The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum

I have recently been lurking on Alternate History.com and it sort of gave me this idea for a thought experiment.

What if Christianity never caught on?  What if it remained a Jewish sect or never began in the first place?

What would the ancient religions of old have evolved into if they were allowed to continue?

Would another mystery cult just take the same place as our timeline's Christianity?

What do you think this would would be like?  Would it be better, worse, or about the same?

 
I'm thinking it would probably be about the same. People are people and if people have an excuse to start wars over nothing (for instance) they'll start wars over nothing regardless of religion. I think we would have kids rebelling against the Pagan faith of their parents, and we'd be going to temples instead of going to churches. I honestly don't think that much would change at all, except, well, everything.

I have recently been lurking on Alternate History.com and it sort of gave me this idea for a thought experiment.

What if Christianity never caught on?  What if it remained a Jewish sect or never began in the first place?

What would the ancient religions of old have evolved into if they were allowed to continue?

Would another mystery cult just take the same place as our timeline's Christianity?

What do you think this would would be like?  Would it be better, worse, or about the same?

 
Hmm.  If it had remained a Jewish sect, it would have mostly faded out.  Some of the concepts of social justice might have stayed. I suspect the big change would be that to become Christian would have remained with having to become Jewish first.

Judaism would have likely become 20% or more of the population of the Roman Empire.

I suspect that Islam would never have happened.

I wonder, though, what would Islam look like? As another religion of the Book, I mean. Would Mohammad take the place of Christ for non-Muslims? (I'm not sure how to say what I'm thinking, along that line. I know what I mean, but words aren't cooperating at the moment.)

I think there could be an Islam analog, but it wouldn't be Islam as we know it (it would be like Christianity without Moses).  Maybe instead of Christianity, a Mohammad analog would be influenced by Zoroastrianism.  Or maybe Zoroastrianism would take Islam's place.

And what about the shape of the world without any of the Crusades having been fought?

 
Depending on what the trade routes are like, the Age of Exploration could be delayed by a few years.  Then again. there would still be at least one middle man, so the Western European powers may want to find an alternate route to the East regardless.

I'm thinking it would probably be about the same. People are people and if people have an excuse to start wars over nothing (for instance) they'll start wars over nothing regardless of religion. I think we would have kids rebelling against the Pagan faith of their parents, and we'd be going to temples instead of going to churches. I honestly don't think that much would change at all, except, well, everything.

On a social level, I completely agree with this.  

I think a broader question that would add to this is weather the thriving pagan religions would stick with their oral traditions of lore, as opposed to the written doctrine that became so pivotal in Christianity/Judaism/Islam.  I think that oral traditions allow good wisdom to be passed down through generations, while allowing the religions to be more flexible with their societies.  Basically, if they remained widely practiced religions, would they have evolved into something entirely different anyway?

I think a broader question that would add to this is weather the thriving pagan religions would stick with their oral traditions of lore, as opposed to the written doctrine that became so pivotal in Christianity/Judaism/Islam.  I think that oral traditions allow good wisdom to be passed down through generations, while allowing the religions to be more flexible with their societies.

Well, writing down lore wasn't exclusive to the Abrahamic faiths -- the Greeks and Romans did as well.  I think that eventually myths and lore would be written down by someone.

Basically, if they remained widely practiced religions, would they have evolved into something entirely different anyway?

Let me put it this way: The Christianity of the 1800's wasn't exactly the same as the Christianity of the 800's.  Religions are not static and they do tend to change with time.  Two thousand years would make a huge difference, but I think the larger ones could be somewhat recognizable.

I am sure that human greed and the kyriachy would have found a place to flourish and take root, but at the same time, it's pretty awesome to think of a world where religiously-motivated colonialism, imperialism, and cultural superiority didn't, y'know, destroy entire swaths of indigenous peoples and their languages, religions, and worldviews.

Like. A world without Manifest Destiny. Or the massive conversions of [insert ANY CULTURE HERE EVER]. Or cultural genocides. Or, or, or...

 
I'd think that it would have been political power motivated colonialism, desire for slaves, and intentional destruction of indigenous peoples. Christianity was a moderating influence.

Off the top of my pointed head:

We'd still have Hinduism and Buddhism, of course. I wonder, though, what would Islam look like? As another religion of the Book, I mean. Would Mohammad take the place of Christ for non-Muslims? (I'm not sure how to say what I'm thinking, along that line. I know what I mean, but words aren't cooperating at the moment.)

And what about the shape of the world without any of the Crusades having been fought?

 
Muhammad would not take the place of Christ because he was not posited either as the Messiah or divine.  For Muslims, Jesus is still the Messiah, though they doctrinally deny his divinity as insufficiently monotheistic.
Islam as we know it, though, probably would not exist, even with a similar Muhammad similarly inspired to build on the Jewish tradition: the early Muslim community was persecuted and militarily engaged by their much more numerous and powerful Arab pagan neighbors and relatives, and almost certainly would not have survived if they had not been able to flee to shelter under the protection of a Christian king in Abyssinia who was impressed by their faith and its likeness to his own.

Still: as Abrahamic monotheisms go, we might still have the Sabaeans, who faded away.  We might still have Rastafari.  Zoroastrianism probably would have remained a powerhouse.  It's hard to say.

I have often toyed with the idea that if the Byzantine Empire hadn't had Christianity to use as a state religion and the inspirational imagery of a confessional religion to use, like that, that might have tipped to balance in the war to the Persian Empire, and then the world might be very, very different indeed.  But then, I've also, as alternate history goes, spent a goodly while imagining what would have happened if Publius Cornelius Scipio hadn't survived the Battle of Ticinus or the Battle of Cannae.  Imagine a Western world whose dominant founding power wasn't Rome, but Phoenician Carthage.  Imagine a very, very different relationship between Europe and the Americas, for one.