Ethan Hansen, pastor at Faith Bible Fellowship in Big Lake is worried that people are trying to replace biblical Christianity with a new pagan religion.
He says, “the greatest drive in any person is the desire to know God.”
(We beg to differ. Self awareness is our priority)
He continues, “We must look up and choose biblical Christianity and reject the new pagan religion. Critical race theory is the new paganism.”
“The Christian faith begins with original sin.
Adam sinned and plunged the human race into disaster.
His sin brought separation with God.
The new paganism defines original sin as privilege.”
(Not sure what any of that means)
“The gospel is the good news that Jesus died for our sins. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The good news of Christ’s sacrifice is replaced with wokeness. Salvation is achieved by being aware and understanding and seeing the systemic racism in our society.
Sanctification is the process of overcoming the power of sin. It is becoming more like Jesus.
The new paganism views sanctification as activism. The supreme virtue is changing our culture and overthrowing the established order.”
“The Bible teaches unification. We are one in Christ Jesus. We are part of a body. We are joined together. We are united through Christ Jesus.
Unification in the new paganism is replaced with intersectionality. Intersectionality teaches that society is organized upon systemic racism. It is white versus black. It is men versus women. It is rich versus poor. It divides the world into white oppressors versus non-white victims.”
(Not certain where he gets all this, but we continue...)
“Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Stand in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk in it and you shall find rest for your souls.’” He wept as he called the nation to remain faithful to Yahweh. Alaska, let’s not lose the great heritage handed down to us. Let’s not replace biblical Christianity with a new paganism.”
Here’s A Hint. It’s A Religion Older Than Christianity
He mentions the “old paths,” actually, Pagan teachings have been around a lot longer than Christianity.
When Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire in 415 CE, the Christians came up with an insult for those who still worshipped Pagan gods. They called them "pagans" from the Latin wordpaganus for "country dweller."
Modern Paganism is one of America's fastest-growing religions with an estimated 1 million followers of various Pagan sects in the United States. According to the 2014 Pew Religious Landscape Study, 0.3 percent of Americans identify as "Pagan or Wicca," which is the same number who identify as Unitarian. In 2008, there were just 340,000 Pagans in the U.S.
Modern Paganism (also called Neopaganism, Contemporary Paganism or just Paganism) is reaching back to the ancient religious traditions: Sumerian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman practices, as well as Wicca (modern witchcraft), Ásatrú (the worship of Norse gods, goddesses and land spirits) and Druidism (an Indo-European priesthood).
With such a diversity of religious traditions and rituals, Modern Paganism defies easy definition. The religious scholar Michael Strmiska described Modern Paganism as a religious movement, "dedicated to reviving the polytheistic, nature-worshipping pagan religions of pre-Christian Europe and adapting them for the use of people in modern societies."
Contemporary Pagans feel a strong connection to the past and look to those pre-Christian practices and cultures and spirituality as inspiration to reconnect with nature and themselves.
As Pagans, we look at pre-Christian traditions of the past as a pathway to ancient sacred wisdom and lifestyles that connected us to the cosmos and to each other in ways that are holy and sacred.
