pagan_wicca_schulzer

Sacred Tribes Journal Volume 2 Number 1 (2005):51-63 ISSN: 1941-8167

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NEO-PAGAN AND WICCAN VIEWS OF JESUS: A REFORMED CHRISTIAN ASSESSMENT

Martin Schulzer

Introduction A few years ago, as a member of a Presbyterian church in western

Sydney, I was engaged in a “door-knocking” activity. One of the people we contacted was a young lady, who politely indicated that she was a Wiccan. Unfortunately, my partner immediately expressed deep disapproval and announced grave warnings. The door was quickly closed on us.

Whereas, as shall be discussed, the Bible strongly denounces occult

practices, there is an imperative for Christians to use an apologetic that will open doors sufficiently for meaningful witness to develop. We begin by assessing apologetic strategies.

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The Presuppositional Apologetic views the non-Christian as having

no basis to attain truth. In this view, dialogue would centre on demolishing beliefs, “The apologist agrees to accept the unbeliever's presuppositions "for the sake of argument," for the purpose of showing that these provide no basis at all for meaning and truth.”1

Michael Raiter argues that Paul in Acts 17 is “not speaking to an

audience of sympathetic spiritual seekers, but a city of fools.”2 This approach tends to unnecessarily cause offence3 and fails to credit

the Holy Spirit with the ability to use the limited knowledge of the truth that God provides to all people in bringing some to belief. Someone who has successfully engaged in dialogue with a Wiccan indicates the type of attitude that is most successful, “God worked through me by my not

Schulzer: Neopagan and Wiccan Views of Jesus

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putting her down for being a witch and by my treating her as a person worthy of friendship.”4

Ajith Fernando analyses the account in Acts 17, and comes to the

conclusion, “We must study the people and their culture and also study the biblical teachings that relate to their ideas and practices. Then we come up with a lifestyle and methods of presenting the unchanging message of the gospel that are relevant to their situation.”5

Our argument is that Wicca constitutes a sub-culture in our society

that must be understood and engaged with.6 We must also be careful not to assume that our own cultural expression of the gospel is the only valid one.7

We are most attracted to the Reformed Epistemology apologetic of

Kelly James Clark, who finds that all beliefs are formed out of a socio-cultural context, which must be appealed to.8 He emphasizes that “the primary obstacle to belief in God seems to be more moral than intellectual”, and for this reason, reading The Chronicles of Narnia may be more beneficial than proofs in “awaken[ing] the dormant faith of a child.”9

******** It is important, given our stated methodology, to understand the major

aspects of Wiccan belief. The term “Wicca” refers to a male witch, but also derives from the

word “wica”, meaning “wise”, as used by Gerald Gardner, a prominent founder of neo-paganism.10 Gardner was preceded in England in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by those who were desirous of what they considered was a reconstructed paganism, hence the term “neo-paganism”.11

Adding impetus to this development was the work of Margaret

Murray, who provided purported academic support for the claim that early modern witchcraft has continuity with ancient paganism.12 This theory has now largely been debunked.13 Gardner then “reviv[ed] the ancient religion of pagan witchcraft, as described by Margaret Murray but in a form suited to his own tastes and experience”.14 The controversy surrounding the origins of neopaganism and Wicca does not deter many of its current supporters.15


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Neo-paganism has continued to evolve, due to its interest in myth and symbol, as well as purported fact, and its capacity for eclecticism and syncretism.16

Wiccan belief as promoted by Gardner and then established elsewhere

has the following defining features. - It is a nature-based religion17, which expresses that affinity in cyclic rituals, such as in the celebrations of the Wheel of the Year.18 - It has strong feminist appeal19, so Tobler states, “God the Mother and the Goddess symbolise the emerging power of women.”20 - It rejects a patriarchal God and embraces polytheism with a male horned God and the Mother Goddess.21 It also denies the existence of an equivalent to Satan.22 - It suggests the immanence of the divine, to the extent, that the participants, in ritual become divine.23 Personal empowerment becomes a great attraction, as, “you are the one that creates your own energy … you have become the god or goddess in the long run”.24

Margot Adler states, “Neo-Pagan groups participate in divinity …

when a Craft priestess becomes the Goddess within the circle.”25 The activity of calling upon the deity in ritual is performed with a purpose: to, “celebrate the seasons, to honour the deities, to attune with nature, to attain self-realization, to initiate participants into the mysteries, and for magical and healing purposes.”26 There is variation on belief in the actuality of the deities, but there is a common theme of empowerment.27

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Another significant aspect of the Wiccan movement, which has an

impact on our engagement, is its respect for Jesus. This is despite the observation by some neo-pagans of incompatibility with Christianity.28 Hutton writes of a friend whose, “religious beliefs are a mixture of Christianity, modern paganism, and native American tradition.”29

Many, including Anatha Wolfkeepe, are disposed to understand Jesus

to have been a witch30, whilst Fiona Horne describes the real Jesus to be more like a Wiccan than the founder of traditional Christianity.31

This sort of admiration is somewhat of a mixed blessing.

