Paganism

Renaissance scholars took an intense interest in the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome. Because these pre-Christian societies had worshiped many gods, some Renaissance writers feared that studying them would lead Christian scholars and artists to develop pagan* beliefs. Even the Dutch scholar Desiderius ERASMUS, a noted supporter of classical* learning, saw this as a potential danger. Later historians who studied the Renaissance, such as Jakob BURCKHARDT, also saw signs of pagan influence among Renaissance scholars. Modern historians, however, have largely rejected these claims.

Although artists and writers referred to ancient gods such as Venus and Zeus in their works, they saw them not as true gods but as evil spirits, or as powerful men and women whose fame had led some people to view them as more than human. They also used pagan gods to represent abstract moral qualities. For example, the goddess Venus stood for love or lust. Most artists, writers, and scholars of the Renaissance took great care to distinguish the ancient gods they wrote about from the true God of Christianity.

A few Renaissance scholars, however, did adopt elements of pagan belief. In the early 1400s, the Greek thinker George Gemistus Pletho sought to revive the religious ideas of the ancient Greek philosopher PLATO. Eventually Plethos proclaimed his goal of reviving ancient paganism. Later scholars, such as Marsilio FICINO of Florence, tried to blend Plato's ideas with Christianity. Ficino claimed that certain pre-Christian figures, including Plato, had foreseen the major ideas of Christianity. Ficino did not see these ancient thinkers as "pagan" in their influence. Another Italian scholar, Giovanni PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA, drew on non-Christian sources in much of his work, including writings by Arabs and Jewish mystics*. However, his work also showed an intense belief in Christianity.