Does Christianity Have Room for Other Gods?

A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.  This week’s item is from The Wellington, New Zealand, Sunday Star Times, September 2, 2001, with the headline:  “Maori gods find church approval.”  The old Maori gods are being welcomed in the Anglican Church more than 150 years after being driven out by the missionaries.

Gods of nature such as Tane and Tangaroa are being studied by trainee ministers in the Maori wing of the Anglican Church in an attempt to marry Christianity with older spiritual beliefs.  The move is being hailed as an astonishing cultural development.  The missionaries had told Maori they had to choose either their old beliefs or Christianity.  The head of the Maori Anglican Church, Bishop Whakahuihui Vercoe said he believed there was no incompatibility between Christian teaching, that there was one God and Maori believes that there were many.  I think any other gods are emulations from the one God, that’s what we are saying in Maoridom he said.  The new theological thinking is an expression of an increasingly confident and independent Maori Anglican Church almost ten years after the church split into Maori Pakeha and PacificIsland wings.  Vercoe said the Maori part of the church was attempting to rescue Maori knowledge on theology that had been lost.  We got labeled with a sign that we were heathen, barbaric, and we were savage.  I think Maori are starting to object to that terminology.  What we are trying to say is, it has some credibility.  We should examine this; after all, knowledge isn’t a static thing.  We are not saying we are going to leave the Christian faith, he said.  Vercoe said the study of Maori gods had been done spasmodically for the past five years and was now gathering momentum.  Some 300 Anglican Maori received ministry training each year.  The study of Atua Tonga, or gods was set to become even stronger in a new MA qualification in theology which the church hoped to offer.  The MA course, titled, Atua Tonga was with the Ministry of Education for funding approval.  Professor Whatarangi Winiata the head of Te Wananga O Raukawa at Otaki developed the proposed MA program on Atua Tonga.  He said it would widen the study of Maori cultural beliefs and how they fitted with Christianity.  He believed in both the Christian God and the old gods.  I believe in Tangaroa; I talked with Tangaroa out there in the boat; (it’s the ocean), and Tawhirimatea, (that’s the wind) and (the sky) I refer to is Ranginui.  The head of the Anglican Church, Bishop John Patterson, said he believed study of Maori gods was a minor component of Anglican Maori training.  The development of the Maori theological study component is very soundly Christian based and the Christian theological component of it is still very much main stream.  The main Maori gods are Papatuanuku (earth mother); Tangaroa (god of the sea, lakes, and rivers); Tane (god of forests and birds); Rongo-ma-tane (god of kumara, and cultivated crops); Haumia-Tiketike (god of the fern root, wild roots, and herbs), and Whiro (god of evil, disease and pestilence).

Tom:

Dave, to me this relates to what we were talking about in the earlier segment.  We have, on the one hand, this is the Anglican Church, and it’s supposed to be based on the Bible, Anglican Christian Church.  Now we have another theology based on subjective experiences of these people down through the years, incredibly subjective and so on.  Also, contradictory to what the Bible says in the first chapter of Romans.

Dave:

Not only subjective but it is, in fact, a rejection of the witness of creation and of conscience that God has given us, as you said in Romans:1:21-25 [21] Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. [22] Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, [23] And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. [24] Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: [25] Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
See All....  It says, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing themselves wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible creatures and they worshipped the creature instead of the creator.  And that’s what they are doing here.

Tom:

Yeah, but this bishop said it’s okay because it’s just a small component.

Dave:

Sure—rat poison, as we often say, is 99.6 % nutritious; it has just enough poison to kill you but it has to taste good to the rats!  So, we re going to have Christianity that’s going to have just enough poison to kill you because now you’re not believing only in the one true God, or, in the way he has manifested himself through his Son Jesus Christ, but now we are believing that this god also has other components, other minor deities that are attached to him or emanate from him, or something, and now we are going to give glory to them.  The God of the Bible says, “I will not give my glory to another.”  The Bible is very firm that Yahweh is the One true God.  All the gods, it says Psalm 96, “All the gods of the nations are idols.”  And Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10 the things that the Gentiles offer to their idols they offer to devils because it is, in fact, Satan who is the god of this world, who is behind all of the perversions and false beliefs and these false deities.  So, this is as far from Christianity, it destroys Christianity, and yet they are going to succumb to this in order to keep the peace.  Well, they think, we don’t want to lose these natives, but you have lost the natives because they are not Christians anymore.

Tom:

Dave, as you know, we get lots of letters from missionaries in these cultures.  Now this is pretty blatant what’s going on here within the Anglican church and supposedly, the Maori wing of the Anglican church, but we get lots of letters of those complaining that there is a movement to redeem the culture of these tribal peoples, whether it’s in Africa or New Guinea or whatever.

Dave:

Yeah, Youth with a Mission, YWAM is doing that big time.

Tom:

Now, look, there are some things within a culture that are worth while, but when it comes—when a culture—

Dave:

But Tom, you don’t redeem a culture; a culture is culture, you don’t redeem their culture anymore than you redeem American culture.

Tom:

Right.  What I am getting at is, there are certain things that we can appreciate, but the problem here is many cultures are so integrated within their religious system, their false belief system, that you can’t separate the two.

Dave:

Exactly.  That’s the same thing with North American Indian culture.  It can’t be changed; their culture is their religion.  We’re not out to change people’s culture, the clothes they want to wear, or the food they want to eat, or whatever, but as you say, this is their religion.