(Author's Note: Theology, Christian or Heathen is a very fickle thing, and while I have tried my best to ensure that every statement in this work is fact, I cannot guarantee that some over sights were not made. This is especially true of the orthodox Christian theology. The Christian clergy have changed, adapted, and altered their theology to suit their needs, often stooping to deception (the early Christian missionaries were the first spin doctors afterall). None the less, as final arbitrator for the Christian theology I used their Bible, and therefore I will stand behind the statements about their religion that I have made here.)
In the second half of this century, Christian church attendance dropped dramatically, and this has aided the spread of popular Christianity, so that now more people are expressing popular Christian views than orthodox ones. This change in the religious views of America has greatly aided our trow, for the beliefs of popular Christianity adheres more closely to the views of orthodox Asatru and other Heathen sects than it does orthodox Christianity. In many ways, popular Christianity is just the sort of "mixed faith," one would expect to find in a culture that was never fully converted.
These views of popular Christianity are for the most part, the one and the same as the ones orthodox Christianity holds. Most "Christian" Americans believe they should forgive those that hurt or wrong them, and profess there is but one deity. The majority of adherents of popular Christianity might also say that Christ died for their sins, and that their belief in him alone will lead them to salvation. However, as will be seen when we explore what popular Christianity has in common with Heathenry, this is not the only way to "redemption" in popular Christianity. Unlike orthodox Christianity, in popular Christianity, good deeds without belief can also send one to "heaven". As for popular Christianity's adherence to the "Ten Commandments," it is difficult to say whether this is due to the commandments being "Christian," or because they are a very basic law code that any reasonable people might obey.
The Christian belief in angels and demons is another interesting area of belief that popular Christianity has in common with orthodox Christianity, but here too, it is only the basic premises that are held in common. We will have more to say about angels later. The most insidious of Christian beliefs that both popular Christianity and orthodox Christianity hold in common is that all that is not Christian is "evil." Thankfully, this belief is becoming less common as Christians are becoming more and more tolerant of other religions due to both the spread of the belief that good deeds save souls in Christianity (and not just mere belief in the Christian deity), and the fight by non-Christian religions like our own against persecution.
While popular Christianity and orthodox Christianity hold these views in common, there are major differences between the two. Sometimes it is more difficult to make a "pop" Christian see these differences, than to convince them that their beliefs are Heathen. If you ever try to explain your beliefs to a "Christian" friend, they will quickly admit that they believe many of the same things. But if you try to convince them these are Heathen and not Christian beliefs, they will retaliate with, "but I am Christian," or "but Christians believe that also." Largely this is because most "Christians" don't even know the REAL beliefs of orthodox Christianity, and are under the mistaken impression that such beliefs as "immediate life after death" are a part of orthodox Christianity. This is because popular Christian beliefs are so ingrained in our society at large that most Christians accept them as true Christianity without ever talking to their clergy or reading a Bible. And too, many popular Christian beliefs are survivals of Heathen beliefs deliberately cloaked and disguised with a Christian veneer by the early Christian missionaries. Other Christian beliefs came about with the growth of humanism in the last few centuries. Whether popular Christian beliefs come from ancient Heathen beliefs or humanistic ones really does not matter, the point being that those popular Christian beliefs at variance with orthodox Christianity are NOT Christian. In truth, the oldest ones are but Heathen hold overs.
The beliefs that popular Christianity holds in common with Heathenry are: 1) A belief in an afterlife in another world ("heaven"), as well as a belief in an immortal soul. 2) A belief that the dead can be talked to, watch over us, or need to be given gifts (flowers at Memorial day). 3) A belief that good deeds are how men pay their way into the paradise of the afterlife. 4) The usage of Heathen customs in the celebration of holidays. 5) The belief in angels as female beings or that the dead become angels upon death. 6) A belief that, that which harms society is "evil" while that which helps society is "good." 7) A belief that we must give back to the Earth what we take. These, no doubt, are not the only beliefs that popular Christianity holds in common with Heathenry, but they are the most visible. Were we to look closely though, there are a myriad minor traditions handed down through families that are truly Heathen (ham on Christmas, wishing wells, wassailing, charms...), but for now these examples will suffice.
