Paganism And Christianity

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Pagan & Christian Beliefs, Rituals & Myths: A Comparison
Most definitions of the word Pagan from most contemporary dictionaries is summed up as “A religion differing from main-world religion”. If we were to go backwards from contemporary dictionaries then we would likely find the definition “A religion differing from Christianity”. There has been a long-standing and tense relation between Christianity and Paganism, but how different are they really? Obviously they have differences and similarities but to what extent? Furthermore what do these overlapping characteristics mean in regard to each other, was it coincidence or correlation? If correlation than what caused the effect? Questions such as these are why research and discussion for this …show more content…
While Christianity has these, they are typically less intense and barbaric, focusing more on the symbolism than the act itself. One example of this is in “foundation sacrifice”. Foundation sacrifice is a Pagan ritual which involves burying a live member of the church when building a place for worship in order to instill spirituality and protect the building. Christians altered this method by changing what they too buried animal sacrifice or just things of sentimental or monetary value, if they even continued to do the practice at all. One reason that the Christian’s have a more narrow set of ritual is because of focusing on the symbolism more than the act. If Christians are more focused on the symbolism of a ritual, than they would only want to follow rituals that appeal to the active parts of their faith. On the other-hand, Paganisms intense lengthy rituals gives a wide room with a broad subject for interpretation considering their faith. …show more content…
This impact hasn’t always been positive for the Pagans but harsh times can sometimes prove to be beneficial in some way. Before assimilating Pagan culture and beliefs, Christians tried to flat out oppress the Pagans. While this is somewhat cloudy as there is no one body of Paganism, and especially more so back when the word was first thought of. Christianity played a big role in the dwindling of Paganism in the 7th-9th century. Christian missionaries spent a lot of effort into converting the Pagan tribes which inhabited the British Isles. Iceland, Denmark and Norway all resisted this change until considerably later in history, although they were affected. Christians successfully succeeded in making themselves the main European religion, although they did not completely eradicate Pagan practices. (Phillips)
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