Author and editor Marian A. Jacobs discusses the power and perils of the fantasy genre in a recent interview about her newest book, On Magic and Miracles. The book provides a theology of magic and literary conventions, enabling readers to approach fantasy with greater discernment.
Jacobs has a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater arts and a background in vocal performance, musical theater and costume design. Her freelance work has appeared in places like Lorehaven, WORLD Magazine and Desiring God.
The following is an edited transcript of an interview with Marian A. Jacobs.
Cap Stewart: Who is the audience for On Magic and Miracles? Is the book aimed specifically at parents?
Marian A. Jacobs: I have one whole chapter dedicated to parenting, but my audience is much broader than that: readers, writers, gamers, film lovers — really anyone interested in learning how to be discerning about fictional magic. I would also add that even people who haven’t had a previous interest in fantasy might also enjoy this book, just for the first half and the theology about miracles and magic.
Stewart: For those inclined to dismiss the reality or danger of the occult, why are we commanded to avoid occult practices?
Jacobs: Deuteronomy 18 calls them an “abomination.” That’s really strong language. Occult practices are listed among things like sacrificing your son or daughter to an idol. It’s what pagan religions do to appease their gods. So spellcasting, divination, things like that are all tied up together. It’s all idolatry.
We see that God treats forms of idolatry as the most serious offenses — not just because it is valuing something else more than God, but also because it is circumventing God. It’s saying, “I don’t need you. I want to reach into the spiritual realm and take whatever I want. I will not obey your laws.”
Stewart: There’s debate even with the term “magic.” Is it always bad, or just sometimes bad? Is there biblical precedent for always using separate terms for miraculous powers that are good or bad?
Jacobs: The words “magic” and “miracle” are not really consistent in Scripture. We see the word magic in the original language only one time in the Bible — in Acts 8, with Simon the magician. We also find the word “magician” in the book of Acts. However, the phrase most often used in Scripture to describe supernatural events, especially in the New Testament, is “signs and wonders.” It’s used to refer to things that Jesus and His disciples do, and to things that false prophets or false messiahs do.
That alone is probably the most important key to understanding how to discern the miraculous, not only in Scripture but also in fiction. What is the context? What is being talked about? If the word magic or miracle is being used, how is it being used?
Some stories will use those terms interchangeably. We can’t just assume that just because a particular word is used, it’s automatically good or bad. No matter the terminology, you have to ask the right questions about context.
Stewart: What terminology do you suggest in your book to differentiate the good from the bad?
Jacobs: I suggest the terms divine supernaturalism and demonic supernaturalism. In the book, I provide the following definitions:
- Divine supernaturalism: a supernatural act mediated by a person, animal, or object in submission to God’s authority over nature, through the power of the Holy Spirit, for the sake of God’s glory, the spread of the Gospel, and our eternal joy.
- Demonic supernaturalism: a supernatural act mediated by a person, animal, or object that subverts God’s authority over nature, through the power of fallen spirits, for the sake of power, secret knowledge, and/or self-aggrandizement.
Stewart: What are some good examples of both divine and demonic supernaturalism in Scripture?
Jacobs: The most obvious example of both is Moses and the Egyptian magicians in Exodus 7 and 8. The demonic supernaturalism mimics divine supernaturalism. Moses turns his staff into a serpent, and Pharaoh’s magicians do the same. (It’s not sleight-of-hand magic; the Bible doesn’t talk about it like that.) But we can also see the limitations of demonic supernaturalism: Moses’ serpent swallows the magicians’ serpents, and the magicians are only able to mimic three of Moses’ miracles. Also, God has ultimate authority over nature and all forms of supernaturalism — including any demons that are empowering it.
Stewart: Christians typically approach a work of fantasy with one main question: “Does the magic resemble the occult?” How would you evaluate that emphasis?
Jacobs: A lot of the time, we Christians have tended to focus on what I call methodology: the method, the way that the magic is happening. That is a good contextual clue, but people tend to make it the most important question to ask, when in reality, it should be the last question you’re asking. What I’m suggesting is a much different set of contextual clues, and a much different set of questions, starting with, “What is the source?” It’s not wrong to ask, “Does this resemble the occult?” We just don’t often understand the occult well enough to really answer that question accurately.
Stewart: What is it about the occult we’re not understanding well?
Jacobs: As we talked about with Moses and Pharaoh’s magicians, the methodology sometimes looks the same. Another set of examples from the Bible, where the methods look very similar, would be Samson in the Old Testament and the demon-possessed man by the tombs in the Gospels. In both cases, we have this kind of super strength; the two look similar.
So what we really need to do is go back to principles. We need to say, “What are the differing principles of the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan?” And I think the answer will lead to more heart issues. What’s the goal? Are they trying to build themselves up? Are they trying to glorify God? Are they trying to glorify themselves? Are they prioritizing the Lord’s will over their own will, or vice versa? Those really are the things that separate the divine from the demonic. It’s not as much about methodology as people make it out to be.
That’s not to say it’s never about methodology. There certainly are methods that God forbids. But He has a reason and there’s a principle behind why they’re forbidden. God is not arbitrarily making laws about these things. We have to go back and ask, “Why is it like this? Why does God make this law?” Then we can better understand and draw those principles out.
Stewart: Could you flesh out how to discern what the source of the magic is in a work of fantasy?
Jacobs: Especially when we’re looking at a secular story, there’s usually no one going around saying, “I get my power from God.” In such cases, there may be clues as to whether or not this person is pointing at some sort of higher power. Of course, even then, we don’t know exactly what that higher power might be. There could be dropped hints about the higher power’s nature or character.
In fantasy, the source of the magic is often nature — although I’m not talking about Wicca, as in worshiping nature or drawing on the strength of nature. I’m referring more to what I call “the supernatural as natural.” In other words, in this fictional world, characters have these intrinsic supernatural powers that they can’t get rid of even if they wanted to. (Once again, this is separate from Wicca, because Wicca is something you pick up and put down.) This is a literary category, where we see supernatural elements replacing natural talents and aptitudes.
So long as the other contextual clues are in alignment with divine supernaturalism, it’s OK to say that a naturally occurring supernatural gifting is at least somewhat consistent with divine supernaturalism. Where we need to draw the line is when an author makes a point of saying that the characters themselves and their own individual life force are the source, as though they are some sort of demigod. An example of this is the Eragon books.
In Christian fantasy, authors often do make a point of talking about God, or at least implying there is a God figure. They’re maybe saying something like the Maker of the stars, giving God a different name other than the one we would use. By drawing out those hints, we can tell they’re talking about Jesus here. In the Chronicles of Narnia, for example, it’s pretty obvious that the lion Aslan represents Jesus.
So yeah, it just takes a lot of combing through the reading material, figuring out what each author is doing and trying to understand the nature of the world, the nature of the characters and what the author is trying to convey.
On Magic and Miracles is now available from B&H Publishing
Cap Stewart is the author of the curriculum Personal Purity Isn’t Enough: The Long-Forgotten Secret to Making Scriptural Entertainment Choices. As a cultural commentator, he has contributed to Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues (Zondervan Academic, 2019), among other print and online publications. He writes at Unpop Culture.
