WITCHCRAFT:
EXPLORING THE WORLD OF WICCA
by Craig Hawkins
Baker Book House, 226 pages, $15.99

Christians looking for a resource to help them respond to witchcraft, Wicca and neopaganism now have one, thanks to a detailed, apologetic approach in apologist Craig Hawkins’ thorough research.

His stated objectives in the Introduction are to:

• provide an understanding of contemporary witchcraft and clear up much of the confusion Christians have concerning what witches believe and practice;

• analyze and critique contemporary witchcraft from biblical, logical, metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical perspectives; and

• facilitate and encourage biblical and thoughtful evangelism of witches as well as other neopagans and occultists in general (pg. 17).

He succeeds admirably.

Most Christians mistakenly think that Satanism and witchcraft are the same thing. They also think that witchcraft is monolithic when in fact it is an eclectic bag of subjective and contradictory views. Those nuances are handled clearly and precisely by Hawkins. He helps us see the confusing and eclectic nature of modern witchcraft. This book is solid, not sensationalistic.

The three main sections of the book are: The Contemporary World of Witchcraft, The Biblical View of Contemporary Witchcraft and Philosophical Critiques of Witchcraft.

There is an index for persons, a subject index and a Scripture index, which make the book even more valuable. Hawkins has included helpful sections in the book on the motives for witchcraft and how the witches’ world is set up — with its practices, calender and accoutrements.

This book is a well-documented “who’s who” of contemporary paganism — an up-to-date handbook on witchcraft. Given the modern revival of interest in Wicca and attempts to make it respectable, this book is a must for anyone wanting a handle on our times. It could serve as an inoculation for our churches and young people.

This book is scholarly but not technical. It will satisfy the student who wants insights into the Hebrew and Greek text but is written in such a way as to be easily grasped by the average reader.

We are grateful for Craig Hawkins, for his research and for his help in equipping the Church with tools and weapons for the contemporary battle. We need to see the gaping holes in the witchcraft worldview. This book helps us do that very thing.

—GRF

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