Christ: The First Two Thousand Years From holy man to global brand: how our view of Christ has changed across

by Whittock, Martyn; Whittock, Esther

• ISBN13: 9780745970455
• ISBN10: 0745970451
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2016-02-25
• Publisher: Lion Books

Summary

How has Christ been seen for the last two millennia? From the Christ of the Gospels to the Isa of Islam, this book explores the way Jesus Christ has been viewed, described, promoted, opposed and written about. What did the word 'Christ' mean in the first century, and how did it resonate with the politics and religion of the time? And beyond that, how was Jesus seen in the New Testament, and then onto the time of the Desert Fathers? What of the heretical Christs - and who decided, and why? And from the 2nd century onwards, people started to draw and to paint images of Christ - how did this change and develop? The book then traces the history of Christ through the militant leader of the Crusaders, via the multi-faceted Christ of the Middle Ages, and the opposing views of Him thrown up by the Reformation and the wars that followed. Finally, the authors consider the Christ of the technological age and the age of total war, before looking also at the Christ of Liberation Theology, Marxism, the Developing world, the Dalits, other faiths, and the Post-modern Christ of the 21st century.

Author Biography

Martyn Whittock graduated in Politics from Bristol University in 1980. He taught history for thirty-five years and latterly was curriculum leader for Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural education at a Wiltshire secondary school. He is a Licensed Lay Minister in the Church of England. He has acted as an historical consultant to the National Trust and English Heritage. He retired from teaching in July 2016 to devote more time to writing. He is the author or co-author of forty-seven books, including school history textbooks and adult history books. The latter include: A Brief History Of Life in the Middle Ages (2009), A Brief History of the Third Reich (2011), A Brief Guide To Celtic Myths and Legends (2013), The Viking Blitzkrieg AD789-1098 (2013), The Anglo-Saxon Avon Valley Frontier (2014), 1016 and 1066: Why The Vikings Caused The Norman Conquest (2016), Norse Myths and Legends (2017), When God Was King (2018), The Vikings: from Odin to Christ (2018). The last two published by Lion Hudson. Also co-written with his daughter, Esther, is Christ: The First Two Thousand Years (2016). The Story of the Cross is their second collaborative venture. Both books are published by Lion Hudson.