The first is from a gentleman who was a Franciscan missionary to Japan and who has an interesting perspective. You may recall his remarks on my earlier blog post - boy, did that kick up a storm! 120 comments!
5.0 out of 5 stars Fingerprints that Touched Me May 26, 2009 By Brian Redmond "truthseeker" (Japan)
"Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of the Christ" has touched me greatly, and with a healing touch at that. I have spent a lifetime trapped within the inconsistencies of institutionalized Christianity, with the consequent frustrations and attempts to rationalize the irrational that such a position entails. D.M. Murdock has freed me with this book. Gently, but irrefutably logically, by quoting impeccable sources, she shows that the basis of Christianity, the Four Gospels, are not inerrant, and not even history. This enlightenment has lifted a huge burden from my shoulders, and far from destroying my belief in Christ or God has strengthened my belief in both. Now I see that God, our maker, has never and can never be described in words, and that Christ, our Saviour, will always have to be ourselves doing what God wants, that is being decent people, and thus we will be saved, by God and by ourselves being the Sons and Daughters of God.
Brian Redmond, real name
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5.0 out of 5 stars The Case Against Christ May 22, 2009 By A. Richins (Salem, OR United States)
Christian scholars have made careers being apologists for the Christian faith. This book reveals that they may in fact owe their readers an apology.
I think the title may mislead some. The book isn't about discovering who the real Jesus was, and it certainly has nothing to do with the Templar Knights or whether or not Jesus was married. It's a critical analysis of the gospels, and the dogmatic belief held by many Christians that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, which was written by eye witnesses.
The author, who is fluent in Ancient Greek herself, and an expert in ancient mythology, draws from the research of several biblical scholars, including Christian sources.
For being such a short, easy to read book, she does an incredible job and laying out both sides of the argument. I came away with a better understanding of exactly what source materials biblical scholars actually have to go on, and the methods by which they've approximated their dates.
No one will miss the point that Murdock doesn't believe the gospel accounts are history, but it's not presented in a rash or deliberately abrasive manner.
Though this book is a great resource for those who may choose to engage a fundamentalist Christian in a debate, I believe her target audience for this book was actually Christians. She avoids for example, attacking Christianity on the grounds that it proposes donkeys can talk, people can fly up into outer space, and that loving God will fry you for eternity for not believing he committed a human sacrifice to himself. But rather, she pose questions like, if zombies really rose from the dead and walked around town, why didn't anyone record it? If King Herod knew the precise location of the infant Jesus, why did he need to have every young male in Bethlehem killed? Why does Jesus suggest that men castrate themselves?
If you have a Christian friend of family member who tries to pressure you from time to time to convert to their faith, ask them to read this book in exchange for going to church with them a few times.
For more information, read my book Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ. If you haven't seen the great reviews by scholars and ministers there, do take a look!
Although I deal with many subjects within the fascinating field of comparative religion and mythology, one of my major focuses is on the thesis that the biblical figure called "Jesus Christ" represents a mythological compilation of characters, including various Pagan gods and the awaited Jewish messiah(s). In my various writings, which include The Christ Conspiracy, Suns of God, Who Was Jesus?, Christ in Egypt and Jesus as the Sun, I bring together evidence that a multinational cabal largely composed of Jews, Samaritans, Greeks, Romans and Egyptians created first the Jesus character and then later Christian tradition, eventually in order to unify the Roman Empire under one state religion.
I demonstrate this thesis in a wide variety of ways, including dissecting the canonical gospels on their face, as I do in my book Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ. After this vast amount of evidence both ancient and modern, internal and external, is studied, it becomes obvious that once the mythological and messianic literary layers are peeled away, there remains no core to the onion.
Indeed, we are left with the conclusion that the mythical figure of "Jesus Christ" was largely contrived in order to raise the Jewish religion and scriptures to the forefront of religious ideologies, to fulfill the biblical "prophecy" that the Jews are the "chosen people," that their nation is the "Holy Land" and that their tribal writings represent "God's Word." As stated in the Old Testament:
"For you are a people holy to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth."
Deuteronomy 7:6
"When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. And if its answer to you is peace and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it; and when the LORD your God gives it into your hand you shall put all its males to the sword, but the women and the little ones, the cattle, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as booty for yourselves; and you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God has given you. Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, you shall save nothing that breathes ..."
Deuteronomy 20:10-16
"Foreigners (Gentiles) shall rebuild your walls, and their kings shall minister to you ...Your gates shall be open continuously; day and night they shall not be shut; that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession. For the nation or kingdom that will not not serve you; shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste...."
Isaiah 60:10-12
"You shall suck the milk of nations, you shall suck the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."
Isaiah 60:16
"And strangers [Gentiles] shall stand and feed your flocks, strangers shall be your plowmen and vinedressers; but you shall be called the priests of the LORD, men shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their riches you shall glory."
