Rumours of Christianity's demise greatly exaggerated

Blainey is not willing to write Christianity off. "While science's achievements have been remarkable, they have not been revolutionary in probing human nature."

Rather than fading away as many militant atheists hope, Christianity remains relevant to 30 percent of the world's population making it still by far the largest religion.

Despite the faults of institutional religion, Blainey is able to conclude that Christianity has helped far more people than it has harmed.

At a time when it is fashionable to only speak of Christianity's past in terms of the crusades and the inquisition – even by the designers of our new national curriculum – a short look at Christianity's history shows it is far removed from Hitchen's poison.