by Robert M. Price (Foreword by), Michael Paulkovich (Author)
Third edition of the author's book. Revised and updated May 2025.
Foreword by Robert M. Price (excerpt):
Michael Paulkovich's Beyond the Crusades is the latest representative of an important genre: the openly polemical treatise against the Christian religion. There is no pretense here of detached, scholarly objectivity, as if the book were a study of exotic butterflies or Wooly Mammoths. In fact, one suspects that such polite critiques of Christianity are no less polemical in intent (as well as in effect) than Paulkovich's, but they are trying to hide it. Paulkovich's cards are on the table. He means to join battle. And why not?...
Paulkovich meets the lay apologist who has read a few books by Josh McDowell or Ravi Zacharias on his own ground, though he turns out to have carried a gun to a knife fight. "I've done my homework, as you say you have. You are pretty smug. Maybe you shouldn't be. Ready to rumble, my friend?" Heck, it's great sport, and my money's on Michael. Paulkovich's "Jesus Razor" is introduced:
1. Think of the universe before God had his son tortured to death. Got it? Now,
2. Think of the universe after God had him tortured to death. What changed, if anything? Why? Contents
FOREWORD
PROLOGUE
INTRODUCTION
PART I. CHRISTIAN TIMELINE
30th Century BCE
20th Century BCE
17th Century BCE
12th Century BCE
9th Century BCE
Sixth Century BCE
4th Century BCE
3rd Century BCE
2nd Century BCE
1st Century BCE
1st Century CE
2nd Century
3rd Century
4th Century
5th Century
6th Century
7th Century
8th Century
9th Century
11th Century
12th Century
13th Century
14th Century
15th Century
16th Century
17th Century
18th Century
19th Century
20th Century
21St Century
PART II. A CASE AGAINST RELIGION
Extermination of the Human Beings
Separation of Armageddon and State
Witch Hunts
Bible Bunk and Holy Horrors
Beaten with Many Stripes
The Jurisprudence of Gay Marriage
Pretzel Logic
PART III. CHRISTIAN ROOTS
Mythology Abuse: Inherit the Hot Air
Saviors, Sun-gods and Messiahs
Carabbas/Barabbas
Egyptian Origins of Judeo-Christian Beliefs
Mithra/Mithras: From Persia to Rome
Apollonius Tyaneus
Mother Maya and Baby Siddhartha
Mother Semele and Baby Dionysus
Mother Devaki and Baby Krishna
Mother Gaia and Baby Prometheus
Mother Nana and Baby Attis
PART IV. THE BIBLE
Josephus' Coat of Many Colors
Mystery of the Silent Historians
Bible Origins and Wild Variations
The Gospel Truth
The Cheapest of Tuxedos
The Old Testament
The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth
Polytheism in the Bible
CONCLUSION
EPILOGUE
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX I
APPENDIX II
GLOSSARY
INDEX ALSO BY MICHAEL PAULKOVICH:
Mostly Harmful: 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Religion. (2020) PRAISE FOR MOSTLY HARMFUL
How could anyone outdo the feat of writing Beyond the Crusades? Only its author could do that, as we see in Michael Paulkovich's Mostly Harmful: 1001 Things Everyone Should Know about Religion. This is a wonderfully readable reference book needed by everyone trying to lead a life of reason...
-- Frank R. Zindler, Editor, American Atheist Press Michael Paulkovich's new book, Mostly Harmful, with its vibrant melding of intellectual rigor and pungent, satirical humor, is the best possible antidote to the dogmatism, obscurantism, and plain foolishness of most religious creeds. With this book, along with his previous works, Paulkovich deserves to be placed with Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris as a modern titan of atheism.
-- S. T. Joshi, The Unbelievers: The Evolution of Modern AtheismAuthor Biography
Michael Paulkovich is a contributing editor for The American Rationalist, columnist for American Atheist magazine since 2012, contributor to Free Inquiry, Humanist Perspectives and other journals; inventor and retired NASA Space Systems Engineer.
Number of Pages: 514
Dimensions: 1.03 x 9 x 6 IN
Publication Date: December 03, 2016
