phenomenon.” The modern fact of pluralism, though, for the West is not new. In fact, Christianity was birthed and matured in the classical and late antique world; the Roman culture of the time was thick with pluralism and syncretism. The New Testament, postapostolic, and patristic writers swam in the waters of immense religious diversity and had to make sense of their faith within such a religious and philosophical context. The church, as it moved north from its early Mediterranean setting, constantly