medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I prefer 'polytheist' to 'pagan'. 'Polytheist' is a fairly technical term, whereas 'pagan' is much muddier, since it really means 'country-dweller'. It's a term that monotheists use to label those they dislike religiously. Medieval Spanish Christians liked to apply it Muslims (that's the origin of the term 'paynim'). So it's not a term that a person might use to define him- or herself, whereas 'polytheist' might be (or at least reflects something such a person would probably accept about him- or herself).
Additionally, I don't think students actually know what the word means. To most of my students, it just means someone who is not properly Christian. Earlier this semester I had a chat with a colleague who said that her students used 'pagan' and 'heretic' interchangeably, despite the words have no meaning in common.
I also tend to emphasize that polytheism is not just monotheism with more gods, but rather a completely different way of looking at the universe.
Andrew E. Larsen
Marquette University
On Dec 21, 2011, at 11:32 AM, Kurt Sherry wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> I find that the term "pagan" is useful as a word students already know--and then I throw in a caveat about how I'm using the word (advisedly, precisely because of the more recent connotations). Usually, I will use a term like "pre-Christian," particularly in reference to a political/cultural identity (e.g., "pre-Christian Rome" referring to Roman society in the period before--take your pick--Constantine the Great or Theodosios or "pre-Christian Ireland" to refer to the period before the Irish had become predominantly Christian). Polytheistic is problematic for all of the reasons pointed out: the existence on non-Judeo-Christian monotheisms, the fact that a lot of "pagan" Romans were really not polytheists (esp. the Epicureans and Neoplatonists, for example), and the fact that there were so many different polytheisms).
>
> I don't think we have a good alternative to such terminology (at least in English). One of the nice things about being the instructor is YOU get to choose a term and define it for the course. I usually take some time to explain to my students what I mean by the term, why I'm using that particular definition, and what the problems and weaknesses in the definition that I'm using are. It makes for a good discussion about the limits of language, the thought processes involved in academic study, and pedagogy. Such a discussion also covers your toochas if anyone wants to complain about the term you choose. Admittedly, given the age of my students, I have to be much more basic than most of you.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Dillon
> Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2011 10:46 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [M-R] 'Pagan' (WAS: Re: [M-R] Summer university in Budapest 2012 Polemos/Pulmus: Ways of Confrontation in Judaism, Paganism and Christianity in Late Antiquity)
>
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> On 12/21/11, Graham Jones wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> No absolution needed - since the title of the course raises an issue that extends through the medieval period, and indeed to the present day, in relation to treatment of the Other - namely the use of the P word
>>
>> in our Judeo-Christocentric discourse. Some day (if only in my lifetime but I doubt it) someone with the intellect and persuasion to make a difference will begin to get the academy to use the P word in its proper sense (as referring to Judeo-Christian rejection
>>
>> of the Other) and not as a catch-all term for any religion which is not one of the 'universal' faiths.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> I refuse to use the P word when I'm teaching, on the basis that lumping together the non-J/C religions has no utility in trying to make sense of past societies - other than to highlight our ignorance and their antipathies.
>>
>>
>
>
> Dear Graham,
>
> Classicists now frequently use 'polytheist' as a substitute for 'pagan'. But this ignores the existence in antiquity of non-J/C monotheisms. And, of course, not all those who pragmatically accepted the gods of the Roman state will have had identical or even closely related belief systems. At least for Hellenistic and Roman-empire antiquity, when we have cities and larger territories inhabited by adherents of more than one non-J/C faith, some sort of umbrella term is called for. How do you refer in teaching to non-J/C religions in areas where more than one of these co-existed at the time to which you have reference and when it's not possible to speak solely of a single one of these?
>
> Best,
> John Dillon
>
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