Christianity and Paganism

There are myths that include someone born of a virgin with the powers of a god in many pagan and mythical religions (i.e. Rome's Romulus - the son of the god Mars - and pretty much any other ruler from the ancient world). It's true - there are a lot of similarities between Christianity and mythical religions. Why should this shock us? What if we allow ourselves to accept for a moment the idea that maybe non-Christian religions aren't entirely all wrong...that they may contain a grain of truth? (An idea borrowed from C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity). It would make sense that there would be at least some minor truth in these other religions that would keep people following it. Otherwise people would learn it was all a lie and abandon it quite quickly. Maybe that's Satan's biggest weapon - feeding people lies with just enough truth mixed in to keep them believing.



And as for the boy born to save us with his scarifical death, why are we surprised that other religions would use this idea? Look at books, movies, videos games, etc. - isn't one of the most used storylines one with a hero who saves someone...the country...the entire world? Even Disney fairytales are filled with the Prince saving the Princess. It seems as if the idea of "needing a savior" is engrained in the human being. I can see people agreeing with this and saying, "See! Man created religion! Man wanted to believe someone would save him so he created God!" But let's take a moment to think first before we jump to this conclusion. What if this dire need of a savior didn't originate from man? What if this idea was born into us from God? It would make sense - if His plan was to send His Son into the world to die and save us from our sins (to be our Hero), then why wouldn't God create man with the innate need for a Savior? A desire that would ultimately and could only be filled by His Son? So maybe the ancient myths and religions were responding to that innate desire they had for a savior, that a savior born to save the world was the nugget of truth their religion had and compelled them to keep believing the rest of that religion. Truth is truth; it does not matter what our opinion of it is or how discomforting it might be (see my previous blog). The difference between Christianity and other religions that have saviors and other bits of truth in them is that Christianity is the only religion with all the truths. In fact, God is the source of truth, so anything not from Him is a lie ("...I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right." - Isaiah 45:19 and John 8:44 addresses the Devil as a "liar and the father of lies"). The Bible is inspired and overlooked by God, making it all truth. Jesus was God Himself (in the form of man), making Him truth personified ("The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." - John 1:14). I know that's a pretty bold statement to make, but the more I learn and the more I experience life in this world, the more I see it to be true.


Christians may feel very discomforted to admit that other religions may contain bits of truth. This isn't to say that all religions are true about everything, and therefore validate the "New Age" religious view that combines all religions. The Christian Bible is very clear when it says that there is only one God (Exodus 20:2-3) and that Jesus is the only way to God ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." - John 14:6). How then can someone take a part of Christianity with a part of another religion? To do so would no longer have it be Christianity and all the promises attached to Christianity would no longer apply to the new religion's followers. It's the same with a cow; you can't have just its leg and still call it a cow. It's only part of a cow, not an actual cow anymore. And the functions (promises) of a cow would not - could not - be carried out in only its leg. What the followers of these "New Age" religions are actually doing is creating their own religion and god/gods. And if the creator is a person, it will never go farther than that person's own strength and doings. It's useless to believe in any deity of higher power because they would be a product of that person's mind and therefore have no more power than the mind they originate from. Essentially, they are putting their faith in themselves or a made up entity. Look at Christianity though. The commands given by God and His Son in the Bible are not easy ones to follow and, in fact, are usually the exact opposite of what most people would want to do ("But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..." - Matthew 5:44 just for an example). Christianity never had its origins in the will of man (that, surprisingly, is from the Bible - 2 Peter 1:20-21). If it did, then I'm sure the Bible would look quite differently; we would be instructed to do whatever we wanted and made us feel good, whenever we wanted to. But it's not like that. It's far better. Every command in the Bible is one that ultimately produces goodness. They may not be easy to follow or at times what we want to do, but they are good and produce more good. And what exactly is the goodness that is produced? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). All good comes from God, because God is good ("This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning scarifice for our sins... God is love." - 1 John 4:9-10 & 16).







I know that many of my claims I supported by verses from the Bible, and that all of what I said can be argued as bias... and it is - I'm biased for the God of the universe who has revealed to me all that I know. I'm biased to the Supreme Power who loves me enough - me that was made from "the dust of the ground" (Gen 2:7) - to humble Himself into the form of a man and die a humilating, unimaginably painful death, with the weight and burden of all my sins (that I deserve to be held responsible for) so that I may be reconciled to Him. Not only am I reconciled to Him, but I am able to enjoy having unity with Him. From Him flows freely love and joy, worthiness and sense of belonging, and -most important in my life - fullness and satisfication. Yes, to Him I am biased. I'd be crazy if I wasn't.

Additional Note: If someone sees fault in anything I have written or my reasoning, I'd love to have it pointed out. This is my understanding of what I have learned so far. I don't pretend to be a theological expert, nor am I trying to speak for all Christians. Again, this is all from my understanding.