Such outcomes are purely matters of material chance. The only means of communion with the spiritual world is embraced in the spirit endowment of mankind, the indwelling spirit of the Father, together with the outpoured spirit of the Son and the omnipresent influence of the Infinite Spirit.

6. Divination, sorcery, and witchcraft are superstitions of ignorant minds, as also are the delusions of magic. The belief in magic numbers, omens of good luck, and harbingers of bad luck is pure and unfounded superstition.

7. The interpretation of dreams is largely a superstitious and groundless system of ignorant and fantastic speculation. The gospel of the kingdom must have nothing in common with the soothsayer priests of primitive religion.

8. The spirits of good or evil cannot dwell within material symbols of clay, wood, or metal; idols are nothing more than the material of which they are made.

9. The practices of the enchanters, the wizards, the magicians, and the sorcerers, were derived from the superstitions of the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the ancient Canaanites. Amulets and all sorts of incantations are futile either to win the protection of good spirits or to ward off supposed evil spirits.

10. He exposed and denounced their belief in spells, ordeals, bewitching, cursing, signs, mandrakes, knotted cords, and all other forms of ignorant and enslaving superstition.

Reflecting on the persistence of superstitions into the modern era reveals that, despite scientific advancements, certain enigmatic beliefs continue to captivate the human imagination. As we evolve, perhaps our growing understanding of psychology and culture will lead us to discard what no longer serves us. However, it remains uncertain if societies in the future will reject these superstitions as relics of the past or hold onto them as cultural artifacts.