Preface and Orientation

Before we take the plunge and consider how Wiccans and Christians have valid challenges to offer one another, I would like to make a few preliminary comments, which should bring more clarity to the ensuing discussion.

Some readers may be very unfamiliar with, or even feel uncomfortable about Christians and Wiccans talking to one another. Wicca and Christianity are two very different faiths or spiritual pathways. Wiccans follow a nature-based approach, devoted to the Goddess and God. Christians follow Jesus' teachings, with devotion to God. So here we have two separate faiths and each has a distinct and different view about the Creator(s).

The purpose of dialogue between Wiccans and Christians is not to mix-and-match or amalgamate the faiths. To attempt an amalgamation would involve a serious distortion of one another's faith. Rather dialogue about each side gaining a clear understanding of one another's positions. Straw man pictures can be cast aside as each party is compelled to discover the truth about one another. So a dialogical exercise can help clarify what has been previously obscure or misunderstood by either party.

Another benefit of open and honest dialogue is that by looking at the other person's view, the contrasts between them bring your own beliefs into sharp focus. Sometimes that may underscore for both parties the need for more clarification on a given teaching. For example, in early church history some breakaway movements, like the Arians, developed views about Christ that highlighted the need for greater clarity. In responding to the Arians, the mainstream Christians arrived at a clearer understanding about Christ's nature. In the same way, Wiccans can benefit from seeing their own teachings in contrast to Christian ones, and vice versa.

I am certainly not saying that Wiccans and Christians teach the same things. What I am indicating is that there are areas where both Wiccans and Christians have mutual interests, even though their core teachings and values are quite different. Christians should be able to see that Wiccan views do indeed compel us to go back to scripture for a deeper look and in doing that we might rediscover some biblical truths we have overlooked. Likewise any Wiccans who read this, should be able to see how the message of Christianity presents some challenges for them to reflect on too.

The last decades of the twentieth century have unfolded with some tremendous upheavals in Western thought. The assumptions of modernity were grounded in an anti-supernatural bias with an overarching confidence in European based rationalism, science and technology as the pre-eminent tools for understanding reality. This system of thought brought many advances and powerfully shaped our technologically based way of life. Yet, its assumptions have proven inadequate in the context of an emerging global civilization. The modern era is passing away as another framework, known as postmodernity or globalism supplants it.

The postmodern mindset has offered some razor sharp insights into the shortcomings of modernity. The suppression or disparagement of spirituality has been quite rightly regarded as an aberrational outworking of Cartesian thought. Now the accent is back on the spiritual, with the grass roots emphasis on spirituality as a lifestyle issue. Indeed seekers tend to favour spirituality expressed beyond the formal structures of church, temple and mosque.