2 ms·

Paganus roughly meant "yokel", in the pejorative sense. New religions tend to start in areas of high population and spread from there, so at some point Christi

• dalke 11y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paganism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paganism says: > Medieval writers often assumed paganus as a religious term was a result of the conversion patterns during the Christianization of Europe, where people in towns and cities were converted more readily than those in remote regions, where old ways lingered. However, this idea has multiple problems. First, the word's usage as a reference to non-Christians pre-dates that period in history. Second, paganism within the Roman Empire centred on cities. The concept of an urban Christianity as opposed to a rural paganism would not have occurred to Romans during Early Christianity. Third, unlike words such as rusticitas, paganus had not yet fully acquired the meanings (of uncultured backwardness) used to explain why it would have been applied to pagans.[9] > Paganus more likely acquired its meaning in Christian nomenclature via Roman military jargon (see above). Early Christians adopted military motifs and saw themselves as "Milites Christi" ("soldiers of Christ").[8][9] A good example of Christians still using paganus in a military context rather than religious is in Tertullian's De Corona Militis XI.V, where Christians are referred to as "paganus" (civilian)