In Correcting Jesus, Brian Griffith patiently and clearly untangles the many strands of the story of Christianity, and the many changes made over the centuries to the original story of Jesus and his message. For any reader who’s wondered, “Where did that rule come from?” and “Was it always this way?” Brian’s book is the one you’ve waited for. He’s always passionate but direct in his thesis that the original words of Jesus were meant as a basis for a society based on partnership and equity, not the one of domination and hierarchy they’re used so often to justify.

By the early 20th century, it was generally accepted that all creatures (and communities) were inescapably rivals in life’s battle for supremacy. It was the law of life that only victors had a future. And by this logic, which led straight to World Wars I and II, Jesus was simply irrelevant to reality. . . . In this context, the old imperative of Christian jihad against infidels was confirmed by scientific realism. Somebody had to come out on top.

Brian Griffith, an independent historian, is interested in the whole world’s “culture wars.” His two previous books are The Gardens of Their Dreams: Desertification and Culture in World History and Different Visions of Love: Partnership and Dominator Values in Christian History, with a foreword by Riane Eisler. He’s married and lives near Toronto.

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