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The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold
Controversial and explosive, The Christ Conspiracy marshals an enormous amount startling evidence that the religion of and Jesus Christ were created by members of various secret societies, mystery schools and religions in order to unify the Roman Empire under one state religion
This powerful book maintains that these groups drew upon a multitude of myths and rituals that already existed long before the Christian era and reworked them into the story the Christian religion presents today -- known to most Westerners as the Bible.
Author Acharya makes the case that there was no actual person named Jesus, but that several characters were rolled into one mythic being inspired by the deities Mithras, Heracles/Hercules, Dionysus and many others of the Roman Empire. She demonstrates that the story of Jesus, as portrayed in the Gospels, is nearly identical in detail to those of the earlier savior-gods Krishna and Horus, and concludes that Jesus was certainly neither original nor unique, nor was he the divine revelation. Rather, he represents the very ancient body of knowledge derived from celestial observation and natural forces.
A book that will initiate heated debate and inner struggle, it is intelligently written and referenced. The only book of its kind, it is destined for controversy.
431 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1999
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November 11, 2010
I think this should be mandatory reading before anyone chooses to place their faith in any religion. You are free to believe anything you wish, but you should at least be dealing with the facts and history behind it. Sadly, most people are operating with neither.
March 3, 2011
Search the name ‘Acharya S’ in Google and you’ll find more than 79,000 hits. Most of christ conspiracythese links go to atheist, New Age, and other sites hostile to scripture. I decided to read this book since it was being quoted by so many atheists as proof against the Bible. A documentary called Zeitgeist claims to explore the pagan roots of the Bible, and it uses Acharya S. and several of her sources as proof against the Bible.
As a Christian, the reliability of scripture is important to me; therefore, I felt the need to search out this book’s claims. The book is poorly documented, stretches the truth beyond recognition, and blatantly deceives the reader. Even a cursory examination of her sources reveals a string of intentionally deceptive patterns. This book depends on the blind faith of her followers. Anyone who attempts to find the sources she quotes from will be sorely disappointed.
A humorous irony is that many atheists (including Dorothy Murdock / Acharya S.) rely heavily upon Gerald Massey, whom they claim to be a great Egyptologist. Massy is the first known to make the claim that Jesus is a copy of Horus (an Egyptian god). He also makes the connection between Jesus and 2000 other pagan gods—a so-called fact often repeated by Massy followers. The humor of this claim is that Gerald Massey was not a studied Egyptologist; he was a poet who died in 1913 and has no credentials with anyone but the atheists who cite him thinking that he was a researcher.
Gerald Massey claims to have gotten his ideas from ancient text; however, he does not cite the text he supposedly translated from. Since he appears to be the only one who found these secret texts and it cannot and has not been verified by any credible source, it does not stand as evidence but only speculation at best. Many have searched the ancient texts he studied, but none have found any evidence to support his writings. Since Massey never cited any original text, his writings show to be more of a fictional story than an attempt at translation. Yet his claims are the foundation the Christ Conspiracy stands upon.
Another source used as evidence is the works of James Frazer; however, he also states that his work does not represent a whole system of mythology. In other words, the characters came from mythology and much of what he wrote is incomplete and not intended to be an accurate representation. As with Massy, Frazer provides no sources for his writing, and none of the claims that the Bible borrowed from pagan religions can be found in actual ancient mythology.
Massey and Frazer both make radical claims that differ greatly from what is known and verified by actual evidence, yet Murdock quotes both as sources for her evidence. Many atheist sites quote all three as though they were independently verified sources while hiding from their audience that each quote the others and have created a circular quoting system. They quote each other but none use historical evidence or use credible research. Many researchers have examined the text these two supposedly studied, but independent research has not been able to turn up anything to verify the claims that the Bible matches ancient mythology.
In the ‘Christ Conspiracy’, Murdock presents a non-stop barrage against the Bible. When examining the claims, every so-called proof against the scriptures fell short. The evidence is either fabricated, paraphrased or is so vaguely referenced that the source cannot be located. Rarely does this book provide specific sources or direct quotes. Murdock provides only the first initial and the last name of those she supposedly quotes from, but does not provide any specific sources. It becomes very difficult and often impossible to verify her sources. Of the ones I researched, one hundred percent fell short and some were blatantly dishonest. At what point does the ranting become irrelevant? Let me provide an example of her disgraceful representation of the facts.
“The Arabian Issa purportedly lived around 400 BCE in the western Arabian region of Hijaz, where also existed places called Galilee, Bethsaida and Nazareth, a town that was not founded in Palestine until after “Jesus of Nazareth’s” alleged era. The similarities between the Arabian Issa and the Palestinian Jesus are many and profound.”
As is the pattern among the circle of quotations between Murdock, Massey, and Frazer, no legitimate historical citations were provided and there is no verification of these claims. Contrary to Murdock’s claim, Galilee, Bethsaida and Nazareth were cities in Israel long before the era of Jesus and long before 400 BC. In fact, Galilee is mentioned in Johsua, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, and Isaiah. According to archaeologists, Bethsaida was founded around the tenth century BC[i]. This is six hundred years earlier than Murdock’s claim. Galilee is mentioned as far back as the book of Joshua which far predates 400 BC. This and the other five books of the Bible where Galilee is mentioned were translated into Greek in the third century BC and the text used in this translation go well back into ancient times. This also nullifies Murdock’s claim that Galilee was not a city until the era of Christ.
