Editing Paganism (section)

=== Ancient history ===
==== Classical antiquity ====
{{Main|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>

[[File:Gjama.jpg|thumb|Men of [[Theth]] ([[Shala (tribe)|Shala]]) practicing the [[gjâmë]] – the [[Albanians|Albanian]] lamentation of the dead – in 1937. The earliest figurative representations of this practice in traditional Albanian-inhabited regions appear on [[Dardani]]an funerary stelae of classical antiquity.{{sfn|Joseph|Dedvukaj|2024|pp=1–3}}]]
[[Proto-Albanian]] speakers were Christianized under the [[Latin]] sphere of influence, specifically in the 4th century CE, as shown by the basic [[Christianity|Christian]] terms in Albanian, which are of [[Latin]] origin and entered Proto-Albanian before the [[Gheg]]–[[Tosk]] dialectal diversification.{{sfn|Malcolm|1998|pp=36–38}}{{sfn|Fischer|Schmitt|2022|p=16}} Regardless of the Christianization, [[Albanian paganism|ancient paganism persisted among Albanians]], and especially within the inaccessible and deep interior{{sfn|Norris|1993|p=34}} – where [[Albanian folklore]] evolved over the centuries in a relatively isolated [[Albanian tribes|tribal culture and society]]{{sfn|Elsie|2001|pp=vii–viii}} – it has continued to persist, or at most it was partially transformed by the Christian, and later Muslim and Marxist beliefs, that were either to be introduced by choice or imposed by force.<ref>{{harvnb|Norris|1993|p=34}}; {{harvnb|Qafleshi|2011|pp=43–71}}; {{harvnb|Hykolli|Krasniqi|2020|p=78}}</ref> The Albanian traditional customary law ([[Kanun (Albania)|Kanun]]) has held a sacred – although secular – longstanding, unwavering and unchallenged authority with a cross-religious effectiveness over the Albanians, which is attributed to an earlier pagan code common to all the [[Albanian tribes]].{{sfn|Tarifa|2008|p=11}} Historically, the Christian clergy has vigorously fought, but without success, the [[Albanian paganism#Rituals and practices|pagan rituals]] practiced by Albanians for [[Albanian paganism#Traditional festivals|traditional feasts]] and particular events, especially the fire rituals ([[Zjarri (Albanian paganism)|Zjarri]]).{{sfn|Tirta|2004|p=250}}{{sfn|Qafleshi|2011|p=49}}