In a new series on BBC Radio 4 David Starkey asks ‘Who killed Christianity?’ He blames Christians:
‘Many people have tried to kill Christianity, from the Jewish establishment of Jesus’ own day to pagan Roman emperors and mocking modern secularists. But none has ever inflicted such damage as Christians themselves, who have tortured and twisted Christ’s legacy, much as his poor body was on the cross.’
In the first programme Starkey comes across as belligerent and obtuse as he presents his critique of Paul, the puritanical, legalistic and misogynistic, corrupter of Jesus’ simple gospel of the kingdom. John Millbank and Morna Hooker, to my mind, do a pretty good job of standing up to Starkey’s attempt to drive a wedge between Paul and Jesus. Inevitably Starkey makes much of Paul’s views on homosexuality. If nothing else, the conversation highlights the extent of public misunderstanding not only of Paul but also of Jesus - and in particular the failure to grasp the significance of the eschatological-historical narrative that runs through the New Testament.
The programme is only 15 minutes long. Unfortunately the recording begins with the end of the previous programme - a slightly surreal conversation with a man whose main regret in life, if I understood him correctly, is that he killed his landlady.
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