The Greatest Story Ever Sold - The Christ Conspiracy

This book proved to be well researched. Full of details on the complicated and repetitious fables that make up the numerous tales of the various religious tomes. I was pleased to discover that much of what held as suspect was, in fact, not true. This should be required of all persons entering their adolescent years to offset the religious tripe that was foisted upon when they were children.

Acharya S. definitely gives the reader the motive to reason for oneself. These lies (over a millenea)that all religions put upon us are total BS. Acharya S sure did a good job in this subject. Given, she gets carried away sometimes. Yet, embarrassment upon the major religions is sure to create controversy. Kudos for her.

Most Christians would rather avoid reading this book. It completely shatters the foundation on which their faith is built. It is reasonable to understand why one may want to stay in a state of ignorance and bliss but here is an opportunity to do some mental and spiritual spring cleaning. Acharya S appears to be an atheist; she too needs to delve into the subject of spirituality and consciousness a bit more because currently, she is as numb-sculled as the religious zealots. I for one am a clairvoyant, a real honest to God clairvoyant, not a "store front psychic" with crystals and palm reading and such. I have actually experienced things through dreams which became true. I can know things inexplicably but I would know. For instance, my husband and I were visiting a friend's new house and as I approached I knew someone who formerly lived there committed suicide. I grabbed my husband's arm and mentioned this to him. He was surprised to hear his friend mention that the last owner of the house had in fact committed suicide, supposedly in another location and not at the home. I had a strange cloud vision which embraced by whole body one day while my friend drove onto an expressway on-ramp in Chicago; the very next day I drove through that exact location and a building was burning right next to the on-ramp with billows of smoke. I was clairvoyantly informed that four people had passed away in the blaze and that there would be a fifth. This was later confirmed by the news.
So the point to all of this is that atheism is just as ridiculous as some of the faulty fundamental religious ideas Acharya S discusses. If we are astute enough we will discover that spirit and God are real but not constrained by a single savior. Although religions like to take sole proprietorship of their connection to God, this I know to be a falsehood. Now, if people enjoy religion for social interaction and tradition then it serves as a useful tool. The language needs to be changed and the messages need to be less divisive.
Bravo Acharya S. for giving historical insight into the Jesus as savior saga. If someone truly wants a connection with God they may have to start by eliminating conflicting ideology and be open to the infinite possibilities of what God and spirit truly means. Does Acharya S' book mean the bible is useless? Not at all, there is a wealth of poetic and philosophical information that is a delight to read and contemplate. A book with guidance that inspires some good healthy social practices and the inquisition into the soul should always be a must read. However, since my childhood with my intuition, I know God as being an infinite element/being that cannot be defined by man especially not in one or two books. Religious idealists: delude yourselves if you must believe your religion is the single perfect route to salvation, but do not impose and punish/violate the world with your frail ideologies.

The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Told could use some editing and there are elements that can get a bit difficult to understand A.S's occasional abstract phrasing but overall she presents a tremendous amount of historical information that directly conflicts many strongly held religious ideas. After reading this book, someone that is not completely brainwashed may begin to question and explore. We couldn't have satellites, antibiotics...or travel to outer space by restricting our parameters. Frequently, religions try to chastise inquiry as sin, but inquiry is essential to growth/progress. Inhibiting the methods of inquiry will only limit the truth that is known.

Here is a condensed version of this over-long book:
"There was no Jesus. So-and-so said there couldn't have been. Anyone who says there was a Jesus is lying."
This book comes across as more of a term paper than a scholarly work. Her many assertions are not supported by her own text, and her tedious, extensive quotes seem to be inserted as padding rather than to reinforce her thesis, which is itself badly stated. The chapter headings don't seem to relate to their content.
I wouldn't recommnend this book to anyone who is seeking answers, only to those who want to hear their own preconceptions repeated to them.

The book is full of brilliant and insightful information. However, to really understand Acharya's book, you have to either have an encyclopedia next to you or a working knowledge of the history of religion. Those who are lay persons will not understand this book.

Fascinating and very informative. I was looking for a book that would help me understand the random disparate things I heard/read from time to time about the real origins of Christianity. Something that would give context and sources and rational thinking on the subject.
And this book did exactly that. Highly recommended.
Religion affects everyone, so everyone needs to read this book.

They should teach this in the grade schools as early as possible before the children are brainwashed in the sunday schools of the organized religions! Bravo for speaking out on the subject. I am a professional astrologer and know how true this information rings. For those that shrug off the astrology part, it is possibly because they don't have a clue about astrology so they don't understand how much of their regular daily lives have already been built upon it without them even being aware. Astrology isn't what is printed in the columns of papers, it takes years to study. The author's truths are easily verified and not based on conjecture.

Acharya S's "The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold" is an interesting read. I'll start with describing what I found to be some of its strengths. First, the book presents an interesting case for the possibility that Jesus did not exist and that many of the beliefs upon which the Christian church is founded are fallacious. Second, the book does a fine job of bringing together some of the previously and co-existing pagan belief systems with Christian belief systems. Third, Acharya S frequently cites the thoughts of others in her thesis. Fourth, I did not find many grammatical or typographical errors. Some of the elements that I found to be weaknesses in the book: First, 80% of her citations are of the same, recurring dozen sources. Second, so many of the sources which are cited are not terribly reputable. I'll give the author that when one commences to challenge a two thousand year old system of fallacious beliefs, it's difficult to find many credible sources to which one can refer. [...] Sixth, facts presented in this text do not correspond with facts presented by traditional sources or, for that matter, even many of the other sources that challenge traditional Christian belief systems. Overall, I think that many of the ideas presented in this text merit serious examination by scholars and believers alike. However, given the extent of unmerited pompousness, glaring errors, run-on quotations, and marginal scholarship, the degree to which I can give this author any degree of confidence is compromised. I give this book an A for the topic but a D for the final product.

One of the things this book certainly contained that I found interesting was the sexual acts and the amount of drug aphorisms within the Bible, especially those practices of the Old Testament. It was really one of the only chapters in the book that seemed to peak my interest (along with the mention that the church the father's viewed a literal interpretation to be heretical which is something that got me really reading the church fathers more in depth than just scanning their writings for useful things to use on an historical scale).

However much of the information; while true to a certain degree, has been discussed by anthropologists, comparative mythologists among other such fields of academia for over a hundred and fifty years. So even by the time it was published I would consider it old news. However, it is a good introduction to some of the things I suppose... although I would appreciate it if the author used more footnotes and more sources that are... shall I say more academic and a little more towards her own time?

The only thing that I did decry was the chapter about the evidence of a "world wide civilization." This one turned me off quite a bit considering that she cited known pseudo-academics such as Zacharia Sitchens. I would also advise skipping this chapter as the logic in it seems to be very lacking, but since her notions do not rise and fall upon the credibility of the chapter along with the section about Masonry (such instances like claiming the Pope to be the leader of all Masons, which is laughable when you understand that the Catholic Church has very much a love-hate relation with Freemasonry; with the last 125 years being hate).

My recommendations are this:

If you know nothing about the subject, then this book is perfect.

If you want a more in depth study with up to date material, I would recommend skipping this book.

One of the most enlightening books I've ever read. Can sometimes read a little too "academic" for many casual readers but extremely good information overall. The author is also very accessible on facebook and social media in general and it is refreshing to be able to interact directly with an author regarding their work.

I liked some of her presentations; however, digressing to astrology in the bible and an ancient global civilization is to me is not relevant to the conspiracy by the christian church of the first centuries CE for the subjugation of the ignorant European masses.

Acharya inundates her paragraphs with many quotes from many different sources, which can be overwhelming to read and understand. I would prefer to read some the books she quotes (at least she has a bibliography in the back as a resource) and draw my own conclusions, many of which will probably agree with hers.

But at least I wouldn't be overwhelmed by bits and pieces I consider uninteresting and uninspiring, such as astrology (as one form of mythology) and a global civilization for which there is no record. I consider the lost continent of Atlantis about as factual as the historicity of Jesus as the christ or as factual as the practice of astrology.

Interesting supposition, lack of evidence:
I'll admit I enjoyed "The Christ Conspiracy," but Acharya S' opinions didn't sway me in the least. As a matter of fact her arguments convinced me to become a staunched believer in Christ and his teachings.
On the surface if you aren't informed, or simply educated in basic biblical knowledge you will become bamboozled into thinking her pseudo new-age beliefs and paralogism are indeed axiomatic conclusions.
In the book Acharya makes the suggestion that Jesus Christ's origins are identical to many deities around the globe, such as Krishna, Mithra, and Hercules (just to name a few). Additionally, there are many other gods and goddesses that she cites, but to name them all would be superfluous at this juncture.

