I can say that from the Kemetic side, there shouldn’t be any issues. I mean, Coptic Christianity does exist, and seems to blend both traditions on at least some level with success. (ofc, not saying you need to blend the religions, just saying that they seem compatible on at least some level) and I have heard of people who do practice both Christianity and Kemeticism. I don’t have enough knowledge to comment on how it is possible with Christianity, but on the Kemetic side, there is nothing outright proscribing any of us from practicing multiple traditions, or honoring gods from multiple traditions at any one given time.
I’d say to just make sure you’re being respectful of both religious practices that you’d like to practice, and you’ll probably be good.
If anyone wants to comment more in-depth about the Christian or Quaker sides of things, please feel free to.
The first thing, is that following Jesus’s actual biblical teachings is basically Ma’at. Especially when it comes to how you treat others. Since making and acting in Ma’at is the most important part of being Kemetic, you don’t even have to go far out of your way there.
But expect blowback from both sides – maybe not Quakers, but many polytheists have been hurt by fanatic Christians.
Follow the path you’re called to.
I’m Kemetic, converted from Christianity. I was brought up as an Independent Catholic, which is an unusual sect. It’s basically as catholic as a protestant can get. The only the thing the differs them if the belief in papal infallibility from being actual Catholic.
I disagree with @bloodlooksblackinmoonlight in that the teaching of Jesus and Ma’at because of Matthew 22:21 and Romans 13:1 where they discribe the Law of God as being different to the laws of man… I personally disagree with this. I would say to uphold Ma’at is to make the ‘law of man’ consistent with maintaining a fair and equal society, and to not maintain a double standard. But this is personal and not everyone will agree with me – on the Christian definition of those verses and on the definition of Ma’at. So I personally don’t think the teaching of the NT as consistent with Ma’at.
Also @thetwistedrope I’m not sure your definition of the Coptic Chruch is correct. They are monotheistic with no connection besides language to the Kemetic faith. In the same way as it isnt accurate to connect the Chruch of Ireland and Gaelic polytheism purely based on location.
But ultimately I personally do not believe that is possible to combine the two faiths. I think the that in the 10 Commandments, God asks that you follow him alone and to not worship any god but him. He also asks that you do not worship idols. I think this is very clear. God wants worship of him alone, not in conjunction. To God theKemetic gods are worshipped as idols, they take the form of idols. And I do not believe it is possible to be both monotheistic and polytheistic. That is why I do not think it is possible to combine faiths and why I do not.
Disclaimer – this is my opinion. It is based on my personal experience and what I believe for myself.
As a person who was raised Christian and has family who has also tried to convero me to Catholicism, I agree with both points of this.
As already stated, it’s a pretty solid fact that Christianity wants it so you only worship one God and that he is the true God. So, following the deities in kemeticism would be breaking that rule.
However, I can see how Ma’at and the 10 commandments can be seen as similar things. Truth, order, balance, also some of the negative confessions line up with the rules in the bible. Such as one must not commit adultry, lies, or sin.
If you are interested anon, you could always look into general witchcraft to incorporate into your practice. There are lots of Catholic and Christian witches out there.
Best wishes
OK SO, I finally have a keyboard and can try to answer this properly, and keep in mind it’s been a while since I’ve seriously studied any part of the bible.
The Ma’at parts, in my view, are more about Jesus telling people to not be judgmental dicks. I think that’s pretty universal. The main hiccup, as pointed out by @starsandepithets , is in fact the moral exceptionalism of divinity, which doesn’t exist in Kemetic theology – the gods must follow Ma’at as well.
However, the monotheism v. polytheism issue is much more of a modern thing. Particularly protestant, though it does show up in other faiths and times. But it’s not as universal as American protestants would have you believe. Some interpret “no gods before me” as just that, YHWH is first, not only. Jewish polytheists exist, and the gnostic Christian concept of divinity is more henotheistic rather than strict monotheism.
Yes, you’re not likely to be able to walk into a modern Christian church and have them be chill with you being Kemetic as well. It’s something you’d have to do by yourself. And it’s certainly not for everyone (personally, I’ve had enough Southern Baptist bullshit to last me five lifetimes and have no desire to involve any of it in my practice, and THEY certainly don’t follow Ma’at), but speaking from a purely religious studies stance, it can work, for some.
And I admit I know next to nothing about Coptic Christianity, but Rev. Tamara Siuda certainly does, so an email to her is worth a shot, if you really want an expert opinion. 🙂
I’m not 100% sure I understood fully, so forgive me if at any point I’ve got the wrong end of the stick 🙂
I don’t know if I explained my point correctly. It wasn’t about the gods or God obeying the same law as humans. Rather that in Christianity you are following ancient laws that do not change, while in the Kemetic faith Ma’at is changeable.
I also think that I disagree with your point that polytheism vs monotheism is a modern thing… for the huge majority of the AE period there wasn’t a rival monotheistic faith. Then by the Ptolemaic period (around 300BCE) there were Jewish people in Egypt who pratices the Jewish monotheistic faith (particularly in the South of Egypt near Aswan and at Alexandria in the Delta). For both their is evidence of occasional and limited conflict between the two religions.
Moving forward in time to the point when the Roman Empire became Christianised, there was against limited and occasional conflict – this was the period to the best of my knowledge when images from Egyptian temples were chiseled out.
I only mention it to point out the there was conflict between monotheistic people and polytheistic.
But I completely agree with what I believe your penultimate point to be that there is a significant difference between the teachings of the bible and the teachings of any modern Chruch. 🙂
I didn’t mean to say that the conflict is completely modern – it’s been a back and forth thing forever between the two, and even between Christians and how they describe the supposed same divinity (like, riots over the trinity, lol). Because we’re never really talking about ONE Christianity, or even one Judaism.
Yes, conflict between monotheists and polytheists happened.
But it’s never been so polarized as it is now, with American Evangelicals taking over the conversation and calling sports idolatry and such nonsense.
I mean, there’s henotheism as an option, but it’s so often thrown over in terms of THIS or THAT.
My point wasn’t that all religious conflict is brand new, because that’s obviously untrue. My point is that throughout history, the ways Divinity has been perceived have been nearly endless, and there are many options that include seemingly contradictory ideas, because let’s face it, we Western moderns have had protestant sola scriptura mixed with “enlightenment” thought thrust upon us through culture.
Netjer is both One and Many, for example. A similar construction of Deity exists in Hindu traditions, as well as the more mystical branches of Judaism and Christianity. Spinoza is some fascinating reading.
It’s just one of my pet peeves, that discussions of religions often distill them to their modern iterations, instead of seeing larger pictures. Such as Origen, a Christian, defended his belief in reincarnation with scripture. History of Christianity shows what a weird patchwork it really is, so even if they claim to follow an unchanging law from Heaven, I just gotta chuckle.
Ahh I think I understand! And a very good point indeed! Religious interpretation is always in flux 🙂
Then maybe the question of if Kemet belief and Christianity are compatible simply comes down to if a person is hard or soft polytheist?
Like me I am a hard polytheist and I do not believe the nTru are one and many like you said, I believe they are many. And that every deity is a deity in their own right, and no necessarily connected or the same. Therefore I find the two faiths to be incompatible.
Whereas from your statement I think you may say you are more of a soft polytheist? So the opposite is true? – perhaps?
Edit – for spelling and clarity
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