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Going back to Christianity, but still not sure =/

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    Going back to Christianity, but still not sure =/

    I've decided to come back to Jesus. I used to think that Yahweh was evil, but I was reading the Bible with my emotions instead of with my logic. My biggest problem was how God ordered the complete eradication of the Amekliates, including elders, women, and even babies. But I read that Soloman disobeyed God and spared some, and as a result, they rose later to strike the Jews again, and there were 800 of them. So in the end, God knew what was best the whole time, and was only trying to protect his people from future attacks.

    Now that I got that out of the way, what Pagan traditions can be mixed with Christianity? For instance, can I still be a druid? I don't believe they worship nature, they just seek to have a deeper connection with nature. What about white magick? I read somewhere that the part about witchcraft being a sin is a mistranslation. I seriously doubt that Jesus would have a problem with peacefully communing with nature or healing the sick.
    What one believes in is infinitely more important than WHO they believe in.

    #2
    Re: Going back to Christianity, but still not sure =/

    Since I am not a Christian nor do I follow the biblical teachings I can't in truth comment on that aspect.

    As to what pagan traditions can be mixed that is really a difficult question to truthfully answer. Consider witchcraft is a craft nor a religion so it can be mixed to form Pow Wow for instance. Yet Wicca is a religion with a usually hard established notion of a Lord and Lady or God and Goddess so seems to be in opposition to typical Christianity. Shamanism is usually defined as a craft or practice so many aspects of it could be included in Christianity and they blend perfectly well. Consider the Catholic Blessing of the Animals ritual is very Shamanic as is the retreat into the desert or wilderness for connecting to the divine.

    Many African Disapora religions have melded Catholicism with their older spirits, gods and goddess by cross equating them. For them it works yet the same can not be said of any of the Teutonic, Nordic, Icelandic or Germanic pathways I am aware of. Yet some Celtic things are supposed to remain in Celtic Christianity as practiced in some Celtic Church specifics I've encountered or read about.

    Consider some aspects of Gnosticism embrace some of the LHP aspects that place divinity and godhood within the practitioner. Yet Gnostic practices are many times opposed by the established churches though they are an early form of Christianity.

    None of that even touching upon which bible are you going to use as the holy book for your practice? That's where you really encounter translation issues between the various bibles.
    I'm Only Responsible For What I Say Not For What Or How You Understand!

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      #3
      Re: Going back to Christianity, but still not sure =/

      hey jcaternolo

      First off, welcome back ^_^. We'll be glad to have you.

      In the New Testament Jesus frees us from the burden of the laws of ancient times (you know, leviticus, deuterotomy, etc) so whether or not its a mistranslation, Jesus doesn't care. You're freed from that burden by his word anyways. He boiled the law down to love God, and love your neighbor as yourself, so... You're pretty safe there lol.

      It would be easy to describe myself as a Christian druid, honestly. I feel at home and at peace with nature, I see God in nature, and it always makes me feel at home. I think that communing with nature is essential to my worship of God.

      I don't think God would mind white magic either. If it helps people, why would he/she care?

      So...Yeah I think you're good.

      I should also note that one interpretation of the Bible is that when God says "Do not have any gods before me" he/she meant simply YHWH should be the highest part of your worship. While I don't do that, I figured I'd mention it .

      Good luck, and I hope that helped a bit.

      - - - Updated - - -

      (ps: sorry if that sounded preachy or anything!)
      hey look, I have a book! And look I have a second one too!

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        #4
        Re: Going back to Christianity, but still not sure =/

        You might find the Bible starts to make a lot more sense if you research its origins, the historical and cultural context, the philosophies, ideologies and mystery teachings which informed it's writing (and editing over history) and so on. It comes off as fairly bi-polar if you take it at face value without any background, but I've found that even a really basic understanding casts it in a whole new light.

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          #5
          Re: Going back to Christianity, but still not sure =/

          Maybe I'm missing the point, but I thought all you needed to do to be a Christian was to worship Jesus Christ.

          I thought the distinctions, biblical translations, specifics, etc. came from what sect of Christianity you chose to follow.

          Why choose to follow any particular sect at all? Why not be an eclectic Christian?

          (For the record, I'm an old-fashioned Pagan & I do not believe a person can practice witchcraft and be considered a Christian. But I'm trying to expand my worldview a little to see if it works for me.)
          The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

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            #6
            Re: Going back to Christianity, but still not sure =/

            Originally posted by perzephone View Post
            Maybe I'm missing the point, but I thought all you needed to do to be a Christian was to worship Jesus Christ.

            I thought the distinctions, biblical translations, specifics, etc. came from what sect of Christianity you chose to follow.

            Why choose to follow any particular sect at all? Why not be an eclectic Christian?