The belief in an afterlife is the variance easiest to spot that popular
Christianity has with orthodox Christianity, and it is not hard to find
its true place of origin. Belief in an otherworldly afterlife is not an
orthodox Christian view. Drawing from "The Book of Revelations (see Rev.
chapters 20 and 21)," orthodox Christianity holds that a "new Earth" will
be created, and here the "saved" shall reside. The "damned" will be flung
into a lake of fire and be destroyed. Neither is there a belief in an immortal
soul within orthodox Christianity. Drawing once again on "The Book of Revelations
(see Rev. chapter 20)," it is clear that orthodox Christianity truly believes
when people die they cease to exist until "judgement day" when their bodies
are resurrected. The belief in the soul in Christianity is drawn from Greek,
Roman, Celtic, and Germanic beliefs, and did not originate with Christianity.
Popular Christianity's belief that the souls of the dead go immediately
to "heaven" upon death is rooted in our own beliefs in Asgardhr, the Celtic
beliefs in "the Blessed Isles," and Roman beliefs in an afterlife. To quote
Garman Lord in his article, "How Much of Christianity is Really Christian
(THEOD MAGAZINE vol. 1, issue 1),":
"...it was impossible to get Heathen to give up their belief in an
afterlife in order to convert them. Christianity therefore seized upon
Jesus' words (...) "My kingdom is not of this world" and interpreted them
to mean that Christians that die worthy will go up into the sky and be
with the gods just like Heathen do."
The Roman Catholic Church actually encouraged this idea during the
Crusades in order to get newly converted Heathen still familiar with Asgardhr
to fight the Moslems. The newly converted Heathens still believing a battle
death would send straight them to "heaven" gladly obliged, and the belief
in an afterlife has stayed with popular Christianity ever since.
Just as pop Christianity's belief in an afterlife in "heaven" is derived from Heathenry, so is its belief in an afterlife spent in "hell." The word "hell" we all know comes from the name of our Heathen abode of the dead and is no realm of fire, brimstone, and damnation, but has more in common with such legendary paradises as the Greek Elysian Fields. In fact, OE Hell and ON Hel are both related to Latin caelum "heaven." Hell does have its areas of punishment for the truly wicked, but these are not regions of pure fire. Pop Christianity's fire and brimstone imagery of "hell" comes in part from the lake of fire in which the damned are destroyed in "The Book of Revelations," and Zoroastrian beliefs about a fiery abode where sinful souls are punished until their next incarnation is born on Earth. Orthodox Christianity however has no belief in a permanent abode of punishment as all sinful "souls" after death are dead until "judgement day." Then they will be raised from the dead and flung into the lake of fire never to exist again. The word "hell" is used in several forms throughout the English translations of the Bible though. In the Old Testament it always means "the grave" as it was used to translate Hebrew sheol. In the New Testament it means "the grave" when used of the place where the sinful dead go, and "the bowls of the earth or an abyss" when used of the home of the demons (the ancient Jews and early Christians believed that demons lived in an abyss in the Earth). At no time in the Christian Bible does "hell" refer to an otherworldly domain like our own afterlife abodes or even those of Zoroastrian beliefs. The image of an abode of punishment in pop Christianity is a remnant of Heathen (and Roman pagan) beliefs heavily colored by the imagery of the Zoroastrian place of punishment which was fostered upon newly converted Heathens by the Christian missionaries. Apparently, threats towards newly converted, but "sinful" Heathens that their bodies would be destroyed come "judgement day" had little effect in ensuring that Christianity was practiced, so a more terrifying end had to be fabricated.
The beliefs that one can talk to the dead, be watched over by them, need gifts of flowers and such, or that grave goods need to go in the coffin are all Heathen in origin. Again, orthodox Christianity does not believe in a soul, therefore an orthodox Christian does not believe the dead can hear us, can watch over us (unless they are a dead saint in which case they BODILY ascended into the heavens to be with the Christian god according to orthodox Christian belief), or needs gifts for the afterlife. Early Christians buried their dead nude and swathed in a shroud. There were no grave goods as they were not needed, the Christian god would see that all was provided for the "saved" when the "new Earth" was created. Newly converted pagans and Heathens however, still believed in an afterlife, and felt that the dead were still aware of what's going on in this world, and would have needs in the afterlife (even if they were just sentimental needs such as that old familiar stein the deceased may have drank from). They also felt that by burning grain, leaving flowers on the graves, or pouring milk or mead into the barrow, they could gain the aid of ancestral spirits in their endeavors. Just as with the belief in the afterlife, Christianity had to make some concessions, so flowers left on a grave became a suitable gift for the dead. Gradually, the real reasons behind such traditions as leaving shells and flowers on a grave, or pouring good beer over it were forgotten, and seen not as a gift or sacrifice to the dead, but as a remembrance. None the less, the Heathen origins are plain to see.
