Natural Sources or Man-made Sourcery ?

In Galatians 5 Paul gives a catalog of sins that will keep a person out of heaven. Among them is “sorcery” (v. 20). “Sorcery” is the English translation of the Greek word pharmakia. Though this term has to do with using medicine (our word “pharmacy” is derived from it), in biblical times pharmakia included drugs used in occult rituals and even poisoning. By the time the New Testament was written, pharmakia also included magic and sorcery in general, even to the extent that it is translated in our English Bibles as “sorcery” or “witchcraft.”