And Man Created God: Kings, Cults and Conquests at the Time of Jesus Main Edition
Author(s): Selina O'Grady (Author)
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Publication Date: 1 Sept. 2012
Edition: Main
Language: English
Print length: 416 pages
ISBN-10: 1843546965
ISBN-13: 9781843546962
Book Description
At the time of Jesus’s birth, the world was in ferment. Across Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Asia – societies rife with gods and messiahs, priests and warriors – the old certainties of family, village and tribe were being overturned. Religion was becoming the source of order and stability. And Man Created God takes the reader on a dazzling journey across the empires of the ancient world to reveal how emperors and kings manipulated religion to consolidate their power. In Rome, Augustus was deified by his brilliant spin doctors; in what is now Sudan, the warrior queen Amanirenas exploited her godlike status to inspire her armies to face, and defeat, Rome; while in China, the usurper Wang Mang won and lost the throne over his obsession with Confucianism. In this riveting account of the interplay of faith and power, Selina O’Grady answers the most urgent question of all: how did the tiny Jesus cult triumph over more popular religions – the goddess Isis, the miracle worker Apollonius, even the cult of Augustus – to become the world’s dominant faith?
Editorial Reviews
Review
This vividly compelling account of how Christianity rose triumphant from the religious and civil tumults of its earliest days is a must read. The comparisons with the other state and imperial religions of the day, from Rome to China and all in-between, are recounted with a cinematographic force that brings that epoch astonishingly and informatively to life. No-one should be allowed to lay claim to Christian or indeed any religious faith who has not read this book first, and meditated on its import. It lays the facts bare, unsparingly and with a sharp eye; and the facts speak very loudly for themselves. –A C Grayling
This is a dazzling, dizzying, compelling panorama of the world that Jesus knew and the worlds he had never heard of. Selina O’Grady shows us the overall map of what were really a series of interlocking but very distinct worlds… which come alive with her remarkable command of detail… It is a remarkable book… I cannot think of anyone who will not learn a huge amount from reading this book. –Tablet
In her sweeping account of relations between faith and power at the dawn of the Christian era, Selina O’Grady presents the political uses of pagan religion, set amid all the luxury and decadence of Roman life, with great relish and descriptive power… The result is an enjoyable, informative romp through the subject of comparative religion… With accomplished journalistic flair, she posits answers with far greater confidence than any academic, choking on footnotes, could muster. –Economist
About the Author
Selina O’Grady has had a lifelong interest in history and religious affairs. She was a producer of BBC1’s moral documentary series Heart of the Matter presented by Joan Bakewell, Channel 4’s live open-ended chat show After Dark and was also a producer on Radio 4’s history series Leviathan. She has reviewed regularly for the San Francisco Chronicle, Literary Review and Tablet, and she is the co-editor of two books: Great Spirits: The Fifty-Two Christians who Most Influenced their Millennium and A Deep But Dazzling Darkness, an anthology from Anglo-Saxon to modern times of the experience of belief and disbelief.
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