JOSEPH W. TKACH
PASTOR GENERAL

January 1988

Dear Friend:

Thank you for your inquiry.

Many ask about witches, so-called prophets, hypnotists, fortune-tellers, mediums, crystalball gazers, supposed miracle workers, clairvoyants, and the like. We are often asked for our opinion of some particular individual, like Nostradamus, who claims to foretell the future.

We can know whether anyone who claims to have "supernatural" powers really is a prophet, messenger, or servant of God. In the Bible we find these instructions: "If a prophet arises among you, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder which he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deut. 13:1-3, RSV).

God further warns us, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (I John 4:1). This is how we should "try" the spirits: "And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isa. 8:19-20).

Here, then, is the test of a true servant of God. He will teach the people to believe and to obey exactly what the Word of God says (Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4; Luke 4:4). The working of miracles -- whether imagined or real -- is NOT and never has been the proof of a true servant of God.

It has been a pleasure serving you. Please feel welcome to let us know anytime we can be of assistance.

PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE DEPARTMENT