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Christian Speaks on Wicca and Witchcraft

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A Christian Speaks of Wicca and Witchcraft
  by James Clement Taylor

 

I am a Christian and   not a Wiccan. A Christian is one who has been baptized in the name of the   Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and who has made a personal, free-will decision   to commit himself and all his or her life to our Lord and God and Savior,   Jesus Christ. Both of these things are true of me. I am a member of St.   Mary's Eastern Orthodox Church, Calhan, Colorado. In this paper, I am not   speaking as agent for any church, but I am, entirely on my own   responsibility, speaking the truth in love, as we Christians are supposed to   do.
 
  A Situation of Strife and Shame:
 
  There are many Christians today who believe that anyone who is not a   Christian is doomed to an eternity of suffering in hell. Any decent person,   believing this, would be compelled to try to save as many people from this   fate as possible. But is this belief correct? Jesus Christ, having noted the   faith and righteousness of a Roman centurion, a Pagan, proclaimed:
 
  "Assuredly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in   Israel! And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down   with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the   kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and   gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 8:10-12)
 
  If we accept these words as true, and surely we should, then it is clear that   heaven will contain many who are not Christians, and hell will contain many   who are! Clearly, throughout the Gospels, Jesus Christ sets forth the   criteria for entrance into the kingdom of heaven, and those criteria include   love, kindness, forgiveness, and a refusal to judge others:
 
  "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also   forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your   Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:14-15)
 
  "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same   measure you use, it will be measured back to you." (Matthew 7:2)
 
  "But go and learn what this means: `I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'"   (Matthew 9:13)
 
  "Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Judge not,   and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned.   Forgive, and you will be forgiven." (Luke 6:36-38)
 
  Is it not clear? Anyone who fails in these things, will calling himself a   Christian save him? Anyone who obeys God in these things, will being   unbaptized condemn him? Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord,   Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My   Father in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)
 
  Yet it is not by good works that we earn our way into heaven, because there   is no way we can earn the free gift of God's mercy and grace, which alone can   save us. But it is clear that it is not by faith, in the sense of sharing the   Christian faith, that we are saved, either. The faith which saves us is not   faith in the goodness of our works, nor faith that we have the right theology   and/or belong to the right church. Rather, it is faith in God, and in His   mercy:
 
  "So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who   has mercy." (Romans 9:16)
 
  But the Wiccans, you will say, do not have faith in God. Yet by their own   theology, they certainly do. Those who call them Satan-worshippers are   entirely wrong. They do not worship Satan, or even believe that Satan exists.   Instead, they worship a Goddess and a God whom they understand as   manifestations of a higher and unknown Deity.
 
  Now if you are a Christian, this will sound familiar to you, and it should. In   the Bible we find the following:
 
  "Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, `Men of Athens,   I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing   through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar   with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, The One whom you   worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you" (Acts 17:22-23)
 
  The Wiccans worship the Unknown God, as manifested to them in the form of a   Goddess and a God. Therefore, our Bible tells us they worship the same God we   do; and if they do not know this, we should know it!
 
  For those of us who are unable to simply stand on God's Word, and must prove   to themselves the truth of what it proclaims the holy Apostle John has given   us the method for doing this. You have only to attend any public Wiccan   ceremony, and test the spirits which are there, to see "whether they are   of God" (1 John 4:1). You will find that, while the power manifested   there may be less than what you have experienced as a Christian, that power   is clearly the power of God.
 
  Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, these people of Wicca have been terribly   slandered by us. They have lost jobs, and homes, and places of business   because we have assured others that they worship Satan, which they do not. We   have persecuted them, and God will hold us accountable for this, you may be   sure, for He has said, "Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it   to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." (Matthew   25:40)
 
  Let us, from this point onward, repent of our misdeeds and declare that   henceforth we shall obey Christ our God, and not judge others or condemn   them, so that He will not have to judge and condemn us for our sins.

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Permalink Reply by SupremeTacos on August 23, 2012 at 12:39pm

This is an interesting article that is better than most that I read. It is trying to spread a message of tolerance and love and because of that I can't help but support it. I am not a christian in any way and I have never read the bible. But these passages he lists do shed some light on small parts in the bible that show (and many in christian and non-christian having been pointing out for years.) that Christianity is supposed to be about love, acceptance of others, and personal faith in kindness.

But I can't help but be a nay sayer a bit and point out two problems in this article. It does not take away from the over all message which I do think Christians should follow not just towards Wiccans, Neo-wiccans, and other pagans or non christians religions.

First is that wiccans or pagans believe that the God and Goddess are part of a greater diety. I have seen many posters and read many books or articles saying that those writing them believe such a thing. And hey, that is awesome. But this is not what ALL of us believe. I surely don't. And while I support the message of this man article I can't help but point out that not everyone believes of their Dieties in that manner.

Second is that the bible is often hypocritical.

Deuteronomy 18:9-14

“When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 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. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, ...

Revelation 21:8 

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Leviticus 19:31

“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.

