Christianity and Paganism at the Term Paper

They used concepts with which pagans had long been familiar to construct a world in which individuals could no longer roam alone, without the benefit of priests, and be safe. Medieval theologians complicated what had once been simple, if at time frightening. One can infer from this that the medieval mind viewed the world as dangerous; magic had been one way to control it. However, it appeared that magic sometimes failed. It would be tempting, then, to accept a belief system that promised it would never fail, at least not in the long run, in the next life. That there was no way to empirically prove the truth of this would not have bothered the medieval mind very much; after all, they had been long used to accepting the invisible and ineffable in the far less ordered cosmos of the pagan world.

Works Cited

Hillgarth, J.N., ed. 1986. Christianity and Paganism, 350-750: The Conversion of Western Europe.Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Mann, Jill. 1994. "Allegorical Buildings in Mediaeval Literature." Medium Aevum 63, no. 2: 191+. http://www.questia.com/.

McVeigh, Dan. 2002. "Is Harry Potter Christian?" Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature 54, no. 3: 196+. http://www.questia.com/.

Rowland, Ingrid D. 1995. "Abacus and Humanism." Renaissance Quarterly 48, no. 4: 695+. http://www.questia.com/.

Simpson, Jacqueline. 2001. "The Athlone History of Witchcraft and Magic in Europe." Folklore 112, no. 2: 235. http://www.questia.com/.

Hillgarth, J.N., ed. 1986. Christianity and Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, p. 5.

Mann, Jill. 1994. 'Allegorical Buildings in Mediaeval Literature." Medium Aevum 63, no. 2: 191+. http://www.questia.com/.

Mann, 191+.

Simpson, Jacqueline. 2001. "The Athlone History of Witchcraft and Magic in Europe." Folklore 112, no. 2: 235. http://www.questia.com/.

Simpson, p. 235.

Rowland, Ingrid D. 1995. Abacus and Humanism. Renaissance Quarterly 48, no. 4: 695+. http://www.questia.com/.

Rowland, p. 695+.

McVeigh, Dan. 2002. "Is Harry Potter Christian?" Renascence: Essays on Values….....