You are now Theologists -Describe an alternate religion

Create a complex ATL religion, that appeals to become a larger/major ATL religion in history. You can take an extinct polytheistic faith and develope it into a more complex theologic construction. Invent a Holy Book, religious Codes, Saints, etc. and describe the history of said religion. Give It a name.
 
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Less of a fully alternative religion, but rather an alternative heresy I suppose:

At some point an early Christian theologian is inspired by the "Court of Heaven" parts of the Old Testament. He declares that that Pagan Gods are not Demons, but rather angelic beings that God has placed to rule over other nations. These angels were misunderstood by their followers, who believed that thier sacrifices and prayers went to these 'gods' rather than God himself (or, in some cases, the Angelic beings have strayed from the role which God gave them. This might be a source of some debate). In any case the gods worshiped by the Greeks, Romans and other peoples are not false or evil, but neither are they really gods (there is, after all, only ONE God). One could recognize their existence and their place in the heavenly court, but they should not be worshiped and given sacrifice - that was reserved for only God himself.

I suspect this might make conversion go a bit smoother and faster - though since it will deny the divinity of the Emperor and the validity of the sacrifices given to him, they are still going to have some run ins with the Roman state.
 
Less of a fully alternative religion, but rather an alternative heresy I suppose:

At some point an early Christian theologian is inspired by the "Court of Heaven" parts of the Old Testament. He declares that that Pagan Gods are not Demons, but rather angelic beings that God has placed to rule over other nations. These angels were misunderstood by their followers, who believed that thier sacrifices and prayers went to these 'gods' rather than God himself (or, in some cases, the Angelic beings have strayed from the role which God gave them. This might be a source of some debate). In any case the gods worshiped by the Greeks, Romans and other peoples are not false or evil, but neither are they really gods (there is, after all, only ONE God). One could recognize their existence and their place in the heavenly court, but they should not be worshiped and given sacrifice - that was reserved for only God himself.

I suspect this might make conversion go a bit smoother and faster - though since it will deny the divinity of the Emperor and the validity of the sacrifices given to him, they are still going to have some run ins with the Roman state.
That one sounds quiete believable.
 
Thank you for the opportunity. Here it is.

I believe firmly in Physicalism and that the Physical World is all that exists ad infinitum and non Physical things are encompassing of the Physical one. And this all associated with Transhumanism and Mind Uploading. That's the religion/Deen I would found.

Both Physicalist and it's bordering Metaphysical realms are a part of each other as they are in reality.
 
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Isn't that what Christianity did to a lesser extent IOTL? Take aspects, portfolios and days of worship from pagan gods and give it to various saints.

In that they co-opted the calendar and some of the terminology of the Roman state religion, but threw out all the gods. There was never really any discussion, as far as I have ever heard, in the ancient sources, of keeping the Greco-Roman pantheon as saints or angels etc.
 
Isn't that what Christianity did to a lesser extent IOTL? Take aspects, portfolios and days of worship from pagan gods and give it to various saints.
Not much. I think only celebrations and holidays were taken, apart from the initial theologies from the Graeco-Roman and Persian plus a bit of Middle Eastern Pagan Theology. But not Gods and core philosophies and theology. They saw Pagan and other Monotheistic religions like Zoroastrianism and Armenian Monotheism(?) as arch rivals.
 
In that they co-opted the calendar and some of the terminology of the Roman state religion, but threw out all the gods. There was never really any discussion, as far as I have ever heard, in the ancient sources, of keeping the Greco-Roman pantheon as saints or angels etc.

Pretty much. Some Gods did get co-opted as saints, or at least had their attributes associated with saints, but this was largely on the periphery of Christendom and not in the core Greco-Roman territories. For instance, to use Ireland as an example, the god Lugh became associated with the figure of St. Michael. And the goddess Brigid became associated very early, and very closely, with the Saint of the same name (and, for the record, I DO believe there was a him Saint Brigid. However she got so closely associated with the goddess after her death, that her monestary even began to tend the sacred fire which was part of the goddess worship). I am sure there are countless other examples from the German, Scandinavian and Slavic areas, ect - though my knowledge of Christianity in those areas isn't the best.

But this type of synchronization is much less concerted than what I proposed initially.
 
For My CK2 Pagan Russian AAR I did delve a bit into how the religion began to change and evolve. Using some of the mechanics for inspiration. Most notable in the fact that 4 branches that Autonomism gets(Tribal, Syncrenistic, Spiritual and Militerist). There are elements of chinese thought in these branches but that was as Russia became tied to China through marriage alliances and trade between them and the Tang Dynasty.

All 4 branches focus on the concept of Rovinuyj or being at harmony with the world. However, naturally each of the 4 branches would come up with different concepts on how one maintains such a harmonious world.
  • Kolesi - The Spiritualist Branch. This branch focused on living a simple life and honoring the gods. It would come up with a ontological dualistic cosmology which contrasted with the dualism of Russia's neighbors. The passage of the Sun and the Moon create a day is an example that is used. Temples of Chernobog and Belobog would strongly support this branch to the point where they were one in the same. Also these temples became famous as temples of black and white due to the doors having one side black and the other white but both sides had a small element of the other color somewhere in it, generally at the top to represent the sun and the moon.

