How to Share the Gospel with a Pagan

Discussion of Christianity and other religious systems. How can we explain our faith to Christians? How can you merge your faith in Jesus with your belief in the metaphysical?
Alacanthia

Post by Alacanthia »

This is hilarious! My boyfriends' parents are Jehovah's Witnesses, and so is my aunt and my cousin. They scare me, JH's. It seems the whole religion is focused on death, Heaven and Hell, and the End of the World. Mostly the End of the World. And if there is abuse going on in the home, the children aren't allowed to go to the police because they believe the cops are a tool of the devil. Crazy, I tell ya!
QIO

Post by QIO »

Whimsical wrote:A+++ Bravo.Very well written. I wish I had had that article last year.I had Jehovahs witnesses coming to my door every other day of the week trying to get me to go to thier church.They did not like taking no for an answer and litterally shoved their bibles at me (NO JOKE). It didn't matter that I had already found my own way.If it wasn't their way they weren't happy.I would have loved to have given that article to them to read.

Whim
The Jehovahs witness bible was retranslated by men that didnt speak Greek, well one did one semester of classical greek but thats hardly enough to decipher the ancient greek texts...he was caught out in a court proceeding (I will try and find some links and post them soon).

They do not believe in the divinity of christ. However when they start preaching from the bible a good thing to do is to say that you will use your own bible...then pull out a KJV or a good news bible and watch them pull up verses that are non existant. That ensures that they never come back.
QIO

Post by QIO »

Alacanthia wrote:This is hilarious! My boyfriends' parents are Jehovah's Witnesses, and so is my aunt and my cousin. They scare me, JH's. It seems the whole religion is focused on death, Heaven and Hell, and the End of the World. Mostly the End of the World. And if there is abuse going on in the home, the children aren't allowed to go to the police because they believe the cops are a tool of the devil. Crazy, I tell ya!
Jehovahs witness do no believe in hell.

I am married to one.
goldspun

Post by goldspun »



This was a really great article! Thanks for sharing this :)
A friend of mine had problems with Jehovah Witnesses coming
to his door every Saturday. They instantly stopped coming by when
he answered the door butt naked.
Bartholomew

Post by Bartholomew »

Was anyone converted by this letter?
goldspun

Post by goldspun »

Nope not yet?
androsan

Post by androsan »

Very nice article, there. I am a Christian, but I am also starting to practice Paganism. (I'm a Christian Pagan, so to speak). I still hold true to my Christian beliefs, but I also embrace some areas of paganism. I guess what I am trying to say is that I do not try to 'con' anyone into converting to Christianity, rather, I let them choose their own religion and live by that. I never try to force something on someone, unless it will directly affect their life in such a way as to cause death (i.e. Smoking) What this means is that if someone smokes, I will explain to them why they shouldn't (And usually get a black eye, a punch in the stomach, or some other physical injury).
So in summary, I'd just like to congratulate you on the article, and to let you know that a Christian Pagan exists among you, almost seemingly perfectly balanced between the two religions.
Aerea

Post by Aerea »

Wow. I really liked the article and thought the 'jo-ho' thing was great. I dont get them anymore. I get mormons. Normally I just tell those converters that I dont want to be a part of a religion that has condoned, multiple times, mass genocide of men, women, children and infants and they leave me alone. But those mormons are damn persistant. I also love to bring up how the bible contrdicts itself from time to time. But one thing they never answer is why I should go to their hell just because I dont believe in it. ~sigh~ Some people!
Storm
Posts: 382
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 5:27 pm
Gender: Female
Location: On the edge....

Post by Storm »

androsan wrote:Very nice article, there. I am a Christian, but I am also starting to practice Paganism. (I'm a Christian Pagan, so to speak). I still hold true to my Christian beliefs, but I also embrace some areas of paganism. I guess what I am trying to say is that I do not try to 'con' anyone into converting to Christianity, rather, I let them choose their own religion and live by that. I never try to force something on someone, unless it will directly affect their life in such a way as to cause death (i.e. Smoking) What this means is that if someone smokes, I will explain to them why they shouldn't (And usually get a black eye, a punch in the stomach, or some other physical injury).
So in summary, I'd just like to congratulate you on the article, and to let you know that a Christian Pagan exists among you, almost seemingly perfectly balanced between the two religions.

That's actually very interesting.

It has always seemed to me that Christianity and Paganism are pretty much incompatible, due to the fact that the Bible teaches that the Earth is generally pretty sinful and that God is separate from it. Paganism in my mind is the exact opposite - Earth is sacred and divinity is immanent (not imminent!) The two seem to be conflicting, but it is fascinating to hear your point of view. I was wondering, how do you reconcile my above point within your own mind?

Please bear in mind that the above represents my opinion only!
Red

Post by Red »

Fox Flame wrote:Besides, I'm not to good with organized religion anyway, I'd ask too many questions and get on their nerves :lol:
Not my nerves, I love q/a. :shock: ...and this emoticon cracks me up.
Red

Post by Red »

Storm wrote:
It has always seemed to me that Christianity and Paganism are pretty much incompatible, due to the fact that the Bible teaches that the Earth is generally pretty sinful and that God is separate from it. Paganism in my mind is the exact opposite - Earth is sacred and divinity is immanent (not imminent!) The two seem to be conflicting, but it is fascinating to hear your point of view. I was wondering, how do you reconcile my above point within your own mind?

Please bear in mind that the above represents my opinion only!
I am also a Christian, and once upon a time I harmonized my beliefs with the theory of evolution. But as I learned more about my own faith and evolutionary thought I found myself stretching Bible verses out of context, and so I came to a point where I had to choose. It was quite liberating to disown evolutionary theory to be honest, because then I was more genuine.

Likewise, accepting both paganism and christianity likely shows a lack of understanding of both. That, or the person is rejecting part of one in favor of the other. For example, if the person believes that "all roads lead to the summit" then he/she would have to question Jesus' claim when He said "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one will come to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). The article touches on this idea. Always dig for truth.
Storm
Posts: 382
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 5:27 pm
Gender: Female
Location: On the edge....

Post by Storm »

[quote="Red]Always dig for truth.[/quote]

What is truth? I have my truth and you have yours.


Truth is subjective.
Red

Post by Red »

Storm wrote:Truth is subjective.
Is that definitely true? Perhaps we might say that there is objective concrete truth out there that is true no matter what we think about it.

Pontius Pilate asked Jesus your same question, "What is truth?" But Jesus had already said what it was in His prayers the night before: "...your [God's] word is truth." (John 17:17)
Sercee
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Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada

Post by Sercee »

There's a big difference between subjective truth and objective truth. Objective truth is something that we all agree to be true, such as 2+2=4. Subjective truth lies in the perception of the individual and perhaps that person's gods. We could both eat the same fruit and not think it tastes the same. I might like the taste, sweet and tender on my tongue, but you might find it bitter. That's subjective. And, as you said in your quote:
"...your [God's] word is truth."
Therefore, what you and your God believe to be true isn't necessarily what I and my Gods believe to be true. We may both stand on Mother Earth, but that doesn't mean we have the same reality.
Red

Post by Red »

Sercee wrote:Therefore, what you and your God believe to be true isn't necessarily what I and my Gods believe to be true. We may both stand on Mother Earth, but that doesn't mean we have the same reality.
What does it mean for you and your Gods when my God claims to be all-knowing, and then says, "are there any other gods besides me? No, I don't know of any."

If objective truth were determined what we can all agree on then we would never find any meaningful truth, if we ever found any at all.
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