Goddess Worship, Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism [Paperback]

Craig Hawkins (Author), Alan W. Gomes (Series Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1998 | Series: Zondervan Guide to Cults and Religious Movements

The twentieth century has seen a remarkable revival of 'the Old Religion,' as adherents of New-paganism call the native religious traditions of Europe and tribal traditions from North America that predated Christianity. Many neo-pagan groups identify with Celtic (Druidic), Egyptian, Native American, Norse, or Roman traditions; others with modern science-fiction motifs; and still others with witchcraft. Neo-paganism is occultic in nature. A central figure in much of Neo-paganism is the Mother Goddess, who has been introduced and worshiped among certain feminists even in some mainline Protestant churches. Why this series? This is an age when countless groups and movements, old and new, mark the religious landscape in our culture, leaving many people confused or uncertain in their search for spiritual truth and meaning. Because few people have the time or opportunity to research these movements fully, these books provide essential information and insights for their spiritual journeys. Each book has five sections: - A concise introduction to the group - An overview of the group's theology -- in its own words - Tips for witnessing effectively to members of the group - A bibliography with sources for further study - A comparison chart that shows the essential differences between biblical Christianity and the group -- The writers of these volumes are well qualified to present clear and reliable information and help us discern religious truth from falsehood. This is an age when countless groups and movements, new and old, mark the religious landscape in our culture. As a result, many people are confused or uncertain in their search for spiritual truth and meaning. Because few people have the time or opportunity to research these movements fully, the Zondervan Guide to Cults and Religious Movements series provides essential information and insights for their spiritual journeys. The second wave of books in this series addresses a broad range of spiritual beliefs, from non-Trinitarian Christian sects to witchcraft and neo-paganism to classic non-Christian religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism. All books but the summary volume, Truth and Error, contain five sections: -A concise introduction to the group being surveyed -An overview of the group's theology --- in its own words -Tips for witnessing effectively to members of the group -A bibliography with sources for further study -A comparison chart that shows the essential differences between biblical Christianity and the group -- Truth and Error, the last book in the series, consists of parallel doctrinal charts compiled from all the other volumes. Three distinctives make this series especially useful to readers: -Information is carefully distilled to bring out truly essential points, rather than requiring readers to sift their way through a sea of secondary details. -Information is presented in a clear, easy-to-follow outline form with 'menu bar' running heads. This format greatly assists the reader in quickly locating topics and details of interest. -Each book meets the needs and skill levels of both nontechnical and technical readers, providing an elementary level of refutation and progressing to a more advanced level using arguments based on the biblical text. The writers of these volumes are well qualified to present clear and reliable information and help readers to discern truth from falsehood.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Fast, informed answers to the challenges of false religions This is an age when countless groups and movements, new and old, mark the religious landscape in our culture. As a result, many people are confused or uncertain in their search for spiritual truth and meaning. Because few people have the time or opportunity to research these movements fully, the Zondervan Guide to Cults and Religious Movements series provides essential information and insights for their spiritual journeys. The second wave of books in this series addresses a broad range of spiritual beliefs, from non-Trinitarian Christian sects to witchcraft and neo-paganism to classic non-Christian religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism. All books but the summary volume, Truth and Error, contain five sections: A concise introduction to the group being surveyed An overview of the group's theology--in its own words Tips for witnessing effectively to members of the group A bibliography with sources for further study A comparison chart that shows the essential differences between biblical Christianity and the group Truth and Error, the last book in the series, consists of parallel doctrinal charts compiled from all the other volumes. Three distinctives make this series especially useful to readers: Information is carefully distilled to bring out truly essential points, rather than requiring readers to sift their way through a sea of secondary details. Information is presented in a clear, easy-to-follow outline form with menu bar running heads. This format greatly assists the reader in quickly locating topics and details of interest. Each book meets the needs and skill levels of both nontechnical and technical readers, providing an elementary level of refutation and progressing to a more advanced level using arguments based on the biblical text. The writers of these volumes are well qualified to present clear and reliable information and help readers to discern truth from falsehood.

