The Faith A History of Christianity [Paperback]

Beginning with the birth of Jesus and tracing the religion established by his followers up to the present day,The Faithis a comprehensive exploration of the history of Christianity. Judiciously covering all the signal moments without bogging down in minutia, author Brian Moynahan's superbly written and generously illustrated book is of central importance to Christians, historians, and anyone interested in a faith that shaped the modern world.

Moynahan's research uses little-known sources to tell a magnificent story encompassing everything from the early tremulous years after Jesus' death to the horrors of persecution by Nero, from the growth of monasteries to the bloody Crusades, from the building of the great cathedrals to the cataclysm of the Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation, from the flight of pilgrims from Europe in pursuit of religious freedom to the Salem Witch Trials, from the advent of a traveling pope to the rise of televangelists.

Coming just in time for Jubilee 2000, this ambitious book reveals and commemorates the significance of the Christian faith.BRIAN MOYNAHANgraduated with honors from Cambridge University and embarked on a career as an author and journalist. He served on the staff ofThe Yorkshire Post,TownMagazine, andThe Times(London). Since 1989, he has concentrated on writing histories while continuing to write for British and American newspapers. His previous books includeAirport International,Fool's Paradise,Claws of the Bear,Comrades,The Russian Century, andA Biography of Rasputin.Chapter I

The Cross

Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" cried the dying man. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46). This forlorn reproach was delivered from a hillside on the periphery of the Roman Empire, in a strange tongue unknown to the vast majority of its subjects, by a condemned man of profound obscurity who had lÓL