mountainman

And yet the author uses the terminology "Pagan"
with respect to earlier centuries! This anachronism
is practiced by most ancient historians and biblical
historians.

The appropriate terminological reference should be
something like "Hellenic". In the pre-Nicaean epoch
we have the "Hellenic culture", afterwards the "Pagan".

This is an extremely important issue to understand.
There were literally no pre-Nicaean pagans.

When Constantine invented christianity's exclusivity,
he also invented the "religious other":

and there was little tolerance for the "non-christian"
or "pagan" beliefs constituting "the other".

It could be said that the Christians and the Non-Christians
("Pagans" if you will) were created as virtual pairs;
like an atomic particle and its associated anti-particle.