Can a person be both a Christian and a Wiccan?
Difficulties combining Wicca & Christianity
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The core difficulty -- beliefs in deity:
Merging the conflicting beliefs about deity found in two religions is
often the main problem area in creating a syncretistic religion:
- Christian beliefs: Most contemporary Christians regard themselves as
monotheists even as many Muslims and Jews regard
Christians as polytheists. Christians believe in the Trinity: one deity composed of
three persons: the Father God, his Son Jesus, and
the Holy Spirit.
The Bible, literally interpreted, describes "Wisdom" as a type of female
Goddess who was also present at the creation of the universe. However, although she
appears in many locations of the Bible, she
does not play a significant role in most modern Christian faith groups.
- Wiccan belief: Wiccans believe in a duo theistic deity structure: a Goddess
and a God. Further, the Goddess is viewed as having three aspects: Maiden, Mother and Crone, representing sexuality, fertility and wisdom.
At first glance, the beliefs of Wicca and Christianity concerning deity
appear to be hopelessly in conflict. But some Wiccans have been
able to harmonize Christian and Wiccan elements into a concept of a single deity
or godhead with multiple aspects.
Other problems -- particularly among conservative Protestants:
Most Conservative Christians reject the concept that a Wiccan can be a Christian. 1
Some of the problem areas are:
- As noted in this section's menu under "quotes," many Christians believe that the
Bible condemns Witchcraft. However, the practices
that biblical passages -- in the original Hebrew and Greek -- condemn are
actually:
- Females engaged in evil forms of sorcery that harm or kill people and/or
animals, and
- Murderers who kill people through the use of poison.
Both practices are forbidden to Wiccans who are required by their Wiccan Rede to do no harm.
Unfortunately, the terms "Witch" and "Witchcraft" have at least
18 different meanings. Some refer to evil harmful
elements; others to a gentle, earth-based spiritual path. There is no general
consensus of the meaning of the term "Witch" or "Witchcraft."
- Many conservative Christians define a Christian quite
specifically.
They include only an individual who has repented of their
sins, trusted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and accepted certain
core
traditional Christian teachings. (e.g. the Trinity, Incarnation, resurrection
of Jesus, virgin birth, heaven,
hell, sin, salvation, original sin, the existence
of Satan as a living entity, etc.) Many of these
teachings are
incompatible with Wiccan theology.
- Many conservative Christian denominations teach that women should not
be in a position of power over a man, either in church, at work, or at
home. Such a belief is totally at variance with Wiccan beliefs who
generally believe in sexual equality and equal roles for males, females and
intersexuals.
- Many, probably most, conservatives from a wide range of religions believe that homosexuality is
an
unnatural, abnormal, chosen, changeable and
intrinsically sinful behavior no matter what the couple's relationship.
Most Wiccans disagree with these beliefs,
and accept the findings of human sexuality researchers that a homosexual
orientation is normal and natural for a minority of adults. Further, researchers
have found that a sexual orientation
is not chosen and - for almost all or all adults -- cannot be changed. Some
regard a sexual practice as sinful if only it is unsafe, manipulative, coercive, or
against a persons basic sexual orientation -- whether they have a heterosexual, homosexual
or bisexual orientation.
- Many conservative Christians believe that various forms of divination
are an integral part of Wicca. Since the Bible contains passages
condemning many of the divination techniques which were in use in ancient
times, they conclude that there is no room for Wiccan belief within
Christianity.
They overlook that some forms of
divination were condoned by the Bible. One was even used by temple
priests. Also, while it is true that some Wiccans engage in divination,
not all do. Divination is not part of the core theology of Wicca.
- Wiccans would have to abandon many traditional biblical teachings in order
to consider themselves to be Christian. However, millions of Americans already
reject major portions of the Bible, and still regard themselves as Christians.
For example, progressive Christians generally reject certain themes and stories in the Bible as
being profoundly immoral and not representing the
Will of God. These might include: genocide,
human slavery, transferring
guilt and punishment from the guilty to the innocent, burning some hookers alive,
whipping children with a rod, raping female
prisoners of war, execution of non-virgin brides, executing people who
work on the Sabbath, executing sexually active persons with a
homosexual
orientation, executing religious minorities, etc.
It is clear that a person cannot develop a synchronistic religion out of
elements of Wicca and Christianity without
first rejecting much of the content of the Bible and many historical Christian
beliefs. This would exclude them from the conservative Christian fold in the
same way that liberal Christians are considered to be non-Christian or
sub-Christian by many religious conservatives.
A positive note: liberal Christians may accept a Christian/Wiccan syncretistic religion:
Among progressive Christians, the
term Christian has generally been defined much more broadly. For example, some
believers might accept as a Christian any person who holds Jesus in reverence, views him as the greatest
of prophets, and tries to follow his teachings. Many Wiccans,
other Neopagans, Humanists,
Unitarian Universalists are able to harmonize their
beliefs and practices with this definition.
References
- "Witchcraft," Part of a spiritual adultery bible studies
series, at: http://www.acts17-11.com/
This is a conservative Christian essay which attempts to prove that Wiccans
follow Satan.
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Copyright © 1999 to 2008 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Latest update and review: 2008-NOV-12
Author: B.A. Robinson
Links updated: 2008-JAN-09
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