Chapter VIII, Christianity, The Historical Jesus, Summary and Analysis

Christianity, the most widespread religion in the world, has brought a great diversity to religion. Basically a historical religion based on concrete events, it came from a Jewish carpenter who never traveled more than ninety miles from his birthplace. He produced no books and his biographical details are, at best, meager. Jesus was a charismatic wonder-worker who proclaimed that the spirit of the Lord was upon him. This spirit transcended the material world and was invisible. Jesus, who felt the spirit, often removed himself from the company of people to meditate and pray. It was by the "spirit of God" that Jesus cast out demons and worked many miracles. His aspiration was not just to heal the body of sick people, but on a much larger scale, to heal humanity. He...