“Catholic Church = “We need not shrink from admitting that candles, like incense and lustral water, were commonly employed in pagan worship and the rites paid to the dead. But the Church from a very early period took them into her service,”
Things - such as candles, incense, water - are not paganism. They are THINGS. OBJECTS. In themselves they have no religious significance. Also, incense worship is straight out of the Bible: Exodus 25:1, 2, 6; 35:4, 5, 8, 27-29; Hebrews 9:34), Revelation 8:4.
“Catholic Church = “When we give or receive Christmas gifts; or hang green wreaths in our homes and churches, how many of us know that we are probably observing pagan customs”
Just like pants - no religious significance for us even though only pagans wore them. The Wise Men brought gifts for the Jesus. Wreathes have no religious significance in themselves for us. It’s just that simple.
Now, you can keep doing this - what seems to amount to bait and switch saying “candles” are the same thing as “paganism” but that’s patently ridiculous as any Christian who has ever lit a candle on a dinner table, or at any other time at home, knows, but what is the point of you doing that when it has already failed?
Catholic Church = “We need not shrink from admitting that candles, like incense and lustral water, were commonly employed in pagan worship and the rites paid to the dead. But the Church from a very early period took them into her service,
Catholic Church = “When we give or receive Christmas gifts; or hang green wreaths in our homes and churches, how many of us know that we are probably observing pagan customs"
You were wrong