During the Old Testament era, the entire world, except Israel, was pagan. At times, even Israel lapsed into idolatry and paganism. When the New Testament era began, the Roman world was thoroughly pagan. Only the Jews were not idol-worshippers, but their religion was apostate.
The early church was born and went to the Gentiles amidst a very wicked and immoral society. Human life wasn’t highly-valued. Some 30% of the population of the empire were slaves. Slaves had no rights, could be abused physically and sexually, could be bought and sold, and could even be killed with impunity. The rest of the population were either very rich, or very poor. The poor lived in shabby housing, worked hard every day to barely survive, and were very down-trodden.
But perhaps the worst aspects of the pagan world of the first century was its immorality and brazen sinfulness. Brothels were everywhere. Boy babies born in brothels were killed; the girls were raised to keep supplying the brothel. Homosexuality was considered normal and good. Even sexual abuse of minors was acceptable.
Sacred prostitution was a part of pagan religion, as were elaborate ceremonies and animal sacrifices. The appeal of gods and goddesses was strong. The poor needed help; so they attended pagan temples and made sacrifices to ask for good crops, financial success, etc. They needed heroes to worship. But then, so does modern society. Mythical gods were the heroes then; we now idolize politicians, sports stars, and other celebrities.
Abortion was legal in ancient Rome. Infanticide through exposure was legal for any unwanted newborn and was required for deformed babies. People just left unwanted babies to die on the roadside.
Today, a huge portion of American society believes abortion is a right, even at later stages of pregnancy. The modern abortion industry mimics the Roman world’s infanticide of unwanted babies, and any child with birth defects. The immorality of our world, where sexual perversions and sex outside of marriage are common, is reminiscent of the pagan world of the first century.
The sinfulness of the Gentile world 2000 years ago knew no bounds. But then, what boundaries exist today? Has our society embraced an “anything goes” mentality? Are we reverting to the pagan values of the pre-Christian, Gentile world?
One of the definitions of a pagan is: “one who has little or no religion and who delights in sensual pleasures and material goods: a nonreligious hedonistic person.”
I believe that once-Christian America is becoming pagan. When Paul crossed into Europe, that continent was wholly pagan. When Europeans first came to the Western hemisphere, they found that all the original inhabitants, whom they called “Indians,” were pagan.
Colonists from Europe brought Christianity to pagan North and South America. Much of their treatment of the indigenous peoples was horribly wrong and shameful, but bringing the light of the Gospel was a good thing.
The paganism of the Americas was almost completely eradicated by the European settlers. But today, we are seeing the re-paganization of our world. It is becoming very irreligious and hedonistic.
A 2020 Barna survey of Americans found that 58% agreed that “identifying moral truth is up to each individual; there are no moral absolutes that apply to everyone, all the time.” Only 32% disagreed with that statement and 10% said they didn’t know.
The survey’s conclusion was, “The typical American believes, ‘Truth is what I say it is, and no one can tell me otherwise.’” The published study also said, “Americans believe that right and wrong can only be discerned by each individual, based upon their feelings and circumstances; and that what is right for one person might be wrong for another but each must have the freedom to make those choices without external judgement.”
This is the same lie the devil told Eve in the Garden. He told her she could decide what is right and what is wrong. But it’s a lie. God has already decided what is good and what is evil. We cannot change God’s decrees of right and wrong.
We are witnessing the rapid deChristianizing of our society. Our cultural and political elite now insist that men can become women, and vice versa, and that even children can consent to what they euphemistically call “gender-affirming care.”
We are seeing the glorification of abortion, the rise of transgenderism, the normalization of euthanasia, the destruction of the family, the sexualization of children, and the emergence of active hostility and resistance to Christianity. These attitudes would astound prior generations of Americans.
What is happening? Put bluntly, America is becoming pagan. That doesn’t necessarily mean a sudden surge in people worshipping Zeus or Athena. The paganism taking over America isn’t ancient mythological idol worship. Rather, it is an embrace of a fundamentally pagan worldview that rejects both transcendent moral truth and objective reality, and insists instead that truth is relative, and reality is what we will it to be.
Once, the USA was a basically-Christian nation. That is, our laws and our social framework were based on biblical principles. The overwhelming majority of Americans held an essentially-biblical worldview.
Not anymore. According to a poll released earlier this year, “the national incidence of adults holding a biblical worldview has plummeted…to today’s 4% level -- a number expected to drop to 2% within the next 15 years.” (American Worldview Inventory 2024 by Barna Research.)
