the names have been changed.

Oh, boy. This is too big to get into. Look it up. It's not hard to find. "Similarities Pagan Christianity" in a search engine. You'll be up all night. Worth it, though.

I've always thought "Pagan" refered to any old world religion that doesn't comply with Christianity, such as the Celtic myths (I don't know if the Norse or Greek/Roman gods are considered pagan by Christians?) But basically anything to do with the occult, such as druidism, shamanism or witch craft.... Any power that doesn't originate from God because he's supposed to be the one true power in the world. That's my idea of it.

Both of those terms are have different meanings to different people, so this is not such an easy question to deal with. I'll give you an example: From my point of view, the Sermon on the Mount about how we have to be transformed is real Christianity, and to me the Pauline gospel of sacrifice for sins has a very pagan sound to it. But that is just my point of view. For more info, click on my avatar. So you see, the answers to this question are likely to be all over the place, depending on how a particular person defines "Pagan" and "Christian."

During the days when the Christians were stamping out European paganism, the distinct differences about Christianity were monotheism; the Trinity; the fact that the dying-resurrecting-saving godman was Jewish; the more obscure points of theology; and, of course, the church hierarchy.

Pagan religion refers to pre-Christian European religions. It also refers to those who follow modern versions of those religions today (like Asatru), or have been strongly influnced by them (like Wicca). Christianity is a middle-eastern religion, which came about from the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and his followers, who were Jews. Pagan religions are indigenous to Europe, and their origins are lost in the mists of prehistory. Non-European religions may qualify as "pagan" in Christian eyes, but the term was first used to refer to Europeans who refused to convert to Christianity. Christianity is/was concerned with sin, and believes human nature to be corrupt and that humans are in need of "saving". Pagan religions tend to be reciprocal relationships between follower and deity (or ancestor). The ideas of sin and redemption is entirely foreign to Pagans, both ancient and modern. Christianity believes in a single deity with three "persons" (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). Pagans believ(ed) in a multiplicity of deities, spirits, and so forth, each with their own area of interest. Christianity sees itself as a universal religion (it edited out much of its Jewishness centuries ago), whereas Pagan traditions are laregely ethnic in practice, and made no claims to being universal.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all believe in the one true God of Abraham. By definition, all other religions that do not believe in the one true God of Abraham are pagan. With love in Christ.

Pagen A person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main world religions.

Considering that Christianity borrowed quite heavily from Pagan beliefs, I'd say, "not a whole lot". Ok, Paganism is mostly polytheistic, while Christianity is monotheistic.

pagan religion dates back long before any other religion started. and its a earth based as in they worship nature and worship in nature. were nothing in truly male or female but a blend of both. and nothing is truly evil or truly good but a blend of both. the religion also believes in reincarnation. they also believe in the 3xs rule were what ever you do comes back on you 2 x worst or better. there are also many gods and goddess. here's a site that will give you more information. http://www.religioustolerance.org/paganism.htm http://www.outofthedark.com/ http://www.spiralgoddess.com/Pagan101.html http://paganwiccan.about.com/ these are just a few chritianity will go to the local church to learn that

The spelling.

Pagan religions are (with the arguable exception of *some* schools of modern Hinduism) essentially health & wealth cults in which worshippers seek to propitiatiate/placate spirits (spirits of the dead and/or celestial, elemental, cthonic, and infernal spirits) through sacrifice, ritual, and the avoidance of taboos, in return for "good luck" and/or the removal of "bad luck". These religions are essentially corporate, civic, or tribal: the gods are tied to a specific people or place, and it is the power, prosperity, pride, and survival of the community as a whole that is most important, and so all members of the community are expected - typically required - to honor the community gods and do nothing to offend them. Also, all pagan religions have been bound up with an honor/shame culture (as still exists in East Asia with their concept of "face"): "honor" in such cultures is not about personal integrity or morality, but rather about social worth and the public acknowledgment of that worth, basically equating to prominence and prestige - "respect" in the Mafia sense. (Note: modern Neopaganism is really a product of the 19th Century Romantic movement, and has little in common, either in substance or in form, with ancient paganism.) Christianity, by contrast, is a virtue/sin religion, where integrity, intentions, and the actions they produce matter far more than appearances and public opinion. It is focused on the rehabilitation and ultimate transformation of the soul into a reflection of the moral character of God, and part of that is the reconcilliation of all peoples with each other and with God. It is not about mere improvement and protection of one's physical circumstances - though Christians are suppose to work for those too - for everyone! - but this is as an outgrowth of the inner transformation, and is insufficient by and of itself.

