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[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English], from Late Latin ''paganus'', from [[Latin]], civilian, country dweller, from ''pagus'' country district; akin to Latin ''pangere'' to fix
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English], from Late Latin ''paganus'', from [[Latin]], civilian, country dweller, from ''pagus'' country district; akin to Latin ''pangere'' to fix
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_century 14th Century]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_century 14th Century]
The [[semantic]] development of post-classical Latin ''paganus'' in the sense "non-Christian, heathen" is unclear. The dating of this sense is [[controversial]], but the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th_century 4th century] seems most plausible. An earlier example has been suggested in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tertullian Tertullian] ''De Corona Militis'' xi, "Apud hunc [sc. Christum] tam miles est paganus fidelis quam paganus est miles fidelis," but here the word ''paganus'' is generally [[interpreted]] as "civilian," since the alternative would be that Tertullian had written of "In Christ... the faithful pagan." There are three main [[explanations]] of the development:
<center>For lessons on the related [[topic]] of '''''Paganism''''', follow [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Paganism '''''this link'''''].</center>
<center>For lessons on the related [[topic]] of '''''Paganism''''', follow [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Paganism '''''this link'''''].</center>
*(i) The older sense of classical Latin ''pāgānus'' is "of the country, [[rustic]]" (also as noun). It has been said that the transferred use [[reflects]] the fact that the ancient [[idolatry]] lingered on in the rural villages and hamlets after [[Christianity]] had been [[accepted]] in the towns and cities of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire Roman Empire]; cf. Orosius Histories 1. Prol. "''Ex locorum agrestium compitis et pagis pagani vocantur''." From its earliest beginnings, Christianity spread much more quickly in major [[urban]] areas (like Antioch, Alexandria, Carthage, Corinth, [[Rome]]) than in the countryside (in [[fact]], the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Christianity early church] was almost entirely urban), and soon the word for "country dweller" became synonymous with someone who was "not a Christian," giving rise to the [[modern]] meaning of "pagan." This may, in part, have had to do with the closeness to [[nature]] of rural people, who may have been more [[resistant]] to the new [[ideas]] of Christianity than those who lived in major urban centers and were cut off from the [[cycles]] of [[nature]] and the forms of [[spirituality]] associated with them. However, it may have also resulted from early Christian missionaries [[focusing]] their efforts within major population centers (e.g., St. Paul), rather than throughout an expansive, yet sparsely populated, countryside (hence, the Latin term suggesting "uneducated country [[folk]]") until a bit later on.
*(i) The older sense of classical Latin ''pāgānus'' is "of the country, [[rustic]]" (also as noun). It has been said that the transferred use [[reflects]] the fact that the ancient [[idolatry]] lingered on in the rural villages and hamlets after [[Christianity]] had been [[accepted]] in the towns and cities of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire Roman Empire]; cf. Orosius Histories 1. Prol. "''Ex locorum agrestium compitis et pagis pagani vocantur''." From its earliest beginnings, Christianity spread much more quickly in major [[urban]] areas (like Antioch, Alexandria, Carthage, Corinth, [[Rome]]) than in the countryside (in [[fact]], the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Christianity early church] was almost entirely urban), and soon the word for "country dweller" became synonymous with someone who was "not a Christian," giving rise to the [[modern]] meaning of "pagan." This may, in part, have had to do with the closeness to [[nature]] of rural people, who may have been more [[resistant]] to the new [[ideas]] of Christianity than those who lived in major urban centers and were cut off from the [[cycles]] of [[nature]] and the forms of [[spirituality]] associated with them. However, it may have also resulted from early Christian missionaries [[focusing]] their efforts within major population centers (e.g., St. Paul), rather than throughout an expansive, yet sparsely populated, countryside (hence, the Latin term suggesting "uneducated country [[folk]]") until a bit later on.
*(ii) The more common [[meaning]] of classical Latin ''pāgānus'' is "civilian, non-militant" (adjective and noun). Christians called themselves ''mīlitēs'', "enrolled soldiers" of Christ, members of his militant church, and applied to non-Christians the term applied by [[soldiers]] to all who were "not enrolled in the army".
*(ii) The more common [[meaning]] of classical Latin ''pāgānus'' is "civilian, non-militant" (adjective and noun). Christians called themselves ''mīlitēs'', "enrolled soldiers" of Christ, members of his militant church, and applied to non-Christians the term applied by [[soldiers]] to all who were "not enrolled in the army".