Common Roots

Christianity and Paganism

by High Priest Ogonslav Firewind
16 January 2019

If you were to ask the average Christian about the origin of their religious principles, the source of the many modernized beliefs they hold, many of them would say "the Middle East" or "from God" without giving it much further thought. These folks would be surprised, or even in disbelief, to learn that many of their traditions come from Paganism. Even though Christianity is the largest religion (2.3 billion members as of 2015), Paganism predates Christianity by thousands of years. Before we start looking at similarities, it’s important to define the two. What is Christianity, and what is Paganism?

According to Oxford Dictionary, Christianity is, “the religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus Christ, or its beliefs and practices”, whereas Paganism is, “a religion other than one of the main world religions, specifically a non-Christian or pre-Christian religion”. So based on these definitions, it would seem as though Paganism is the exact opposite of Christianity. Well, yes and no.

Paganism is typically an umbrella term, and it covers a large group of religions, including Voodoo, Santaria, Wicca, Asatru, Neo-Paganism, and many more. So by this definition, if one does not practice an Abrahamic faith (Christianity, Islam, or Judaism), then one can be considered Pagan. This would mean that Catholics or Mormons could also be considered Pagan, depending on who you ask, since they don’t always fall within the realm of Christianity. This is a fact which may put many people off, which only further demonstrates that these broadly defined terms are reductionist, not capturing the nuances of these different faiths. At the end of the day, you are going to hear many different perspectives on who and what constitutes Paganism, so perhaps we should cast aside the definitions and look at what these different faiths have in common.

On this list, the most popular common tradition is likely Christmas. Celebrated on December 25th, it is held to be the day that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. For those who don’t know the story, the biblical God impregnated Mary (who was set to marry to Joseph), but because of the time and place where this happened, Mary had to keep everything secret, lest she be stoned to death. Mary and Joseph were visited by an angel who instructed them not to worry, and explained who the child would become. They traveled together to Bethlehem to have the child, but were forced to sleep in a stable do to overcrowded inns (see Luke 1:18-21).

Many historians and scholars believe Jesus wasn’t born on December 25th, but rather in the summer months. So why choose December? There are many traditions which celebrate the birth of the sun on or around the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year and the one which marks the return of longer days to come. One such tradition, an ancient cult called Mithra, believed their Sun-God, Mithras, was born actually on the same day, December 25th. The Druids in ancient France and Britain staged a 12-day festival at the time of the winter solstice. They believed it was the high point of an annual battle between an ice giant, representing death, and the sun god, representing life. So these are all themes held in common with Christianity, which celebrates the birth of the “son” (so puny).

What happened was, when Christianity started migrating to Europe, they found that most of the natives were Pagan. Christians had to adapt and slightly change some of their beliefs to more easily convert Pagans to their religion. Even if Jesus was born in the summer, that didn’t matter. The important thing was that the Pagans start worshipping the Christian God, and his son, who was seen to be in a way part of God, so that they are saved from damnation. So, they compromised and moved the celebration to the time of year that made the most sense to the Pagans, even while pushing their own version of events upon the world.

Another common symbol of the holiday, evergreens, such as holly, mistletoe, fir and spruce, can be seen almost everywhere during the season. It wasn’t the Christians who decided to make use of these plants. Rather, these were the plants most commonly used by ancient Celts and Greeks to remind them that the season of death was nearing its end, and the season of rebirth was upon them.

Another tradition which Christians and Pagans share is Easter. Easter is one of the most popular and important Christian holidays. Three days before Easter (called Good Friday) is the day that Jesus was crucified and died on the cross. Three days later (on Easter) Jesus was resurrected from the dead, saving all Christians from eternal damnation.

The term “Easter” actually originates from the Germanic goddess Eostre, who was celebrated during the spring equinox, a time when day and night last for equal lengths. The Easter Bunny and Easter eggs are also Pagan traditions as they are both symbols of fertility in line with the theme of rebirth found so easily within the budding new life of the spring season.

Beyond traditions, many aspects of Christian doctrine are tied or rooted within the beliefs of Paganism as well. For instance, Christians believe in immortal souls. The first group who taught this concept was found in ancient Egypt and Babylon. The Egyptians were some of the first to believe in heaven. When the Egyptian god Osiris died, he was raised from the dead in a distant heavenly realm. The Egyptians believed that if he was capable of doing this, so were they.

Likewise, the Christian concept of the trinity also comes from Pagan origins. The concept is that there are 3 aspects of God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All are different beings, but all are also the same God. When explaining this, many will use the “apple” example. An apple has three parts, the skin, the flesh, and the core. All three of these are separate parts of the apple, but they are also still part of the same apple. The same can be said about the trinity. However, this concept is not original to Christianity.

The idea of the Triple Goddess is found all throughout Pagan art and the few available records which survived the burning times (which should be called the hanging times, but that is a separate paper) dating back centuries. The three female figures are frequently described as the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone, each of which symbolizes both a separate stage in the female life cycle and a phase of the moon. Each is also seen to rule one of the realms of earth, underworld, and the heavens. The Goddess of Wicca's duotheistic theology is also sometimes portrayed as the Triple Goddess, her masculine consort being the Horned God (who sometimes has a triple phase as well).

So as you can see, Christianity adopted many ancient Pagan traditions in the hopes of converting as many Pagans as they could to their religion when they started branching out into Europe. This isn’t to say that Christian teachings are less valuable, meaningful, or interesting. Rather, all I am saying here is that they aren’t original. We have more in common than one may believe. Maybe one day we can cast the petty differences aside and celebrate the holidays together. Blessed be.



Bibliography
Christians Remain the World's Largest Religious Group
The Pagan Traditions and Elements Within Christianity
Paganism in Christianity