Exploring the diverse representations of Jesus in early Christian traditions, this group biography delves into the multitude of figures that existed before the establishment of a singular "true" Christ. The author, a noted classicist, examines how these varied interpretations were systematically marginalized and eliminated over time. This compelling narrative sheds light on the complexities of early Christianity and the cultural dynamics that shaped its evolution.
Catherine Nixey Books
Catherine Nixey is a journalist and classicist whose work delves into the ancient world. Her writing explores how early Christianity transformed and often dismantled the classical culture from which it emerged. With the precision of a scholar and the clarity of a journalist, she uncovers the complex transitions between antiquity and the rise of a new faith. Through her prose, the epochs she examines come alive, prompting readers to consider the enduring legacy of a lost world.
Heresy
- 400 pages
- 14 hours of reading
'Heresy is a brilliant book' - The Times 'Enthralling' - The Sunday Telegraph 'In the beginning was the Word,' says the Gospel of John. This sentence - and the words of all four gospels - is central to the teachings of the Christian church and has shaped Western art, literature and language, and the Western mind. Yet in the years after the death of Christ there was not merely one word, nor any consensus as to who Jesus was or why he had mattered. There were many different Jesuses, among them the aggressive Jesus who scorned his parents and crippled those who opposed him, the Jesus who sold his twin into slavery and the Jesus who had someone crucified in his stead. Moreover, in the early years of the first millennium there were many other saviours, many sons of gods who healed the sick and cured the lame. But as Christianity spread, they were pronounced unacceptable - even heretical - and they faded from view. Now, in Heresy, Catherine Nixey tells their extraordinary story, one of contingency, chance and plurality. It is a story about what might have been.
The darkening age : the Christian destruction of the Classical world
- 352 pages
- 13 hours of reading
A New York Times Notable Book, winner of the Jerwood Award from the Royal Society of Literature, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, and named a Book of the Year by the Telegraph, Spectator, Observer, and BBC History Magazine, this bold new history of the rise of Christianity shows how its radical followers helped to annihilate Greek and Roman civilizations.