The Dying God: The Hidden History of Western Civilization [Paperback]

David Livingstone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 14, 2002

Few would acknowledge that our knowledge of history could be significantly inaccurate. The most common conception of history is one that begins in Greece, the "cradle of Western civilization", then progresses through Rome, and finally Europe and America. However, this merely represents a strictly Western version of history, and one that is often confused with the history of the World. Fortunately though, recent scholarship has begun to elucidate the extent of the indebtedness of Western history to other civilizations, rendering our notion of "Western" civilization obsolete.Rather, a more accurate assessment of the past will reveal a neglected account, the hidden history of Western civilization, which began in Mesopotamia, in the sixth century BC, with the birth of a tradition centered around the myth of a dying god. The development of this tradition led to the emergence of philosophy among the Greeks, then influenced the formation of Christianity, and was appropriated and elaborated upon by the Arabs during the Middle Ages. Ultimately, being introduced to Europe during the Crusades, it eventually spawned the Renaissance and the Enlightenment.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a stunning book that casts modern civilization in a new and troubling light." -- Henry Makow: savethemales.ca

About the Author

Author and historian David Livingstone was born in Montreal, Canada in 1966. David began studying Western civilization at Concordia University in 1987, where he first observed a number of curious anomalies in Western history, which he has spent the last thirteen years investigating, culminating in the present work.

Product Details

• Paperback: 460 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (June 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595231993
• ISBN-13: 978-0595231997
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #367,530 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Demanding, flawed but amazing and very important, June 24, 2006

By 

James Brooks (Worcester, VT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dying God: The Hidden History of Western Civilization (Paperback)

This book attempts a truly prodigious feat; a historically detailed revision of the philosophical and religious history of western civilization. The determined reader will find that it largely succeeds, and will be rewarded with an extremely provocative new vision of history, Christianity, the foundations of science, the true meaning of the "Enlightenment", and the amorality of our rulers.

However, the reader will have to help by connecting pieces and maintaining the narrative. You'll also have to separate the wheat from the chaff. Every page is jammed with information but precious little summation. The early chapters brim with Mr. Livingstone's impressively broad and detailed scholarship of the ancient western world. With a wealth of examples he explains the development and spread of "the dying god" cults in every nook and cranny of the ancient western world.

He also offers an intriguing alternative history of the early Hebrews based on contemporary accounts from many sources and some deductive reasoning. I found it compelling, but you can reject it and still get the import of the book.

His heretical history of Greek culture appears to be well founded and consistent with contemporary accounts and the influence of the Kabbalists elsewhere in the ancient world. Livingstone introduces us to Plato as his contemporaries knew him and explains the significance of his baneful influence.

The emergence of Gnosticism and the Pauline neo-Platonic corruption of Christianity appear along the way, making a good deal more historical and theological sense than any other interpretation I have read.

The book doggedly follows its subject through the centuries, packing facts and stories into long sentences like sardines in a can. If it were written a conventional style it would probably be twice as long. I recommend reading it very slowly. Give yourself time to watch for, and think about and savor, the profound implications and connections of Livingstone's mountain of evidence. It can be pretty startling.

About halfway through it, my constant irritation with Livingstone's odd prose turned into a kind of admiration. He seemed to be refusing to paint the broad and generalized picture for the reader, letting the density of the evidentiary trail produce the overall picture by itself. Only from his commentary on specific points do we glean the full outline of his overarching vision.

I highly recommend reading David Livingstone's Amazon blog before reading the book. The articles there elegantly state Livingstone's overall point in a way the book does not. They also address the connection to the present day more thoroughly. I hope they portend a new book on the horizon. David Livingstone is onto something deep here.

If you want to understand the roots and self-image of our ruling elites, the 'initiated' who are released from the bonds of morality and Mosaic Law, this book is indispensable. If you're willing to work with a book, this one would make a great summer reading project!