Neopaganism, transforms the image of Jesus to something far removed from biblical truth. Gus DiZerega claims to have had a genuine spiritual


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experience in which he came to understand Christianity’s message as “our own capacity to forgive one another,”32 whilst rejecting the notion that the actual physical resurrection of Jesus is important.33

This representation of Jesus and the Gospel is evidenced in

Wolfkeepe’s article, Freke and Gandy’s book, as well as Horne’s work. A fully effective dialogue must, along with finding connection with the elements of truth in neo-paganism, challenge claims that are made that confuse what is the meaning of the Gospel. Wilkinson points out this dual aspect to Paul’s apologetic to the pagans.34

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A further fruitful avenue of engagement is through the psychology of

myth.35 Neo-pagans suggest that Jung’s mythical archetypes allow us to be “more fully human” and support a polytheistic worldview.36 However, Wilkinson notes that in Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, “the entire landscape is peopled by figures from Greek, Celtic, and Norse pagan mythology. (Yet in those stories no reader, young or old, doubts the lordship of the great Lion Aslan.).”37

The Christian approach to using myths is based on the fact that the

gospel stories embrace the subconscious yearnings expressed in all myths and fairytales, but in the gospel we have “Perfect Myth and Perfect Fact.”38 Johnson suggests, “interacting with today's myths in … neo. paganism, and relating their archetypes to the Incarnation.”39

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Having examined Wiccan belief, we now advocate the following

sequential approach in dialogue: - Use the symbolism of the Wiccan Wheel of the Year, to point to similar themes in the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus. Celtic Christian spirituality will aid in this process. - Recognize the worthwhile yearnings of Wiccan belief that are only authentically fulfilled by Christ. We may well partly agree with Horne that institutional Christianity is frustrating and disappointing,40 yet we will encourage our friends to look beyond that. - Engage in a respectful critique of Wiccan beliefs in the light of biblical truth. We attempt to defer this component to a latter phase, in order to prevent antagonism. Throughout these tasks, attempts are to be made to refer to the biblical portrait of Jesus and the Gospel.


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******** We now explicate the process: The rituals of the Wheel of the Year reflect the cyclical changes of

nature, “so the gods undergo an annual metamorphosis as they meet, court, consummate their love, grow, die and are reborn.”41

Not all of this neo-pagan myth can be forced to coincide with the

Christian Gospel, but there is sufficient to warrant comparison. Samhain is the first of the eight Sabbats of the year, when “the sun

sleeps and there is darkness and silence. So also, the god sleeps in the Otherworld awaiting rebirth, and the Great Mother, as Queen of Darkness, conceives within herself.”42 This is reminiscent of the Christian virgin birth.

At the Winter Solstice, “the Great Mother gives birth to a son which

signifies the re-emergence of the sun from the darkness of winter.”43 The prediction of the birth of Jesus in Isaiah 9:2, says, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

After the height of summer, darkness starts to increase and is

connected with a challenger to the King, who eventually is defeated, however a shadow is cast over the world.44 This provides a comparison with the dark lord Satan of Scripture.45

The cycle finishes when the King dies and becomes Lord of the

Otherworld again, awaiting rebirth. This provides a loose, but definite connection with the Resurrection, “As with the eighth sabbat, the gospel story ends with a final harvest to be reaped. The followers of the Light of the World will reap eternal life, while the followers of the dark lord will reap eternal punishment.”46

It should be pointed out that these elements of the Christian story that

have connections with Wiccan myth, have actually been, or will be fulfilled in human history by and through Jesus.

The Wheel of the Year is normally attributed to a Celtic pagan

source,47 which is considered to have some similarities with Celtic Christianity, “characterized as gentle, 'green', meditative [and] holistic.”48


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One way of redirecting thought from the cyclic pattern of the Wheel

of the Year, to the linear, Biblical story, is to refer to Celtic Christian spirituality, particularly the symbolism of the Celtic Cross, “the Christian cross providing both a centre and a context for a circle … the circle is a prime pagan-neopagan symbol.”49

The intersecting circle and cross incorporates both the image of the

cycles of nature as given by God, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never seek”, Genesis 8:2250, and the historical death and resurrection of Jesus at the centre of all things.51 As Wilkinson points out, the story of Jesus is not a repetitive cycle like all the cycles of nature, but rather, nature continually hints at this “once-for-all” redemptive gift of God.52

The Celtic Cross, then becomes a means of helping us to recognise

the transcendent God and his intervention in the world. The cycles of nature are not the spiritual goal, but signposts, and Jesus is not one of many reincarnated gurus, but the only Son of God.

