Article September 11, 1971 Issue

Dismissing Modern Superstition

EVELYN M. S. DUCKETT

Most people like to think that the present age is an enlightened one, that superstitions and old wives' tales are a thing of the past. But many who attach no importance at all to seeing black cats or walking under ladders still cherish a surprising number of unreasoned beliefs.

This has been true in every generation. The Apostle Paul pointed out to the Athenians, who prided themselves on their intellectual superiority: "Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you."^{ Acts 17:22, 23;}

Then Paul went on to expound the nature of God as revealed to him by the teachings of Christ Jesus. The original Greek word translated "superstitious" in the King James Version is rendered "uncommonly scrupulous," "most religious," and "very religious" in outstanding modern translations, but its rendition in the King James version has a very real significance. To be afraid of offending an unknown God is not to worship God but to invent a devil. It betrays apprehensiveness and lends mysterious and sinister power to evil. This can well be described as superstitious.

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