Does pagan religion copy anything from other major religions?

Answer 1

It's the other way round.Most major religions like Christianity,Islam etc have a lot of Pagan ideas in them

Answer 2

Erm.. I don't know if you are learning about this or something but its very much the other way around...

Easter was originally a Pagan fertility celebration.
Halloween was originally and is still called Samhain by Pagans - this is our new year/ celebration of Death.
Christmas and the yule log? Uhm yeah that is Yule the celebration of the Winter Solstice.

Thats just the tip of the iceberg. So no sweetie - the pagans didn't copy. If anything we're being plagerised. For lack of a better term.

Answer 3

I think that every religion 'copies' things that they find appealing or relevant, only maybe it's better to say that they take certain rituals or customs and adapt them slightly. Christianity took the symbolism of sexuality in the bread and wine (the wine in the chalice being the female aspect) from earlier Pagan rituals. Have Pagans taken anything from other religions? Quite possibly - anything which is considered relevant or useful or simply beautiful and honourable to the Source (or whatever you wish to call it) can be taken and adapted.

Answer 4

"Pagan" isn`t a Religion but the beliefs that Pagans support fit into no "organised" Religion.The belief systems they support are labelled "Pagan" by Christianity etc. which stole from the earlier Pagan beliefs when setting up it`s identity.
May Christian "Holy" days were "adapted" by early Christianity from "pagan" festivals e.g. Boxing Day - a Roman Festival Day taken by Christianity where small presents were given to family and friends.
Christianity stole from Pagans not the other way round.

Answer 5

Early Christianity was influenced by paganism,particularly Mithraism. It was a matter not of being syncretic but of accommodating established traditions as much as possible,provided they could be adapted to Christianity. It was practical,facilitated spreading the new faith and was kinder than trying to stamp out pagan traditions. Some call it co-optation; i like it. Paganism didn't copy anything from Christianity that i know of.

Answer 6

All religions borrow amongst themselves and since Pagan religions are a huge variety, many of which borrow from each other, well yes.
I am Neo-Hellenic (my religion is based on ancient Greek religion from the classical period) and I borrow heavily from Druid tradition and a little bit from Wicca. I'm not ashamed.

Answer 7

Pagan is a term that was orignially used by Christians to describe any other religion. It became pejorative (connoted something wrong or bad).

See the more technical explanations below.

From Wikipedia: "Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "an old country dweller, rustic") is a term which, from a Western perspective, has come to connote a broad set of spiritual or cultic practices or beliefs of any folk religion, and of historical and contemporary polytheistic religions in particular."

"The term can be defined broadly, to encompass the faith traditions outside the Abrahamic monotheistic group of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The group so defined includes the Dharmic religions (such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism), Native American religions and mythologies and Shinto as well as non-Abrahamic ethnic religions in general. More narrow definitions will not include any of the world religions and restrict the term to local or rural currents not organized as civil religions. Characteristic of Pagan traditions is the absence of proselytism, and the presence of a living mythology which explains religious practice."

"The term "Pagan" is a Christian adaptation of the "Gentile" of Judaism, and as such has an inherent Christian or Abrahamic bias, and pejorative connotations among Westerners,[2] comparable to heathen, and infidel, mushrik and kafir (كافر) in Islam. For this reason, ethnologists avoid the term "Paganism", with its uncertain and varied meanings, in referring to traditional or historic faiths, preferring more precise categories such as polytheism, shamanism, pantheism, or animism."

"Since the later 20th century, however, the words "Pagan" or "Paganism" have become widely and openly used as a self-designation of adherents of polytheistic reconstructionism and neo-Paganism."

Answer 8

pagan is the original its the worship of the sun and moon and the seasons all religions are based on this

Answer 9

Um, Paganism was around long before Christianity. Sounds to me like someone needs to get a little knowledge before shooting their mouth off.

Answer 10

No,the other religeons ar far younger,they copy from Pagan ideas.