Promoting Religious Peace = Article #1
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 the sharing in this series of articles, 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 witches and witchcraft were ungodly or working with Satan. . 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 ‘ungodly’.
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 first article will focus on the topic of prophecy and divination. I’ll be adding more articlesin the weeks to come.
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 simply to promote tolerance between belief systems,
We all enjoy share 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 simply 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?
According 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 all this, I once had a church leader try to explain this prophecy dilemma by telling me it was only approved of in biblical times, but that today, prophecy and divination were no longer acceptable.
Religious debates will not always be logical and there are times where it is best to 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.
Virtually every passage that condemns witches or witchcraft was
originally intended to condemn a specific harmful ACTION, and
certainly not a peaceful group of people who used their knowledge
to help others. I sincerely hope you’ll find these facts helpful in
promoting peace between religious paths. I’ll be sharing more interesting details in the weeks to come.
Peace and health be with you,
Kardia