Anyway, what I would like to ask Acharya is "why does she feel the need to be intellectually dishonest?" Her so-called elenchus doesn't disprove anything. On page 113 she tries to compare Jesus' origins to that of Hercules by stating that Hercules was born of a virgin birth, which is totally false and misleads the reader. Furthermore, if you read Edith Hamilton's book "Mythology Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" you'll know firsthand that Zeus disguised himself as Amphitryon who was Alcmena's warrior husband. Then much to her surprise, Zeus seduces her. And too make a long story short, Hercules was born.

Acharya has a lot to answer for considering she had the audacity to obfuscate actual facts about Greco-Roman mythology that even a sixth grader would have basic knowledge of.
Moreover, I would like to inquire to Acharya as to why she would omit the actual circumstances of Hercules' birth from her book? Was it just so it would fit her ideological spin, which in my opinion is a dishonest position too take? The truth is Jesus Christ's origin doesn't mirror Hercules' in the slights. I'll admit Hercules' twelve labors, Jesus' twelve disciples and the signs of the Zodiac may raise a few eyebrows simply because the number 12 seems to pop up frequently, but the truth is the number 12 is a masonic number, which is crucial information that Acharya egregiously doesn't expose to the reader.

She also takes the position that most of the deities mentioned in the book were born on December 25th, but the truth is Jesus wasn't born on the 25th of December and the Bible doesn't clearly state when he was born. Furthermore, John the Baptist was born in the spring season, six months before Jesus according to the scriptures, which unequivocally means it's impossible for Jesus Christ's birthdate to be December 25th. The fact is Jesus' real birthdate would be sometime during the fall season. Therefore, her story doesn't add up. To simply put it: it was the Council of Nicaea in 325AD that mandated Jesus's birth would be celebrated on the 25th because the Roman Empire needed to placate to the other nation-states' pagan customs, while enacting/legalizing a new religion. Which Acharya discusses, but I don't recall her mentioning that December 25th wasn't Christ's real birthdate, and I think she shouldn't have obfuscated this very important fact.

The truth (According to William Cooper author of "Behold a Pale Horse") is the pagan cults during the fourth century hijacked Christianity, which is true considering it was emperor Constantine that adopted Christianity because he became superstitious. He succeeded in winning his wars every-time by invoking Christ's name in battle. He claimed that Jesus came to him in a vision and said "In my name conquer!" And whether or not anyone today believes Constantine's outlandish tale isn't the point. The point is he achieved the results he needed to reunify the Roman Empire and create the Catholic Church. And to this very day the Catholic Church still practices the pagan traditions of the past.

Also, I must add, Acharya attacks much of the Old Testament stories in the bible, which you can take with a grain of salt. And yes I'll agree that much of it is mythology that was rehashed from the ancient mystery religions out of Egypt and Babylon, but then again, doesn't the biblical stories in the Old Testament take place in those regions? {{{Think About It Folks!}}}
The truth is Acharya doesn't expose any real conspiracies, and most of her sources aren't even credible, especially when she uses sources such as Zecharia Sitchin and the Anunnaki space alien theory to solidify a questionable new-age belief system.
The bottom line is she fails to prove that Jesus didn't exist. But the question remains; did Jesus indeed live? Well, I think his impact and legacy is felt all over the world. So, I would say he did live. Jesus was a man similar to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., Socrates and many others who also impacted the world ten-fold.
So, I have to give Acharya 2 Stars. I'll reiterate that I really enjoyed reading this diatribe of disinformation, but it is what it is...disinfo with a masonic slant.

I don't like the author's narrow feminist, "everybody" is the same politics - but otherwise she is VERY good.

THIS is the THE book you need to read on early Christianity - How and Why it came to be.

An obviously, well read, articulate and principled author.

This is an okay book... but just okay. The author spends far too much time quoting authors of other atheist publications, instead of presenting his own work. You can read the final summary and spare yourself the first few hundred pages.

In Brief: Acharya S presents evidence that the New-Testament story of Jesus closely parallels pagan mythology. She concludes that Jesus must be a myth made up by the early Christian church. She also documents the abuses that have resulted from this myth. She does a decent job of presenting her case, and her work is informative and mildly interesting.

In Depth: Archarya S (also known as DM Murdoch) has written The Christ Conspiracy to demonstrate her case that Jesus never existed as a man. She writes that he was created out of many pagan myths and patterned from pagan gods like Osiris and Mithra. The people in his story are actually based on astrology rather than historical men and women. Acharya describes this theme in her own words (Page 405):

"...these priest-masons passionately attempted to keep "the Architect's clock," wherever they went; thus, they built celestial "computers" worldwide, and they taught the celestial mythos so that the sacred knowledge would never be lost. So passionate were they, that they took enormous pains to preserve the mythos and sacred knowledge and to make it understandable; yet it has been ignored, disparaged and historicized in the most vulgar manner in order to allow powermongers to compete with each other. Thus, we are inheritors of not only the physical ruins of the global civilization but the spiritual wreck as well."

In other words, the "sacred knowledge" of the ancients based in various symbols and mythical gods has been made into "real history" by creating a Christ who has been placed into history as a man who actually walked the earth. The purpose of this deception is the acquisition of power by greedy and evil people. Our civilization has suffered tremendous losses in many ways as a result of this hoax.

As should be clear, Acharya not only sees a historical Jesus as wrong in a factual sense, but this story is wrong morally as well. Much of The Christ Conspiracy is a denunciation of the evils of Christianity. She talks a lot about the wars and persecutions instigated by Christianity and other religions.

How has Acharya arrived at her conclusion that Jesus never lived? She never really clarifies her logic. She does include a lot of references to other writers many of whom wrote long ago about Jesus as a myth. I believe she is arguing that since the gospel story of Jesus is so similar to myths that became popular long before the time Jesus was supposed to have lived, then it cannot be possible that his life would coincidentally be so much like these myths. There's got to be more to it than mere coincidence. Jesus must be a god made up to resemble these older pagan gods. As such, he might be more appealing to people with pagan beliefs. And as a real guy, he stands out from the crowd of those other gods.

Personally, I'm not so sure that I agree with this logic. Yes, Jesus could have been created easily enough, but it's also entirely possible that he was a real guy who was inspired by paganism and tried to live his life in a way that it might be similar to these myths. His followers might also have dressed up a real Jesus in these myths. After all, today we have people like Benny Hinn who supposedly perform miracles. They are real people.

In any case, The Christ Conspiracy is a decent book. If you're a Christian it will surely challenge your faith. If you're an atheist it should give you more reasons to doubt that Jesus was God.

You might also try books like Nailed by David Fitzgerald or Did Jesus Exist by Bart Ehrman

The driving bias in the assertion "no proof Jesus existed" is obvious; if Jesus is a totally fictional creation by some band of 1st century religious fanatics (or late 2nd century under Murdock's RIDICULOUS assertions) then one can absolutely ignore any NT ethical or moral standards in one's life, let alone the Spiritual-Supernatural claims.

However, this position is unsupportable on SEVERAL grounds:

1. Non-Historians rejecting the evidence they don't like

--The out-of-hand discounting of the non-Christian references to Jesus (Josephus, Talmud, Tacitus, etc..) is almost always done by dedicated skeptics and "professional atheists" and NOT by actual historians or New Testament Scholars.

--The academics who actually deal with historical criteria find these few non-Christian references to be valid-enough corraboration of an actual Jesus who lived circa 2BC-33AD and who was executed by the Romans.

--While one might be able to drag up an isolated academic who teaches the "Jesus is total fiction" position one can likewise drag up tenured cranks who support Holocaust Denial, Alien Abductions, and extreme Afro-Centrism

--Even extreme "demythologizers" such as Bart Ehrman and the publicity hungry "Jesus Seminar" accept these non-christian references for what they are. Those who do reject them are leaving even "fringe scholarship" and entering into pseudo-scholarship, aka "crank studies". They have far more in common with modern "Obama Birthers" and "9/11 Truthers" than anything approaching legitimate historical criticism.

2. "The Testimony of Unpleasant Fact; The Crucifixion"

--WHY would a supposed conspiracy of religious nutcases, in confabulating Jesus, claim up front, PROUDLY, that Jesus had suffered the death of a brigand or rebellious slave? If you are trying to "create" a religion to attract converts, why would you include this horrifying detail up front and center and at great length???

--Near 2000 years later we have problems comprehending the humitating shame associated with anyone who was executed in this manner. The only real comparision would be if a PR firm for a contemporary politician gushingly announced their client was a convicted child molester!

--The simplest, most direct, and most reasonable position is an actual Jesus was actually crucified in Judea under the authority of Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate. Any "explanation" claiming a fictional crucifixion of a fictional person is so strained and tenuous that it simply begs credulity!

3. Another "Simple" Reason that escapes the skeptics' comprehension

--Every major religious and philosphic movement founded from the the "Axial Age" (circa 450 BC) onwards has an actual founder. Some, like Socrates or Buddha have far less corroboration than Jesus, yet their historical existence is essentially unchallenged, even if significant "accretion" has been added to their lives and teachings.

