I identify as Christian. I’ve always done that, with an exception for a few times in my life when I doubted my faith quite a lot. I still doubt sometimes though, but it’s a healthy kind of doubt! Now, this article is about how I’m combining the occult with Christianity and how I embrace doubting because it causes me to regularly examining my beliefs.
Choosing to study Metaphysics and also the Bible from a critical perspective
Even though I’m a Christian and believe in God, I do study the Bible from a very critical perspective. I’m not blindly following anything in life, so I won’t do an exception for the Bible… Everything should be questioned and if it really holds up it should handle that.
Since I started to study Metaphysics and Religious Studies, I’ve started to see things much deeper. I’ve started to read the Apocrypha and the missing books of the Bible. I’ve started to learn a bit of Biblical Hebrew to eventually examine the true scriptures from the beginning of it all. I hope to study different traditions of biblical translations and how it influences the contemporary version of the Bible we read today.
I used to study at a Christian college but they were too biased. I wanted something more… neutral and non-devotional for my studies. I really do believe that a potential God would want us to question things to know them deeper. Yes, I even use gender-neutral pronouns, go ahead and sue me!
What has this to do with the occult, I hear you ask?
Yes, let me tell you that! If you examine the Bible in this way and allow yourself to understand the bare roots of the scripture, then you’ll realize that the Bible is not as crystal clear as some people think. Many Christians think tarot and crystals are forbidden and mediums should be arrested because “the Bible says so”. Well… It’s not that simple. The details are somewhat blurry and it’s more about the fruit of the verse we should take to heart. Like I can imagine that God don’t want us to get hurt or hurt others and that’s why he warns us for mediums (or sorcerers) – they could be frauds or do harm – but it’s more about just that: the harm, not to be a sorcerer to begin with.
Intent is a big thing as well. If a witch dedicates their life to helping others by doing herbal medicine, or rituals for wellbeing, do you really think God would mind? No. The end result is what matters. No decent God would think otherwise.
If a Christian dedicates their entire life to spew hate on the gays, do you think God would mind? Yes, because Jesus hung out even with prostitutes and the most vulnerable of people.
I self-identify as a witch and also as a Christian. Some may wonder why and many would critique it. I really don’t mind, because I know why I’ve come to that conclusion. It’s almost always the people who don’t dare to question the Bible and the people who know the least about the history of their holy book who will have that negative perspective.
Hear me out; The Bible should not be taken literally.
Yes, you heard that correctly. Since the text is ancient and has been translated from Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic and a bunch of other languages into English and not to say – our contemporary version of English, it’s not possible to take it completely literally. It’s not even possible to follow it in its entirety because you would be put in jail if you’re planning to stone your children for disobedience or enslave other people to work in your vineyard… We have to consider historical context and compare it to today’s day and age. We should always ask when reading a verse: “what is the heart of this verse? what’s the fruit of this passage? What is this piece really telling me?”. If you cannot do that, you’re not mature enough to even be reading the Bible…
If you’re not cherrypicking the Bible you’re a danger to the society. Yes, I stand by that!
If you’re not including the historical context into your reading – then you do yourself a big disservice.
Being a literalist is not possible without hurting society, being a fundamentalist is just plain stupid. Sorry not sorry.
I’ve not figured it out either!
…And I’m certainly not perfect in any way. I’m still learning. Just like all of us do. I know God lets me be critical because any parent wants their children to think for themselves if they’re truly a good parent.
Written in April 26, 2024 by Trix Joyce.