Is paganism and older religion than christianity?

Question

This was a recent discussion I was having with my friend and I was unsure of whether Christianity has been around longer or not.. Correct me if I am wrong please.

Answer 1

Paganism is a blanket term that covers any non-Abrahamic (Jewish, Christian, and Islam) religion. There are many Polytheistic religions (Pagan) that have origins much older than Christianity. After all Christianity is only 2007 years old plus of minus a few years. Many polytheistic religions were around for thousands of years before Jesus ever walked the earth. However, neo-Paganism is a modern concept, and although some of its practitioners use some of the pre-Christian religions as a basis for their worship they do not actually practice the old religion. And Wicca the most well known neo-pagan religion and most wrongly used religious name (but that’s another story) was founded in England in the 1950s. So yes paganism is older than Christianity but Wicca is not.

Answer 2

It is my belief that Paganism has been around for a far longer time than Christianity or any other faith for that matter. Paganism is a nature based faith and our ancestors lived in close proximity with nature and the Earth. They looked to the moon, stars, sun and seasons both for guidance and survival. They lived their lives far closer than we do now with the rhythm of the Earth. Many Pagans (although not all and everything said in regard to Neo Paganism must contain the word "generally" ) believe in the Horned one and in the concept of Mother Earth. Some of the earliest discoveries by archaeologists and anthropologists show our ancestors too had great reverence for the Earth and the divinity of male and female and the magic spark of life that comes about when they are combined. This is not something confined to Europe but these beliefs are shown in many forms all over the globe.

Thanks for the interesting question
Blessings
Doe

Answer 3

The actual dispute would be if Judaism has been around longer than Paganism. Christianity started with Christ and even in the old testament, before Christ, there was talk of Jews being told to destroy pagan icons. The written documents for Judaism are not as old as some pagan religions but that does not mean it was not around, just that it was not written about or those manuscripts have not been found for whatever reason.

Answer 4

How is it even logical to say that a newer religion stole stuff from an older religion? It's like saying that Bach stole stuff from The BEATLES. On the contrary: when christianity began it wasn't popular at all. The guys who started it had to find ways to reach the hearts of the people whose religions were pagan. So they took lots of elements from paganism, Greek, Babylonian mythology etc, and combined them in the tradition. For example, the image of God as an old bearded man is an incarnation of Zeus, as the Greeks and Romans used to describe him in their statues and drawings. The image of satan holding a pitchfork is a demonisation of Poseidon's fork, used in later stages of the middle aged and meant to prevent people from worshiping everything that's pagan, or not christian, basically. Regarding the creation, the Christian one and the Jewish one are the same, and of course it is originated in Judaism, which is about 2000 years older than christianity, and the elder among the three monothaistic religions. I don't knoow much about stories of resurrection but I'm sure you can find them especially in egyptian, hindu and any other pagan folklore. It's not a question of who gets 1 and who gets 0, it's a question of history and mob sociology. And I don't understand why are you directing your question to atheists when clearly you disrespect them.

Answer 5

Paganism is older than Christianity, but Neopaganism, which is probably what you mean, isn't and is at the same time. Neopaganism refers to any religion that attempts to reconstruct or otherwise turn back to the old beliefs in a way that combines ancient wisdom with newer discoveries and typically blends some traditions together. Paganism is the term that covers all of the old ways, but no one practices them anymore, at least not in a pure form. The old non Abrahamic religions are all considered pagan religions. Most people (myself included) who follow Neopagan paths identify themselves as Pagan. While many (and most) of my beliefs are pre-Christian, the religion itself is not. This is one of the largest misconceptions about the Neopagan paths, and is, sadly, one of the first that beginners fall for. Blessed be. )O(

Answer 6

Yes Paganism is much older than Christianity. Paganism is anything that does not consist of Judaism, Christianity or Islam. Even Islam is older than Christianity.

Answer 7

The truth is that Christianity is the offspring of earlier paganism. Mythologies of Egypt, Sumer, Babylon, Greece & Rome all had a part in the birthing of Christianity. The Christ Myth was modelled on the previous pagan dying saviour gods eg Dionysus, Attis, Mithra.

Answer 8

Only christians would believe otherwise, and yes some christians do believe otherwise, just like some muslims believe the first humans were muslims.

However, many forms of paganism have not survived christian persecution, and their reconstructions in the twentieth century can hardly be called the same religion.

Answer 9

Please! Are you serious?

I'm sorry, I went through to preview and I thought I can't leave this here.
Christianity started with Jesus Christ ONLY 2000 years ago. Before that was Judaism and paganism. Jew and Gentile.
What religion were Adam and Eve?
Did they believe in God?

Answer 10

Paganism has been around hell of allot longer then Christianity