“The Gnostics called those who identified with their body 'Hylics', because they were so utterly dead to spiritual things that they were like unconscious matter, or hyle. Those who identified with their personality, or psyche, were known as 'Psychics'. Those who identified with their Spirit were known as 'Pneumatics', which means 'Spirituals'. Those who completely ceased to identify with any level of their separate identity [...] and realized their true identity [...] transformed the initiate into a true 'Gnostic', or 'Knower'” ["Jesus Mysteries" by Freke & Gandy [Book Review], p156]

“Uberweb points out that, according to the mystic, every text of the Koran had 7 or 70 or 700 layers of interpretation, the literal meaning being only for the ignorant vulgar. [...] In the Muhammaden world, however, the ignorant seem to have objected to all learning that went beyond a [surface] knowledge of the Holy Book; it was dangerous, even if no specific heresy could be demonstrated. The view of the mystics, that the populace should take the Koran literally but wise people need not do so, was hardly likely to win wide popular acceptance.” ["History of Western Philosophy" by Bertrand Russell, p418-419]

“With primitive man it is above all fear that evokes religious notions - fear of hunger, wild beasts, sickness, death. [...] The desire for guidance, love, and support prompts men to form the social or moral conception of God. This is the God of Providence, who protects, disposes, rewards and punishes.”

"Ideas and Opinions" by Albert Einstein, p36

• "The Causes of Religion: #7, The Fear of Death" by Vexen Crabtree (2007)

• "The Experience of God: The Want for God" by Vexen Crabtree (2002)

“The Bible also says and teaches that there is no free will. Examining Exodus, Ecclesiastes 7, Ephesians 1, Ephesians 2, Romans 8, Romans 9, 2 Timothy, 2 Thessalonians and Revelations, we see that God's plan overrides our free will; those that do good do the specific good that God predestined them to do, and all others are ruled by Satan because God sends "powerful delusions" to them. The Christian Bible frequently states that God creates our future and decides our fates, no matter what our own will is. It constantly denies that we have free will. Some of the foremost Christians in history have taught that there is no free will, including St. Augustine (one of the four great founders of Western Christianity [Russell 1946, p335]), Martin Luther (founder of Protestantism) and John Calvin.”
"The Bible Affirms Predeterminism and Denies Free Will" by Vexen Crabtree (2005)

I've found that Christian defences of free will, and belief in it, are largely emotional and logical in nature, rather than scriptural or theological. It seems that they trust their instincts more than they trust their religion, so, most Christians believe in free will despite what is codified in their bible. This is fine - nothing is worse than someone who sticks to the book in areas of belief and truth - but it becomes confusing for them when they try to debate the subject using Biblical versus!

That Muslims were more tolerant towards Jews than Christians were are evidenced by the Jews reaction to the Christian armies that were murdering Jews en route to their holy lands. They allied with the Muslims. Although Robert Spencer is intensely critical of Islam in his realistic book "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam", he still witnesses that Jews found solace in Muslim lands from the maurading Christians:

“It is unfortunately true that Crusaders targeted Jews on several occasions. Some groups of Crusaders allowed themselves to be diverted from the mission Pope Urban had given them. Stirred up by anti-Semitic preachers, one contingent of men who were making their way East for the First Crusade instead turned to terrorize Jews in Europe, massacring many. Count Ernicho of Leiningen and his followers advanced through the Rhineland, killing and plundering Jews in five German cities: Speyer, Worms, Mainz, Trier and Cologne. [News] spread to the Middle East and led many Jews to ally with the Muslims and fight against the Crusaders when they arrived. Fifty years later, another group in the Rhineland, bound for the Second Crusade, began massacring Jews again.”
"The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam" by Robert Spencer, p142-3

“Secularization has gradually permeated the Christian world. It led to the situation in which, by the nineteenth century, Christianity had ceased to have much real influence on the social and political life of Europe. The form was maintained, in that political leaders usually made a great show attending religious ceremonies and were often personally pious. Religion no longer had a role, however, in the shaping of political and social policy. Other considerations and other secular ideologies had taken over. Following the loss of social and political influence, religion became increasingly irrelevant to the lives of ordinary people also.”

"The Phenomenon Of Religion" by M. Momen [Book Review], p480

Percent of Religious and Secular Marriages in the UK

The history of marriage rates suggests that secular marriages are showing strong growth, whereas other Christian weddings have been decreasing in number for over 150 years. This prehistory was changed in the period since the 1960s, when the decline of the religious institution in the UK went into full swing.

“Between 1993 and 2003, the number of Jewish weddings in England and Wales slipped by 17%, while Anglican weddings fell by 37% and Catholic unions tumbled by 44%”₈

Total Marriages, UK
1971-1975:	1,996,422
1976-1980:	1,822,654
1981-1985:	1,734,048
1986-1990:	1,726,024
1991-1995:	1,491,598
1996-2000:	1,350,290

“The development of science was retarded by the Church's imposition of orthodoxy on all fields of thought. The Church claimed to speak in an unchanging and authoritative fashion not only on matters of behavior but also on the behavior of matter. The Reformation, by breaking the power of the Church [...] made way for a variety of thought and for the questioning of tradition which is so vital to natural science.”

"Religion in the Modern World" by Steve Bruce, p21

“Saint Paul certainly had once an epileptoid, if not an epileptic seizure”

"The Varieties of Religious Experience" by William James, p35

Added to "St. Paul, Mithraism and Christianity" by Vexen Crabtree 1999.

“What immediately feels most "good" is not always most "true”

"The Varieties of Religious Experience" by William James, p37

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