A CHRISTIAN SPEAKS ON THE FAITH AND PATH OF WICCA
by James Clement Taylor
I am a Christian and not a Wiccan. A Christian is one who has been baptized
in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and who has made a personal,
free-will decision to commit himself and all his or her life to our Lord and
God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Both of these things are true of me. I am a Greek
Orthodox Christian, a member of St. Mary's Eastern Orthodox Church, Calhan,
Colorado. In this paper, I am not speaking as agent for any church, but I am,
entirely on my own responsibility, speaking the truth in love, as we Christians
are supposed to do.
A Situation of Strife and Shame:
There are many Christians today who believe that anyone who is not a
Christian is doomed to an eternity of suffering in hell. Any decent person, believing
this, would be compelled to try to save as many people from this fate as
possible. But is this belief correct? Jesus Christ, having noted the faith and
righteousness of a Roman centurion, a Pagan, proclaimed:
"Assuredly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in
Israel! And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the
kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth." (Matthew 8:10-12)
If we accept these words as true, and surely we should, then it is clear that
heaven will contain many who are not Christians, and hell will contain many
who are! Clearly, throughout the Gospels, Jesus Christ sets forth the criteria
for entrance into the kingdom of heaven, and those criteria include love,
kindness, forgiveness, and a refusal to judge others:
"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Fath
er forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:14-15)
"For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same
measure you use, it will be measured back to you." (Matthew 7:2)
"But go and learn what this means: `I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'"
(Matthew 9:13)
"Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and
you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive,
and you will be for- given." (Luke 6:36-38)
Is it not clear? Anyone who fails in these things, will calling himself a
Christian save him? Anyone who obeys God in these things, will being unbaptized
condemn him? Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,' shall
enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."
(Matthew 7:21)
In addition to these words from the Gospel, let us look at the words of Micah
the Prophet, centuries earlier, who wrote:
He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
(Micah 6:6-8)
Where, in any of this, does it say what doctrines one is to believe, or whose
teachings concerning reality one must accept? All these things speak on how
one ACTS, how one lives one's life, the kind of person one's actions gradually
bring into being.
Yet it is not by good works that we earn our way into heaven, because there
is no way we can earn the free gift of God's mercy and grace, which alone can
save us. But it is clear that it is not by faith, in the sense of sharing the
Christian faith, that we are saved, either. The faith which saves us is not
faith in the goodness of our works, nor faith that we have the right theology and
/ or belong to the right church. Rather, it is faith in God, and in His mercy:
"So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has
mercy." (Romans 9:16)
But the Wiccans, you will say, do not have faith in God. Yet by their own
theology, they certainly do. Those who call them "Satan worshippers" are entirely
wrong. They do not worship Satan, or even believe that Satan exists. Instead,
they worship a Goddess and a God whom they understand as manifestations of a
higher and unknown Deity.
Now if you are a Christian, this will sound familiar to you, and it should.
In the Bible we find the following:
"Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, 'Men of Athens, I
perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through
and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this
inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without
knowing, Him I proclaim to you" (Acts 17:22-23)
The Wiccans worship the Unknown God, as manifested to them in the form of a
Goddess and a God. Therefore, our Bible tells us they worship the same God we
do; and if they do not know this, we should know it!
For those of us who are unable to simply stand on God's Word, and must prove
to themselves the truth of what it proclaims the holy Apostle John has given
us the method for doing this. You have only to attend any public Wiccan
ceremony, and test the spirits which are there, to see "whether they are of God" (1
John 4:1).
