Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion

Pagan Theology Introduction

Pagan Theology Introduction I believe in the supernatural, but I cannot demonstrate its existence . It is, by definition, beyond the empirical dimension of factual truths. Thomas Aquinas coined the term to refer to what is thought to be privileged above the agency and laws of nature, but I prefer the term preternatural as encompassing whatever is other than the ordinary, explicable , and natural. If we accept the preternatural as simply what is miraculously other than the natural or empirical, it carries the general understanding of what we mean by the supernatural but without connotations of hierarchy, that is, as something “better” than the natural. It is in this sense that I use the term supernatural, as a nonhierarchical preternatural reality. The path between the supernatural and humanity is one way. We cannot approach it or interact with the supernatural as we can with the world itself; at best we can only prepare ourselves for its possible intrusion. The supernatural reveals itself to us, but we are unable to measure it and appraise it with our laboratory methods of science. It is “beyond” them and “beyond” our reliable means of control. Religion, however we wish to define it, is a compilation of suggestions and techniques by which we might become receptive to the supernatural and encourage or discourage its operation within our lives. Some religions might dismiss it altogether; others, like Theravada Buddhism, devalue the supernatural without denying its reality. But other religions incorporate various understandings of the supernatural into their formulations of what is meaningful or valuable in the human enterprise, either individually or collectively. My own understanding of religion is as a shared apprehension of the world,humanity,and the supernatural and their interrelation.Each religion formulates a comprehension of what these three poles of existence are in ways that provide significance and the location of value for its respective adherents . Some dismiss or devalue the supernatural; some dismiss or devalue 1 the world—but they all have a position on empirical and superempirical realities and their relationships to humanity. Those things that are accepted as valuable and meaningful within any given religious framework become its foci. This includes delineating the scope of possibility. Perhaps an advantageous approach to understanding religion is to think of each individual religion as functioning like a map. There are many different ways of constructing a map, different features to be emphasized or ignored, different areas to be covered, and different ways of using the map. Maps can be complex or simple, out-of-date or useful for the given place and time at hand, accurate or misleading. But each map is recognized by its focus and range of emphases. The use of a map depends in part on the authority that has constructed it. One might be drawn by an explorer into a new territory. Another might be compiled by the National Geographic Society. If we do not respect the map drawer, however, as presenting either an accurate or useful likeness, the map at best becomes something of idiosyncratic and antiquarian interest and not something to be used to find our local supermarket or the direction to Kathmandu. A religion, like a map, depends on the authority we invest in it. If we have little or no respect for whoever has formulated the religion, its mapmaker so to speak, we will have little occasion to consult its schematization from the vantage point of a user. Christians respect the authority of Jesus Christ, his disciples, the church fathers, and the clergy. Muslims respect Muhammad, the Qur’an, and perhaps the imams or jurists. Confucians accept Confucius and Mencius as authorities who drew and legitimated the Confucian map. Scientologists turn to L. Ron Hubbard; Sannyasins to Osho; The Family to Moses David Berg, the Bible, and institutional directives; the Church Universal and Triumphant to Elizabeth Claire Prophet and her conveyance of messages from the “ascended masters”; and so forth. Each identifiable religion has a tradition or canon that it accepts as its prevailing authority. In our modern world, however, with its growing questioning of all authority and its ever emerging cosmopolitan encounter with other traditions and different maps, there is a growing tendency for the individual to draw from within as well as from a range of available external resources to construct his or her own map. In this process, much of the individual’s spiritual journey is achieved through a trial-and...