Isaiah 61:5-6
The same sentiment and sense of triumph are reflected in "A Real Case Against the Jews" by Jewish writer Marcus Eli Ravage, published in The Century Magazine, v. 115, no. 3, The Century Co., NY, 1928, p. 346ff:
"Our tribal customs have become the core of your moral code. Our tribal laws have furnished the basic groundwork of all your august constitutions and legal systems. Our legends and our folk-tales are the sacred lore which you croon to your infants. Our poets have filled your hymnals and your prayer-books. Our national history has become an indispensable part of the learning of your pastors and priests and scholars. Our kings, our statesmen, our prophets, our warriors are your heroes. Our ancient little country is your Holy Land. Our national literature is your Holy Bible. What our people thought and taught has become inextricably woven into your very speech and tradition, until no one among you can be called educated who is not familiar with our racial heritage.
"Jewish artisans and Jewish fishermen are your teachers and your saints, with countless statues carved in their image and innumerable cathedrals raised to their memories. A Jewish maiden is your ideal of motherhood and womanhood. A Jewish rebel-prophet is the central figure in your religious worship. We have pulled down your idols, cast aside your racial inheritance, and substituted for them our God and our traditions. No conquest in history can even remotely compare with this clean sweep of our conquest over you."
When we realize that the ancient, pre-Christian world was filled with stories about superhuman gods, goddesses and heroes of all cultures whose purported lives on Earth were replete with miracles of all manner, we must recognize that it is only by extraordinary human perseverance that one particular set of fabulous tales from one particular culture has become accepted as "true," while all the rest are deemed "myths." In actuality, the acceptance as "history" of such patent fairytales as the son of God born of a virgin who miraculously heals the sick, raises the dead, walks on water, transfigures on a mount, resurrects from death and ascends into heaven ranks as cultural bias and extreme prejudice, not reality. It is high time that this fallacious development and lopsided injustice be exposed and the whole of the human cultural record be embraced.
The importance of knowing the history of religious ideology can be illustrated by the following email I recently received:
"Dear Ms. Murdock:
"I have just finished reading Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of the Christ and Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection, and I humbly fall at your feet in admiration. You, with your genius, perseverance and strength have freed me from a lifetime of being shackled by Catholicism. I am 70 years old, and I now I can live out the rest of my life in tranquility of mind and conscience, thanks to you.
It is imperative that the human family not believe blindly in religious ideologies and stories but study scientifically the foundation of those religions, eventually discovering that many of the most important religious and spiritual concepts date back to the hoary mists of time and possess very human origins. If we do not realize our common shared heritage, we will be facing an armageddon and apocalypse of our own making, as evidenced by the debacle concerning the use of biblical scriptures to incite soldiers in Iraq and the ongoing jihad in the opposite direction using koranic writings. These two factions essentially hold the world hostage and will be the demise of the entire human civilization, if humanity does not wake up and stop following these outdated and specious ideologies. We are one family, and we share a small sphere - let us unify as found in the best of futuristic scenarios, not destroy ourselves as in the worst.
For more information, read my book Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ, which was written with Christians in mind and represents a kind and gentle approach to the subject. Here's a testimonial:
I've known people with triple Ph.D's who haven't come close to the scholarship here.
I think I've read every popular alternative theory about Jesus that has come down the pike - with Who Was Jesus I was very impressed.
This book gives me pause for serious thought.
Pastor David Bruce, M.Div North Park Seminary, Chicago
Harassing, slandering, libeling, stalking, abusing, killing or otherwise harming a human being or other living creature in the name of religion, God, Allah, Jesus, the Bible, the Koran or some other religious idea or artifact is evil, period. There simply is no excuse, no justification and no rationale that makes these abuses and transgressions righteous and moral. You are committing evil, and you will suffer for it at some point, by your own conscience at the very least.
You are also sullying and defaming whatever ideology you are defending by making it human-hating and life-destroying. Regardless of what you have been taught, your ideology is not more important than the human being you are debasing, denigrating and demeaning. No religion or ideology feels pain - not even a god feels pain - but human beings certainly do. You are causing pain to a living, breathing being over something that does not feel pain. Have you not heard, "As you sow, so shall you reap?"
Your ideology is only as worthy as it treats the individual human being. Nay, as it treats even animals. As Abraham Lincoln once said:
"I care not for a man's religion whose dog or cat are not the better for it."
In any event, if you find yourself merely tempted to abuse another human being or other living creature in the name of your religion, God, son of God and/or prophet, you have already stained and shamed your ideology by your thoughts of violence and hatred.
Think twice or however many times you need to remove these hateful and violent thoughts against your fellow human being. If your ideology teaches anger and hatred towards human beings, it is unworthy of following. You are full of self-hatred, as you hate your fellow human being, because you have been taught that human beings in general are "wretched sinners," and you are one of them. Your ideology is not godly or divine. It is ugly, vicious and evil. And it is making you all of those things. Throw it away as the garbage it has become. Join the human race and practice love, tolerance, patience and acceptance of your fellow human beings and other living creatures.
I've just created a new 37-page ebook for your enjoyment that explores the history of Jesus Christ as the sun in art and literature. The ebook is linked here:
I hope people will enjoy both the ebook and excerpt for their own edification and for that of others around the net, where much disinfo abounds.
Note that the ebook will help me to create a planned paperback on the same subject, so if you can afford it, please donate to the cause by getting it! In these tough times, I need all the help I can get to keep my work going. If you feel there is value in my work, come help out! I greatly appreciate it, and you can be assured that your assistance will help me to continue providing quality material on subjects about which very few others are giving you the lowdown.
