Promoting Religious Peace =
When you follow a non-Christian path, it’s almost certain that sooner or later you’ll find yourself on an emotional battleground. This is especially true if you are a Christian Which trying to embrace teachings from two or more traditions. If Christian friends or family members are openly (or even secretly) condemning the Pagan practices that you love, what are you supposed to do?

The information I’ll be sharing in this article, played a big part in why I am so comfortable today blending the Christian and Pagan paths. if you’re coming from a Christian background, or have friends and family who are Christian, you should find these articles helpful.

Like many, I was raised in a Christian home and grew up learning that those who practiced witchcraft were ungodly or working with Satan. Does this sound familiar? I was nearly 40 when I actually started studying various Pagan beliefs and practices. I loved what I was learning , but the more knowledge I gained, the more I wondered why I had been told these beautiful belief systems were considered ‘evil’.

If you know anything about dedicated Christians, you know that when it comes to religious matters, it’s virtually impossible to convince them about anything unless it’s in the Bible, so I decided to do a deep dive into the Scriptures to find out what they had originally taught. I was both surprised and pleased by what I found. This article will focus on the topic of prophecy and divination. I’ll add more articles in the future to address some of the other issues that get brought up.

Before I share this information with you, I want to stress that many Christians have been taught from an early age that any other path is wrong, and they sincerely believe they are spreading the truth. Please don’t expect anyone to suddenly understand the beliefs and practices of another tradition. The path that they are currently on may be perfect for them. The goal is not to convert them, but simply to promote tolerance between belief systems,

We all enjoy sharing our beliefs with others, but if we want to share this information with a Christian friend or family member, we must keep in mind that people tend to get defensive if we suggest they might be WRONG about something. However, if we ask them to help us research a subject and then provide them with some interesting details to review, they are more likely to look at the information. That’s all we want. We are just planting a seed and it will take time for it to grow.

Now let’s explore the topic of prophecy, discerning of spirits and other abilities often associated with Witches and Pagans. If these abilities are truly against the beliefs of the Christian religion, then why are they listed in the Bible (1Co. 12) as GIFTS of the Spirit?

to scripture, a gift of one kind or another is
given to everyone… and these gifts are for the profit of all. In spite of this teaching, I once had a church leader try to explain this dilemma by telling me these gifts were only approved by God in biblical times, but that today, prophecy and divination were no longer acceptable.

Religious debates will not always be logical and there are times when it is best to simply avoid them. I personally enjoy using divination to communicate with the Divine, and I have no concerns about doing so. The gifts themselves are not evil. It’s how we decide to use them that make them good or bad.

Every passage I found that was used to condemn witches or witchcraft appeared to be originally intended to condemn a specific HARMFUL ACTION. For example, in the verse that says “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (Exodus 22:18) the word witch was translated from the ancient Hebrew word kashaf which was commonly translated as poisoner and referred to someone whose actions were harmful or destructive towards others.

These poisoners often used plants and herbs in their work and somewhere along the way, the focus was put on the tools they were using rather than what they were doing with them. Others who used plants and herbs to help people were lumped in with those who were using them to do harm.

Today, if we were to focus on the intent of that verse, a more accurate translation might be “Thou shall not suffer a drug dealer to live”. We can all support a teaching that condemns those who cause harm to others. It’s difficult to accept guidance that asks us to condemn individuals who are using herbs to heal and help people. In the future, if someone quotes this verse to you, try to get them to focus on what actions they think are being condemned, instead of what category of people.

The bottom line is, the Bible doesn’t actually condemn someone for being a witch… It only condemns a person’s actions when they are causing harm to others. I suppose this could be summed up by saying ‘harm none”.

It’s my hope that sharing these facts will help promote a little more understanding and tolerance between religious paths.

Peace and health be with you,

Kardia