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All I'm saying is that if you were a 15th century yeoman or laborer somewhere out in the wilds of Wiltshire, you would probably be more focussed on the Incarnation as God made man, with emphasis on the man.

Building a bridge of sunbeams puts emphasis on the man? The only way I can see that the story puts emphasis on the man is by way of sin, and as we know Christ is without sin. A folktale about the Christ child playing games with other children is IMHO a charming way to demonstrate His (innocent and pure) humanity; a folktale about Him (God forbid!) drowning other children is not.

Their lives were hard, often cut suddenly short, and their horizon was only as far as they could see, since they were unlettered and most never travelled more than a few miles from where they were born.

And this is why the Apostolic function of the Church was (and still is!) imperative. The apostles and their successors were and are charged with bringing the Gospel to the world, because a lost and broken world cannot come to Christ by itself. But:

Their circumstances made their view of Christ quite different from ours, who have the luxury of literacy, easy work, and modern conveniences. It gives us a different perspective!

There is One Christ, and the Church is also One: There is One Faith that is held by the saints in all times and in all places: The Gospel that Peter preached is the same one that Paul preached, the same one received and handed down by Ignatius and Irenaeus and Athanasius and so on down to this very day. We may have different perspectives in different ages, but we receive the same Gospel; and it tells us of Christ Who is the very Word of God Incarnate: True God and perfect Man.

I think the whole point of studying history is to enable us to think ourselves into another person's head and see things from their vantage point, even if it's different from ours and in our view erroneous. C.S. Lewis recommended "reading old books" for precisely that reason, since our blind spots are not their blind spots and their mistakes are not the same as ours. It opens up your mind.

Interesting you should bring that up! :) Lewis wrote that in a preface to a new translation of St. Athanasius the Great's On the Incarnation, and it was St. Athanasius himself in this very work who expressed the kernel of the Gospel: "For He became Man so that we might become God."

Lewis was spot on about the value of "reading old books." And you're right: If there's anything we can learn from the medieval Christians, it is that our faith must shape our entire lives. However, it must be the same faith that was delivered always and everywhere to all the saints; not something invented as a means to suit worldly ends, be they medieval or modern.