Reddit reviews Jesus Wars: How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the Next 1,500 years

So, for one, there's no clear evidence if the Jesus as shown in the gospels existed. A Jesus might have existed, but there's probably a lot of things attributed to this man that is later addition (even if you don't count the miracles, which from atheist perspective could not have happened anyway or were frauds, which were rather common around that time too). But if you compare the gospels, they disagree on way too many things, including making up a nonexistent Roman custom of having to go to a man's birthplace for census. As if they cared where a barbarian was born as opposed to where they could get his money off him.

Then you have the fact that there's a lot of other people that actually existed and can be verified. Like Muhammad or even better, Joseph Smith, or EVEN better, L. Ron Hubbard. Does their verifiable existence mean their claims were true? Cause if yes, then we have a problem of conflicting claims.

Once you deal with this info, you should probably read the Jesus Wars to see how we even know what we "know" about Jesus. It looks like dull reading, but it got me biting my nails to the quick for some 2k year old dead monk that was an asshole anyway having been exiled, so I'd say it's interesting enough :)

The Byzantine Empresses St. Aelia Pulcheria, St. Aelia Eudoxia and [St. Theodora](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_(6th_century) played a huge role in the Church during the fifth and sixth centuries. I would highly recommend Jesus Wars by John Philip Jenkins if you want to learn more about them.

The Wikipedia article on the First Council of Nicaea provides information on how Constantine I convened a council to establish a common Christian creed to help unify the Roman empire through one common set of religious beliefs. There's also
Jesus Wars: How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the Next 1,500 years

I'm kind of wrong since a lot of the Protestant denominations are close to Arian Christianity of the first half of the first millenium.

The Virgin Mary is the continuation of Ishtar and the Mother Goddess of ancient religions. A lot of the ancient art of Jesus and his disciples has their hands in gang like shapes. Some of the interpretations I've read say the angles are the same as numbers in the measurement of the lunar month. A lot of the numbers in the Bible, and especially the Book of Matthew have links to astronomy. 12, 7, 40. The shape of the Vatican is pretty close to the shape of ancient temples. Catholocism and Orthodoxy have priests like the ancient temple priests who bless people, etc. The saints and the angels are the polytheistic gods of old. the saints are similar to ancestor worship too.

https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Wars-Patriarchs-Emperors-Christians/dp/0061768936/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1521243786&sr=8-1&keywords=the+jesus+wars&dpID=615Zd-SWSGL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch


This is a really good book. For almost a thousand years the largest form of Christianity was practiced outside of the Roman Empire and stretched from Mesopotamia to the Pacific Ocean.
https://www.amazon.com/Lost-History-Christianity-Thousand-Year-Asia/dp/0061472816/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0061472816&pd_rd_r=GN7RVBY2PNZ62R1JBZJB&pd_rd_w=fZ4BV&pd_rd_wg=41EHF&psc=1&refRID=GN7RVBY2PNZ62R1JBZJB

https://www.amazon.com/Long-Journey-Years-Stone-Science/dp/1532705859/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1521244014&sr=8-2&keywords=400000+years+stone+age&dpID=51cjv0wXuGL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch


You can find other books too. Judaism/Christianity is just a continuation of ancient Hinduism and Zoroastronism with a mix of local culture. Most of the gods from greece to ancient india are almost always portrayed in the same shapes which are constellations of the zodiac.

It all goes back to measuring

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_precession

and the recording of astronomy in poetry form

http://mathisencorollary.blogspot.com/

'The Jesus Wars' might be of interest to you.

https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Wars-Patriarchs-Emperors-Christians/dp/0061768936/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1478095540&sr=1-1

I think you have a too romantic idea of the early church. The fights among christians for who is the true believer were often bloody. I recommend Jesus Wars, a real eye opener.