            (For the record, I'm an old-fashioned Pagan & I do not believe a person can practice witchcraft and be considered a Christian. But I'm trying to expand my worldview a little to see if it works for me.)
            You don't even need to worship Jesus, Arian Christians don't worship, they accept his word as truth though. But yeah, the distinctions come from sect.
            hey look, I have a book! And look I have a second one too!

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              #7
              Re: Going back to Christianity, but still not sure =/

              Well, there are cursing psalms in the Old testament, although nowadays these tend to be glossed over a bit and viewed as something of an embarrassment. And of course there are examples of cursing even in the new Testament.

              For example, in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter’s rebuke kills both Ananias and his wife Sapphira, while the apostle Paul, never one to mince his words, declared ‘But though we, or an angel from Heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed’. (Galatians, Ch.1 v.8)

              Also, during the last two thousand years, whenever the Catholic Church has excommunicated people it has declared them to be anathema, an ancient Greek word meaning a curse.

              It always seemed to me though that this was a matter of do as I say, not do as I do...
              www.thewolfenhowlepress.com


              Phantom Turnips never die.... they just get stewed occasionally....

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                #8
                Re: Going back to Christianity, but still not sure =/

                Here is a semi unrelated question, figured it was better to post it here than to make a whole new thread for it. What religion do I fall under? I believe Jesus died on the cross, and I follow the 10 commandments the best I can, but I also still believe in faeries, and I might take up alchemy.
                What one believes in is infinitely more important than WHO they believe in.

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                  #9
                  Re: Going back to Christianity, but still not sure =/

                  Originally posted by jcaternolo View Post
                  Here is a semi unrelated question, figured it was better to post it here than to make a whole new thread for it. What religion do I fall under? I believe Jesus died on the cross, and I follow the 10 commandments the best I can, but I also still believe in faeries, and I might take up alchemy.
                  Heretical Christianity. Welcome to the club lol.
                  hey look, I have a book! And look I have a second one too!

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                    #10
                    Re: Going back to Christianity, but still not sure =/

                    I have heard of abrahamic pagans ect but know little about it.

                    i honestly wouldn't think there is any merit to the bible (grew up mormon where the bible and Book of Mormon were everything Urgh). So IMO the witchcraft scripture means nothing. I think the most logical kind hearted and loving Christians tend to be those with some belief in the occult. They tend to be more open minded and not bent out of shape about gays ect.

                    In short couldnt one almost apply Christianity to Wicca ex. The god not the goddess, free for all, pray to the abrahamic god and perform rituals to him, ect. My rambles might be just that, rambles. Sorry lol.

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                      #11
                      Re: Going back to Christianity, but still not sure =/

                      I would have to strongly disagree here. I'm not saying I'm right because I don't know the mind of God, I can only go on what I can glean from the scriptures and extra biblical texts.

                      Jesus himself said he did not come to abolish the law but to complete it. The "law" or Torah actually is a poor translation and really means "teachings".
                      Jesus basically took a set of specific teachings and boiled them down into 2 commands.
                      The first is to love your God with everything you have and do. The second is to love each other.

                      Jesus also elaborates by telling us that to love our God is to obey his commands. So we are to express love via obedience. Something to think about...

                      Now we know that God is constant, and we know that god killed about 3,000 people over the golden calf incident. Notice that these people were actually worshipping YWH. They proclaimed that the calf represented YWH and off they went.

                      This is a very clear warning for Christians to not attempt to cover other rituals, or make up their own types of worship. Many of you here will be going "hey, what about Christmas and Easter! they're pagan traditions the Christians stole". You are absolutely right, and the scriptures show that this really, really pisses God off.

                      - - - Updated - - -

                      There are other aspects to this as well.
                      As a Christian, my power comes from God. If I derive power from another source then it is obviously not from God...

                      That said, the use of plants for healing and such is a grey area. Some Christians believe that because the watchers (possibly Azazel) introduced pharma to mankind, then it is not of God. Others believe that all power must come directly from God and pharma is not. I personally take the position that there is plenty of evidence in the scriptures that the use of plants is permissible.

                      The scriptures are clear on symbols, amulets, and charged objects. The fact that they remain in the Catholic church is testament to its pagan core. I personally do not wear a crucifix or have one in my home. All "christian" iconography contradicts what the scriptures actually say.

                      Consider the cross as an example. It comes from the crucifixion of Christ. Not many Christians seem to be aware that crucifixion is a ritualistic sacrifice. The cross is an ancient power symbol upon which a blood sacrifice is made. This is why the victim had to be removed before sunset otherwise the ground around the site would become cursed. They broke the legs of the victim to ensure this happened and the ritual was complete before time was up.

                      There is good reason for this instruction to avoid ALL images and objects. It's because we might not actually be aware of what they actually are. The peace symbol is a very good example of that.

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                        #12

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