DOCSLIB.ORG

The Christ Conspiracy: the Greatest Story Ever Sold Free

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Christ Conspiracy: the Greatest Story Ever Sold Free FREE THE CHRIST CONSPIRACY: THE GREATEST STORY EVER SOLD PDF Acharya S | 256 pages | 01 Sep 1999 | Adventures Unlimited Press | 9780932813749 | English | Kempton, IL, United States Acharya S - Wikipedia Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date. For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now. Javascript is not enabled in your browser. Enabling JavaScript in your browser will allow you to experience all the features of our site. Learn how to enable JavaScript on your browser. NOOK Book. Home 1 Books 2. Read an excerpt of this book! Add to Wishlist. Sign in to Purchase Instantly. Members save with free shipping everyday! See details. Overview In this highly controversial and explosive book, archaeologist, historian, mythologist and linguist Acharya S. In developing such a fabrication, this multinational cabal The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold upon a multitude of myths and rituals that existed long before the Christian era, and reworked them for centuries into the religion passed down to us today. Contrary to popular belief, there was no single man who was at the genesis of Christianity; Jesus was many characters rolled into one. The story of Jesus as portrayed in the Gospels is revealed to be nearly identical in detail to that of the earlier savior-gods Krishna and Horus, who for millennia preceding Christianity held great favor with the people. The Christ Conspiracy shows the Jesus character as not unique or original, not "divine revelation. Product Details About the Author. About the Author Acharya S. Related Searches. Oxford-educated historian Joseph P. Farrell delivers the sequel to his best-selling Cover Wars and Breakaway Farrell delivers the sequel to his best-selling Cover Wars and Breakaway Civilization, part of his book series on suppressed technology, Nazi survival, secret finance and postwar hidden conflicts. His customary meticulous research and sharp analysis blow View Product. Death on Mars: The Discovery of a Planetary. New proof of a nuclear catastrophe on Mars! In an epic story of discovery, strong In an epic story of discovery, strong evidence is presented for a dead civilization on Mars and the shocking reason for its demise: an ancient planetary-scale nuclear massacre leaving isotopic The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold of Dig Here! The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold most amazing treasure book ever written, giving the locations of well over fabulous The most amazing treasure book ever written, giving the locations of well over fabulous fortunes waiting to be found in the ore-rich Southwest. Thomas Penfield has done years of exhaustive research for Dig Here! Hess and the Penguins: The Holocaust, Antarctica and. Pursuing his investigations of WWII machinations, secret international agreements, breakaway civilizations and hidden wars in Pursuing his investigations of WWII machinations, secret international agreements, breakaway civilizations and hidden wars in Antarctica, author and researcher Joseph P. Farrell examines the continuing mystery of Rudolf Hess, his sudden flight to Scotland, his supposed imprisonment at Spandau Prison Orion dominates the winter sky, flanked by Taurus the Bull on one side and Canis Orion dominates the winter sky, flanked by Taurus the Bull on one side and Canis the Great Dog on the other-three key constellations for the Hopi and prehistoric Pueblo People of the American Southwest. When these stars appear in the Lost Cities of Atlantis, Ancient Europe and the. Rogue adventurer and maverick archaeologist Childress takes the reader on unforgettable journeys in search of Rogue adventurer and The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold archaeologist Childress takes the reader on unforgettable journeys in search of lost cities and ancient mysteries. Join him as he crosses deserts, mountains, and jungles in search of legendary cities, vast gold treasure, jungle pyramids, ancient Masters of Deception: Murder and Intrigue in the. Inthe publication of The Da Vinci Code propelled the enigmatic Priory of Sion to international fame as the guardians of a sacred bloodline. But Guy Patton has been investigating the group for more than two decades, and has Childress looks into the enigma of obelisks and their purpose. Adventures Unlimited The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold. Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold by Acharya S., Paperback | Barnes & Noble® This book is kind of a mess. The author goes for the kitchen sink approach, throwing in everything that seems relevant without making critical distinctions. Despite that, there The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold enough provocative This is fascinating, but don't expect a strictly scientific work. It's considerably more scientific than any work I've ever seen that supports the Bible as history, but I can't say I trust all of her Acharya S. In this highly controversial and explosive book, archaeologist, historian, mythologist and linguist Acharya S. In developing such a fabrication, this multinational cabal drew upon a multitude of myths and rituals that existed long before the Christian era, and reworked them for centuries into the religion passed down to us today. Contrary to popular belief, there was no single man who was at the genesis of Christianity; Jesus was many characters rolled into one. The story of Jesus as portrayed in the Gospels is revealed to be nearly identical in detail to that of the earlier savior-gods Krishna and Horus, who for millennia preceding Christianity held great favor with the people. The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold Christ Conspiracy shows the Jesus character as not unique or original, not "divine revelation. The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold by D.M. Murdock Murdock[5] [6] was an American writer supporting the Christ myth theory that Jesus never existed as a historical person, but was rather a mingling of various pre-Christian myths, Sun deities and dying-and-rising deities. She wrote and operated a website focused on history, religion and spirituality, and astro-theology. She asserted the pre-Christian religious civilizations understood their myths as allegorical, but Christians obliterated evidence by destroying suppressing literature after The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold attained control of the Roman Empireleading to widespread illiteracy in the ancient world, ensuring the mythical nature of Christ's story was hidden. She argued the Christian canon, as well as its important figures, were based on Roman, Greek, Egyptian, and other cultures' myths. Price criticized her first book while praising later writing. She also wrote against the ancient astronauts theories, asserting they "may be prompted by the same type of motivation that produced the Biblea chronicle largely-consisting of the plagiarized myths of other cultures" re-fashioned as 'fact' concerning purported legend-based characterizations, and may be driven by the attempt to validate biblical myth as historical under a different 'interpretation'. She died of cancers in her immune system and liver on December 25, She was known as "Dori" to her loved ones. Murdock began her website, Truth Be Knownin Her book, The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ continues the theme of The Christ Conspiracy by expanding her theory questioning the historicity of Jesusalleging "early Christian history to be largely myth, by sorting through available historical and archaeological data. Writer Russ Kickin his book You Are Being Lied Todescribes The Christ Conspiracy as "an essential book for anyone who wants to know the reality behind the world's dominant religion". Baptist comparative religion scholar Clinton Bennett compares her views to those of radical freethinker Robert Taylor nicknamed "the Devil's chaplain"secularist MP and Christ-mythicist John M. Robertsonand American mythographer Joseph Campbell. McGrath describes her viewpoint as one that "once had some currency among scholars" in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but was subsequently abandoned. Atheist activist and Christ mythicist Richard Carrier criticized her use of The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold inscriptions at Luxor to make the claim that the story of Jesus' birth was inspired by the Luxor story of the birth of Horus. Her work has also been criticized by New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrmanwho, in his Did Jesus Exist? He says "all of Acharya's major points are in fact wrong" and her book "is filled with so many factual errors and outlandish assertions that it is hard to believe the author is serious". Taking her as representative of some other writers about the Christ myth theory, he continues "Mythicists of this ilk should not be surprised that their views are not taken seriously by real scholars, mentioned by experts in the field, or even read by them". Emeritus Professor of New Testament Languages and Literature at the University of Nottingham Maurice Casey criticized her work for The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold anti-Christian outlook, a lack of any proper sense of reality, failure to give adequate references, inability to interpret primary sources correctly, and dependence on inaccurate out-of-date secondary sources rather than primary evidence. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. American Christ myth theorist — The Masks of Christ. Retrieved January 19, Hartford Courant. January 24, Retrieved March 27, Truth Be Known. Archived from the original on May 7, Retrieved January 1, In Murdock, D. Who Was Jesus? Seattle: Stellar House. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. Retrieved September 11, Archived from the original on September 19, Retrieved March 14, Murdock, ". Retrieved July 1, December 27, Archived from the original on January 7, Retrieved December 31, January 16, Murdock Memoriam". Freethought Nation. Retrieved March 12, Retrieved December 26, Stellar House Publishing. Archived from the original on July 16, Retrieved July 9, New York: The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold Disinformation Company. Parapolitics: Conspiracy in Contemporary America.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Mythicism and the Mainstream: the Rhetoric and Realities of Academic Freedom
