I grew up in a culture that was greatly influenced by Christianity (American) and as a former Christian, I'm quite familiar with the beliefs that make up modern Christianity: the trinity, original sin, sola fide, etc. However, despite my BA in history, I understand the evolution of Christianity in snippets, more like series of vignettes than as a cohesive story. I'm hoping that someone can suggest a book (or a few books) that explain both the philosophical debates that surrounded the faith that came to be known as modern Christianity as well as some explanation for their resolution. Basically, I'm interested in learning exactly how Christianity as we know it - east or west- came to be despite its diverse, often controversial, origins. Can someone suggest a good resource or give an explanation? I realize this is a deep topic, but the explanations I've encountered always seem to be defending the faith or overly specific. I'm interested in some kind of source that traces the belief system from the death of one man to the faith we know today.