Nazareth is mentioned in the New Testament, but not mentioned in other Jewish writings until after 300 AD. According to archaeology, there were probably fewer than 35 families living in Nazareth and it had very little significance. The absence of small towns should not be disturbing to the Christian for none of the other small towns would have made it into Jewish records without something noteworthy occurring. The Jews mocked the idea of the Messiah coming out of Nazareth in the scriptures. Nathaniel scoffed at the idea saying, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”[ii] So it shouldn’t be shocking that a small town that had no respect would not be noteworthy in historical records. It also is not mentioned in Arabian regions either. In Muslim writings it appears after the eighth or ninth century AD but these refer to the same city as is mentioned in scripture.
Another example of deception by Murdock is her claim about the locations of Galilee, Bethsaida, and Nazareth. She says that Muslim writings indicate these cities are in the western Hijaz region (in Arabia), and that the Bible borrowed from these writings. Both claims are false. First, Muslim writings do indeed refer to these three cities, but say they are west of the Hijaz region – not in the western Hijaz region of Arabia. Why is this significant? Because west of Hijaz is Israel. In other words, the Arabian writings and the Bible’s writing are pointing to the same cities in the same region. She has slightly altered her geography in order to fabricate evidence to cast doubt upon the scriptures.
She also claims that Isa (or Issa) is a Muslim religious figure that Christians borrowed for the Bible. Isa is the Muslim version of Jesus and Islam teaches that Isa was only a prophet and did not die on the cross. Islam teaches that the cross is an abomination for they consider it a disgrace. As Christians we agree that the cross is a disgrace—for the shame of the cross is part of our punishment that Jesus bore for our sins. An important message of our faith is that though He existed as God, Jesus humbled Himself, took on the role of a bondservant, and willingly suffered the shame of the cross to bear the judgment of our sins[iii]. Muslims do not believe this so we must not mistake the teachings of the Muslim Isa as being the same as the Jesus of Christianity. Though they point to the same period in history and the same person, what we believe about Jesus is vastly different.
Yet another intentional deception is the dating of the Muslim Isa. In the Christ Conspiracy, Murdock claims that Isa lived around 400 years before Christ and the Bible turned this into a new legend. However, most of the stories of Isa come from writings associated with Islam. Muhammad lived between 570 and 632 AD and the writings of the Qur’an are not believed to have been written down for more than 100 years after the death of Muhammad. The earliest manuscripts are from 800 AD. Murdock is quoting from writings written in the beginning of the ninth century as verifiable evidence for something that she states took place four hundred years before Christ. The 400 BCE date given by Murdock is misinformation, for the Muslims believe the Arabic Isa to be born of the virgin Mary (or Maryam in Aramaic). The dates of Isa is the same date as the Jesus of the Bible. In fact, a Muslim will tell you that Isa is Jesus of the Bible though they do not believe in His divinity, crucifixion, or resurrection. It is unknown where she pulled this date from. Her dating for the source of ancient text is more than 1000 years off target, but the contradiction should not be surprising at this point.
Christians are often intimidated by bold claims presented as fact, yet when we look behind the swelling words, there is little more than wind and no substance. The Christ Conspiracy presents a machinegun fire approach to Murdock’s arguments against Christianity. It seeks to overwhelm the reader with so much evidence that it appears to be indisputable. The goal is to send would-be critics into duck and cover. The truth is that these critics are shooting blanks.
After searching out claims through half the book, 100% proved to be false. There comes a point in time when we have to declare the whole argument to be fallacious. It isn’t necessary for the Christian to answer every single objection presented by books like this. Titus 3:9-11 says:
9 But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.
10 Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition,
11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.
It isn’t possible to persuade someone who is bent on disbelieving, yet we should examine so-called evidence and encourage one another that we indeed stand upon the truth.
I give The Christ Conspiracy: the greatest story ever sold, the lowest ranking of 1 star. It is poorly researched, poorly documented, and intentionally misleading.
Reference notes:
[i] http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/j...
[ii] John 1:46
[iii] Philippians 2:6
As a Christian, the reliability of scripture is important to me; therefore, I felt the need to search out this book’s claims. The book is poorly documented, stretches the truth beyond recognition, and blatantly deceives the reader. Even a cursory examination of her sources reveals a string of intentionally deceptive patterns. This book depends on the blind faith of her followers. Anyone who attempts to find the sources she quotes from will be sorely disappointed.
A humorous irony is that many atheists (including Dorothy Murdock / Acharya S.) rely heavily upon Gerald Massey, whom they claim to be a great Egyptologist. Massy is the first known to make the claim that Jesus is a copy of Horus (an Egyptian god). He also makes the connection between Jesus and 2000 other pagan gods—a so-called fact often repeated by Massy followers. The humor of this claim is that Gerald Massey was not a studied Egyptologist; he was a poet who died in 1913 and has no credentials with anyone but the atheists who cite him thinking that he was a researcher.
Gerald Massey claims to have gotten his ideas from ancient text; however, he does not cite the text he supposedly translated from. Since he appears to be the only one who found these secret texts and it cannot and has not been verified by any credible source, it does not stand as evidence but only speculation at best. Many have searched the ancient texts he studied, but none have found any evidence to support his writings. Since Massey never cited any original text, his writings show to be more of a fictional story than an attempt at translation. Yet his claims are the foundation the Christ Conspiracy stands upon.
