Shalom,
Do you consider pagan faiths like hinduism, buddhism etc. to be demonic? Not the people themselves - people may be good - but I am talking about the various pagan religions. Are they all demonic because they deny Christ's divinity?
Discuss without getting overemotional.
Thanks,
Simon
They aren't Pagan religions....those are world religions that still exist and have developed, complex theologies. Paganism is relatively primitive when you compare them to those faiths.
Now, are they demonic? No. They certainly are not salvific and are, over all, false, but I doubt the Devil or his fallen angels have anything to do with them. If anything, they are proof of humanity's yearning for God - our faulty outstretched hands desiring truth and a way to live justly, righteously, and mercifully.
Religions besides Christianity do have elements of truth in them, some more than others (and others barely at all). Instead of screaming "demon!", we should become knowledgeful about these other religions for various reasons:
- To better appreciate our own
- To understand our world better and use that knowledge to promote peace, kindness, and tolerance
- To better spread the Gospel to those of other religions by using commonalities and similarities as springboards of dialogue.
Furthermore, some do
not deny Christ's Divinity. "Hinduism" (Sanatana Dharma) has no problem seeing Jesus being Divine and many Hindus see Him as an avatar of their concept of the Divine (called "Brahman"). The Baha'i World Faith religion officially calls Him Divine as well. While not quite the same, Islam, while not seeing Jesus as Divine,
does acknowledge Him as not just a Prophet but officially as a
Messianic person as well.
So, they are not salvific and they are false, but that is not an excuse nor a valid reason to call them demonic. Thankfully, the Anglican approach to other religions is civilized, positive, and promotes dialogue and understanding at the very least. The fruit of our labors has often been conversion, which is why Anglicanism is found the world over, and we try our best to live with our non-Christian neighbors as benevolently as possible.