You just can't get this material in this concisely presented manner anywhere else, which is why I continue to work so hard to bring it to you!
Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection, by D.M. Murdock Book Review by Joan d'Arc
The boat of Afu-Ra glides silently in the black eternal waters of the Amduat; in front the goddess Isis, her arms outstretched in cruciform, conducts her son, the Sun God Horus, with his 12 assistants (who are deceased)—the major stars of the night sky—to new life in the daily rebirth of the morning sun. This is the powerful imagery conjured by D.M. Murdock (aka Acharya S) in her new book, Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection.
Where does the sun go when it goes down under the world? The Egyptians had it all figured out in books like The Pyramid Texts and The Book of the Dead. The Book of Portals recounts the sun’s passage at night through the 12 gates, which are also the night hours. The Sun Boat of the Creator, the one who “crosses over” the heavens each day for 12 hours, also passes through the underworld each night for 12 hours, accompanied by his 12 assistants or helpers. According to Murdock, this is the derivation of the 12 disciples of the Christ mythos.
Murdock contends that the Gnostics of Alexandria, in fact, created the imagery of Jesus on the cross, derived from the Egyptian god Horus. The task of the Gnostic Horos was to separate the upper from the lower, the saved from the fallen, the light from the dark. This task was accomplished by the Sun God Horus and his 12 assistants, the Egyptian Ennead.
The 12 are sometimes companions of the Father, Osiris, and at other times Horus is one of the 12 in the presence of the Father. This is mindful of Jesus being God and not God, both the Sun and the Son (a quandary the nuns could never quite answer to my liking). The 12 assistants are simply the signs of the zodiac, which Murdock tells us were alive and well in Egypt, being derived from the symbols for the Egyptian months...
As Murdock explains, Christianity was created by Gnostics in Alexandria and then the Christians later came back and burned it all down, sacked the city, killed thousands of people, and covered up the tracks of its creation. The tale of Jesus and Satan is the same astrotheological epic drama told in Egypt. For instance, Set is the serpent, the "Prince of Darkness," and all things "Satan." Horus is the "Prince of Light," the KRST, or the Christ (meaning "anointed one").
Interestingly as well, we learn that the story of Lazarus in the Gospel of John was taken directly from sources like the Pyramid Texts and the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Horus was known as the anointed one, the "standing mummy" symbol of Egyptian hieroglyphs: the mummy come back to life. The Egyptian religion was all about being prepared for death and rebirth, as is the Christian religion today, only today prepping doesn't involve the oil and rags of mummification.
Murdock proves with historical sources that Jesus was not born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, but was born of the Virgin Isis in Egyptian mythology....
I have always been wowed by Ms. Murdock's work, but this time she has outdone herself and has created a 574-page masterpiece that I'm sure will become a classic in religious studies.... I would say she's the goddess of the godless. I'm ever thankful she's got my back.
This excerpt specifically addresses the "biblical" motif of the Star in the East and Three Kings allegedly appearing at the birth of Jesus Christ. There is much confusion on the internet about this motif, but, as we can see, it was firmly present in the Egyptian religion ages prior to the purported advent of the Jewish messiah.
Here's a little taste:
"Over the centuries, various supposedly scientific theories have been put forth concerning this purported phenomenon that turn out to be all for naught, because this theme reveals itself to be an old mythical motif. In actuality, many ancient gods, kings and heroes were said to have been born under a 'bright star' or some other sort of celestial sign, indicating their greatness and role as 'savior' as well."
Enjoy! And don't forget that Christ in Egypt is now available internationally through Amazon as well.
In this video are discussed some of the very important parallels between the Egyptian gods and Jesus. The vid also demonstrates the scholarly nature of Christ in Egypt - so be sure to check it out.
The reviews for my book are coming in - and they're very favorable!
By the way, Christ in Egypt is now available internationally through Amazon and other booksellers.
If you want more information, including reviews and links to international Amazon sites, see Christ in Egypt.
Right now, I'm collecting on a daily basis - several times a day, sometimes - news from around the world that concerns religion in general as well as specific religions, such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and so on. I am also gathering news items about atheism, secularism, humanism and freethought. I'm keeping an eye on news items about archeology, archaeoastronomy, astrotheology and mythology as well.
This news posting will be an ongoing function of my new website "Freethought Nation." I will be forwarding my forums there as well, and I intend to have a blog where I and others will post news with commentary. Of course, on the blog will be a comments area for visitors to leave their thoughts as well.
If anyone would like to help with this endeavor, let me know, as I do not have the time or tech know-how to make it all happen alone!
Be sure to stop back on a regular basis, as I will be posting news items there continually, with the newest posts at the top. And tell your friends about it!
"I could hardly wait to get my hands on this tremendous book: Christ in Egypt: The Horus Jesus Connection.
"This well researched book is accessible both to the general reader and to the scholar interested in the origins of the Christian belief system.
"The author has probably collected every scholarly reference to the Egyptian correlations to Christianity. In doing this, she researched materials that had never been published before and many that until now had never appeared in English.
"This book, which surely will become a classic, is the most enlightening and well researched I have ever read on the origins of Christianity."
