Many (if not most) Christians find it insulting and inflammatory when a skeptic uses the term “magic” in reference to the supernatural claims in their theology. I find this to be incredibly irresponsible bellyaching on their part.

The supposed miracles of Yahweh, Jesus, the Old Testament prophets, and the New Testament apostles are not magic. They are divine power or miracles. As though substituting in -iracle for -agic makes any freaking difference.

The bottom line from the skeptical community is: “Show me the magic.”

Put up, or shut up.

Don’t like how I say that? Let me translate that for you:

Show us proof of concept that miracles are real. Specifically your brand of Christian miracles. Because after you’ve cleared the hurdle and demonstrated that even one thing is “unnatural” or “supernatural” or “immaterial” or however you’d like to put it (which you won’t even do that), there are still an infinite number of possible supernatural worldviews that include magic in the ontological registry. You’re going to need Christian brand miracles. And you’re probably going to have to narrow that down to a specific denomination’s brand of Christian miracles. Just so we know which theological understanding is supposed to be divinely endorsed.

Of course there are many more issues than merely showing certain kinds of Christians have magic powers, but it’d be a damn good start. Way more than we have otherwise. The arguments from evil and the immoral laws of the Bible still constitute serious issues that need addressing since no one wants to serve an evil, prejudiced god no matter how powerful it might be. Super advanced alien races might want us to worship them as gods and take their dominion for granted, but that doesn’t mean we necessarily must submit. So seemingly magical powers only go so far. But without that, why are we even taking any magical worldviews seriously?

Epistemology is hard. Sorry. That’s not my fault. If you’ve conditioned yourself to merely make excuses for why you don’t need to have straightforward proof for the most important elements of your religious belief system, the conversation is pretty much screwed from there. And I find that it is all diminishing returns from that same point for figuring out the specific practical Christian living questions and various details even if you are generally on board with a Christian paradigm. Bad evidence and endlessly plastic excuses for it are simply not a strong starting place from which to conduct a confident spiritual life.

Theists can’t even complain that their magical claims are any different in principle from other spurious magical claims from any number of other dubious worldviews. Just because theologians connect their miracle claims to the rest of their worldview or some supposedly principled appeal to a meta-explanation for the universe doesn’t mean they haven’t merely delayed the same issue. They still aren’t addressing the fundamental “explanation” part of whatever in the world magic is supposed to be, why it is the way it is, or how it works. If you don’t have a follow up question when your pastor utters the words “God’s nature” then all you have is an empty phrase.

If you don’t even understand why anyone would ask these questions or why they are relevant to the principled acceptance of a supernatural worldview, then you are almost certainly part of the problem. How do you even know you’re appealing to a real possible answer if you don’t even know what you’re talking about? What if the category of explanation you’ve appealed to is pure nonsense (and I could argue more specifically that it is), but you didn’t even care to investigate?

Of course, how can you? How could anyone? But that’s the rub, isn’t it? Appeal to magic is at best pure speculation. You don’t know what you’re talking about and never will. But somehow you’re sure materialistic explanations don’t work? And atheists had better prove everything about their worldview or magic wins by default, right? Because that’s fair. [/sarcasm] Humanity isn’t entitled to necessarily know how reality works. Agnosticism is like a thing.

The terrible irony here is that the term “magic” would not even be pejorative if magic were obviously real. Who at the Hogwart’s School of Magic is insulted by use of the term “magic?” No one. Because magic is real in that fictional universe of Harry Potter. It is obvious. It is a staple of their general experience of the world for wizards. You know what is an insult in world where magic is a privileged part of your experience? Being a muggle. A non-magical person. Or a mudblood. Someone who is tainted with part non-magical lineage. Ironic, isn’t it?