Another source used as evidence is the works of James Frazer; however, he also states that his work does not represent a whole system of mythology. In other words, the characters came from mythology and much of what he wrote is incomplete and not intended to be an accurate representation. As with Massy, Frazer provides no sources for his writing, and none of the claims that the Bible borrowed from pagan religions can be found in actual ancient mythology.
Massey and Frazer both make radical claims that differ greatly from what is known and verified by actual evidence, yet Murdock quotes both as sources for her evidence. Many atheist sites quote all three as though they were independently verified sources while hiding from their audience that each quote the others and have created a circular quoting system. They quote each other but none use historical evidence or use credible research. Many researchers have examined the text these two supposedly studied, but independent research has not been able to turn up anything to verify the claims that the Bible matches ancient mythology.
In the ‘Christ Conspiracy’, Murdock presents a non-stop barrage against the Bible. When examining the claims, every so-called proof against the scriptures fell short. The evidence is either fabricated, paraphrased or is so vaguely referenced that the source cannot be located. Rarely does this book provide specific sources or direct quotes. Murdock provides only the first initial and the last name of those she supposedly quotes from, but does not provide any specific sources. It becomes very difficult and often impossible to verify her sources. Of the ones I researched, one hundred percent fell short and some were blatantly dishonest. At what point does the ranting become irrelevant? Let me provide an example of her disgraceful representation of the facts.
“The Arabian Issa purportedly lived around 400 BCE in the western Arabian region of Hijaz, where also existed places called Galilee, Bethsaida and Nazareth, a town that was not founded in Palestine until after “Jesus of Nazareth’s” alleged era. The similarities between the Arabian Issa and the Palestinian Jesus are many and profound.”
As is the pattern among the circle of quotations between Murdock, Massey, and Frazer, no legitimate historical citations were provided and there is no verification of these claims. Contrary to Murdock’s claim, Galilee, Bethsaida and Nazareth were cities in Israel long before the era of Jesus and long before 400 BC. In fact, Galilee is mentioned in Johsua, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, and Isaiah. According to archaeologists, Bethsaida was founded around the tenth century BC[i]. This is six hundred years earlier than Murdock’s claim. Galilee is mentioned as far back as the book of Joshua which far predates 400 BC. This and the other five books of the Bible where Galilee is mentioned were translated into Greek in the third century BC and the text used in this translation go well back into ancient times. This also nullifies Murdock’s claim that Galilee was not a city until the era of Christ.
Nazareth is mentioned in the New Testament, but not mentioned in other Jewish writings until after 300 AD. According to archaeology, there were probably fewer than 35 families living in Nazareth and it had very little significance. The absence of small towns should not be disturbing to the Christian for none of the other small towns would have made it into Jewish records without something noteworthy occurring. The Jews mocked the idea of the Messiah coming out of Nazareth in the scriptures. Nathaniel scoffed at the idea saying, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”[ii] So it shouldn’t be shocking that a small town that had no respect would not be noteworthy in historical records. It also is not mentioned in Arabian regions either. In Muslim writings it appears after the eighth or ninth century AD but these refer to the same city as is mentioned in scripture.
Another example of deception by Murdock is her claim about the locations of Galilee, Bethsaida, and Nazareth. She says that Muslim writings indicate these cities are in the western Hijaz region (in Arabia), and that the Bible borrowed from these writings. Both claims are false. First, Muslim writings do indeed refer to these three cities, but say they are west of the Hijaz region – not in the western Hijaz region of Arabia. Why is this significant? Because west of Hijaz is Israel. In other words, the Arabian writings and the Bible’s writing are pointing to the same cities in the same region. She has slightly altered her geography in order to fabricate evidence to cast doubt upon the scriptures.
She also claims that Isa (or Issa) is a Muslim religious figure that Christians borrowed for the Bible. Isa is the Muslim version of Jesus and Islam teaches that Isa was only a prophet and did not die on the cross. Islam teaches that the cross is an abomination for they consider it a disgrace. As Christians we agree that the cross is a disgrace—for the shame of the cross is part of our punishment that Jesus bore for our sins. An important message of our faith is that though He existed as God, Jesus humbled Himself, took on the role of a bondservant, and willingly suffered the shame of the cross to bear the judgment of our sins[iii]. Muslims do not believe this so we must not mistake the teachings of the Muslim Isa as being the same as the Jesus of Christianity. Though they point to the same period in history and the same person, what we believe about Jesus is vastly different.
Yet another intentional deception is the dating of the Muslim Isa. In the Christ Conspiracy, Murdock claims that Isa lived around 400 years before Christ and the Bible turned this into a new legend. However, most of the stories of Isa come from writings associated with Islam. Muhammad lived between 570 and 632 AD and the writings of the Qur’an are not believed to have been written down for more than 100 years after the death of Muhammad. The earliest manuscripts are from 800 AD. Murdock is quoting from writings written in the beginning of the ninth century as verifiable evidence for something that she states took place four hundred years before Christ. The 400 BCE date given by Murdock is misinformation, for the Muslims believe the Arabic Isa to be born of the virgin Mary (or Maryam in Aramaic). The dates of Isa is the same date as the Jesus of the Bible. In fact, a Muslim will tell you that Isa is Jesus of the Bible though they do not believe in His divinity, crucifixion, or resurrection. It is unknown where she pulled this date from. Her dating for the source of ancient text is more than 1000 years off target, but the contradiction should not be surprising at this point.
