Neopaganism is a more modern movement that aims to revive and rediscover ancient pagan beliefs and practices. Part of the goal is to revive traditions and religions from pre-Christian Europe since they believe Christianity unfairly attacked or removed these beliefs. For this and various other reasons, neopaganism usually comes with hostility to orthodox Christianity.
Neopaganism has risen in different ways in the past few decades. Due to the wide range of beliefs and modern reinterpretations, it can be difficult to recognize, especially for Christians. If not careful, these unbiblical ideas can seep into our local churches. By looking deeper into the development of neopaganism, believers can better guard against ungodly religious philosophy and engage neopagan believers with love and understanding.
What Are the Origins of Neopaganism?
A few key people helped shape the modern rise of neopaganism. Perhaps the most influential was Gerald Gardner, an English civil servant who founded Wicca in the mid-1900s. Gardner said he’d been trained and initiated into a coven of witches, but most historians believe he mostly combined rituals from folklore and ancient paganism. His writings, like Witchcraft Today in 1954, led to more interest and participation in modern Wiccan practice.
After Gardner, other influencers emerged. Raymond Buckland helped spread Wicca in the US. Ross Nichols reimagined Celtic Druidry through founding the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids in 1960s Britain. Nichols taught a love of nature, poetry, and Celtic traditions. In central Europe, like Germany, Heathen movements like Asatru tried to rediscover Norse paganism, worshipping gods like Odin and Thor.
As a broader movement, neopaganism found more popularity during the counterculture movement in 60s and 70s, rejecting Christian traditions and thought and experimenting with different spiritualities and drugs. Neopagan groups brought ancient practices to modern needs and manufactured new rituals that mixed mythology and magic. Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler (1979) and The Spiral Dance by Starhawk (1979) more formalized the movement and further spread the message.
Neopaganism acts like a big umbrella, under which several very different pagan beliefs exist, from Wicca to Druidism.
What Are the Core Beliefs of Neopaganism?
While practices and beliefs vary widely, most neopagans worship nature as sacred. They see the earth, seasons, and life cycles as divine in themselves or expressions of nature gods. Many believe in immanence, the idea that the divine is present in the world, or the world itself is divine, rather than a god or creator who exists distinct from it. This is where people will say things like, “The universe is looking out for me.”
Personal intuition and experience become religious doctrine. Neopagans might value rituals honoring the cycles of nature like solstices and equinoxes. Their morality focuses on being in harmony with nature, personal responsibility, and respect for others’ spiritual paths.
The gods of neopaganism come from the many cultures. Some honor a Goddess and God as complementary forces, often connected to the sky and the earth. Wiccans will worship a Triple Goddess (Maiden, Mother, and Crone), and a Horned God. Others bring back gods from the European pre-Christian religions, like Thor, Artemis, Brigid, or Isis. A few look at the gods as literal beings, but many see them as archetypes representing the mind or nature.
Neopaganism’s diversity emerges from the many different sources. It didn’t rise as a single movement but as many efforts to rediscover ancient traditions. No central authority governs or defines neopaganism, so individual groups or people create their own religions from mythology, ritual, and belief. Practitioners can choose from multiple traditions and make their own path.
What Are the Differences between Ancient Paganism and Neopaganism?
Ancient paganism was a natural and communal religion of a culture that evolved and developed over time, worshipping local gods tied to places and usually a race of people. Ancient pagans honored their gods through rituals involving priests or civic leaders. Their religious beliefs worked with day-to-day life, sacred and secular as a whole. Their religious culture infused politics, warfare, social customs, and the economy. In those ancient cultures, the pagan beliefs wasn’t a matter of choice; they practiced the traditions of their families and people groups. And while different groups may have influenced one another somewhat through contact and trade, national groups didn’t take on the religions of another or get to choose a different way.
In contrast, neopaganism is a more modern and voluntary spiritual movement. Neopagans almost completely choose their practices with freedom, mixing historical research and personal spirituality. Ancient paganism connected to public life and cultural identity. Neopaganism emerged specifically to be countercultural, anti-tradition in many ways. Neopaganism isn’t about the greater whole, necessarily, focusing more on personal growth, the environment, and mysticism. Neopagan believers form small communities and seek to reclaim lost knowledge and a connection with nature.
