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The Passover Plot Hugh J. Schonfield

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The Passover Plot

Hugh J. Schonfield

The Passover Plot Hugh J. Schonfield Finally back in print, this special 40th anniversary edition of Dr. Schonfield's international multimillioncopy bestseller is set to rock the establishment view of the life of all over again.

There is probably no other figure in modern Jewish historical research who is more controversial or famous than Hugh J. Schonfield, who once said: "The scholars deplore that I have spilled the beans to the public. Several of them have said to me, 'You ought to have kept this just among ourselves, you know.'"

What he did to "spill the beans" was present historical evidence suggesting that Jesus was a mortal man, a young genius who believed himself to be the and deliberately and brilliantly planned his entire ministry according to the Old Testament prophecies--even to the extent of plotting his own arrest, crucifixion and resurrection.

Since Schonfield's death in 1988, his popularity and the interest in his prodigious work, which included over 40 books, has drawn increasing attention, particularly outside Judaism. In fact, it is probably fair to say that his contribution to the Gentile understanding of Jewish aspirations among those within the Christian cultural framework has been without parallel. In true Christian tradition, he has also been the cause of much contention.

In the wake of resurgent interest in religious history spurred by Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, this 40th anniversary edition of The Passover Plot is set to engage a completely new generation of readers searching for truth.

The Passover Plot Details

Date : Published April 1st 2004 by Disinformation Books (first published January 1st 1965) ISBN : 9781932857092 Author : Hugh J. Schonfield Format : Paperback 320 pages Genre : Religion, History, Nonfiction, Christianity, Spirituality

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John says

This life of Jesus by H.J.Schonfield was controversial at the time of publication.

It displays much erudition, and it is an enjoyable read even for the layman.

Not that I agree with everything that is written here. For example I don't agree with the author that the timing of the birth of Jesus was an act of God, but then I don't believe in Gods in any shape or form. So I can hardly believe that.

I would take issue with the author on the central theme that Jesus connived his own death to fulfill some Jewish Messianic conspiracy. Schonfield produces copious references to support his thesis, but I was left with the feeling that almost any prophecies can be proven in hindsight.

The economist Gerald Celente regularly makes predictions and the ones that come true are broadcast far and wide, but the ones that don't come true are quietly forgotten. And Nostradamus's prophecies have be worked and re-worked to fit the times we live in. Failed prophecies are resurrected to be retold some time in the future.

But the book was a seminal work when it came out that spawned discussions on the Manhood of Christ, a figure who has been largely recast in the mold of a real live Santa Claus by the post-Hellistic Christian world.

Christians believe the fairy tale self-raising Jesus was real. Our heritage and upbringing numbs our intellectual doubts, and makes us accept the supernatural as real. We adjust our reality to suit the fairy tale, rather than approaching the fairy tale with suitably adjusted sensibilities.

Schonfield eloquently opens our eyes to the doubts we all have about God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, and the way the Theologians tell the story.

Antonio V says

Schonfield commits the one sin never to be forgiven in the serious scholar: appropriating the ideas of an earlier scholar and claiming them as his own "new" discoveries.

The first significant clue that Schonfield is preparing to recycle old ideas and present them as his own "original" research lies in his bibliography. Any serious researcher attempting an investigation into the "real" Jesus must begin with Albert Schweitzer's "The Quest of the Historical Jesus." Although over a century old, Schweitzer's work collects and summarizes the investigations of scholars from the beginning of the 18th century through the start of the 20th, and though dated remains the preeminent source for the earliest scholarly efforts to reconstruct a life of the historical person Jesus.

Schweitzer's work is so well-known within the field that Schonfield must certainly have been intimately familiar with it for decades prior to writing his work. Yet he carefully avoids all reference to it, and for good reason.

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One of the early chapters in Schweitzer assesses the work of Karl Friedrich Bahrdt. In "Popular Letters About the Bible" and "An Explanation of the Plans and Aims of Jesus", a series of tractates that began appearing in 1702 (over 250 years before "The Passover Plot") Barhdt outlines the essential elements of Schonfield's supposedly "original" thesis: that Jesus and his followers staged a fake death through crucifixion, administering drugs to make it appear Jesus was dead within a few hours after being nailed to the cross (crucifixion's principal appeal for the Romans was the slow and agonizing process of death, usually extending over a period of days).

