“The third big change which came over the Church about the time of Constantine’s conversion was the introduction of the worship of saints and angels and of the reverence for pictures and relics. In these novelties it became very apparent, that the Church had been unable to assimilate the great masses of converts which came in from the heathen world. They represent a half-way return of Christianity to heathenism. It was as if a compromise was being struck between the old religion and the new. It was as if all the old heathen idols were returning and were admitted to Christian worship dressed up in Christian garb. It is no wonder, that some speak of this development as the growth of a Christianity of a lower kind. It made it easier for the pagans to become Christians because it made Christianity half pagan.”

(Kromminga, D. H. A History of the Christian Church. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1948, 53)