What Your Preacher Didn't Tell You: That You Really Ought to Know

What your preacher didn't tell you is this: Christianity was a Medieval invention that contradicts what Jesus taught. He didn't believe that he was divine or that anybody was bound for heaven. Winsor quotes the Bible itself to explain how preachers obfuscate its meaning. Followers are deceived by tricks such as the conflation of terms that are not synonymous. "Son of Man" referred to mankind in general, not to Jesus. "Kingdom of Heaven" referred to a future earthly kingdom that Jesus hoped to rule, not to Heaven itself. His own prayer asks Yahweh to establish it and make life "on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). Jesus thought it would come very soon: " . . . you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the son of man comes" (Matthew 10:23). He expected Yahweh to bring people to the kingdom "in clouds with great power and glory" (Mark 13:26). Fundamentalists falsely assert that there is no wall of separation between Church and State. They create de facto religious tests and poison our public discourse. Christian dogma conflicts with historical and scientific facts and even with Biblical text. Its interference in politics undermines our ability to seek real-world solutions to real-world problems. Preachers often claim that the Bible's text is too complicated for lay people to understand, but if you're armed with the clues in this book, it is fairly straightforward reading. If you have questions about the Bible, Christianity, and how they relate to modern science and American democracy, you'll find real answers here.