According to the commonly held view, early Christianity was a time of great harmony, and heresy emerged only at a later stage. To the contrary, Gerd Ludemann argues that the time from the first Christian communities to the end of the second century was defined by struggle by various groups for doctrinal authority. Drawing on a wealth of data, he asserts that the losers in this struggle actually represented Christianity in its more authentic, original form. Orthodoxy has been defined by the victors in this struggle and it is they who subsequently silenced alternative views and labeled them...

On the first day of Francisco de San Antonio's trial before the Spanish Inquisition in Toledo in 1625, his interrogators asked him about his parentage. His real name, he stated, was Abram Ruben, and he had been born in Fez of Jewish parents. How then, Inquisitors wanted to know, had he become a Christian convert? Why had a Hebrew alphabet been found in his possession? And what was his business at the Court in Madrid? -He was asked, - according to his dossier, -for the story of his life.- His response, more than ten folios long, is one of the many involuntary autobiographies created by the...

Between 1000 and 1250, the Catholic Church confronted the threat of heresy with increasing force. Some of the most portentous events in medieval history-the Cathar crusade, the persecution and mass burnings of heretics, the papal inquisition established to identify and suppress beliefs that departed from the true religion-date from this period. Fear of heresy molded European society for the rest of the Middle Ages and beyond, and violent persecutions of the accused left an indelible mark. Yet, as R. I. Moore suggests, the version of these events that has come down to us may be more...

Wouldn't it be frustrating to get to heaven and find out that the earth was the location of hell all along? Think of all the things we could do to better enjoy our time here if we had only known.

By accepting that earth is the real hell, many people might find it emotionally liberating. Now you know why you've had to suffer through so much as an occupant of this planet. Now you know why years of positive thinking and optimism has still also lead to a surprising amount of pain, sadness and...

In this volume, a distinguished cast of international scholars examines the profound...