Complex sentence: The book scandalized the British public when first published, as it included the Christian story of Jesus and the Resurrection in its comparative study, thus inviting an agnostic reading of the Lamb of God as a relic of a pagan religion.
Split into simpler sentences: The book scandalized the British public when first published, as it included the Christian story of Jesus and the Resurrection in its comparative study. Critics thought this treatment invited an agnostic reading of the Lamb of God as a relic of a pagan religion.