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Paganism Vs. Christianity

Paganism vs. Christianity
Laura Roberts
Student ID: 22970754
September 14, 2009
Liberty University Lynchburg, VA

Laura Roberts
Dr. Kenneth Hood
PHIL 104
14 September 2009
Paganism vs. Christianity
Just like any religion or tradition, there are many branches to each. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, there are over 33,820 denominations of Christianity. (Answers.com, 2009) Paganism is defines as any religions other than Christianity or Judaism or Islamism. (WordNet) With so many branches for both it would be difficult to compare all of them. For the purpose of this paper, we will look at the compare and contrast of Orthodox Christianity and Odinism.
The birth of Christianity began 2000 years ago in Judea with the ministries of Jesus Christ. (AllAboutReligon.Org). While revolutionary, his teachings brought together his twelve disciples. Through the teachings of Jesus, society learned that salvation and humanity would come from God through him. This salvation would come about through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. In Christianity it is believed Jesus must die for our sins so humanity does not have to.
While Christianity began in Israel, Odinism is the religious faith of the Scandinavian and of the Norse. It is an old religion with roots prior to Christianity. With the coming of Christianity, Odinism endured a period of dual faith; following both Odinism and Christianity, and then eventually breaking away from Christianity standing on its own merits. (The Odinic Rite)
Christianity is a monotheist religion in which, they believe in only one true god. Throughout the Bible, this belief has been revisited several times. In Deuteronomy 32:39 it says, “See now that I, I am He, and there is no god besides Me" and in Isaiah 46:9, "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me". In Isaiah 46 it also says that false Gods are useless which is evident in Isaiah 46:1, “Bel and Nebo bow down. Their idols are carried...