Superstition

Superstition [NAVE]

SUPERSTITION,
Acts 25:19.
Instances of
Israelites, supposing that their defeat in battle with the Philistines was due to their not having brought with them the ark of the covenant, 1 Sam. 4:3, with vs. 10,11. Philistines, refusing to tread the threshold of the temple of Dagon after the image of Dagon had repeatedly fallen, 1 Sam. 5:5.
The belief of the Syrians concerning the help of the gods, 1 Kin. 20:23.
Jews, attributing their calamities to having ceased offering sacrifices to the queen of heaven, Jer. 44:17-19.
Nebuchadnezzar, supposing that the spirit of the gods was upon Daniel, Dan. 4:8, 9.
The sailors who cast Jonah into the sea, Jonah 1:4-16.
The disciples, supposing they saw a spirit when Jesus came walking upon the sea, Matt. 14:26; Mark 6:49, 50.
Herod, imagining that John the Baptist had risen from the dead, Mark 6:14, 16.
The Gadarenes, on account of Jesus casting devils out of the man from there, Matt. 8:34.
The disciples who were frightened at the appearance of Peter, Acts 12:14, 15.
The Ephesians, in their sorceries, Acts 19:13-19.
The people of the island of Melita, in imagining Paul to be a god, Acts 28:6.
See: Idolatry; Sorcery.

SUPERSTITION; SUPERSTITIOUS [ISBE]

SUPERSTITION; SUPERSTITIOUS - su-per-stish'-un; su-per-stish'-us (deisidaimonia, "fearing demons"): The Biblical use of these words is limited to that of the former in Acts 25:19 the King James Version, and of the latter in Acts 17:22. In the former reference, Festus speaks of the Jews' "superstition" (the Revised Version (British and American) "religion"), thus artfully dodging an avowal of his own convictions "respecting the Hebrew faith." In Acts 17:22 the King James Version Paul tactfully refers to the Athenians as being "too superstitious" (the Revised Version (British and American) "too religious"), thus using the term correctly from both their and his point of view. They were truly too "religious" with their superstitions.

Leonard W. Doolan