Postby Makbawehuh » Fri May 23, 2008 7:09 pm
I suppose the first thing we need to do is define what you're calling the "witch's" beliefs.
Witchcraft as we know it today is a modern invention, and so therefore could not have had an impact on Christian beliefs during it's early stages.
This is not to say that there were not other "pagan" religions at that time, though I think they'd be offended by the term, as it meant something entirely different in those days (That would be another discussion entirely). Christianity most certainly did not evolve in a vacuum though, and it incorporated ideas from all over the middle east, though it's primary influences were Jewish- for obvious reasons, if you've ever read the Bible.
Now, as I've pointed out in other posts, the Jewish system of belief really has an odd evolution. When you take a close study of the Old Testament and the Torah, it's still possible to find traces of the old polytheistic religion that it was based on. Eventually though, it became the monotheistic religion that we see today, for better or for worse. Still, though, it's ideas of heaven and hell were very different from what the Christians believe in, and they -still- have huge points of divergence. For example, Jewish culture did not believe in heaven or hell as a place to go in the afterlife- Once you were dead, you were dead. Period. End of story. You are dead, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars, and don't worry about the pearly gates cause you wouldn't have seen them anyways. Those who believed in a resurrection did not believe in a spiritual resurrection- it was to be a bodily resurrection, and the kingdom of God was to be one, very literally, here on Earth.
So, how did the Christians end up with their beliefs in Heaven and Hell as an actual afterlife, when it's an almost complete departure from the beliefs of their mother religion?
Here's where I get to stop being a know it all... Because I honestly don't know. I can take some pretty good guesses, though.
The first place to look is the obvious- Individual sects within Judaism. Generally speaking, if you hear about someone running around in white robes in the Gospels or other early portions of the New Testament, it's likely that they are a member of the Essene sect. They were small, but there's a growing trend in modern scholarship that believes that Jesus spent some time learning from them. Given what he preached, and some of their beliefs, this is not terribly shocking.
There was evolutionary trend in the Jewish Essene sect that espoused some decidedly odd beliefs that we may recognize today in Christian belief (I.E.: immortality of the soul, divine retribution for sins, a spiritual (as opposed to physical) resurrection, etc.). Looking at this, it's unsurprising that Jesus would have taught what he did, or that Christians would hold some of the beliefs that they do.
Another thing to consider is the Babylonian influence on Jewish thought at the time. Before the Babylonian Exile, Satan was treated, not as the demonic influence we see today, but as a respected member of God's court who brought people closer to God through trial and tribulation. When the Exile ended, the Jews brought with them a new version of Satan, who was influenced by the local god Ahriman. In order to deal with the influx of new ideas, the Jewish world view had to change- In order for the idea to work, there had to be an afterlife. This was the first major change. Since the Jews did not have any real basis for such a system in their own beliefs, they borrowed wholesale from the Zoroastrians, who they'd taken the idea of the new and improved Satan from in the -first- place.
So, you have this guy who comes from a Jewish household. All things considered, he probably grew up in a household that carried beliefs carried over from the Exile, or he wouldn't have been preaching what he did. You mix this with the things he learned from the Essenes... and Viola! You have the Gospels.
Whew! >.< Of course, these are only a few of the ideas that were taken, but you can see, from this basis, how it would easily lead to the idea of heaven/hell as we have it today in Christian thought. No doubt someone else has better insight into early Christian beliefs and their evolution than I do, so now would be the time for one of them to step up and put in their nickel.
Sorry for wearing out your eyes. ^________^
~St. Makupuff the Awesome~
"The human race will begin solving it's problems on the day that it ceases taking itself so seriously." – Malaclypse the Younger
The Hell Law says that Hell is reserved exclusively for them that believe in it.
Further, the lowest Rung in Hell is reserved for them that believe in it on the supposition that they'll go there if they don't.
-Holy Book of Truth; The Gospel According to Fred, 3:1 (Principia Discordia)
I would never mess with it i'm just curious to know. And what really is the door to the spiritual realm?
I guess i'm so much of a beginner in this path I might as well forget everything I thought I knew. 
