For your holiday pleasure, I heartily
recommend this week's podcast from Start the Week With Andrew Marr.
The discussion centers on the Roman Emperor Constantine, who decided it would be
politically useful to appropriate a carefully edited version of
Christianity for his Empire. The result is nicely summarized in the
Nicene Creed, which covers these aspects of Christ: Birth, Passion,
Crucifixion, and Resurrection. Carefully omitted from Constantine's
religion: Jesus's Ministry. It seems the actual words and deeds of
Jesus were too controversial; they didn't serve the Emperor's
political agenda.
The podcast explains this much better
than I do. But the next time you hear public figures bloviate about
their devotion to Christianity, without actually showing any
familiarity with the teachings of Jesus–well, perhaps you have
Constantine to thank.