  • Radociti - The Tribalistic Branch. The two big focuses for this branch are living a wise life and honoring one's Family,both living and dead. This school would also coin the term Prav or Divine Law. It believed that a family must educated into ensure that wisdom is passed on from one generation to another. It also extolled the concept of the Family as a model for the nation, with the emperor as the Father of the whole empire.

  • Akamirciti - The Syncrenistic Branch. Acts of violence threatens harmony and bring the world into disorder. Peace between Tribes brings harmony. its big concept is Mira or World Peace which had the concept of Vunemira and Vnitrnimira or External Peace and Internal Peace. Thus Vunemira focused on compassion and resolving conflicts between tribes;especially preventing blood feuds that were common during this time. While Vnitrnmira focused on being at peace with one's self. It would also develop a number of meditative practices(more similar to Buddhist and Taoist Meditative Practices than christian).

    Sviatociti - The Militerist branch though its main focus is Justice. Balance is when a Just leader delivers justice. Its the branch that comes up with the slavic concept of a 'just war'. This branch tended to be the most hostile to Christianity than any other branch. It is from this school that many of the Russian Martial Arts would come from.

The idea I came up with is that these 4 schools of thought while they could had their differences did draw on one another's idea. For example the Radociti branch came up with the concept of Prav but the Sviatociti branch would also use the term to help explain Justice and what a Just war is. Also with the exception of the first branch of Kolesi, all of them were named after the semi-mythical founder. So Radociti for Radoslav, Akamirciti for Akamir, and Sviatociti for Sviatoslav.

This reflects the theological developments that affect the nobility and elite and played a role in shaping the empire. For commoners things were much more simple. Honor the gods, attend the animal sacrifices(and get offerings of free meat) and do what you were told to do. Sadly I stopped before I got to the part of transitioning from Feudal to Imperial government which due to the ties with China would have meant creating an Imperial Examination System that had these various branches and the other religious works as key things to know and study to pass.

Though other religious developments I included was the development of temples, which often were wooden at this era and included many elaborate painted drawings of mythological stories and events related to a particular temple. Later on as stone temples started to become developed this would lead to Mosaics and Murals for the temples of those events. As I was Autonomous that meant there really wasn't any religious hierarchy and most temples tended to be a family affair, where the son or in a few cases daughter of the previous Volkhov would take over after them. One thing I did come up with was that the Priests helped to spread the writing system that was developed and tended to be among the more educated of the classes of society.

So uhm that is how I fleshed out Slavic Paganism for my ck2 AAR. Thoughts? :)
 
Okay. I will do one more particular one.

I would take the Pagan religions and combine them with my Physicalist, Transhumanist, Mind Uploading agenda and mix them and provide them to the people. In the process, I will create a very educated, knowledgeable and a stable populace. I will make it a Universalist Religion and invite all other peoples into it, while taking good elements of their religion and combining it with this one. In the process, I would have revived ancient religions and ethnicities in a good way and also create a very educated and an open populace, all the requirements for a rich, sustainable and a stable nation. Man, I hope I could do it some day. :)
 
So what do people think of my slavic pagan religion?
I like it! In fact, I like it so much that I might use some of the concepts in my tabletop setting if you don't mind :) I am in the progress of sketching the setting and figuring out an Elven religion that is distinct from others in the setting.
 
For My CK2 Pagan Russian AAR I did delve a bit into how the religion began to change and evolve. Using some of the mechanics for inspiration. Most notable in the fact that 4 branches that Autonomism gets(Tribal, Syncrenistic, Spiritual and Militerist). There are elements of chinese thought in these branches but that was as Russia became tied to China through marriage alliances and trade between them and the Tang Dynasty.

What other doctrines did you choose, and how did they play into this?
 
One concept I’ve always found interesting is how Hinduism and Shintoism grew out of the polytheism of the Subcontinent, and, well, if it worked there, could it happen elsewhere? What would Slavic pagan ‘Hinduism’ look like? Or with a surviving Inca, what about Tawintinsuyu ‘Shinto’?
 
One concept I’ve always found interesting is how Hinduism and Shintoism grew out of the polytheism of the Subcontinent, and, well, if it worked there, could it happen elsewhere? What would Slavic pagan ‘Hinduism’ look like? Or with a surviving Inca, what about Tawintinsuyu ‘Shinto’?
The polytheisms of antiquity were not meaningfully less complex or sophisticated than the polytheisms of today.
The only way to develop a modern polytheism in e.g. Europe or the Americas is to either (1) butterfly the monotheisms that absorbed or outcompeted them, or (2) butterfly the expansion of said monotheisms into those societies.
 
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