Customer Reviews

The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold

5 star:		(157)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(24)
1 star:		(52)

 

 

The further one goes into this book, the more one recognizes how vast is the mythological background of the ancient world that the modern era has completely lost sight of. Those who imagine that the Gospel story represents singular historical events are in for a shock when they realize the degree to which the Christian myth of Jesus of Nazareth was a reflection of mythical motifs and traditions which saturated ancient and even prehistoric cultures. There is barely an original or virgin bone in Christ's body, and Christians in the early centuries were regularly assailed by pagan detractors who accused them of reworking old ideas and copying from a host of predecessors.

The other thing the reader comes to recognize is that Acharya S has done a superb job in bringing together this rich panoply of ancient world mythology and culture, and presenting it in a comprehensive and compelling fashion. Moreover, she grabs the reader from the first page and doesn't let go. Her style is colorful, bold, occasionally (and justifiably) indignant, even a touch reckless at times, but never off the track--a little like an exciting roller coaster ride. It may take a fair amount of concentration to absorb all this material, but even if you don't integrate everything on first reading, the broader strokes will leave you convinced that the story of Jesus is simply an imaginative refashioning of the mythological heritage of centuries and that no such man ever existed.

She covers a wide range of interesting and provocative topics, with plenty of stimulating insights. Especially effective is her attention to elements of the Old Testament that one doesn't usually encounter in biblical studies: astrology in the bible, the mythological nature of much of the Old Testament material, the falsity of the idea that the Hebrews were monotheistic, even a chapter on Sex and Drugs. She delves into Egyptian and Indian precedents for the possible derivation of many of the bible's traditions. When she ranges even further afield and notes the astonishingly widespread commonality of certain religious and cultural motifs from one end of the planet to the other, extending back into very ancient times, we are on intriguing if speculative ground, but for the most part the author simply lets the data speak for itself, and readers can draw what conclusions their own adventurous spirits might wish.

As for her detailed picture of how Gospel elements closely conform to astrological and mythological symbols in the atmosphere of the time, or how the story of Jesus parallels the features of other savior gods: if even half of these things were in the minds of the Gospel writers when they fashioned their symbolic tale (to which one could add the midrashic borrowing of passages from the Hebrew scriptures to provide so much of the Gospel structure, its `events' and even their wording), there can be no doubt that such writers were well aware that their work had nothing to do with history.

There are those who have expressed some uncertainty about the scholarship which originally presented some of the subject matter dealt with in this book, since much of it comes from the 19th and early 20th centuries. But there is a prominent reason why today's researcher is inevitably thrown back on this early period of investigation. The so-called History of Religions School was a feature of that period, represented by such luminaries as Reitzenstein, Bousset and Cumont, and other, less famous scholars. Its conclusions about the relation of Christianity to the thought and religious expression of the time, especially in regard to the mystery cults and even solar mythology, proved very unpalatable to mainstream New Testament study. That was also the period of intense examination of the idea that no Jesus had existed at all (J. M. Robertson, Arthur Drews, the Dutch Radical School, etc.). The result was a backlash and a circling of the wagons, creating a fortress mentality against such scholarship for the latter three-quarters of the 20th century. As a result, there has been little recent investigation of that History of Religions material, especially sympathetic investigation. Acharya may draw to some degree on that older scholarship, but while certain aspects of it are necessarily a little dated, one of the things which struck me in her quotations from it (and more and more of it is now being reprinted) is how perceptive and compelling most of it continues to be. We sorely need a new History of Religions School for the 21st century, to apply modern techniques to this important ancient material. Perhaps this book will help bring that about.

