Wicked Pagans?

Unlike other historians, I do not lump anything non-Christian under the collective noun “pagan”.

This irresponsible term has plagued proper research into religious beliefs long enough now. It is a carryover from early Christian propagandists who believed that only Christianity offered the truth. Anything else was automatically considered to be a deception, a lie, a trick of Satan and of course “pagan”.

In the context of the history of the Christian Church, the term “pagan” was and still is, trotted out regularly in a seemingly instinctive and tactless manner. This occurs whenever a non-Christian belief system is being discussed.

The term “pagan” should be seen as entirely depreciative in import, since the Latin term: “paganus” originally referred to  someone who did not live in the city (e.g., a rustic person; a country dweller; an ignoramus; a country bumpkin; etc.).

It has now come to refer to any ancient belief that was non-Christian. Here, the intimation is clearly made, that all “other” religions are the “same” by virtue of their speciousness and non-conformity to Christianity.

Ironically, before the term became fixed in Christian literature (c. fourth century C.E.) a writer such as Tertullian (c. 160–225 C.E.) could state: “Apud hunc [sc. Christum] tam miles est paganus fidelis quam paganus est miles fidelis,” which based on a more modern interpretation would imply that Christ was also a pagan. 

Thus, in terms of its own employment of this offensive term, Christianity is no more special than any other religion on this planet. It is equally irrational, dogmatic, non-scientific, illogical, and unlearned.