Any Pagans here who work with Jesus?

[Araceli Cianna]

How do you work with a deity who in his native religion is considered the only god? I think Jesus/Yeshua is a cool guy when all the religion is stripped away as well as the dogma. But what's left?

He came to me in a vision a while back and I'm still wondering whether to ignore him or work with him. He's the god of my family since they are all Christian. I want to honour him because of it.

But also not sure how he would feel about me being cool with other deities? Any experiences?

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

Can't say I do. My experience with Jesus was that he's a dead carpenter that an organization looks up to.

 

[VioletVortex]

First and foremost, Abrahamism represents everything opposed to all forms of Paganism. Therefore, I don't see any value in Christianity, and I certainly do not think that it has a place in any other religion. With that said, if Jesus did in fact exist as a carnal person, spirituality aside, he did a positive thing for his people by freeing some from a tyrannical society. Unfortunately, his doctrine was doomed to fail and be corrupted.

More likely, Jesus did not exist and was probably a derivative of some Pagan god, possibly Egyptian, Semitic, or Far Eastern.

 

[Araceli Cianna]

More likely, Jesus did not exist and was probably a derivative of some Pagan god.

Regardless, his collective archetype exists to work with. So just wondering if any pagans utilise it?

 

[Quintessence]

We've had some Christopagans around the forums through the years, but I'm not sure if any of them are currently active (and their DIR would technically be the Syncretic Religions DIR rather than this one). It is certainly a thing, albeit a contentious thing amongst both of the religious communities they draw inspiration from.

I would say there is a difference, though, between being a flat-out Christopagan and simply honoring the religious affinities of your ancestors. Considering ancestor work is often a big deal amongst Pagan traditions, paying a nod to that history makes sense within the context of Paganism. How far you go with that is up to you. I honor the paths of my human ancestors in a fashion, but I stop short of worshiping their gods. I'm not interested in worshiping the gods of the Catholics or of the Jews. But I will share in the rich cultural traditions they have cultivated, especially when it's something my family is arranging and invites me to participate in.

 

[Mrpasserby]

First and foremost, Abrahamism represents everything opposed to all forms of Paganism. Therefore, I don't see any value in Christianity, and I certainly do not think that it has a place in any other religion. With that said, if Jesus did in fact exist as a carnal person, spirituality aside, he did a positive thing for his people by freeing some from a tyrannical society. Unfortunately, his doctrine was doomed to fail and be corrupted.

More likely, Jesus did not exist and was probably a derivative of some Pagan god, possibly Egyptian, Semitic, or Far Eastern.

Well said, Hammerheart I have to tune into pagan posts whenever I want to hear the truth about christianity. In my experience: both of your comments are exactly correct.

 

[EverChanging]

How do you work with a deity who in his native religion is considered the only god? I think Jesus/Yeshua is a cool guy when all the religion is stripped away as well as the dogma. But what's left?

He came to me in a vision a while back and I'm still wondering whether to ignore him or work with him. He's the god of my family since they are all Christian. I want to honour him because of it.

But also not sure how he would feel about me being cool with other deities? Any experiences?

One need not accept all the theology surrounding a deity to honor him. Religions at times absorb deities from other religions and incorporate them into a new theological framework.

Saint Brigit was arguably absorbed into Christianity from Celtic paganism and from there into Voodoo. None have identical understandings of her or practices associated with her. I have heard saints have been absorbed into Shinto as Kami, too.

Another example: Yahweh. He started out in Judaism as the head of a pantheon. Later he was understood in a monotheistic way. Christians developed a trinitarian understanding of him -- and believe God became man -- all very different understandings from Judaism, and different rituals, too.

The second century Gnostic texts have various very different views on Jesus, too.

So what you need to do is ask yourself, what is your neo-pagan take on Jesus? Go from there. Please do share with us!

 

[Araceli Cianna]

So what you need to do is ask yourself, what is your neo-pagan take on Jesus? Go from there. Please do share with us!

Thanks! Helpful post!

Well first I don't see him as an ultimate deity, just one of many others. Evolved and unique in his own way? Yes. But supreme? I don't think I believe in such a concept.

He governs things like healing, protection, love, enlightenment, ect, so they are all things that can be aspired to and I would maybe invoke him if I wanted help with any of those things. But more likely I would invoke him with my family. For example I was asked to say grace last night before dinner. I did and I felt okay with it, just seeing him as an ancestral deity to be honoured.

To be fair fundamental Christianity is very hard to work with and my immediate reaction is a knee jerk and "I don't want anything to do with this Jesus guy", but apart from that I don't see why I can't integrate him as part of my own path? I remember reading in the Hindu tradition that they have the god of their family who a person will honour and then their own chosen Ishvara. It's similar right?

Also I see Judaism and Christianity very different. The old testament doesn't really have meaning to me, they worked with an entirely different pantheon that eventually became monotheistic (Canaanites) - like you mentioned. I don't believe Jesus was prophesied at all in the Torah and any mention of a saviour was likely not refering to him and probably was even influenced by the Zoroastrian concept of the saoshyant. The thing I see repeating over again here in religion is that no one deity is 'pure'... they are pretty much all blends of different cultures, eras, and such. So why not the same with Jesus? His mythology after all has been influenced by so many different religions (to the extent that he may not even have existed as an actual historical person).

So anyway, to me only the four gospels actually are about Christianity, and even then they all contradict each other and are not true eye witness accounts. Then there's the Gnostic gospels such as that of Thomas which are supposed to be more accurate according to their followers but probably it's just a different take on the same Jesus. So if everyone else has a different view on him, why don't I just make up my own view, right?

Well, I am going on a bit. But these are my thoughts currently.

 

[EverChanging]

So if everyone else has a different view on him, why don't I just make up my own view, right?

Yes, that's exactly how I feel about it. And it's what I did with Jesus, too, in my religious practices.

 

[Hildeburh]

It seems to be a particularly Christian worldview that paganism and Christianity are mutually exclusive. I doubt it would have occurred to pre-Christian peoples that they should not add one more deity to their shrines or throw a bit of Christian magic into the mix. For example, Rædwald was the first East Anglian King to be baptised after which he erected two altars in his Heathen temple one to the old gods and one to the new.

Religious fusion has produced new faiths, remythologised deities and can be the catalyst for the reinterpretation of dogma. I am sure the Christian Church would love to stamp out syncretic practices, such as Vodun and Santeria, but thankfully for all of us they no longer wield that sort of power.

It is the nature of polytheism to be syncretic, pre-Christian peoples absorbed aspects of foreign cultures and religions through trade, warfare and intermarriage. The Abrahamic religions were also syncretic but over the centuries Christians have expended a great deal of breath, ink and blood denying that fact.

From an Anglo Saxon historical perspective it is likely that in the conversion phase the worship of Christian and Heathen gods coexisted and that there was syncretic merging between the old and new religions. There are quite a few examples in Anglo Saxon literature regarding the syncretic practices adopted by the Church to encourage conversion.

In the end it really depends upon how you define your practice, if it is eclectic it only matters to you what deities/ancestors/heroes are on your altar.