英国termpaper指导范文：异教徒和基督教的宗教观念Pagan and Christian ideas of rel

Pagan and Christian ideas of religion

1.0 Introduction 简介

在早期，当罗马帝国实行各种宗教时，基督教就形成了，因为缺乏适当的术语，这种宗教被称为异教。从这个方面来说，异教实际上是一种基督教思想（Norman，1998）。因此，在异教徒和基督教的宗教中有许多类似的观点。但是，它们之间也存在一些不同的想法。本文将分析异教徒和基督教宗教观念之间的差异，这些观念将基于但丁，地狱。异教徒和基督教信仰的变化也将在论文中讨论。

In the early times, the Christianity developed in the Roman Empire when various religions were practiced, for there is a lack of a proper term, this kind of religion has been called as paganism. From this respect, the paganism is, in fact, one kind of Christian ideas (Norman, 1998) . Therefore, there are many similar ideas in the religion of pagan and Christianity. However, there are also some different ideas between them. This paper will analyze the differences between pagan and Christian ideas of religion, which will be based on the Dante, The Inferno. The changes in the pagan and Christian beliefs will also be discussed in the paper as well. 

2.0 Christian and Pagan基督徒和异教徒

2.1 The religious ideas of Christianity基督教的宗教观念

基督教被认为是一种被称为光明和希望的宗教。相信这一切的人都认为一切都会变得美好。这种宗教的统治者是一位创造和创造了世上所有事物的上帝，他被称为主，El Shaddaui，YHWH，我是，Elohim，耶和华和El Elyon以及各种经文在圣经中。他唯一的儿子被命名为耶稣基督，他为自己的人文罪孽付出了自己的努力。犯罪意味着行为是针对上帝的。在圣经中，它告诉人们所有人都是为夏娃而生的，而亚当则从知识树上吃苹果，而这种知识不服从上帝的思想。如果一个人想要在属灵上成长，就应该向上帝祈祷。地狱和天堂是人类死后将被送往的两个地方（Martin，2013）。天堂只允许相信耶稣基督的人进入。然而，当一个人犯了罪并且不相信耶稣基督时，他或她就会进入地狱。

Christianity has been considered as a kind of religion which is labeled as light and hope. The people who have belief in it all qualify with the faith that all things will become good. The ruler of this kind of religion is one God who has made and created all the things in the world, and he is called The Lord, El Shaddaui, YHWH, I Am, , Elohim, Jehovah, and El Elyon as well in various passages in the bible. His only begotten son who is named as Jesus Christ has given himself for the humanities sins. To conduct sins means that the behaviors are against the God. In the bible, it tells people that all human beings were born to make sins for Eve and Adam ate the apple from the tree of knowledge, which has disobeyed the ideas of the God. If one individual wants to grow spiritually, one shall pray to the God. Hell and Heaven are the two places that human being will be sent to when they die (Martin, 2013) . The Heaven only permits the one who believes in Jesus Christ to enter into. However, when one has committed sins and does not believe in Jesus Christ, he or she will enter into the Hell.  

2.2 The ideas of Paganism

Nature is the basis of Paganism. Pagans have the belief in that all things have been qualified with a spirit or soul. They believe in that everything has its own specific spirit. The believers of this religion will fall in love with the earth and will hug the earth. The believers of Paganism can have diverse Goddesses and Gods, and every Pagan can believe in a distinct Goddess or God. Most Pagans deny the existence of Devil, which is different from the Christianity. The spells and chants are the only method to get closer with the Goddesses and the Gods and to hug the inner self. A chant is similar with a prayer, which can assist in the practice of spirit. A spell is some words or distinct ingredients that have been put together, which can be simple or complex (Desiderius, 1989) . 

Pagans have the belief in that if one individual dies, he or she will get reincarnated to the earth, but the result of one person differs from another. Some also have the belief in a type of Heaven, and some forms of existence. The threefold law is the only way to punish the people who have done something wrong. Several essential Pagan laws are to not interfere with the free will of individuals, no doing harm to anyone, and to not put a spell on anybody if the individual do not agree with. 

3.0 Difference and common of pagan and Christian’s idea of religion

3.1 Difference between pagan and Christian’s idea of religion

Obviously, the two religions may have many different parts. Many differences can be displayed without thinking by some persons. The Holy Bible has warned the Christians to not to practice witchcraft and not to take part in the traditions of Pagan. However, Pagan has the belief in that there can be more than one God, and the bible only teaches the existence of only one God. The Christian believes that there is Devil and the Devil is in the Hell (Cicero, 2008) . All the people who have committed sins will go to Hell after death. In general, Pagan does not have belief in the hell or devil. In the belief of the Pagan, everyone’s spirit will live on the earth with some type, and death is only one kind of transformation (Homer, 2000) . Most people believe that there is a place which is like heaven and can be called as Summerland where the enjoyment and spirit exist. Reincarnation is one of the most important beliefs among most Pagans. 

