{"id":3698,"date":"2012-01-08T16:48:02","date_gmt":"2012-01-08T23:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=3698"},"modified":"2012-01-08T16:52:44","modified_gmt":"2012-01-08T23:52:44","slug":"learning-about-pagans-for-the-purpose-of-converting-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=3698","title":{"rendered":"Learning about Pagans for the Purpose of Converting Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month, I answered some questions<\/a> from a reporter for a Christian news site.<\/p>\n

He had such response that now he is on the Pagan beat. So I give you “A Peek at Modern Paganism, Part One<\/a>” and “Part Two<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Soon \u2014 wait for it \u2014 you meet that reliable figure, the ex-Pagan who found Jesus.<\/p>\n

(Sorry, but there is a long history of fraud about that. One example here: John Todd<\/a>. I mentioned Todd to the reporter, Mark Hensch, but Christian reporters rarely seem to investigate the claims of ex-Pagans on the lecture trail. Todd was brought down by Christian journalists, it’s true, but he is just one example of the type.)<\/p>\n

Understanding such multiplicity, says former Santeria-high-priest-turned-evangelical-Christian-author John Ramirez, is vital to befriending and ministering to pagans. Christians need grace, compassion and mercy, he said, to connect with their pagan peers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Interestingly, the next expert quoted is James Beverley<\/a>, a Canadian whom I know slightly from academic study of new religious movements, in which he is active. But here he has his theologian hat on:<\/p>\n

“Witchcraft ultimately fails in the mythic and legendary nature of its gods and goddesses,” Beverley writes in Nelson’s Illustrated Guide to Religions’<\/em><\/a> chapter on Wicca. “The Roman, Celtic, Nordic and Greek deities dwell only in the followers’ imaginations. The lack of historical trustworthiness concerning Artemis or Zeus or Diana or Isis is in direct contrast the historical nature of the Gospel accounts of Jesus Christ.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bottom line: be strong in your faith, learn to appreciate nature, and you can get close to the Pagans.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last month, I answered some questions from a reporter for a Christian news site. He had such response that now he is on the Pagan beat. So I give you “A Peek at Modern Paganism, Part One” and “Part Two.” Soon \u2014 wait for it \u2014 you meet that reliable figure, the ex-Pagan who found […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,24,5],"class_list":["post-3698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-american-religion","tag-christianity","tag-paganism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-XE","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12836,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=12836","url_meta":{"origin":3698,"position":0},"title":"CFP: Pagan Studies Conference at Masaryk University","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"April 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Paganism and its Others 13-14 June 2022 Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts, Brno, Czechia The Department for the Study of Religions at Masaryk University invites your participation in a conference on the overall theme of \u201cPaganism and its Others\u201d to be held in Brno, Czechia, 13-14 June, 2022, with in-person\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"academia\"","block_context":{"text":"academia","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=academia"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5670,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=5670","url_meta":{"origin":3698,"position":1},"title":"Is the Church of England Desperate or Just Confused about Paganism?","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"June 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"With the obvious news peg of summer solstice celebrations at Stonehenge, the Telegraph reports on a rather odd initiative from the Church of England. The article begins, The church is training ministers to create \u201ca pagan church where Christianity [is] very much in the centre\u201d to attract spiritual believers. Ministers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Christianity\"","block_context":{"text":"Christianity","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=christianity"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10111,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=10111","url_meta":{"origin":3698,"position":2},"title":"Which “Paganism” Did the New York Times Mean?","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"December 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"When New York Times (mostly) political columnist Ross Douthat wrote a December 12 column titled \"The Return of Paganism: Maybe There Actually is a Genuinely Post-Christian Future for America,\" some Pagans got a little too excited \u2014 look, the NYT is writing about us! Remember, there are at least three\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Christianity\"","block_context":{"text":"Christianity","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=christianity"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8262,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=8262","url_meta":{"origin":3698,"position":3},"title":"Call for Papers: Family, Home, and Ways of Life: Living Paganisms in a Globalized World","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"September 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Information on the upcoming Family, Home, and Ways of Life: Living Paganisms in a Globalized World conference in Krakow, Poland, 24-25 March 2017, may be found at this link. Presentations may address various issues within the following (suggested) topics: Everyday life of contemporary Pagans Understanding human relationships: from till death\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Paganism\"","block_context":{"text":"Paganism","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=paganism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13536,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=13536","url_meta":{"origin":3698,"position":4},"title":"The Creeping Menace of ‘Paganism’","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"January 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Rabbi David Wolpe of Sinai Temple and (visiting at) Harvard Divinity School is like someone who steps in dog shit, comes back indoors, and keeps wondering where the smell is coming from. \"We are all children of the same God,\" he announces in a essay in The Atlantic\u00a0 (link goes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/antlers-300x168.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9081,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=9081","url_meta":{"origin":3698,"position":5},"title":"The Pomegranate 19, no. 2 Now Published Online","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"March 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Click here for the Table of Contents. As usual book reviews are free downloads. Articles The Image of Paganism in British Romanticism Pavel Hor\u00e1k Special Section: Paganism and Politics Paganism and Politics: A View from Central-Eastern Europe Michael F. Strmiska Pagan Terror: The Role of Pagan Ideology in Church Burnings\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/pomegranate-banner.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/pomegranate-banner.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/pomegranate-banner.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3698"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3706,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3698\/revisions\/3706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}