    Butler University Digital Commons @ Butler University Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS College of Liberal Arts & Sciences 2014 Mythicism and the Mainstream: The Rhetoric and Realities of Academic Freedom James F. McGrath Butler University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/facsch_papers Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation McGrath, James F., "Mythicism and the Mainstream: The Rhetoric and Realities of Academic Freedom" The Bible and Interpretation / (2014): -. Available at https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/facsch_papers/885 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Digital Commons @ Butler University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Butler University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Bible and Interpretation - Mythicism and the Mainstream Mythicism and the Mainstream: The Rhetoric and Realities of Academic Freedom Religion Today Site menu: Donate Home Recent News In My View But when it comes to the mythicism proffered by people whose knowledge of relevant Articles languages, historical texts, ancient cultures, and other such data is minimal or non- Commentary existent, and whose works consist only of web pages and self-published books, scholars and Reports are under no obligation to waste their valuable time on such matters any more than on the countless other topics which web sites and self-published books address, and which a Excavations quick perusal shows to be bunk. About Us Support Us By James F. McGrath Links Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature Butler University March 2014 Advertise With Us Introduction On Finding Jesus—A Review of the CNN There are few topics as crucial to the academic endeavors of teaching and research in Episodes which most members of our organization are engaged, as the topic of academic freedom.
    [Show full text]
  • Did Jesus Exist? Blogosphere Responses
    Did Jesus Exist? Blogosphere Responses www.vialogue.wordpress.com Did Jesus Exist? http://choiceindying.com/2012/04/11/did-jesus-exist/ (accessed April 14, 2012) 11 April 2012 Eric MacDonald The existence or non-existence of Jesus is not an issue with me, and I still find it hard to understand why it should be an issue with anyone else. I spent years talking about the Jesus of the gospels, his teachings, his life and death, and, believe it or not, his resurrection — which was the hardest part of all — and for a while Robert Funk and his Jesus Seminar interested me strangely, and I attempted to understand the basis upon which the Fellows of the Seminar distinguished between the actual words of Jesus from words put in his mouth by later myth-making and tradition. Of course, the latter exercise has to presuppose Jesus’ real existence as an historical person who not only said things of interest and importance, but whose actual words can be distinguished from sayings that are not reliably attested and cannot be ascribed to the apocalyptic preacher from Galilee. But still this didn’t lead me to wonder whether Bart Ehrman’s HuffPo article “Did Jesus Exist?” had anything of importance to say. If there is no god, and it makes no sense to speak of god in the absence of its existence — contrary to people like Don Cupitt and Jack Spong — then Jesus, whether as an historical or a mythical figure, must lose traction in the mind of anyone who has said farewell to god.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Historicity of Jesus
    On the Historicity of Jesus By Richard Carrier © 2014 Section-by-Section Bibliography for Text-to-Speech Rendering to Assist the Visually Impaired - - - For each section of the book you will find below the sources and scholarship relied upon, stripped out of the book in sequential order. Not included are the following works of mine that I referenced often enough that they should just be consulted in their entirety (heeding my remark that my views or conclusions on some points may have changed): Richard Carrier, Proving History: Bayes’s Theorem and the Quest for the Historical Jesus (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2012). Richard Carrier, Not the Impossible Faith: Why Christianity Didn’t Need a Miracle to Succeed (Raleigh, NC: Lulu.com, 2009). Other than that, everything that follows is divided by section of the book in which it received a footnoted reference. Note that sometimes Bible verses are cited as evidence in the text and not the footnotes. Those won’t be reproduced here, and might not have been read out in the audio either. - - - Chapter 1, Section 1: Mark Goodacre, The Case against Q: Studies in Markan Priority and the Synoptic Problem (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press, 2002). Page !1 of !131 Richard Carrier, ‘Flash! Fox News Reports That Aliens May Have Built the Pyramids of Egypt!’, Skeptical Inquirer 23 (September–October 1999) (see www.csicop.org/si/9909/ fox.html). Richard Carrier, ‘Did Jesus Exist? Earl Doherty and the Argument to Ahistoricity’, The Secular Web (2002) at www.infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/jesuspuzzle.html. - - - Chapter 1, Section 2: Robert Van Voorst, Jesus Outside the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans: 2000).
