Does neo-paganism have anything to do with paganism?

[Smoke]

I think neo-paganism will necessarily be quite different in many respects from ancient paganism. Even when a tradition is kept alive and practiced continuously, it tends to change quite a bit over time. I don't imagine that modern Protestants -- or modern Catholics or Orthodox, for that matter -- would feel entirely comfortable in a 5th-century church.

 

[blackout]

I think neo-paganism will necessarily be quite different in many respects from ancient paganism. Even when a tradition is kept alive and practiced continuously, it tends to change quite a bit over time. I don't imagine that modern Protestants -- or modern Catholics or Orthodox, for that matter -- would feel entirely comfortable in a 5th-century church.

The first "churches" were (assembled in) people's homes.

What we have now are neo-christians.
Attending neo-churches.

 

[AxisMundi]

I think neo-paganism will necessarily be quite different in many respects from ancient paganism. Even when a tradition is kept alive and practiced continuously, it tends to change quite a bit over time. I don't imagine that modern Protestants -- or modern Catholics or Orthodox, for that matter -- would feel entirely comfortable in a 5th-century church.

(ignoring the word neo-pagan for the moment. )

That's one of the aspects of Celtic Reconstructionism, and one of the best, IMHO.

Trying to figure out how said religion/culture may have evolved over time sans Roman and then Christian influences, and applying it to modern life.

 

[David_2010]

There were no written records of ancient pre-Christian European religious practices.

I'd disagree with that, there are written records on the religions of ancient Greece, Rome, etc, and books have been written by many scholars and historians on the religious practices of those cultures.

 

[AxisMundi]

I'd disagree with that, there are written records on the religions of ancient Greece, Rome, etc, and books have been written by many scholars and historians on the religious practices of those cultures.

European, as opposed to Mediterranean.