* pagans didn't know...

...that they were pagan.  

when i was a kid, i was led to believe (by catholic followers) that 'pagans' were bad people -- akin to a 'race' of people or a 'country' -- akin to an organized group or religion.

truth is, there wasn't a religion called paganism.  pagans were just people: rural (e.g. peasants) who believed in more than one god (e.g. the god of the sun, moon, river, etc.).  virtually everybody was pagan.

'pagan' became a name-calling term, a bullying tactic, practiced by those who believed in only one god (the monotheists).  once a monotheist decides upon his own 'right' (good, correct, etc., etc.) god, all others are condemned:

"if you don't think like me, to hell with you!"

the monotheists 'modified' and created their religions out of pagan beliefs, which were very much associated with the earth's cycles.

have you ever wondered why Jesus wasn't born on day 1 (january 1st) of year 'zero'?

uh... there isn't a year zero.

wouldn't that have made everything before Christ "B.C."? 

-that's what i was taught.

if one were to do even the slightest bit of 3rd-grade research, one would discover how the bibles were really written, what we really know about the man Jesus, and how religions really came to be.  

the term "divinely inspired" is a term made by men 
who want you to think that what they preach is of the divine.

it's not rocket science.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paganism