Christians are often intimidated by bold claims presented as fact, yet when we look behind the swelling words, there is little more than wind and no substance. The Christ Conspiracy presents a machinegun fire approach to Murdock’s arguments against Christianity. It seeks to overwhelm the reader with so much evidence that it appears to be indisputable. The goal is to send would-be critics into duck and cover. The truth is that these critics are shooting blanks.
After searching out claims through half the book, 100% proved to be false. There comes a point in time when we have to declare the whole argument to be fallacious. It isn’t necessary for the Christian to answer every single objection presented by books like this. Titus 3:9-11 says:
9 But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.
10 Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition,
11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.
It isn’t possible to persuade someone who is bent on disbelieving, yet we should examine so-called evidence and encourage one another that we indeed stand upon the truth.
I give The Christ Conspiracy: the greatest story ever sold, the lowest ranking of 1 star. It is poorly researched, poorly documented, and intentionally misleading.
Reference notes:
[i] http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/j...
[ii] John 1:46
[iii] Philippians 2:6
September 22, 2012
Perfect. If your comfortable with your absurd myths, and they give you a psychological pillow to rest your lazy head....don't read this.
If you are looking for truth, do yourself a favor and get this and study it.
More people (etc.) have been killed, and every other atrocity committed
in the name of christ...then have ever been helped.
this will let you know how the bullshit came down.
roballen2
If you are looking for truth, do yourself a favor and get this and study it.
More people (etc.) have been killed, and every other atrocity committed
in the name of christ...then have ever been helped.
this will let you know how the bullshit came down.
roballen2
December 13, 2011
The book is a comprehensive look at many religions, using only the current "Christ" as an example of yet another iteration of an age old myth that has been hijacked by a greedy priesthood. Good book for any serious student of religion.
April 3, 2015
When I was in my late teens and early twenties I used to love this book and considered much of the claims in it to rest on credible sources and solid scholarship. What a joke! Acharya S sources "scholars" of disputable reputation such as Kersey Graves and no less than theosophist Helena Blavatsky.
To give an example of what type of shoddy research and lack of even the most basic knowledge of history, check out this quotation from "The Christ Conspiracy":
"To deflect the horrible guilt off the shoulders of their own faith, religionists have pointed to supposedly secular ideologies such as Communism and Nazism as oppressors and murderers of the people. However, few realize or acknowledge that the originators of Communism were Jewish (Marx, Lenin, Hess, Trotsky)4 and that the most overtly violent leaders of both bloody movements were Roman Catholic (Hitler, Mussolini, Franco) or Eastern Orthodox Christian (Stalin), despotic and intolerant ideologies that breed fascistic dictators. In other words, these movements were not "atheistic," as religionists maintain. Indeed, Hitler proclaimed himself a "Christian" and fight for "his Lord and Savior," using the famous temple scene with Jesus driving out the "brood of vipers and adders" as a motivation for his evil deeds."
Sorry, Acharya S, but the only person mentioned above that was a Christian was Franco, who was a traditional Catholic. It is beyond dispute that the originators of Communism were atheists, even if they were secular Jews and Lenin didn't even know he was a quarter Jewish. His wife discovered that after Lenin had died!
There are plenty of quotations by Mussolini that shows he was an atheist.From wikipedia: "Mussolini was raised by a devoutly Catholic mother[156] and an anti-clerical father.[157] His mother Rosa had him baptized into the Roman Catholic Church, and took her children to services every Sunday. His father never attended.[156] Mussolini regarded his time at a religious boarding school as punishment, compared the experience to hell, and "once refused to go to morning Mass and had to be dragged there by force."[158]
Mussolini would become anti-clerical like his father. As a young man, he "proclaimed himself to be an atheist and several times tried to shock an audience by calling on God to strike him dead."[157] He denounced socialists who were tolerant of religion, or who had their children baptized. He believed that science had proven there was no God, and that the historical Jesus was ignorant and mad. He considered religion a disease of the psyche, and accused Christianity of promoting resignation and cowardice.[157]
Mussolini was an admirer of Friedrich Nietzsche. According to Denis Mack Smith, "In Nietzsche he found justification for his crusade against the Christian virtues of humility, resignation, charity, and goodness."[159] He valued Nietzsche's concept of the superman, "The supreme egoist who defied both God and the masses, who despised egalitarianism and democracy, who believed in the weakest going to the wall and pushing them if they did not go fast enough."[159] On his 60th birthday, Mussolini received a gift from Hitler of a complete twenty-four volume set of the works of Nietzsche.[160]
Mussolini made vitriolic attacks against Christianity and the Catholic Church, which he accompanied with provocative and blasphemous remarks about the consecrated host, and about a love affair between Christ and Mary Magdalene.[161] He believed that socialists who were Christian or who accepted religious marriage should be expelled from the party. He denounced the Catholic Church for "its authoritarianism and refusal to allow freedom of thought ..." Mussolini's newspaper, La Lotta di Classe, reportedly had an anti-Christian editorial stance.[161]"
More quotes from Mussolini: ""Religion is a species of mental disease. It has always had a pathological reaction on mankind."
"The God of the theologians is the creation of their empty heads."
"The history of the saints is mainly the history of insane people."
These quotes come from a paper he wrote titled l'Homme et la divinite from that same year. It was published by the Bibliotheque Internationale de propagande rationaliste, Geneva:
"When we claim 'God does not exist', we mean to deny by this declaration the personal God of theology, the God worshiped in various ways and divers modes by believers the world over... that God of absurd attributes who is an affront to human reason."