    [Show full text]
  • Religious Skepticism, Atheism, Humanism, Naturalism, Secularism, Rationalism, Irreligion, Agnosticism, and Related Perspectives)
    Unbelief (Religious Skepticism, Atheism, Humanism, Naturalism, Secularism, Rationalism, Irreligion, Agnosticism, and Related Perspectives) A Historical Bibliography Compiled by J. Gordon Melton ~ San Diego ~ San Diego State University ~ 2011 This bibliography presents primary and secondary sources in the history of unbelief in Western Europe and the United States, from the Enlightenment to the present. It is a living document which will grow and develop as more sources are located. If you see errors, or notice that important items are missing, please notify the author, Dr. J. Gordon Melton at [email protected]. Please credit San Diego State University, Department of Religious Studies in publications. Copyright San Diego State University. ****************************************************************************** Table of Contents Introduction General Sources European Beginnings A. The Sixteenth-Century Challenges to Trinitarianism a. Michael Servetus b. Socinianism and the Polish Brethren B. The Unitarian Tradition a. Ferenc (Francis) David C. The Enlightenment and Rise of Deism in Modern Europe France A. French Enlightenment a. Pierre Bayle (1647-1706) b. Jean Meslier (1664-1729) c. Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach (1723-1789) d. Voltaire (Francois-Marie d'Arouet) (1694-1778) e. Jacques-André Naigeon (1738-1810) f. Denis Diderot (1713-1784) g. Marquis de Montesquieu (1689-1755) h. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) B. France and Unbelief in the Nineteenth Century a. August Comte (1798-1857) and the Religion of Positivism C. France and Unbelief in the Twentieth Century a. French Existentialism b. Albert Camus (1913 -1960) c. Franz Kafka (1883-1924) United Kingdom A. Deist Beginnings, Flowering, and Beyond a. Edward Herbert, Baron of Cherbury (1583-1648) b.
    [Show full text]
  • Rompecabezas Jesús
    Frank R. Zindler Earl Doherty Acharya S ¿Existió Jesús de Nazaret? Ensayos en los que se cuestiona la historicidad de Jesucristo Traducidos por Andrés Fco. Jiménez Sánchez. Sobre los autores Frank R. Zindler , antiguo profesor universitario de biología y geología, es ahora un divulgador científico y lingüista especializado en lenguas antiguas, y miembro de la American Association for the Advancement of Science [Asociación Americana para el Avance de la Ciencia ], la New York Academy of Science [ Academia de la Ciencia de Nueva York ], la Society of Biblical Literature [ Sociedad de Literatura Bíblica ], y las American Schools of Oriental Research [ Escuelas Americanas de Investigación Oriental ]. Además, es el director de la editorial American Atheist Press y editor de American Atheist Magazine [La revista del ateo americano] ( N. del T. ). Es autor de numerosos artículos —algunos de ellos disponibles en la dirección http://www.atheists.org/christianity/ — sobre temas relacionados con el ateísmo, el creacionismo, la historicidad de Jesús, los orígenes del cristianismo, el debate ciencia vs. religión, etcétera. También ha escrito varios libros sobre esta temática, destacando una edición especial anotada de la tercera parte de La edad de la razón de Thomas Paine, la colección de aforismos Dial-An- 1 Atheist Greatest Hits from Ohio [ Llama a un ateo . Grandes éxitos desde Ohio ] y The Jesus the Jews Never Knew [ El Jesús al que los judíos nunca conocieron ]. Earl Doherty está licenciado en Historia e Idiomas clásicos y es miembro de la Asociación
    [Show full text]
  • On Richard Carrier's Doubts
