Paganism: rational religion and origin of Christianity

Abstract

Paganism was a polytheistic religion practiced by the Romans before Christianity, and after Christianity it was considered an ideology to be eliminated and its practitioners were called heretics. The Romans found a god in every natural phenomenon, and were based on philosophical foundations, such as Aristotelian and Platonic. The objective of this work is to demonstrate that paganism should not be seen in a pejorative sense, since they developed several cultural and religious activities, and also to analyze the similarities and differences with Catholicism. To do so, we start with a general overview of both religions.