amandabruner
January 18th, 2004, 10:38 AM
What do you think of the site-
www.christianwicca.com
? Some of it is cool, like the female aspect of the trinity, but this aspect is seen as either the Birgin Mary, who was the mother of Jesus, the savior of mankind, without the supposed sin of intercourse, Mary Magdalin, who help to teach others of Jesus and his beliefs, or Sophia, the spirit of wisdom. Nothing is wrong with this, but these female entities were used to either bring forth or promote the man who was destined to save all humankind from sin, rather than a female entity who acted in her own right to do the same thing. The basic principles of Wicca say nothing about humankind needing to be saved from anything remotely resembling sin, unless that could be used to refer to our wanton destruction of the earth, which is another subject entirely, and still not necessarily sin.
At one point, the author basically asks why, if you are Christian and don’t like the way the organized church teaches, you can’t worship on your own? This is a good point and one I’ve always wondered about regarding the Big Three, but I seriously doubt that the idea of worshipping your god on your own rather than through a religious authority is hardly a solely Wiccan thing. Neither are the concepts of using oils, herbs, etc., and worshipping a divine feminine aspect of your god. However, this particular branch still follows the teachings of Christianity which, aside from the whole salvation, heaven, and hell thing, is not too different from either Wicca or any other religion which has the same underlying principles such as loving your neighbor, honoring your gods, and seeking truth and enlightenment through your deity. The Cristian Wiccan version of a full moon ritual is interesting. This author has definitely done their research on Wicca and how it is practiced, but, in the end, at least for me, it is a worshipping of the Christian God and a female divinity that complements that Christian God as well as the teachings behind it in the manner of a Wiccan esbat. To keep this from being too long and rambling, I guess the only thing that bothers me is that Christianity, which focusses on man’s salvation and the existence of a god that wants no others before him, is being paired with a religion that does not believe in salvation and that there is no one right way to worship the masculine and feminine aspect. That said, I would like to say that I in no way believe that this particular way of worship and practice is invalid, it’s just the terminology that is kind of strange for me. After all, you couldn’t really decide that you wanted to still be Christian, but substitute Muhammed in for Jesus, especially as, the way I understand it, Muhammed was believed to be a prophet for the Muslims, while Jesus is merely seen as, perhaps, a spiritually enlightened man. I know very little about Islam, so anyone who knows more than me on this can correct me. Basically, for me personally, the two don’t mix well, but this particular belief system could perhaps be known as New Age Christianity, feminist Christianity, or something to that effect. I believe that, if it became more recognized and established itself as a valid form of alternative Christianity, that it would be a very good path for those Christians who protest the patriarchy of the church but who aren’t comfortable with paganism itself.
So, what do all of you think of it? I hope I didn’t offend anyone who practices Christian Wicca. That was not my intent at all. In fact, I’m glad you have found a path that works for you. Perhaps, since Wicca itself isn’t all that organized and established regarding what its basic principles are, at least not in the way that most other religions are, this path will in time become a part of it. But, in order to do this, some definite guidelines would have to be set up, perhaps even for a slight altering of the Christian belief, for the two to be entirely compatible with each other.
Bb,
Amanda
www.christianwicca.com
? Some of it is cool, like the female aspect of the trinity, but this aspect is seen as either the Birgin Mary, who was the mother of Jesus, the savior of mankind, without the supposed sin of intercourse, Mary Magdalin, who help to teach others of Jesus and his beliefs, or Sophia, the spirit of wisdom. Nothing is wrong with this, but these female entities were used to either bring forth or promote the man who was destined to save all humankind from sin, rather than a female entity who acted in her own right to do the same thing. The basic principles of Wicca say nothing about humankind needing to be saved from anything remotely resembling sin, unless that could be used to refer to our wanton destruction of the earth, which is another subject entirely, and still not necessarily sin.
At one point, the author basically asks why, if you are Christian and don’t like the way the organized church teaches, you can’t worship on your own? This is a good point and one I’ve always wondered about regarding the Big Three, but I seriously doubt that the idea of worshipping your god on your own rather than through a religious authority is hardly a solely Wiccan thing. Neither are the concepts of using oils, herbs, etc., and worshipping a divine feminine aspect of your god. However, this particular branch still follows the teachings of Christianity which, aside from the whole salvation, heaven, and hell thing, is not too different from either Wicca or any other religion which has the same underlying principles such as loving your neighbor, honoring your gods, and seeking truth and enlightenment through your deity. The Cristian Wiccan version of a full moon ritual is interesting. This author has definitely done their research on Wicca and how it is practiced, but, in the end, at least for me, it is a worshipping of the Christian God and a female divinity that complements that Christian God as well as the teachings behind it in the manner of a Wiccan esbat. To keep this from being too long and rambling, I guess the only thing that bothers me is that Christianity, which focusses on man’s salvation and the existence of a god that wants no others before him, is being paired with a religion that does not believe in salvation and that there is no one right way to worship the masculine and feminine aspect. That said, I would like to say that I in no way believe that this particular way of worship and practice is invalid, it’s just the terminology that is kind of strange for me. After all, you couldn’t really decide that you wanted to still be Christian, but substitute Muhammed in for Jesus, especially as, the way I understand it, Muhammed was believed to be a prophet for the Muslims, while Jesus is merely seen as, perhaps, a spiritually enlightened man. I know very little about Islam, so anyone who knows more than me on this can correct me. Basically, for me personally, the two don’t mix well, but this particular belief system could perhaps be known as New Age Christianity, feminist Christianity, or something to that effect. I believe that, if it became more recognized and established itself as a valid form of alternative Christianity, that it would be a very good path for those Christians who protest the patriarchy of the church but who aren’t comfortable with paganism itself.
So, what do all of you think of it? I hope I didn’t offend anyone who practices Christian Wicca. That was not my intent at all. In fact, I’m glad you have found a path that works for you. Perhaps, since Wicca itself isn’t all that organized and established regarding what its basic principles are, at least not in the way that most other religions are, this path will in time become a part of it. But, in order to do this, some definite guidelines would have to be set up, perhaps even for a slight altering of the Christian belief, for the two to be entirely compatible with each other.
Bb,
Amanda