Acknowledging that the Bible isn't reliable history still leaves the question: was it a Good Thing or a Bad Thing that Christianity dominated Europe for a millennium and still has enormous power in much of the world? Yes, it gave us schools, but closed Plato's Academy. Yes, it gave us much wonderful art but destroyed pagan statues and pagan literature.
The best essay I've seen on the pluses and minuses of Christian dominance is on imagining "A World without Monotheism" at http://skepticlawyer.com.au/2009/11/23/a-world-without-monotheism/
Christianity has been strong on hospitals, repressive of much sexuality. As the essay concludes: take your pick.

Its easy to see that any thinking person can see the absolute faith required for one to believe order from chaos and to deny a Designer where things are so clearly designed. Just happens that One told the truth and died for it while others tell lies and hand out degrees for it. Sells brand of 'Christianity' is defined by the apostle Paul as being the brand to be pitied above all. Either Christ is Creator, Judge, Saviour, Coming King or He is a liar. Its takes a lot of twisting and squirming and denial not to understand His clear words. You will always have the mockers and scoffers who think their petty little ideologies (such as feminism, socialism, capitalism, evolutionism) somehow are smarter than the words of Christ. It was no different than those who nailed Him to the tree. Anyone can see through these pathetic attempts to deny Him. It is no wonder that the 'churches' that deny Him are empyting at the rate of knots. Many of them have now got gw theology, social theology and useless pyschology replacing the Only One who can save them from their sin and stupidity.

Runner, please turn out the lights when you're ready, no one else is still there.

'Runner, please turn out the lights when you're ready, no one else is still there. '

ConservativeHippie

don't judge everyone by your own apathy or spiritual deadness ConservativeHippie. There are many thriving believers even in this nation.

runner

Before you kissed the Bishop's ring - He (never She of course) should have told you that life isn't an Either/Or proposition. Life is more complex and somewhere in between.

Jesus never said "you are for me or you're damned sinners."

One person's good may be another person's evil - when there are limited resources. Maybe limited land between monotheistic Christians, monotheistic Jews and monotheistic Muslims - take Jerusalem as an example. All the same God for all 3 faiths.

You listen to ConservativeHippie for he/she/it is chock full of wisdom.

Pete

I fully agree with earlier comments that “of course Christianity is true”. It, in my opinion, Christianity started in the first century as Greco-Judaic mystery cult, similar to the Dionysian and Isiac cults, but one which melded the Jewish tradition of a mythical Messiah with the Greek tradition of a Logos (i.e. the “Word”of God).
Christianity was first recorded in history by an individual (or individuals) who wrote, in Greek, under the name of “Paul”. This “Christian” cult had mixed fortunes until the fourth century when it was adopted by the emperor Constantine and later on given official state status by the emperor Theodosius. Constantine’s reasons for favouring Christianity are not known but it has been suggested that he may have done it to counter the Mithraism cult which had gained strong popularity among his legions.
There is ample evidence to suggest that Paul(s) epistles never referred to a living/breathing “Jesus Christ” but were referring to a mythical saviour along the lines of Dionysus. The very name “Jesus Christ” is a mixture of Greek & Hebrew meaning “Anointed Saviour”. The mythical Jesus was only fleshed out as an historical person by the biblical writer(s) known as Mathew, Mark, Luke and John during the second century.
Once Christianity was adopted as the state religion it, of course, took off big time. A whole bureaucracy of priest & bishops had to be created to run the religion. Councils, e.g. the Nicene, had to be held to formalise what Christians should believe (e.g.) about how the now humanised Jesus Christ related to God Almighty, etc. The entrepreneurial types in the empire also found they could make good business taking over Mithraic temples and property.
This symbiotic relationship between the Christian religion and the State has survived for nearly two millennium but it now looks like it is being supplanted by the more militant Islam whose adherents see it as a way of breaking loose from a now decadent Christian suzerainty