NEVER SUFFER A WITCH TO LIVE was a changed phrase by a ruler who had a phobia for witches and started a witch hunt. The original line said NEVER SUFFER A POISONER TO LIVE.
These religions started in the same manner as many old texts have the Abrahamic God worshipped alongside other Gods. It's stories and symbols are pagan. I think the reason the deity made that law was to attempt a takeover of his original pantheon. A bid for more power if you will.
All creatures of spiritual nature are spirits. This includes the gods and goddesses of all religions. These forms usually have more worshipers than the average spirit so they will have more power and control lower spirits. I doubt he had that rule in place when he had a concubine who was worshiped alongside him.
Christianity, as we know it today, was a mixture of Christian/Roman beliefs.And, yes, Christianity used Pagan symbols and Pagan feast days. Nevertheless, the basic belief of Christianity is that Jesus was God! The "son" of the Holy Trinity. Pagans do not believe this!
Muslims do not believe it. Jews do not believe it. And thousands of other religions do not believe it. Christianity is a religion. So is Wicca. So how can anyone be a Christian Wiccan, as many claim to be? They cannot be a Christian Pagan either!
There are a lot of professing Christians in the world. Maybe over a thousand. The theology has covered an immense territory over the last 2000 years or so.
Are gnostic believers Christians? They may not accept the incarnation. Jehovah's witnesses? They reject the idea Jesus is God. How about Mormons? 'Cause they say, "As man is, God once was and as God is, man shall become."
You seem to be defining the beliefs of over a third of the world's population.
Personally, I believe all Gods, and there are many, stemmed form the same core dieties and only time and culturization have morphed them into wat they are today. so yes, I believe there could be a God not unlike the Christian God, I just also believe he has some really annoyed realitives.
Fortis, I said "the basic belief of Christianity".That is the beliefs as taught by the Catholic Church; the New Testament of the Bible.Of course there are other "cults", based on the life of the man,Jesus. As a prophet, seer, wise man, or even a political rebel.
The Christianity that I mean, the basic belief, is the religion formulated by the Conference at Nicea. The others are "cherry picking", in just the same way as so-called Wiccans pick and choose what they wish to believe. All religions go through this process; but the "basics" remain the same.
I think it's time for this topic to be locked, as it's becoming belief bashing against those who are Christian and practice magic and/or those who might label themselves as Christopagan. No matter how inaccurate some may feel the term is, causing distress to any member isn't acceptable.
Your ideas are well thought out and clearly stated. Sorry if my last comment seemed glib...I was having a bit of fun with it.
Still, the many branches of Christianity which flow from the protestant reformation generally claim a Sola Scriptura (Bible or scripture alone)position and so would deny any authority to the council of Nicea etc. Oddly, many would reverently cite their own councils, like the Synod of Dort or the more recent International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, but if pushed into a corner would admit that these really have no authority over individual interpretation of Scripture.
Also the actual faith and practice of a great many Christians disagrees with the position of their leaders. For example the Catholic faith, properly understood, absolutely calls Mary worship a sin. But people need a goddess. And when they pray, "Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercies, our life, our sweetness, and our hope! To thee do we cry out..." and refer to her as the mediatrix of all graces, that does really become worship for millions.
Among those with a clearly defined doctrine, such as Catholics, few know their official theology. And among people with no one able to claim theological authority over them, such as Southern Baptists or Pagans, few truly wrestle over theological questions. Most people shoot from the hip, doing what seems best based on their experience and instinct. And ought we to call their path inauthentic because it is unusual?
And What of the Hindus who claim to be monotheistic - that the gods are all really aspects of the one? Are they more or less authentically Hindu than those who simply call their gods, "My gods?"
And here I realize I am stepping out of purely logical debate, but I mus say I personally believe we are in a time where Truth is calling to us. And many may increasingly leave behind some of the limitations once created by our different religions and paths, and begin to move toward becoming more authentically spiritual men and women.
Perhaps this is what Abraham and Buddha and Lao Tzu and some ancient Native American medicine man whose name is lost to pre-literate history and all the other spiritual pioneers would have wanted.
You make a good point but may I offer a different take on "Thou shalt not make unto the any graven images. Thou shalt not bow down to them..."
There is a description of idols saying they have eyes but don't see, ears but don't hear, mouths but can't speak (sometimes mouths or noses but can't breathe).
This is alluded to by Isaiah, Jeremiah, multiple psalms, in the gospels and Acts in the New Testament. (I don't claim the list is exhaustive) Sometimes it refers to idols, other times people who worship them. Psalms 135 for example says those who worship them will become like them. In Acts 28 it is applied to Jews who rejected the message being preached. It apparently seemed to Paul that they had a visible religion with no more power than a piece of wood.
And I don't believe many pagans worship a piece of wood either. Rather they may worship a god or spirit associated with the wood. Just as many Christians don't feel idolatrous when using pictures and statues in worship.
The bible says (Numbers 21)that when the people of Israel wandered in the desert, at one point they began to be bitten by bronze colored snakes and die. God ordered Moses to make a snake of brass or bronze and mount it on a pole, and that he should tell the people who were bitten to just look at the snake and they would be healed. They had genuine Spiritual experiences using the snake. But in 2Kings18, a king destroyed the snake because it had become an idol. Same piece of metal, one time being used as a way for people to open up to Spirit (God), one time being worshiped in itself and so it was an idol.
The temple in Jerusalem may have become an idol. I say this because Jesus once talked with a Samaritan woman who said, "I know you're a prophet. Question, my people say you're supposed to worship God on this mountain, but you Jews say you're supposed to worship in Jerusalem. Who is right?" And Jesus said, "You don't get it lady, pretty soon you won't be worshiping in Jerusalem or in the mountain. Just be real. God is a Spirit and He is seeking people who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth." This even though God had previously said sacrifices should only be made in the Temple, and that people should pray toward the temple as today's Muslims pray toward Mecca. (I paraphrase wildly because I don't suppose that in this forum it is helpful to list a bunch of Bible addresses and direct quotes from different translations. I promise I am trying to honestly convey the meaning of the passages.)
I believe the heart and intention of the second commandment was that people should not put outward form (idols) above the reality of Spirit.
I say all this to suggest that there is a way to understand the commandment, albeit not a generally accepted way, which would allow such worship.
That being said, I love the way you close by saying maybe people should ask their God/gods and do what they say.(But from my POV if the gods answer, they aren't idols) :)
