Pagan

From SARTRIX

Pagan (lat. pāgānus) is a label for non-Jewish non-Christians, specifically polytheists. It was coined by Christians in the 4th century CE as a Latin equivalent for the Greek term Hellene (gr. Ἕλλην Héllēn). Marius Victorinus illustrates the usage well:

“Those whom Greek-speakers (Graeci) call Héllēnes,[1] or pagans (in Latin), say that there are many gods.
“The Jews or Hebrews say there is one.
“We (Christians) […] say, against the pagans, that there is one god; but against the Jews, that there is a Father and Son […], but still one god.”[2]

Perhaps originally meant to be a polite alternative to ‘gentile’,[3] in later centuries, ‘pagan’ became equally pejorative, but was reclaimed in a positive sense by modern revivalists of extinct non-Christian traditions. Because the negative connotations nevertheless persist, the term is now largely restricted to those who self-identify as pagan, and to ancient polytheistic traditions of the Greater Mediterranean and medieval Europe.

What makes a pagan?

“Pagan” practices among ancient Christians

Since it was only under the growing influence Christianity in the Roman empire that pagans began to see themselves as a distinct group with a shared identity – one that even then did not necessarily carry a distinct name[4] – it is not surprising that Christian writers express much more definite ideas about what makes a pagan than pagans themselves do. Yet the texts in which these ideas are set down are often addressed to people who were already Christians, and it often seems that in their own understanding, the practices that appeared pagan to church authorities (or to us) were perfectly conformable to Christian teaching.

Consider the seven weekdays, which were named after the planets. Martin of Braga (d. 580) objected at least to five of them, namely the days of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn;[5] yet most – though not all – Christians have carried on using the pagan names of the days until today, evidently regarding their non-Christian origins as unimportant. Martin also attests that some Christians in his time refrained from work on the day of Jupiter (Thursday) rather than Sunday,[6] a custom which seems more clearly pagan and which to my knowledge has not survived anywhere. Yet it is not clear what significance this observance had to the Christian laypeople of whom Martin is speaking. We cannot say with certainty that it was ever a markedly pagan practice, since pagan writers barely mention it.[7]

Similarly, when Caesarius of Arles (d. 542) complains of those who “seek out casters of lots (sortilegi), diviners or incantators (praecantatores), and who attach [...] amulets (phylacteria), symbols (characteres), or herbs or juices to them or theirs”,[8] we should not imagine that these practices were always overtly pagan. Divination, amulets and incantations of a Christian character are already known from earlier centuries, and they certainly did not disappear afterwards.[9] Nor did pagans uniformly approve of such practices; some criticized them as superstitions.[10] In fact, it may be that they seemed pagan to churchmen because they were considered superstitious, rather than the reverse.

On the other hand, the fact that a given usage or ceremony was taken up by Christians should not make us dismiss its pagan character out of hand. If the most eminent thinkers of the church were able to read pagan literature without compromising their faith, then why should laypeople not have been able to attend pagan festivals in the same spirit, even if the church itself disapproved? Yet a custom that was conspicuously pagan at one point might still have lost this association over time, if only because Christians adopted it. Ultimately, each case has to be judged individually.

Pagan practices according to Christian sources

...[11]

Notes

  1. In other contexts, Latin Graecus and Greek Héllēn often have the same meaning, but here Graecī refers to Greek-speakers, pagan or not, while Héllēnes means pagans, whether Greek or not.
  2. Marius Victorinus, De homoousio recipiendo (ed. P. Henry & P. Hadot): Graeci, quos Ἕλληνας vel paganos vocant, multos deos dicunt, Iudaei vel Hebraei unum, nos […] adversum Paganos unum deum dicimus, adversum Iudaeos patrem et filium […] sed unum tamen deum […].
  3. Alan Cameron, The Last Pagans of Rome, Oxford 2011, p. 19–24.
  4. ...
  5. Martin of Braga, De correctione rusticorum 8 [cite].
  6. [cite Martin and Caesarius(?)]
  7. [...]
  8. [cite]
  9. [...]
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  11. Martin of Braga, Caesarius of Arles ...