Christianity

A Pagan’s Christmas Message

November 29, 2011 By Teo Bishop

I'm in Nashville, home of the Christian Contemporary Music Industry, home of LifeWay Christian Stores, and home of the Southern Baptist Convention. This week, in a kind of radical re-immersion into Christian culture, I'm going to spread the message about Jesus to Jesus-people, and I'm doing so in the most subversively effective way imaginable: through catchy melodies and rhyming lyrics. Caroling. This Pagan is going to sing Christmas carols to Christians. I'm going to sing songs about the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity, Paganism, Virtue Tagged With: Caroling, Christianity, Christmas, GOD, Gods, Holidays, Jesus, Nashville, Paganism

On the Nature of Salvation for Pagans

November 21, 2011 By Teo Bishop

The conversation born out of my last post has been, by far, one of the most stimulating dialogues to take place on Bishop In The Grove. My mind is a flurry with thoughts of Gods and Goddesses, mysticism, my own need for a deeper and more engaging practice, and -- for the first time in several years -- Jesus. The "J" word may freak out some Pagans. In fact, I know it does. Jesus is a trigger. He brings up a lot of old hurt for many in our community. I wish it wasn't so, but it is. I relate to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity, Paganism, Salvation Tagged With: Ancient, Christianity, Nature, Paganism, Reconstructionism, Salvation, Sin, Theology

On Converting a Christian to Paganism

November 19, 2011 By Teo Bishop

I'm a convert to Paganism. I was born into a Christian tradition, and spent most of the first 25 years of my life identifying as a Christian. I've written of this before, but the subject keeps coming up for me. There's something about how we arrive at our tradition that seems worth reflecting on, especially for a convert. We hear much about conversion to Christianity, and I understand what that looks like. As I explained it to my husband, becoming a Christian involves accepting a certain set … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Belief, Christianity, Divinity, Paganism Tagged With: Christianity, Conversion, GOD, Goddess, Jesus, Paganism, Religion

Where Does Belief Belong?

September 26, 2011 By Teo Bishop

I'm having a difficult time identifying the right place for belief. I was brought up a Christian. Episcopalian, to be specific. Belief, for me, was connected to creeds. If you've never recited a creed, it goes like this: I believe X, and X is this. X did this, was this, is going to be this. I also believe in Y. Y is this relationship to X, and Y is this. I believe in Z, too... It's a little math-like, when you remove all the personal pronouns. Creeds are useful in the way that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Belief Tagged With: Arawn, Belief, Cherry Hill Seminary, Christianity, Creeds, episcopalianism, Magick, Paganism, Religion

More On Christian-Pagan Relations

September 20, 2011 By Teo Bishop

Pagans hate generalizations made about Pagans (he writes with a smirk). That’s one generalization I feel confident in making. In my last post I made some bold statements about the unwillingness of Pagans to accept the existence of the Christian god, knowing full well that those statements were not completely accurate (or, perhaps even close to accurate). I did so in order to get the conversation started, and I recognize that there are better ways to initiate dialogue. Many of my readers … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity, Community, Paganism Tagged With: Christianity, Comments, Community, Dialogue, Feedback, GOD, Goddess, Gods, Interfaith, Monotheism, Paganism, Polytheism

Christian-Pagan Couples Counseling

September 16, 2011 By Teo Bishop

Pagans don't want to accept the possibility that the Christian god is real. Doing so might open us up to a diatribe about salvation, our inherent sinfulness, or our "need for conversion". We've had that talk a time or two, and - thank you - we'll pass. Christians are of the "One and Only God" camp. Not two. Not many. Not Columbia (probably not a god) or Thor (totally a god) or any of the other "false" gods. They aren't having the conversation about how their god relates to other gods. It's … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity, Community, Paganism Tagged With: Blood, Christianity, Dialogue, Dominionism, GOD, Gods, Monotheism, Paganism, Polytheism

The Christo-Pagan Conflict

August 12, 2011 By Teo Bishop

Last night, after our Full Moon ritual, I wound up in a conversation with a Wiccan Priest about Christo-Pagans. "Those two things are mutually exclusive," he said adamantly. Something about his tone drew me in. I'm not a conflict junkie, but I felt like this was territory I should explore. The ritual, which he had partly officiated, was focussed on the idea of being "in balance" or "out of balance," with an emphasis placed on communication. This opportunity to explore how some people … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity, Community, Paganism Tagged With: Christianity, Christo-Pagan, Community, Conflict, Druidry, Paganism, Politics, Society

Pill Popping Deities

June 16, 2011 By Teo Bishop

She skipped around the circle, waving sparkers in the air and laughing like a toddler. It was a non-conventional way to cast a Fire Circle, I suppose. But then again what's convention to a mis-match gathering of MeetUp Pagans holding ritual behind a Unitarian Universalist church? Could you imagine a more anti-convention convention? The Fire Circle was a sub-circle, if you will, of an even larger elemental circle. It was intended to provide the participants with some Wicca 101 on the relevance … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Paganism, Practice, Values Tagged With: Christianity, Community, Gods, Pagan Values, Paganism, Philosophy, PVE2011, Religion, Values, worship

Pagans Have Values, Too, Say Bloggers

May 30, 2011 By Teo Bishop

Now that we're nowhere near consensus on how to use the word "Pagan", how's about we wander through an even hazier meadow... What are our Pagan Values? I'm jumping the gun a bit, being that the Third Annual Pagan Values Blogging and Podcasting Month is scheduled to begin on June 1st. But I thought it might be useful to spend a minute trying to understand what exactly a "Pagan Value" might be, and to ask the question, What makes a Pagan Value...pagan? Entry-Level Exploration Before I go there, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, Paganism, Values Tagged With: Christianity, Community, Pagan Values, Paganism, Philosophy, PVE2011, Religion, Values

How I Arrived At Pagan

May 27, 2011 By Teo Bishop

Over the past few days I've taken great pleasure in reading and re-reading the posts of the Rogue Priest, Mr. Drew Jacob, who describes himself as, Priest of many gods. Freelance author, nonprofit professional, and full-time adventurer. I like Drew. He's intellectually rigorous, but not snobby. He's thoughtful and respectful of his readership, and he challenges us to think broader and deeper. I think I'd end up a regular at his Temple if it weren't 900 miles away. Drew doesn't identify as a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity, Druidry, Paganism Tagged With: ADF, Christianity, Community, Drew Jacob, Druidism, Druidry, Episcopal Church, Liturgy, OBOD, Pagan, Paganism, Practice, Rogue Priest, worship