Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

PRINCIPLES OF PAGANISM

The three fundamental rules of conduct laid down by the Pagan Federation. Revised and ratified by the Council of the Federation in 1995, these include:

Love and kinship with Nature: Reverence for the life force and its ever-renewing cycles of life and death.
The Pagan Ethic: If it harm none, Do what thou wilt (see WICCAN REDE). This is a positive morality, expressing the belief in individual responsibility for discovering one's own true nature and developing it fully, in harmony with the outer world and community.
Honouring the totality of Divine Reality, which transcends gender, without suppressing either the female or male aspect of Deity.

Most Wiccans and Neo-Pagans do not believe in sin. But why then is there a need for the 'Pagan Ethic' or Wiccan Rede? Why encourage Wiccans "to do no harm," and to not do Magick with wrong intentions? The very existence of the 'Pagan Ethic' and Wiccan Rede indicates a belief that men and women can do bad things, that we are not good all the time.

In contrast to the Wiccan and Neo-Pagan view of 'original sactity', the Bible teaches:

"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." (Romans 3:10-12)
"But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God" (Romans 3:21-25)
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." (1 John 1:9-10)
"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin." (1 John 3:4-5) "All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death." (1 John 5:17) "And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." (Romans 14:23) "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." (James 4:17)

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc