Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!know!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: correll@brahms.udel.edu (Sharon J Correll) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Pagans and Christ (was Re: Christians abetting Satan?) Message-ID: Date: 17 Sep 90 07:19:04 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Delaware Lines: 39 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu >1) The "new age" spiritualist movement is not identical with the > neo-pagan religious movement. Specifically, much of the new age > spiritualism is appended to basic christian belief systems and a fair > number of new agers are churchgoers. IMHO, this hardly makes the new > age people enemies of Christ. Just because people are church-goers doesn't mean they are Christians. I suspect that many churches are full of the enemies of Christ. The synagogues were full of the enemies of the God of the Jews in Christ's day. >2) Pagan does not automatically imply Satanic. You all are certainly > welcome to your opinions about the origins and objects of > non-christian religions, but it is offensive and uncharitable to > presume that they are necessarily opposed to the aims of the > Christian traditions. Paul said that when "pagans" offer sacrifices to their gods they were actually offering them to demons. >I will complain slightly by saying that while I know a large number of >"Christians" that will automatically condemn others for having the >"wrong" beliefs, rather fewer of my "Pagan" accquaintances do the same >simply on the basis of religious opinions. (Of course, there are some >pagans who do that, but its probably the same in terms of relative >percentages.) This is due to the unique character of Christianity. Christianity is an exclusive faith. There is no room in it for the "I think Christianity is best, but if people have another religion that's fine too" approach. That's why Christians seem "narrow-minded" to others sometimes. Jesus says that the road to destruction is broad, and many people go that way, but the road to life is narrow, and only a few find it. -- ---\ Sharon Correll \--------------- ----\ University of Delaware \-------------- -----\ Academic Computing and Instructional Technology \------------- ------\ correll@sun.acs.udel.edu \------------