Christianity

Written by two respectable religious scholars, this groundbreaking new book challenges some of our long-held beliefs about Christianity as we know it, detailing the origins of a great divide between Jesus of Nazareth''s teachings and Christianity during its formative stages. With comprehensive historical research, authors Cragun and Kessler use the analysis of power and class struggle to reexamine church history and the teachings of the theologians. They outline how the so-called ""Fathers of the Church"" took over the community of Jesus, destroyed its foundations, and built their own church edifice, which they then passed down to us.Though much of modern scholarship blames Constantine for the corruption of the church. Christianity: Endangered or Extinct? shows how the corruption was a gradual process in which Platonic philosophy, power, and prestige gradually entombed the message Jesus actually gave us. This religion was carefully honed to be acceptable to emperors, rulers, and the elite, replacing Christ''s original message of love, egalitarianism, communalism, pacifism, and servant leadership--concepts that are essential for the survival of humanity in the twenty-first century.This is a true People''s History of Christianity in the tradition of Howard Zinn''s People''s History of the United States and one that will have you seeing Christianity in a brand-new light.Rodger L. Cragun holds a Master of Divinity degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary; assisted Markus Barth, Anchor Bible Ephesians; was ordained in the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America; served as pastor of the Church of the Brethren; and conducted research at the University of Chicago and at Notre Dame. He has also published The Ultimate Heresy: The Doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy (1996). Thomas Kessler is a former Capuchin Franciscan monk, priest, and director of novitiates. He studied at St. Anthony Friary and Capuchin Seminary in Marathon, Wisconsin, and conducted independent research at Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, and in Assisi, Italy. His interests include Christian history, philosophy, theology, Greek and Latin.