Should Christians play with Ouija boards? What are Ouija boards?

Ouija boards should be avoided and no Christian should "play" or take part in a Ouija board session.

The Ouija board, often sold as a sort of game for children, displays the alphabet, numbers, and a printed "yes" and "no." Players are instructed to try to communicate with the spirits of the dead using a pointer they put a hand or finger on and wait for it to move.

This practice came from the late 1800s when spiritualism and communicating with the dead were somewhat in fashion in Europe and North America.

Some, such as occultists and even those who say they are just amusing themselves, say the spirits of the dead move the pointer to answer questions posed by those touching it. Scientists say it moves because the (living) people move it. Blindfolded players are consistently and unanimously unable to coherently answer questions using the pointer.

However, even the attempt to communicate with the dead is prohibited in the Bible. Doing so may be an opening for demonic activity in our lives. Demonic activity is under the purview of Satan, about whom Peter warns, "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8).

Some other Scriptures to consider include:

"Do not turn to mediums of necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God" (Leviticus 19:31).

"There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD …" (Deuteronomy 18:10–12).

"And when they say to you, 'Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,' should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?" (Isaiah 8:19).

"Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19–21).

Occult or occult-like practices are something in which Christians should take no part. In Acts 19:18–19 we read, "Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver."

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