50 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Useless!, September 15, 2004

By 

Michael Tozer (San Antonio, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Dying God: The Hidden History of Western Civilization (Paperback)

I really had great hopes when ordering this book. It is proclaimed to be the hidden history of Western Civilization. As I am degreed in history and treat the study of history now as a serious undertaking, I was intrigued. In addition, the positive reviews led me to think this would be an imporant contribution to my overall research. I was sadly disappointed.

From the beginning of the narrative, I knew I was in trouble. In a broad sweep, the author attributes the "liberalism" of the French Revoluiton to the triumph of the Enlightenment. To this, I would say that the author really needs to read some history. The French Revolution was one of the most terrible epochs in history. If there is a similar movement, it would be the Bolshevik Revolution, which some have insightfully postured, was engendered by the same forces.

What Livingstone has rendered here is not history in any sense. Rather it is a loose conglomeration of myth and legend, with little analysis and virtually no synthesis. The book is terribly disappointing, as any sort of guide to understanding the history of Western Civilization. I am very suspicious of its favorable reviews. The writing is poor, the documentation scant, and the conclusions faulty. My recommendation as a serious student of history is to avoid wasting time and money on this disappointing effort.

21 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Stunning Book Of Real History, October 29, 2003

By 

"elexa1" (Houston ,Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dying God: The Hidden History of Western Civilization (Paperback)

Livingston shows that the post modern - liberal- proggressive-secular culture is really a product of an occult tradition that can be traced back to ancient Babylon through the miriad of secret societies, that do their bidding by proxy; Cabalists, Templars, Freemasons, Rosicrucians,Plato, France's Jacobins, German Austrian Thule Society,Covert Satanism Dienetics, Yale Univeresity'S Skull and Bones of old Germanic secret society, and all other propagandist of the essoteric occult practitioners of old and modern times.
In essence, this tradition adopted Lucifer as a symbol of mankinds rebellion against God. It enshrined human reason,appetite and will as the ultimate standard of goodness and empowerment.
The occult's real aim is to empower the elite.
The basic principle of most religions is to behave unto others as we wish to be treated...[In contrast] the occultist...is lured by vanity to seek a type of knowledge that sets him apart from others, maintaining that it is the preserve of the elite

Livingston shows how occult dogma was secretly adopted by key elites throughout history and was behind the English [1649],American [1776], French [1789], and Russian Revolutions[1917], three of which involved genocide.
The occultist inspired the so-called Enlightment, which defined modern culture. Francis Bacon was a Rosicrucian. Diderot, Rousseau, Voltaire, Newton,Christofer Columbus were all Freemasons or belonged to diverse secret societies. Stalin, Roosevelt,and Churchill were Masons,Carl Marx and Stalin were closet Satanist, as was Henry Ford; accreditted author of The International Jew; The plan of Washington D.C. was designed by Masons in the Shape of a pentagram as was the design of the pentagon; the design of the Capitol buildings and ground depicts an owl, the Molec idol of the Cannanites of ancient history, (of which the modern elite Bohemians worship today at the Bohemian Grove at the Russian River near Santa Rosa California.)

The significance of Livingston's lucid, well documented book is enormous. It implies that a dominant segment of our leaders secretly serve Lucifer; as the god of the modern world; their sinister and corrupt influence is evident everywhere.

Secularism is as much a religion as Christianity. The "seperation of church and state" is a stratagem to enshrine Lucifer as their god of the modern world. Masonic secularism's goal is to destroy genuine religion like Christianity. It's no wonder why high visibility conservatives are under attack, they are the last bastion of resistance of their evolutionary progress towards godhood, this explains their eliteism.

This Satanic conspiracy only suceeds because people cannot believe something so colossal and monstrous actaully exists.

This conspirital view of history puts us in a world at war between good and evil, what is contested is the human soul.
The people who are pushing products, drugs, violence, and sex are not operating on a random "whatever sells" basis. The top players are following a script designed to enslave humanity, body and soul. They are building a gigantic prison based on their own mental hell. THIS IS THE NEW WORLD ORDER; we are the inmates.