Principles of Paganism Many of you have heard of the book entitled The Da Vinci Code, written by Dan Brown. A return to paganism is subtly being advocated in it. So what I would like to do is to deal some principles of paganism that are either argued in the book or that are in evidence in the book.

Dan Brown is arguing nothing that is new. From the beginning of Christ’s work on earth, His Deity was denied, and He was regarded by some as a mere man.

By the end of the first century, the doctrine of Gnosticism had arisen, and various theories existed addressing the deity of Jesus, some denying that He was divine, and others coming up with fanciful theories that dealt one way or another with His connection with deity.

Though Brown claims that his book is factual and true, very little of it is true. The words put in the mouths of his characters are for the most part not only false but grossly false and based on monumental unbelief and/or ignorance. I agree with some scholars that Brown’s book is yet another determined attempt to undermine Christianity and to restore paganism.

Paganism shapes deity into its own image. Thus deity can be nature itself. Deity can be found in the ancient gods.

Deity can be found in a general way among human beings, and the sexual union of man and woman is a way to sort of tap into that deity. Deity is a transcendent knowledge or awareness that is out there somewhere. Whereas the Bible teaches that there is a Supreme God who created the world and made man in His own image (Deut. 6:4; Gen. 1:1, 26, 27).

Paganism is always willing to have another god, as long as that god is willing to fit in with the other gods. One of the messages of Brown’s book is that the only way Christianity is going to be accepted at all in the New Age is if it admits that it is no different at heart from all other religions.

Remember the philosophers and people of Athens, and their altar dedicated to “an unknown god”? The fact is, from beginning to end, the religion that emanates from the God of Creation is a completely intolerant religion when it comes to other gods (Deut. 6:4, 13-14).

“To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto Him?” (Isa. 40:18). “To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal to him? Saith the Holy One” (Isa. 40:25). “Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me” (Isa. 43:10).

“Thus saith Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God” (Isa. 44:6). “We know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth; as there are gods many and lords many; yet to us there is one God, the Father” (1 Cor. 8:4-6). “One God and Father of all” (Eph. 4:6).

Paganism must reject revelation and inspiration to survive. This is why the forces of paganism must make Jesus a mere man. When paganism thus rejects the Creator, the only thing left is the creation, so he takes the creation and makes it his god.

“For that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever” (Rom. 1:25).

This is why every exponent of paganism explains the miracles away, rejects the distinction between inspired writings and non- inspired writings, and seeks to invent purely naturalistic ways of explaining how these writings came to be.

This spirit is present in many of the commentaries that are being written today. Radical unbelief is the underlying basis of the commentator’s approach and of the comments he makes. In the Old Testament and in the New, the majority of commentators seek to explain the origin of the writings of both those sections of the Bible on purely naturalistic grounds.

In the absence of divine, absolute truth, paganism is completely willing to tailor truth to make it fit whatever it needs. In the field of evolution, and in the field of Biblical studies, in history, and in many other disciplines of study, the basic assumption is that there is no God.

Even in the face of absolute impossibilities, the unbelieving scholar says basically, “I know that this is impossible, but the only other choice is to believe in God. Therefore the impossible must have happened.” Then men such as Brown are willing to concoct fiction, shamelessly invent facts that are not so, and pass it off as truth.

What we must do. Refuse to compromise on who God is, and on the integrity of the Bible. Inform ourselves about the facts so that we may defend the faith.

Remember that when you hear the scholar interviewed on the Discovery Channel or the National Geographic Channel, even when his name appears on the screen, and his description “Bible Scholar,” that the words that come out of his mouth may have no more basis in truth than the words spoken by Dan Brown’s fictional “scholars.”

We must continue to tell the world about the God who made the heavens and the earth and what our responsibility is to Him (Acts 17:26-31). “Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul, having your behavior seemly among the Gentiles” (1 Pet. 2:11-12).