Its been a while since I've posted, so here it goes!

I been thinking about this for a while but I'm not sure if this is true or not but are Christianity and Paganism the same or do they share similarities?

Please post comments and your personal feelings
thanks!

Well they're definately not the same, but there are some similarities. Some Pagans have joined Christianity and then some of their practices have "rubbed off" on the church's culture. It's kinda confusing I guess. But they're not the same.

In what degree?

Anything can be attributed to be similar. Are you saying overall, the practices, the view from the outside, the beliefs?

And also, Paganism is a broad term. There are different groups that would be considered paganism.

One can say they are both similar since they are both religions, yet one can say they are not because of what they teach, so it's really what are you specifically asking.

If you are saying whether they are the same, then absolutely not. The only thing that is the same is that both believe in spirituality.

[edited for being off-topic]

I don't really know what Paganism is. It's like a religion in more eastern regions right?

I Would Say No But Goth Is Simalir To Christianity.

I don't think you could say that Christianity is a pagan religion, since the word is generally used to describe most other religions (look on wikipedia for a better explanation).

However, Christianity does share traditions with pagan religions. One such religion that has inspired certain biblical stories as well as Christian symbols would be that of ancient Egypt. Since I'm not an expert on the subject myself, I'll just link an article explaining the similarities, and a site showing the symbols.

http://benjamindavidsteele.blogspot.com/2009/03/egyptian-symbols-within-christianity.html

http://www.symbols.net/christian/

I could recommend a book to you that I have on the subject, but I don't think you'd be interesting in reading an entire book on the subject, LOL! As a Wiccan (a type of Paganism) I have semi-extensive knowledge of it.

All religions have differences and similarities. I would definitely not call Christianity and Paganism opposites, not by any means. Robert is completely correct by saying that their traditions have "rubbed off".

Christianity actually borrows/shares some (not a lot, but some) traditions from Paganism, but moreso Catholicism. Here are some similarities off the top of my head...

- Burning incense
- Wearing symbolic jewelery or putting symbols around the house
- Cakes and ale (Pagan tradition after a ritual) & bread and wine
- Yule (Pagan holiday) & Christmas, this one is extremely similar
- Beltaine (Pagan holiday) & Easter
- Scrying (Pagan practice) & praying
- Spellwork or meditation & praying

You also forgot Ostara and Easter, since I have found a lot of the Equinox's celebrations to be similar to Easters. Also the name similarity.

Oh, and Samhain and All Saints Day.

Ideas that murder is wrong, that causing pain to others in general is wrong.

Rituals in worship in general. You dress a certain way at the ceremonies, you say certain things, you walk to a certain place. There is an alter, there are statues or holy symbols on the alter. Candles. etc.

The Roman Catholic Church, and the Eastern Orthodox Church for that matter, have kept a lot of the traditions that came from the old Roman State Religion. Much if it is not observed by Protestant Christians, but they kept the praying and singing, along with basic cultural mores (social laws).

Well there are definitely similarities, but they cannot be the same thing. Paganism is typically used to define a religion that is polytheistic (multiple gods) while Christianity is monotheistic (one God). So they are similar, but not the same.

I have heard many others say that Christianity is paganism, due to the giving thanks to three named entities-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

JonXMasterZZMan : I've been studying Paganism for a long time both from a scholarly point of view as well as theological point of view and I've found that Christians have some simularities to Pagans. Forexample the Pagan or Wiccan festival of Yule is on the winter equinox and during which they did decorate trees. They where called Yule Tree's and are the basis of the idea of the Christmas Tree in Christianity, plus we still call the log that we put in the fire place the "YULE LOG". Not just Christmas but Easter too was taken from Pagan/Wiccan/Druid ideas; when the Catholics came to Ireland and Scotland, they discovered the early pagan (Druid) society of the Celts. The tryed to convert the early pagans by morphing thier ideas and culture with Christianity. The spring festival at the time would have been in progress and during that festival they celebrate the Goddess Estre, who is the Goddess of spring. From the name Estre they created the name Easter, and do you ever wonder why we have Easter eggs and the Easter bunny even though they have nothing to do with Jesus? Its because the spring festival celebrated rebirth of life, so the symbol was a rabbit because it was a sign of spring, and the egg represented rebirth.
As you can tell I could go on even more since I've spent MANY years studying Celtic/Druid religions, as well as mythology, symbols and pagan roots in general although I'm not Wiccan myself but I accept some of thier ideas and philosiphies.

The most important thing is that we are all human beings sharing the same planet and history. There will be recurring themes, there will be similar symbols, there will be ideas that flow back and forth. From my perspective, this is humanity seeking God, sometimes falling short of the goal and other times twisting their knowledge into something darker. Make no mistake, the work of Satan upon this earth has been long and thorough and seeks to ensure destruction of humanity from the root.

I would say that the similarities are only that Christianity seems to be going the way of paganism, in that educated people do not take either one seriously.

That is a pretty offensive statement, but it has some truth to it. Of course I know there are exceptions to everything, and there are very educated Christians, but by and large, the more education you have, the less religious you tend to be.

I don't know if that last statement is true but I agree that Christianity is increasingly seen as irrelevant. Then again, in certain parts of the world it is gaining popularity. Also, Islam is just as strong as ever, if we take "religion" to describe all articles of faith.

Look I respect all paths to enlightment But Religion the whole system but It
is diffcult for me right now, I mean it is all about Christanity why can
people just respect all Paths because don't we all go to the afterlife,
when we die.?

Can I just clarify one thing? "Religon" is a loose term, it can mean a lot of things.

If you're talking specifically about Christianity, it's better just to use the latter term.

I personally believe that Christianity is the only path to the afterlife. I find other theologies interesting and worth being educated about, but I don't go so far as to support their credibility. I think so long as people aren't forcing their beliefs upon others and their opinion is asked and also warranted in the discussion, it's only natural to be up-front about what you believe in.

Also, Christians believe that the figure of Jesus Christ is about more than just enlightenment. It's really about salvation for humanity and the restoration of the human relationship with God. It would be irresponsible for me to indiscriminately lend support to all articles of faith.

Christiany seems to take the fun out holloween, st patty day and christams,
I like the Paganis of those holiday, all paths way led to the same god,
I think.

I actually do not know of any Pagan holiday associated with St. Patrick's day... it is just a cultural holiday of extreme awesomeness if you like the Irish, their food, the color green, or beer. I like all of the above, plus I get away with saying, "Kiss me, I'm Irish."

I agree that many paths to enlightenment or the afterlife, or whatever you want to call it, overlap and I think it is neat that we can discuss it like rational folk. Like Frank said, we need to respect all Paths because they all lead to the same place, we just disagree on the details. It is the mores (more-ays), the cultural laws, that we all share that span all religions (and I do mean all) that show just now much all paths have in common. For example, there is not one religion that says it is okay to just murder someone that pisses you off. This is a basic concept that has always been law in our civilizations and that has become part of the religions that developed (Thou Shalt Not Kill, Harm None, etc).

FrankThePunisherCastle :
Middlemoor :

That is one of the differences between Christianity and Paganism. The vast majority of Pagans do not believe that the human race needs salvation, nor do they believe that their particular path is the only "correct" spiritual path for every human on Earth. The majority of Pagans follow a highly personalized structure of beliefs and practices, which they feel is right for themselves, and not necessarily for others. For this reason Pagans/Wiccans do not often search for members, "preach" to others or try to recruit.