The Watchtower Society, the Bible, and Johannes Greber
©2026 Victor R. Claveau, MJ Introduction: A Brief Biography of Johannes Greber Johannes Greber (1876–1944) was a German-born Catholic priest whose life took a dramatic and troubling turn from orthodox Christianity into the realm of spiritism. Ordained to the priesthood in the early twentieth century, Greber initially served faithfully within the Church. However, during his […]
Question: John Edward claimed to be able to contact the dead on his TV program, Crossing Over; how did he do it? Now, there is a new television program called Medium, is this a program that Catholics should watch? Does the Catholic Church allow a Catholic to attend a spiritistic séance or to become a Medium? Isn’t spiritism invaluable in supplying us with proof of immortality?
Answer: The answer to the first question is simple, he didn’t. John Edward claims to have had a “psychic” ability since an early age. What he actually does is called “cold reading.” A cold reading is the “sleight of tongue” procedure that fast-talking artists or so-called “Readers” use (as opposed to a “warm reading”, where the Reader […]
Question: Does the Catholic Church condemn astrology? Is it sinful to have one’s horoscope taken? What about the use of a weejee board?
Answer: The Catholic Church condemns astrology as a pagan superstition, which by encouraging fatalism leads to the denial of Divine Providence. The stars have absolutely no influence whatsoever upon human life and human affairs, and the casting of a horoscope or diagram of the heavens at the birth of a child in order to foretell its […]
Marketing the Occult
Berit Kjos NewsWithViews.com “Weak-kneed muggles may recoil from ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.’ Dubbed ‘Scary Potter’ in the British press, the latest screen adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s increasingly dark books is the first in the franchise to be slapped with a PG-13 rating.”[1]“Spiritual transformation… is mediated through a person’s religious imagination.”[2] Lancaster Theological Seminary […]
Jewish Attitudes Toward Magic
Do Jews believe in magic? My Jewish Learning Judaism has had a long and tenuous relationship with magical beliefs and practices. Lists of prohibited magic appear at various junctures throughout the Bible, for example (Deuteronomy 18:10-11): “There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination, a […]
Witchcraft rising in US as Christianity declines
October 11, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) Recent decades have seen a dramatic rise in paganism and the number of Americans identifying as witches while Christian denominations have been losing members, according to a new report. Last week, Quartz published a piece reviewing religion survey data from Connecticut’s Trinity College covering 1990 to 2008, and from Pew Research Center covering 2014 to […]
Occult Art, Occultism
The present article deals with the form of Occultism known as “Magic”. The English word magic is derived through the Latin, Greek, Persian, Assyrian from the Sumerian or Turanian word imga or emga (“deep”, “profound”), a designation for the Proto-Chaldean priests or wizards. Magi became a standard term for the later Zoroastrian, or Persian, priesthood through whom Eastern occult arts were made known […]
Hitler and the Occult: Nazism Reincarnation and Rock Culture
Suzanne M. Rini In a headshop-boutique window downtown, a t-shirt dangles on a wire hanger. None other than Adolf Hitler, looking disconcertingly urbane, is silk screened in the center, a mocking, euphemistic phrase underneath: “Hitler’s European Tour: 1939-1945.” On-a garage wall in the university section of town, a crude, misspelled, “Sieg Hail!” is scrawled, replete with swastika. Three blocks away, a record […]
Comparing Christianity & The New Paganism
PETER KREEFT The most serious challenge for Christianity today isn’t one of the other great religions of the world, such as Islam or Buddhism. Nor is it simple atheism, which has no depth, no mass appeal, no staying power. Rather, it’s a religion most of us think is dead. That religion is paganism — and […]
Phenomenon of Satanism in Contemporary Society
Giuseppe FerrariNational Secretary of the Organization for Research and Information on Sects,Editorial Director of the journal Religioni e sette nel mondo SECTS AND SATANIC CULTS With this essay “L’Osservatore Romano” begins a series of six articles dealing with various aspects (phenomenological, anthropological, psychological, legal, doctrinal and pastoral) of the growing and disturbing phenomenon of practices connected […]