Generations of users attest to its status as the best one-volume Bible reference tool for any home, library, or classroom. How did an obscure personality cult come to be the world's biggest religion, with a third of humanity its followers?

In my late high school years and during college I was confronted with a question that has dogged many artists over the years who are in the church: should a Christian be in the arts or not? Do you think that’s why it’s becoming less important in Europe, because people don’t feel so powerless anymore? His Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh were published in 2013 as Silence: A Christian History.

It’s a different view of the way in which the human nature of Jesus Christ relates to the divine nature. Diarmaid MacCulloch's epic, celebrated book A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years follows the story of Christianity around the globe.

This book, now the most comprehensive and up to date single volume work in English, describes not only the main facts, ideas and personalities of Christian history, its organization and spirituality, but how it has changed politics and human society.I was frustrated by conflicting messages about gender and faith from my family, profession, and religion. And few figures better exemplified this principle than the charismatic Galilean who defied both the imperial authorities and their allies in the Jewish religious hierarchy. The key to understanding the development of Judaism and Christianity is understanding how the problem of evil was interpreted in antiquity. Strike three came at about the same time, when I realized that Kelly hadn’t once yet mentioned the Holy Spirit! There’s virtually nothing about Jesus’ shed blood which washes away the sins of the world, about His resurrection, about the love and forgiveness of God, about the drawing of the Spirit or the grace by which even the worst of sinners can be saved.

It is a survey of the historical development of the Christian religion since its inception in the 1st century to the contemporary era. He tells the story of the European colonialists in the 15th and 16th centuries, which is a Portuguese/Spanish story, and he tells the story of the English and their missionary efforts, evangelicals for the most part, in the 19th century.They were the churches of Syria, the coast of the Eastern Mediterranean, and they spread, not westwards into the Mediterranean, but eastward into what is now Iraq, Iran, then to Central Asia and finally to China, possibly Korea and certainly Japan. The images encompass medieval Gospel manuscripts, artworks from the high Renaissance and modern documentary photography, all drawn from sources including the Vatican, Cairo’s Coptic Museum and private collections. It’s a great concept and while it’s not new, kudos to Kelly if he is in fact the person to first coin the phrase.

Diarmaid MacCulloch sets out to be a ‘candid friend’ of Christianity – never shying away from its darkest episodes, and tackling its many controversies with the measured judgement of a master historian. Zealot yields a fresh perspective on one of the greatest stories ever told even as it affirms the radical and transformative nature of Jesus of Nazareth’s life and mission. When I worked in China for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Bays was frequently sought out by me and other reporters who needed to understand the long view of Christianity in China.We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview. The first American edition was titled Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, published in 2010 by Viking Press, imprint of Penguin Books.