Schonfield knew this from his reading of Schweitzer even if he did not read Barhdt's own work. He presents no original ideas of his own. "The Passover Plot" deserves to be forgotten as another tired recycling of a centuries-old interpretation of the death and resurrection of Jesus; and Schonfield himself should be forgotten as just another talentless hack trying to pawn off the work of others as his own. For the reader who wants reliable information on the subject she or he should begin with Schweitzer rather than waste time reading Schonfield's tiresomely-pretentious ripoff of the genuine scholars who preceeded him.

Ron says

Read this fifty plus years ago. Intriguing theory, but I saw holes in it then.

Paul says

The book is divided into two sections: the first speculative, and the second a historical background to the writing of the . The second section is by far the better, as it sticks to a more academic style. The first section is unfortunately very difficult to take seriously. The idea that large parts of the New Testament were composed largely to give credence to the prophecies in the Old Testament is valid, but the suggestion that Jesus planned everything that happened in Passion Week, right down to how long he would be on the cross, is very far-fetched.

Dave says

Very interesting book. It was written in 1965 and scholars have been actively working since then so some things Schonfield shares are out of date. His major premise is that Jesus was an active member of the Nazoreans [a messianic, zealous group], that he had deeply studied all the prophecies related to the coming of the Messiah, and then he actively managed the events so that he would fulfill those prophecies. There is a huge amount of speculation in the book without much, if any, evidence to support it. Yes, it is possible; but did it actually happen? I am not convinced. I did learn a great deal about the times and events contemporary with the life of Jesus. It is clear that Jerusalem and Judea were as bloody and violent then as they frequently are these days. That historical perspective was worth the read.

Brett says

The copy on the back of the paperback version of this book I have was some hilariously sensationalized bits

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Schonfield feels smart and affable when discussing the way we have to re-evaluate our understanding of ancient times in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, and his discussion of the eschatology of Judaism during the time of Jesus was interesting. Even his idea that a person could, with sufficient will and planning, attempt to live out various old testament prophecies, is interesting insofar as it puts the idea of Jesus as Messianic figure in context.

But his discussion of how Jesus may have actually done this, up the swooning on the cross and briefly being revived later, is just insanely speculative. He gives much, much too much credence to snippets of the Bible or Dead Sea scrolls that he wants to use to support his arguments, generally making the same sort of error that fundamentalist believers often make in justifying their own positions. There is too much that is just unknowable from that era to make the sort of generalizations that Schonfield ultimately arrives at.

I guess this book was wildly controverial when it first was published, but that seems almost quaint now. It's a fun and entertaining read for those that have some familiarity with the historical origins of Christianity, but is basically a throw away book when it's all said and done.

Erik Graff says

I read this book prior to having read the bible in its entirety and, so, with a rather naive acceptance of Dr. Schonfield's arguments and evidences. From this perspective, the book is provocative and fun, an easy read.

Now, knowing a bit more, Schonfield's arguments are no longer compelling. At best he makes a plausible case much as a novelist would if treating of the life of Jesus. From a scholarly perspective, he is too dependent on the biblical texts themselves and too ready to stretch such evidences to fit his theses. His giving testamonial precedence to the attributed to John is quite eccentric. Evidences which do not fit his theses are overlooked. Still, he's not ignorant, just eager to make a case.

Rae says

This was so ludicrous that I just had to finish it. The Passover plot revolves around Jesus planning his own "resurrection" by resuscitation. It all would have worked perfectly except that he was pierced on the cross by one of the soldiers. The disciples wanted so badly to believe in a resurrection anyway that they convinced themselves that they saw him after his death and that's how Christianity began. Much silliness.

Rita says

A most amazing little book by a Jewish scholar who has extensively studied all available sources over the life and work of Jesus. His main point is that we can only begin to understand how Jesus saw himself if we learn more about the messianic beliefs that were very strong in his time and place. Jesus saw himself as the Messiah spoken of in the Old Testament; but what does that mean? Schonfield explains it all. One thing is does *not* mean is any claim to divinity. Jesus did *not* see himself as a deity or as a god or a son of God.

