Apologetics: What is the Occult?

I think this is a word that a lot of Christians (me included, heh) use quite a bit but don’t really define well. This is not good since the world we live in is becoming increasingly involved in the occult from cultural elites to normal, everyday people. Thus, it’s time to dedicate an entire blog post to defining what the occult is and how Christians can identify it.

According to Miriam Webster, the noun “occult” means: “matters regarded as involving the action or influence of supernatural or supernormal powers or some secret knowledge of them.”

This is pretty straightforward. Things that would most obviously fall into this category would be Ouija boards, tarot cards, spirit channeling (mediumship), spell casting, etc. We have no more than to look at those things and be able to tell, “Yep, that’s occult.”

However, this is where I think a lot of Christians have a problem. A lot of us seem to attribute this term to the obvious, but when it comes to things that are less obvious, we’re often oblivious to their ties to the occult and we justify them. For example, yoga is seen by many people (Christians included) to just be a nice exercise for loosening up your limbs and staying supple. We then recommend it to people as a viable exercise option and over time, it has been bastardized here in the West. As this comedian put it:

However, what many of us don’t realize is that the positions yoga has you do are meant as a form of worship and connection to Hindu deities. While you could make the argument that you can practice “Christian yoga,” and use it to worship God, that still doesn’t make sense as -once again – some of those poses are still meant to reflect those pagan deities. By that logic, why not worship God through weightlifting, Pilates, running, or calisthenics instead?

Another example of how Christians are oblivious to the occult or find some way to “Christianize” it, is contemplative prayer. I’ve written about this before, but this practice stems from Hinduism’s transcendental meditation in which you’re supposed to empty your mind to have an experience with the divine. For Christians, many think it’s okay because they’re trying to connect to God, however, you’re opening yourself up to anything and everything when you do this, especially if you have little or no Biblical discernment.

[Author’s Note: I’ve also seen contemplative prayer be taken to the extreme and become a form of spirit channeling called automatic writing, or – as I like to call it – spirit journaling. Places like Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry actively encourage this as a way of writing down prophecies or finding what Holy Spirit wants you to do, using the Holy Spirit to justify it. This not a Christian practice. This is one from the occult and opens you up to all sorts of deception.]

As a final example of how Christians fail to see the occult, I’ll talk about the Enneagram. Most people think the Enneagram is a personality test like Meyers-Briggs or any number of personality assessment quizzes online. They think it can be useful in determining your gifts and where you fit in in leadership, at work, etc. However, the Enneagram is tied to Sufi mysticism, Greek philosophy and other beliefs mixed with Christian teachings and is supposed to show how we’re different manifestations on Divine Unity. The mystical teachings the Enneagram arose from in the early 20th century have since been mixed with modern psychology and it’s become extremely popular, even though it’s incredibly subjective and very pseudoscientific. (For more on this, I suggest watching this video: https://servantsofgrace.org/marcia-montenegro-how-christians-should-speak-to-the-dangers-of-the-enneagram/)

So how do we as Christians recognize the occult and keep ourselves from falling into it?

First, if something is encouraging you to practice something to connect with some spiritual or supernatural entity to find some sort of secret knowledge or something, put your skeptic glasses on. As Christians, our faith should be put in Christ, not His creation. Even if someone is saying that it’s Christian because they’re trying to connect with a saint or an angel, that still doesn’t make it right. Those things are still created beings and not worthy of worship, much less try to draw power from them. Furthermore, even demons can disguise themselves as benevolent beings. It’s better to never open yourself up to those things to begin with than to open yourself up to them thinking they’re good.

Second, do your research. If something sounds off to you or you’re not sure about it (like with yoga or the Enneagram), Google exists. Question it, research it, and compare it to what the Bible says to figure out if it’s a good thing or not.

Third, recognize that with some things, there is a grey zone. For example, if you’re not sure about if you should use essential oils, celebrate Christmas with a Christmas tree, or decorate your home with a few pretty rocks, recognize that some things are benign though the practices may be questionable. It’s your choice if you want to use those things or not.

Until next time,

M.J.