[Hermann the Cherusker]

The early church was under heavy pagan influence just looking for a Goddess

This makes me laugh. Which Early Christians were heavily influenced by paganism? Was it the ones who busied themselves tearing down Pagan shinres in accordance with Canon Law? Maybe the ones who descreated pagan Holy places and erected Churches on top of them? Such feverish imaginatiosn in you Protestants.

[RnMomof7]

The sanctification of fields in order to allow successful planting, for example, were turned into gatherings to bless the fields under priestly direction. Throwing confetti at modern parades, or rice at weddings, is a replacement for the tossing of grains of wheat and barley in such pagan processions. The Julian Calendar (from Kalendae, or day of the new moon, a day sacred to Juno and the first day of the old Roman calendar) was based on the solar model of the Egyptians, replacing the old lunar model in use until just before the assassination of Julius Caesar. To this day the months of the Christian calendar refer to Roman gods, or Caesars, or simply Roman numbering, and the days of the week remains the names of Germanic gods (only Saturn’s Day, or Saturday, remains of the Roman model).

In accord with such assimilation, many believe that the worship of the Madonna in Catholicism had its roots in the veneration of the Goddess Diana from pre-Christian Roman cults. The celebration of Easter, with eggs and bunnies, remains a holdover of former fertility rites celebrating the Pagan Spring. Such adaptions of superficial, crowd-pleasing, rites and pastimes merely suggest how pagan activities are hidden just beneath the surface of Judeo-Christian culture.

(The hidden Legacy by D Painter)