Lies and misconceptions.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)

SIR: Ted Hayhoe wonders how Christianity could have given rise to so many charities and other good works if it was founded on a lie (Letters, July-August 2005). One might reply that, if true, it is striking how much violence, cruelty, bigotry and bloodshed it has also inspired, so it has not been an entirely benign influence! In fact neither the philanthropic nor the darker aspects of Western history need be ascribed to Christianity at all; they both occurred in other societies so are presumably inherent traits of human behaviour generally.

Even if, as Ted suggests, Paul's letters were life guides, we should still expect him to have shown more awareness of the central and climactic events of Jesus' life. The crucifixion and resurrection were Paul's principal preoccupations, yet he doesn't even place them in Jerusalem under Pilate!

Though Grahame Fallon agrees with my article's dating of the documents, he does not appear to appreciate the point that whilst most of our understanding of Christianity is based on the later Gospels, the earlier ...