Rather than emphasize, in relation to the cross, the atonement, - the

resurrection, has a greater prospect of making a positive impact. We have noted previously, self-empowerment is an extremely attractive component of neo-paganism, “initially it is not the truth of the Resurrection that is significant, but its message of empowerment.”53 That empowerment is holistic, encompassing a radical and permanent change – “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”, 1 Corinthians 5:17.

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The next component in our strategy is to acknowledge some other

aspects of Wiccan belief that have corresponding elements in the Christian faith, but which the Church has often under-emphasized or ignored.

A neo-pagan’s interest in nature and the environment could lead them

to dismiss Christianity as deficient in this area, “there are reasons beyond simple human sinfulness that make the spiritually hungry people of our time turn away from Christianity. One is that they often see a Christianity that understands salvation as deliverance from a fallen creation rather than the first step in its restoration.”54

We must come to grips with the fact that the “Bible shows that the

cross and resurrection of Christ is not just concerned with the redemption


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of individuals, but sweeps up all the cosmos (Romans 8:22ff).”55 Therefore concern for the present day condition of the earth and the environment are legitimate for the Christian.

Christianity is criticised for promoting a transcendent God, who is

remote. However, in Jesus, God is intimately connected with his people in the world, “since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity” Hebrews 2:14. So, the neo-pagan concern for the immanence of the divine is authentically answered in the Christian faith.

Another point of criticism by neo-pagans of Christianity is that it is a

patriarchal religion, which has denied a healthy feminist spirituality. Tobler says, “the ‘gender ideology of Eden’ has served to legitimate male domination of women in Judaism and Christianity.”56

Lee points out though, that the Christian God incorporates and

transcends both maleness and femaleness.57 A study of the Bible will affirm the equal regard accorded to women.

They are particularly active in their involvement and ministry with Jesus and Paul,58 and Paul writes, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”, Galatians 3:28.

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The final part of our engagement is to respectfully criticise Wiccan

belief, but this is to be undertaken only after a high level of rapport in friendship has been established.

A major Christian criticism of neo-pagan belief, is related to the

effectiveness and scope of the salvation offered. If transcendence is minimised, such that the onus is on the individual to become divine, then redemption is achieved by human performance. In Wiccan belief this is even related to sexual activity.59 Paul identifies the futility associated with this view, “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator”, Romans 1:25. It can be shown that the Bible consistently records a very positive view of human sexuality e.g. Song of Songs, but this gift is to be enjoyed, as is all creation, acknowledging God’s sovereignty.


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The Biblical view, that we must honestly face, is that there is a grave reality: sin.60 It should be pointed out that the soteriology of neo-paganism is inadequate because it does not comprehensively deal with suffering. Although the impetus for this belief is based on a longing for a lost golden pagan age, the reality is that this is historically inaccurate.61 Nature is not benign.62 In the long run, the best that is offered is a never-ending series of cycles. Hence it fails to match the eschatological appeal of the Bible.63

In the Incarnation, God takes on human flesh, which is very different

from the neo-pagan belief that “by repeating the primeval deeds of the gods, humans become as gods.”64 Wilkinson strongly criticises the self-centeredness inherent in Wicca, “This deep flaw in neo-pagan thought - its tendency for the circle of the self to be expanded in such a way as to threaten the circles of wholeness and relationship - is the surfacing of a human reality never mentioned in neo - pagan thought: the reality of sin.”65

Finally, Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy’s book, The Jesus Mysteries,

asserts that it is not possible to have confidence in a historical Jesus, but rather, the story presented in the New Testament is a historicised account of what was originally based on a myth, similar to the ones current in the Mystery religions of the ancient world.66

To support this contention, they engage in a series of “banal

oversimplifications,”67 yet also raise points that are commonly found in critical scholarship. For example, it is claimed that the gospels are full of inconsistency of detail when compared to each other68. However it is useful to recognise the freedom of the New Testament writers to present the same essential details with differing emphases.69

