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And Man Created God: Kings, Cults and Conquests at the Time of Jesus [Hardcover]

Selina O'Grady (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 1 Sep 2012
And Man Created God is a sweeping exploration of the changing religions of the empires and peoples of the world at the time of Jesus: a work of extraordinary richness and ambition, this is popular history at its best.


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?


'A masterful narrative, clearly told, with great panache, insight and humour. It should be required reading for anyone, Christian or otherwise, who has an interest in the historical context in which the 'mystery cult of Yaweh' became one of the dominant forces in the world.' Independent


'Entertaining' The Sunday Times

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Atlantic Books (1 Sep 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1843546965
  • ISBN-13: 978-1843546962
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.8 x 4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 242,169 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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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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Customer Reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
7 reviews
4.1 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars an enjoyable account of the world 2000 years ago 21 Sep 2012
By markr TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is an interesting account of the world around 2000 years ago, bringing together the events at that time across the Roman Empire and in Africa, the Middle East, India and China.

In doing so the author has shown how religon was used as tool of government by Augustus and his immediate successors in Rome, as well as by other leaders in Africa and elsewhere, and explains clearly the influence of various religons around the world at the time of Jesus. Here are adherents of branches of the Jewish faith, including the Suduccees, The Pharisees, and their oponents the Samaritans, as well as the early disciples of the Christain faith . Here too are Jains, Buddhists, followers of Isis, Greek and Roman gods (including Augustus after his death)and Confucians. The ways of life of the rulers and their peoples,and impacts of their religous beliefs are all described here in this informative and enjoyable book.

In many ways this book is as much, if not more, a political history of the time as it is a study of the religous movements of the day.

The most interesting aspect of the book for me was the way in which concurrent events in different parts of the world are brought together and are compared and contrasted by the author.

There is some repetition of information, which can be helpful sometimes and a little unnecessary at others, but overall this a great read for the general reader with an interest in religon and/or history.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars First century zeitgeist 14 Oct 2012
By M. D. Holley TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a fascinating study of the religions in the known world at the time of Jesus. The book sticks fairly rigidly to those few years while Jesus was alive, but travels widely from Europe to North Africa to the Middle East, Pakistan, India and China. The sheer range and variety of it is impressive.

Covering so many different religions and ideas could have made for a very dry and boring book, but the author makes it live by using the stories of some colourful individuals as a framework on which to hang her points.

It quickly becomes apparent that there was a certain 'zeitgeist' of the time, in that similar ideas keep recurring in different religions in different places. Many of these recurring ideas ended up in Christianity as we know it today.

Another interesting theme is how the intellectual elite, on the one hand, and the masses on the other, viewed and used religion. I was intrigued to learn how the rapid expansion of the Roman Empire in the years before Jesus created the environment in which certain ideas could flourish.

I have only one small criticism: the book claims that it will explain how the tiny Jesus cult triumphed over more poular religions, but I don't feel it achieves this aim. What it does explain very eloquently is why Christianity was attractive enough that it lasted until the time of Constantine. But by 312 AD Christianity was only followed by a small minority of the empires's population. The book does not explain at all how it went from there to becoming the world's most popular religion.

Overall a very readable and informative book, and covering content which is not easily found elsewhere. Recommended.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars A dazzling collection of facts 4 Jan 2013
By Gerard P.
Format:Hardcover
This is a huge collection of facts about religions and dynasties throughout the known world around the time of the birth of Jesus. You will learn for instance something about the rivalries of the different factions in the Chinese court, or who murdered whom to attain power in the various power bases of the Near East, or ditto for India and so on. And of course, with considerable repetition, the various rivalries between individuals vying for power in Rome. Some may enjoy this and much of the information given does contribute to forming a picture of what life might have been like then. Personally, I found a lot of this rather tiresome. Is it really relevant to the title of this book to hear in some detail how (potential) emperors murdered their rivals or were in turn themselves murdered? To know what kind of beard so-and-so had, or the robes some particular empress our courtesan wore, or what actual sacrifices they offered, or the names and numbers of rivals they had executed, doesn't really tell me much about the actual story of the birth of the large-scale religions.

And then: when one finally gets to the moment when Christianity is in the process of being founded, not primarily by Jesus but by Paul it is argued, the book sort of rushes to an end. As in a sense it must: because that greatest of the world religions had not truly beeen 'founded' at the death of Peter and Paul. From my own sketchy knowledge, the actual foundation of Christianity was a lengthy process extending over the 300-400 years subsequent to the birth of Christ, including the process by which Christianity became the virtual state religion of the Roman Empire. It was only after that period that the basic of tenets of Christian doctrine had finally been established and the canonical version of the New Testament decided on and alternative versions supressed; a highly significant development.

A worthwhile book, no doubt, and one which stimulates my curiosity. But I would like to read something which gave more a sense of insight, or interpretation, of all of those historical facts. WHY is it that Christianity won through in a way that so many of its rival religions did not? There are many hints on the relevant issues, but no truly convincing interpretation or explanation here.
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