What is the real difference between a wizard casting a magical spell and Jesus performing a miracle? First of all, to be truly magical, it must not rely upon the mechanics of the physical world. It cannot be the deception of a stage performer merely by clever and sophisticated use of the ordinary world. It has to happen for no *physical* reason (or not significantly physical reason, apart from perhaps the mechanics of performing an elaborate ritual) and yet potentially have some physical effect anyway (though perhaps the effect may be only magical in and of itself, aside from optical registration which would still be physical). It must translate the intentions of the wizard into some impressive physical reality without any physical logistics in between to get it there. The proverbial card was not up the magician’s sleeve previous to the trick. There was no “trick.” It literally appeared out of nothing, because the wizard has great power over reality. And where does a wizard get this power? What is the source? What are the means? Perhaps there is simply a magical force that may be tapped into by someone in the know as it is with Jedi and Sith in the Star Wars universe. Perhaps there are many divine beings that may grant a human special abilities. Perhaps it is unexplained.

The point is it is hard to see how Jesus performing a miracle is any different. There is no physical transaction. It is not supposed to be clever deception. Some impressive physical effect happens with no physical cause. And Jesus gets his powers from a single divine source. There’s nothing at all different! Does the Christian god sometimes perform miracles of providence where events are uniquely timed to serve some favorable end? Well does Harry Potter not also have a Felix Felicis liquid luck potion? I rest my case. One would likely have to dig hard into obscure fantasy novels to find some other definition or description of magical powers.

The glaring issue of course is that theistic philosophy refuses to ask critical questions about its own supposed explanations. It may be infinitely incredulous about anything naturalistic, materialistic, or reductionist, but pretty much everything about its brand of the supernatural gets a huge free pass. Where did the Christian god get his powers? Why does he have them? How do they work? If the Christian god had no origin, then how bizarre is it that he just is that way for no reason whatsoever? Whatever veil of unnecessary sophistication Christian philosophers can attempt to further obscure and bury their magical claims in is the same frivolous sophistication that can meaninglessly dress up any other magical claim with just a bit of creative thought and a genuine sense of fairness.

And of course, the supernatural powers and miracles of any other worldview are just “magic.” Even though presumably the mystical powers of fairies could similarly be reframed to meaningful effect. Perhaps they derive their power from the innately magical self-organizing nature of a mystical universe itself? You don’t know anything about your god’s nature. So it hardly seems appropriate to make demands on the magical beliefs of others. Think this is a non-issue because you don’t know anyone who believes in fairies? Well, apparently belief in real fairies is prevalent in Scandinavia. So prevalent that it is culturally meaningful to be an “agnostic” on the popular question.

We can call Christian magic the power of the Christian god all you want. It is still straining a gnat and swallowing a camel.

So the correct response is for Christians to own their worldview. It is a magical worldview. The term explicitly applies. They should be proud of it. Or at least honest with it. And they should realize that even when a skeptic does in fact use the term “magic” in a pejorative sense, this is a meaningful reflection of the justification deficiencies in Christian worldviews. A responsible Christian should accept this and recognize the burden of proof to demonstrate that, “No, Christian magic is in fact real. Here’s why it is reasonable and responsible to believe that is the case despite what you think you knew.” And then present your case without being so butthurt about it. Jesus, we’ve just never seen anything magical. Stop pretending like that’s our fault.

Stop complaining, stop getting huffy, stop making up elaborate philosophical excuses and show us the magic. Pray for the Christian god to heal an amputee for medical doctors to examine. Win the contest of miracles competing with modern science. Demonstrate that prayer is powerful, that witches can cast magic spells, that prophets can tell the future, or any of the many Biblical magical claims that should have already yielded good evidence a long time ago.

Have some excuse why you don’t have to do that? Well…your beliefs are going to continue to be the butt of our jokes. Even our bad jokes are better than your best theology.

And so the joke is on the shallowly offended Christian. Your supernatural claims are indistinguishable from magical claims. And to be insulted by use of the term “magic” is to admit that magic is unreal enough for it to in fact be an insult. The next time an atheist friend of yours shares a meme with magic as the punchline remember that they have a point and you have a job to do. And being offended isn’t it.