--Once again, the simplest, most direct, and most reasonable position is an actual Jesus actually lived, taught, and left a continuing body of followers after his death.

4. The non-existence of Jesus would have been a obvious and tremendous weapon to be used by the enemies of Christianity

--While the Romans certainly believed the Christian faith was dangerous superstition, they NEVER once claimed Jesus did not exist. Both the Romans and the Jewish authorities would have had both the resources and the motivation to use this charge against the nascent Church.

--While the apologetics of the Early Church Fathers are full of responses to slanderous charges of cannibalism, incest, treason, and atheism, there is no indication they ever had to defend Jesus' historical existence. The only example that even comes marginaly close to this is Justin Martyr's _1st Apology_ addressed to Emperior Antonius Pius (circa 150 AD):

"Now there is a village in the land of the Jews, 35 stadia from Jerusalem, in which Jesus Christ was born, as you can ascertain also from the registers of the taxing made under Cyrenius, your first Procurator in Judaea". (Justin Martyr, Apologia 1:34).

Justin Martyr also included these references regarding Jesus life, career (including miracles), and execution:

"And that he did these things, you can learn from the Acts of Pontius Pilate". (Ibid 1:35 & 1:48).

The _Acts of Pontius Pilate_ Justin mentions is obviously NOT the 5th century spurious text, but an actual official report that Justin Martyr knew of and asked the Emperor to look up (along with the census report). The 1st Apology is essentialy a legal brief defending the early Church, and Justin being a Roman lawyer, knew that to claim the existence of non-existent records which the Emperor easily verify, would have been blatant perjury and would have earned Justin a justified execution under Antonius Pius, rather than his martyrdom under the succeeding Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

Both the census and Pilate's report, like the vast majority of ancient documents, have fallen to the ravages of mold, fire, mice, and general entropy. However, Justin's reference is extremly good secondary historical evidence. In it, there is no real implication that Justin was responding to any accusation of Jesus "never existing", just a matter-of-fact "what we say about Jesus is supported in Roman records".

--We know that both the Romans and the Jewish authorities researched the early Church to refute the Church's claims. Again, Justin Martyr in his _Dialogue with Trypho the Jew_ NEVER once has to defend Jesus actual existence. Emperor Julian the Apostate (r. 355-363) who tried to build a new Jewish Temple in a mistaken attempt to discredit NT prophecy, never once brought up any concern regarding Jesus' existence. _Porphyri Against the Christians_ while bringing up many objections against Christianity never brings up the (non) issue of Jesus' (non) existence.

5. Dedicated Skeptics demand a level of proof for Jesus' human-historical existence they do not demand for anyone else ("Some animals are more equal than others")

--Consider the Emperor Nero existence on textual evidence alone (physically there are a few coins with his profile, but then he was Emperor!). This man was the most powerful person on the planet for 14 years and there is NO contemporary record of his existence--nothing even CLOSE by the skeptics' "standard". The nearest two records were written 50 years after Nero's death, the next, more detailed account 150 years post-mortem--and the textual copies are dated HUNDREDS of years later still. They were also written by Romans of the Senatorial class (with NO fear of persecution!), so again by the Skeptics' "standard" we should reject all three for being peer-biased. The fact the skeptics do NOT reject these texts is proof of their blatant double-standard of "evidence".

--Within these three Roman senatorial texts there is MENTION of earlier records of Emperor Nero--but those records have disapeared. If we apply the same skeptical standard of evidence to these attestations as skeptics do to Justin Martyr then we MUST discount them as well.

--Now with Jesus we have some 60 documents written about him by Christians within a 150 years of 33 AD--29 of them being the NT texts, and actual scholars date almost all of the NT's composition to NO MORE than 60 years. By the SAME standard of textual verification, Jesus makes Nero look like the Easter Bunny.

--In regards to the non-Christian references to Jesus, it's amazing there were any considering:

1. He was a peasant-preacher in a unattractive province of the Empire

2. His public career was three years, TOPS

3. Unlike other "messiah candidates" of the 1st-2nd Centuries, his career caused no small revolts or large rebellions

4. He actually managed to alienate MOST of his followers (John 6:66)

5. He suffered a humiliating and shameful public execution, a type of death that was guaranteed to send anyone's reputation and name into oblivion--the only other (debatable) exception was Spartacus and no remembers the names of the other 6000 rebellious slaves who were crucified with him all along the Appian Way. Even by Jewish standards, a man "who is hung upon a tree (crucified) is cursed" and as such they are to be forgotten and never mentioned again.

The current "expert" among the conspiracy theorist end of Jesus mythicism is D. M. Murdock (aka "Acharya S). While she has never been taken seriously among academics in the field of religion, she gets points for her dogged perseverance. Others might be daunted by nasty dismissals of their work, but she has proved herself a true believer willing to accept the slings and arrows of outrageous ridicule in her quest to expose the Vast Christian Conspiracy. Following the notoriety she attained on her website, she released her first book, titled The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold that earned her an immediate following among the tinfoil hat crowd.

Any who doubt her target audience resided in the conspiracy theorist subculture should take note that Kenn Thomas (publisher of the conspiracy theorist Steamshovel Press) wrote the preface. Also, the book was published by David Hatcher Childress (of Ancient Aliens fame) through his Adventures Unlimited Press. The back cover advertised Murdock's extensive fields of expertise: archaeologist, historian, mythologist, and linguist. That would be quite an impressive resumé if true but such claims fail by any standard definitions of those terms. One associates these titles with academics doing peer-reviewed research published either in scholarly journals or books issued by academic presses. Murdock, by comparison, had just authored an anti-Christian polemical screed through a conspiracy theorist publisher.

A few examples of claims made in The Christ Conspiracy should serve to illustrate the delusional nature of the book:

1) Murdock claimed Augustine was originally a Mandaean until his "conversion" at the Council of Nicea when he was offered a prominent place in the Catholic Church. While mistakenly identifying him as a Mandaean (he was actually a Manichaen) could be brushed off as a minor confusion, claiming Augustine converted at Nicea for power is harder to swallow. First of all, he was not even born yet when the Council of Nicea took place (Augustine was a figure of the fifth century - not the fourth). Nor did Augustine gain a leadership role from his conversion. He was not ordained until five years later, and he was made a bishop a decade after that - hardly a rush to power at a time of relatively short lifespans.

2) Murdock claimed Irenaeus was a Gnostic as proven by a zodiac found on the floor of a church in Lyons where he was bishop. This is obviously ridiculous as Irenaeus was the chief opponent of early Gnosticism. Moreover, no floor of a church has yet been found in Lyons (or anywhere else) dating to the second century when Irenaeus was bishop.

3) Murdock claims the "true meaning of the word Gospel is God's spell as in magic, hypnosis, and delusion. In reality, the word comes from the Old English god meaning "good" and spell meaning "message" and was a translation for the Greek evangelion.

4) Murdock suggested a possible reason scholars ignored her views was that they may be participants in a Freemasonic conspiracy led by the Grandmaster of all Freemasons: the pope. The strangeness of this claim needs no explanation.

5) Murdock claimed the Great Pyramid was never a tomb but was used to teach the "higher mysteries" of death and served as a celestial computer. Furthermore, it was probably not built by Egyptians but some earlier civilization. Of course, a century's worth of work by qualified Egyptologists said differently, but that mattered little since she had David Hatcher Childress (from Ancient Aliens) and a bunch of nineteenth century occultists as expert witnesses.

6) Murdock believed the current religious apparatus derived from the corruption of a lost global civilization's nature religion. Citing a litany of quacks promoting variations on the Atlantis mythology, she took their absurdities to heart and gave new life to the quackery of previous generations.

7) Murdock somehow connected the Apostle Peter to a Roman statue of a penis-nosed rooster-man. This bit of strangeness became a hot topic on among some internet websites when New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman, in his study of Jesus mythicism, excoriated Murdock and pointed to it as one example of why she should not be taken seriously.

Such are the wonders one will encounter in the pages of The Christ Conspiracy.

As for her source material, Murdock went above and beyond the call of duty to find authors from previous generations whose crackpot treatises were left unexplored by other copycat theorists. It is a safe bet that, given any crank anti-Christian author, they will be cited in the pages of The Christ Conspiracy. The list of supporting citations teems with specialty publishers' reprints of forgotten atheists and occultists as Murdock left no stone unturned and found supporting sources from the dubious to the deranged.

Then there are the countless bogus "pagan parallel" claims in the book that she has spend the last decade and a half whitewashing with lame excuses. For example, there is nothing in Egyptian mythology that ever has Horus being crucified. It is something she recycled from crank authors from over a century ago. It just isn't there. So what is her story now? She now states that her critics misunderstood the meaning she intended for the terms she used - including for the current discussion on the crucifixion of Horus. In other words, when she said "Horus was crucified," she did not necessarily mean hanging on a cross or some other similar object.

