A Brief Description of Paganism

In the fifth chapter of his 2013 book Pagan Britain, Ronald Hutton gives this concise description of paganism in the time of the Roman Empire. I’ve found it particularly evocative.

This was a form of religion which embodied no divine revelation and depended on no books, dogmas, or orthodoxy, resting instead entirely on prescribed ceremonies. It had no specific founder or leader, no concept of conversion, made no demands on foreigners, and was centered on the community and not on the individual. It left ethics to society to prescribe, freed worshippers to decide how to venerate their own deities, and aimed for earthly well-being, not salvation in the next life. It had no concept of sin, though a very active one of blasphemy and impiety. Every citizen could act as a priest, and every public act was a religious one. Though there were specialist priests and priestesses who offered their skills for hire or as a social duty, they did not act as mediators or theologians and had no personal sanctity; indeed, they usually had mundane daily occupations (p. 234).