Faith

[Avarin]

Hi Im new too this forum I dont remember if I made an intro yet Ive been bussy

Anyway Ive been an on and off pagan since I was maybe 15 ish and being raised in a not so open minded house I had to hide my faith for over eight years. (Despite the fact that I practiced wicca in secret since then)

However Ive had some interesting events happen recently that I would like to share.

Recently Ive had a batttle in my heart about who I am and what I believe. I prayed to God to lead me to the truth nothing more nothing less and over this summer I poured over christian theology and all sorts of books. I started to look at myself as more gnostic but some thing inside of me could never let go of paganism as if I was lying to myself that I was not a pagan. And eventually after much open minded study of the other side of the fence (including reading C S Lewis's appologetics) I came to the conclusion that yes I am a pagan.

I basically said God I love you and I tried to understand what you want but sorry Im not IN love with you.

The strange thing was that as I fasted and prayed and put my heart and soul into reading book after book It just STRENGTHENED my pagan faith.

I guess now Im really not a christian at all and I never was and never will be.

But I suposse questioning your faith in something helps you understand why you believe it in the first place

[Medusa]

Re: Faith

So most people are probably going to go with this post and think 'live and let live' and just move along. But I actually have a question if you don't mind. And it's non judgmental. I am an Atheist. And I'm always curious about the inner workings of theistic brains. Do you, as a Pagan, still believe in the Christian God and just have made the decision to no longer follow it? Or do you now think it wasn't real and now this/these Pagan deities are what you will follow?

In fact I might make a thread on this!

[Celtic Tiger]

Re: Faith

Hi Im new too this forum I dont remember if I made an intro yet Ive been bussy

Anyway Ive been an on and off pagan since I was maybe 15 ish and being raised in a not so open minded house I had to hide my faith for over eight years. (Despite the fact that I practiced wicca in secret since then)

However Ive had some interesting events happen recently that I would like to share.

Recently Ive had a batttle in my heart about who I am and what I believe. I prayed to God to lead me to the truth nothing more nothing less and over this summer I poured over christian theology and all sorts of books. I started to look at myself as more gnostic but some thing inside of me could never let go of paganism as if I was lying to myself that I was not a pagan. And eventually after much open minded study of the other side of the fence (including reading C S Lewis's appologetics) I came to the conclusion that yes I am a pagan.

I basically said God I love you and I tried to understand what you want but sorry Im not IN love with you.

The strange thing was that as I fasted and prayed and put my heart and soul into reading book after book It just STRENGTHENED my pagan faith.

I guess now Im really not a christian at all and I never was and never will be.

But I suposse questioning your faith in something helps you understand why you believe it in the first place

The word, faith, simply means trust. So if I say that I have faith in you, it means that I trust you to some extent. I don't personally think that the term, faith, was used as a synonym for 'religion' as it is now, such as in the term 'inter-faith.'

As for the term, Christian, it is a term that was originally applied to those who identified with Christ, not because they specifically identified with him, but because they were 'like' him (and, if I'm not mistaken, it was derogatory as well). Early Christians simply called themselves followers of the way, in this case, the way of Jesus.

A lot of people retain Christian beliefs, and many who believe that Jesus was the messiah but hold to no other Christian tenets call themselves Christian because they "believe in Jesus." But Christians don't acknowledge them as Christian, which of course, sets up a tension.

Then you have others who retain Christian beliefs but do not identify themselves as Christian. You believe what you believe. You need to look at the various elements that you have been exposed to and decide which ones you believe and which ones you don't. There is no requirement in life that you adhere to a specific, codified preset dogma. I don't know how open Wicca is to God and Jesus, so if you are a practicing wiccan and retain some Christian beliefs, then you will need to determine for yourself how those fit together, if at all.

One of the observations that I have made is that what Jesus preached was a way of living and he happened to be preaching to the nation of Israel at the time. I believe that the way of living that he taught was not a religion but that it transcends religion. This of course bugs the tar of religious leaders. Christian religious leaders simply turned what Jesus preached into a religion which is a fusion of Jesus teachings with Judaism and Roman, Germanic and Celtic beliefs. One of the elements of Judaism that was retained was exclusivity, which ultimately excluded the Jews themselves.

If you see yourself as pagan and not as Christian, then you need to look at the elements of Christianity that you have 'believed' and determine which ones fit in with what you truly believe and which ones do not. There are plenty of elements of Christianity that are universal, something that many Christians, in their desire to be different, will try to deny. That is how you end up with a mentality that only Christians can be moral or just. When non Christians do something detestable, Christians see that as evidence of an unregenerate heart and the need for Jesus. Of course, the rampant corruption in the halls of Christian clergy are dismissed with, 'well we're all sinners'.

The rampant double standards within the church are one of the reasons that you see me posting here. That, and Christian forums and groups are among the most negative and cliquish in existence and I prefer to do without the drama.

[Louisvillian]

Re: Faith

I really strongly think that in order to cultivate great faith and understanding, one must question and critique one's own faith and beliefs.