Now, one might allow for a certain bit of discretion in the definition when making a parallel to Jesus. If Horus had been hung on something akin to a cross, you certainly could argue there was enough similarity to make a real parallel. However, even allowing this wider latitude, there still is no such parallel between Jesus and Horus.

So what exactly did Murdock have in mind by "crucified"? In the recent source guide by Murdock and Zeitgeist creator Peter Joseph, the term "crucified" was redefined to mean "appears with arms outstretched in a symbolic context." Needless to say, this is not what anyone reading this book would have understood and this new definition was never mentioned prior to her claims being refuted.

Under her new definition, any iconography depicting a figure with its arms extended is now to be considered "crucified." The figure in question might be giving a blessing, casting a spell, doing a dance, flying through the sky in the form of a falcon, or even being executed on a Roman cross. According to Murdock, these are all "crucified" and all the same. Thus with this new definition, Murdock can claim she was right all along.

While one might admire the cleverness - not to mention the chutzpah - of whitewashing previous errors through such equivocation, it also fails miserably on a number of points. All one needs to do to see this is to consider the absurdity of putting forth a depiction of any deity of your choosing with their arms extended as a parallel to the crucifixion of Jesus. Moreover, if she had really intended this to be the case, why did it take until after the severe criticism of the claim to ever mention it?

Just imagine the reaction if, instead of claiming Horus was crucified like Jesus, the claim had been that Horus was depicted with arms extended like Jesus. The reaction would have been a collective, "Yeah, so what?" It was precisely because the word "crucified" was used and the standard definition was applied that the claim had any importance at all. The new definition only creates the illusion of a parallel through generalization and lacks any real significance.

The only remaining question is whether this really was what Murdock meant all along. By reviewing Murdock's earlier work -including this book, it is pretty clear that, when she used the term "crucified," she meant something akin to the crucifixion of Jesus. When it was described, it was always placed within a sequence that included death and resurrection, and hence was associated with a fatality. Generally speaking, you do not die from outstretching your arms - unless something happens such as you are hung on a Roman cross.

In The Christ Conspiracy, Murdock stated that Horus was crucified between two thieves, buried for three days in a tomb, and resurrected. This certainly places the crucifixion in a death sequence with the two thieves adding to the similarities to the scene at Calvary. At no point did she give any indication that she thought "crucified" meant anything other than what we normally consider a crucifixion.

Even if she really was thinking of iconographic depictions of Horus with his arms extended in 1999, that would only indicate she was being deceptive. After all, if it were true, then Murdock knew she created a "parallel" out of something most would consider innocuous, and did so knowing her readers would misinterpret her meaning. It is far more likely, given her own prior claims, that she really believed there were stories of a crucified Horus, she was caught off guard by discovering her sources for these claims were bogus, and she redefined the term to save face with her fanboys.

In any case, it matters little, because given she only means "depicted with arms extended in a symbolic context," it is a totally unremarkable parallel. One wonders if she will next argue that Richard Nixon's iconic pose with arms extended proves he was a crucified sun god with his political setbacks and comebacks his cycles of dying and rising. Similar attempts to save other interpretations have a similar fate.

The astonishing thing is that her fanboys still defend drivel like the above example and many others. It makes other Jesus mythicists like Tom Verenna (aka Rook Hawkins) seem refreshing when they state everything I said before some given date is garbage [Note: I am not sure of Verenna's current views on Jesus]. Murdock will fight to the end to defend her bizarre analogy to papal infallibility. Even when confronted with the evidence that her claims are nonsense, she will insist she has not erred.

This should give some idea of why The Christ Conspiracy is the most unintentionally amusing book ever written by a Jesus mythicist. Murdock is reportedly working on a second edition that will no doubt be edited to reflect the far tamer pattern of her recent books. This will be a pity as it will descend to the ranks of the dubious but mundane and lose the audacity of unbridled wackiness.

This is a solid research investigation into the mythical Jesus Christ. For anyone hoping to learn more about the history of the controversy surrounding the historical Jesus, the pagan roots of the Christian myth, ancient religion, mystery cults or comparative religious studies, this book is for you. That said, it requires quite a bit of lateral thinking. Once you accept the possibility that Jesus did not exist, and that various mythologies and beliefs were combined, appropriated, assimilated and mimicked in the creation of the literature of Jesus Christ, it is easy to follow Acharya in her quest to find those external influences. However if you continue to believe in the historical Jesus and are contentiously looking to find fault, you may find the author's connections and insights far-reaching and unsupported. Such is the difficulty prejudice inflicts on this kind of research. The author also may come off as exasperated at times (defensive and/or angry against Christianity and religion in general) but this is to be expected. Imagine that you lived in a world where everybody thought the earth was flat, and how frustrating it would be to try and convince them otherwise. The situation is not unlike Plato's cave allegory or the plight of Cassandra:

"Cassandra, you will always know the future," he said, "but you shall be doomed to despair. No matter that your predictions will always be true, no one will ever believe you."

The primary premises of this book are highly controversial. The result is very polarizing. That wasn't a problem for me, nor should it be for any open-minded person, but people who are strongly immersed in a Christian-based faith will unfairly reject the important conclusions the author has arrived at resulting from her prodigious amount of effort and research. The story modern Catholics and Protestants accept regarding the life and legacy of Jesus is substantially inaccurate and was fictitiously contrived by the 2nd & 3rd century Catholic Church fathers. The evidence has been available to academics for many decades. Regrettably, the majority of people tend to ignore it. Don't believe me? Read this book and discover the evidence for your self. You will never accept Christianity in the same light again.
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I have now read this book several times and "find" new information and perspectives each time. D M Murdock is an excellent scholar who masterfully examines the evolution of Jesus while clearly demonstrating how the early church "borrowed" heavily from previous religions and mythologies and then "historicized" their myth to add legitimacy. She clearly shows that there is a distinct lack of evidence for any existence of Jesus as a historical figure despite the church's efforts to conjure up evidence over the past two millennia or so. If you are open-minded about Christianity and willing to read and consider historical evidence that contradicts the generally accepted perspective, I encourage you to read this book. It will fill in many gaps that you have regarding the truth of the religion.

Great Book! Read It Years Ago..She Breaks it down..Every So Called Christian Jew Or Muslim...Should read this ...
Every person On This Earth will Take Responsibility for their actions one way or the other And Nothing going to SAVE YOU From Yourself... No One..Just You And You Alone.. No Saviors Exist..Sorry Peeps...

Many of the points in this book, (historicity, or lack thereof, of Jesus, etc), are better covered in other works for the intrepid explorer. Many of those other works, however, are not very accessible to the lay student and would probably be only of interest to old toothless heretics like me...So for the first-timer willing to take a peek behind the curtain this will be a mind-blowing expereince. But for you other Heretics out there, some points to ponder...Acharya weaves together the various martyred-saviour-solar warrior-eucharistic myths, anchors them in Egypt, ?, and then, voila!, pulls Christianity out of a tophat. The Christian Apologist, C.S.Lewis, took those mythological similarities and chose to see them as antecedents to the "Christian Revelation"...in other words, six of one/half dozen of the other. Frazier's "Golden Bough" seems to suggest that all of these myths express common human concerns and I'd puts my money on 'dat one, personally. What to make of the Conspiracy part of this? As that great western philosopher, Bugs Bunny, might say..."hmmmmm, could be...", but who cares? And was Jesus completely fictional? Perhaps; but it's much more likely that he was a real, if obscure, figure of Roman occupied Palestine who was one of many loony apocalyptic figures that plagued Judea at the time. That this minor player was then taken by Paul of Tarsus, (assuming HE existed, which I'm not too sure), and the historian Eusebius-in-the-pay-of-Emperor Constantine, and transformed into the Saviour of the World seems more likely. The Roman world at the dawn of Byzantium was awash with pious fictions...what's one more? But, fun stuff here, will push the envelope for you, and Acharya's humour, and compassion, will charm you.

When I saw in the introduction that Acharya gave credence to the idea that Hitler had a Jewish grandmother, treating it as a serious proposition though long rejected by mainstream historians, I feared that she would be making wild claims about other sources as well.

I was right.

To her, everything that might tend to support Christian historical claims is a forgery, and every third and fourth rate source is reliable material. (She levels the "forgery" charge frequently without supporting documentation...and such documentation as there is consists of mostly secondary sources.)

Her style is turgid and convuluted, so I can't even say the writing is entertaining.

If this book is meant to be a genuine scholarly investigation into Christian claims, it is useless. As a joke, it is more useful.

Gimme a break.

