The Bible forbids sorcery and says nothing at all about the figure most people picture when they hear the word witch. That figure — the hat, the broom, the cauldron — is early modern European, and it has caused a great deal of harm. Both halves of that sentence matter. What Scripture actually prohibits The fullest list is in Deuteronomy, and it is a list of practices rather than of people: Let no one be found among you who sacrifices…

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