Interpretatio christiana (Latin for
Christian interpretation, also
Christian reinterpretation) is adaptation of non-Christian elements of culture or historical facts to the worldview of
Christianity. The term is commonly applied to recasting of religious and cultural activities, beliefs and imageries of "
pagan" peoples into a Christianized form as a strategy for their
Christianization. From a Christian perspective, "pagan" refers to the various religious beliefs and practices of those who were neither Christian nor Jewish, including within the
Greco-Roman world the
traditional public and domestic religion of ancient Rome,
Imperial cult,
Hellenistic religion,
ancient Egyptian religion,
Celtic and
Germanic polytheism,
initiation religions such as the
Eleusinian Mysteries and
Mithraism, the
religions of the ancient Near East, and the
religion of Carthage.