Christianity
Subtitle: an introduction
By: by Philip Kennedy
Series: I. B. Tauris introductions to religion; I.B. Tauris introductions to religion
Publisher: I. B. Tauris; Distributed in the U.S. and Canada exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2011
Place of publication: London; New York; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 310
ISBN-13: 9781848853836; 9781848853829
Subjects: Christianity; Church history
Description: "The Christian faith has the allegiance of one third of the human race. It has succeeded in influencing civilization to such a degree that we now take its existence almost for granted. Yet it might all have been so different. Christianity began with the words and deeds of an obscure village carpenter's son who died a shameful criminal's death at the hands of the Roman subjugators of his country, itself an insignificant outpost of  the powerful ruling Empire. The feverish land of biblical Palestine, awash with apocalyptic expectations of deliverance from its foreign overlords, was hardly short of seers and prophets who claimed to be sent visions from God. Yet the followers of this man thought he was different: so different, in fact, that some years after his death and asserted resurrection they scandalously insisted not only that he was sent by God, but that he was God. How a provincial sect, with its seemingly outrageous ideas, became first the sanctioned religion of the Roman Empire and then, over the course of 2000 years, the creed of billions of people, is the improbable story that this book tells. It is a story of freethinkers, friars, fanatics and firebrands, and of the lay people (not just the clerical or the powerful) who have made up the great mass of Christians over the centuries. Many introductions to Christianity are written by Christians, for Christians. This elegant textbook, by contrast, shows that the history of the religion, while often glorious, is not one of unimpeded progress, but something still more remarkable, flawed and human"--Publisher's description, p. [4] of cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [291]-292) and index.