    journal for the study of the historical jesus 15 (2017) 310-346 brill.com/jshj On Richard Carrier’s Doubts A Response to Richard Carrier’s On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt Daniel N. Gullotta Stanford University, Stanford, ca, usa [email protected] Abstract The Jesus Myth theory is the view that the person known as Jesus of Nazareth had no historical existence. Throughout the centuries this view has had a few but notable ad- herents such as Bruno Bauer, Arthur Drews, G.A. Wells, and Robert M. Price. Recently, Richard Carrier’s work On the Historicity of Jesus (Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2014) has attempted to reexamine the question in a rigorous academic fashion. According to Carrier, within the earliest days of Christianity, Jesus was not understood as a historic- human figure, but rather as a celestial-angelic being, akin to Gabriel in Islam or to Moroni in Mormonism, and only came to be understood as a historical person lat- er. While Carrier’s hypothesis is problematic and unpersuasive, there are several key points related to his work that this article specifically challenges and critiques. * The author would like to express his thanks to the numerous scholars who assisted in the preparation of this response-article, particularly Hector Avalos, Matthew C. Baldwin, Roland Boer, James G. Crossley, Bart D. Ehrman, Ian J. Elmer, Craig A. Evans, Larry W. Hurtado, Simon J. Joseph, Fergus J. King, M. David Litwa, Dale B. Martin, James F. McGr ath, Hugo Méndez, Robert Myles, Judy Stack-Nelson, Robert E.
    [Show full text]
  • Bibliography of Occult and Fantastic Beliefs Vol.2: E-K
    Bruno Antonio Buike, editor / undercover-collective „Paul Smith“, alias University of Melbourne, Australia Bibliography of Occult and Fantastic Beliefs vol.2: E-K © Neuss / Germany: Bruno Buike 2017 Buike Music and Science [email protected] BBWV E28 Bruno Antonio Buike, editor / undercover-collective „Paul Smith, alias University of Melbourne, Australia Bibliography of Occult and Fantastic Beliefs - vol.2: E-K Neuss: Bruno Buike 2017 CONTENT Vol. 1 A-D 273 p. Vol. 2 E-K 271 p. Vol. 3 L-R 263 p. Vol. 4 S-Z 239 p. Appr. 21.000 title entries - total 1046 p. ---xxx--- 1. Dies ist ein wissenschaftliches Projekt ohne kommerzielle Interessen. 2. Wer finanzielle Forderungen gegen dieses Projekt erhebt, dessen Beitrag und Name werden in der nächsten Auflage gelöscht. 3. Das Projekt wurde gefördert von der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Sozialamt Neuss. 4. Rechtschreibfehler zu unterlassen, konnte ich meinem Computer trotz jahrelanger Versuche nicht beibringen. Im Gegenteil: Das Biest fügt immer wieder neue Fehler ein, wo vorher keine waren! 1. This is a scientific project without commercial interests, that is not in bookstores, but free in Internet. 2. Financial and legal claims against this project, will result in the contribution and the name of contributor in the next edition canceled. 3. This project has been sponsored by the Federal Republic of Germany, Department for Social Benefits, city of Neuss. 4. Correct spelling and orthography is subject of a constant fight between me and my computer – AND THE SOFTWARE in use – and normally the other side is the winning party! Editor`s note – Vorwort des Herausgebers preface 1 ENGLISH SHORT PREFACE „Paul Smith“ is a FAKE-IDENTY behind which very probably is a COLLCETIVE of writers and researchers, using a more RATIONAL and SOBER approach towards the complex of Rennes-le-Chateau and to related complex of „Priory of Sion“ (Prieure de Sion of Pierre Plantard, Geradrd de Sede, Phlippe de Cherisey, Jean-Luc Chaumeil and others).