"Science is now in the process of destroying religious dogma. The dogma of the divine creation is recognized as absurd."
Religious morality shows the original stigmata of authoritarianism precisely because it pretends to be the revelation of divine authority. In order to translate this authoritarianism into action and impose it upon humanity, the priestly class of revealers has sprung up and with it the most atrocious intolerance."
And Hitler despised Christianity as a religion of the weak. Hitler's vision of Jesus Christ was more or less the same of that of Nietzsche's in his "The Anti-Christ." A free spirit who was an enemy of the Jews whose message was distorted by the Jewish Paul.
This just touches the surface of the laughable claims made in this book by someone who is clearly not a scholar or historian.
To give an example of what type of shoddy research and lack of even the most basic knowledge of history, check out this quotation from "The Christ Conspiracy":
"To deflect the horrible guilt off the shoulders of their own faith, religionists have pointed to supposedly secular ideologies such as Communism and Nazism as oppressors and murderers of the people. However, few realize or acknowledge that the originators of Communism were Jewish (Marx, Lenin, Hess, Trotsky)4 and that the most overtly violent leaders of both bloody movements were Roman Catholic (Hitler, Mussolini, Franco) or Eastern Orthodox Christian (Stalin), despotic and intolerant ideologies that breed fascistic dictators. In other words, these movements were not "atheistic," as religionists maintain. Indeed, Hitler proclaimed himself a "Christian" and fight for "his Lord and Savior," using the famous temple scene with Jesus driving out the "brood of vipers and adders" as a motivation for his evil deeds."
Sorry, Acharya S, but the only person mentioned above that was a Christian was Franco, who was a traditional Catholic. It is beyond dispute that the originators of Communism were atheists, even if they were secular Jews and Lenin didn't even know he was a quarter Jewish. His wife discovered that after Lenin had died!
There are plenty of quotations by Mussolini that shows he was an atheist.From wikipedia: "Mussolini was raised by a devoutly Catholic mother[156] and an anti-clerical father.[157] His mother Rosa had him baptized into the Roman Catholic Church, and took her children to services every Sunday. His father never attended.[156] Mussolini regarded his time at a religious boarding school as punishment, compared the experience to hell, and "once refused to go to morning Mass and had to be dragged there by force."[158]
Mussolini would become anti-clerical like his father. As a young man, he "proclaimed himself to be an atheist and several times tried to shock an audience by calling on God to strike him dead."[157] He denounced socialists who were tolerant of religion, or who had their children baptized. He believed that science had proven there was no God, and that the historical Jesus was ignorant and mad. He considered religion a disease of the psyche, and accused Christianity of promoting resignation and cowardice.[157]
Mussolini was an admirer of Friedrich Nietzsche. According to Denis Mack Smith, "In Nietzsche he found justification for his crusade against the Christian virtues of humility, resignation, charity, and goodness."[159] He valued Nietzsche's concept of the superman, "The supreme egoist who defied both God and the masses, who despised egalitarianism and democracy, who believed in the weakest going to the wall and pushing them if they did not go fast enough."[159] On his 60th birthday, Mussolini received a gift from Hitler of a complete twenty-four volume set of the works of Nietzsche.[160]
Mussolini made vitriolic attacks against Christianity and the Catholic Church, which he accompanied with provocative and blasphemous remarks about the consecrated host, and about a love affair between Christ and Mary Magdalene.[161] He believed that socialists who were Christian or who accepted religious marriage should be expelled from the party. He denounced the Catholic Church for "its authoritarianism and refusal to allow freedom of thought ..." Mussolini's newspaper, La Lotta di Classe, reportedly had an anti-Christian editorial stance.[161]"
More quotes from Mussolini: ""Religion is a species of mental disease. It has always had a pathological reaction on mankind."
"The God of the theologians is the creation of their empty heads."
"The history of the saints is mainly the history of insane people."
These quotes come from a paper he wrote titled l'Homme et la divinite from that same year. It was published by the Bibliotheque Internationale de propagande rationaliste, Geneva:
"When we claim 'God does not exist', we mean to deny by this declaration the personal God of theology, the God worshiped in various ways and divers modes by believers the world over... that God of absurd attributes who is an affront to human reason."
"Science is now in the process of destroying religious dogma. The dogma of the divine creation is recognized as absurd."
Religious morality shows the original stigmata of authoritarianism precisely because it pretends to be the revelation of divine authority. In order to translate this authoritarianism into action and impose it upon humanity, the priestly class of revealers has sprung up and with it the most atrocious intolerance."
And Hitler despised Christianity as a religion of the weak. Hitler's vision of Jesus Christ was more or less the same of that of Nietzsche's in his "The Anti-Christ." A free spirit who was an enemy of the Jews whose message was distorted by the Jewish Paul.
This just touches the surface of the laughable claims made in this book by someone who is clearly not a scholar or historian.
January 16, 2008
Acharya S, The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold (Adventures Unlimited, 1999)
Okay, I tried.
I've crossed swords with the author before on some of the very issues that show a blind spot in this book (the section on Evemerism is especially weak, for example; more on that below), but in many cases, her response ended up being "read my book," which then hadn't been released yet. Okay, so I got around to reading the book, or at least trying to read the book.
