Concerning Cases of Conscience About Divination

Abstract

Article regarding divination and casuistry originally written by Friedrich Balduin. Translated by Paul Jansen in 2006.

This essay presents Friedrich Balduin’s casuistry on divination, examining its many forms and condemning those rooted in superstition or demonic influence. Balduin distinguishes legitimate prediction—such as prophecy or natural inference—from forbidden divination, which seeks knowledge of hidden or future things through unnatural means. He catalogs numerous types of divination, including astrology, necromancy, oniromancy (dreams), augury, omens, and magical rituals. Balduin critiques pagan and philosophical defenses of divination, especially claims that humans possess a natural faculty for foretelling the future. He refutes these with theological and scriptural arguments, asserting that only God knows all future events. While acknowledging that some predictions may arise from natural causes or medical insight, Balduin insists that divination apart from divine revelation is sinful and deceptive. The essay reflects Lutheran orthodoxy’s rejection of occult practices and affirms the sufficiency of God’s Word for understanding truth. — Abstract generated by Microsoft Copilot (GPT-4)