Reconciling christianity and paganism.

[sky]

Originally Posted by theophilus

Perhaps that pull you feel is from God. Of course your paganism is a sin, but all of us are sinners and need God's forgiveness. How Christians function is something you will never fully understand until you become one of us.

Just what is it you find disagreeable about the Bible? The fact that it seems disagreeable doesn't mean it isn't true.

Pagans pursue their own vision of the Divine as a direct and personal experience, why is it what you call a sin Theo?.

[SaturninePluto]

Originally Posted by theophilus

Perhaps that pull you feel is from God. Of course your paganism is a sin, but all of us are sinners and need God's forgiveness. How Christians function is something you will never fully understand until you become one of us.

Just what is it you find disagreeable about the Bible? The fact that it seems disagreeable doesn't mean it isn't true.

I can not answer for the op.

But for me the reason I have much more respect for and lean myself more towards practicing pagan religions, or beliefs, is the same reason for myself finding strong disagreement (as you call it) with the bible.

You want to know what I find disagreeable about the bible, and many others whom practice spirituality instead of organized religion may feel the same?

Well it preaches in the bible that not only pagans are sinners, it also states blatantly homosexuality to be a sin, and preaches hatred toward such people, as well as pagans or "those who refuse to believe exactly the very same thing you or any other Christian believes".

Further, what I find disagreeable to be quite clear is promotion of hatred. I refuse to let hatred be a part of my spiritual worship.

Further still also I refuse to follow a faith in which the biggest promotion of it is for its followers to blindly believe the very same thing about it, allow for no diversity, like a herd of sheep, walking verily the same trodden path, like a mindless throng of slaves.

Neither ever do they question the words within a book.

Pardon, I rather would be free.

That is why I lean toward practicing what the hell I want to practice for my spiritual faith. Because I realize I am a human being with choice the ability to choose and by Will and the fact I have every right- I quite intentionally exercise my very Will and Right to choose another path.

I have no intention of conforming to a mass belief system I refuse to question, I'd prefer truly ask myself what it is exactly I believe in the first place you see.

I don't believe hatred is right.

So I disagree with the book. Highly.

[white pegasus]

ghost-I think you owe it to yourself at t he very least to nourish your soul-in that you are feeling a pull-you open the Bible...I, like you was raised and confirmed in the Lutheran religion-however, I would open the Bible to read it and it seemed contradictory to me yet I kept feeling pulled to it.

I joined a non denominational Bible Stud because I wanted to study the Bible without a bias toward any religion-I wanted to know Gods truth.

There is so much I learned about the contradiction-there is so much you can learn-nourish your soul

[H:O:R:A:C:E]

the bible speaks often of "God the Father"; i feel that certain paganistic
beliefs may advocate for "God the Mother"... and i sense that there can
be a reconciliation between the two.

[Nowayout]

Why does God need to be reduced to a gender identity?

I see God as transcended..

Jesus always prayed to the father, his prayer was the way I see it, respectful to the process..

Does God have nuts, I doubt it.

But the universe and all created things are rather womb-like?

There is a deeper dynamic at play here, let's not get lost in role play...

Some say the bible needs to be read with the heart...and the guidance of the holy spirit....

I think women should be priests, and gay people are loved by God.. Even though I'm a heterosexual man, without sin... lol.

But who am I to go up against... The... book and my local parish dictator...

The times they are a changing.. Jesus only wrote in the sand. Get it?

[H:O:R:A:C:E]

Originally Posted by Nowayout

The times they are a changing.. Jesus only wrote in the sand. Get it?

sorry, i don't get the meanings of your post; especially that last quoted bit.
i submit that it was the bible that's provided a gender identity to god.
i also submit that a mother counterpart is implied through writings
which specify "father" repeatedly. the point being that creation, as
alluded to in religious text, requires more than a singular element...
there needs to be a 'pairing' it seems (at least in this quadrant of
this universe).
i see no need to argue with clergymen, but neither do i believe that
they hold exclusive rights to understanding the will and spirit of
divinity: all of humanity, all of creation, is intrinsically divine.
namaste

[theophilus]

Originally Posted by sky123

Pagans pursue their own vision of the Divine as a direct and personal experience, why is it what you call a sin Theo?.