M.G. Ketteridge, UK
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"A Genuine Masterpiece!"
"...Christ in Egypt: the Horus-Jesus Connection is an extraordinarily well-researched and well-written volume that will illustrate unequivocally the direct link between the ancient Egyptian religion and modern Christianity.
"A work such as this with its voluminous references to primary sources and serious academic and archeological scholarship would seem, at first blush, destined for the dusty shelves of a university reference library. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Ms. Murdock writes in an extremely clear and comprehensible style, and one finds oneself caught up in the narrative as in a finely-crafted mystery which, in a certain sense, it is.
"One discovers early on that the Egyptian religion was a fully-formed cultural imperative that influenced to a marked degree the daily lives of the people Egypt as well as Greece, Turkey and the Levant for well over two millennia. Central to its belief system was the god Horus, born of a virgin, Isis-Mery, and the god Osiris. We see clearly that the parallels between the stories of the lives of Horus and Jesus leave little doubt that the one is extracted directly from the other.
"I believe that Christ in Egypt is a genuine treasure for anyone wishing to understand the truth behind our modern beliefs. This book will place that truth before you in the most lucid, cogent and reasonable fashion. It is a splendid work, powerful, elegant and highly readable, and must surely be considered, in future, a seminal work on the topic. I recommend it unreservedly."
John Reardon, NY
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"You just keep getting more and more impressive. You are definitely on a roll, and I can't wait for further installments of that amazing mind of yours.
"I am a mere 30 pages into Christ in Egypt, and I already know that this is destined to become a classic. You have created a work that will illuminate and inspire for generations.
"It is such a pleasure to read. The work and care you have put into this really shows. As someone who's been in pain this week, I can say without exaggeration that reading your book has been an anodyne for the pleasure it gives. And that's just at 30 pages.
"So I thank you for this ouvre, this masterpiece of yours, and I eagerly await Who Was Jesus?, which should be arriving I assume in a few days as well.
With the creation of a new movie, there is increased interest in the old tale that Jesus Christ traveled to India, where he lived to a ripe old age.
While this story may be fascinating, when examined scientifically it fails to hold water. This legend has been spread in recent years largely by an Islamic sect that wishes to claim the hereditary inheritance of the famed Jewish godman.
For more information about this story, as well as the equally implausible tale about Jesus having been in Great Britain, see my essay:
As has been demonstrated repeatedly in scientific and scholarly books on the subject, the character called "Jesus Christ" is a mythical entity based on other mythical figures dating back into the hoary mists of time.
The "lost years" of Jesus are in fact atrotheological, representing part of solar mythology. In the story of the sun god, the solar hero is a "child teacher" at the "age" of 12 noon, when he reaches the "temple" of his "father" - Re or Ra in the Egyptian myth. When the sun transits from one month of the 360-day year or 1/12th or the zodiacal circle, he attains the age of 28 or 30. And here was have the 18 "lost years."
Fortunately, there are those who have actually studied the subject, read my work and who realize that by denying the facts presented therein we are robbing the world of the real history of religious ideology and mythology.
Dutch Member of Parliament Geert Wilders has been touring the U.S. following his atrocious ousting from Great Britain for courageously sharing the truth about Islamofascism, as he showed in his short film Fitna. For years now, Geert has been living under heavy security because of constant death threats from members of the "religion of peace." He lives in jail cells and bunkers while in Europe. Yet, the cowards in the U.K. could not see fit to support this famous and brave EU politician, while kowtowing to a Pakistani businessman who bought his way into the British House of Lords and threatened to storm the streets of Britain with 10,000 rabid Muslim fanatics if Wilders were allowed to enter. This episode with the convicted criminal Muslim "lord" was apparently an allusion to the invasion of Mecca by Mohammed and his 10,000 violent thugs. In other words, it was a cloaked threat of a military takeover.
In the meantime, Wilders has been enjoying the civility of the United States of America, where the laws are more humane and where liberty is actually valued. He has been making the media rounds, once again risking his life and limb to warn of the dangers of "radical" Islam (real Islam, in other words, as opposed to "Islam lite").
On Saturday, April 4, 2009, Geert Wilders will be speaking at Chapman University in Orange County, CA. Once again, Islamofascists have threatened protests against this brave man, merely because he dares to speak the truth. I hope that many people who believe in free speech--especially when it's the truth!--will come out and show their support for Wilders, who stands against a huge wave of suppression and censorship.
In case you need a nudge to see how important this issue is, do take a look at this article on Women's Rights in Islam. You will quickly understand why I, as a FREE WOMAN, must take this hardline stance against Islamofascism and must stand up for great heroes like Geert Wilders.
PLEASE SEND TO ANYONE YOU KNOW IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
As many of you may be aware, Dutch MP Geert Wilders, hero of the free world, will be visiting Orange County, CA this Saturday [April 4, 2009] at Chapman University thanks to the David Horowitz Freedom Center.
We have just got word that a collection of Islamist organizations are organizing a protest. Please urge everyone you know in the surrounding area to show up in force to give these jihadis a nice counter-protest welcome.
Let's get the media to pay attention to the anti-free-speech jihadists right here in our own back yard.
