> First millennium Christians, wanting to facilitate conversion of the Norse, needed a > Christian parallel... > > Without getting into "War Room" material, this was a pretty common practice. Many > christian holidays have pagan and/or other religious "parallels" (as you put it) > included in their celebrations. > > It makes me smirk whenever I see a Christmas tree inside of a church.
Like Christmas is not the date of the birth of Christ but the day Emperor Palpatine Constantine ended the persecution of the Christians, and it was near a pagan holiday of Saturnalia, so they just made an extra day for chariot races, and gladiator fights. A bit like the boxing day sales.
|