Pagan worship

Paganism is a term first used in the 4th century, by the early Christian community, for populations of the Roman world who worshipped many deities, either because they were increasingly rural and provincial relative to the Christian population or because they were not milites Christi (soldiers of Christ). Alternate terms in Christian texts for the same group were "hellene" and "gentile".

"Pagan" and "paganism" were pejorative terms for the same polytheistic group, implying its inferiority. "Paganism" has broadly connoted the "religion of the peasantry", and for much of its history was a derogatory term. Both during and after the Middle Ages, "paganism" was a pejorative term that was applied to any non-Abrahamic or unfamiliar religion, and the term presumed a belief in false god(s).

No one before the 20th century self-identified as a "pagan". In the 19th century, "paganism" was adopted as a self-descriptor by members of various artistic groups that were inspired by the ancient world. In the 20th century, practitioners of contemporary pagan or neopagan religious movements adopted the term for themselves. These practitioners incorporate beliefs or practices different than those in the main world religions, such as nature worship.

Contemporary knowledge of old pagan religions comes from several sources, including anthropological field research records, the evidence of archaeological artifacts, and the historical accounts of ancient writers regarding cultures which were known to the classical world. Forms of these religions, influenced by various historical pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe, exist today and are known as contemporary or modern paganism, also referred to as neopaganism.

While most pagan religions express a worldview that is pantheistic, polytheistic, or animistic, there are some monotheistic pagans.

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