Who and what did Jesus believe himself to be? And who really founded Christianity? How old are Christian doctrines and where did they come from? Was Christ the God a divinity created from several existing Middle Eastern gods? Is there such a thing as orthodox Christianity when so many denominations call themselves orthodox yet disagree on important matters of doctrine? Which parts of what we think we know about Christianity are facts and which parts are fictions? How did the Christian priesthood arise? How were key stories such as the nativity created? Beyond Belief seeks answers to these questions. The author looks at claims made by Christian leaders over the centuries and analyses them in the light of modern scholarship. Erudite yet easy to read, authoritative yet mischievous, the book's scope is wide, from biblical times to the present day, from America to China, covering all major denominations and spanning many different academic disciplines. Many of the conclusions reached will shock devout believers. Whatever one's own religious beliefs, the Christian Churches provide huge amounts of material for the enquiring mind.
To a large extent, the history of the Western World over the last 2,000 years is the history of the Christian Church. Repercussions from crusades that took place over 900 years ago still shake the Middle East and the Western world. Echoes of the division of the Roman Empire in early Christian times, 800 years before the crusades, also reverberate to the present day. James McDonald spent over 20 years researching this book. His research has taken him from the Americas to Europe, through Turkey and the Middle East to Iran, Pakistan and Central Asia, and on to India and China - all places where Christianity has taken root at one time or another. A Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society in England, he holds an MSc and an MA from Oxford University. He now lives in France where he is researching his next book, on the Cathar religion.
- ISBN10 0863723810
- ISBN13 9780863723810
- Publish Date 29 November 2010 (first published 1 January 2009)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Garnet Publishing Ltd
- Imprint Ithaca Press
- Format eBook
- Language English