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<blockquote data-quote="Enigma" data-source="post: 1343106" data-attributes="member: 3766"><p>That's the traditional view of the Church and the current view of the Orthodox Church. </p><p></p><p>There are elements of truth in various pagan religions and many cultures have been allowed to retain aspects of their pagan past which weren't harmful, like honoring nature, but you're not allowed to worship anything other than God. </p><p></p><p>Plus, if you actually approach the major pagan religions with the above in mind, the demonic aspects become pretty obvious, both on an exoteric and esoteric level. </p><p></p><p>For instance, any god that demands human sacrifice (ex. Norse, Central America, Native American, Greek, etc. paganism) is clearly demonic. And even the physical appearance of these gods, as they're depicted in pagan art, is very obviously demonic. </p><p></p><p>Giant, four-armed elephant deity carrying swords (Hinduism and traditional Buddhism). Is that an angel? </p><p></p><p>Then there's the behavior of these gods. Rape, murder, incest, etc. Some of the pagan religions differentiate between more righteous and more violent gods, but this entire pantheistic conception is itself anti-Christian, as is the dualistic idea of good and evil as a natural balance. In Orthodoxy, evil is not only unnatural, it doesn't even have ontological existence; it's simply a privation of the good. Even death is unnatural.</p><p></p><p>This applies to pagan metaphysics as a whole, including in religions like Buddhism. For example, Orthodox Christianity explicitly rejects the idea of the world as an illusion, as well as monism. The world is fallen, the physical world is inferior to the heavenly Kingdom, but the world we live in is still 100% real. And while we become one with God, in a sense, we never lose our distinctions.</p><p></p><p>To be clear, this doesn't mean that all pagans, past and present, <em>consciously</em> worshipped demons. But the religions themselves <em>are</em> demonic from the Christian perspective. How can something that is directly contradictory to the Christian worldview and does things explicitly forbidden by God not be demonic? </p><p></p><p>There's definitely a continuum. For instance, St. Nicholas of Japan described Japanese Buddhism as a higher form of paganism. On the other hand, you have pagans that were sacrificing their own children and living like complete degenerates. There are even degrees within these religions, like Zen vs. Theravada Buddhism or Sunni vs. Sufi Islam. But they are ultimately all on the same scale.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Enigma, post: 1343106, member: 3766"] That's the traditional view of the Church and the current view of the Orthodox Church. There are elements of truth in various pagan religions and many cultures have been allowed to retain aspects of their pagan past which weren't harmful, like honoring nature, but you're not allowed to worship anything other than God. Plus, if you actually approach the major pagan religions with the above in mind, the demonic aspects become pretty obvious, both on an exoteric and esoteric level. For instance, any god that demands human sacrifice (ex. Norse, Central America, Native American, Greek, etc. paganism) is clearly demonic. And even the physical appearance of these gods, as they're depicted in pagan art, is very obviously demonic. Giant, four-armed elephant deity carrying swords (Hinduism and traditional Buddhism). Is that an angel? Then there's the behavior of these gods. Rape, murder, incest, etc. Some of the pagan religions differentiate between more righteous and more violent gods, but this entire pantheistic conception is itself anti-Christian, as is the dualistic idea of good and evil as a natural balance. In Orthodoxy, evil is not only unnatural, it doesn't even have ontological existence; it's simply a privation of the good. Even death is unnatural. This applies to pagan metaphysics as a whole, including in religions like Buddhism. For example, Orthodox Christianity explicitly rejects the idea of the world as an illusion, as well as monism. The world is fallen, the physical world is inferior to the heavenly Kingdom, but the world we live in is still 100% real. And while we become one with God, in a sense, we never lose our distinctions. To be clear, this doesn't mean that all pagans, past and present, [I]consciously[/I] worshipped demons. But the religions themselves [I]are[/I] demonic from the Christian perspective. How can something that is directly contradictory to the Christian worldview and does things explicitly forbidden by God not be demonic? There's definitely a continuum. For instance, St. Nicholas of Japan described Japanese Buddhism as a higher form of paganism. On the other hand, you have pagans that were sacrificing their own children and living like complete degenerates. There are even degrees within these religions, like Zen vs. Theravada Buddhism or Sunni vs. Sufi Islam. But they are ultimately all on the same scale. [/QUOTE]
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