However, Christian just believe that one person only has one life to live on the earth, and just one opportunity to make it right before one dies and goes to heaven or hell. 

The differences between Christians and Pagan always are the “make or break” in relationships. The two religions have some distinctions, but they exist in the world together. 

3.2 Common between pagan and Christian

The similarities in them can be found in several aspects. “First, the consequences of the two religions to the actions of one person are important to be remembered every day.” (Fletcher, 1999)  The two religions both consider that the earth is essential which should be taken good care of. Moreover, Paganism and Christianity are religions which have a long history. In the practices of Pagan and Christian, an alter is commonly employed, which is one old element of the two religions. “Finally, the two religions promote people to live to be good ones, and they both denounce evil and advocate love.”  (Seamus, 1990)  

3.3 Dante's Inferno and the two religions

There are some obvious differences between the two religions in the ideas of the underworld. For example, in the Christian story of Dante, the underworld means hell, which is a bad place to go. However, in the early pagan tale, the Underworld is the only place of the afterlife exists. In the Christian ideas of the underworld, which has been displayed in Inferno, the hell will separate people from God, in that God means light in the Christian views, and the separation from the God means the afterlife environment will be quite dark. “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (Dante, 2001)  In Inanna, the Underworld only means under the world, which has been hidden from the sun. Although both views of the two religions on the Underworld are dark, the reasons of them are not the same. 

In the Inferno of Dante, the sacrifice is one important part of the descent into the Underworld, which is similar to the Underworld in Inanna. 

The most essential distinction between the Underworld in Inannna and the hell in Inferno is that the Christian Hell shown in the Inferno is only one of the 3 possible places in afterlife, and is the most undesirable choice. In the Christian views of Dante, Hell was one place of completely hopelessness, displayed by the inscription. “Abandon all hope, you who enter here.” (Dante, 2001) 

In comparison, the Underworld in Inanna is not the most undesirable place to spend the afterlife, and it is the only place. “Pre-Christian pagan ideas of the Underworld and the life after death varied from the ideas of Hell in the later Christian.” (MacMullen, 1984)  Although the Christina ideas of Hell as a place of the final torment, is a completely contrast to the ideas of the pre-Christian of a restful afterlife without such hopelessness, the two visions of the Underworld consist darkness and a sacrifice which accompanies the path after death (Augustine, 1958) . The differences between the two religions are not so great as Christians like St. Augustine thought they were, for the similarities in them exist in various aspects as well.   

4.0 Conclusion

In a long period of time, the Christianity has been given a definition that is different from the Paganism. There are differences between the two religions. Most people are willing to know the distinct aspects. There are also some common ideas between pagan and Christian. The early Christians were all qualified with the terms as ethnic, such as gentile and ethnikos. There are some changes in the pagan and Christian beliefs, which can be seen from the similarities and differences of them as well. #p#分页标题#e#

5.0 Bibliography

Augustine, 1958, The City of God, Image, New York. 

Cicero, 2008, The nature of the gods, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Dante Alighieri, 2001, The Inferno, Signet Classics, New York.

Desiderius Erasmus, 1989, The Praise of Folly and other writings, W.W. Norton, New York.

Fletcher, 1999, The Barbarian Conversion: From Paganism to Christianity, University of California, New York. 

Homer, 2000, The Essential Iliad, Hackett Publishing Company, Indianapolis.

Martin Luther, 2013, On the Freedom of a Christian, Hackett , Indianapolis.

Norman Davies, 1998, Europe: A History，HarperPerennial, New York.

R. MacMullen, 1984, Christianizing The Roman Empire A.D.100–400, Yale University Press, New York. 

Seamus Heaney, 1990, The Cure at Troy: A version of Sophocles’s Philoctetes, Noonday Press, New York.

 

6.0 Reflection

The relationship between the pagan and Christian ideas of religion is very deep. In Dante's Inferno and the pagan ideas in the pre-Christian times, the Underworld has been considered as a dark place in which the essential parts in the past of one individual are sacrificed with the aim of descending into the underworld itself. I am happy that I have analyzed the differences between the two religions in detail. Although it is a bit hard to find the proper materials to complete the paper, after the deep thought and looking for the related sources, I have completed the paper smoothly. In the process of writing the paper, my understandings on the two religions has become much clearer.