paganism

thumb|Engraving depicting two Roman women offering a ritual sacrifice to the pagan goddess Vesta, 1887 In early Christianity, paganism (from , ) collectively referred to the diverse religious practices of all people who were polytheists. More specifically, it denoted anyone who did not adhere to an Abrahamic religion in the Roman Empire. Individuals fell into the pagan class either because they were increasingly rural and provincial relative to the Christian population or because they were not a soldier of Christ (). Terms synonymously used in Christian texts of the period include heathen, Hellene, and gentile. A widely regarded indication of whether a person was a pagan or a Christian was their partaking in ritual sacrifice, which was an integral part of Greco-Roman religion. Paganism has broadly connoted the "religion of the peasantry" in Christian thought.

During and after the Middle Ages, Christians generally applied the term "pagan" to any non-Christian group with the implication of belief in false gods. The origin of the term's application to polytheism, however, is debated. In the 19th century, paganism was adopted as a self-descriptor by members of various artistic groups inspired by the ancient world. In the 20th century, it came to be applied as a self-descriptor by practitioners of modern paganism, modern pagan movements, and polytheistic reconstructionists. Modern pagan traditions often incorporate beliefs or practices (such as nature worship) that are different from those of the world's largest religions.