As part of mainstream culture in European and American society, Christian culture came from the integration of Hebrew culture and Greek civilization, inheriting both ancient Hebraic religious traditions as well as the rationalism of Greek Antiquity. Therefore both faith and reason are found in Christian culture where imagery-rich thinking and logical speculation complement each other. Together they provided the rich soil from which religious literature full of imagery, content and ambience grew. Christian thinking has permeated European and American Literature in their historical development. An inherent continuation of religious form and expression is thus maintained in Western literature.