LEADER 03945nam 2200673Ia 450 001 9910458821003321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a0-86372-523-6 010 $a1-282-91640-8 010 $a9786612916403 010 $a0-86372-381-0 035 $a(CKB)2560000000053862 035 $a(EBL)1764232 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000433620 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11311331 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000433620 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10390892 035 $a(PQKB)10407664 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC1764232 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC5121639 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL1764232 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10436244 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL642536 035 $a(OCoLC)887507287 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL5121639 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL291640 035 $a(OCoLC)1027168379 035 $a(EXLCZ)992560000000053862 100 $a20100312d2010 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aBeyond belief$b[electronic resource] $etwo thousand years of bad faith in the Christian church /$fJames McDonald 210 $aReading $cGarnet Publishing$d2010 215 $a1 online resource (513 p.) 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 $a1-322-11285-1 311 $a0-86372-346-2 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $aCover; Contents; Acknowledgements; Introduction; A Note on Scope and Sources; 1 The Reliability of Christian Authorities; The Old Testament; The New Testament; Other Sources; Summary; 2 The Development of Christianity; What Did Jesus Believe Himself To Be?; Who Founded Christianity?; How Old are Christian Doctrines and Where Did They Come From?; Where Did Other Christian Ideas and Practices Come From?; Is There Such a Thing as Orthodox Christianity?; How Did The Priesthood Arise?; 3 Facts and Fictions; Manipulation of the Facts; Method 1: Suppress Inconvenient Evidence 327 $aMethod 2: Select Sources and Arguments Method 3: Fabricate Records; Method 4: The Retrospective Prophecy; Method 5: Attribute Ambiguous Authority to the Old Testament; Method 6: Ignore or Distort New Testament Injunctions and Examples; Method 7: Invent, Amend and Discard Teachings and Practices; Method 8: Manipulate Language; Case Study A: Re-branding a Sky God; Case Study B: Making One God Out of Many; Case Study C: How the Virgin Mary Stays a Virgin; Case Study D: How the Nativity Story Was Created; Case Study E: Textual Problems; Summary; 4 Science and Christianity 327 $aTraditional Christian Battlegrounds Recent Christian Battlegrounds; 5 Religion Today and Tomorrow; Religious Discrimination; Christian Discrimination; Moral Dangers of Religion; Continued Abuse of Power; Present Dangers; Appendices; Appendix A: Jesus' Family; Appendix B: The Apostles; Appendix C: Postburial Events; Bibliography; Index 330 $aStarting from a neutral position, this book looks at claims made by Christian leaders over the centuries and analyses them in the light of modern scholarship. Erudite yet mischievous, the book''s scope is wide, from early history to the present day, from America to China, and spanning many different disciplines. Many of the conclusions reached will shock devout believers, though all of them can be verified with reference to sympathetic works by biblical scholars and theologians. A recurring theme is that of open secrets - facts well known to historians and other academics in the Church, 606 $aChristian life 606 $aChurch history 608 $aElectronic books. 615 0$aChristian life. 615 0$aChurch history. 676 $a270 700 $aMcDonald$b James$01035642 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910458821003321 996 $aBeyond belief$92455443 997 $aUNINA