Several christians say that the influence of christian ideas on culture is proof of the "truth" of christianity, that christianity is being divinely preserved. To hold this idea, they refer to expressions and various cultural tidbits that can be traced back to a christian, even if the wording has since been changed.
This raises an interesting issue. The old Greek beliefs are also preserved -- with less modification. Of course, we have the Olympics, which were a deliberate restoration. (Why did unbelievers restore the Greek tradition?) It requires little effort to find things named for the elements of the belief. Google any of the Greek gods. (Okay, I didn't do an exhaustive search. But come on, you can find a book publisher named Persephone.) The christian has actual followers; but I would venture that it is the one more likely to be forgotten someday.
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The followers of Greek gods are not defunct either. There is a small following or people from various cultures who would like to reclaim Greek Gods' temples for their own worship.
I did not know that. Even so, the ideas around the Greek gods appear to have latched on to a larger audience as an academic curiosity. The argument of these christians is poorly suited to christianity.
Agreed, although Greek mythology is by far more interesting than anything I have read in the Torah or the New Testament. But, i would also argue tha correlation does not imply causation, and it is the particular cultural norms (memes) that influenced Christianity, and not the other way around. And various pagan religions would argue that theirs influenced Christianity.
An ideology/religion does not exist and was not created in a cultural vacuum.
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