This is a book about the world in which Christianity emerged told in an extremely accessible way by one of the most outstanding ancient historians writing today. Its main thrust is to show how Christianity emerged in the market-place of competing religions. We can't understand the success of Christianity without understanding its rivals in the Jewish and Roman worlds. So we have to go back to Rome, Egypt, Syria to understand the passionate attachment which pagans had for their gods, temples, sacrifice, magic, and mystery ...
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This is a book about the world in which Christianity emerged told in an extremely accessible way by one of the most outstanding ancient historians writing today. Its main thrust is to show how Christianity emerged in the market-place of competing religions. We can't understand the success of Christianity without understanding its rivals in the Jewish and Roman worlds. So we have to go back to Rome, Egypt, Syria to understand the passionate attachment which pagans had for their gods, temples, sacrifice, magic, and mystery rites. And we can't appreciate the innovations of Christianity without glimpsing the commitment and expectations of Jews. Keith Hopkins also shows in this book history in the making. Most books on Jesus defend a particular version of Christianity. Believers look back and find in earliest Christianity exactly the sort of Christianity they want now. Keith Hopkins argues that this is not how history unfolds. His view is that there is no such thing as one version of history - there never is just one story. He shows that the central story for Christianity - the Jesus story - exists not just in the gospels, but in dozens of magnificent variations: there isn't just one Jesus. One of the most extraordinary and contentious aspects of this book is the way Keith Hopkins tells the story of how Christianity emerged. He combines conventionally 'objective' analysis with letters from professors aghast at what he is writing, a TV drama about the Dead Sea Scrolls, memoirs of two time-travellers, and an invented correspondence between an ingenue Christian and his more sophisticated superior. This is a dazzlingly clever and truly entertaining book. Hopkins writes from the point of view of a non-believer and combines humour with a wonderful gift for telling stories. His aim is 'to allow the reader to live vicariously in antiquity without ever leaving the modern world' and he does this brilliantly.
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Add this copy of A World Full Of Gods to cart. $11.00, like new condition, Sold by Booksup rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Laguna Niguel, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
Add this copy of A World Full of Gods: Pagans, Jews and Christians in to cart. $18.48, good condition, Sold by Greener Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from London, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1999 by W&N.
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Add this copy of A World Full of Gods: Pagans, Jews and Christians in to cart. $18.65, good condition, Sold by Anybook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1999 by Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
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This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. Clean from markings. In good all round condition. Dust jacket in good condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 900grams, ISBN: 9780297819820.
Milton Under Wychwood,
OXFORDSHIRE,
UNITED KINGDOM
$22.00
$91.37
Add this copy of A World Full of Gods: Pagans, Jews and Christians in to cart. $22.00, very good condition, Sold by Greensleeves Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Milton Under Wychwood, OXFORDSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1999 by W&N.
Add this copy of A World Full of Gods to cart. $25.11, very good condition, Sold by Yare Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Great Yarmouth, NORFOLK, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2000 by Phoenix.
Edition:
2000, Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
