Alternate History - A world without christianity

[nescio]

Quite an engrossing subject due to its tantalizing possibilities but searching for the matter around the web only yielded inane flame-wars and vacuous discussions, so I was wondering if anyone is familiar with novels written about an imagined world untouched by Christianity and the religions that followed it. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[chrispenycate]

By the 'religions that followed it' you include Islam, not merely the direct derivations of Christianity, leaving Zoroastrianism and Judaism as the only major monotheistic movements, with the majority of the planet either polytheistic or animist? Pity, because while Kim Stanley Robinson's "The years of Rice and Salt" has a split point well after the birth of Christianity, and thus not 'untouched', its improved plague essentially eliminates Christian influences, but Islam is still plays a major rôle. Harry Turtledove created a world where Islam never appeared, but unfortunately (for you, not necessarily for its inhabitants) Christianity was, if anything, even more powerful than in our time line.

I have a feeling I read one novel where Judaism had perfused the Roman Empire, rather than Christianism, but have the feeling this was set in a historical period where said Empire was still dominant in its Western, Rome-based incarnation, berore even the Byzantine split, thus well back in time, rather than the society evolved closer to our present day technology.

 

[nescio]

Yes, I'm looking for a story that attempts to depict a world that hasn't witnessed the emergence of preponderant monotheistic religions known today and in which paganism, polytheism, animism and shamanism are the predominating belief systems of earth's inhabitants alongside Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Confucianism. What I find most enrapturing about this idea is whether or not Cartesianism would have been attained in Europe without the existence of Christianity. I stress Christianity because it really solidified the underlying Campbellian hero model seen in Western societies, and which in my opinion, lead to the progressive death of human imagination and ultimately the human psyche. Though I would like to accentuate that this is rather irrelevant, and that I'm simply looking for a story that postulates the existence of such a world.

 

[chrispenycate]

I'm afraid I'm not going to be much use to you. However, without a monotheistic base I doubt whether the scientific method would have developed (at least in a recognisable form) so, while technology would advance (as it did in China), any overall structure would wait for Persia or Israel to stabilise, and looking at the Persian Empire during Rome's Bzantine period suggests Zarathustra would have taken a very long time to get there (the Aryan fantasy).

Rather looks as if you're going to have to write it yourself.

 

[nescio]

Thank you either way, I appreciate the trouble.

 

[beenorthern]

Thank you for raising this interesting Alternate -- I couldn't think of anything that fit except one of Poul Anderson's Time Patrol stories.

So I went to uchronia.net and checked the Divergence Chronology page.

*World Unknown* by John Clagett (1975) seems to be the best fit. (I checked Abebooks and copies still seem to be around.)

BTW, the Anderson story turned out to be "Delenda Est".

Hope this helps!