SUPERSTITIONS IN PROTESTANTISM

The Protestant Reformation was largely a purging of superstitions existing in the Roman Church - such as the veneration of dead saints, the Virgin, the clergy, the Mass, relics, statues, holy water, medallions, etc.

Many new superstitions took the place of the old ones, however, and these include the following:

Fundamentalism: Blind belief in an infallible Bible.

Bibliolatry: Veneration of the “Holy Bible.”

Bibliomancy: Random selection of scriptures as oracular revelations.

Contract Contributions: Giving money to a church or a charity with the assumption of getting more back.

Contract Petitions: Prayers or demands of material prosperity from God in exchange for good deeds or righteous living.

Anti-intellectualism: Fear of using reason in religion or maintaining an open mind to truth.

Spiritual Puppetry: Belief in the control of a person’s will by God; this is akin to the spiritualistic belief that a “medium” is possessed by a spirit.

Life-Plan: Belief that each life has a preordained plan - which is a belief in fate, determinism, or predestination - and which makes a person a puppet.

Legalism: Keeping the letter of the Law - usually as a condition for Contract Petitions or as “fire insurance.”

Dietary Taboo: The prohibition excluding certain foods from the diet, as though God can be displeased by what a person eats - when He has made all foods for the use of human beings.

Oath-Taking: Calling for divine retribution upon onesself on condition of fulfilling a promise.

Radical Adventism: Predicting the Second Coming of Christ on a specific date or within a certain period; a form of divination.

Belief in Magic: Acceptance of the reality of witches, curses, magic, astrology, amulets, dream prophecy, casting lots, ghosts, etc. (As to “psychic phenomena,” final judgment on the reality of mental powers should be avoided until conclusive proof is obtained one way or the other.)

Richard L. Atkins

4-30-1975