What does the word "pagan" mean to a Christian?

[Haiku]

This morning I was talking to a good friend of mine who is Christian. I am not. She said something about when I used to be pagan. I am wondering what she meant by that. I was never pagan in the sense of being a neo-Pagan or Wiccan. I was nothing until I adopted the religion I practice now, which is not any sort of neo-pagan religion.

 

Does pagan just mean not Christian? If so, I guess I am still pagan! Or does it mean someone who has no religion? If so, then I guess I was pagan by that definition.

 

Of course I plan to ask her about it when I get the chance, but in the meantime I was just wondering.

 

Tara

[Janna]

I think of a pagan as someone who does not believe in the God of Abraham; the God of the Bible, and to me, the One True God.

[Tabrett]

I think the term pagan is refered to anyone who doesn't worship the God of the Christian Bible.

[KingM]

I think the term pagan is refered to anyone who doesn't worship the God of the Christian Bible.

 

Wait, so you think a Jew or a Muslim is a pagan? :confused:

[phathui5]

I think there's a difference in this case between pagans and Pagans.

[5kidsforME]

Pagan, to me means a person that does not believe in one god. Whether it be the God of Abraham or another god. Christians believe in one God, Jews believe in one God and Muslims believe in one god.

[PineFarmMom]

I always just assumed it was anyone who didn't worship the God of the Bible. I think I'm going to look it up in the dictionary to get a more proper definition because it's not something I've spent much time thinking about.

 

This reminded me of a movie I saw as a kid. It was a spoof off of a 30-min. spy or cop show from like the 50s or 60s. I can't remember the name of it and now it will bug me. Anyway, the main characters were in pursuit of some bad guys involved in the local PAGAN group. In the movie, pagan meant People Against Goodness And Normallcy. I was young enough and unaware of the meaning of the term so I thought that that was what pagan meant. :001_huh:

[Plucky]

To this Christian it means a person that practices Paganism.

[nukeswife]

Here's what Merriam-Webster online lists as the definition.

 

Main Entry: pa·gan

Pronunciation: \ˈpā-gən\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin paganus, from Latin, civilian, country dweller, from pagus country district; akin to Latin pangere to fix — more at pact

Date: 14th century

1 : heathen 1; especially : a follower of a polytheistic religion (as in ancient Rome)

2 : one who has little or no religion and who delights in sensual pleasures and material goods : an irreligious or hedonistic person

3 : neo-pagan

 

— pagan adjective

 

— pa·gan·ish \-gə-nish\ adjective

 

 

I think many use it as a way to lump together all those that don't consider themselves Christians or religious but it looks like it was originally a way to distiguish a country dweller.

[nukeswife]

 

This reminded me of a movie I saw as a kid. It was a spoof off of a 30-min. spy or cop show from like the 50s or 60s. I can't remember the name of it and now it will bug me. Anyway, the main characters were in pursuit of some bad guys involved in the local PAGAN group. In the movie, pagan meant People Against Goodness And Normallcy. I was young enough and unaware of the meaning of the term so I thought that that was what pagan meant. :001_huh:

 

I believe your referring to the movie Dragnet from 1987 with Dan Akroyd and Tom Hanks.

[Guest Katia]

Ok, don't laugh, but as a young teen and early 20's, I thought a pagan was a heathen....which in my mind translated to a tribal worship ex: painted bodies dancing wildly around an open fire. In movies and tv shows, that was how heathens were portrayed, right?

 

So, as I got a little older and people said they were pagans.....I was shocked imagining them naked, painted and stomping around a fire. :lol: :lol:

 

This board has been a wonderful education to me in this regard, and others as well.

 

Now, I believe a Pagan is one who practices Paganism....and if they choose to get nekkid and dance around a fire, I'd join in with 'em! :D

[PineFarmMom]

I believe your referring to the movie Dragnet from 1987 with Dan Akroyd and Tom Hanks.

 

Thank you! Yes, that was it.

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

Yeah. And I would never call a person a pagan who had not referred to himself that way.

[HRAAB]

Pagan, to me means a person that does not believe in one god. Whether it be the God of Abraham or another god. Christians believe in one God, Jews believe in one God and Muslims believe in one god.

 

There are Pagans who believe in one deity.

 

Janet

[5kidsforME]

There are Pagans who believe in one deity.

 

Janet

 

Yeah, I have been looking for what Pagan means and I am learning new things! :) Deity could mean, a person elevated to God status too though. So each pagan may believe in a certain deity, right?

 

This is what dictionary.com says

 

pa·gan (pā'gən)

n.

 

1. An adherent of a polytheistic religion in antiquity, especially when viewed in contrast to an adherent of a monotheistic religion.

2. A Neopagan.

3. Offensive

   2. One who has no religion.

   3. An adherent of a religion other than Judaism, Christianity, or Islam.

 

[*]A hedonist.

 

 

I always thought a Pagan was one with no religion.

[TravelingChris]

I call someone who is not of the normal polytheistic religions a pagan or else anyone who considers themselves a pagan. Thereby, I don't call Hindus pagans but do call various tribal polytheistic beliefs pagan. It isn't any type of hate word or derogatory word.

[Pink Fairy]

I don't know the dictionary definition (or I didn't, until this thread), but I think of a pagan as someone who worships false gods.

