Paganism

===Ancient history===
====Classical antiquity====
{{main article|Ancient Greek religion|Ancient Roman religion|Hellenistic religion|Roman imperial cult}}
[[Ludwig Feuerbach]] defined the paganism of [[classical antiquity]], which he termed {{lang|de|Heidentum}} ('heathenry') as "the unity of religion and politics, of spirit and nature, of god and man",<ref>cf. the civil, natural and mythical theologies of [[Marcus Terentius Varro]]</ref> qualified by the observation that man in the pagan view is always defined by [[ethnicity]], i.e., As a result, every pagan tradition is also a national tradition. Modern historians define paganism instead as the aggregate of cult acts, set within a civic rather than a national context, without a written creed or sense of [[orthodoxy]].<ref>A summary of the modern view is given in Robin Lane Fox, ''Pagans and Christians'' 1989, pp. 31 ''ff.'': "The modern emphasis on {{sic|hide=y|reason=Fox appears to have used "pagan", lower case, per external sources quoting him.|paganism}}'s cult acts was also acknowledged by {{sic|hide=y|pagans}} themselves. It shaped the way they tried and tested Christians."</ref>

====Late Antiquity and Christianization====
{{further|Decline of Greco-Roman polytheism|Hellenic philosophy and Christianity}}
The developments in the religious thought of the far-flung [[Roman Empire]] during [[Late Antiquity]] need to be addressed separately, because this is the context in which [[Early Christianity]] itself developed as one of several monotheistic cults, and it was in this period that the concept of ''pagan'' developed in the first place. As Christianity emerged from [[Second Temple Judaism]] and [[Hellenistic Judaism]], it stood in competition with other religions advocating pagan monotheism, including the cults of [[Dionysus]],<ref>E. Kessler, ''Dionysian Monotheism in Nea Paphos, Cyprus''
"two monotheistic religions, Dionysian and Christian, existed contemporaneously in Nea Paphos during the 4th century C.E. [...] the particular iconography of Hermes and Dionysos in the panel of the Epiphany of Dionysos [...] represents the culmination of a {{sic|hide=y|reason=Kessler capitalized; verified with source.|Pagan}} iconographic tradition in which an infant divinity is seated on the lap of another divine figure; this {{sic|hide=y|Pagan}} motif was appropriated by early Christian artists and developed into the standardized icon of the Virgin and Child. Thus the mosaic helps to substantiate the existence of {{sic|hide=y|Pagan}} monotheism." [https://books.google.com/books?id=y1-hBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA91]</ref> [[Neoplatonism]], [[Mithraism]], [[Gnosticism]], and [[Manichaeanism]].{{citation needed|date=April 2015}} [[Dionysus]] in particular exhibits significant parallels with Christ, so that numerous scholars have concluded that the recasting of [[historical Jesus|Jesus the wandering rabbi]] into the image of [[Christ the Logos]], the divine saviour, reflects the cult of Dionysus directly. They point to the symbolism of wine and the importance it held in the mythology surrounding both Dionysus and Jesus Christ;<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'' 6. 26. 1–2</ref><ref>[[Athenaeus]], ''Deipnosophistae'' 2. 34a</ref> Wick argues that the use of wine [[religious symbolism|symbolism]] in the [[Gospel of John]], including the story of the [[Marriage at Cana]] at which Jesus turns water into [[wine]], was intended to show Jesus as superior to Dionysus.<ref name="Wick 2004 179–198"/> The scene in ''The Bacchae'' wherein Dionysus appears before King Pentheus on charges of claiming divinity is compared to the New Testament scene of Jesus being interrogated by [[Pontius Pilate]].<ref name="Wick 2004 179–198">{{cite journal |last=Wick |first=Peter |title=Jesus gegen Dionysos? Ein Beitrag zur Kontextualisierung des Johannesevangeliums |journal=Biblica |volume=85 |issue=2 |pages=179–98 |publisher=Pontifical Biblical Institute |location=Rome |year=2004 |url=http://www.bsw.org/?l=71851&a=Comm06.html |access-date=2007-10-10 }}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=0fLPOx1B-AwC&dq=%22dionysus+had+been+at+home+in+palestine+for+a+long+time%22&pg=PA331 Studies in Early Christology], by [[Martin Hengel]], 2005, p. 331 ({{ISBN|0567042804}})</ref><ref name=Powell>Powell, Barry B., ''Classical Myth'' Second ed. With new translations of ancient texts by Herbert M. Howe. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1998.</ref>