What does the word Pagan really mean?? Christians please don't answer this.?

Question

I don't want to see any answers that says Pagan means evil, or anything similar, that is the meaning the Christian Church has placed on the word. I want to know the original meaning, back in ancient times when the many Pagan religions were not only common but accepted as well, before the Christian Church took their power and began to condemn everyone that doesn't think and believe as they do.
So, I'll ask again: What does the word Pagan really mean??
Please give links to any sites you may know of that can explain the answer.

Thanks to all. :-}

Answer 1

Pagan/Heathen....People of the country..people of the hearth Pagans were the people on the outskirts of town...the farmers that were the people that still followed the old religion while others were converting to Christianity.

Answer 2

It's etymology tells us that it stems from the Latin word paganus. The definition for paganus is country-dweller or rustic. It is believed among scholars that during that time it had no religious connotations and was more of an insult or a slur. It would be like calling someone a redneck today.

At some point in history the connotation changed. It is not exactly clear how but here's a general idea. Historically, as Christianity became a rising force seeking to convert people usually the most remote people were the last to be converted, if at all! They got to people in the cities first and it spread to the people in the country. It was these people who depended on the very earth for their survival. If crops failed they starved. While it wasn't woven into a formal religion like it is today, these people practiced folk magic. They had wise women who would use herbs to heal and deliver babies. Many of the things they did Christians who were trying to convert them didn't understand and thought was work of the devil. As more of this goes on, moving forward in time to the persecution of witches, and moving forward to modern witchcraft and nature based religions it makes sense that it eventually gained the definition it has today. It still is negative in the minds of Christians but it is a great name the followers of it's many paths have reclaimed and made into a positive force.

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Answer 3

When capitalized, Pagan refers to members of Pre-Christian and Post-Christian religions from Europe and the European diaspora.
The Pre-Christian ones are few and far between-Christianity stomped hard on religions when it came to an area.
More common are Post-Christian religions, which have arrived since the decline of Christianity as a default state religion in European Countries. Some are based on Pre-Christian rites or imaginings thereof.
For a number of years, the prefered term was Neopagan, but the effect of this term was a continuation of the myth that Post Christian religions (like Wicca) are Pre-Christian Religions (Like Religio Romana)


When NOT capitalized, it refers to the time before the coming of a dominant religion to an area. (Christian Rome vs pagan Rome, pagan Persia vs Islamic Persia.) It can also refer to the unconverted, hicks, country dwellers or other things.

It is a context-specific word.

Answer 4

It really just means anything outside the Abrahamic monotheistic religions. There's not just one Pagan belief or religion. "Back in the day", they didn't call themselves 'pagans', they were just people who believed in different things. It was a way of saying 'back country people'. Basically, Christians were the ones to use the word 'pagan' to describe people who were not of one of the popular Abrahamic faiths.

I guess I could run around and say I'm 'Pagan' but todays meaning is slightly different and people would probably assume I'm Wiccan or actually practice some ancient religion.

Answer 5

These are words that describe simple concepts. An atheist is someone who rejects the existence of the supernatural. A Christian is someone who believes (and follows) Jesus, Muslim follows Muhammed, Jew is an ethnic people who follow OT, Pagan is basically "other". If you try to assume more, you are likely to make errors. It may be true that, as a group, Christians are close minded...or that Pagans have looser morals. These things make those people more likely to fall inside the conformity of the group, but in no way MAKES them. Basically, use labels as they are meant to be used. A dictionary definition rather than an all inclusive guide to who/what a person is.

Answer 6

Pagan literally means "Country Dweller" which is a fancy way of saying hick or hillbilly. It was used as an insult to refer to the people out in the sticks who still stuck to worshiping the Old Gods while the city folk had converted to Christianity.

Today it generally refers to those who practice Pre-Christian Nature based religions. Most of us tend to be polytheists.

Answer 7

I think the true meaning of Pagan is "Country Dweller". But the Abrahamic religions have taken this word and used it to describe those who don't believe in their religion.

Answer 8

To my understanding, the word "pagan" just means "anything coming from another religion, other than Christianity". It just means "the other religions", seeing them from a Christian point of view. It especially was meant for polytheistic religions (Not Christians, Jews, or Muslims). Many religious groups have the idea of "us" and "them", so they have a word to call themselves, and a word for everyone else. Eventually people started to use it as a synonym for "irreligious" or "hedonistic". This was not necessarily always the case - that pagans were non-believers, or that they were irreligious. It just meant that pagans weren't christian. Therefore they were condemned by many.

Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin paganus, from Latin, civilian, country dweller, from pagus country district; akin to Latin pangere to fix
www.m-w.com

[Origin: 1325–75; ME < ML, LL pāgānus worshiper of false gods, orig. civilian (i.e., not a soldier of Christ), L: peasant, n. use of pāgānus rural, civilian, deriv. of pāgus village, rural district (akin to pangere to fix, make fast); see -an1]
www.dictionary.com

Answer 9

As I understand it, there was no word Pagan in ancient times. Different cultures had different deities, but other than these deities having individual names, there was no labelling religions like there is today.

Answer 10

The Latin word that it comes from roughly means "country dweller." Prior to Christianity, it was used pretty much as it sounds, though there were connotations of "hick" and "civilian" tied to it. In that time period, it wasn't used to denote religion.

When Christianity started to rise to power, the term started to take on the religious usage.