The main argument of the book, however, has been thoroughly

addressed and refuted. Glaring differences have been pointed out between the gospel and the mystery religions,70 “the myths of dying and rising gods do not really correspond to the New Testament accounts of Jesus' death and resurrection. In the first place, the deaths of the gods are not redemptive. Furthermore, the story of Jesus' death and resurrection had to do with a recent historical figure; the myths usually had to do with personifications of vegetational processes and thus did not move on the plane of history at all, let alone recent history. Finally, the mythological gods did not rise in full bodily resurrection, but revived only in part or merely in the world of the dead.”71


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What is more, the assertion that the supposed founder of Christianity, Paul, was a Gnostic,72 is denied by the fact that his writings are “anchored to a historical figure, Jesus.”73

Conclusion

Dialogue and witness is not just an intellectual exercise, but a

challenge to honour God whilst evidencing His love, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” 1 Peter 3:15.

The attitude of the person presenting the gospel is also informed by

the truth that they are a forgiven sinner, who first acknowledges God’s grace to them, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view,” 2 Corinthians 5:16.

We contend that the godly approach to any Wiccan is to treat her and

her opinions with respect, whilst demonstrating how the Christian gospel meets her deepest yearnings and genuinely fulfils the good things the Wiccan belief promises but can never deliver. This requires a knowledge and use of myth, history and the tenets of neo-pagan belief and Christianity.

1 John M. Frame, “Presuppositional Apologetics”, in Five Views on

Apologetics, ed. Steven B. Cowan (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 218.

2 Michael Raiter, Stirrings of the Soul (Kingsford: Matthias Media, 2003), 132.

3 Philip Johnson and John Smulo, “Reaching Wiccan and Mother Goddess Devotees”, in Encountering New Religious Movements: A Holistic Evangelical Approach, eds Irving Hexham, Stephen Rost and John W. Morehead (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2004), 211.

4 Aida Besancon Spencer, Donna F. G. Hailson, Catherine Clark Kroeger and William David Spencer, The Goddess Revival (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1995), 209.

5 Ajith Fernando, Sharing the Truth in Love: How to Relate to People of Other Faiths (Grand Rapids: Discovery House Publishing, 2001), 58.


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6 Johnson and Smulo, “Reaching Wiccan and Mother Goddess Devotees”, 210.

7 Darrel L. Guder, The Continuing Conversion of the Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 90.

8 Kelly James Clark, “Reformed Epistemology Apologetics”, in Five Views on Apologetics, ed. Steven B. Cowan (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 283

9 Clark, “Reformed Epistemology Apologetics”, 273. 10 Johnson and Smulo, “Reaching Wiccan and Mother Goddess

Devotees”, 213. 11Ronald Hutton, The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern

Pagan Witchcraft (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 157-160. 12 Hutton, The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan

Witchcraft, 198.

John P. Newport, The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 233.

13 Hutton, The Triumph of the Moon, 380-1. Dorothy A. Lee, “Goddess Religion and Women’s Spirituality: A Christian Response”, Theology Jan/Feb (1999), 20.

14 Hutton, The Triumph of the Moon, 239. 15 Hutton, The Triumph of the Moon, 239. Lee, “Goddess Religion

and Women’s Spirituality: A Christian Response”, 21. 16 Christel J. Manning, “Embracing Jesus and the Goddess: Towards a

Reconceptualization of Conversion to Syncretistic Religion” in Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft, ed. James R. Lewis (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1998), 302.

17 Margot Adler, Drawing Down the Moon (Boston: Beacon Press, 1986), 25.

Lynne Hume, Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia, (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1997), 2.

18 Hume, Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia, 119. 19 Hume, Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia, 2. Richard Roberts,

“The Chthonic Imperative: Gender, Religion and the Battle for

the Earth”, in Nature Religion Today: Paganism in the Modern World, eds Joanne Pearson, Richard H. Roberts and Geoffrey Samuel (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998), 71.


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20Judy Tobler, “Beyond a patriarchal God”, Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 106 April (2000): 49.

21 Adler, Drawing Down the Moon, 35. 22 Gus DiZerega, Pagans and Christians: The Personal Spiritual

Experience (St Paul: Llewellyn Publications, 2001), 31. 23 Hume, Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia, 127. 24 Spencer, The Goddess Revival, 203. 25 Adler, Drawing Down the Moon, 25. 26 Hume, Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia, 113. 27 Lee, “Goddess Religion and Women’s Spirituality: A Christian

Response”, 21. Fiona Horne, Witch a Personal Journey (Milsons Point: Random House Australia, 1998), x, xi.

28 Roberts, “The Chthonic Imperative: Gender, Religion and the Battle for the Earth”, 71.

29 Hutton, The Triumph of the Moon, 102. 30 Anatha Wolfkeepe, “Jesus is one of us”, Witchcraft no. 12 (1999):

42.

