Along with the decline of main line religion, reports indicate an up surge of public interest in astrology, witchcraft, spiritualism and other oc cult arts. According to the congressional quarterly, Editorial Research Re ports, “Classes in the history of witchcraft, sorcery and the black arts are being taught in many high schools and universities, and they are us ually over-enrolled.” From another source, a university publication states that although withcraft courses are being taught many students are disappointed when they find out it is history instead of actual practice. However, their disappointment may be short lived. Just last month a Tucson, Ariz. high school teacher was accused of telling her students she is a witch and instructing them in the black arts. Dr. Charles Lee Feinberg, Dean of the Talbot Theological Seminary at Biola College says that none of these things should come as a surprise — particularly to the clergy. “Most the ology scholars agree that these are the last days and, as we can see, the world is building up to a crisis. The prophets say ‘that in the latter times some shall depart from the faiths, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;. . 1 Tim. 4:1. “But aside from prophetic observa- ations,” comments Feinberg, “nature can’t stand a vacuum. If a person’s religious faith is destroyed some thing must replace it.”And it’s clearly evident that this is what’s happening, he explains, pointing to the over abundance or reported narcotic us age, brutality slayings, cannibalism and devil worship. Dr. Feinberg was asked how he viewed witchcraft: as an actual S a tanic force or simply imagined? “Definitely a force,” he replies. “Of course imagination can play a part with psychosomatic ills and so on, but there are too many accounts
where imagination has nothing to do with it.” To illustrate, Feinberg related an incident described in the book “A Fire of Flame” by J. H. Hunter. Hunter tells how a then young mis sionary, Thomas Titcombe, had ar rived at a certain village while trav eling in Nigeria. The whole populus of the village was congregated and the witch doctors were out with their hideous masks on. They were gestic ulating, and gyrating and the mob was shrieking and roaring, creating a noise beyond description. And Tit combe could sense the presence of a great evil spirit hanging in the air. Here are Titcombe’s exact words: “ ‘I wondered what was going on. When I pushed my way to the center of the ring I saw to my utter aston ishment a young woman rigid in the air. Her feet were some two feet off the earth and as she came toward me gravitation had no power over her. The perspiration was coming out of the young woman’s body like a fountain as she approached me in mid-air with no visible support be neath her. ‘Sometimes one rushes in where angels fear to tread. I did so that day and the experience remains with me to this hour. Without thought or prayer I put out my hand and touched the girl. Immediately it seemed as though a host of discamate entities were pressing upon soul and heart with a terrifying weight. More quick ly than one can relate my clothes were wet with perspiration. ‘I hope that no one who reads these lines will ever go through that horror of great darkness that was mine at that moment. In my ears rang the laughter of the heathen in the market place as they saw what they thought was the failure of a ser vant of the white man’s God to do something beyond his power. My boys had fled to the long grass, the girl had passed by and I was stricken with fear. Page 17
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs