I know it is a religon but what are the beliefs and how is it diff from christians?
2006-09-22 16:05:42 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Under the broadest spectrum--any non-Christian is considered a Pagan, which would include Judaism and Islam. There are many forms of paganism in the world today. Wiccans are a varied group of pagans, there are many traditions--all originated from Gerald Gardner's creation of the religion--over half a century ago-they are primarily followers of Earth based religions, they have many holidays--one is coming up-some call it Samhain, others refer to it by different names--but Christians call it Hallow'een. Not all pagans proclaim a disbelief in Christ and Christianity-some even combine their practices with Christianity, they realize that the concept of deity is universal, that there is room for many to practice, and all to be loved and cared for by whatever name they choose to call this universal deity. Many have found the narrowmindedness of Christianity to be not only stifling, but intolerant of any diversity, slow to change, and even slower to accept that there are other valid pathways to communing with the divine. Different pagan followers have different beliefs--not all pagans are monotheistic-having more than one higher power/supreme being-not all are pantheistic--basicly having multiple higher powers/supreme beings--most seek a balance between the male and female aspects of divinity--there are many differences between paganism and Christianity it is not possible to name them all--but there are also many similarities, the same basic rules apply to paganism as to any other religion.
2006-09-22 16:32:11 · answer #1 · answered by Riley M 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Paganism is earth-based spirituality. The whole mother earth, father in the sky instinct is repeatedly reflected in world religions. All religions probably started out as pagan, including the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam), They were all agrigultural religions that saw a NATURAL unfolding of reality, life, and religious truth, but that got lost in all the legalism, dogma and fear-based ideology. A lot of modern neo-pagans seem to be kind of making it up as they go along, and maybe that's okay. But sometimes they have an attitude and get bitchy toward all the plain old schmucks that go along the religion of their upbringing, thus these neo- pagans ape the very intolerance that drove them away from Christianity etc. in the first place. The best kind of earth-based spirituality, in my opinion, is Native American spirituality, sometimes called the Sacred Path. It doesn't have any of that attitude, nor the kooky Eurocentric Wicca stuff that seems silly and Halloweeny (sorry I'm probably offending someone). If you want to know about the Sacred Path, go into the woods and pray to the Great Spirit to give you a sign. Sounds like I'm kidding, but I'm not.
2006-09-22 16:31:18 · answer #2 · answered by uncle 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The term "Pagan" comes from an old word that used to mean a "country dweller". In the old days when Christianity had just become the new cosmopolitan (and state sanctioned) religion of the Roman Empire, the people of the rural areas were slow to convert from worship of the old gods and the religions of their ancestors. They were referred to as "paganus" because they were being -old fashioned- or conservative. Pagan was a mildly derogatory term - kind of like calling someone a "hick" or "red-neck" or "hill-billy" in present day North America. "Heathen" meant much the same thing "people of the heath"... In recent times many people who believe in the old gods or in pre-Christian religions are still called that and some of us have elected to accept the term as an adequate description - but it is rarely what we call ourselves.
2006-09-22 17:42:24 · answer #3 · answered by Michael Darnell 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A Pagan worhsips the Older Gods, the pre-christianity ones like Zeus, Odin, Aphrodite, Isis, Cernnunos, Lugh, etc. They are nature people and celebrate the turning of the seasons.
2006-09-22 16:10:27 · answer #4 · answered by Sebastian 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Pagan is an umbrella term for any pre-christian religion that does not share similar roots with christianity.
That includes any of the old religions - Greek, Egyptian, Roman, Norse, etc.
2006-09-22 16:39:30 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A Pagan is what the speaker thinks it is. There is no complete definition of the word. It means being what I am not.
2006-09-22 16:14:15 · answer #6 · answered by mesquiteskeetr 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A Pagan is a person who is not a Jew,Christian or Muslim.
2006-09-22 16:07:57 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Pagans are those who dont believe in Jesus and in the Bible.
2006-09-22 16:08:05 · answer #8 · answered by jp 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I googled this the other day and the dictionary said it is a heathen.
2006-09-22 16:08:44 · answer #9 · answered by lees girl 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
http://www.sacredhearth.com/whatispagan.html
2006-09-27 05:59:06 · answer #10 · answered by kaplah 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