Is Catholicism Pagan?

The fallacy

Alexander Hislop's The Two Babylons, Jack Chick's comics and Ralph Woodrow's early book (which he later repudiated) charge the Church with paganism, as Adventists, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses charge all mainstream Christians, and atheists like Robert Ingersoll charge Christians and Jews. Hislop and Chick say round Communion wafers come from sun worship, ignoring that pagans also used other shapes and that Israel offered cakes (Genesis 18:1-8; Exodus 29:1-2). The argument backfires: atheists use it to call the Incarnation, a triune God, God's wings (Psalm 91:4) and Pentecost pagan.

The pagan influence fallacy is a form of the genetic fallacy, judging a thing by its origins rather than its merits, often combined with "after this, therefore because of this," or "similar to this, therefore because of this." Circumcision, practiced by Egyptians, shows Jews and Christians the problem.

Questions to ask

Demand documentation from primary or reliable scholarly sources, then ask:

1. Is there a parallel? Often not. Ingersoll claimed an Egyptian trinity, but Osiris, Isis and Horus were three of nine gods in a myth cycle, not three persons in one being.
2. Is it dependent or independent? Similar people produce similar things. Mothers hold children in every culture, so mother-and-child art needs no common pagan source.
3. Which came first? Pagan sources are often late and shaped by Judaism or Christianity, as the Norse Elder Edda likely was.
4. Was it regarded positively, neutrally or negatively? Israel likely met circumcision among neighbors but gave it meaning only as a covenant sign (Genesis 17). Christians used the cross because Christ died on one. Genesis's flood account (Genesis 6-9) refutes pagan versions, attributing the flood to sin (6:5-7), not overpopulation.

Holidays

Claims that Christian feasts coincide with pagan ones are often inaccurate (Christmas is not on Saturnalia). Where they do, Christian feasts offered wholesome alternatives, just as Fundamentalists offer Reformation Day or harvest festivals in place of Halloween.

Conclusion

A charge of paganism requires showing a real causal connection and that the pagan item is wrong. No one has shown this for any Catholic doctrine or authorized practice.