The Christ Conspiracy may well be on the most important subject to be written about in the last two thousand years. And what is here is well-researched, even if the source material isn't always of top quality. But the presentation is absolutely horrible. The book is just on the wrong side of unreadable; it seems almost as if it were written for the purpose of being presented as a textbook (the authors of which often seems if they're being deliberately obtuse). Interesting, this, because Acharya has a style about her that reaches for readability in today's culture; her diction is appealing to gen-X and younger readers, she's witty, a formidable opponent in debate, and simply quite likable. None of which actually comes out in her writing here; what we get is a four-hundred-page rant (well, okay, I only make it through two hundred fifty pages, but saw no reason to believe it would be any different to the end) that's dry as dust. It makes Bjorn Lomborg (The Skeptical Environmentalist) look like Stephen King.
What is most glaring, however, are the places where questions are raised that Acharya either refuses to answer or never thought of answering. I know the latter is not the case for at least one of these questions; she hammers away at evemerist interpretations of Christ by setting up a straw man, saying that anyone to whom evemerism attaches itself must have at least some of the characteristics that get exaggerated, as in the case of Paul Bunyan. Such is not the case. Reader's of Chinua Achebe's novel A Man of the People will easily see through this sleight-of-hand. For a real-life example, try Johnny Appleseed...or, perhaps, Jesus Christ. Such inconsistencies in question-answering are common throughout the book.
Worse yet, a number of her sources have either been discredited to the point where even the atheists don't consider them worthwhile anymore or are of questionable character in the first place.
None of the above is to say the topic itself, whether Jesus Christ truly existed or not, is not worth researching. The opposite, in fact; Christianity is an obvious amalgamation of earlier religions, and Jesus Christ may well have been a mythical figure, something the Gnostics have been claiming for almost two millennia without anyone really listening to them. But such an important topic needs far more solid legs in serious debate than will be found in this book. You can do far better.
First book fed to my starving dustbunnies in 2004. (zero)
Okay, I tried.
I've crossed swords with the author before on some of the very issues that show a blind spot in this book (the section on Evemerism is especially weak, for example; more on that below), but in many cases, her response ended up being "read my book," which then hadn't been released yet. Okay, so I got around to reading the book, or at least trying to read the book.
The Christ Conspiracy may well be on the most important subject to be written about in the last two thousand years. And what is here is well-researched, even if the source material isn't always of top quality. But the presentation is absolutely horrible. The book is just on the wrong side of unreadable; it seems almost as if it were written for the purpose of being presented as a textbook (the authors of which often seems if they're being deliberately obtuse). Interesting, this, because Acharya has a style about her that reaches for readability in today's culture; her diction is appealing to gen-X and younger readers, she's witty, a formidable opponent in debate, and simply quite likable. None of which actually comes out in her writing here; what we get is a four-hundred-page rant (well, okay, I only make it through two hundred fifty pages, but saw no reason to believe it would be any different to the end) that's dry as dust. It makes Bjorn Lomborg (The Skeptical Environmentalist) look like Stephen King.
What is most glaring, however, are the places where questions are raised that Acharya either refuses to answer or never thought of answering. I know the latter is not the case for at least one of these questions; she hammers away at evemerist interpretations of Christ by setting up a straw man, saying that anyone to whom evemerism attaches itself must have at least some of the characteristics that get exaggerated, as in the case of Paul Bunyan. Such is not the case. Reader's of Chinua Achebe's novel A Man of the People will easily see through this sleight-of-hand. For a real-life example, try Johnny Appleseed...or, perhaps, Jesus Christ. Such inconsistencies in question-answering are common throughout the book.
Worse yet, a number of her sources have either been discredited to the point where even the atheists don't consider them worthwhile anymore or are of questionable character in the first place.
None of the above is to say the topic itself, whether Jesus Christ truly existed or not, is not worth researching. The opposite, in fact; Christianity is an obvious amalgamation of earlier religions, and Jesus Christ may well have been a mythical figure, something the Gnostics have been claiming for almost two millennia without anyone really listening to them. But such an important topic needs far more solid legs in serious debate than will be found in this book. You can do far better.
First book fed to my starving dustbunnies in 2004. (zero)
March 26, 2012
My particular bias is that the Jesus celebrated today is probably a compilation of men, myths, and legends, edited and revised through time. I bought this book thinking I might learn a little more about the evolution of Christ. It is an interesting collection of other people's work, not a trustworthy source of information. Overall, a waste of time and money.
April 15, 2012
An interesting book that compares events chronicles in the bible to similar events from other cultures that are thousands of years older. The author's treatise is that the bible is comprised of an allegorical combination of the solar/astrological/pagan myths of earlier civilizations.
January 21, 2009
EVERYONE needs to read this book! Begin to dispel the 'master fictions' of our society.
May 2, 2012
For those curious about the Mythicist position, i would highly recommend reading this book. Acharya S has put together an exhaustive amount of information that makes reading it somewhat like drinking from a fire hydrant. Follow this book up with some Earl Doherty and Robert M. Price. You may experience a paradigm shift.
May 18, 2012
Brilliant, well-documented expose about the fraud of Christianiy
February 7, 2017
Reviews of books like these tend to be coloured a lot by the personal views of the reader - a Christian believer will rate it low, because it conflicts with the believer's stances, an atheist will rate it high, because it confirms and agrees with the atheist's view of the origins of the major religions of the west.
