Understanding Christianity: With Help From Dante and Milton

An introduction to Christianity making use of The Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost. Goes into nearly everything—theology, story, history, ethics, mindset, rules, rituals, conflicts—from takeoff points in the poems. Explains things that puzzle people about this religion. Shows differences between old and new, Medieval and Renaissance, Catholic and Protestant. Shows the origins of problems and reviews solutions. Presents the technical side of Christianity, with diagrams of the universe, a chart of the Great Chain of Being, and graphs of Adam and Eve’s Fall. Assumes little previous knowledge. Christianity for not-quite dummies. Expect simple treatment of the following: sin, salvation, atonement, love, God, homosexuality, sexism, hierarchy, the Problem of Evil, will, justice and mercy, obedience, freedom, otherworldliness, reason and passion, baptism, Christian paradox, dualism, heresy, angels, sainthood, innocence, the Logos, death, allegory, the soul, and Platonism. Among others.