three 17th century etiologies of pagan and Christian kinship

"Originality is not an attribute of theological contention in any era, and the seventeenth century was no exception to common experience. The patent similarities between the pagan and Christian systems were explained as as consequence of the revelation to Adam, duly perverted until Moses renewed it original luster and instructed not only the Jews but also visiting delegations of pagans. This was one explanation. A second theory was that fallen angels, overhearing (with sin-obstructed ears) the lucid predictions of prophets, attempted to befuddle potential Christian believers by inventing similar if somewhat erroneous myth-fulfillments gladly adopted by the pagan world. Finally it was imagined that God made a universal revelation of Himself to all men via the operations of the Natural Light, but that some men, Hebrews for instance, were less myopic or light-dazzled than others. All of these propositions were backed by infinite quotation and analytic adjustment of suitable non-Christian legend and speculation. Most of the adherents of these positions were foster-children of Platonism, the stepmother of the Christian Church."

-- Mysteriously Meant, The Rediscovery of Pagan Symbolism and Allegorical Interpretation in the Renaissance, Don Cameron Allen, 1970, p. 34.