Counter-protesters will assemble starting at 1:00 PM in front of Memorial Hall which faces Glassell Ave at E. Palm several blocks north of the turning circle at the intersection of Glassell and Chapman in Orange, CA.
Okay, I've been tweeting a little lately. Gimmicky, of course, but, heck, everybody's doing it, and it can get lonely otherwise. Businesses, politicians, churches, newspapers, journalists - everybody's got Twitter on their website, cell phones and PDAs. (I don't even have one of those.)
I've read articles on how seriously Twitter is being taken and how it's changing the world. Most of the "tweets" I've read from those given publicity in these articles are BORING. I really don't know what the appeal is there, that's for sure.
And then there are those who are using it for marketing purposes, which is pretty much every business that wants to stay with the times.
But now, my tweeting has to be far more interesting than all that!
In an article posted on March 25, 2009, conservative Christian website WorldNetDaily.com claims that the film "ZEITGEIST" is an "'Antichrist' movie tricking Christians." The article by Joe Kovacs goes on to cite the opinions of Christian apologist Richard Rives, who ironically runs a website called "ZEITGEISTisRight.com"
According to WND, Rives "has himself been educating the public about the impact heathen sun worship has had on traditional Christianity." Indeed, he has published a book called Too Long in the Sun, which highlights the usurpation of Pagan solar religious traditions by Christianity. As a fundamentalist Christian, however, Rives's purpose is to distinguish between true biblical teachings and supposedly later attachments to Christian tradition from heathenism.
In Rives's videos and on his "ZEITGEIST is Right" website, he specifically names me, D.M. Murdock aka Acharya S, as the "scholar who provided data for the movie ZEITGEIST." On his book website, Toolong.com, Rives has posted articles concerning the connection between "Traditional Christianity" and Pagan sun worship, such as regards the Persian sun god Mithra, the Roman sun god Sol Invictus and the solar holidays of "Christmas" and Easter. In effect, Rives is verifying that various important aspects of Christianity were taken from sun worship and that ZEITGEIST is correct in its identification thereof.
However, again, Rives delineates between the Christianity of tradition and that of the Bible, reiterating that Christ's winter-solstice birthday, for example, is not in the New Testament. Rives also claims that Christ's crucifixion and resurrection occurred not during Easter but during Passover, which was changed to coincide with Easter. In his analysis, Rives says:
"Today Contemporary Christianity has not only allowed truth to fall, but it has thrown truth in the street as a gesture of religious tolerance and compromise. It has given the adversaries of scripture exactly what they need to substantiate their claims that what most present as Christianity is nothing more than redefined pagan mythology. Educated theologians know that; yet they continue to present a compromised gospel filled with pagan tradition that never had anything to do with Christ."
While we wholeheartedly concur with Rives's assessment concerning "Traditional Christianity" adopting various Pagan holidays and doctrines, we disagree that the gospel story itself is devoid of such influences. Indeed, my work in dissecting the gospel story and demonstrating its "borrowing" from pre-Christian religions is extensive and covers much more than simply Christmas and Easter. As one glaring example, the Virgin Mother concept unquestionably existed in the Pagan world long before Christianity was created - yet, there it is in black and white in the New Testament. Furthermore, such biblical doctrines as having 12 followers, healing the sick, raising the dead, walking on water, transfiguring, resurrecting and ascending are all present in pre-Christian Pagan religion and mythology as well. This fact is demonstrated thoroughly in my book Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection, which draws from thousands of pre-Christian Egyptian texts and the works of highly credentialed scholars in relevant fields.
As concerns labeling me or ZEITGEIST's producer Peter Joseph "antichrists," the word "Christ" simply means "Anointed One." It is not the exclusive name of a Jewish son of God who allegedly lived 2,000 years ago. The term was also used long prior to the Christian era, in the Greek Old Testament or Septuagint, for example, as applied to anointed figures such as Saul, David, Solomon and various priests - all of these are deemed Christs. Moreover, the word "christ," or "christos" (χριστος) in the original Greek, was likewise utilized in non-biblical, pre-Christian literature as well. "Anti" means to be against; however, while I do make the case that many of these characters are mythological in nature, I am not "against" them. Hence, I am not "antichrist" at all.
I feel for the sincere Christian who has been taught what amounts to falsified history, and I truly appreciate that Christian apologist Richard Rives has the integrity to admit that Part 1 ZEITGEIST is right in its overall premise of Christianity taking over Pagan sun worship.
Famed atheist vlogger Pat Condell, whom I count among my friends, is just so, so important. He doesn't have any position--he's not a president or prime minister. But Pat may be more important than all world leaders combined.
Astonishingly, just as I am working on a new book that emphasizes our freedoms as holy tenets, here comes Pat spelling it all out in a most brilliant manner. Pat has just made himself the high priest of the most important religious movement ever to hit planet Earth: Freedom.
I have taken the liberty of transcribing the juicy bits most appropriate for my current project. Regarding the obscene and blasphemous attempt by Islamists to criminalize criticism of their cult by their "defamation of religion" U.N. resolution, Pat remarks:
Now, to defame something, first of all you have to say something untrue about it. So, for example, if I say that religion is the art of sugar-coating a turd and selling it as a donut, well, that's not defamation because of course it is absolutely true.
