Christianity: The Doctrine

 

 

“Jesus Christ knew he was God. So wake up and find out eventually who you really are. In our culture, of course, they’ll say you’re crazy and you’re blasphemous, and they’ll either put you in jail or in a nut house (which is pretty much the same thing). However if you wake up in India and tell your friends and relations, ‘My goodness, I’ve just discovered that I’m God,’ they’ll laugh and say, ‘Oh, congratulations, at last you found out.”  Alan Watts.

 

There is much to be said on the pagan perspective of Christianity. There are many varying opinions within the followers of each of the spiritual ideologies. Some even coexist. However, it seems that on both sides, knowledge of the actual spiritual doctrines are severely lacking. 

 

The issue with Christianity, and other religions for that matter, is the certainty they claim to offer on the subject. They’re told about an ancestor who was able to in some way communicate with the divine. Then they are taught this person’s perspective as absolute truth. This, the believer oftentimes ignores their own intuition in favor for doctrine which utterly defeats the purpose of spirituality.

 

Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven is within. Yet instead, Christians idolize him. They even break one of their own commandments in worshiping him. Exodus 20:4 states, 

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”

Worshipping the image of Christ on the cross clearly breaches this commandment. Christianity is way more concerned with doctrine than it is with scripture. The set of beliefs that uphold Christian values seem to be largely more culture based than it is based on the actual foundation of their belief system.

 

Clergy

 

 

Similarly, Christ himself was against the doctrine of the church of his own time. This subsequently lead to his crucifixion. All this is to say, Christian doctrine largely rejects Christ and the other teachings of the Bible, which even themselves are not always in total agreement. In the dark ages, the scriptures were written in a foreign tongue, only understood by the priesthood. Similarly, today believers usually defer to the interpretation of some priest-like entity.

 

Human beings are given some special authority, by various means, to make their interpretations of the scriptures in some way better than the common human being. This is not exclusive to Christianity, however, in most other belief systems, one is encouraged to walk the path for themselves. In Christianity, one generally obeys the interpretation of their particular denomination. Of course there are more meditative and gnostic Christians, but the greater populous falls into these categories. It’s very difficult to speak your own beliefs in systems of culture like these. So it’s difficult for anyone to express an opinion that contradicts the populous, even if that opinion is heavily supported by scripture.

 

The main antagonist of the Bible, Satan is a figure shrouded in mystery when it comes to scripture. Yet, the Christian doctrine seems pretty certain about who he is and the part he plays in their ideas about everything from the beginning of time to the afterlife. Yet if you look at his curious placements in the Bible, it seems to paint a slightly different picture.

 

Satan

 

Firstly; it’s worth mentioning that Satan’s identity is credited to several different entities of varying origin. The first alleged appearance in Bible is Genesis 3:1

 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

It’s not very clear here the origin of the serpent. He’s not described as a spiritual being. He’s not a demon or an angel. He’s so very specifically ‘a beast of the field that the Lord God had made. The word Satan means the adversary, or the accuser, and in the Hebrew Bible is only used nine times. And only 3 of those times is it used to refer to a divine entity. And he is referred to as “the Satan”, and acts as a member of the heavenly council alongside God, not in opposition. In Numbers 22:22 in the King James Version, the word Satan isn’t even used, instead, referring to him only as “an adversary.”

 

And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.

 

In Job, Satan is clearly one of the sons of god. Meaning an angel. And clearly, a member of the heavenly court. 

 

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.

 

7 And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

 

8 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

 

9 Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

 

10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

 

11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

 

12 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.

 

Though it seems Satan is bad to humans, it seems like God, who apparently has a divine temperament towards the suffering of humans (meaning he cares more about spiritual growth and meaning) and not allows Satan to do what he does, but in fact imbues him the power to do so. Only in Zechariah 3 does he or his angels offer any resistance to Satan.

 

Satan’s fall from heaven, according to the Bible, hasn’t even happened yet. And instead will be a part of the armageddon tableaus.

 

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

 

8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

 

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

 

At this point, he’s referred to as “that old serpent”, which does not necessarily mean THE Serpent of Eden. That old serpent can just be an insult for a treacherous being. Until that time, it seems that Satan is an instrument of God. Contrary to Christian Doctrine.

 

Holidays

 

 

The holidays are arguably the biggest and most notable point of contention between the Christian and Pagan communities. The biggest of which are Christmas and Easter. The Bible never mentions a date of the death nor the birth of Christ. Yet conveniently enough decided the dates should be two of our Sabbats. The latter even stealing its name from Ostara. Christmas is situated in Yule, and takes its festivality from Saturnalia. Easter eggs clearly have nothing to do with the risen Christ, but are a symbol of rebirth from a Celtic Pagan tradition. 

 

There are many other traditions of Christianity that are borrowed directly from Pagan traditions. The death of Christ honors a blood sacrifice. That’s why it atones for sin. Of course, many of the Early Christians were secretly Pagans still no doubt, and kept many of their traditions alive through the mass conversations. In fact, many of the Catholic Saints are actually Celtic Gods and Goddesses including Brigid herself! 

 

All these facts are interesting considering the Bible STRICTLY forbids practicing ANY pagan traditions, going into VIOLENT detail…

 

Jerimiah 10:1-5

1 Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:

 

2 Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

 

3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

 

4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

 

5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

 

There of course are many other verse specifically against witchcraft and our practices. Curious that they would take them and adopt them as their own. In part two, we’ll discuss in more detail the exact origin of the Bible, and where many of the beliefs upheld by Christianity actually come from. It’s surprisingly not the Bible many times. Christianity may be confused concerning the true nature of its origin.

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About the Author:

Alexiel Raynes is a shaman, philosopher, and musician from Louisville, Ky. He has studied religion and science for over 20 years. His spiritual path focuses on self realization, the liberation of the constraints of the mind on consciousness. He also studies plant medicines and their use in indigenous cultures world wide. He is fascinated with exploring the world beyond the veil of mainstream western science, and postulates at what lies beyond general consensus reality. He, together with his business partner Hallie Walker are the owners of Saol Bandia, a holistic herbal apothecary based in their hometown. They are also very active in raising pagan awareness in their community, and helping give witches the courage to stand up to a world that has forgotten our ways.

 

You can visit their store at Saolbandia.com

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