Craig S. Hawkins, Witchcraft: Exploring the World of Wicca, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996), 90.

31 Horne, Witch a Personal Journey, 8,9. 32 DiZerega, Pagans and Christians: The Personal Spiritual

Experience, 213. 33 DiZerega, Pagans and Christians: The Personal Spiritual

Experience, 214. 34 Loren Wilkinson, “Christians Should Be Converted Pagans: The

Apologetic Problem of a Gospel That Denies Our Earthiness”, in What Does It Mean to be Saved?: Broadening Evangelical Horizons of Salvation, ed. John G. Stackhouse (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002), 166.

35 Hume, Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia, 2. 36 Adler, Drawing Down the Moon, 28. 37 Wilkinson, “Christians Should Be Converted Pagans”, 172.


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38 Ross Clifford, “Reframing a Traditional Apologetic to Reach ‘New Spirituality’ Seekers”, in Encountering New Religious Movements: A Holistic Evangelical Approach, eds Irving Hexham, Stephen Rost and John W. Morehead (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2004), 204.

39 Philip Johnson, “Apologetics and Myths: Signs of Salvation in Postmodernity”, Lutheran Theological Journal Vol. 32 no. 2 July (1998), 69.

40 Horne, Witch a personal journey, 8. 41 Hume, Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia, 122. 42 Hume, Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia, 122. 43 Hume, Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia, 123. 44 Hume, Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia, 123. 45 Johnson, Smulo, “Reaching Wiccan and Mother Goddess

Devotees”, 220. 46 Johnson, Smulo, “Reaching Wiccan and Mother Goddess

Devotees”, 221. 47 Marion Bowman, “Contemporary Celtic Spirituality”, in Belief

Beyond Boundaries: Wicca, Celtic Spirituality and the New Age, ed. Joanne Pearson (Milton Keynes: The Open University, 2002), 75.

48 Bowman, “Contemporary Celtic Spirituality”, 88. 49 Loren Wilkinson, “Circles and the Cross: Reflections on Neo-

paganism, Postmodernity, and Celtic Christianity”, Evangelical Review of Theology 22/1 January (1998): 30.

50 Wilkinson, “Circles and the Cross”, 39. 51 Wilkinson, “Circles and the Cross”, 41. 52 Wilkinson, “Circles and the Cross”, 39. 53 Clifford, “Reframing a Traditional Apologetic to Reach ‘New

Spirituality’ Seekers”, 202. 54 Wilkinson, “Christians Should be Converted Pagans”, 167. 55 Philip Johnson, http://www.jesus.com.au/library/wicca/3.php. 56 Tobler, “Beyond a patriarchal God”, 36. 57 Lee, “Goddess Religion and Women’s Spirituality: A Christian

Response”, 22. 58 Newport, The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview:

Conflict and Dialogue, 249.


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Loren Wilkinson, “ ‘Post-Christian Feminism’ and the Fatherhood of God”, Crux XXXVI no. 1 March (2000): 18.

59 Wilkinson, “Christians Should be Converted Pagans”, 162. 60 Hawkins, Witchcraft: Exploring the World of Wicca, 96-7. 61 Wilkinson, “‘Post-Christian Feminism’ and the Fatherhood of

God”, 17. 62 Lee, “Goddess Religion and Women’s Spirituality: A Christian

Response”, 24,5. 63 Lee, “Goddess Religion and Women’s Spirituality: A Christian

Response”, 26. 64 Hume, Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia, 124. 65 Wilkinson, “Circles and the Cross”, 34. 66 Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, The Jesus Mysteries: Was the

‘Original Jesus’ a Pagan God? (London: Thorsons, 1999), 190-194. 67 Graham Harvey, review of The Jesus Mysteries: Was the ‘Original

Jesus’ a Pagan God? by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, in Modern Believing Vol.42:1 April (2000): 50.

68 Freke and Gandy, The Jesus Mysteries: Was the ‘Original Jesus’ a Pagan God?, 172ff.

69 Craig L. Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, (Leicester, England: Intervarsity Press, 1987), 118.

70 Ross Clifford and Philip Johnson, Jesus and the God’s of the New Age (Oxford: Lion Publishing, 2001), 161-2.

71 Robert H. Gundry, A Survey of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), 36.

72 Freke and Gandy, The Jesus Mysteries: Was the ‘Original Jesus’ a Pagan God?, 194.

73 Paul W. Barnett, Jesus and the Logic of History (Leicester, England: Intervarsity Press, 1997), 50.

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