God has revealed himself through the Bible and through Jesus Christ. Anyone who tries to find the truth by any other means runs the risk of being deceived by evil spirits and drawn away from God.

[SeaZen]

Originally Posted by ghostinawheelchair

I wasn't sure where else to post this and I would appreciate christian or christo-pagan's opinions. (Yes, I just made up "christo-pagan".) Also, english is 2nd language (y'all have probably heard this one before), so please be patient and try to look past my typos.

I was baptized (lutheran) as a baby as per my grandmother's wishes, raised as an atheist, and I turned out to be(come) a polytheistic pagan.

As of late I've been feeling the pull into the christian church, but every time I try to "open the bible", so to say, I always stop right after I begin because I find a lot of the written word incredibly disagreeable. That, and maybe it's because of how I was raised, but I just don't understand how people function in the modern world under a religion that to me sounds like "living death before you're actually dead".

That, and I feel like my current beliefs are like a family and a home, and if I had to give that up for the One God of christianity, I'd feel like I'd lost a part of my family.

I know christianity is a monotheistic religion and as such, my "gifts" to my pantheon would probably be considered a big sin and breaking the 1st commandment, should I become a christian. But this thing keeps on going through my head, and I'm just wondering... is there a way to reconcile these differences, be a good christian, but not feel like I have to give up a huge part of my life for a book and one god?

I know, in the end, what I would choose, but before I decide to toss my bible in the trash and pawn my cross necklace, I'd like to hear other people's thoughts on this.

Hugs, blessings & a good day to whomever reads this!

Many make the mistake equating christianity or following christ with following literal interpretations of the bible or religious christian doctrines. This is a mistake as the bible and organized christian religion was put together with councils looking to control the masses and distorted Jesus' real mission. Not to mention the many contradictions found in the bible. All of this makes it difficult, not just for you but for many to follow Jesus because so many got it wrong.

Simply put, Jesus is the Master of Love and came here not to be deified and worshipped and to save us from a vengeful, angry, dysfunctional God, but to show humankind that one can find God/Love within, to love and forgive one another and ourselves, and the wonderful things you can do and miracles you can perform if you evolve this way.

That said, though much of the bible is negative, hateful inaccuracies, there are many gems in there. What you need to do is find a bible that highlights Jesus' words in a different color text than the rest of the bible and use your own inner discernment of love (we all have that and its accurate as we all have God within) to determine what is true of what you read.

I am sure there are many alternative christian resources online in addition to alternative texts such as the Gospel of Thomas, the gnostic texts, the dead sea scrolls etc that you can look into.

As far as practicing both christianity and paganism and reconciling the two, I am certain God and Jesus won't mind as they are the not the haughty, jealous, dysfunctional beings that the bible, religion and humans make them out to be. Relax and forge whatever path makes sense to you my friend!

HAPPY SEARCHING!

[sky]

Originally Posted by theophilus

God has revealed himself through the Bible and through Jesus Christ. Anyone who tries to find the truth by any other means runs the risk of being deceived by evil spirits and drawn away from God.

God revealed himself to me through the beauty of the universe and the miracle of life, evil spirits don't exist in my thoughts.

[sky]

Originally Posted by SeaZen

Many make the mistake equating christianity or following christ with following literal interpretations of the bible or religious christian doctrines. This is a mistake as the bible and organized christian religion was put together with councils looking to control the masses and distorted Jesus' real mission. Not to mention the many contradictions one found in the bible. All of this makes it difficult, not just for you but for many to follow Jesus because so many got it wrong.

Simply put, Jesus is the Master of Love and came here not to be deified and worshipped and to save us from a vengeful, angry, dysfunctional God, but to show humankind that one can find God/Love within, to love and forgive one another and ourselves, and the wonderful things you can do and miracles you can perform if you evolve this way.

That said, though much of the bible is negative, hateful inaccuracies, there are many gems in there. What you need to do is find a bible that highlights Jesus' words in a different color text than the rest of the bible and use your own inner discernment of love (we all have that and its accurate as we all have God within) to determine what is true of what you read.

I am sure there are many alternative christian resources online in addition to alternative texts such as the Gospel of Thomas, the gnostic texts, the dead sea scrolls etc that you can look into.

HAPPY SEARCHING!

👍Gospel Of Thomas.