A news report on that poll says, “2024 shows ‘a dramatic shift in morals.’ For instance, the majority of adults hold that issues such as lying, abortion, gay marriage, and the rejection of absolute moral truth are ‘morally acceptable.’ Additionally, ‘Less than half of all adults embrace the Bible as their primary guide to morality.’
“As the study made clear, ‘Millennials have proven to be social disruptors, reshaping the moral belief and behavior norms established by Boomers and Busters [Gen X].’ And Gen Z has merely followed in their footsteps.”
The research also revealed that “young adults tend to form their worldview primarily through feelings and personal experiences, rather than logic and facts.” In this body, we need to convince our youth to form their worldview through the lens on the Bible.
Our society is embracing the pagan culture of the ancient world. Sexual immorality in all its forms is now paraded as legitimate fare for everyone, as good and wholesome and natural; thanks in a large degree to the media and entertainment industry.
A Public Religion Research Institute poll from Fall, 2023, found that 10% of Americans identify as LGBTQ, but nearly three times as many, 28% of adult Generation Z, identify as something other than “straight.” So do 16% of Millennials, but only 7% of Gen Xers and just 4% of Baby Boomers. Something evil is happening to our younger generations.
The pre-Christian world was a pagan world, and therefore an immoral society. Biblical ethics and biblical morality were unknown outside of Israel up until the time the early church opened its doors to Gentiles. Are we seeing a re-paganization of the West, of Europe and America? I believe we are.
The comparisons between the final years of pagan Rome and modern-day America are striking—self-indulgence, political corruption, abortion, adultery, homosexuality, sexual orgies, live sex acts in the theaters, brutal sports in the arena, and a creeping family deterioration and moral laxness.
The early church operated in direct contrast to the immoral society in which it was found. “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God.” I Thessalonians 4:35.
See also, among others, I Corinthians 6:910: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
The next verse says, “but such were some of you.” But they were saved out of their sins. We don’t hate the sinners, we seek to save them. But the point is that the early church lived by a different standard than the sinful world around them.
But this sort of biblical morality is vanishing from our society. The “anything goes” embrace of sex outside of traditional marriage and the LGBTQ+ lifestyle, is a pagan culture, and not a Christian or biblical one.
The lessons of history prove what when a society as a whole relaxes their code of sexual morality, within three generations there is usually a cultural decline, as was the case in the later stages of the Babylonian, the Persian, the Macedonian, the Mongol, the Greek, and the Roman civilizations.
Historian Arnold Toynbee has concluded that sexual morality is linked directly to national strength and accomplishment; and that sexual immorality is directly linked with national weakness and deterioration. Toynbee’s research indicated that of history’s twenty-one greatest civilizations, nineteen perished from internal moral corruption, not external enemies.
There was a time when the majority of Americans belonged to a church or synagogue and regularly attended worship services. That time is gone – probably gone forever. In 1992, 70% of Americans belonged to a church or synagogue. In 2010, it was 59%. By 2022, it was down to 46%.
A Gallup poll released in March, 2024, showed that only 21% of US adults attend religious services every week. Twenty years ago, in 2004, it was 42%. It was probably much higher 50 or 100 years ago. We are witnessing the de-Christianization and the re-paganization of the Western World.
Consider the mindset of the modern world: morality is relative; there are no absolute right and wrong. What God considers an abomination is embraced as wholesome and good. Our society is embracing a cancel culture and a woke mentality that is antithetical to biblical principles.
What does this mean for us in the body of Christ? How does this fit into endtime prophecies? Jesus said in Luke 18:8: “Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” There are good, moral, Bible-believing people outside the body of Christ, but
The Re-Paganization of America
their numbers are dwindling.
Things are likely to get worse. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” II Timothy 3:1-4.
Those verses are an evermore accurate description of where our world is going. Yet, the body of Christ will be an effective witness, beacons of light in an ever-darker world. Be an example of light, shining in the darkness. Like Timothy, we are to be “an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” I Timothy 4:2.
Remember, the early church was extremely successful in a pagan world. Persecution only strengthened it. The church was born in a pagan environment; it will finish its mission in a similar pagan environment.
Preachers must preach the whole truth. Parents must teach their children right from wrong. The church must swim upstream, against the currents of evil that are flowing through our society. The early church was in the world, but not of the world.
We must live Romans 12:2: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” And Philippians 2:15: “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.”
The church must not descend into the dark pit of worldliness, but remain a shining city set on a hill.