Paganism Surviving in Christianity
by Abram Herbert Lewis, D.D.
1892

He who thinks that the Christianity of the fourth century was identical with that of theN ew-T estament period, will go widely astray. He who does not look carefully into the history of religions before the time of Christ, and into the pagan influences which surrounded infant Christianity, cannot understand its subsequent history. He who cannot rise above denominational limitations and credal restrictions cannot become a successful student of early Church history, nor of present tendencies, nor of future developments. History is a series of results, not a medley of happenings. It is the story of the struggle between right and wrong ;the record of God sdealing with men. The historic argument is invaluable, because history preserves God sverdicts concerning human choices and actions, Events and epochs, transitions and culminations, are the organized causes and effects which create the never-ceasing movement, and the organic unity called history.
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)