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Beyond Belief: Two Thousand Years of Bad Faith in the Christian Church Hardcover – 10 Jan 2011

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James McDonald (Author)
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James McDonald (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 27 customer reviews
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 512 pages
  • Publisher: Garnet Publishing (10 Jan. 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0863723462
  • ISBN-13: 978-0863723469
  • Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 3 x 15.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,940,124 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

About the Author

The author, James McDonald, spent 20 years researching this book, and his research has taken him from America to Europe, through Turkey and the Middle East to Iran, Pakistan and Central Asia, and on to India and China - all places where Christianity has taken root at one time or another. A Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society in England, he holds an MSc and an MA from Oxford University and now lives in France where he is researching his next book, on the Cathar religion.

Customer Reviews

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Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsAn absorbing read
By lizsmith on 6 Mar. 2011
Format: Hardcover
I found this a fascinating, thought-provoking, and thoroughly entertaining tome. It deals at length with such matters as the origins and authorship of various books of the Bible (not what you would imagine); the degree to which biblical texts can be considered free of editorial interference (not much it seems - people have been tampering and manipulating them from the start to fit with their own views); as well as such questions as who really founded christianity (includes some decidedly dodgy characters), the extent to which modern christian doctrines, teachings and attitudes are supported by what is actually said in the Bible (very little in many cases), the reasons why there are so many Christian denominations, the various areas of conflict between christianity and science, and a great deal else. This is a scholarly work and the author has obviously done a tremendous amount of research, but it is by no means dry and contains considerable doses of humour, as in the description of the astonishingly deviant careers of various popes. I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone who like to delve a little into the true story of the development of christianity rather than the sanitised verson that Christian groups themselves prefer to present.
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5.0 out of 5 starsbelieve this book
By Colinski on 20 Mar. 2012
Format: Paperback
The subtitle of this book makes clear from the outset what its author thinks of Christianity and, one suspects, of all proselytising and institutional religions. But we need not expect bias from him. He builds his arguments on tireless research and scrupulous objectivity, sets them out in simple language we can all understand, and tempers the outrage and the shock with gentle irony and wit. He fearlessly demolishes great swathes of received wisdom and punctures holy bladders full of gas. But there is no roaring here, no spittle or nastiness, just admirable scholarship and a forensic handling of the corpse.

This is a big book dealing at times with quite obscure material. We learn for example of Pope Leo X calculating that a pious German who collected over 17,000 holy relics had saved himself 694,779,550.5 days in Purgatory. Where else could I have learned this? But the glorious obscurities are delivered in an easy flowing narrative. The author's love of history and scolarship propel us down the centuries and through the book to its very satisfying end.

Mr. McDonald may not have got out much in the last twenty years but his generosity has given us a unique, provocative and vastly informative book. I wonder if his favourite film is "Monty Python's Life of Brian"?
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5.0 out of 5 starsA "must read" for believers and non-believers alike
By Easy Raider on 18 Jun. 2014
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
This book is simply a crushingly comprehensive hatchet job on the teachings of the Christian church. It demonstrates the complete lack of authority and legitimacy of the canonical texts and demolishes any notion that they somehow represent the word of God. Non-believers will find new stuff here which compliments their current understanding. Believers will find it an uncomfortable read at best, but better to understand the limitations of the biblical texts and other established church teachings (they aren't all in the bible!) and try to live by the best of the moral and ethical teachings that remain, than to have faith in (a state of) ignorance. Having been myself ignorant of most of the facts about the biblical texts throughout my childhood upbringing in the church, I am now amazed at just how effectively the theologians kept them out of sight of ordinary churchgoers.

Incidentally, as I recall, there are some reviewers on here who have tried to damn the book on the grounds that its formatting and editing are so poor as to make the work unreadable. Don't worry; it isn't!
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5.0 out of 5 starsComprehensive and encyclopaedic
By Balhamphibian on 19 Jun. 2011
Format: Paperback
Beyond Belief in an impressively comprehensive, encyclopaedic survey of the history of Christianity and an examination of its key doctrines. Structured and written to be accessible to the layman, it also has over 400 references for those who want to go into the topics in more detail.

Many facts are presented which may surprise: the role of orthography in the development of orthodoxy; the fulfilment of revelation which was never revealed; the problems with popes (not just a little jobsharing with Avignon or a couple of bad Borgias).

The author takes an analytical approach to discussions of doctrine - the section on Transubstantiation is particularly good - and although we can see what his own viewpoint is, presents the facts and analysis to us clearly, then stands back to allow us to make up our own minds. Overall a fascinating book with an original approach.
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1.0 out of 5 starsKindle Edition Not Proof Read!
By Amazon Customer on 25 Jan. 2014
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I'm afraid the Kindle edition is utterly worthless. It has obviously been scanned and nobody has bothered to proof read it! There are whole sections where words are literally joined together - four or five at a time - and the spelling mistakes are absolutely embarrassing in their quantity. I'm sure it is a good book but make sure you buy the original paper version.
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5.0 out of 5 starsFascinating examination of the world's greatest hoax.
By Amazon Customer on 6 July 2013
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I've ploughed through a great many Christian and atheist books during the last few years but this has to be the best so far (I'm only halfway through at present). It's a long book but the style is extremely readable, despite the approach to the subject matter being detailed and the text supported by lengthy footnotes. Many books of this type can be heavy going but if, like me, you're trying to make sense of religion and reality, this is essential reading.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsEssential Reading

This is a very angry book by James McDonald. But he has reason to be angry. Bible scholarship has shown time and again how the Bible was extensively modified. Read more

Published 22 months ago by J. Barty
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Great book

Published on 3 Nov. 2014 by John Mackenzie
4.0 out of 5 starsA very detailed demolition

Somewhat heavy going, but stick with it and you'll see just how much research and effort the author has gone to with this complete annihilation of the "good book". Read more

Published on 14 Sept. 2014 by Andrew Howison
5.0 out of 5 starsA real eye opener!

This book exposes the corruption and lies surrounding Christianity (as we now know it!) I would recommend it to anyone who is truly interested in discovering the history of this... Read more

Published on 27 Aug. 2014 by Mags
4.0 out of 5 starsvery thought provoking

Really thought provoking book. It such a shame that the kindle version has such poor formatting. This will put people off reading a book which deserves exposure. Read more

Published on 27 July 2014 by Peter Walder
5.0 out of 5 starsAn Eye-Opener

An excellent book which should be on every school curriculum, I wish it had been available 60 years ago. Read more

Published on 17 July 2014 by Hannah
5.0 out of 5 starsA very good read - all Catholic's and other Christian's should read it

The history of the church is very much a part of the history of the western world. Most Christians and for that matter most believers do not know anything about the real history of... Read more

Published on 20 Jun. 2014 by Mr. G. WILLIAMS
5.0 out of 5 starsa thorough in depth analysis of the faith and folly of the church

A well researched and highly informative work. The book is a major contribution to the arguments for free and rational thought and shows the results throughout history where this... Read more

Published on 6 Jun. 2014 by Painspotter1
3.0 out of 5 starsGood book, but very poor Kindle edition.

I've given this book 3 stars overall because, while I have no reason to believe the *printed* book is anything other than of a high quality, the current Kindle version is really... Read more

Published on 4 Mar. 2014 by Bookman
3.0 out of 5 starsKindle version issues

2 things here. Firstly the book is interesting and has a lot of content but I think towards the end it starts throwing a lot of facts and titbits rather the careful examination of... Read more

Published on 23 Feb. 2014 by F. Ward

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