    [Show full text]
  • Het Kloppende Bewijs Van Het Christendom No. 828 Het Kloppende Bewijs Van Het Christendom No
    Het Kloppende Bewijs van het Christendom no. 828 Het Kloppende Bewijs van het Christendom no. 828 Inleiding de historische Jezus gaan heil en zegen verloren. Als het alleen maar over Het christendom lijkt zelfverzekerd te zijn dat het bewijs voor het bestaan God gaat, verdwijnt de ‘echte’ mens. De mythische Christus is misschien ervan overtuigend kloppend is. Wie heel zelfverzekerd is moet tegen een iets moois voor mensen die in de natuur leven ……. stootje kunnen. Wij zullen het ‘kloppende bewijs’ van het Christendom Wij zijn wel mensen van de natuur, maar vooral mensen in de in deze brochure eens toetsen. geschiedenis, tot zo ver dr. A. Plaisier van de PKN. De religieuze wereld wordt bij deze op z’n kop gezet, en alles wat de doorsnee christenen geloofden blijkt onwaar te zijn. Dat is schokkend. Je vraag je af bij deze reactie op het boek van ds. Edward van der Kaaij Een kerkelijk meltdown! God blijkt een zachte dood te zijn gestorven, en “De Ongemakkelijke Waarheid van het Christendom”, of Plaisier ooit de christelijke kerken blijken Hem vermoord te hebben. Het failliet der een droomwereld tot werkelijkheid heeft zien worden? kerk, het kerkelijk bedrog. De werking van het kerkelijk systeem. Is 2015 Meer commentaar volgt straks. het uur der waarheid voor kerk en maatschappij? Wij zullen het allemaal in deze brochure bespreken. Nu de Glossy over Jezus , zie RD 06-02-2015 “De bekendste persoon op aarde ooit”. Uit het nieuws Daarin wordt ds. Edward van der Kaaij op één hoop geveegd met alle In het Reformatorisch Dagblad van 20-03-2009 wetenschappers en oprechte onderzoekers, met het verwijt dat geen stond een artikel over professor dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Ten Beautiful Lies About Jesus
    1 David Fitzgerald Ten Beautiful Lies About Jesus Ten Beautiful Lies About Jesus How the myths Christians tell about Jesus Christ suggest Jesus never existed at all David Fitzgerald 2527 44th Ave. San Francisco, CA 94116 U.S.A. [email protected] 2 David Fitzgerald Ten Beautiful Lies About Jesus Myth No. 1: The idea that Jesus was a myth is ridiculous! Most people have never heard of the ancient Greek mythographer Euhemerus; and so many might be surprised to find that they are Euhemerists on the subject of Jesus. That is to say, though they may not believe Jesus was the divine Christ that Christianity venerates as the Son of God and savior of the world, and may regard accounts of the miracles and wonders attending him as mere legendary accretion; nevertheless they certainly believe there had to have been a central figure that began Christianity. Perhaps he was just a wandering teacher, or an exorcist, an apocalyptic prophet or a zealot who opposed the Romans. Perhaps he was all these things, or even a composite of several such early first-century figures; but at any rate, surely there had to be somebody at the original core of Christianity, arguably the most famous individual in human history. All this seems to be a perfectly reasonable, completely natural assumption to make – so why would anyone be so foolish as to propose that Jesus never existed? Doesn’t it just make more sense to assume that there was a historical Jesus, even if we are unable to recover the real facts about his life and death? As it turns out, no.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ehrman-Zindler Correspondence
    COGNITIVE DISSONANCE: THE EHRMAN­ZINDLER CORRESPONDENCE By Frank R. Zindler What did he know of the evidence against a Historical Jesus and when did he know it? Even though generally interested readers of Bart D. Ehrman’s Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth1 would not have realized it, for them to really understand the nature and significance of the Book they were reading they needed to know what Professor Ehrman could and should have discussed and evaluated But apparently chose not to face up to. Although many readers might well have perceived the inadequacy of Ehrman’s ‘evidence’ supposedly supporting the historical reality of ‘Jesus of Nazareth,’ they would have had no way to know aBout the many questions that Ehrman knew needed to Be answered But are not even acknowledged, let alone adequately answered in DJE?. Specifically, readers would not know that I and other scholars had sent him Books to critique—Books that marshal evidence of many kinds to show not only that Jesus of Nazareth never existed, But that the city now called Nazareth was not inhaBited at the turn of the era! Although Ehrman mentions some of these Books in his recent attempt to refute Mythicist scholarship, readers have no way of knowing that almost all the most important arguments and evidence in those Books go unacknowledged and unrefuted in Did Jesus Exist? Readers could not know that Ehrman deals with only a tiny fraction of the literature arguing against a historical Jesus of Nazareth. Generally interested readers, however, are not the only ones who need to know what Ehrman knew and when he knew it.