We may indeed, as Jacques Barzun noted, be living in an Alexandrian age, a time when an advanced civilisation loses sight of its true values, when even the most literate read not the original, but guidebooks and digests. There comes a time when the encrustation of book upon book means that one need turn to monkish devotion to plough through a subject, if at all. In this book, Acharya S does what few of the devout do, and that is parse the sources. Perhaps in a way that a Barzun did not expect, Acharya S takes a fable, long intertwined with our beliefs, and shows that it, too, is cobbled together from vastly older tales. Personally, I found this book to be a thrilling explanation of matters which are almost willfully left mysterious by those who ought to know better. The real miracle at the heart of Christianity is that there came men and women from its traditions who wrung enduring art and thought further from it. But the awe which we might feel at the antiquity of the far- older stories, themselves the kernel and then some of the Jesus fable, is due to Acharya S's work. I suspect that the special sections of the destroyed Library at Alexandria had its own scholars who could recognise the thought train here.

Understanding any religion requires understanding myth.
Acharya S, aka DM Murdock, brings a great deal of understanding
of mythological history to her assessment of Christian origins
and mythology. If you have studied the issue of Christian
"historicity," you know that the Jesus story has no historicity
at all. The interesting angle of this book is to show how the
Jesus myth is based on earlier, pagan traditions, not merely the
Judaic traditions (Old Testament), which even Christian apologists
will readily admit. Acharya S believes almost all religions are based
on earlier 'astrotheological' archetypes which derive from ancient
worship of the sun, moon, and planets, and this includes the story
of Jesus Christ. Although you may not agree with every single assertion
of the book (I have some trouble with the assertion that Paul never
existed, because somebody wrote about half the epistles attributed to him,
and the dates were pretty early, since there is no knowledge in them of
the stories appearing later in the gospels) what you will take away from it
is the sense that the invention of Christianity was a degradation of
earlier myths, resulting in the violence and ignorance of what even
orthodox historians have termed 'the Dark Ages.'

I recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of religion,
particularly Christianity.

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!

What do Mithra, Hercules, Dionysus, Krishna and Horus have in common with Jesus Christ? Before you say nothing, you may want to take the time to read The Christ Conspiracy and find out.
Follow along in this 400 plus page tale of the greatest name in Christianity as the author weaves throughout history to show that maybe, just maybe what we have been told is not completely accurate.
You'll walk down the corridors of history and look into other religions and how some of their deities have the exact same stories and the man who is the center of the greatest story ever told.
While I don't subscribe to most the theories laid out this book, I found myself looking at my own beliefs a little differently. This book is enlightening and the author is well documented. Overall a great read.

People who "believe" and have "blind" faith will continue to do so regardless of what facts you put in front of them. Publicly most have made the commitment to give their lives to the lord. Whether the commitment made meats the daily actions of their life or not...they must hold to the presumed veracity of their lord and savior Jesus "the" Christ. The book under review here does much to shake the faith of those who exist along the periphery of beliefs in the Christian/Catholic Religions. Zealots will not be moved because REASON has no place in FAITH (for the most part). ALL of the deeds with the exception of a few sayings and miracles performed by "Jesus" were extant to his coming/creation. Readers would do themselves a favor reading a much more complete rendition of the pre/Christian history Gerald Massey, "Egypt Light of the World", "Natural Genesis", "The Book of The Beginnings", and "The Lectures of Gerald Massey". His works are fundamental in acquiring the clarity neccassary for developing an understanding of religion, typology, symbology, ritual....etc. Anything by Albert Churchward, Goddrey Higgins, and Alvin Boyd Khun will lend you and enormous understanding and knowledge of the religious practices throughout the world. The present book will no doubt inspire greater research into Christian histories by the faithful, the disgruntled, as well as the plain old curious.

Acharya is one angry woman, and she really, really hates Christianity. But what the heck does she have against facts?

Her thesis is that Christ never existed. And you are apparently not supposed to notice that there is not a single credible scholar alive who believes any such thing.

Acharya insists Christianity was made up, a strange brew of pagan religions and Roman political need. She bases this claim on her guess that the gospels were written by 180 AD or later.

Why, why didn't she check out current scholarship? Or at least check general information on the internet? There was no need to make a fool of herself like this if she had only checked.

For pity's sake, a portion of John's gospel has been found, and radiocarbon dated to 130 AD (the Ryland fragment). All scholars, including all the atheists of the Jesus Seminar, agree that Paul wrote his first epistle in about 50 AD and that the gospels were written before the end of the first century.

It is astounding that anyone could make such a huge mistake when all it would have taken is two minutes on the internet to learn the truth.

But if her guesses about Christianity are painfully stupid, her beliefs about ancient religions are downright laughable. Yes, many scholars, starting with the 'History of Religions' German school in around 1890, did once guess that Christianity was influenced, or perhaps even grew out of, pagan myths.

But as anyone else knows who has read any biblical scholarship that view has been proven utterly wrong. So wrong not a single reputable scholar would touch the idea with a ten foot pole. Check out the book "The Jesus Legend" which you can get on the store today for background on this.

After decades of study, the evidence revealed that Christianity shaped and influenced pagan religions, not the other way around. How could Acharya not know this??? Thousands of books have been published about it. It's no secret. A good summation on the subject would be Ronald Nash, "The Gospel and the Greeks".

There is hardly a page in her book where she doesn't make some incredible error. Has this woman even been to high school???

She accuses Marx and Lenin of being believing Jews. Sure odd that they wrote all those nasty lines denouncing religion, then, don't you think? She accuses Hitler of being a practicing Catholic! The man joined a satanic cult in the 1920s and killed nearly every priest in Poland.

More historical error howlers: She thinks Krishna was crucified, that he was born of a virgin, and that he was a rising/dying god before Christianity. Must never have read a single scholarly book on that religion, either, because every single statement is wrong. LOVED the part about Krishna being born of a virgin. For pity's sake, how does she explain all those older siblings?? Perhaps someone needs to take her to a quiet corner and explain the facts of life to her.

She thinks all religions have a god, so, clearly, she has never heard of Confucianism or the earliest version of Buddhism.

More pitiful historical gaffes: She thinks the name "Jesus Christ" was never used before 325 AD. It appears in the gospels alone hundreds of times. She thinks Pontius Pilate was never mentioned by any of the church fathers, so we can conclude she's never read any of them, also, since he is mentioned frequently.

She says Justin Martyr, writing circa 150 AD, never quotes from the gospels. Funny things, then about this quote: "That Christ is the firstborn of God, being the logos of which every race of people have been partakers, we have been taught and have declared. (I Apol. 46.2, c.f. John 1:1,9)

Any evidence she stumbled across that disproves her thesis she tosses out as a lie. Roman historian Suetonius, Josephus, and Tacitus--all liars because their statements disprove her pet theory about how Christianity started. Paul,of course, was another myth. He would have to be, or otherwise her theory would be proven to be silly. Alas for her, there is plenty of evidence that he was very real.

None of the other evidence about the existence of early Christianity is mentioned. Has she ever read any of the earliest documents from early Christianity? She gives no evidence of even hearing of the Didache, the letters of Ignatius, 1 Clement, Papias, and all the other early writers? I can only assume that she has such a sketchy amount of knowledge on the subject that she doesn't know they exist.

Also wrong: her claim that all religions have a rising/dying god. Come on! Even the briefest glance at a book on comparative religions could tell her how incorrect that idea is.

And yet one more error, this one central to her thesis: the Roman empire circa 180 AD did not need to invent Christianity. She apparently confuses the era with that of Constantine, about 150 years later.

The rise of Christianity is a fascinating subject. There are lots of great books out there on the subject. This is not one of them.

And on top of everything else, she's a truly lousy writer. How did she get this c...stuff published??

I bought this book from the store along with "Jesus and the Forgotten City." The latter book details the archaeological discovery and analysis of Herod's capital city of Sepphoris, located a mere 4 miles from Nazareth. This investigation was aided by sponsorship from National Geographic, because they wanted this discovery to appear as the Christmas 1999 cover story. The resulting perspective of this dig proved that Jesus' influences were not rural but more urban. The board of National Geographic eventually vetoed the idea of this story for Christmas because they found it too controversial. Why?
Then, I read "The Christ Conspiracy" and what was always a suspicion was verified. True, Acharya S does get a little opinionated, which disturbs those who are looking for a more academic type book, but maybe she wants to get her subject in our face. And why not. The persecution of other groups of people, especially the Jews, based on some one who really did not exist, is an abomination.
I have read books on biblical archaeology and Jesus studies for years. The Dead Sea Scrolls, the Q Document, the Nag Hammadi Library, books by Karen Armstrong and Elaine Pagels. This book condenses a lot of the studies into a single volume and reveals the evolution of our current religious milieu from our ancient archetypes.
And as one of the other reviewers stated, "the truth will set you free." The combination of those two books produced an emotional response that did set my mind free.
It was perfectly obvious why the board of National Geographic was against the article and why most of the major religions are not sponsoring archaeology digs in Israel. It is not that they are afraid of finding something that will refute the Bible; it is the fact that they will not find anything proving that Jesus existed, which has been the condition thus far.
So, in Sepphoris, Herod's Galilean capital, within walking distance of Nazareth, nothing has been found placing Jesus in his supposed location. And, Acharya S' and other scholars' hypotheses are proven true. And the conspiracy continues to be bolstered, even by National Geographic.