You will find that, while you may perceive the power manifested there as less
than what you have experienced as a Christian, that power is clearly the
power of God.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, these people of Wicca have been terribly
slandered by us. They have lost jobs, and homes, and places of business
because we have assured others that they worship Satan, which they do not. We have
persecuted them, and God will hold us accountable for this, you may be sure,
for He has said, "Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the
least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." (Matthew 25:40)
Let us, from this point onward, repent of our misdeeds and declare that
henceforth we shall obey Christ our God, and not judge others or condemn them, so
that He will not have to judge and condemn us for our sins.
by James Clement Taylor
in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and who has made a personal,
free-will decision to commit himself and all his or her life to our Lord and
God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Both of these things are true of me. I am a Greek
Orthodox Christian, a member of St. Mary's Eastern Orthodox Church, Calhan,
Colorado. In this paper, I am not speaking as agent for any church, but I am,
entirely on my own responsibility, speaking the truth in love, as we Christians
are supposed to do.
A Situation of Strife and Shame:
There are many Christians today who believe that anyone who is not a
Christian is doomed to an eternity of suffering in hell. Any decent person, believing
this, would be compelled to try to save as many people from this fate as
possible. But is this belief correct? Jesus Christ, having noted the faith and
righteousness of a Roman centurion, a Pagan, proclaimed:
"Assuredly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in
Israel! And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the
kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth." (Matthew 8:10-12)
If we accept these words as true, and surely we should, then it is clear that
heaven will contain many who are not Christians, and hell will contain many
who are! Clearly, throughout the Gospels, Jesus Christ sets forth the criteria
for entrance into the kingdom of heaven, and those criteria include love,
kindness, forgiveness, and a refusal to judge others:
"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Fath
er forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:14-15)
"For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same
measure you use, it will be measured back to you." (Matthew 7:2)
"But go and learn what this means: `I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'"
(Matthew 9:13)
"Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and
you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive,
and you will be for- given." (Luke 6:36-38)
Is it not clear? Anyone who fails in these things, will calling himself a
Christian save him? Anyone who obeys God in these things, will being unbaptized
condemn him? Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,' shall
enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."
(Matthew 7:21)
In addition to these words from the Gospel, let us look at the words of Micah
the Prophet, centuries earlier, who wrote:
He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
(Micah 6:6-8)
Where, in any of this, does it say what doctrines one is to believe, or whose
teachings concerning reality one must accept? All these things speak on how
one ACTS, how one lives one's life, the kind of person one's actions gradually
bring into being.
Yet it is not by good works that we earn our way into heaven, because there
is no way we can earn the free gift of God's mercy and grace, which alone can
save us. But it is clear that it is not by faith, in the sense of sharing the
Christian faith, that we are saved, either. The faith which saves us is not
faith in the goodness of our works, nor faith that we have the right theology and
/ or belong to the right church. Rather, it is faith in God, and in His mercy:
"So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has
mercy." (Romans 9:16)
But the Wiccans, you will say, do not have faith in God. Yet by their own
theology, they certainly do. Those who call them "Satan worshippers" are entirely
wrong. They do not worship Satan, or even believe that Satan exists. Instead,
they worship a Goddess and a God whom they understand as manifestations of a
higher and unknown Deity.
Now if you are a Christian, this will sound familiar to you, and it should.
In the Bible we find the following:
"Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, 'Men of Athens, I
perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through
and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this
inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without
knowing, Him I proclaim to you" (Acts 17:22-23)
The Wiccans worship the Unknown God, as manifested to them in the form of a
Goddess and a God. Therefore, our Bible tells us they worship the same God we
do; and if they do not know this, we should know it!
For those of us who are unable to simply stand on God's Word, and must prove
to themselves the truth of what it proclaims the holy Apostle John has given
us the method for doing this. You have only to attend any public Wiccan
ceremony, and test the spirits which are there, to see "whether they are of God" (1
John 4:1).
You will find that, while you may perceive the power manifested there as less
than what you have experienced as a Christian, that power is clearly the
power of God.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, these people of Wicca have been terribly
slandered by us. They have lost jobs, and homes, and places of business
because we have assured others that they worship Satan, which they do not. We have
persecuted them, and God will hold us accountable for this, you may be sure,
for He has said, "Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the
least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." (Matthew 25:40)
Let us, from this point onward, repent of our misdeeds and declare that
henceforth we shall obey Christ our God, and not judge others or condemn them, so
that He will not have to judge and condemn us for our sins.