Within orthodox Christianity there is but one route to "salvation," and that is to believe in Jesus Christ, his father (the Christian god), and the Spiritus Sanctus. Good deeds without belief will only wind one up being "damned." This orthodox Christian belief is not held by most adherents of popular Christianity however, they hold that good deeds without belief can still lead one to an afterlife in "heaven." This belief is so ingrained that "pop" Christians will turn on Christian clergy that "tried to preach a good man into hell" for not believing in the Christian god. I am certain that many have heard stories of such instances, and in my family the story of an agnostic great uncle's funeral, and the later fall from grace of the Christian minister that tried "to preach him into to hell," has seen countless retellings, always with the lines "he was a good man even if he didn't believe in god." The reason for this belief being so strong is that in Heathenry there was only one way to reach an abode of reward in the afterlife, and that was through deeds, simple belief just didn't qualify. Therefore for many adherents of popular Christianity, good deeds play a primary role in the salvation of their souls, while belief in the Christian deity is secondary.
All of us are familiar with orthodox Christians come All Hallows Eve raging about how it is an evil night not to be taken part in, or near Yuletide how they abhor Santa Claus and the commercialization of Christmas, and then we hear the same come Easter about the Easter bunny. There's a good reason for orthodox Christians to rant and rave about these holidays, for none of them are Christian. Originally, all three holidays were Germanic and/or Celtic festivals, and in order to overshadow these festivals the early Christian church set the dates of their sacred days at those times. This did succeed in the Christian church getting converted Heathens and pagans to celebrate the Christian deity at those times, but unfortunately (for the Christians, fortunately for us), only through Heathen ways and means of celebrating. Therefore numerous Heathen traditions survive in the "secular" observance of these holidays, and despite many desperate attempts to ban these traditions (the Puritans even got Yule banned entirely in England at one point), they have survived. Other Heathen holidays survived well past the Conversion, an example being the blessing of the plow ceremonies in February in Medieval England. These ceremonies where the village priest blessed the plow for the year's planting were a descendant of the Heathen ceremonies like the cer bot, and the various fertility gods' progresses through the land. Similar was the blessing of the loaves at Lammass. The fact that three of the great holy days of Heathenry are becoming increasingly commercialized and "secularized" reflects the growth of popular Christianity, and the slow demise of its orthodox sibling. As fewer and fewer Americans attend Christian churches regularly, the less control the Christian churches have over the meaning of All Hallow's Eve, Yuletide, and Easter, and as they loose control of these days' meanings, the old Heathen meanings have come back forth. Eventually, if orthodox Christianity is smart, it may have to abandon "Christmas" as the date Jesus was born, and place it nearer its true date in the summer (shepherds were in the field according to the Christian Bible at the time of Jesus' birth, this would have to be in summer when the herds were allowed to graze at night. Similarly, the celebration of the resurrection of Christ on Easter is not its true date, but should correspond with the Jewish time for Passover).
And as for the "angels" that sang at Christ's birth, they were not the kind of angels popular Christianity believes in today. Above, when discussing what beliefs popular Christianity and orthodox Christianity held in common we mentioned angels. Here too, angels will be discussed, but it will be the differences between popular and orthodox Christian beliefs that will be pointed out. In ancient Jewish belief (from which Christianity derives), angels were neuter, sexless beings. Later, in early Christianity they were portrayed as masculine beings. It was not until the conversion of the Germanic peoples that angels were seen as being female, and this view is still limited to those of Northern Europe or America. This can even be seen in naming practices. An Englishman would think no more of naming his girl child "Angel" than a Hispanic father would his boy child "Angelo," yet in both cases the opposite would be somewhat rarer. This is because Southern Europe sees angels as more often being masculine while Northern Europe sees angels as almost exclusively feminine. When Northern Europe does not see angels as feminine, they see them as the "friendly dead." Both views probably derive from Heathen beliefs. The Northern European idea of an angel being female may be an adaptation of Woden's Wlcyrgien (ON Valkyriur) to Christian thought. This could be so, or it could be a combination of the Idesa (ON Disir), the Swan Maidens, and the Wlcyrgien into the Christian imagery of angels. Either way, all three types of beings are female helper spirits and therefore bear much in common with the popular Christian view of angels. The popular view of angels as the friendly dead or spirits of the dead may also stem from Heathen belief. Throughout Europe and Asia are folktales of dead souls turning up to help someone. They appear living, but at some point the person they help finds out they are dead (they see an obituary, a tombstone, or talk to a relative of the deceased). It is only natural that Christians see these ghosts as being sent from their god and therefore as angels. In truth though, in Heathen times they were probably viewed as ancestral spirits or friendly dead, and after the Conversion only the names (but not the belief) changed. This popular Christian belief of the dead coming back to help others as "angels" is also related to the popular Christian belief that when people die they become angels. This too is tied to Heathen beliefs in the afterlife and ancestral spirits, and is a leftover from Heathen ancestor worship. The popular Christian thought shortly after the Conversion being, "I can pray to the archangel Michael, and I can pray to my great grandfather Ulf, and the Christian priests say we can only pray to God, Jesus, and the angels, therefore great grandfather Ulf must be an angel." Even those few that completely abandoned the old ways probably stuck to this line of thought when comforting a grieving child. No doubt it seemed more humane than saying, "Grandfather is stuck in the cold hard ground until Judgement Day!" Orthodox Christianity maintains that men and angels are not the same, and never will be. Finally, within popular Christianity there is the belief in the guardian angel which once again can be traced to Heathen beliefs in guardian spirits such as the Idesa (ON Disir) or the Wlcyrgien (ON Valkyriur). Orthodox Christianity does believe in angels specificly assigned to guard children, but apparently only children. The belief of spiritual guardians for adults is entirely Heathen.