I am 53 years old, was once a catholic, and I have been studying Comparative Religions for over thirty years. My library contains works by Robertson, Whelas, Carpenter, Frazier, Campbell, Smith, Keller, Kolb and too many others to mention, but if I had to recommend ONE book to the interested student who wished to have her/his eyes opened to the unfiltered truth about christianity in particular and religion in general, that one book would be The Christ Conspiracy, by Acharya S. It takes many years of thought and effort to wade through the complete works of Josephus, various translations of the bible, numerous texts (some enlightening - some inane and dogmatic) in an honest and scholarly examination of the major creeds that exist on this planet at this point in time. If you wish to just 'skip to the end of the search' where the judeo/christian theology is concerned (or should I say astro-theology),then buy a copy of this book, read it twice, and then loan it to a friend. Archarya's work is one of the most heavily documented texts I have yet studied, and unlike some reviewers who claim to have had some difficulty verifying quotes and context where notations are concerned, I had none of these difficulties. Moreover, I found that her conclusions, where drawn, were accurate and reasoned. A certain 'spirit' in the style of her writings is refreshing. The reader must keep in mind however, that this is a purposefully confrontational and brutally eye-opening text. If you are content believing that the Creator of the entire inner and outer universes found it necessary to "atone" for human "sins"by impregnating a little virgin girl 2000 years ago, growing into a God/man so that It could be tortured to death by the humans, and further, that this God wishes humankind to drink blood and eat God flesh on a regular basis as a remembrance of the holy death, then don't buy this book! If you suspect that the true meaning of life, and God's plan has nothing to do christianity, or any other religion for that matter, then gain some strength by getting some truth - read Christ Conspiracy and bolster that knowlege with any of the other texts referenced by Acharya. I loved it, and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a wide ranging - yet easy read on this fascinating subject.

A marvelous read that makes it a pleasure to admit that I have been duped because my understanding has now been given a great increase! This timely book explains, in great detail, the universal source of all the world's great religions, and hopefully unravels the tangled threads of ignorance that is so pervasive in the religious world, wherein lies the roots of bigotry, racism, sexism, brutality and divisiveness.

Take the ride through the Holy Forgery Mill of biblical fraud. Understand how that the world has been masterfully herded into sheepdom by deception. Be introduced to the unifying roots of perennial spirituality, the hidden wisdom resurrected in astrotheology. Understand the making of myths and explore the evidence of ancient global civilizations. Appreciate etymology, allegory, and symbology and feel the hope for us all.

Have you failed to make a personal and detailed investigation into this most important matter as I? Then you too will feel grateful for having read this remarkable and stunning work. A monumental gift to the world! Thank you Acharya

OK, people, it's time we got off this born-in-dung, keep-my-lords-in-animal-skins attitude that religion has foisted on us; there's no better place to start than with this book. Even if only half of it is true, this book promises to blow the lid off of just about any organized religion you can think of, and everything I've checked out for myself is accurate. And now anthropologist Zeev Herzog has come out to to verify the book's premise (albeit from a different starting point): The Bible is a myth, with little or no historical accuracy, and all the fables can be gleaned from older and better sources. Extensively footnoted, with a large bibliography, and just enough ascerbic wit to lighten the load, this is definitely the most dangerous book ever sold! Thank you, Acharya S.

First of all let me state I am not a Christian, I have no axe to grind. I am very interested in the time of Christ and the early church as historical study, nothing more and nothing less. ....

The Author is tackling a very controversial, but not original thesis in claiming that Jesus never existed and the Christian religion was influenced by earlier religions such as Paganism and the beliefs in Egypt.

Claims such as this have been made before, and for these claims to stand there should be clear documented historical evidence, and this is where the book falls very short.

Time after time the author makes extraordinary claims with no references to back them up other than previous authors of the same genre. For example, she quotes an author named Martin Larson from a book written in 1977. He claims that early church fathers such as Jerome, Antony and Martin were definitely psychotic. From this, the author draws the following conclusion, and I quote "Thus, deceiving, mentally ill individuals basically constitute the genesis of Christianity." Now, I ask the reader, is this research or is this a sentence from an author whose conclusion was drawn before the book was even begun.

She also writes that the gospels of the New Testament are dated much later than the time of Christ. For any scholar of that period, this is not earth shattering news. This has been known for many years. She does however date them almost 100 years later than even one of the most liberal of Christian scholars (Burton Mack) and uses no references or historical data to back up the claim....

When I read this type of book, I expect solid historical research. I am not interested in reading books full of nothing but opinion, such as you get from many Christian apologists. In my opinion, this book is nothing but the opposite side of the same coin.

