Baptist minister Rev. Jeffrey Long-Middleton of West Acton Baptist Church speaks on paganism, Christianity, the similarities and differences of the two faiths, and the importance of respecting others’ beliefs:
[The word pagan has] always been pejorative…cultural baggage, I’m sure… [I’ve heard it] used in a way that was hostile to convictions that I hold… [Paganism was] linked, in my head, with Satanic stuff… The two are not that separated out… That becomes problematic… [But recently,] I did some research… [I learned that] it’s about spirituality…[and] not totally foreign to our [Christian] tradition… [Now, it’s] not as negative as it once was, in my head. [Paganism and Satanism are] not as closely linked.
The quest for the spiritual is the quest for the transcendent, not [held by] the limits of time and space… It seems as if, if spirituality is the quest for the transcendent…it will lead you to what we label as God.
It’s all about if miracles can or can’t happen… When you talk about a guy dead three days rising from the dead, you’re pushing credulity… Openness to miracle…I’ve seen it at work in the lives of others. I stand in awe of it… They’ve explained the sunset. They’ve explained rainbows… [These things are] still miraculous.
[Paganism is about] thanksgiving…for what you have received, unbidden… Which isn’t far from where I am… I’m not trying to say there isn’t a spiritual presence in the physical world…[and in] natural wonder.
[The firmness of my beliefs] does not give [me] the right to trample over the convictions of another. [I can’t say that because] I didn’t pass through it, it didn’t occur, or has no merit… It’s absurd…[to think I] could set parameters as to where the spirit will and will not blow… The spirit of God manifests itself in many different ways to people.
6/18/09. Thanks to Rev. Long-Middleton for this interview.
Comments
Interesting short article, but Valerie, why would you capitalize Christianity in the title and not capitalize the word Paganism?
Hello Valarie, What's cookin'? Everything good I hope... You have some interesting thoughts and most are probably true. The devil is real and he does mess with our minds all day long. I'm not letting him mess with mine any more, I'm learning or trying to learn to maintain the peace... No Matter What!
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