Early Christian Art (pt. 10)

…Eh, so this is all labeled "Christian art," but there's a mighty great number of Virgin Mary's here, and it'll stay this way for pretty much the rest of history (everything is "Madonna with Child," etc.).  These churches were labeled "Christian" churches, but this was the time of the Holy Roman Empire…which is Catholic.  And naturally, a Christian is a follower of Christ, is somebody who has turned his/her life over to Christ, trusting in Him for forgiveness from sins and the hope of Heaven…but historians use the term "Christian" usually to just describe a sect of people, like the ethnicity of the Western, church-going folk.  The textbook connotation of a "Christian" is very poor, but this is textbook semantics—don't get me started!  So, when I say that these are "Christian" churches, built by "Christians," in the "Early Christian" era…you know what I'm talking about (wink, wink).  I should say Catholic, because that's more or less what it is, but that could become confusing, since the name given for it is Christian.  Christians (in the true sense of the word) believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only way to salvation and atonement with God.  So I have no idea why the Virgin Mary, a very human being, is inserted EVERYWHERE like she was equal or even better than God's own Son, but then again there are a lot of Catholic doctrines I don't get, so nothing new under the sun…