In this video “Free speech is sacred,” Pat also says:
The only actual defamation I can detect here is defamation of humanity by religion, because religion is bearing false witness against us to our detriment - and that is defamation. Religion is telling us a poison story about ourselves, because it doesn't want us to like ourselves one little bit. So it denigrates us from the moment we're born, as unworthy, unclean and stained with sin, persuading us that there's something that we need to be saved from. And indeed there is: The curse of religion, which for its very survival depends on keeping us enthralled to a view of reality that's so childish, so stunted, so utterly and transparently false, it amounts to nothing less than a malicious assault on our very identity as human beings, which I believe makes religion a crime against humanity.
Pat also calls himself a “freedom-worshipper.” He further says:
I claim free speech as my religion. Yes, I'll have a slice of that pie too, thank you, along with all the attendant rights and privileges, of course. Because I can assure you that I venerate free speech as highly as anybody on this planet venerates their god or their scripture or their prophet, and any attempt to suppress free speech is deeply insulting and grossly offensive to me on a personal level. I feel violated to the very core of my being, which seriously hurts my feelings. Whenever I hear free speech being comprimised or restricted - or even heavily criticized - I take that as a grave personal affront and as a grotesquely insensitive attack on my most cherished values: Freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of identity - this is my holy trinity. Each one an intrinsic aspect of my god. Freedom, the holiest of holies. Yes, it bloody well is. It is absolutely sacred and inviolable beyond any negotiation or compromise now and forever. Amen.
Amen indeed. Be sure also to see my blog post from 2006 concerning the U.S. Constitution and the freedoms it represents: A Truly Sacred Scripture.
In my books I have repeatedly addressed the decades-old contention that the famous Dead Sea Scrolls were written by the esoteric Jewish sect of the Essenes, demonstrating that the evidence shows otherwise. A recent article in TIME highlights the claim by Jewish scholar Dr. Rachel Elior that likewise views the Dead Sea Scrolls as a product of someone other than the Essenes:
This title, of course, is not only sensational but also erroneous, in that the Essenes were evidently not the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the first place. Someone obviously wrote the scrolls, so they certainly existed. Elior, however, is taking this contention one step further and saying that the Essenes themselves never existed. As TIME relates:
As Elior explains, the Essenes make no mention of themselves in the 900 scrolls found by a Bedouin shepherd in 1947 in the caves of Qumran, near the Dead Sea. "Sixty years of research have been wasted trying to find the Essenes in the scrolls," Elior tells TIME. "But they didn't exist. This is legend on a legend."
While I would wager that an esoteric sect of the "Essenic" nature certainly did exist in Judea, as it did elsewhere around the Mediterranean, including at Lake Mareotis in Egypt, I definitely agree that the evidence points elsewhere as to the authorship of the scrolls. In my bookThe Christ Conspiracy (1999), I fleshed out the scholarship that logically attributes the scrolls to the Zadokites, a certain group of Sadducees, as the authors deemed themselves.
In a chapter entitled, "Essenes, Zealots and Zadokites," I write:
The idea of a monolithic Essene community from which Christianity issued was...given fuel with the discovery in 1947 of the caches of scrolls in caves near the ruined site of Qumran along the Dead Sea in present-day Jordan. However, there is yet another debate as to whether or not Qumran was indeed an Essene community....
In reality, the archaeological finds indicate Qumran was not an Essene community but a waystation for travelers and merchants crossing the Dead Sea. In Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?, Norman Golb evinced that Qumran was a fortress, not a monastery... In addition, Golb posited that the scrolls were not written by any Essene scribes but constituted a collection from libraries in Jerusalem secreted in caves throughout eastern Palestine by Jews fleeing the Roman armies during the First Revolt of 70 CE.... The Dead Sea collection is in fact eclectic, representing more than one sect or priesthood, competitors, in actuality.... (Acharya, The Christ Conspiracy, 301)
Although the DSS represent an eclectic collection, some of the original scrolls--those composed possibly using the inkpots found at Qumran--were written by individuals who could be categorized as Zealots and who, again, identified themselves as Zadokites, after the Old Testament priest Zadok, founder of the Sadducees. In this regard, in The Christ Conspiracy, I further state:
At the end of the second century BCE, Galilee was violently subjugated by the Judeans... After this invasion and forcible conversion, the ranks of the Herodian outpost Qumran supposedly swelled, evidently with Samaritans and Galileans, or Zealots "from Damascus," who also were the Sadducees, or "sons of Zadok," i.e., "the priests who keep the covenant," as the Zealots of the scrolls identified themselves. Indeed, Solomon Schechter, the discoverer of the Cairo edition of one important scroll also found at the Dead Sea--the "Zadokite Document," also known as the "Damascus Rule" or "Damascus Covenant"--considered the Dead Sea Zadokites an "offshoot" of the Sadducean sect, "possibly the Dosithean schism," thereby equating this Sadducean offshoot with the Samaritans. (Acharya, CC, 306)
In this same manner, TIME recently related:
So who were the real authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls? Elior theorizes that the Essenes were really the renegade sons of Zadok, a priestly caste banished from the Temple of Jerusalem by intriguing Greek rulers in 2nd century B.C. When they left, they took the source of their wisdom — their scrolls — with them. "In Qumran, the remnants of a huge library were found," Elior says, with some of the early Hebrew texts dating back to the 2nd century B.C.
