Heresy | Catherine Nixey

From a celebrated classicist and author of The Darkening Age (“[a] ballista-bolt of a book”— New York Times Book Review ), a group biography of the many, diverse Jesuses who thrived in early Christian traditions—and how they were killed off until just one “true” Christ survived.

Contrary to the teachings of the church today, in the first several centuries of Christianity’s existence, there was no consensus as to who Jesus was or why he had mattered. Instead, there were many different Christs. One had a twin brother and traveled to India; another consorted with dragons. One particularly terrifying Christ scorned his parents and killed those who opposed him. Why do we know so little about these early versions of Jesus? Because, starting in the fourth century AD, the orthodox form of Christianity that had become preeminent set about systematically wiping out every other variation, denouncing their gospels as apocryphal and their followers as heretics. These unfortunate Christians lost their rights, their property, their churches—in some cases, even their lives.

About the Author

Catherine Nixey is a British journalist and author known for her work exploring religious history. She studied classics at the University of Cambridge and worked as a classics teacher before transitioning to journalism. Currently, she works as a Britain correspondent for The Economist and has written for prominent publications like The Times, Financial Times, and The New York Times.

Nixey comes from a unique religious background - her mother was a nun and her father was a monk, though she herself is now an atheist. She gained significant recognition for her first book, The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World, which won the Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award and the Morris D. Forkosch Book Award.