000			01559nam a2200193Ia 4500
005			20240429042509.0
008			200208s9999 xx 000 0 und d
020			_a9781843546979
082			_a270.1 OGR
100			_aO'Gready Selina _92426
245		0	_a"And man created God: kings, cults and conquests at the time of Jesus"
260			_aLondon
260			_bAtlantic Books
260			_c2013
300			_a393p.
520			_aAt 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?
650			_aChristianity _92427
942			_cB _2ddc
999			_c174205 _d174205