It may indeed have been that, but it wasn't from a scriptural perspective. Therefore (and I have only your thumbnail sketch of it), it was man's mistaken interpretation. As I'm sure you're well-aware, merely calling something "Christian" doesn't necessarily make it so.
If you’ve never been a tax accountant, you have no idea how relaxing it is! Just read the revenue code (for 50 states plus the District of Columbia) and fill out the forms. But wait! You can phone (for example) the Oklahoma Department of Revenue, and have three people tell you three different ways that you’re supposed to have filled out the forms ...
Does this sound like the Pharisees and Sadducees, where you can’t possibly get it right? Well, then, Christianity shouldn’t be like that, because Jesus said the yoke was easy and the burden was light, not that you should consider whether Athena had a better deal on offer.
(She doesn’t because she has no patience with failure. The study in the library, the arts and crafts, the occasional armed mayhem ... I was on the verge of going there, but Athena has no patience with failure. Jesus loves failure.)