Christianity in HP

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 128349

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "lupinlore" <bob.oliver at c...> 
wrote:

Lupinlore:
> To answer some of the questions, let me also acknowledge there really
> is no generic Christianity.  The religion has thousands of variants,
> some of which violently disagree with one another.  Let me answer from
> the perspective of my own branch, Eastern Orthodoxy (which has some
> strong similarities with High Church Anglicanism, as both are very
> influenced by Patristic sources).

Geoff:
Speaking as an evangelical Protestant, I would disagree with you here. 
The absolute basic core of Christianity is summed up very simply by 
Jesus. There is the statement about the two great commandments, firstly 
to love God with all your heart,mind and soul and secondly to love your 
neighbour (effectively anyone who you come in contact with) as yourself 
and then his statement  that "God so loved the world that he sent his 
only son that whoever believes in him will not persih but have eternal 
life." Differences and quibbles between denominations arise from less 
important matters such as ritual and structure and I have found across 
many years that true Christians who accept the very basics I have 
mentioned can agree on their faith.

AyanEva wrote:
> I know I just stated my confusion in another thread, but Christmas
> and Easter ARE pagan holidays. And it's very much in line with what
> pagans would practice (I used to practice Wicca, but I've mostly
> lapsed).

Geoff:
Excuse me but Christmas and Easter are NOT pagan holidays. By 
definition, they are Christian festivals.

What you are doing is to confuse the fact that when they came into 
being, they coincided with pagan festivals for the simlple reason that, 
especially in the Roman Empire, the only time that Christian believers 
such as slaves could get time to hold special festivals together was at 
the time of the main feast days hence they came to be traditionally 
held at the times they are.

Re the Wizarding World  marking Christmas etc., it indicates to me that 
the festivals have some meaning for them. Otherwise they would use a 
different name... Here in the UK, we are now getting one or two local 
authorities who refuse to mark Christmas on PC grounds and celebrate 
the "Winter Festival" or something equally vague.