In consideration of this current debate, it is wise to keep in mind that scholarship on various subjects is not always set in stone, as we can see in this instance. The Essene authorship of the Dead Sea Scrolls has been treated as if factual for several decades; yet, not only was there no evidence for such an attribution but the scrolls themselves pointed elsewhere, with the authors identifying themselves as Zadokites.
Moreover, this Zadokite attribution, which I developed in a book published in 1999, unravels some of the difficulties in discerning Christian origins, which I also detailed in that same book, tracing many influences upon Christianity not only to the Zadokites but also to other sects within the Mediterranean region as a whole.
While Dr. James Charlesworth rebuts Elior's statements by claiming that the term "Essenes" would not appear in the scrolls, because it is a "foreign word." Be that as it may, Josephus specifically refers to three separate sects, the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes, which indicates he believed that the Sadducees/Zadokites and Essenes were not the same group. Says, the Jewish historian:
At this time there were three sects among the Jews, who had different opinions concerning human actions; the one was called the sect of the Pharisees, another the sect of the Sadducees, and the other the sect of the Essenes..." (Ant., XIII, V, 9)
To this day, the majority of people perceive these two as distinct groups, for a variety of reasons, including their "different opinions concerning human actions." It is my contention, however, that all three were instrumental in the creation of Christianity.
I have posted an illustrated article entitled "Easter: The Resurrection of Spring" that you may enjoy! This article is an excerpt from my new book Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection.
Although it is believed to represent the time of Jesus Christ's resurrection, the festival of Easter existed in pre-Christian times and, according to the famous Christian saint Venerable Bede (672-735 AD/CE), was named for the Teutonic or German goddess Eôstre, who was the "goddess of dawn" and who symbolized the fertility found abundantly during the springtime of the year....
The "Christos" is not only the sun triumphing over the darkness as the day becomes longer than the night, but it is also the sun's light in the moon, as the moon waxes and wanes monthly.... In any event, the deity reborn or raised up at the vernal equinox or springtime is a recurring theme not representing a "historical" personage but, rather, a natural phenomenon, i.e., Spring.
I realize this isn't my usual fare, but in these difficult economic times, I think this is an extremely important idea whose time has come.
I have recently participated in book exchanges or swaps, as well as a Christmas gift exchange, whereby people bring their unwanted items to a central location, such as a school, church, armory or other public place, in order to exchange them with others who do likewise. There are tables set up, the items are placed on them, people take what they want for FREE! Simple!
Book swaps may be becoming more common in schools, and hopefully the Christmas gift exchange will catch on as well. But one of the most important items people need is clothing, especially those with school-aged children! So...
I have planted the seed in the mind of school officials to create a clothing exchange or swap, during which parents can bring their children's outgrown clothes to a central location, such as the school gym, and exchange them for FREE!
I would like to see this idea spread far and wide. It's easy - and it's free. You could potentially get an entire year's wardrobe for your child absolutely free. I understand that some towns have clothing banks where lower income families can get free clothing, and I have seen a very fine one indeed. But what about towns that don't have decent clothing banks? And what about people with higher incomes who still can't afford the endless stream of clothes needed for their children?
Clothing exchanges/swaps are the perfect answer! And think about all the packaging and assorted other resources we can save by not running down to our local megamart and buying yet more STUFF from foreign countries? I for one am sick to death of plastic wrap and all the rest that comes with new products. How much of that junk is ending up in our waterways, our oceans and so on? How much more plastic do we need to choke and kill our wildlife?
Spare the packaging, save money, better your community - do a clothing exchange!
Toy Swaps/Exchanges
And another great idea whose time is come is a TOY EXCHANGE. If you're like many parents, you have boxes upon boxes of TOYS that are driving you crazy. Gather those toys together in a central location and swap them with others! Again, we're talking about junk, packaging, plastic pellets killing wildlife. Don't throw out those old toys, exchange them for FREE.
You can also agree with your children's friends' parents to exchange used but unbroken toys as gifts at birthdays! If everyone is on board, no one should be offended by not receiving plastic-swathed, new toys to add to the heaps in their homes. Explain that you are interested in both the economic and environmental low impact of giving and receiving used toys at birthday parties.
None of this is difficult or costly to organize. I'm sure you can come up with more exchanges and swaps in your town or city. Just put the idea out there! Spread it around. We have enough STUFF in this country. We don't need to spend our hard-earned and increasingly scarce dollars on these items that are still perfectly good and useful.
Start free clothing, book, toy and gift exchanges and swaps in your neighborhood, town, city and state today!
In this two-hour show, I go into great and juicy detail about my new book Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection. This new book essentially proves the Egyptian and Horus elements as found in "ZEITGEIST, Part 1." These elements were in turn from my book The Christ Conspiracy, such as:
Horus was born of the virgin Isis-Mery on December 25th.
Horus/Osiris's birth was heralded by a bright star in the east, followed by "three kings."
Horus was baptized by "Anup the Baptizer," who was decapitated.