From the Author

Craig S. Hawkins is founder and president of Apologetics and Information Ministry (AIM) and formerly hosted a Bible-theology answer radio program in Los Angeles

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (March 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310488818
• ISBN-13: 978-0310488811
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #497,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Occult > Cults & Demonism
  • #23 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Earth-Based Religions > Wicca
  • #42 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Comparative Religion

More About the Author

Craig S. Hawkins is the founder and president of Apologetics Information Ministry. He has hosted radio call-in and interview programs and cohosted The Bible Answer Man. He teaches apologetics at Simon Greenleaf School of Law in Anaheim, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In Response to the Celtic "Witch Witch" and others..., January 31, 2005

By 

J. Ruehs (Glendale, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Goddess Worship, Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism (Paperback)

For starters this book was published by a Christian publishing company (Zondervan) and is really for the most part intended for Christians to use to compare Christianity to neopaganism. Since Hawkins and Gomes come from a Christian worldview it makes sense that they don't spent time defending the "validity" of the Christian faith since that is not their intent. The implication that the Christian faith is indeed the "true" faith is something that is "implied" in the text since, once again it was published by Christians for Christians. This is not to say that the book doesn't have value as an "apologetic/evangelism" tool, because it does and is intended for that as well, but from the point of view of the Christian using it not necessarily the neopagan picking it up and reading it.

The thing that Celtic Witch and the other "negative" reviewers have to get over is that Christianity makes an "absolute truth" claim. Christians make that claim, because Christ made the claim about himself in John 14:6. We don't believe that neopaganism is a path to God in whatever shape/form/etc. that people take him/her to be. Another big problem that Christians have with neopaganism is in its use of magick, which is condemned in the Bible. Any kind of occultic worldview whether it be New Age, Satanism, Wiccan, etc. butts heads against Christianity, because of the "truth claims" they make which contradict what Christianity teaches.
Celtic Witch and the group most likely are not going to agree with the "truth claims" of Christianity, but they have to understand that we don't agree with the claims of their neopaganistic beliefs either. I am not a relativist nor do I believe that relativism is really a tenable belief. Therefore I don't believe in this "every path leads to God" nonsense that many people promote. Everyone has a worldview (even if that worldview is that they don't believe in worldviews). How we understand whether one worldview is true over and against another deals with issues of coherence and correspondence to reality and the like. Although this is not the place to discuss this in its entirety I would guide people to Geisler's "Christian Apologetics" book on more information concerning coherence and correspondence. Beware neopagan you won't like what you read!

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Brief, educational treatise/format..., July 29, 2003

By 

Mrs. C (Berkshire, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Goddess Worship, Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism (Paperback)

It seems that Craig Hawkins' book was written for classroom/educational purposes from the format in which it was written. He obviously knows his stuff very well from his own personal Protestant Christian tradition; however, I found his format difficult to read as it keeps the book from flowing. One must first read each heading, then listed neo-pagan claim before Hawkins' countered Protestant Christian rebuttal. The result for me was dry reading in spite of his thorough research and goodly amount of helpful information.

If one doesn't mind this type of format, his book is absolutely full of valuable information. It's great to read both sides of the issue of Goddess worship, neo-paganism, and wicca. However, I personally prefer a flowing prose format which more naturally connects each section of the book. Hawkins' book would be invaluable in a church class/instructional setting for family and friends to gain a better insight and understanding into their loved ones' involvement in Goddess worship, neo-paganism, or witchcraft/wicca.

24 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Hawkins and Gomes Fail to Convince, July 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Goddess Worship, Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism (Paperback)

Neopaganisms are profoundly syncretist beliefs that usually include pantheism, belief in an immanent deity, monism, veneration of female divinity, and respect for the earth around us. Hawkins and Gomes admit that it is difficult to try to proselytise us. Let me be charitable here- at least the authors do not confuse us with satanists. However, most neopagans will not find the biblical exclusivist and closed interpretative community claims to be at all persuasive. They do not realise that charismatic Christians also place an emphasis on spiritual experience, and moreover, the Hart-Devlin debate of the sixties can deal effectively with objections to relativism and pluralism. It all goes something like this- there are a core of consensual foundational moral principles that we can all agree on, but many contemporary biomedical and sexual ethics issues are the subject of keen debate. Many pagans would also argue that Hawkins and Gomes do not do their homework on neopagan ethics. If they did, they would acknowledge that ecological concern and gender dialogue are staple elements of our ethical framework. They might be heartened to find out that many pagans share their concern at suicide as a disruption of immanent divinity and a community of lived faith (see Starhawk, The Pagan Book of Living and Dying). They might be happy to learn that we do venerate some biblical content -the Book of Esther shows the folly of ethnic and religious absolutism, for example. Nice try. However, I suspect few neopagans will actually be converted by this booklet.