was western civilization founded on christianity?

Western civilization had its roots in the magnificent Hellenic civilization which flourished in ancient Greece and spread throughout Europe and the Middle East during the mighty Roman Empire 31BC -378AD and Christianity was never a part of it.

On the contrary, western civilization was based upon a pantheon of gods and a plethora of pagan customs, most of which were incorporated into Christianity to make it palatable to the masses.

It was much later - in 313AD, when the Roman Empire was under seige - that the Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity which, at that time, was known as a strange Jewish sect and was essentially a Middle Eastern religion.

If Christianity, alone, were the defining feature of western civilization then 313AD would have been the date of its birth and Rome would have been its birthplace.

However, that Ireland and 675AD - not Rome and 313AD - is generally accepted among historians as being the birth place and birth date of the western civilization that we know today indicates that factors other than Christianity came into play in definiting - not least of which may have been the Anglo-Celtic race and culture.