Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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107 of 123 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exciting and Provocative, February 21, 2000
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.
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61 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent work BRAVO!!, May 29, 2001
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.
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164 of 201 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Surprised and disappointed at previous reviews, January 27, 2001
By A Customer
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.
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