[HRAAB]

Yeah, I have been looking for what Pagan means and I am learning new things! :) Deity could mean, a person elevated to God status too though. So each pagan may believe in a certain deity, right?

 

This is what dictionary.com says

 

pa·gan (pā'gən)

n.

 

1. An adherent of a polytheistic religion in antiquity, especially when viewed in contrast to an adherent of a monotheistic religion.

2. A Neopagan.

3. Offensive

   2. One who has no religion.

   3. An adherent of a religion other than Judaism, Christianity, or Islam.

 

 

[*]A hedonist.

 

 

I always thought a Pagan was one with no religion.

 

I think it very hard, if not next to impossible, to define Paganism since each person is responsible for their own beliefs and there is no doctrine. A Pagan could believe in one deity, be polytheistic, or not believe in any deity.

 

Janet

[HRAAB]

I don't know the dictionary definition (or I didn't, until this thread), but I think of a pagan as someone who worships false gods.

 

Of course, to the Pagan, they're not false. :001_smile:

 

Janet

[tatertotschool]

I think it very hard, if not next to impossible, to define Paganism since each person is responsible for their own beliefs and there is no doctrine. A Pagan could believe in one deity, be polytheistic, or not believe in any deity.

 

Janet

 

 

What she said. To me, a pagan is someone who claims to be a pagan, but the biblical perspective is different. In the OT- anyone who wasn't a Jew- was a gentile. Similarly, the term Pagan- in early NT times was used to many anyone who wasn't a Christian. Now it's the chicken or the egg question? Because "neopagans" have begun to use the term, it takes on a new meaning- but does it lose the old?

[mommylawyer]

To me a [little p] pagan is someone who does not believe in the one God [with a capital G] (whether that be the God of Abraham, God the Father, Allah, etc.). A [capital P] Pagan is someone who has committed themselves to some formalized religious belief that is outside of the worship of the one God (as I defined earlier) - whether that be Wicca, Neopaganism, etc.

 

I must admit, as I'm typing this, and given my own mind's definitions, I am wondering if I consider Hinduism, Buddism, Shinto, etc. as pagan or Pagan? I don't know - I guess I've given myself something look into!

[Pink Fairy]

Of course, to the Pagan, they're not false. :001_smile:

 

Janet

 

No argument from me on that point, but the question was what a Christian thinks pagan means, not what a pagan thinks pagan means. :001_smile:

[HRAAB]

No argument from me on that point, but the question was what a Christian thinks pagan means, not what a pagan thinks pagan means. :001_smile:

 

Granted.

 

Janet

[Ester Maria]

In the context of my childhood, the word was sometimes used to refer to an adherent of an idolatrous religion. Such a wording was problematic also because from that perspective very few religions are not idolatrous, but that's not what you ask as it's a non-Christian one.

 

Catholics around us used the word from their perspective, in which it referred to an adherent of a polytheist cult, and more specifically, it was often used to draw a difference between early Christians and Romans/Greeks.

I haven't really seen the term used broadly to refer to Neo-Paganism until I came here.

[Tabrett]

Wait, so you think a Jew or a Muslim is a pagan? :confused:

Noooo!!!! Sorry it came out that way. If I am remembering correctly, pagan in the Christian Bible, is referred to anyone who worships anything else (like idols) other than the Christian God or Jesus.

 

I think of a Pagan as a person who is more similar to a Wiccan or White/Good Witch (not sure of the correct term). Someone who serves an ancient god?

 

But, I do think many Christians consider all other religions than Christianity, Pagan.

[LizzyBee]

I usually think of pagans as people who practice a Pagan religion. I don't think of all non-Christians as pagans.

[Ester Maria]

But, I do think many Christians consider all other religions than Christianity, Pagan.

While I can't speak for the Christians, I am yet to meet one who will dare to dismiss Jews as pagans. :tongue_smilie:

[Janet in WA]

I can't help it...the only thing I think of when I hear the word "pagan" is my days in parochial school in the 60's. An ongoing project in every classrom was to collect money every day in a cigar box (another artifact of the 60's) to adopt a "pagan baby". I don't think we ever knew for sure what a "pagan baby" was, so that's the pretty sad extent of my thinking on the term "pagan".

Edited August 12, 2009 by Janet in WA

[Haiku]

Thanks, everyone. This has been very helpful. What I have learned from this thread is that I may, or may not be, a pagan (little p), but I am not a Pagan (big P). :D

 

Interesting discussion!

 

Tara

[Peela]

And I would never call a person a pagan who had not referred to himself that way.

 

Thankyou. As a non Christian, I find it derogatory coming from a Christian, unless I actually practice the religion of Paganism, which I dont in particular.

[OnTheBrink]

Personally, when I think of pagan, I think of Druids or some sort of ancient Celtic religion. OR, I think of someone who practices those types of religions.

 

I never have thought of the regular, garden-variety non-Christian as a pagan.

 

And Dragnet was hilarious!

[tdeveson]

Originally Posted by Tabrett

I think the term pagan is refered to anyone who doesn't worship the God of the Christian Bible.

 

Wait, so you think a Jew or a Muslim is a pagan? :confused:

 

They worship the same god.