Paganism
by Kenny Chumbley
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“Be ready to give an answer …” --1 Peter 3:15
By paganism, I mean any religion that does not have Jehovah, the God of the Bible (designated in some versions as “the LORD”), as its object. Paganism dominated the Roman world in the first century, and it dominates the world still. When pagan friends, family, and neighbors question our faith, we must answer, without stuttering or glossing over any aspect of the gospel they find objectionable. The Christian answer to paganism, I think, must incorporate two main lines of argument.
PAGANISM IS UNREAL
Idols were tangible representations of the pagan gods. “More sophisticated . . . pagans might point out that the image was not the deity but only a representation . . . but to less sophisticated minds . . . the idol embodied the deity’s personality, and . . . received the direct worship of the devotees” (F. F. Bruce). The gospel counter on idols was that “man-made gods are no gods at all” (Acts 19:26, NIV). Zeus never spoke from Mt. Olympus, Hermes never delivered any message, and Poseidon never calmed the sea. Not one god of Olympus, Valhalla, etc. had any basis in reality, and this lack of intellectual validity ultimately spelled their doom.
But there’s more to paganism than carved images, for at its core, paganism is what you get whenever men deify their passions, impulses, virtues, and whims. Pagans make gods out of what is most important to them. Thus, the drinking/carousing crowd invented Bacchus; those who worshipped sex came up with Venus; Mars was imagined by terrorists; and the Muses sprang from the smart crowd that venerates science, technology, and the arts. Modern pagans aren’t as blatant as the ancients—it’s been a long time since anyone built a temple to Athena—but so long as man insists on making God in his own image, paganism will continue.
TRUE CHRISTIANITY IS REAL
The gospel proposition is that the doctrines of Christ rest on the verifiably true. We Christians know there is a God who has spoken to man, revealing His will, addressing man’s most pressing concerns—how can I be saved from sin? How can I please God? how can I get to heaven? We know this because our faith is built on the rock of Christ’s resurrection from the dead (Matt. 16.18; Acts 17.31).
CHRIST CRUCIFIED
So why aren’t pagans leaving their fictional faith in droves for one that’s real? It is because their make-believe faith lets them keep their sinful lifestyles. Paul spelled it out in Ephesians 4.17–19 by showing that paganism isn’t driven intellectually, but morally (rather, immorally).
Ephesians 4:17-19
17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart;
19 who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
Rejecting moral restraints, pagans harden their heart to truth and conscience, believe every ignorant nonsense that comes along, cut themselves off from God, and descend ever deeper into reckless, more debauched behavior (like gay marriage, transgenderism, killing babies and selling parts of their body, etc.). Listen, any society in which paganism is predominant is engaged in societal suicide.
Into the moral and spiritual morass of mid-nineteenth-century London came a teenage boy to preach for a church of about 80 members. Before long, Charles Spurgeon had turned London upside down with his ministry, with thousands packing every service to hear him speak. Here’s how Boreham explained his success: “He knew that, under a veneer of indifference, people are genuinely troubled about life and about death, about sin and about God. He therefore preached on the stupendous themes of which they were dying to hear. He made men feel that he knew, and knew for certain, of a remedy for their deepest distresses.”
It is no different today. Appearances notwithstanding, many pagans are troubled and need to hear of Christ crucified!
1 Corinthians 1:22-24
22 Seeing that Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom:
23 but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumbling block, and unto Gentiles foolishness;
24 but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
Jesus is the most real thing they will ever come in contact with. So let us preach Christ; let us preach the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16), the gospel!
Kenny Chumbley
KLChumbley@aol.com
No. 142; The Prairie Papers
Please e-mail Kenny Chumbley if you wish to get added to his mailing list.
Also of interest on this topic: Pagan Influence upon Roman Catholicism by Owen Weber (2009).
Return to the Pilgrims' landing page
Jesus gives his conditions for eternal life: God's Plan of Salvation
By paganism, I mean any religion that does not have Jehovah, the God of the Bible (designated in some versions as “the LORD”), as its object. Paganism dominated the Roman world in the first century, and it dominates the world still. When pagan friends, family, and neighbors question our faith, we must answer, without stuttering or glossing over any aspect of the gospel they find objectionable. The Christian answer to paganism, I think, must incorporate two main lines of argument.
PAGANISM IS UNREAL
Idols were tangible representations of the pagan gods. “More sophisticated . . . pagans might point out that the image was not the deity but only a representation . . . but to less sophisticated minds . . . the idol embodied the deity’s personality, and . . . received the direct worship of the devotees” (F. F. Bruce). The gospel counter on idols was that “man-made gods are no gods at all” (Acts 19:26, NIV). Zeus never spoke from Mt. Olympus, Hermes never delivered any message, and Poseidon never calmed the sea. Not one god of Olympus, Valhalla, etc. had any basis in reality, and this lack of intellectual validity ultimately spelled their doom.
But there’s more to paganism than carved images, for at its core, paganism is what you get whenever men deify their passions, impulses, virtues, and whims. Pagans make gods out of what is most important to them. Thus, the drinking/carousing crowd invented Bacchus; those who worshipped sex came up with Venus; Mars was imagined by terrorists; and the Muses sprang from the smart crowd that venerates science, technology, and the arts. Modern pagans aren’t as blatant as the ancients—it’s been a long time since anyone built a temple to Athena—but so long as man insists on making God in his own image, paganism will continue.
TRUE CHRISTIANITY IS REAL
The gospel proposition is that the doctrines of Christ rest on the verifiably true. We Christians know there is a God who has spoken to man, revealing His will, addressing man’s most pressing concerns—how can I be saved from sin? How can I please God? how can I get to heaven? We know this because our faith is built on the rock of Christ’s resurrection from the dead (Matt. 16.18; Acts 17.31).
CHRIST CRUCIFIED
So why aren’t pagans leaving their fictional faith in droves for one that’s real? It is because their make-believe faith lets them keep their sinful lifestyles. Paul spelled it out in Ephesians 4.17–19 by showing that paganism isn’t driven intellectually, but morally (rather, immorally).
Ephesians 4:17-19
17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart;
19 who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
Rejecting moral restraints, pagans harden their heart to truth and conscience, believe every ignorant nonsense that comes along, cut themselves off from God, and descend ever deeper into reckless, more debauched behavior (like gay marriage, transgenderism, killing babies and selling parts of their body, etc.). Listen, any society in which paganism is predominant is engaged in societal suicide.
Into the moral and spiritual morass of mid-nineteenth-century London came a teenage boy to preach for a church of about 80 members. Before long, Charles Spurgeon had turned London upside down with his ministry, with thousands packing every service to hear him speak. Here’s how Boreham explained his success: “He knew that, under a veneer of indifference, people are genuinely troubled about life and about death, about sin and about God. He therefore preached on the stupendous themes of which they were dying to hear. He made men feel that he knew, and knew for certain, of a remedy for their deepest distresses.”
It is no different today. Appearances notwithstanding, many pagans are troubled and need to hear of Christ crucified!
1 Corinthians 1:22-24
22 Seeing that Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom:
23 but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumbling block, and unto Gentiles foolishness;
24 but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
Jesus is the most real thing they will ever come in contact with. So let us preach Christ; let us preach the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16), the gospel!
Kenny Chumbley
KLChumbley@aol.com
No. 142; The Prairie Papers
Please e-mail Kenny Chumbley if you wish to get added to his mailing list.
Also of interest on this topic: Pagan Influence upon Roman Catholicism by Owen Weber (2009).
Return to the Pilgrims' landing page
Jesus gives his conditions for eternal life: God's Plan of Salvation