ly used by dominant religions to categorize and denigrate earlier, less sophisticated or disapproved religious attitudes and behavior" (Oneil p.163). By calling pagan beliefs superstitious the Christians were essentially saying that the beliefs were born out of ignorance and fear, qualities of a religion which no one would devote their faith to. Christianity not only portrayed pagan beliefs as ignorant and foolish, but also as evil and demonic. The image of the friendly yet mischievous pagan deity Pan was used by Christianity to represent Satan himself. It became the norm for Christians to "categorize the whole of classical pagan religion as idaltrous and even demonic" by pointing a finger and using the word superstition (Oneil p.164). During the time period in which this was occurring many converts were accepting the Christian doctrines. But, even though the people were converting their beliefs to that of Christianity, they still had many pagan beliefs and habits which faded very slowly. In an effort to stamp out the remaining elements of paganism, nearly all remnants of pagan thought were categorized as superstitious and therefore evil. It came to the point where usage of pagan names, or symbols, or any other pagan views were seen by the church as devil worship. In one instance a bishop "rejected the use of Latin calendrical vocabulary, since the days of the week were named after pagan gods (in his view demons) like Mars, Jove, and Venus" (Oneil p.164).As a foothold was gained in overcoming paganism by adapting and absorbing many of their beliefs and practices, Christianity took another step towards the eradication of paganism by Christianizing pagan churches, temples, and other buildings. One author states that, "every pagan building which was capable of giving shelter to a congregation was transformed, at one time or another, into a church or chapel" (Lanciani p.160). No buildings were spared during this time, regardless...
