– The word comes from the Latin paganus , through pagus, village, settlement. This is what the Jews called foreigners, uncircumcised Gentiles:
Ex 12,48 : If a foreigner, living in your house, wants to celebrate Easter in honor of the Lord.
Is 52,1 : Because you will no longer see the uncircumcised or the unclean entering your house!
Jr 10,2-3 : Do not imitate the behavior of the pagans; nor fear the heavenly signs.
Ez 44,7 : You have brought into my sanctuary to profane it foreigners whose heart is no less uncircumcised than the flesh.
Br 6,3-28 : You will see in Babylon gods of silver, gold and wood, […] which, however, inspire fear in the pagans.
– In the AT they are criticized for worshiping idols:
Ps 95 :5: For the gods of the heathen, whatever they may be, are but idols.
Ps 113 :12 : As for their idols of gold or silver, they are mere works of men’s hands.
Ps 134 :15 : The idols of the pagans are nothing more than silver and gold, they are the work of human hands.
Wis 13,10-19 : But they are wretched and hope in the dead, those who called the works of human hands gods.
Jr 8,19 : Why have they angered me with their idols, with the vain deities of other countries?
Hab 2:18 : Of what use is the carved image for the sculptor to carve?
Zech 13 :2 : In that day, declares the Lord, I will cut off even the names of the idols from the earth: no more will they be spoken of.
– In the NT the mystery of divine goodness towards the Gentiles is revealed:
Mt 2,11 : Entering the house, they found the child with Mary, his mother. Falling down before him, they worshiped him.
Mt 8,10-12 : I have not found such faith in anyone from Israel. Therefore I declare to you that multitudes will come from the East.
Mt 21:43 : Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruits.
Lk 7 :9: Truly I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.
– The apostles condemn idolatry:
Acts 17:24-25 : The God who made the world and everything in it […] does not dwell in temples made by human hands.
Romans 1:21-26 : Because, knowing God, they did not glorify him as God, nor gave thanks to him.
2Cor 6,14-15 : Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. What union can there be between righteousness and iniquity?
Eph 4,17-18 : Do not persist in living like the heathen, who are at the mercy of their frivolous ideas.
1Th 4,5.13 : Without letting yourself be carried away by unruly passions, like the heathen who do not know God.
1Pt 4,3 : It is enough for you that in the past you lived according to the whims of the heathen, in luxury.
– But they proclaim the Gospel to the heathen:
Acts 9:15-16 : Go, because this man is a chosen instrument for me, who will carry my name before the nations.
Acts 11:5-17 : For if God gave them the same grace as he gave us […] by what right should I oppose God?
Acts 15:7-11 : God chose me from among you, so that by my mouth the Gentiles might hear the word of the Gospel and believe.
Acts 22:21 : But he answered me: “Go, because I will send you far away to the nations”.
Acts 26:17 , 23 : I have chosen you from among the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am now sending you.
Rom 1 :5 : We have received grace and apostolate, in order to lead, in his name, all pagan nations to the obedience of faith.
Rom 2:14-15 : The pagans, who do not have the Law, naturally doing the things of the Law, even though they do not have the Law.
Rom 4:9-17 : Is this beatitude only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised?
Romans 9:30-33 : That the Gentiles, who did not seek righteousness, obtained justification, which comes from faith.
Rom 11:11-13.25-32 : But his fall, making salvation accessible to the heathen, incited them to emulation.
Rom 15:16.18 : To be the minister of Jesus Christ among the pagans, exercising the sacred function of the Gospel of God.
1Cor 1,21 : It pleased God to save those who believe by the foolishness of their message.
Gal 1:16 : To reveal his Son in my person, so that I might make him known among the Gentiles.
Gal 2,7-8 : On the contrary, they saw that the evangelization of the uncircumcised was entrusted to me.
Eph 3,6-7 : Namely: that the Gentiles are co-heirs […] and partakers of the promise in Jesus Christ through the Gospel.
– See GENTILES, IDOLATRY.