The view that that which harms society is evil could also be a Heathen borrowing. In orthodox Christianity that which is "evil" is that which is not of their god, but many adherents of popular Christianity espouse the view that that which is harmful to society is "evil." This view probably comes from humanistic thinking and not ancient Heathenry, but it is a view that is much closer to our own view of evil as that which seeks to destroy society and good as that which helps society. We can therefore think of this as an essentially Heathen view. Finally, the view that we must give back to the Earth what we take which has come about with the environmentalist movement has been adopted by many "pop" Christians as well, but we all know it as a Heathen sentiment. Orthodox Christianity, on the other hand has never taken an official stand on the Earth (no pun intended), but has behaved the last two thousand years as though it were "evil" in the worst, disposable in the least.
The Americans believe that upon death, if they are worthy, their souls
fly up immediately to Heaven to be with their god. There they are greeted
by beautiful female spirits of great power. These female spirits they also
believe to watch over them throughout life and to aid them when they are
in trouble. To get to this heavenly abode they feel one must do great deeds
of good that help others, and exemplify such virtues as bravery, generosity,
honesty, honor, hospitality, independence, industriousness, loyalty, and
wisdom...
Now switch, "Americans" to "Asatruarar," "Heaven" with "Asgardhr,"
and "female spirits of great power" with "Valkyries," so the paragraph
reads:
The Asatruarar believe that upon death, if they are worthy, their souls
fly up immediately to Asgardhr to be with their god. There they are greeted
by beautiful Valkyries. These Valkyries they also believe to watch over
them throughout life and to aid them when they are in trouble. To get to
this heavenly abode they feel one must do great deeds of good that help
others, and exemplify such virtues as bravery, generosity, honesty, honor,
hospitality, independence,industriousness, loyalty, and wisdom...
Sound about right? Yet the same paragraph can be used to describe what
the average American "Christian" believes by switching the terms "Asatruarar"
and "Asgardhr" back to "Americans" and "Heaven," and switching "Valkyries"
to "angels." Strip popular Christianity of the idea that belief alone can
get one into "heaven," and that Christ paid their way into "heaven" with
his death, and the description would apply. It is a far cry from the description
of the beliefs of orthodox Christianity on the same subject that follows:
Christians believe that upon death, their bodies, which are buried
in the Earth, will rest until Judgement Day. Then, they will be raised
from the dead and judged by their god. Those that expressed belief in Jesus
Christ, his father (the Christian god), and the "Sacred Spirit" in life
will be allowed to live in a "recreated" Earth. Those that failed to believe
in Jesus Christ, his father (the Christian god), and the "Sacred Spirit"
will be flung into a lake of fire and forever destroyed, regardless of
how good or bad their deeds in life were.
In a thousand years, nothing has really changed, the Heathen beliefs are still there buried under the Christian veneer, just waiting to be revealed come remodeling time (or is that "restoration time"). All the Christian church ever really changed were the names, and instilled alot of wishful thoughts about getting into "heaven" for free. All we have to do is change the names back, and tell everyone they must work their way into "heaven" with good deeds! Then the "pop" Christian will become Heathen, and our days as a religious minority will be no more!
Lord, Garman "How Much of Christianity is Really Christian?" in THEOD MAGAZINE vol. 1 issue 1, Watertown, NY: Gering Theod
Davidson, H.R. Ellis, "Gods and Myths of Northern Europe," Harmondsword,
Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1969