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Can a person be both Pagan and Christian?
I grew up Christian, but I have since chosen to accept Pagan beliefs and worship the goddess as well. There has been quite a debate among my peers and friends that says that I can not be both. What do you think?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Gene Blevins on
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Merry Meet. Simple answer, yes i think you can. Reason....lol listen below.
The reason I believe he can is three part:
1) The meaning of the actual word Pagan.
2) The historical similarities between Christianity and many Polytheistic systems.
3) My own personal conviction and experience with the very topic (not myself but many number of friends).
Many, even some i have met here in my own town who practice what they call being "Neo-Pagan" dont infact know the meaning of the word. So i don't have to get into much about really the translation, just know for future, reference in this topic, Pagan means rustic or simple.
Next, the historical similarities between Christianity and polytheistic systems is staggering when looks at an angle of information and not right or wrong. After all lets face it right and wrong is nothing more then a duality created by the complications of the English language, which does not have enough words to express many of the feelings we have as human beings. Anyway, past that, the similarities that you can find through out many religions is shocking almost appalling in an aspect of originality and art. Shamans might say that we are all branches from the same tree, Witches could say we are all strands in the web of life, the Principle of Mentalism states "e are all thoughts in the Divine Mind." The early chruch in the British Isles was known as the Celtic Christian Church and did incorporate Pagan beliefs and teachings into its structure. Even today in Catholicism the Trinity is described as being of one of three aspects of one god. Much like that of modern witch craft which has the Triple Goddess, in some select aspects of the practice, and can be seen as the Trinity. In Norse myth she/they (being the Triple Goddess) is/are called Norns, Wyrd sisters and are much like the Fates, known as the MOirai, in Greek Myth. The triple goddess can also be found in Hecate, the triune goddess of Witches from the Greco-Roman era, as well as in the Morgan, the Celtic triune goddess who is the patroness of war and battlefields. One popular modern image, in Neo-paganism, of the triple goddess is that of the maiden, mother and crone. Seen both as the phases of the Moon and the Seasons of the Earth. Ok i think thats enough history for now.
Iam not really going to get into the third reason why I believe one can be Christian and Pagan it is personal and some parts of it hurt to remember and dwell too much on. Thank you for reading and I hope those of you who didn't get bored enjoyed it.
I have some things to do now, house work I have to get done. Feel free to e-mail me at Chaosrequired@yahoo.com or http://www.myspace.com/chaosrequired at my myspace.
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Permalink Reply by Rebecca (Community Moderator) on
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I made a point in the earlier discussion that I wanted to reiterate here... The origins of Christianity, the roots, are embedded in Paganism. There are many sources of information on this, as much as it also enrages some purist Christians. So, in short, as has been mentioned in other discussions on this site, one can in some ways easily conclude that Christians are Pagans.... This is something I can elaborate on further and get some more details if you are all interested, let me know.
Additionally, mentioned a lot on this site last year for the holidays and as many Pagans and Wiccans already know, the Christian holidays are basically modified versions of previous Pagan Holidays. Because of the season upon us, here is a link to more details about that: Understanding Pagan Holidays - A Neopagan Guide
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Permalink Reply by Nikki on
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I'm sure that since Christianity used Paganism as a basis for some of their Holidays and the like, I'm sure you can blend the two.
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I got to reading a little into this and though of your question.....hope it helps somehow. http://www.northernway.org/cpinfo.html
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Permalink Reply by Floyda Lynch on
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Thank you Gene! I'm definitely looking into this.
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Permalink Reply by Mooncatcher on
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I grew up Christian as well and yes you can be Christian and still have Pagan beliefs. As the others stated alot of the Christian beliefs and rituals came from Pagans, you can see this especially in the Catholic religion. Try looking up Mysticism and Christian Witchcraft on the web. The only conflict is the worship to the Goddess/God's. In Christian belief you are to only worship one God. Now when it comes to the Goddess alot of people who claim to be Christian Witches will refer to the Goddess/Feminine as Mother Mary. But....the only Christian faith that acknowledges Mother Mary is the Catholics and they do not worship her. Some people get tripped up on this subject and believe that Catholics worship Saints, Archangels, and Mother Mary, but this is not true. Catholics use these deities as a means to take there prayers to God, kinda of like a boost that their prayers will be heard and answered. I have struggled myself with the different conflicts of religions and paths. You have to follow your on heart and do what feels right to you. I don't follow any particular path just my own. You can mention to your Christian friends that was it not magic when Jesus walked on water, made the blind man see, fed his people for 40 days with a loaf of bread, ect...this list goes on. Solomon went to the witch for advice. It says nothing in the Bible about not using magic but does warn against channeling the dead. I will stop here so this doesnt get too long but feel free to contact me. Blessings
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Permalink Reply by colleen on
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My SISTER, my name is Danny, this note is "not" from Lady Colleen. My baby left this open for me to peak and she knows I would respond to this. Sorry sweetie, had to watch Montana score a touchdown. The "GODDESS" has many names, just pick one to pray with. I see anger with your post of this and someone pissed you off, baby this is the bottom line and you must understand this: follow your own path!!! I'm WICCA and not out to convert the masses, not my gig. Yes the "others" have problems, but just chill and laugh. Wanna know who my "GODDESS" is? She is "LADY COLLEEN" "BLESSED BE" love---Danny
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Permalink Reply by larry on
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well iam a sateria voddoo and we believ in saints and Jesus and angeles in our country in phillipines but here in u.s chritsian descriminate pagan in our country no they respect witches only the dark witches they burn and kill the dark necromancer or vodoo and as iam an animist we study fay magic but i juts made a path to be in the pagan christian blessed be!!!
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Permalink Reply by William Ball on
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Christianity came out of blending Mithraism and Judaism mostly. It became very dogmatic, but like all religions it was pieced together over time by many different people. Christianity today, or at least the stereotypical Christian belief, is quite detached from the original beliefs. Since pretty much every church and every believer I've seen define Christian in a personal way, there shouldn't be any problem defining it for yourself in such a way as to permit blending faiths. Christmas is originally a pagan celebration. According to the Bible adopting other religion's practices is forbidden, so technically celebrating Christmas is a sin. Pretty much no Christian believes that though, because they interpret as they see fit, as do we all :P
So essentially my point is, all this stuff is just made up in the first place, so why does it matter if we make it up to a degree for ourselves? At least that's my take on things as a former Christian, current agnostic/undecided.
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Permalink Reply by Davin Raincloud on
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Most definitely the paths can be combined (or are already).
I run a NING for Christian Druids. http://christiandruids.ning.com/
To be honest I haven't seen too much formalised, it's more often than not that Pagans incorporate their past religious/spiritual experiences of Christianity into their free and open pagan lifestyle, and they discard the baggage.
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Permalink Reply by Silverrose on
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By definition, no. Pagan as a religious term means non-Catholic and is a word created, as it is presently used, back when the Catholic church was the only church (with the exception of Greek orthodox which was at the time a nearly identical offshoot.) However as an individual you may believe in the thought form of Christ and worship him as your god while still maintaining your freedom to see other religions valid and usable. This springs things like people that work spells in the name of Christ and Jehovah which is perfectly acceptable. In the end Christ and Jehovah are just expressions of the collective unconscious like any other gods and you have the freedom to worship them in anyway you wish.
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