For Halloween, I decided I would write something a little more themed around things that are "spooky," and one of the greatest things that has always interested me from history is the Salem witchcraft trials.

So, what is the big deal surrounding the Salem witchcraft trials? Basically, in 1692, in Calvinist ruled Massachusetts, a young group of girls began to spasm, bend their bodies strangely, and scream. Over a course of events, they eventually started accusing various men and women in the village of Salem of being witches. Many of these people, though no evidence other than the screaming girls, were put to death on the crime of "witchcraft."

Now, many controversies are around this case. Many people say Christians are "evil" or Christianity is "evil" or fake because this happened. The reason, I would suppose, being that if Christianity is true, how could a group of innocent men and women be put to death for a crime they did not commit? The other reason being that Christians are "evil" because they put a bunch of witches to death.

What I wish to discuss today is if Christianity is really evil or false because of this event or not. As well as how something like this could have happened.

To begin, we need to look at the historical facts. As stated above, a group of teenager and preteen girls, eventually growing to women, seemed to be under psychological torture and accused this torture to be the cause of witches. They claimed that various women and men came to torture them with knives, pricks, and other various torture devises as well as try to force them to commit satanic deeds. These men and women were without discrimination. They included people known for their wicked deeds as well as devout church goers; one was even a minister! Often, there was no other evidence than that the girls claimed they were being tortured. In the end, fourteen people were put to death.

Now, as to the claims that witches were put to death as opposed to innocent Christians, we must look if there is any evidence of witchcraft. As noted earlier, there was really no evidence other than that the girls claimed they saw things. Some people said that when a certain person visited their animals died, but nothing really solid appeared other than personal hallucinations. There is practically no proof that there were real witches in the mostly, if not all, Christian America and Europe.

If that is true, that means that innocent men and women were put to death. The accusation of ignorant Christianity murdering people and causing pain in the world is then thrown out, that Christianity is a dark religion that hampers progress and hurts more than helps at its core. While they are right that ignorance caused the event, nothing could be further from the truth.

Many of the ideas about witchcraft and witches that Christians of that day held did not come from the Bible. All the Bible says about witchcraft is that it is a sin not be practiced. In the Old Testament, it did command putting witches to death, but so were those that worked the Sabbath or hit their mother or father. As we see the New Testament, while morality does exist, the law has been removed from us. God no longer calls for us to put to death sinners, but rather to pray for and bless them, as well as gently reprove their actions. The Calvinists of Massachusetts ignored this New Testament idea and went back to the Old Testament law. They demanded that people keep its stringent rules to the point of death. The Bible actually condemns this, saying that Jesus did not come to set up a kingdom on earth, but rather a heavenly one.

John 18:36 - Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

Second, many of the ideas about witchcraft came from the Catholic Church or legends. The people of the day believed that demons sucked blood from body marks, that a cross carved in a broomstick would protect them, that a witch could not recite the Lord's prayer, and that Satan could not attack the innocent without a witch. None of these ideas can be found anywhere in the Bible, but were invented and propagated by legends about witches or Catholic church leaders. The actions taken in the witch hunt were not from the Bible then, but actually the opposite

1 Timothy 4:7 - But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

As you can see, rather than Biblical Christianity causing the witchcraft trials, ignoring Biblical Christianity caused it! If they had listened to what the Bible had to say and followed its proper revelation and structure, these events likely would not have happened.

Now, one may ask how can a group of Christians even carry out an event like this? I suppose it depends what one means by Christian, first of all. The Puritans of Massachusetts no longer even exist, and their doctrine consisted of a very strict Calvinism that often left its members in torment and agony. It taught that no one could ever know if they were saved, and that God picked at random who would or would not be. If you were good, maybe He picked you, and if you were bad, He certainly didn't. This is quite an unbiblical doctrine, and honestly makes me question whether these people were true Christians.

Even if by some chance they were though, just because a Christian or even a group of Christians makes bad choices does not mean that Christianity is bad, especially if what they do goes against Christianity. If anything, it says something about that group of people, not the religion itself.

It shows flaws in the system. Anytime politics and religion are wed, it ends badly. It also shows flaws in people. The religion itself though is good, considering it teaches the opposite.

In the end, this should teach us that we need to properly use the Bible. If it could be abused then, it also can be now.