I'm not trying to offend anyone with this question, I'm just curious.
I am Wiccan and I have a Christian friend. We have a mutual friend who has recently moved into a new house. Our friend told us that he had been experiencing some negative feelings in his new home and decided to use white sage to clear the negativity.
My Christian friend said that our friend had sinned by using white sage to get rid of "evil spirits". I asked her why this was considered a sin and she explained that nowhere in the Bible does it mention using white sage to get rid of negativity. She also said that our friend should have prayed and asked for God to get rid of the negativity.
So basically what my Christian friend is saying is that if something isn't mentioned in the Bible then it is a sin. I don't see cars or computers being used in the Bible, so is using those items considered a sin too? I don't get it...
Again, I'm not trying to offend anyone, I'm just trying to understand my friends reasoning behind her statement.
Autumn2009-07-31T12:11:18Z
Favorite Answer
quote her own book back to her:
Matthew 12:24-26.
"Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.
26"If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?
according to Jesus, who explained that he couldn't possible be satan while casting out evil spirits because Satan can not go against himself.
Her reasoning is that she's been 'programmed' (for lack of a better word) to believe that anything outside of Prayer and God is evil.
If she still insists that it's evil because sage smudging isn't in the bible, then ask her why she celebrates Christmas and Easter...they aren't in the bible either.
The practice of smudging or cleansing w/ sage ascribes power to something other than God or Jesus (although God could easily have given sage its cleansing powers) and is therefore sinful to some Christians. It is also sinful because of its association w/ pagan or Native American practices.
The Bible is irrational and is not the final word on what is or is not sin except to some believers. It was written by men immersed in an ancient patriarchal culture. They all had agendas, whether it was keeping the social order, unifying doctrine, eliminating heresy or gaining converts.
Real power lies in the hands of those who write history and create the mythos upon which a society is based. In Biblical times this was the priesthood. They and the scribes they trained were the only literate members of society. The easiest way to keep people (women, slaves and any other group deemed to be 2nd class citizens) in their place is to say that God ordained it that way and then produce a book to prove it.
The concept that anything not specifically mentioned in scripture being a sin is... well... ridiculous.
If that were the case, cellular telephones, tylenol and even chess and checkers would be considered sin.
In judeo-chr-stianity, the use of physical objects - especially pharmaceuticals - can be construed as 'witchcraft' (translated as 'pharmacopoeia'), against which there are several mitzvahs, or laws. Possession of white sage isn't a sin - the use of white sage for this purpose is considered sin.
a million. Information is a series of matters. For illustration, the geologic column comprises know-how, as do ice cabinets and the progress jewelry of timber. Information can and does come from non-residing, non-wise assets. two. Non-residing chemical substances can spontaneously construct into intricate compounds. Those compounds can and do spontaneously meeting themselves into biology. All existence on the earth is evidence of that. three. The layout of residing matters is as normal because the layout of caves. Life got here from normal techniques as do caves. Life has been in a struggle of predator and prey due to the fact that earlier than the Cambrian Explosion. Offensive strategies evolve over the years as do protecting strategies. The practical incontrovertible fact that over ninety% of all species that experience ever lived on the planet at the moment are extinct is evidence that evolution drives existence, now not a few legendary wise fashion designer. four. There is not any such factor as irreducible complexity determined in any existence kind on the planet. If you dispose of the trap from a mouse lure, it would possibly not paintings good as a mouse lure, however it's going to paintings excellent as a tie clip or a paper weight. five. Evolution does now not have vectors. It does now not regularly turn out to be extra ordered and based. Once once more, the truth that over ninety% of the species that experience lived on the planet at the moment are extinct proves that. The major cause folks have a better mind than our ancestors is given that we lack unique base pairs that our ancestors have. That is practical evidence once more that evolution isn't just actual, however does now not have course – this is a random sequences of parties that force evolution. 6. The universe is honestly not anything. We are living in not anything. If you upload up the entire wonderful forces (gravity for illustration) and the entire repulsive forces (magnetism for illustration) you become with a whole sum of zero. 7. There is not any excellent tuning for existence. Life is solely an inevitable via-made from the universe. If you particularly evaluate the universe in minute main points you are going to discover that God does now not exist. There was once no wise fashion designer. We are right here given that the universe is imperfect and simply occurs to reward occasions which might be conducive to existence.
You've pretty much got it...if it's not in the Bible, its bad...unless its something convenient like a car. it's a sign of shallow theology. your friend has been taught that something in bad but doesn't have a good understanding of why it was bad, so she has found a generic answer to plug in to mask her own poor information.
Honestly, with a perspective like that, and a willingness to lecture other people on the religious rules of *her* religion, I'm surprised she puts up with having a Wiccan friend.