Because of their deep ties to Greco-Roman literary and artistic culture, the earliest Christians’ attitudes toward paganism and the imperial government were ambiguous; criticizing the former would seem to be criticizing the latter. Still, Christians had a generally very bad opinion of all other religions, with the exception of Judaism. All types of paganism were considered to be the worship of evil spirits, including the conventional Greco-Roman polytheisms, the cult of the emperor, and the Oriental mystery (salvational) religions of Isis, Attis, Adonis, and Mithra. Christians, like Jews, were against syncretism, unless they were gnostics. Apart from the concept of baptism as a rebirth, Christians tended to steer clear of the distinctive vocabulary used by the mystery religions.

The immoral and unethical actions of the gods and heroes of classical myth and literature were condemned by many Christians, who also rejected the literary traditions of the classical world. Paul the Apostle could cite pagans like Aratus, Menander, and Epimenides. Sophocles and Euripides were mentioned by St. Clement of Rome. This literary heritage was shared by learned Pagan people and Christians. All they desired was to reject myth and cults associated with polytheism, as well as any ethical and metaphysical beliefs that were incompatible with Christian principles (such as Platonic ideas about the eternal nature of the cosmos, soul transmigration, and Stoic materialism).