The Tarot and Christianity

Hi everyone. I recently read several posts about divinition and Christianity. I am studying this topic and here is what I have found so far.

First let me say right up front that I am a practicing Christian, and have only recently started exploring the cards. Please read this through before making any judgements, and I would love to hear your comments.

I am a reformed Christian, which means I am pretty conservative. I believe that the Bible is the inerrent word of God and that it has the last "Say" on almost any topic. The thing is though there are a whole lot of other things out there that don't fit into a nice little black and white box. I grew up on a haunted farm. I have had many encounters with the paramormal, and I believe in other realms and the pirit world. Also, as a human being I sometimes do things that I am not supposed to do.

I found the study of the spirit world and the tarot to be a completely natural thing, but it goes against my Christian learning, so I started to study.

There are several scriptures that forbid divinition in any way. The question for me then is: Can the tarot be used without it being divinition? and if not, how bad is it? The definition of Divition is: "The art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowedge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers". The Tarot does not have to be used to foretell the future. Also the discovery of "Hidden" uses insight which all of us use all the time, and most knowledge isn't really hidden, it just may not be easy to retrieve. Science comes to mind, as well as theololical studies etc. So theorhetically, yes, the cards could be used without going against God's admotition against divinition.

The answer to the second question is more involved. The Bible teaches that if even one law is broken then all of them have been broken, so technically lying is just as wrong as adultry which is just as wrong as reading the Tarot. But humans are hard wired to sin--we can not help it (That's why we need Christ). All of us have done something that breaks God's law. Reading the tarot is no worse than doing any of the other things we are not to do.

It is said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but I don't believe that is nececassarily true. The intent in which a person does a thing does matter in the overall judgement of it. Motivations matter. If the tarot is read with the intent to worship evil, or to cause harm, that is wrong. Otherwise it is no worse than telling a little white lie or speeding or tasting a grape from a bunch you do not intend to buy.

I am still studying, but I will probably continue to use the Tarot, at least for awhile. The insight and focus and way it lets me look at specific things is important to me--maybe not as important as my Christianity, but something I look forward to nonetheless.

Salvation is based entirely on our relationship with Jesus Christ, not on whether or not we read tarot cards.

Well, first off, in reading all the way through your post, I get the feeling that you have already decided how you are going to use your tarot and how you have made it ok to do so.

I am what some people call a 'recovering christian' as in I was a christian, but am no longer. I personally don't feel I have anything to recover from though. what I learned from the church was some very valuable lessons that helped to shape the person I am today. And as with any religion or belief system, the best you can do is what feels right for you. If you feel the tarot helps you be a better person, how can that make you less of a christian?

I don't think tarot is incompatible with Christianity at all, although I suppose it may be incompatible with your specific way of practicing it. That's something you're going to have to work out yourself. Personally I think labeling Tarot as "bad" or "evil" is superfluous. It's a tool. Knives can be used for killing or for surgery. They're just knives. Tarot is just cards. It's what you decide to do with the cards that matters. If you find (and I know some Christians who feels this way) that tarot enriches your spiritual life or brings healthy joy to your material life, than how is it bad?

As someone facing the same situation, this isn't an easy thread to answer. I mean, I don't claim to have an answer, but just some food for thought. What I can add is that, yes, we are sinful by nature. Even the Jews, of course, wanted to worship as they pleased in spite of God's attempts to get them to follow him. We can't say that tarot card reading is prophesying, either - not by a long shot (what I mean by this is the prophets and their books of prophecy). You can look to 1 Corinthians 12 and read about the spiritual gifts, but tarot and other forms of divination can easily be excluded from it by the Christian community, even though prophecy is mentioned (and yet, talking in tongues is okay!?). What the chapter does clearly say is that the Holy Spirit is behind our gifts. It is a gift that benefits the human race, albeit, through common sense means. Yes, it means that God is present in those gifts. Elsewhere in the bible, it does say that God must be the message. But in the tarot community, this presents a problem, because not everyone believes in God or is Christian, lol. So then it becomes difficult by those guidelines...

Why does it matter that there are non Christians reading tarot cards? How does that effect your experience at all? There are nonchristians who ride public transportation, grocery shop, and sing in the shower, does that make them bad activities as well?

I like religion and I find it fascinating. I have the Bible, the Koran, Bhagavad Gita and books on Buddhism and read them regularly. I personally feel you can take anything from any religion and that what matters most is that you live a peaceful life and are happy within yourself. I consider myself a Spiritualist. If your not hurting anyone and it makes you happy there's no reason for you not to use the Tarot cards.

vee said:

Why does it matter that there are non Christians reading tarot cards? How does that effect your experience at all? There are nonchristians who ride public transportation, grocery shop, and sing in the shower, does that make them bad activities as well?

Click to expand...

There are even non Christians who go to church and call themselves Christian.

vee said:

Why does it matter that there are non Christians reading tarot cards? How does that effect your experience at all? There are nonchristians who ride public transportation, grocery shop, and sing in the shower, does that make them bad activities as well?

Click to expand...

LOL... I'm sorry. I did not mean to quote your response. I do not know how that happened there. I was simply responding to Spiritualbeing126's post.

Some Christians are against traditional playing cards, although Uno and Rook cards are okay. That's pretty creepy.

I am also a practicing Christian, and also a reader of Tarot, and went through the same troubles and thoughts as you. I personally came to two different conclusions to help support my beliefs.

A) the Bible is a book that has been altered, rewritten and twisted for almost 2000 years. I cannot say that is Gods true word, because it has been so tainted by Man. If I am unsure, I will ask God himself, and hope that I hear what he wishes to say.

B)The peace, the insight, and the guidance Tarot gives me cannot be an evil thing. I truly feel Gods hand on me when I read, and that is something that I trust.

Some food for thought there.