why are all non Abraham religions coincided pagan?

Question

pagan, means a country dweller, so why are christians against,people who live in the subburbs?andn who concider them heathens--some one who dosnt believe in god?

the dictionary sais the Muslims are a abrahamic religion

pa·gan (pā'gən)
n.
One who is not a Christian, Muslim, or Jew, especially an adherent of a polytheistic religion in antiquity.
A Neo-Pagan.
Offensive.
One who has no religion.
A non-Christian.
A hedonist.
[Middle English, from Late Latin pāgānus, from Latin,> country-dweller,
pagan pa'gan adj.
pagandom pa'gan·dom (-dəm) n.
paganish pa'gan·ish adj.
paganism pa'gan·ism n.

Answer 1

This word originally comes from Latin. 'Pagus' means a canton or district, or in other words a parcel of land, usually out in the country. A 'paganus' was one who lived on this parcel of land, usually working it as a farm or performing other rural tasks. 'Paganus' came to mean country folk. As Christianity came to various parts of Europe, the people in the towns and cities were converted, but those in the country were not. So country folk were non-Christian. The word 'pagan', which originally meant country person, came to mean non-believer and worse.

Answer 2

You might also not that heathen didn't mean someone who doesn't believe in god either; it simply meant "one who lives on the heath".

Basically, when Christendom began to gain power in Europe, it did so in the cities first, and those living outside the cities (Heathens or Pagans) began to be looked down upon as un-sophisticated. That's how those words came into more popular use.

Personally, I'm quite proud to be a Pagan.

Answer 3

I think the word originally was used by Christians to refer to those who practiced a religion other than Judaism or Christianity. It was used as an insult, as they felt that non-biblical religions were inferior. Originally, Christians referred to Muslims as pagan as well. But finally they came to accept that Muslims do worship the same God, and therefore they no longer refer to them as pagan.

Answer 4

Because christians are confused.

Yahweh clearly acknowledged in the first commandment that the are other gods. He just wanted to be first. You are correct that religions who worship any of the other gods are not all pagan. That should be reserved for religions which worship nature gods. Heathen, though, was meant originally to mean not christian or jewish so it can properly be applied to groups such as the Hindu.

Answer 5

In the early days of Christianity, the terms "pagan" and "heathen" refer to people who lived in the countryside who and were uneducated. Thus, they were tied to "old" and "unsophisticated" ideas and didn't know about "God" (i.e. the one God of the Abrahamic tradition) and Christianity. Originally, the reference meant "hick" or "red-neck" or uneducated person in general. This is because most early Christians lived in cities and were what we would today refer to as "urban middle-class." The terms "pagan" and "heathen" only occur in European languages. The terms for persons who do not know about or believe in the God in most of the worlds languages are not related to non-urban populations. This is very similar to the term "Yankee" which was originally a derogatory term in Dutch for the English farmers (read "hicks") who lived in Connecticut. As with the term "yankee," overtime "pagan" and "heathen" have developed meanings of their own. "Pagan" continues to mean "one who does not believe in God," but "heathen" has also developed the connotation of anyone who is not "civilized."

Answer 6

the country dweller had to be converted to christianity. before this, they were pagan. they believed in many gods, some to help with their crops, some to help with fertility etc. when christianity took over, they had to keep some of the pagan beliefs to help convert the pagans. just google the origins of popular christian holidays like christmas or easter, they all come from paganism, not christianity

Answer 7

The word Pagan is basically an umbrella term. I guess it's a way of insulting people who aren't Christians. Heathen is another word used as an insult.

Answer 8

That is only true of those who practice Abrahamaic religions, and only some of them. Many people are beginning to understand that all religions are valuable to those who follow them, even when they are different from their own beliefs.

The word Pagan should only be used for those who self-identify as Pagan!

Answer 9

Very few people in the U.S. today care in slightest what the words they use actually mean. Most don't even know. While you are philologically correct, for which I sincerely congratulate you, you overlook the fact that popular usage is unrelated to the actual origin and meaning of words. Worse, dictionaries are constantly revised to reflect popular usage, even when it obscures meaning. That is why "contact" is now a verb, you can now use "imply" and "infer" interchangeably, you can use "presently" to mean "at present", and so on. In modern usage "Pagan" in its original sense has become obsolete, just as "gay" no longer mean "happy" or "carefree", and "queer" no longer means "odd" or "peculiar". Sad for those of us who actually liked being able to use English for precise communication, but a fact of life.

Answer 10

My understanding of what a pagan religion is is just one who warships multiple Gods. In the modern world, many falsely believe that "pagan" means "devil worship", as they believe "jihad" means "holy war"

To Daniel_Boon, Muslims worship the same God Christians and Jews do, Allah is just Islamic for God. Many arab christians say "Allah" rather than "God."