Description
Christianity is not a single thing: it is a kaleido- scope of different lived interpretations of the faith. Accordingly Professor Smart takes us in search of it through journeys both in space and time. He invites us to discover what it feels like to the Orthodox in Romania, to the Catholics in Italy, to the Monophysites in Ethiopia, to the Lutherans in Sweden, to Calvinists, Baptists and folk further out on the fringe.A Christ with many faces now looks out at us. To understand what it means to worship and follow him we have to go not only to the doctrines but also to the cloister and the soul. We have to explore the rich depths of myth and art, the dramas of ritual, the choices of ethics. Only then can we place the Christian phenomenon among the historic religions of the world and among the faiths with claims on people today.This book does not aim to expound, defend or attack beliefs. It is virtually unique in looking at Christianity as a religious phenomenon and in suggesting that its strength lies in its diversity rather than in its unity.ISBN:0002151154
