GraceLife Thoughts – Paganism Revived

Grace Thoughts

GraceLife Thoughts – Paganism Revived

Neo-paganism is simply paganism revived. It’s the old paganism in new clothing. You can dress up ancient paganism and call it new, but it still stinks. God was very specific when He warned Israel about the dangers of pagan worship as they prepared to enter into the “promised land.” That included idol worship (including the worship of nature), sorcery, divination, witchcraft, sexual immorality, child sacrifice, and the like.

[Listen to a Podcast of this study by clicking this link.]

But Christians don’t believe in paganism or do pagan things. Right? I wish I could agree, but I can’t because of what I see influencing Christians today. We are being deceived into accepting “religious syncretism.” That’s where some ‘Christians’ blend their spiritual beliefs with other types of religious or spiritual systems to make a new system that is supposedly better than the Christianity the apostles practiced and preached.

Since the Holy Spirit of God inspired that preaching, people believe that they either know more than God or that God has changed since the New Testament was written. The Bible teaches that God is unchanging and knows more than anyone else in the universe, so those people are wrong – dead wrong.

Here are some of those religious philosophies that are deceiving Christians by the millions in the Americas –

Relativism – the belief that truth is subject to what individual Christians view as their “personal” truth (reality) – faith in “feelings” are more relevant and important than faith in “facts” – “relativism” more important than “revelation”
Inclusivism – the belief that all religious viewpoints are equally valid and all people are “God’s children” … buying into the idea that everyone is a “child of the same universe”
New-Ageism – the belief in spiritual energy in all things; belief in astrology; belief in palmistry; belief in reading “spiritual cards;” belief in Ouija boards; belief in psychic abilities; belief in the power of crystals; belief in mystic powers; “grave sucking” (a type of necromancy); being “drunk” in the spirit; the “casting” of spells; belief in spirit writing; belief in reincarnation; etc.
Spiritualism – the belief that living people can communicate with the dead through “spirit guides” and meditate using their spiritual “energy,” including Kundalini energy; inviting spirit beings to enter the human body for wisdom, power, fame, or fortune
Angel-ism – belief in the power of angels to serve the desires of God’s human children
Paranormal – belief in paranormal activities (e.g. seeing ghosts or apparitions, visiting Heaven or Hell and returning to describe it, talking directly with Jesus Christ, giving God direction about what He should do, etc)
Human wisdom – belief in the power of human wisdom to solve problems in the human condition (e.g. humanistic psychology and philosophy)
Destiny Control – belief that humans can control their destiny, including health, wealth, and overall prosperity

What’s behind Neo-paganism and New-Ageism? “deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1). When Christians invite these beliefs and activities into their minds, into their families, into their churches, into their denominations, into their schools and seminaries, they are inviting in deceiving spirits and the teachings of demons.