what percentage of christianity do you think is?

Question

derived from paganism?

oh, and please state your religion so i can understand the context of your answer, thanks

gunslinger - when people start reading material apart from the bible, that's when they start to realize that the bible may not be what they thought it was.

Answer 1

ohhh...about this much ---><------ or "0"

might be time to read some material about Jesus...material outside of the Bible....

Answer 2

Pagans are people that lived in a village that were not of the same religion of the majority. IOW, the outcast. So your question doesn't make sense unless it is centered at a point in history. Basically they were rural people given the term that we use today as 'hillbilly.' More or less they were out of touch.

In the days of Christianity usually only the towns people were educated enough to read the bible and the hicks from the sticks didn't have a clue so they were not looked upon as a viable belief or religion, simply a cult of those that made up reasons for things they didn't understand. Such as the world is flat.

I don't think it influenced Christianity that much other than methodology (not mythology) of behavior. Clearly not any beliefs.

BTW, all this nonsense about Halloween is from a point in time in history. "Birthdays" are a pagan holiday as well. For those living in outer space, Halloween is when kids dress up to scare people and go door to door to get candy. It's fun being scary when you are a child. It's stupid when you're an adult to make more out of it than what it is.

Everyone thinks they are Greek and living in the stone age and most can't remember a time when there wasn't television. LOL!

Guess what? We hated England more than terrorists too... and that was a few lifetimes since the pagan hicks from the sticks were around.

Answer 3

Good question. Are you ready for this?

1. All of the "Christian" holidays on the calendar we placed on the same dates as Pagan holidays to keep Pagans from celebrating the original festivals and celebrate what the Church wanted.

2. The concept of "Patron Saints" in the early church and today's Catholic church comes from pantheon worship of the pagans.

3. The Blessed Virgin Mary having a boy-child who died and then rose again is not unique to Christianity. Pagans have celebrated this concept for centuries BEFORE Christianity. Even though, historically, Christ was born in the Spring or summer time, we celebrate in December. Why? Because of the Pagan holiday, YULE--the birth of the GOD from the Goddess.

The VAST MAJORITY of the Christian traditions have been adopted from paganism. If you strip away all of those things, Christianity looks very different.

Answer 4

I'd say about 80 - 90%. Christmas, Easter, Halloween all have their orgins in Pagan festivals. The iconography of the cross is present at Newgrange which is a 5,000 year old burial chamber in Ireland. The idea of the Holy Trinity came about with St. Patrick trying to convert the Celtic tribes in Ireland who had many Gods. St. Brigid was originally the goddess of spring.

Okay I could go on but I'd be hear for hours yabbering on. I studied a lot of the Ancient Irish customs and I'm fascinated with how they were twisted around by the church for their own means.

Good Question!

Answer 5

Practically all of it.

The "Dying God," who is barbarously slain on a tree and resurrected after three days; the Virgin Birth; the miracles with wine and fish; the Eucharistic feast; all these and many more aspects of Christian legend, dogma and ritual were co-opted wholesale from earlier pagan mystery cults, such as those of Attis, Adonis, Osiris, Dionysus, Mithras, etc.

The whole Christian calendar is nothing more than a superficially revised version of the old pagan fertility cycle, with the crucifixion or copulation (the Cross being an age-old phallic symbol) occurring at the Vernal Equinox, and the birth (or rebirth) of "Christ" nine months later at the Winter Solstice.

The pagan roots are most obvious in Catholicism. The "Saints" are in the vast majority of cases simply minor pagan deities with "St" placed before their names - their feast days are the same, the "miracles" associated with them are the same, etc.

By the way, I'm an atheist (ex-Catholic) with a background in anthropology and comparative religion.

Answer 6

I think the opposite actually- Christianity has been perverted in alot of ways. Such as Easter,Halloween and Christmas they are so commercialized.
Yes, My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, If you researched Halloween it started as a celebration of the Harvest and heading in to winter. And Pumpkins were to scare the bad away which I think is a bit on the pagan side but I hope everyone gets the point.
Ex.From the beginning Lucifer was a musician and now the music is opposite of what God meant it to be.
** nondenominational-Christian

Answer 7

None of it is derived from paganism. It is derived from the teachings of Jesus Christ. Incidental similarities between some Christian beliefs and beliefs of earlier pagan sects are not evidence of direct influence. However, Christianity does incorporate certain elements that were part of paganism but not specifically pagan in nature, like wedding rings; and also elements that were part of Judaism. Not surprising considering that all the early Christians were converts either from Judaism or from paganism.

Answer 8

the scott kid must be on PCP...

Anyone who isn't a huge moron knows that Christianity derived from paganism- Jesus was actually the Godman, Mary the Goddess, and so forth.

Here's an idea: I have a challenge for you Fundies (yes, scott, you get to be in this little club activity too...): Go out and do some serious research on your "Christian" roots. Then come back to me with an educated response. You never know- you may actually enjoy thinking for yourself...

Answer 9

How do you even get the terminology "derived from paganism"? You do realize one wouldn't even exist without the other.? I assure you Christianity "derived" entirely from Christ. Some traditions are borrowed from pagan traditions, and some pagan traditions started out as Christian. Does it really matter? I always thought religion using pagan traditions was an example of how God can use anything for His purpose.

Answer 10

Let's not forget that:

- christianity was at one time (and in my eyes still is) a jewish sect, if i am not mistaken even forbidden
- the festive holidays are plagiarised from paganism
- most churches are build on and made of holy oaks, other holy places that were perversed

So I think... 75-85 %

Nice question.

Answer 11

I suck at Math. But I was always really good at Literature and History. I would venture a guess of say 90%.

And I am a Christian.