I have to break rank on that, though: despite my views fitting snugly within an atheist worldview with regards to how Christianity came about, I cannot endorse this book at all. Murdock's scholarship was shoddy throughout: she misrepresents sources, or uses sources that misrepresent their sources in turn, she has a thoroughly flawed view of historical linguistics (and arguments of a linguistic nature are common in this book), and her reasoning skills at times were sub-par.
An introduction to a more detailed review - I wrote a 200 page review of the book - can be found at http://somerationalism.blogspot.com/2... - from there links can be found to a chapter-by-chapter evaluation of her claims where I carefully go through her sources, her reasoning and so on.
I have to break rank on that, though: despite my views fitting snugly within an atheist worldview with regards to how Christianity came about, I cannot endorse this book at all. Murdock's scholarship was shoddy throughout: she misrepresents sources, or uses sources that misrepresent their sources in turn, she has a thoroughly flawed view of historical linguistics (and arguments of a linguistic nature are common in this book), and her reasoning skills at times were sub-par.
An introduction to a more detailed review - I wrote a 200 page review of the book - can be found at http://somerationalism.blogspot.com/2... - from there links can be found to a chapter-by-chapter evaluation of her claims where I carefully go through her sources, her reasoning and so on.
December 3, 2008
This is a very challenging and exciting book, I can't wait to read more!
August 8, 2014
This book should be read by everyone
April 7, 2011
I never believe popular consensus. There seems to be enough information in this book to get some mental gears rolling and hopefully getting people to ask more questions.
Some truths are hard to accept or rationalize but the attempt to understand the depth of reality should take precedence over popular teachings millennia old. The Bible may have been fictionalized or perhaps not. The Bible cannot be the soul source of investigation on this matter but it can be used as a cross reference. Whenever and wherever there are inconsistencies then there are inaccuracies and more investigation must be made with obviously more than one source of information.
God seems to like infinite numbers; an only son seems like an unlikely event. This is a heliocentric world and we are not the center of the universe. It's time to leave old school thinking behind, I believe in God but a far greater one than the one that has been pictured in any of the mainstream religions.
As far as this book is concerned, painful to read because she presents research data and historical records in a dry context. But still very interesting, makes me want to dig deeper. She's really on a mission to disprove Jesus as an actual living, breathing man that walked the Earth. I never believed Jesus was God's only son but I never thought to ever doubt his existence.
Some truths are hard to accept or rationalize but the attempt to understand the depth of reality should take precedence over popular teachings millennia old. The Bible may have been fictionalized or perhaps not. The Bible cannot be the soul source of investigation on this matter but it can be used as a cross reference. Whenever and wherever there are inconsistencies then there are inaccuracies and more investigation must be made with obviously more than one source of information.
God seems to like infinite numbers; an only son seems like an unlikely event. This is a heliocentric world and we are not the center of the universe. It's time to leave old school thinking behind, I believe in God but a far greater one than the one that has been pictured in any of the mainstream religions.
As far as this book is concerned, painful to read because she presents research data and historical records in a dry context. But still very interesting, makes me want to dig deeper. She's really on a mission to disprove Jesus as an actual living, breathing man that walked the Earth. I never believed Jesus was God's only son but I never thought to ever doubt his existence.
June 25, 2021
Wow. Where do I Begin?
I feel relieved that this book has confirmed what I had sensed during my 30 years as a so-called born again Christian. All the questions that I had over many years have been answered in this book: why are conservative Christians supporting overseas wars when we are told to love all people; why does the Catholic church hide behind their cloak of God's church when pedifile homosexual priests and nuns are raping and killing Indian children a d financed the holocaust and probably created Islam, and all and approved by the popes; why Christianity forced themselves on other cultures such as they have done throughout the Americas; why 87% of African Americans call themselves Christians not recognizing that the slave masters who raped and killed their ancestors were Christians who forced their teachings into black communities as a means to control the slaves, and the Bible says, slaves obey your masters? What a sick defilement of a loving creator. This book presents all the proof evidence that Christianity cannot ignore. The book also shares real world history that is not taught in school. I should sue the public education system for their lies in order to fill the pockets of the filthy greedy homosexual pope and the discusting church. What a book.
I feel relieved that this book has confirmed what I had sensed during my 30 years as a so-called born again Christian. All the questions that I had over many years have been answered in this book: why are conservative Christians supporting overseas wars when we are told to love all people; why does the Catholic church hide behind their cloak of God's church when pedifile homosexual priests and nuns are raping and killing Indian children a d financed the holocaust and probably created Islam, and all and approved by the popes; why Christianity forced themselves on other cultures such as they have done throughout the Americas; why 87% of African Americans call themselves Christians not recognizing that the slave masters who raped and killed their ancestors were Christians who forced their teachings into black communities as a means to control the slaves, and the Bible says, slaves obey your masters? What a sick defilement of a loving creator. This book presents all the proof evidence that Christianity cannot ignore. The book also shares real world history that is not taught in school. I should sue the public education system for their lies in order to fill the pockets of the filthy greedy homosexual pope and the discusting church. What a book.
December 23, 2015
Found the book plausible until the final chapters, when the author started writing about pyramids and making claims that 'advanced human societies' existed more than 10,000 years ago, and as far back as 1 million years ago.
At that point, a great deal of credibility was lost. After some more reading, it appears a number of the sources are also discredited. A real shame as I'm genuinely interested in the historicity of a 'Jesus Christ' character.. Did he really exist? The book says no, but given the references, it's harder to believe now. I'm still inclined to doubt, but it's really a shame to see the author practicing the very thing that the book critiques.
