If a person does not believe in God, yet practices witchcraft and believes in forces unseen, then why not God?

Question

Years ago I met a pagan/atheist who believed in forces unseen and practiced witchcraft. How does one rectify no belief in God, yet they engage with forces unseen and believe in their existence?

Answer 1

I know that Pagans believe that there are many Gods male and female! That is not an atheists.I know a man who is a wiccan Priest and he tells me that they have many Gods and Goddesses.I am a Christian and I believe in one God in the form of the Father/Son/Holy ghost. But I do not shame my friend no do I try to convert him. It is more the other way around. He was at one time studying to be a Pentecostal Minister.

Answer 2

There are many elements here. Some of which have already been addressed.

Pagan and athiest are two different things - as has already been explained.

Someone who practices witchcraft is not automatically or necessarily pagan. They may be a christian witch, a jewish witch and so forth - witchcraft and magickal practitioning is not about religion as an absolute.

Pagan's (Wicca is one that is more widely known) do believe in many gods & goddesses.

And wiccan witches will work with the energies of the gods & goddesses.

And other witches (including wiccan) will work with the energies of the universe and nature.

Witchcraft is about conscious creation and there are many tools and methods to approach that (most routed in the same foundation - believing with certainty that what you want to have happen will knowing like attracts like).

I am doubtful that you would find many witches that were athiests - as witches do work with a higher power depending on what name or form they choose to give that (universal energy, nature, dieties etc).

I hope that gives greater clarity for you.

Answer 3

Why term those forces god? God implies a specific being or beings who are the personification of the unseen forces. This is more anthropomorphism than it is anything else. If a primitive tribe believed that storms represented a supernatural force, they could either label it a storm force or a storm god.

I am one who rejects the supernatural, forces and gods alike. Still, the idea of supernatural forces is closer to the natural reality which encompasses many types of forces than the idea of a supernatural being who manipulates supernatural forces in mysterious ways.

Answer 4

Your question implies that the only unseen force a person can believe in is the christian god. But people have believed in many gods and other forces before. If a person said they believed in Odin, or Zeus, or Manitou, would you ask the same question of them?

Answer 5

Not sure if what you're referring to was someone who didn't believe in the Christian God (but believed in other deities), or if that person didn't believe in any at all.

In either case, theological beliefs aren't necessary for believe in witchcraft (or other forms of magic). It's entirely possible to believe there are "subtle forces" out there that are "supernatural" without there needing to be any deities to back it up.

Answer 6

I am a witch (not an Atheist). I accept a plethora of Goddesses and Gods in my realm as did my predecessors. Not just one. And if you actually do some open minded research you will find that the early Christians had more than one God as well.

Answer 7

That's a hard question to answer. There's only one God, and he's the only way to life eternal. Pagan beliefs and witchcraft are all Satanic in nature. You can't deny the existence of God, nor can you escape his truth. Jesus was right when he said "I am the way, the truth and the life." (John 14:6) God is the only true deity; all the others are demonic in nature.

Answer 8

Well, for one, they are not disbelievers of a higher power...they just have chosen a DIFFERENT one than the God we speak of.

Pagans are NOT the same as atheists....look up the definitions

pa·gan (pgn) KEY

NOUN:

One who is not a Christian, Muslim, or Jew, especially a worshiper of a polytheistic religion.
One who has no religion.
A non-Christian.
A hedonist.
A Neo-Pagan.

a·the·ist (th-st) KEY

NOUN:

One who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods.

Answer 9

And how can christians bash someone like Sylvia Brown when they indeed claim to believe others have spoken to and have seen angels and passed on messages from the spirit realm - and IN the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy, SPIRIT - need I say more?

Answer 10

Because most people's perception of a god includes things that witchcraft does not. Things like creation, damnation, and, unfortunately, a righteous attitude.

Rob