[/caption]Over at Pagan Blog Prompts, in January of this year, the question was asked, “Christian Paganism? Is it possible?” Having looked into this path myself, I thought I’d read what others had to say on it. Not surprisingly, most of the respondents found the idea rather absurd. For the greater Pagan community, combining any of the Abrahamic faiths with what is considered Paganism is impossible.
Here is my feedback on what others had to say on the topic.
There is no place in true Christianity for a polytheist like me. The Christian God is a “jealous God” who demands to be the only god or else. “I love Hekate, Sin, Yemayá, Morrigan, Anaisa… and many others. I believe in a Wild Old Power that possesses male and female aspects, so can you see why I can’t be Christian?” — Magaly of Pagan Culture
The first point made here is that the Christian God is a “jealous God”; this begs the question, jealous of what? A viewpoint that I have taken on this matter concerns the idea that Yahweh was one of the many gods that those who would be called Israel followed. It was Abraham Yahweh approached first and later Moses about becoming the only god of Israel. If you read in Job, you see the Adversary (sometimes called the Devil) approaching the High God, Yahweh, in a council of gods. In some Psalms (Psalm 82, for example) we see Yahweh among a council of gods. So, we see that the Abrahamic faiths acknowledge the existence of a plurality of deities. So, to use the idea that Christianity denies the existence of more than one god is incorrect.
[pullquote align="right"]God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth." God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God's nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth." Genesis 1:26-28 (The Message Translation)[/pullquote]The second part, is the notion that the Abrahamic concept of God does not recognize the female aspect of the divine. But if you look in Genesis, we see that Elohim made man in their image (Genesis 1:26). Both male and female, ergo there must be a feminine aspect to the god of Abraham. I’m not saying that Magaly is wrong in how she feels about her faith, but I disagree that this would be a reason that someone could not call themselves Christian.
Afterlife – From what I understand, Pagans believe in reincarnation and some believe in “Summerland” which is a heaven-esque type of incarnation after you’ve experienced all which is possible in your past lives. Pagans also don’t believe in Hell. –Haily Marie of Moonlit Nights on fundamental differences between Paganism/Wicca and Christianity.
While it is true that modern Christians do no believe in reincarnation, there is some speculation that the early church may have. The verse below from the Book of James is one of the clearest references to reincarnation in the Bible:
“And the tongue is a fire: the world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by hell.” (James 3:6, ASV)
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[/caption]The phrase “wheel of nature” is mistranslated in other versions of the Bible as “the whole course of life.” But James actually uses the phrase “trochos tes geneseos” which had a special meaning in those days. It literally means the “wheel of nature.” By using this phrase, James gave this statement a specific technical reference to reincarnation. The revolution of the wheel symbolizes the cycle of successive lives. The comparison of life to a wheel and the symbol of the wheel itself was and is a common symbol in many religions and civilizations referring to reincarnation. According to Flavius Josephus, the Jewish temple at Jerusalem had the wheel of the zodiac inlaid in its floor. The wheel of the zodiac is mentioned in the Talmud and even in the Bible (Job 38:32) (See Hebrew translation of “constellation“). The wheel is also related to the mystical wheel of fortune which is another reference to reincarnation. For thousands of years, orthodox Jews have been believers in reincarnation and their scriptures, the Zohar, is a book of great authority among orthodox Jews. It states the following:
“All souls come in reincarnation (literally “wheeling”) and humans don’t know the ways of the Lord and how the Scales stand and how people are judged every day and time. How the souls are judged before entering this world and how they are judged after leaving it” (Zohar, Mishpatim 32)
The verse in James referring to the “wheel of nature” is stating how harsh the consequences can be when words are used inappropriately. While on the cycle of life, peoples’ own words can condemn them. It can set their whole life on fire. It can cause them to cycle through the fire of hell. It can have consequences in their next cycle of life as well.
“The soul has neither beginning nor end. [They] come into this world strengthened by the victories or weakened by the defeats of their previous lives” – Origen
Modern Christianity agrees with Hailey’s assessement of the subject. However, as you can see, the early church believed in reincarnation. It is only after the Decree of the Fifth Catholic Council (2)declaring reincarnation to be heresy was issued (“If anyone asserts the fabulous pre-existence of souls, and shall assert the monstrous restoration which follows from it, let him be anathema [excommunicated].”) that this part of Christianity disappears.
…if you are a follower of the Christian faith .. a ‘true’ follower .. then you have to adhere to the dogma of that faith, which insists that there is one single deity, that he created the earth barely over two-thousand years ago, that there are simply no other valid truths no matter what. For me, that flies in the face of what we as pagans believe, that ultimately the reality of the Divine is how the individual perceives it, that there is no one exact truth. -Tania A of Tygher Says
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[/caption]I have to point one little thing out to Tania, if you are a follower of the Christian faith, you do NOT have to adhere to the dogma of that faith. A true follower of Christianity would adhere to the teachings of Jesus and not those of men, which dogma is. Otherwise, I totally agree that there is no one exact truth in the world today, but there are seeds of truth scattered about in the faiths of the world.
Ultimately, I have to say that if a person wishes to combine elements of these two faith paths into one cohesive and coherent path, I say more power to them. I tried it for a while, it was hard but workable.
Now it's your turn...
What do you think about combining seemly incompatible faiths into one faith path? Let us know in a comment or on your own blog linking back to this post.
Related articles
- Religion in the Modern World (thecaffeinatedwitch.wordpress.com)
- Revelation versus Manifestation (freethoughtblogs.com)
- We Are All Dogmatic (wmbriggs.com)
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