While Christianity has disaffected many of its adherents and freethinkers have long looked askance at the various cons pulled off in the name of Jesus, few scholars examine so thoroughly the religion's true historical roots in conspiracy and parapolitical manipulation. The Christ Conspiracy is a feast of scholarship (400+ pages; fully illustrated), not only debunking the notion of a historical Jesus but establishing clearly the roots of that mythology in the solar precession. In pursuing this avenue of research, Acharya S has attained a panoramic view of world religious history especially useful to students of conspiracy, but also one accessible to mainstream readers. She is a veritable Joseph Campbell of dissent over commonly held assumptions about Christianity. Believers will find a new and quite formidable challenge to their faith and others will be blown away by the depth and breadth of scholarship.

Religions continue to exist because fear and superstition havebeen force fed to the masses in order to perpetuate the notion thatone is superior to another- and that is nothing but vanity. Vanity and its cousin ego have been around a long time, no thanks to all the evangelists of Christianity! As George Black says, "religion kills like a disease." And one could go on to say that no religion has killed more than the Christian religion. No dark age has ever been lifted until the truth gets out, and Acharya S masterfully spells it out for us. I highly recommend this book.

I read "The Christ Conspiracy", and honestly, I didn't like it. Unfortunately (or fortunately, perhaps), I don't think either the book or its author lived up to the claims. The book raised a number of points I take issue with, and so in the interest of those who may wonder whether Acharya S is a credible scholar and writer, I'll take a moment to comment on a few passages from the book.

On p. ii of the preface, the reader is informed that the author has a "working knowledge" of more than six different languages, and has read everything from Euripides to the Bible in their original languages. In fact, we're told that, as a result of her knowledge of Biblical Greek and Hebrew, the author has acquired an understanding of the Scriptures that exceeds even "most clergy". This is of particular interest in light of her discourse on p. 91 concerning the Hebrew term "Elohim" (translated God, gods, or sometimes judges in English versions).

The author attempted to effectively convince the reader that Biblical scholars mistranslate the term as "God", when it should only refer to gods, as it is plural in the Hebrew. This, it's added, is why we find Elohim, or "the gods", saying in Genesis 1:26: "Let us make man in our image." One source is even quoted as saying that translators "always singularized the plurals to conceal the fact that...Jews worshipped...multiple gods."

Now, the author did correctly point out that this word is in the plural form, but mistakenly added that its singular form is "El". As it is, the singular for Elohim is "Eloah", and the plural for El is "Elim" (Synonyms of the Old Testament, R. Girdlestone, p. 31). Also, in almost every case where Elohim, the God of Israel, is the subject of a particular verse, the corresponding verb is in the singular (indicating that the subject is to be understood likewise). For example, Genesis 1:1 says, "In the beginning Elohim created (in the singular) the heavens and the earth." (Add to this that in the verse that follows we find: "...and the Spirit [in the singular] of Elohim, etc." Are we to understand that a plurality of gods have but one spirit?) Also, in reference to the passage where God (not "the gods") says "Let us make man in our image", the verse that follows, v. 27, reads: "So Elohim created (in the singular) man in his own image, etc." At any rate, the reason why both Jewish and Christian scholars have always translated Elohim to the English "God" (in most contexts) is because it usually refers to a single being in the Hebrew.

Later, Acharya stated that the Greek word Christ (or Christos), as applied to Jesus, was taken from the Hindu religion and the Hindi word "Krishna" (one of the Hindu gods). The author even sometimes altered the spelling of Krishna, such as Christna or Cristna, in order to further emphasize the relation. On p. 256 we find: "As noted, in Greek Krishna is also Christos, and the word `Christ' also comes from the Hindi word `Kris'..."

First, it's worth pointing out that a literal transliteration of the Sanskrit would actually be "Krsna" (with the three little dots below the r, s, and n); there's no "t" in the Sanskrit word. (And the "i" and "h" are typically added just to aid in proper English pronunciation). Now second, and more importantly, the ordinary meaning of the word Krishna is "black". Christ, on the other hand, is a Greek translation of the Hebrew "Messiah". The meaning of both is simply "anointed one". Thus, there is no etymological relationship between the words Krishna and Christ, and therefore, Krishna is not Christ in Greek.