Ancient pagans passed on religion through oral tradition and myth, supported by the local culture as a whole. The ancients didn’t have to try and preserve or research their beliefs. Neopagans must by necessity work with partial knowledge, whatever had been written down and preserved over centuries, creating their own path and belief system, often mixing these ancient ideas with modern philosophy and environmentalism. Modern neopagans don’t really pass down their individual systems since they believe each person should construct their own.
Paganism in the ancient world also operated in cultures where animal sacrifice, slavery, and brutal violence were all normalized or celebrated. In fact, the ancient pagans saw such injustices as part of their beliefs. Neopagans pick and chose what they believe and accept from these old sources, rejecting things like slavery.
Although neopaganism tries to gain inspiration from ancient sources, it reflects more modern philosophy and individualism than a real acceptance of an older system.
How Does the Bible Address Neopagan Beliefs?
As we can see from the above discussion, the Bible speaks from a very different view of the world than neopaganism.
Regarding nature, the Bible teaches how creation is good and reflects God’s glory (Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:20), but Scripture clearly reveals how the Creator is separate from creation. God made the world and called it good, but the Bible warns against worshipping created things instead of the Creator (Romans 1:25). Christians must honor and care for creation, not to see it as divine itself.
For divine entities, neopaganism allows for many gods. However, the Bible teaches monotheism. “Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4). Throughout Scripture, God commands his people to reject idolatry and worshipping any other gods (Exodus 20:3-5). Worshipping other gods, like treating nature as a god, rebels against the true Creator, and such idolatry leads to destructive consequences for people and places.
Neopagans focus on personal experience and mysticism. While the Bible expresses how God reveals himself personally to people (John 14:21; James 1:5), true knowledge of God must align with his Word and Spirit. Experiences themselves happen but aren’t a foundation for anything. They must be tested by truth to make sure they don’t lead believers away. God worked and saved his people in the ancient world, and he clearly warns against things like sorcery and seeking “secret knowledge” through the occult (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). Many of these practices are a part of neopagan beliefs and behavior.
Neopaganism respects all paths as the same, at least in theory. This personal autonomy goes against the biblical call to follow one way, the Way, Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Christianity welcomes all people from all places and points them to the God of all creation through the Son, Jesus Christ. Complete submission to the Son leads to true spiritual freedom.
Lastly, neopaganism’s morality accepts most or all ways of life. Biblical ethics, like love, justice, and mercy, find roots in God's character. These things flow from the God who exists. Caring for creation and other people can only truly happen while giving all glory to and turning to the Creator, not individual feelings or ideas.
How Should Christians Address Neopagans with Love and Truth?
While we should reject the ideas and beliefs of neopaganism, those who believe in it aren’t the enemy, nor should they be treated as such. We engage with neopagans with love and truth through building friendships, showing Christ’s love in action. We should approach neopagans as individuals, not projects or objects. Building real friendships means caring about their lives and struggles, learning their life stories and being genuinely interested. Jesus would often show compassion before correction, as should we (Luke 19:1-10).
Within this friendship, we care for neopagans as people made in God’s image, just as everyone is. Every interaction reveals our kindness and reflects God’s love. Instead of rushing to debate, we begin by listening and asking thoughtful questions to show respect. Although secondary, good questions and positive interactions will lead to deeper spiritual discussions, as they will likely ask us questions in return.
Once these deeper spiritual discussions begin, we must listen to the Holy Spirit. Every person is unique, and the Spirit can give wisdom in what and when to speak and respond in targeted ways. Sometimes loving someone means patiently waiting for the right moment to share Jesus. In every circumstance, sharing about Jesus must happen with love, grace, and humility.
Finally, we make sure we point people to the person of Jesus, not a religion or a tradition. Each of the four Gospels is directly and only focused on the person of Christ. He is the Good News, and his work, what he said and did. Therefore, we express him through words and actions. Living in peace, forgiveness, humility, and joy gives a personal example of the transformation Jesus brings. In our speech, we clearly share how we can know the loving Creator personally through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:15-16). For neopagans, the Good News of Jesus provides what they long for: properly caring for creation, others, individuality, and belonging to a spiritual family, the church in the world but not of it, countercultural in a constructive way. In this, sharing Jesus in love becomes the greatest gift we can give those who follow neopaganism.
Peace.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Boonyachoat