The author's book is a sarcastic romp through skeptical sources against Christianity. Indeed, if you hate Christianity and organized religion, this is the book for you.

I wouldn't swallow the book whole though. As mentioned by others, her sources are all secondary and may be questionable in their conclusions. The credentials of the author herself may be questionable.

The book reveals the secular left-wing opinion towards Christianity and why the religion is hated so much. There are many asides in the book which mention those bugaboos lefties are obsessed with--racism, sexism, and bigotry--and supposedly Christianity invented all this.

The author's biases seem so strong that a reader may question whether she has remained objective or not. The author sometimes exudes the arrogance and self-righteousness that she claims her opponents have. Maybe she should turn her critical faculties towards herself and see how that feels. She has a blind faith in her own belief system which she thinks will make a better world and I suppose she would stop at nothing to impose her will upon others, so I don't think her world would be any better or tolerant than Christian world has been.

The author has come up with many an interesting idea to ponder:

I liked the book best when the author got down to the business of showing how Christianity is based upon older pagan myths. It seems that Christianity may be a faith that has amalgamated other elements of other previous religions to create a state religion that would have total power over the people. These previous religions worshiped the stars and the sun in an allegorical way. For instance, the Lord's day is Sun Day. In ancient times, you actually worshipped the sun god in a much more obvious way. In Egypt, you would have been worshipping Horus, who eventually turned into Jesus over the centuries. Horus had an adversary, or satan, called Set, Lord of darkness. At the end of the day, Set overcomes the sun god at sun-SET. Archarya S has all kinds of information on Biblical characters and events and what they really mean.

They also worshipped the goddess, but in this patriarchal age, the goddess has been scrapped. For instance, Mother Mary was the goddess Isis in Egypt and was part of their trinity. The author thinks that the age of goddess-worship was better and seems to think females are morally superior to males, who are always fighting and oppressing everyone. I didn't think she gave enough evidence to prove that the age of the goddess was better. It still remains a feminist fantasy to me, stroking some women`s already overweening vanity.

The Gnostic Christians had a less than flattering opinion of females, viewing them as a representation of materiality that they were trying to get away from while striving for a higher spiritual plane. If you look at the etymology of "mater" it originally meant mother. Hence, mater=mother=material girl, so to speak. After all, it was a shameful thing to be born again by a mother in this dense and gross world. If you had been more spiritual, you could have remained permanently in the heavenly realms. Females were accused of always gravitating towards material comfort above spiritual asceticism. This is probably why some philosophers over the ages have speculated over whether women have souls or not. Men were bound to the spirit of father sky, women were bound to materiality of mother earth and lack the spirit supposedly.

The former use of sex and drugs as a way to the sacred has been defined as a sin to be punished. The guilt over indulging in such pleasures must be confessed to a priest. Some drugs are mind expanding such as certain mushrooms, as opposed to the stupefying effects of alcohol.

The church has not become one of the more successful cults in the world because of attractive qualities, but through force, fraud, and forgery. Archarya S states that Christ was an allegorical figure and not historically real, quoting her secondary sources of skeptics. If Christ rocked the world so much, why was so little said about him from sources outside the fictional and contradictory biblical stories and statements from fanatical adherents? Christianity is merely an irrational cult that got out of control.

She claims that Christians have been responsible for burning pagan books and the library of Alexandria so that we don't know what the ancient world was like as well as we should. After Christianity came to the fore, the world descended into the dark ages of general ignorance, superstition, illiteracy, and violently enforced orthodoxy.

It seems that some of those celibate monks and nuns were not so celibate. Nunneries often resembled brothels in which the monks would come over and well...Underneath certain abbeys and in the ponds nearby, remains of dead babies have been found.

The critique is mostly text-based and does not deal with strange phenomenon for the most part, such as near death experiences in which people claim to have met Jesus, or with people who claim to be possessed by the devil.

The book gets my reluctant approval, although it does bring up the problem of books--and conspiracy-based books especially--being more misleading than enlightening with all their feverish, sensational statements.

I have just finished reading The Christ Conspiracy. I found it to be a thorough and scholarly work which supports what I have believed for some time. I first found Col. James Churchward' s The Lost Continent of Mu in my Junior High library and read the book in the mid -fifties. I always wondered about the veracity of the findings. In the last several years I have had the time to go back and read more on the early history of Man. Much has been (re)-discovered since the fifties that certainly seems to support the story as reported by Churchward. I have read all of Gardener's books, but I find them to be selfserving in support of the ruling monachy, and don't tell the entire truth. I have been interested in the Knights Templar history for some time as well and the Prior of Sion story.
I think your book and the earlier works by Massey, which I have started to read, do spell out the history of the Mythos and what it really means. I am an educated person, trained in physics and engineering, and an amateur (very) astronomer. I understand the precesion of the equinoxes and I have read Hamlet's Mill.
There is hope in my heart that the next generation (or two) will finally get the facts straight and a new age can begin. Unless, Man is doomed to continually kill his own kind forever, due to a basic flaw in our genetic programing, then we may not survive, unless that flaw can be eliminated.

I must say, of all that I have read in the last ten years, your book was a major breakthrough in truth-telling. I am also a follower of Zechariah Sitchin. I believe the story of mankind lies in the Sumerian tablets, or in even older tablets not yet available to the west (such as those refered to by Churchward. I hope that you will continue to publish the truth and that more people will avail themselves of it through works such as those you have written.

Philip Trask

This is a comprehensive, well-written book that deals with the alternative/radical/non-traditional vision of Jesus which is increasing in popularity. Though nowhere nearly as useful as other similar books (e.g., Freke & Gandy's works), it deals with a much broader set of issues. Generally well researched, my main criticism of the book is the poor documentation. Many critical quotations are not referenced, and many references are incorrect. When dealing with non-traditional ideas, the author needs to be scrupulously correct. This authors plays it "fast and loose" and that seriously devalues the usefulness of the book. I'd love to see a revision with more attention to the documentation. That would be an excellent book. Meanwhile the book is nonetheless valuable, and most of the references I looked into myself were correct, but this was not universally true.

A ROLLER COASTER RIDE BACK INTO TIME DURING THE PAST 2000 PLUS YEARS!

Before I read the Christ Conspiracy I didn't know much about the Christ myth. I had recently left the New Age and I was wondering about leaving Christianity behind and joining instead Yatuk Dinoih , which is one of the world's least known about religious faiths and is based largely on freethinking. I finished reading Christ Conspiracy at an extremely long time and later the Suns of God , and am soon to begin reading Christ in Egypt - the Horus - Jesus Connection.
I have tried several times to give this book a seriously good review , but all previous attempts have until so far failed. I hope therefore that I am permitted to publish this review , because all the others were merely a preparation for this latest review of mine on Christ Conspiracy. Over two thousand years ago a group of scholars came together to orchestrate one of the least sucessful messianic myths of all time , and one of the least original - the myth of Jesus Christ , and to base that myth on the historicitation of earlier Christ myths , such as those of Dyonisus and even Bes. It is no wonder that scholars today , famous and less known alike , find it so easy to criticize the claim that Jesus Christ had some kind of basis in reality.
Today I can go into Hallgrimskirkja church in Iceland and point to the ceiling and say calmly and rationally to foreigners as they pass me down 'you're looking for Jesus in the wrong place , he's up there', and they'll nod and laugh and we'll realize that he was just the Sun - but beyound that there's much , much more! Included is a thorough analysis of the famous mysteries and the critically important part they play in the Christ Myth and in the myth of the dying and resurrecting 'son'of the gods who were later to become 'the one god'in some cultures such as among the ancient Babyloneans and the Israelites.
In the far future , despite the endless , totally insane attempts to mind manipulate and mind - indoctrinate people into accepting the litteracy of all kinds of dubious information on Jesus , most recently in Ireland , we are thankful for these great and courageous souls to have made their commitment to the exposure of the truth - and truth be known! The truth being that anyone can have their personal view on a mythical deity , but that view doesn't have to be expressed at the expense of someone who had little or nothing to do with that particular religion - our present culture has become spoon fed with all kinds of ridiculous crap , which has been mass - fed into billions of people by a soulless media which has replaced the priests of old , such as [...] High Priests who get insulted at the slightest depiction of moving imagery of any kind , so much so that they're currently trying to turn all of the channels into beta.02.
All I can say about this book is that it changed my views on Christianity to such an extent that I left it immediately and am so thankful that there was no need for any end of the world to arrive in the kind of gruesome manner that's exposed in the Book of Revelation and on related places. Once having gained all the knowledge on how the hoaxers attempted to convince the intelligent that Jesus was for real , I could now explain to my family and friends how the whole hoax was orchestrated.
I do not believe in the litteral existence of Jesus or Satan - I believe rather , in the kind of things that freethinkers and some modern day theistic satanists or luciferians believe , and I refuse to bow down to monotheistic deities. My sunday school education was nothing but persecution and indoctrination which I thankfully escaped , and the Christ Conspiracy is being continiously exposed by hundreds of writers who refuse to be silenced by bum laws. Because it was important that this conspiracy be exposed prior to 2012 for some reason.
Almost all important but still unlocked secrets in need to be unlocked prior to the arrival of that manufactured point in time had to be unlocked and hence this period from 1999 to 2009 became known as The Unveiling , the Lifting of the Veils.
The day the gods , rather than the Earth , stood still. Exposed , naked , before the stupidity of the peoples of the past century as this climax approaxed and showed once and for all how monotheistic religions had ravaged the minds of billions of people and the abuse of the knowledge those religions represented had led to the zombification of those same billions of minds who are now slowly but surely waking up and seeing the mess. It was no wonder that Christ Conspiracy would one day be published and become known worldwide , and soon the latest sequel to that book , Christ in Egypt the Horus - Jesus Connection is destined to reach the same place of immortality in human memory as the Christ Conspiracy has brilliantly , and rightfully done.
As our present civilization looks back we are ashamed of how we have behaved to one another and our beautiful , blue planet and it's neighbouring space , and it's good to know that there are those among us who are now seeing the errors of the ways of our fathers and realizing the consequences of those errors , such as blowing up the skies and surface of the planet with nuclear weapons. Yet still there are those countless millions who still refuse with some awakening nonetheless to look into the real meaning behind their religious indoctrination. As the priests and governments loose hold over us , we become more streetwise and better apt at handling all the vast amount of knowledge we have currently amassed during the past 15 plus years.
I view this book as a kind of singularity device , much like Acharya S.'s other books - some authors have the power to create books that work like singularity machines , and maybe Acharya S. and J.R.R. Tolkien are two primary examples , two others being Frank Herbert and Philip K. Dick. Ursula Le Guin , Mary Relly and perhaps even Anne Rice. Unfortunately our present world is still mad , mad , and in some places seriously bad , but thankfully that's going to change and the seeds of the emergence of that change have been thrown into it's ever growing soil.