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The fact that later Christians started seeing Jesus as divine has caused immense confusion because it totally contradicts the Jewish tradition of the messiah which was Jesus' context. Schonfield thinks all these internal contradictions within Christian belief have been a big stumbling block for any real understanding of Jesus' own beliefs about his mission in life.

A most interesting book with very refreshing ideas. Mom and Dad had this book, so I guess it was recommended to them by somebody like Pastor Crist.

Philip says

He brings up some interesting ideas, but he doesn't offer strong support for how much creedence he lends to various source material.

Lee Harmon says

As long as this influential book has been around, I’m just now getting around to reading it. The problem, for me, was the title; somehow, it just seemed hard for me to take it seriously.

It is, however, an interesting and thoughtful picture of the historical Jesus. Jesus is portrayed as a keen judge of human character, shrewdly manipulating both friend and foe with utmost precision to orchestrate his own death, because that was the messianic prophecy which most rang true to him.

The “plot,” however, is a bit bizarre. The way Schonfield puts the pieces together, Jesus never intended to die. Instead, he carefully timed his execution so that he would not be left long on the cross, and with the help of a bit of drugged wine vinegar lifted to him on the cross from a friend, he hoped to fake his death. He expected to revive in the tomb. Whether he actually did revive or not seems immaterial to the success of the plot, because this accomplice was asked to spread the word of his impending return, and the accomplice was then mistaken by others to be the risen Jesus himself! That alone left enough miracle resurrection stories hanging around that Christianity would emerge even if Jesus didn’t manage to reappear.

Part II of the book presents six essays describing the origin and growth of Christianity. I found the essay about Messianism to be particularly interesting, because of my interest in the apocalyptic Son of Man title, but the other five essays were also thought-provoking.

Though the scholarship is now a little dated (this was published in 1965), this is a five-star book. But I just couldn’t bring myself to award all five stars, because the Passover Plot theory itself (supposedly the focus of the book) is just too far-fetched for me to take seriously.

Merle Sullivan says

Heavy reading

The prime interest here was the first part of the book which presented an intelligent theory of the jurisdiction . It makes senset

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Kathryn says

Like others have said, this book was written like a doctoral thesis on Jesus was/is. There was a lot of historical, cultural and biographical information that I found helpful in gaining a greater understanding of what was happening during the life amd death of Jesus.

I found myself fluctuating between wanting to rate this book as a 3 or 4 or 5. The historical and cultural information is fantastic. He gives us so much information that can help us gain a better understanding of the life and times of Jesus and the place. However, Dr. Schonfield adopted the premise that Jesus deliberately planned his own crucifiction and that proves that he couldn't possibly be the Son of God and he expected us to accept that because of his great knowledge of the history and culture of the in and around Palestine.He manufactures things that could possibly have happened and assumes that just because something could have happened the way he says means that it did. This stance is unworthy of someone so intelligent and educated.

Schonfield doesn't 'prove' that Jesus wasn't the Messiah. He doesn't 'prove' that He isn't God. But he does present some very interesting information that I find helpful in gaining a greater understanding of Jesus and the early Christian church. I hope to read this book again in the future.

D Scullion says

This book is an interesting read, but as with a lot of books on revisionist theology a lot of it is pure speculation and opinion based.

Elizabeth says

Fascinating account of the cultural milieu in which Christ lived, an historical rendering of the tensions inherent in the times. The 'plot'...? interesting... leads one to think you ought to read more extensively the writings of the first 2 centuries A.D. These were all people, after all.

"The Passover Plot shows us the historical evidence that Jesus was a mortal man, a young genius who believed himself to be the Messiah and deliberately and brilliantly planned his entire ministry according to the Old Testament prophecies - even to the extent of plotting his own arrest, crucifixion and resurrection."

In fact, I don't think as much emphasis was given to 'the plot' as to the cultural milieu in which Christ lived. Fascinating to read of him as a young Jewish man, but i think the 'plot' is a bit much.

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