    [Show full text]
  • 187093315.Pdf
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Apollo ‘More Ingenious Than Learned’? Examining the Quest for the Non-Historical Jesus JUSTIN J. MEGGITT Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, West Road, Cambridge CB3 9BS, United Kingdom. Email: [email protected] Abstract This paper seeks to scrutinise the debate about the historicity of Jesus and identify aspects that merit critical reflection by New Testament scholars. Although the question is regularly dismissed, it is a salient one that was formative in the development of the discipline, and has become increasingly visible since the turn of the century. However, the terminology employed by the protagonists is problematic, and the conventional historiography of the debate misleading. The characteristic tropes evident in the contributions are also indicative of substantive issues within the discipline of New Testament studies itself. Keywords: historical Jesus, historicity of Jesus, mythicism, Christ-myth 1. The Salience of the Question Virtually no scholar working in the field of New Testament studies or early Christian history doubts the historical existence of Jesus of Nazareth.1 Indeed, the arguments of those that deny his 1 It is not the case that none do, as is often claimed or implied. See, for example, S. Byrskog, ‘The Historicity of Jesus: How Do We Know That Jesus Existed?’, in Handbook for the Study of the Historical Jesus (ed. T. Holmén and S. E. Porter; vol. 3, 4 vols; Leiden: Brill, 2011) III:2183–2212, at 2183; C. E. Carlston, ‘Prologue’, in Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research (ed.
    [Show full text]
  • The Alethes Logos of Celsus and the Historicity of Christ
    ATR/96.4 The Alethes Logos of Celsus and the Historicity of Christ David Neal Greenwood* With the advent of the so-called New Atheism, attacks of all kinds on the truth-claims of Christianity have increased both in number and agitation, though frequently unfettered by evidence. I intend to ad- dress what would be the most damning claim of all, if it were true, namely that Jesus of Nazareth never existed and was a convenient fiction contrived in second-century Gospels, characterized by Richard Carrier as “mythic biography.”1 These claims had been advanced by Bruno Bauer and Arthur Drews in the late nineteenth century, and roundly dismissed.2 The last gasp came in the 1970s from a Ph.D. in German literature; swiftly, and to my mind convincingly, rebutted by R. T. France.3 The position was eulogized in 1977 by historian Mi- chael Grant, who wrote: “Modern critical methods fail to support the Christ-myth theory. It has again and again been answered and annihi- lated by first-rank scholars,” apparently laying the matter to rest.4 However, current popular authors have unearthed the argument * David Neal Greenwood is a curate at St. Ternan’s Episcopal Church, Banchory and Christ Church, Kincardine O’Neil, Scotland. He has taught in the Department of Classics and the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, and at the Theo- logical Institute of the Scottish Episcopal Church. 1 Richard Carrier, Not the Impossible Faith: Why Christianity Didn’t Need a Miracle to Succeed (Lulu.com, 2009), 174. 2 Bruno Bauer, Christus und die Caesaren.
    [Show full text]