Perspective

   By L. Jim Tuck

   March 23, 2023

The Rise of Modern Paganism

Greetings from Phoenix,

          It is no surprise that more people are turning away from mainstream Christianity to other religious ideas.  It is a downward drift which will dramatically change the Judaeo-Christian demographics of America. The Pew Research Center reported in 1972, ninety-two percent of Americans claimed to be Christian, and by 2070 the number will drop to below fifty percent.  And, shockingly, the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans, or 'nones,' will likely outnumber those adhering to Christianity.

        This week National Geographic magazine features an article about the modern rise of paganism.  It states, “There is, in general, a move away from organized religions and toward spirituality,” says Helen Berger, an author and sociologist of contemporary Paganism and witchcraft. Female empowerment and gay rights movements, the climate crisis, and a desire for a more life-affirming religion have fueled interest in the growing spiritual community, she adds…”

          The heathen gods are making a comeback, and new temples are cropping up all over the world.  Manheim is a heathen hof in Korinth in Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality, Denmark. The building opened in 2016 and is dedicated to the Norse gods. Iceland likewise opened its first pagan temple in a millennium dedicated to Norse deities, Odin and Thor.  Greece is reviving the old gods of Mount Olympus, Zeus, Poseidon, Cronos, Apollo and a host of others. Sedona, Arizona is a destination city for the occult and mysticism.  Why should any of this matter to us?

          With the establishment of the Church of God in Jerusalem in A.D. 31, and the subsequent spreading of the true gospel to the known world by the apostles who were trained by Jesus Christ, polytheism or the belief in many gods, greatly diminished in the world.  They penetrated a thoroughly pagan Greco-Roman world in which the very idea of one loving God was alien to them. The Greeks and Romans were an amalgamation of people who worshipped a wide variety of gods and goddesses.  Some were pantheists who worshipped Gaia, believing “god” was everywhere in nature. (Incidentally, both blockbuster Avatar movies directed by James Cameron are based on Gaia worship).  These pagans were ignorant of the true God of the Bible.

          When the Apostle Paul walked among the Greeks on Mars Hill, which was dedicated to the god of war, Ares, he noticed all the different gods they worshiped 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 Gotthard Base Tunnel located near Cern, Switzerland, where the world’s largest particle physics research center and collider is located, was carved through the solid rock mountains of the Swiss Alps. It is thirty-five miles long, and it is the world’s longest railway tunnel. When it was dedicated, the hour-long ceremony was entirely based on the occult and was paganistic. It can be viewed on the web, and it shows how paganism is on the rise.

          Hollywood is highlighted by the Oscars and the Academy Awards. Interestingly, the Oscar award itself is quite similar to the pagan icons of Egypt and Babylon. It is no secret that Hollywood often denigrates Christianity. It is the hotbed of sexual immorality and champions liberal, so-called Woke ideologies, which reject the Bible.

          It reminds us of what the Apostle Paul wrote nearly two thousand years ago in Romans 1:28-32: “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

          It is so very important for each of us to guard against the direction the world is leaning and hold fast to the one and only true God. Why is it so critical?  We want to be witnesses of the truth and God’s way of life to this world and escape the judgment to come!  God commands us in Revelation 18:4-5: “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.”