This book will be a revelation to anyone who believes that Jesus Christ is the only begotten son sent from God to save us from our sins. The fact is that such a person never existed.
Acharya S has done a service to forensic anthropology similar to what Euclid did for geometry. She has pulled together all available materials to reveal the inner workings of perhaps the biggest folly of Western man.
Reading "The Christ Conspiracy" brought to mind the picture of a hockey game in which one team didn't show up and the other ... instead of just taking the forfeit ... played the game anyway, shooting pucks into an open net. Long shots, slap shots off the glass, lofted shots, behind the back, through the legs, etc. Some shots miss but ... you get the picture.
I don't think that she is being unfair to the Church by not representing their views because ... they simply don't have any. That is, they have nothing to say to bolster their contention that Jesus was a real, flesh and blood human being 2000 years ago. If they had such evidence, they would have produced it long ago.
I would suppose that they do have, in those underground vaults, plenty of evidence that their enterprise is a sham (as serial killers keep trophies) but you're not going to get to see that ... nor will anyone else with less authority than an Italian cardinal from the "old school".
Her story in brief ...
is that Jesus is a made up character like Pinochio who entered the world as an historical figure ... ex post facto ... around 150 CE (the Common Era). He is the creation of multiple "Christian" sects flourishing then, which predate what is presently understood to be Christianity. Their purpose was to make a state religion for Rome ... to subsume all other religions by taking parts of each and all to construct the "ideal bastard" (with a thousand fathers). They placed him in the past, circa 30 CE, calling him the "real deal" and refined the scam for hundreds of years thereafter.
In fact, the Jesus myth is simply a rehash of Solar myths, sun gods, Zodiacal stars and "luna"-tics. It is as old as time and is manifested in virtually every culture on Earth to some extent. The same generalities are apply to the Jewish religion, i.e. no real Moses and lots of mythical figures.
Some excellent things I learned here (or re-learned because I just forgot):
That when one religion replaces another it generally takes the previous dominant gods and makes them subordinates of the new god (or apostles or prophets)
That the ancients knew the world was round and revolved around the sun (only some forgot during the self-inflicted, church-sponsored, memory lapse)
That the fish symbol on the red-necks cars down here in Texas represents the "Age of Pisces"
That St. Paul is also not a real person
That there are Zodiacal images all over, under and around Christian churches (who profess it a sin to believe in such things)
Acharya S ties up her bundle with a thousand strings that lead to hundreds of other truth seekers, principally from the last two hundred years ... from Thomas Paine to Gerald Massey to Earl "The Jesus Puzzle" Doherty. This Reverse Inquisition has been going on for that long, intermittently, without my knowledge because I have never investigated the matter before.
I was born and raised a Catholic ...
I became a "born again" athiest at 14 and never looked back. But I never questioned that Jesus was a real person. I simply assumed, for want of seeing any opposition, that he was some sort of Jim Jones type who did a few tricks, had some groupies, and became a big shot ... post mortem ... through the artifice of those who came after and thought of him a useful idiot.
Apparently this is not the case. Christianity is a willful fraud perpetrated by experts in the manipulation of pliable minds. It is dangerous only if left unexamined.
My guess is that if all who presently regard themselves Christians read this book, half would gradually abandon their churches and the other half would refuse to believe the obvious truth even as some believe that OJ is innocent ... and ... Osama's tape has been electronically altered. There are none so blind as those who deceive themselves.
I suppose that some people will declare this to be a rant ... but it is most definitely not. I know what a rant is. I make them on occasions. This book is 99.7% scholarly and 0.3% rant, i.e. a few genuine rant paragraphs. But I expect an author's bias to show through somewhere. And how could one not be biased by a fable that has caused so much destruction through the ages?
I enjoyed this work immensely in a purely intellectual way and recommend it without qualification to anyone on this planet seriously attempting to develop an intellect.

PS: I recommended to her that the next book be priced significantly higher so that she could make a reasonable profit from her work. At ($), the Christ Conspiracy is too close to a "freebie".

Obviously the author touched some nerves with this one. It is a brilliant summary of known sources of information on Christianity and other forms of religion (myth).
A small part of the work is speculative, however, those that wish to remain willingly ignorant will never accept the premise outlined in the book, since they have been brainwashed by their teachers, parents and communities. Those seekers of truth will find it a useful addition to their sources of information in their quest for truth.
Like any work in progress it is not perfect, but it is impossible for any complex work that relies on such diverse sources of information to be without flaw. Those taking potshots at the book due to minor alleged or actual imperfections do nothing to make their case, since the body of evidence is so overwhelming that it should easily win over objective students. The Bible is certainly flawed in its contradictions of the supposedly inspired word of God, but the fundamentalist will never admit this. The minor errors in the book can be forgiven due to the large and convincing amount of information that cannot be refuted with dogmatic protestations. People like Acharya are always vilified for questioning authority; there is a long list of names in the same club as Galileo who were persecuted by Christians simply for trying to educate the public.
Religious Pride leads to persecution of those belonging to other religions, violence, and war and away from the search for truth. Some religious leaders talk about being proud and extol it as a virtue, rather than the first and worst of vices as taught in their own religions. All religions are imperfect and nothing to be proud of.
Pride in one’s religion has been the cause of wars, persecution and atrocities, all committed in the name of God. The dogmatic, yet changing nature of all religions logically disqualifies all of them from being “the one true religion.” Slavishly following the dictates of any particular religion, without regard for what is plainly right or wrong, according to the conscience of the individual, is as a result of fear of breaking the rules and thus somehow offending fellow members. This usually results from brainwashing in early childhood. This puts many organized religions in their proper light, which is that they are all no more than cults. They have become very powerful, and are accepted, in some cases, by the state, in a formal manner.
In the case of some religions, the official position is that the faithful cannot think for themselves, or interpret the scriptures for themselves, and thus they incorporate catechisms of essentially politically motivated, man-made rules, which exist partly for the purpose of controlling the followers and what they are to think, as opposed to allowing them to embark upon the journey of discovery themselves.
Keep the good work up Acharya. I am looking forward to your next book.