There are many many more verses in the bible like this that are condemning us. And, yes, I would much much much rather people follow the verses that the Article above mentioned. My point is that the bible goes back and forth on how we should be treated and that some people will always follow the parts that say that we are evil and devil worshipers than we are neighbors to be loved and welcomed.

Keri<3

Permalink Reply by Aurelia Pontia on August 23, 2012 at 3:38pm

What Tacos said.

Not only does the bible contradict itself, so does Jesus.

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;

 

John 14:6

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me

 

Obviously, Wiccans and many pagans, who do not believe in Jesus as god/a god/the god and who do not believe they've done anything that requires that they be saved aren't up to these requirements.

Permalink Reply by Lilitu Xoc on August 23, 2012 at 8:36pm

It is naturally contradicting because you have multiple writers at different eras, similar contradictions are found in all religions, this one is no exception.

Permalink Reply by SupremeTacos on August 24, 2012 at 10:26am

But this is the only one that is being spoken of in the OP.

Keri<3

Permalink Reply by AmeWiccan Girl Peggy on August 23, 2012 at 2:59pm

if only more Christians were this excepting!!

Permalink Reply by Lilitu Xoc on August 23, 2012 at 8:37pm

"The Wiccans worship the Unknown God, as manifested to them in the form of a   Goddess and a God. Therefore, our Bible tells us they worship the same God we   do; and if they do not know this, we should know it! "

 

There is a lot of ignorance in this statement, if Wiccans agree, they are also ignorant. It is over-simplifying Christianity and Wicca.

Permalink Reply by Maris Hellfaerie (Maire) on August 23, 2012 at 8:45pm

(oecumenic compromise)²

Permalink Reply by Sonic Titan on August 23, 2012 at 10:17pm

The book of Galatians... written for the Celts.

Permalink Reply by Dale on August 23, 2012 at 11:24pm

Jesus, always helped those who came to him. Rarely did  he turn anyone away.  I  think the message here is that a Roman centurion ( who did take pagan oaths to serve the emperor. But I don't know if he was  a praticing Pagan.  Recognized God/ Jesus for whom he was.  And the great power he had.  Humbling himself before Jesus and asks a request.  That would seem easy and small to Jesus.  Telling Jesus you simply command like I do  and is will be done.  You need not enter my home.  You don't need to be baptized.  Which I know a lot of my fellow christians will gasp at me . But the ultimate proof I ever need to those who are struggleing with the desire to accept Jesus.  The simple story of the two thieves on the cross.  One wanted the easy way out. Told Jesus to get us off these darn things and slay your enemies.  The other thief.  said simply we are being justly punished for our crimes.  And made a small trivial request of Jesus. Whom he recognized as the by the Power he had.  To simply remember him.  A thief.  Jesus did him one better. Today , this day you shall be with me in paradise. 

As for love , mercy and patience.  Always.  Jesus had it.  Enormously.  But its the Faith you have in Jesus and God.  That was the pre requisite.   I hope i spelled that right. lol.  Oh well.

I do like this what was written by clement. But it is a bit misleading. I think.

Well Hot coco for all!! time to crawl into the truck and sleep. 

Hugs!

Permalink Reply by Tara Flower on August 24, 2012 at 10:57am

I too think that  Wiccans would not necessarily agee with the statement:

"The Wiccans worship the Unknown God, as manifested to them in the form of a   Goddess and a God."

They might say that did not accurately describe their belief.

When I talk about Christianity and tolerance  I prefer to mention the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew ch.25.v.31-46. This gives the impression that humanity will be divided into sheep who were kind and compassionate to others and goats who were selfish, and it will be about that and not about which religion they belonged to. You could use that as an argument for Christians accepting other religions.

Permalink Reply by Lilitu Xoc on August 24, 2012 at 6:16pm

For once, we agree.

Permalink Reply by Liath Seraphim on August 24, 2012 at 6:46pm

I have to say it is very refreshing to see a devote Christian that does not judge others. Especially those of Wiccan faith. Sad to say, my experience with Christians has been quite the opposite.

I both agree and disagree with this article though. He says not to judge Wiccans simply because we turn down faith in Christianity. I admire this greatly because in the end it's not their place to try and enforce their beliefs on to others. Or for anyone of any faith to do so. It's nice that they do it because they feel they're "saving" us, but it is still not their right. I'm very glad that there is at least someone among Christian faith who see's this as well.

But on the flip side, I can't say i really like how he seems to present that no matter who we feel we're worshiping, they're all the same being which is THEIR God. Even though he is open minded enough to accept other people and their beliefs, he's still doing what a lot of Christians do where they find ways to say "Our God is the ultimate being. Period". I personally don't believe in the Horned God and Sacred Goddess, per say. I don't really worship any deity, however I will ask questions and guidance to the Sacred Mother on occasion when I feel truly lost in life and don't know what to do. But even so, I don't see why it's so hard for mankind now-a-days, especially those of single-god worship like Christians, to even consider the concept that hey, maybe there's more then one higher being in the universe. I don't see why it's such a far-fetched concept. Why can't there be a god/goddess for every religion? Why do they all have to be one thing and one thing alone that is only separated by the varying beliefs?

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