This book traces the development of the Christian religion, theology, way of life and churches back to the form of life and culture of the ancient world. It is based on the theory of pragmatic philosophy that the cultural environment is the primary aspect upon which convictions and interpretations of the world evolve. Hence the book delineates the religious and philosophical teachings of the time, the concrete social situation in the Roman Empire and the need for a uniform religion and moral institutions. Thus it becomes comprehensible why it was possible to transform the teachings and morals of the Jewish Jesus movement into a uniform religion and moral institution of the Roman Empire with a monopolistic claim to validity and truth. As Anton Grabner-Haider and Johann Maier demonstrate, a fascinating process in the foundation of European culture. German text.
