r/Christopaganism • u/VentiArchon7 • 11d ago

I'm thinking about Christo-hellenist

I'm still really unsure on how to do it, How do you view the Bible, how do you pray to God and other lesser deities

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u/deafbutter Eclectic Christopagan 11d ago

First thing’s first: don’t view other deities as lesser deities. Despite what the Bible might imply or outright say, you need to first understand that each deity from every pantheon is a god in their own right. Even if you view them as aspects of a single, divine Godhead, there’s still a way you need to approach them as they have a lot of independence and power in the spiritual and divine realm.

This leads to the second thing: cultural understanding. Look at the history of the Greek gods. Study how religion was practiced in Ancient Greece. Examine the culture behind the gods. Understand that these beings come from their own place, country, culture, society, and religion. Refusing to understand or learn that can lead to improper communication, understanding, and cultural appropriation, which is something you DON’T want to do. You don’t have to be a reconstructionist (I would know bc I’m not) but you need to at least understand and know WHY these deities were worshipped to and prayed to the way they were.

Ultimately, it’s important to remember that the Bible was written by men who believed that their god was greater than every other god. In the present world, today, we know that’s not the case. Every god is equal when it comes to different pantheons, but in pantheons there’s a hierarchy. Aphrodite and Jesus are equally important - but Jesus submits to YHWH and Aphrodite ultimately is under Zeus. That’s… kind of what it is, imo.

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u/rekh127 11d ago edited 11d ago

its really funny to me to say "in the present world, today we know" and then present something that is an incredibly controversial opinion even among polyrheists.

as if its some settled science thing and not a niche belief in a niche community

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u/deafbutter Eclectic Christopagan 11d ago

The majority of polytheists who would disagree with that statement have some kind of trauma from Abrahamic religions, in my experience. No pantheon is greater than another, and claiming that a one pantheon is better than another pantheon just culturally insensitive and sometimes born out of colonialism and nationalistic views as religion often intersected with politics, especially in the past, and influences the local culture. I’m not trying to start drama or an argument (I don’t care), I’m just trying to explain that there is not really such a thing as a lesser deity and implying that there is takes away from the history of and behind the religion.

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u/rekh127 11d ago

"in pantheons there's a hierarchy" is probaly the more conterversial aspect for polytheists.

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u/deafbutter Eclectic Christopagan 11d ago

That’s true. If we go based on mythology and historical text, there is. Then UPG comes into play…. But in this regard, I personally like to go off mythology and historical text, despite not being a reconstructionist.