No, I have not read it, I do not need to because I know from long experience that people are quite capable of taking facts and twisting them to their point of view. I also know that people can claim that some Chuch practices have pagan origins and that is quite OK to me. It does not negate the Church's teaching. That point is exactly what my Protestant friends have been telling me for years. (By the way, the Mass is based on Jewish practice of the Old Law.) The Church, following Roman practices, took the Pagan rituals and transformed them into Christian practices. A very wise move, as I see it. You keep rituals familiar to a people but Redeem them, as Christ Redeemed Man. As for Constantine, it was not him who decided but the Church who ultimately accepted them. Following the Institutionalization of the Church for at least the next 1000 years there was a constant relationship between Pope and Emperor that resulted in all kinds of conflicts with Popes making decisions that needed confirmation from Emperors, and Emperors making decisions needing blessings from Popes. Even today there are some secular marriages at high levels in Europe that require the Popes blessings. These are hang overs from that period.
There is nothing that the Author of the book could say that would challenge my position and I have no intention of putting money in his pocket. I am afraid of no Challenge as I have had it all thrown at me in the past. As I said in my original reposte, there is nothing new in all this, it has all been seen before.