On pages 107-25 the author listed a number of supposed correspondences between pagan gods, such as Krishna, and Jesus. On p. 116, it's stated that Krishna, like Jesus, was born from a virgin-namely, his mother Devaki-on December 25th. According to the story found in the Indian scriptures, though, particularly the Mahabharata, Krishna was the eighth child of his mother, born on the 8th of the Hindu month Shravan (which corresponds to our August/September).

The author noted that Krishna's "beloved disciple" was named Arjuna, or "John". Of course, this seems to be another obvious parallel between Krishna and Jesus. However, once again, neither word (Arjuna or John) is related to the other. The Sanskrit name Arjuna means, "White". John, however, comes from the Hebrew "Yochanan"-meaning, "Yahweh is gracious".

On p. 257 of the book we find the assertion that the compound name Jesus Christ "appeared in no writings before [AD 325]." On the contrary, though, the name Jesus Christ (or Christ Jesus) is found 226 times in the New Testament, all of which was written well before AD 325. Also, the standard edition of the ante-Nicene writings that we have today, which consists of 10 volumes, contains numerous references to "Jesus Christ"; far too many for me to attempt a complete count. However, I did find that in Polycarp's short letter to the church in Phillipi (ca. AD 150), the name is present 11 times. Likewise, the name is found 26 times in Ignatius' relatively brief epistle to Ephesus (ca. AD 107).

Finally, on p. 51, the author dismissed a letter by Pliny the Younger (ca. AD 112) which is often mentioned by Christian apologists in reference to Christ's historical existence. She essentially said that the letter is of no value whatsoever, as it contains only a single word of any interest-"Christians". However, in Pliny's letter we actually find, "[The Christian apostates] reviled the name of Christ...They all worshipped [Emperor Trajan's] statue...uttering imprecations at the same time against the name of Christ." And that the Christians themselves "addressed a form of prayer to Christ, as to a divinity"(Epistle 97, Letters and Treatises of Cicero and Pliny, p. 424). Thus, there is more to the letter than just a single appearance of the word "Christian".

[...] Acharya's book is certainly powerful. Having been brought up in a Christian household, I felt angry at the possibility of having
been lied to for so long. This is not a book that can be read nonchalantly by the sincere seeker of the truth. To paraphrase the Old Testament, faith should be subjected to the crucible to elicit gold. The Christians who honestly study this book and finish with their faith totally intact will certainly have my admiration.

Like other reviewers, I have found snippets of information which I disagree with in Acharya's book. What does this leave us
with? A rough diamond, but a diamond nonetheless.

Christianity is unique among the major faiths insofar as it is based upon the soteriological premise of godman making the
ultimate sacrifice for humanity. Buddhism for instance, would be unshaken if the Buddha was proven to be totally mythical, as it
is solely a method of spiritual development. If Jesus however could be proven to be mythical, where does that leave
Christianity?

The bible teaches that we were made in the image of God, the various Gnostic schools (some of which greatly influenced early
Christianity) spoke of us having a divine spark within. Personal empowerment is about recognising our true nature and taking
control of our lives, rather than having someone else make our decisions for us. To effectively take control, it is vital to make informed decisions. May the truth be known to all.

In looking over these reviews I see a few reviewers that are trying to tell people that this book is "not scholarly" or that "the author has not researched her claims very well". These reviewers have probably not read the book. They are probably basing their claims simply on the title of the book. Either that or they were confused by the booknotes.

As someone that studied the bible to great lengths, and lead bible study groups I found this book fascinating. I have a hard time putting it down, and look forward to my next reading session. It is true that the author has a somewhat Atheist attude, but that is easy to ignore. I enjoyed finally discovering the significance of many bibilcal 'mysteries' that had often left me wondering. I guarantee, if you read this book thoroughly you'll be able to give great insite to the readings at the next bible study! No Christian should remain ignorant of the origans of the bible or of their faith. This book goes into great detail about these, often using the bible itself as reference.

Do you know that the name "Israel" means? Do you know why we end prayers with "Amen"? Why were there 12 disciples? What does menora mean? What was the original reason for the 7 candles on a menora? Why is it hard to spread Christianity to India? What so enraged the Spaniards when they landed at Mexico?

Knowledge is a wonderful thing. Know your bible - know your faith. Don't let someone tell you, learn it for yourself!