Paganism in Christianity

One of the courses I'm taking this semester is on literature of the Middle Ages. It's a very interesting class, and a lot of the reading reminds me of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. During the Middle Ages, Christianity and Islam were just taking off and became the basis of life for many, many people.

As we studied the Christianization of the Roman Empire, I was astounded to learn how much of the pre-Christian pagan influences were adapted into Christianity itself. Idol worship became apostle worship and superstition became religion. There were grueling debates on the exact nature of Christ: Was he human or God, or both? He couldn't have been both, God is too good for that. If God is all powerful, why would he need to become human?

Many of these kinds of teachings and debates were warned against in Paul's writings in the New Testament. It seems that no one listened to him.

Debate losers split off from popular belief and debate winners called these people heretics. Gnostics began to separate themselves from the world around them, rebuking comfortable clothing, tasty food, and other "fleshly" desires.

Although there were many splits and reforms of the Christian church in later history, starting with Martin Luther, we really haven't gotten away from certain pagan practices in the church. Christmas and Easter celebrations are prime examples of this. I suspect that we never really will be able to take paganism entirely out of the church, as it has become so rooted in important spiritual doctrines.