Why where so many ideas stolen from the pagans?

Question

is there a reason why people desided to take things from other religions and take them as thier own if they hate the ones who they stole their ideas from

what a sham i tell u makes no since

BIG example the star of david stolen christmas and alot of others

Answer 1

Well, when the Christian church basically took over the Roman Empire, lots of the people were still pagan. But they had to pretend they were Christian in order to unify the empire and establish the authority of the church. So the church fathers, being rather clever sorts, adopted as many of their holidays and symbols as Christian as a way to get them to go along with the church. "See, it's not so different. You don't have to give up your Yule log or your Oestara boiled and painted eggs. You can still have these gods and goddesses, but now you must call them saints." It worked, too.

Answer 2

So? That's normal. Compare the Roman and Greek pagan religions sometime--the Romans took a TON from the Greeks--as well as the Etruscans, Egyptians, and numerous other cultures they overran. Christianity borrowing from earlier religions is nothing new. And if you want to talk about borrowing, you should study where Gardner got the material for Wicca sometime--plenty of Golden Dawn and Freemasonry material in there.

Answer 3

If you set out to construct a religion you would need to make it familiar and comforting to the people you're trying to convert. And if you want it to survive you take only what worked and you keep taking what works.

You can look at Christianity as the culmination of what works. It took many successful ideas from previous religions. And to keep itself from stagnating it has periodically reinvented itself. It still borrows and incorporates into itself what works. Even those ideas that it fought against once the ideas become impossible to fight against get folded into the religion.

At this moment there is a slowly creeping movement to incorporate evolution into christianity. As much as it has opposed evolution it is slowly becoming impossible to continue fighting it and christians are beginning to say "ok but god created evolution."

In a few decades evolution will be used by religions as an argument for the validity of their beliefs and they will have once again reinvented themselves.

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In response to "problem" I think the asker left out a comma. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the intent was to present 2 examples the star of David, stolen Christmas. As in the fact that Christmas was 'borrowed' from Pagans.

Answer 4

a number of it became basically the human beings nonetheless donning on their standard traditions yet including their new faith into the blend. For different issues which incorporate putting Christmas on the time of many pagan celebrations it became carried out by potential of the church to grant a holiday to compete with the pagan holiday journeys.

Answer 5

Pagans were reluctant to give up their holidays and even certain gods and/or goddesses. So the Christians, to help conversion, Incorporated the holidays and made many gods and goddesses saints. This helped Pagans feel more at home with the new religion.

Answer 6

Syncretism isn't stealing, it's natural, normal. Religion is just one part of culture, and people's entire cultures don't disappear when their religion changes. Remember also that most everyday folks really weren't "converted" until generations after the rulers of their lands embraced Christ. Why would people give up their traditions if the Church didn't mind them continuing as long as new stories were created?
God is bigger than cultural differences.

Answer 7

Because if the Pagans could not keep their Gods (converted into saints in Greece and Ireland, among others) and their religious festival (in Christianized form) then they would not become Christian.

This of course was not allowable in the Christian mind, so the Pagan ideas HAD to be stolen.....

Answer 8

The answer is simple-to help the early Christians convince people to convert.

Christianity is basically Judaism blended with a lot of elements from a lot of Pagan faiths to make it acceptable to non-Jews.

Answer 9

I don't understand your examples. The star of David is a Jewish symbol I have never seen it used for Christmas..Maybe you saw a Hanuka decoration..they are around the same time of year.
When the Catholic Church taught to Pagans they let them keep much of their own customs and practises. They didn't seem to think it was a point to argue about. So things like decorated eggs. became Easter eggs. etc. I don't think anyone stole anything it was just assimilated..

Answer 10

To keep the Pagans sweet during conversion. That's why you see the Green Man on church buttresses and doorknobs in Europe. People don't let go of their old gods easy.

Islam has little to do with the moon, but Muhammad had the same idea when he was assimilating a pagan tribe who worshipped the moon. Hence, the moon on top of mosques.