At that point, a great deal of credibility was lost. After some more reading, it appears a number of the sources are also discredited. A real shame as I'm genuinely interested in the historicity of a 'Jesus Christ' character.. Did he really exist? The book says no, but given the references, it's harder to believe now. I'm still inclined to doubt, but it's really a shame to see the author practicing the very thing that the book critiques.
August 26, 2021
DM Murdock gives a great overview of how the current religion Christianity was brought into existence. Some of her sources hinged upon the racist ideology that Africa wasn't the birthplace of this ancient astrotheology; however, those same sources inadvertently admitted the truth of the origin of such being in Africa. Revolutionary authors such as Gerald Massey and Albert Churchward, in their day, were unafraid to admit that this astrotheology was born from the genius minds of African people to teach the high science of the heavens through these stories. All in all a very good reference book on the subject matter.
December 2, 2011
It's a completely different perspective about the way we see life in the present and in the afterlife. It make us think about our beliefs, specially about those holes that we, at least I had, about the history of our presents religions. It's a book that helps to bridge the gap, and realize how we, human beings, has destroyed our past, our legacy, and if we don't change the way we act, we'll destroy our future as well. We have to focus on the present, rather than in the afterlife.
October 20, 2012
this book was really interesting, and I took a lot of notes. Some of it I just didn't buy – the bit about all religions being based on astrology, and some of the conspiracy theory stuff. But some of the was very compelling – I was fascinated by the fact that so many old religions were similar to Christianity, and the author's hypothesis that Christianity borrowed from many of these religions certainly make sense. A good book for any atheist to read.
February 20, 2016
Fun. Attempts to lay out Icke-like conspiracisms regarding Christianity in its fullness. Too heavily relies on vulnerable freethinkerisms. More of a summary of the position that Christianity incorporates much prior pagan theology with little of its own contribution--as opposed to a disciplined argument in favor of the thesis as based on the available evidence.
January 30, 2019
Essential Reading
This book superbly sums up the scientific and astronomical fact that our earth’s journey through the precessional year is the foundation for the Christian myth.
The torrid age of male gods is nearing its end and with a bit of luck, the Aquarius era will start to restore the welcome balance of the divine feminine.
This book superbly sums up the scientific and astronomical fact that our earth’s journey through the precessional year is the foundation for the Christian myth.
The torrid age of male gods is nearing its end and with a bit of luck, the Aquarius era will start to restore the welcome balance of the divine feminine.
April 25, 2020
Don't trust her!
This book is poorly researched, poorly documented, and intentionally misleading...
Really annoying when you look up a quote and find that the person wrote something only vaguely similar and on a different topic. Or when she tell you that a person never heard of the gospels and then you read that persons most famous work and he mentions the gospels.
Yuck!
This book is poorly researched, poorly documented, and intentionally misleading...
Really annoying when you look up a quote and find that the person wrote something only vaguely similar and on a different topic. Or when she tell you that a person never heard of the gospels and then you read that persons most famous work and he mentions the gospels.
Yuck!
December 24, 2019
One of the best books that I read in my life. The book, written by an amazing author, tells the story not only of the religion of the ancient civilization, but also the story of Astrology and Astrotheology. This work makes me want even more to learn about the history of our world. The REAL history.
January 15, 2008
I'm not saying it's true
BUT
What if it is?
BUT
What if it is?
Want to read
November 9, 2010Although i don't believe that there ever existed such a thing,i'm gonna read this book to keep myself imformed of the new stories people are makingup.
June 4, 2019
An awesome book. It is shocking to realize how christianity was created.
I would suggest this book to anyone with an open mind that is interested in the historical origins of religion.
I would suggest this book to anyone with an open mind that is interested in the historical origins of religion.
November 21, 2017
A very interesting read, even if you're a none believer to begin with. My biggest problem was the unnecessary pot shots the author took in the midst of her narrative (it is possible to present your case without resorting to low blows for the sake of insult.) While I enjoyed the book overall, there was so much information presented that it was difficult to keep track at times. While I disagree with her econclusion, I did think it was worth investing further (I found next to nothing that corroborated her view.)
Read
July 3, 2020Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):👇🏻
157. And because of their saying (in boast), "We killed Messiah 'Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), the Messenger of Allah," - but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but the resemblance of 'Iesa (Jesus) was put over another man (and they killed that man), and those who differ therein are full of doubts. They have no (certain) knowledge, they follow nothing but conjecture. For surely; they killed him not [i.e. 'Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary) ]:
157. And because of their saying (in boast), "We killed Messiah 'Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), the Messenger of Allah," - but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but the resemblance of 'Iesa (Jesus) was put over another man (and they killed that man), and those who differ therein are full of doubts. They have no (certain) knowledge, they follow nothing but conjecture. For surely; they killed him not [i.e. 'Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary) ]:
Read
February 14, 2022Simply more regurgitated dross based on the tired old Luciferian Blavatsky and co.
Helping to deceive and herald in the "One World Universal Esoteric Brotherhood Of Humanity" - A New World Order, The Venus Project et al.
Scratch the surface of this and those associated with projects, books like these and "documentaries" like Zeitgeist...if you dare!
Helping to deceive and herald in the "One World Universal Esoteric Brotherhood Of Humanity" - A New World Order, The Venus Project et al.
Scratch the surface of this and those associated with projects, books like these and "documentaries" like Zeitgeist...if you dare!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews