Christianity, an Unbeliever's Guide

Christianity dominated the lives of European people for 2000 years and, for most of that time, constituted the ideology and the moral compass which determined both the way they lived and were governed. For Europeans and Americans, in other words, it was their societies' prevailing ideology. As such, references to Christianity are ubiquitous throughout European and American culture and history. And yet, because relatively recent history has taken a secular turn, many now feel themselves to be ignorant about many of the ideas, practices and history of this prevailing faith. Such lack of knowledge often emerges in peoples' encounters with poetry, literature, art and even sometimes, while on holiday - dropping into a cathedral or even a local church is greatly enhanced when armed with at least some understanding of the faith those places represent. This book traces the history of Christianity and its establishment within the challenging circumstances of the Roman Empire. It shows how it developed to become the dominant faith throughout late antiquity and the Medieval period and, importantly, how adherence to its ideas and practices became legally obligatory for ordinary European people. The book analyses many of those ideas and practices to offer a picture of religious life in Europe before 1517. That date, of course, is historically momentous as it signifies the beginning of the Reformation, particularly important in Northern Europe, when Christianity became divided between Catholic and Protestant denominations. The book shows how, during that period, politics, both for ordinary people and for their rulers, became inextricably enmeshed, not only with the divide between Protestant and Catholic but, also, within Protestantism itself. The book is intended for the general reader but under-graduate students will undoubtedly benefit from reading it, particularly those studying European Medieval and Early Modern history. It is neither a critique nor an apology for Christianity but presents historical circumstances and theological ideas in an objective and non-partisan way.