Why Call me God? The Gospel Seen with a Single Eye

From an orthodox viewpoint, this shocking book represents an intellectual earthquake, shaking the foundations of Christian doctrine if one is persuaded by its arguments. The single eye of the subtitle comes from a phrase coined by John Boys Smith, who was a theologian and Master of St John's College, Cambridge. He insisted on standards of scholarship characterised by tsincerity of vision and undivided attention to the evidence, drawing only conclusions warranted by the close examination of the evidence and not in order to support preconceptions. This book, written by a former chemist and Greek scholar, is relentless in the detail of its evidence and arguments - the Greek original is printed opposite any quotations, so that the reader can appreciate the subtleties and context of the verses in question.

Written from the Gnostic view that there are hidden layers of meaning to be deciphered in Scripture, which is to be treated as more fictional than historical narrative, the overall picture is a dualistic one of two gods in opposition. This goes back to Genesis, which is analysed in detail using the Greek text Genesis LXX. This shows how important it is to distinguish between God and 'lord god', which represents the beginning of the dichotomy between good and evil. The narrative of the fall is more complicated than it initially seems if one carefully analyses the roles of God and the lord god in relation to Adam and Eve. Then with Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, this contrast between the good God and the evil demiurge is continued, culminating in the identification of John the Baptist with Abel (good) and Jesus with Cain (evil).

Part of the rationale for this interpretation is the proposition that the real meaning is hidden, just as Jesus himself explained parables to his disciples but not to the multitude, who were not supposed to understand these things. Among the main claims put forward are that Scripture is fictional rather than historical, that it is Gnostic in its underlying ideology and methodology, and that the evil god tries to present himself as the only God. These arguments are presented cumulatively and in great detail with much textual reference, so any refutation would need to be equally detailed, which is beyond my own competence. The book makes no reference to the central doctrine of Christianity, namely love of God and of your neighbour, so treatment is to that extent one-sided. One can agree that many distortions arose in translation - for instance when Jerome produced Latin gospels in the fourth century - and that Christianity becoming the official religion or the Roman Empire led to many abuses of power. As for the claim that Jesus was Cain, each reader will need to make up their own mind, but you can be sure that this book will fundamentally challenge your understanding of Christianity.