Acharya has written an absolutely stunning, devastating, and highly informative book surrounding the subject of how certain doctrines of Christianity were crafted, not through Divine revelation, but by human intervention.
BUT! She makes two errors, in my humble opinion. First, on pages 81-82, she states that the name Yuz Asaf, a name many believe Jesus adopted after his survival of the crucifixion and subsequent travel to India, is the equivalent of the name Joseph.
In point of fact, Asaf is a Hebrew word that means, Gatherer. Yuz is a corruption of the Hebrew name Yehoshuwa, or Yeshuwa, or Joshwa, all of which are forms of what would have most likely been Jesus' real name [certainly it WASN'T Jesus Christ, as that is a Greek name.]
So, Yuz Asaf would mean, Jesus the Gatherer.
The name is also believed to have been a peculiar colloquialism of the time that referred to lepers that Jesus cured, perhaps in his capacity as an herbal healer or healer of some kind.
Secondly, she *assumes* that because a cabal borrowed pre-Christian mythological ideas and foisted them upon Christianity and the figure of Jesus Christ, that that proves that Jesus didn't even exist.
Well, what it proves is that a conspiracy occurred to create a new religion, *in the name of Jesus*, but it does not prove that Jesus didn't exist.
Jesus may very well have removed himself from the scene [as many now believe] after the event of the crucifixion and traveled Eastward to India, where, in fact, there do exist strong traditions that state that he spent his last days in India and lived to be 120 years old. In short, though doctrines were concocted in his name, this does not mean that he did not exist.
But, aside from those two flaws, Acharya S's book is certainly must reading!
--The Tomb Master--

Acharya's scholarship amazes the reader. One is dazzled as she finds the disparate threads of evidence, from the tribal, resurrected Sun-God of the Palestinians, Tammuz, and shows us how this myth grew into the "disciple, Thomas," to the early correspondences of church leaders in the first three centuries of the era, who never quote the "Gospels," because these had not yet been produced. For someone to be for or against the authenticity of any given religion is nothing new. What is refreshing is that this author shines the spotlight of solid research onto the hitherto dark corners of this desert region.
That putting all the different myths together into one super-God-Man theme, ultimately titled "Jesus" required a detailed conspiracy is a point she makes well. A reader would have to agree, based on the sheer complexity of the project. Empire crumbling? Different peoples rediscovering their ethnicity and breaking away from central government? We seen it happen in the U.S.S.R., just as it happened in Rome. The latter hatched an answer, an all-encompassing state religion, which would include elements of native faiths and the existing mystery religions from the entire region. Such a unifying force just might provide cohesion.
Interestingly enough, the book concludes by regerring to discoveries at Mehenjo-Darjo, an ancient Pakistani city, which once may have been a hub of a global civilization. Such a civilization may have shared different versions of a common faith, even thousands of years past. Seemingly, the disparate mythologies which Christian conspirators at the Council of Nicea and elsewhere synthesized had great similarities, being based as they all were on solar worship, sacred astrological observation, and seasonal rites of passage.
To learn why "biblical history" is nothing but mythology and to gain insight into what really happened in the Middle East two millenia ago, this is a must read. Since the region still boils with religious strife, knowing the origins of one of its most far-reaching mythologies is a good first step to understanding events that unfold there.

This is the most comprehensive, comprehendable, and well thought through book on the subject of religious refutation. Although quite long, it is an easy read. The author outlines the why, how, where, when and the so what of christianity's complex and obviously astronomical religions. I was shocked to read some of the conclusions that this book puts out, but they make so much sense after the author elucidates. When I purchased this book, I also bought 3 other books....The Fabrication of the Christ Myth, and The Jesus Mysteries. I am returning them because such a book could not explain any more of what Christianity is all about. This book is, by far, the best book to read in the area.

Wow! I thought Joseph Campbell was the be-all and do-all in this field. But Acharya S thoroughly examines the Christian myth as few have dared--with depth and breadth. Using thorough research, in-context passages from the Bible, quotes from individuals from the annals of time, along with a thoroughly engaging writing style, Acharya S culls the truth out of the myth. Of course Jesus was not historical--otherwise his works and deeds would have been written about by all sorts of historians of his time. Of course Christianity is indoctrination of the most insidious sort--the younger the better in order to get them before they can reason. Of course its only means to keep the "flock" was to murder all who thought for themselves. Plus, the fact that Christianity is as pagan as it gets flies in the face of a so-called "revealed truth". The fact that Christianity is not unique in its origin and nature, nor are the characters who make up the many books of the Bible, also testify to the fact that it's NOT a divinely revealed religion as well. History, history and more history. Just in time to usher out the 20th century. I highly recommend a background or an interest in religion, mythology, linguistics, history, astronomy and even astrology to get the best out of this book. Nonetheless, if you don't have those backgrounds, you will when you're done! Acharya uses her diverse knowledge of these disciplines and many more to unravel the tangled mess that Christianity has left on the planet. This spiritually dead religion has finally met its match. The truth has been revealed and Acharya S is the exposer. Kudos to her for using over 400 pages to point out every last aspect of it as well.

Many deceivers who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 2 Jn:7
That being said, I wouldn't be shocked if Acharya admitted to sporting a very fine 666. Perhaps those of us still feeling a little disoriented by our new-found-freedom delivered via her liberating writings, should substitute her mark-of-the-beast for the popes ring?...
She is obviously very passionate about her work and rightly so! Her attention to important details in scripture (that in my 35 years of church training have not been mentioned by any of my teachers) is very impressive!
A) Through scriptural analysis she exposes forgery, inconsistencies and the immoral perspectives/motivations of many of the writers/editors
B) She uses her knowledge of language, mythology and the scriptures to lucidly reveal the unorthodox and pagan perspectives of the scripture's writers/editors. She explains how, when and why the scriptures were corrupted/invented by church leaders and how they have been misinterpreted by the well-intentioned devout ever since.
C) Although her hypothesis seems bold, a little brutal and frankly quite unbelievable, by the time she is finished you'll feel that you've read a powerful debunking.
Unlike some harsh (and unfair) criticisms of this book I don't believe that it contains too many lengthy quotes. In fact for readers like myself who haven't had the privilege of being well educated in either ancient mythology or religions other than Christianity, I would have preferred even more excerpts of accepted written versions of these myths in the text. It would have saved me from having to do some external authenticating of references.
If the other reviews are an accurate representation or all it's readers, the book has really irritated a small proportion of readers. After reading it, you'll see that the significant criticisms need more support to be accepted...Some so-called theologians apparently believe that people whom didn't attend their schools aren't worth quoting and that non-clique opinions are inherently invalid. I wouldn't be surprised if a statistic analysis might prove otherwise.
To most western readers the astrological content, (obvious from the cover of the book), could seem 'nutty' however the author adequately substantiates the appropriateness via scripture and other sources.
To seem less biased, the book could have mentioned some positive contributions of the Christian church---but in light of their scarcity it's easy to believe that the author hasn't witnessed any. However I'm sure that for most Christians and also for truly objective observers not all church communities or even all aspects of most church communities can be easily written-off as instruments of control and enslavement. In it's better facets Christianity like many other religions has positively motivated people to help the helpless, empower the weak, create community, and to think. Compared to our western-capitalistic-pop-culture, some churches are actually a haven for the arts, multiculturalism, and people interested growth and freedom. It has been instrumental in tearing down social-class barriers. Many religious institutions are a vital and positive part of modern civil society. Unfortunately from my experience, (and obviously also from the author's), many are not.
A few of the books claims remain suspect and the author readily admits that some points are speculation. The speculations are thoughtful and fascinating even if not totally verifiable.
The opening quote in the preface is offensive. It isn't a valid argument, and isn't even particularly funny. Don't let it put you off reading the book! I expect that everyone even remotely interested in the traditional religions will find the book very rewarding and well worth the time.
P.S. to those who've already read the book, wouldn't you like to see a silhouette of the pope with incense added to the standard inkblot psychological evaluation test?

THIS BOOK WOULD LIKELY OFFEND MOST OF STRONG CHRISTIAN CONVICTIONS... FORTUNATELY FOR ME, I AM NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE... THE BOOK SEEMED SLOW AT FIRST BUT AFTER A SHORT WHILE BECOAME A VERY INTERESTING READ... MOST OF THE DATA IS NOT NEW BUT HERE IT IS PUT TOGETHER TO FORWARD THE AUTHOR'S POINT OF VIEW... MANY HAVE SUSPECTED THAT ORGANIZED RELIGION IS AN INSTITUTION PUT FORTH TO KEEP THE AVERAGE TOM, DICK AND HARRIETS IN LINE... THE FACTS AS STATED SEEM TO BEAR THIS OUT... SHE MAKES THE CASE, I THINK, WITH THE FOLKLORE ABOUT THE STARS I.E. ASTROLOGY SINCE IT WOULD THE FIRST THINGS FOLKS WOULD SEIZE ON BEFORE THE ADVENT OF MYTHOLOGY AND/OR RELION... SOME OF HER ASSERTIONS ABOUT ANVANCED ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS IS INTERSETING AND I WOULD TO READ MORE ABOUT THEM... FOR MANY INTERSTED IN COMPARATIVE RELIGIONS THIS WOULD BE INTERESTING, FOR THOSE WHOSE RELIGION IS A PILLAR OF STRENGTH WOULD FIND THE BOOK DISQUIETING... I ENJOYED THE BOOK AND WOULD RECCOMEND THE BOOK BUT CAUTIOUS ABOUT WHO I RECCOMEND THE BOOK TO...