There is certainly a difference of view but it is not Christianity which is at risk of being undermined but theology. The points of contact between Jesus Christ and theology are the story of the virgin birth which is almost certainly fiction and the story of the resurrection which is probably no better.

It is not difficult to see that a movement such as it was, that had been decapitated, would be desperate to maintain that it was not so, that the leader had passed to another plane but continued to be present and to guide. It would be all the easier to get away with this story because it was addressed to people who wanted to believe and were in any case predisposed to accept the supernatural. As Christianity passed out of the hands of the proximate generation and into the hands of priests (when the gospels were broadly written) the professional need for a divinity reinforced that story and led to its elaboration.

The early church fathers were greatly exercised by this problem. There were acrimonious exchanges which as always amongst Christians, led to violence. Views ranged from the obvious assertion that Jesus was a man to the other extreme where it was asserted that he must be divine. Then some held that he was both and the discussion shifted to a consideration of whether he was both simultaneously or sometimes one and sometimes the other. It has become broadly accepted that he was divine and all resting upon an unlikely story that was invented to cover an embarrassing domestic situation as well as for the purpose which has eventually been achieved.

The earliest societies known to us have always had a god or gods. The longest lived of them all, Egypt, had a variety of gods, some of them quite extraordinary. Wherever there are gods there are priests to serve them who claim to understand all the mysteries which they have contrived. The most primitive communities we know have their witch doctors.

That same Egyptian civilization was among the first to embrace the Christian messenger, St Mark, and his message. It was among the Egyptians that the first large scale Christian church was established (the Coptic church).

Gods have always existed. Theology is about gods and cannot be divorced from mysticism which is not far removed from superstition. For their own purposes, in order to create a mystery of which they are the interpreters, priests have imported much that is pre Christian into the synthesis which they call Christianity. It is all this which is threatened by the scientific method.

Christianity or the essential message which Jesus brought can be summed up in two commandments:

These instructions which are evidently civilized and civilizing are not much heeded in the Christian world and perhaps least of all by Christian churches. They do not, however, require the subtlety of a Jesuit for their comprehension.

The Athanasian Creed which originated with an Egyptian Archbishop from Alexandria, and still encapsulates what Christians are supposed to believe, is an anachronism (if they know what it is) for most educated people in the 21^st century. About the only statement in it which will bear scrutiny is the reference to Pontius Pilate. It should be dumped along with the baggage that comes with the Old Testament.

That includes the fancy dress and the archaic ceremonies which may have impressed the masses in centuries past but have little meaning today. For me, however, there is the agonizing question about what to do with a great volume of beautiful music inspired by ancient beliefs. It would be tragic to discard it and yet where there are words they have ceased to have credibility.

It was in Britain that some of the first stirrings of opposition to the influence of priests were voiced. John Wycliffe (1324-84) maintained that there was no need of an intermediary between man and his maker. He was no iconoclast but a firm believer in the God of the Bible. He first translated the Bible into English believing, contrary to the view of the all powerful Church of Rome, that all should have access to what he considered to be the word of God. He thereby opened it to intelligent consideration untrammelled by the interpretations of priests with unintended consequences in the longer run.

There have been priests in the Anglican Church who have questioned the theological basis of what the churches call Christianity. I refer in particular to a Bishop of Durham.

However as priests have always been there, and clearly have a role in society, perhaps they could produce a Jesus centered philosophy which would have a beneficial effect and provide a basis for authority long since lost by the ministers of a vengeful God and the accompanying concepts of Heaven and Hell.

Creationists would not go away but perhaps the rest of us could get on with our lives without an unnecessary squabble in the background.