As far as I'm concerned the only real difference is the marketing approach. They all do one thing, control peoples way of thinking and scare, torture and kill people in times of uncertainty much just as the Taliban is currently doing now in Afghanistan and Pakistan. NOBODY will convince me that the Christian faith would not do exactly the same thing if western governments allowed it. it has a history of it and given a chance studies of math and the sciences would immediately end and the only thing that we would then be taught would be religious dogma and the insane belief that there is some wonderful god with a great plan, all knowing, all seeing controlling every aspect.. NONSENSE! It's the same foolishness with a different, slick marketing scheme...nothing less.

It depends on what you believe is true (4u).

One of them wages war, burns people, jails them, holds inquisitions, discriminates and vilifies non believers and allows pedophiles around children. The other one doesn't.

If you say Catholic... There is little difference except for the names and the faces being changed to protect the not so innocent. If you say "Christian." Big difference!

To compare Christianity to Paganism is extremly difficult because, though many people dont know about, the 2 ideologies share many aspects. For instance Easter was not originally christian but was in fact a pagan holiday, the only reason it's at the current date is because the early christians adapted their holy dates to coincide with the existing beliefs to prevent persecution. Which ironically is what they did to other religions once they were in power. When you look at christianity from a historical and unbiased viewpoint you can see that much of Christianity was adapted from other existing beliefs. The cross for example came from Egypt, certian holidays, like easter, exist on pagan dates,the bible came originally from the Jewish. The biggest adaptation, in my eyes though, is their visulization of god, a huge figure of a man wearing white, with a huge white beard......Zues anyone?

Everything in Christianity was stolen from Pagan traditions. Christianity is a Jewish tool used to control the Gentiles. There is nothing real about Christianity.

There are all wonderful, valid answers here so I just wanted to share an idea. Many people I talk to about the differences insist that pagans believe in the bible but just choose to disregard it. That's nt true, we have totally different views, gods and practices ( i know that can be debated, but for the sake of a simplified summary I won'tgo into detail) The general grouping of "pagans" look at Christianity as a seprate entity that a different group of people choose to believe. It's their god, and their ideas. Not ones that we believe and just choose to go against, like a rebelious child. That's not as coherient as I might have liked it to be... but comment me if you would like me to clearify anything I said lol

Pagen religion? What religion is that?

Christianity is a monotheistic (one deity) religion that teaches that humans are separate from nature and have dominion over nature. Pagan religions are nature-based and teach that humans are part of nature. Pagan (that is ancient pagan) religions were polytheistic (multiple deities). Neo-pagan religions (modern pagan) are primarily polytheistic with the exception of Wicca, which is duotheistic (two deities, one male and one female) or monotheistic (one female deity). Claims that Wicca traces to or even derives from ancient pagan religions are unfounded. There were no duotheistic or monotheistic ancient pagan religions. Wicca is purely a modern religion. Another primary difference between Christianity and pagan religions is that Christianity teaches that life ends with an ascent to Heaven or a descent to Hell. Pagan religions teach that life is ongoing and does not end with material death. You can think of Christianity as a T lying on its side with a final descent up or down. You can think of Paganism as a circle of ongoing life in one form or another.

and the simple FACT that there was no Christianity before Christ. You need Christ to be Christian. No Christ No Christianity. Simple as that. Christ-ianity.

Actually, there's no contemporaneous evidence proving that Jesus actually lived. No one wrote a word about him until two generations after he was alleged to have lived. In other words, no one who witnessed his existence documented it.

"pagan" is a blanket term that covers a wide variety of religions during the time of the ascent of Christianity. The differences will vary and you will also find a lot of similarities since the bulk of Christian beliefs and practices come from pagan, rather than Jewish sources. The polytheistic concept of the trinity being among them. In addition, the Christian holy day was shifted to coincide with the holy day of many pagan religions. The virgin birth myth is also lifted from pagan sources.

Can not ever believe that I can lead a life thinking I am a sinner. Isn't that rude? Why Can not I say I am not a sinner and my actions are my Karma rather. It gives me more peace of mind.

The names of the major players and the holidays. Today's religion is yesterday's cult.

Really....there isnt alot of difference. There is a fine line between pagen and christianity. That line is...who is God, and what does He want. But the thing is..."christianity" has been jaded with alot of false teachings, idea's...glamour...and what is considered "christian"...isnt really christian. LoL...Its a hard thing to explain really. But I do believe it was steve vai who said it... ...and he was on to something.

No difference, It is all in the names.

Christianity kept its core values but adopted some of the practices of the pagan religions. For example, we celibrate christmas on dec 25th. Not because Christ was born there, but because it took over another pagan holiday.

Everything. Pagan's believe in nature. Christians believe and all mighty spirit created everything. To some it up, pretty much.

Dogma? ;-)

The main difference is that Christians condemn and sometimes kill pagens. Pagens don't bother anyone, I like that about them.

i have always thought paganism and christianity were oddly similar. it seems most christian holidays are the equivilant or modified version of a druid religion. for example our holloween is the druid's samhain. I've been searching most my life for a way to proove paganism and christianity are connected, but so far i've had no luck finding solid evidence.