I would like to know what people think about being a Christian and using marijuana. Also, would it be acceptable for a Christian to run a recreational marijuana business as long as it is somewhere where it is legal?
Good day, Kayny14!
Not many people know this, but most of the translations in the NT for sorcery and magic arts comes from the Greek word 'pharmakeia' which is where the English word pharmaceuticals comes from. Below is the definition:
Strong's Concordance
pharmakeia: the use of medicine, drugs or spells
Original Word: φαρμακεία, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: pharmakeia
Phonetic Spelling: (far-mak-i'-ah)
Definition: the use of medicine, drugs or spells
Usage: magic, sorcery, enchantment.
HELPS Word-studies
5331 pharmakeía (from
pharmakeuō, "administer drugs") – properly, drug-related sorcery, like the practice of magical-arts, etc. (A. T. Robertson).
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from pharmakeuó (to administer drugs)
Definition: the use of medicine, drugs or spells
NASB Translation
sorceries (1), sorcery (2).
Therefore, when people use drugs recreationally to get high, they don't realize that they are engaging in sorcery and magic arts, because drugs were/are apart of performing incantations and casting spells. Even though they may not be performing the incantations and casting spells, they are still considered by God to be committing the sin of sorcery. Revelation mentions that during the time when God will be pouring many will be engaged in sorcery by using drugs:
Stated after the seven seals and trumpets 1 thru 6
"The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders,
their magic arts (pharmakeia), their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Just because something is made legal by man's laws, does not mean that it is ok with God. Therefore, since we have already seen that drug use is deemed as sorcery by God, then regardless of it being legal, to God it is the sin of sorcery. Same thing with homosexuality. Just because the LGBTQ group attempt to justify same-sex life styles and our judges pass laws to legalize it, it is still sin against God. And many other things like this which mankind does.