Editing Christian views on magic (section)

===Martin Luther===
[[Martin Luther]] shared some of the views about witchcraft that were common in his time.<ref>{{cite book
 | first1 = Susan C. | last1 = Karant-Nunn
 | first2 = Merry E. | last2=  Wiesner-Hanks
 | title = Luther on Women: A Sourcebook | url = https://archive.org/details/lutheronwomensou00kara_298 | url-access = limited | location = Cambridge | publisher =  Cambridge U. Press | year = 2003 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/lutheronwomensou00kara_298/page/n237 228]
}}</ref> When interpreting Exodus 22:18,<ref>[[s:Bible, King James, Exodus#Chapter 22|Exodus 22:18]]</ref> he stated that, with the help of the devil, witches could steal milk merely by thinking of a cow.<ref>''Sermon on Exodus, 1526'', ''WA'' 16, 551 f.</ref> In his [[Luther's Small Catechism|Small Catechism]], he taught that witchcraft was a sin against the second commandment<ref>Martin Luther, [http://www.ProjectWittenberg.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/little.book/web/book-1.html#b <cite>Luther's Little Instruction Book</cite>], Trans. Robert E. Smith, (Fort Wayne: Project Wittenberg, 2004), <cite>Small Catechism</cite> 1.2.</ref> and prescribed the Biblical penalty for it in a "table talk":

<blockquote>On 25 August 1538 there was much discussion about witches and sorceresses who poisoned chicken eggs in the nests, or poisoned milk and butter. Doctor Luther said: "One should show no mercy to these [women]; I would burn them myself, for we read in the Law that the priests were the ones to begin the stoning of criminals."<ref>''WA Tr'' 4:51–52, no. 3979 quoted and translated in Karant-Nunn, 236. The original Latin and German text is: "25, Augusti multa dicebant de veneficis et incantatricibus, quae ova ex gallinis et lac et butyrum furarentur. Respondit Lutherus: Cum illis nulla habenda est misericordia. Ich wolte sie selber verprennen, more legis, ubi sacerdotes reos lapidare incipiebant.</ref></blockquote>

Luther's view of practitioners of magic as quasi-demons was at odds with the Catholic view that emphasized choice and repentance. He also argued that one of the most serious perversions wrought by magic was the threatened degeneration of traditional female roles in the family.<ref>Sigrid Brauner "Martin Luther on Witchcraft: A True Reformer?", in: Brian T. Levack [ed.] "Demonology, Religion and Witchcraft: New Perspectives on Witchcraft, Magic and Demonology" (vol.1) pp. 217-230</ref>