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The Triumph of Christianity over Paganism, a painting by Gustave Doré (1899). Paganism is commonly used to refer to various religions that existed during Antiquity and the Middle Ages, such as the Greco-Roman religions of the Roman Empire, including the Roman imperial cult, the various mystery religions, religious philosophies such as Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, and more localized ethnic ...
Paganism has broadly connoted the "religion of the peasantry". [1] [5] During and after the Middle Ages, the term paganism was applied to any non-Christian religion, and the term presumed a belief in "false gods". [6] [7] The origin of the application of the term "pagan" to polytheism is debated. [8]
The forms of divination mentioned in Deuteronomy 17 are portrayed as foreign; this is the only part of the Hebrew Bible to make such a claim. [5] According to Ann Jeffers, the presence of laws forbidding necromancy proves that it was practiced throughout Israel's history. [6]
There are several references to witchcraft in the Bible that strongly condemn such practices. For example, Deuteronomy 18:11–12 condemns anyone who "casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.
In addition there is information about pagan beliefs and practices in the sagas, which include both historical sagas such as Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla and the Landnámabók, recounting the settlement and early history of Iceland, and the so-called sagas of Icelanders concerning Icelandic individuals and groups; there are also more or less ...
Moloch, Molech, or Molek [a] is a word which appears in the Hebrew Bible several times, primarily in the Book of Leviticus. The Bible strongly condemns practices that are associated with Moloch, which are heavily implied to include child sacrifice. [2] Traditionally, the name Moloch has been understood as referring to a Canaanite god. [3]
In the Bible, Paul the Apostle teaches that the conscience of the pagan will be judged even though they cannot possess the law of God. [2] Paul writes: 12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; 13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
Therefore, private divination, astrology, and 'Chaldean practices' (formulae, incantations, and imprecations designed to repulse demons and protect the invoker [51]: 1, 78, 265 ) all became associated with magic in the early imperial period (AD 1–30), and carried the threat of banishment and execution even under the pagan emperors. [52]