He had 12 followers, helpers or disciples.
And much more!
In the program there's also a little editorializing and commentary about the religious fanaticism that dominates in some places, like on other people's radio shows...
It is a curious fact that writers who toss around the words "sloppy," "garbled" and "nonsense" are often guilty of these very things themselves. Case in point is the critical review of the first part of the internet movie "ZEITGEIST" by Skeptic magazine book editor Tim Callahan (Eskeptic, 2/25/09). Callahan proclaims "ZEITGEIST Part 1"--for which I was a source and last-minute consultant on the official version--to be "sloppy" and "garbled," and he proceeds to give his opinion as to its supposed errors. First of all, his declaration that much of the material in ZG is "plainly and simply bogus" is false. Callahan has evidently not even studied the sources meticulously cited on the ZG website to see from where this material comes. Instead, he gives the impression that the movie's creator, Peter Joseph, simply "made it up." Secondly, ZG is a simple summary of the thesis that Jesus is a rehash of the popular sun gods of the Roman Empire and beyond. The 25-minute segment was not meant to serve as a thorough scholarly analysis, so Callahan's talk about "greater scholarship" and "spurious scholarship" constitutes a mere snooty red herring.
I've just posted a really great review of my book Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ" by David Mills, author of the best-seller Atheist Universe. Along with Dawkins, Hitchens and others, David is one of the handful of writers who have been cited extensively during the past several years of the "atheist revolution."
"Ms. Murdock is one of only a tiny number of scholars with the richly diverse academic background (and the necessary courage) to adequately address the question of whether Jesus Christ truly existed as a walking-talking figure in first-century Palestine. This question, and many others related to New Testament reliability, are directly confronted and satisfyingly answered in Who Was Jesus? I loved this book. It is absolutely superb in every way, from the eloquence of the writing to the integrity of the scholarship. This book should be required reading in every American classroom....
"My personal recommendation is that Who Was Jesus? should be the first book purchased and studied by anyone, atheist or true believer, who wants to debate Jesus' existence and the Bible's veracity.... You should therefore make this book priority reading even over The God Delusion, God is Not Great and other excellent but, in my opinion, less important books than Murdock's....
"To summarize: D.M. Murdock's Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ is unquestionably one of the finest and most enjoyable books I've ever read."
David Mills Author of Atheist Universe
For the whole thing - and to get your copy of Who Was Jesus? - be sure to go to:
The great news is that we are anxiously awaiting the publication of Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection, which essentially proves the various contentions regarding the Egyptian god Horus as found in the official version of the hit internet movie "ZEITGEIST!"
In the meantime, I thought I'd direct your attention to a few videos created by a young fellow that likewise demonstrate a couple of the Horus-Jesus parallels. While the net is inundated by poorly researched "debunking" videos full of straw men and misstatements, these defender vids are part of a relative handful.
I was especially impressed by the Egyptologist (who sounds like Zahi Hawass) in the third video pointing out the phrase "Aset Meri," or Isis Mery, on an Egyptian monument.
One clarification on the statements from the second video below: In the Alexandrian calendar - used to this day by the Egyptian Christians called "Copts" - the month of Khoiak/Choiach is indeed December. Also, if this fellow had read my "Companion Guide to ZEITGEIST, Part 1," he would have known that we have ancient testimony from the writer Plutarch that, in the ancient mythology, Horus was born at the winter solstice. But our evidence doesn't end there, as you will see from Christ in Egypt.
If you would like a sneak-peak of Christ in Egypt, please do get a copy of my "Companion Guide to ZEITGEIST, Part 1." I think you will enjoy it!
Here's what one person just recently had to say about the Companion Guide:
"Your work in the Zeitgeist companion was phenomenal. . . Thank you for taking the time to explore truth. . ." --PF
Suns of God was composed over the period between the release of The Christ Conspiracy and fall 2004, when it was published. Its composition was interrupted by a string of personal tragedies and traumas, including the death of my mother, but I managed to complete it regardless of tremendous adversity.
As I had done with The Christ Conspiracy, I researched, wrote, edited, proofed, typeset, indexed and did the illustrations for Suns of God entirely by myself. The cover was created professionally based on a mockup I originally designed.
From: FA To: acharya_s@yahoo.com Date: Friday, February 6, 2009
Hi Acharya:
I hope things are getting better for you.
I wanted to let you know that I have been reading Suns of Gods. It is absolutely amazing the amount of information you have compiled into this book.
I just finished the section of "The Historical Jesus." I was blown away by the segment. I wish I would have known these facts many years ago. I have to wonder what makes man cling to the belief that there ever was a Jesus with all the information that exists that proves the bible was the work of idiots trying to create a new religion.
I was taken back by the vast amount of knowledge you must possess to be able to have put a book like Suns of Gods together. How long did it take you to write this book? Did you have help from anyone or was this material from your reading and your schooling?
"I think your book should be provided to schools and colleges for students to be able to read and understand that much of greatest selling book ever sold is nothing but stories from men who started a killing machine. Perhaps they were the work of the devil!!"
I wanted to drop a line and let you know how much I have been enjoying your book. I am looking forward to reading your next book Christ in Egypt.
FA
Thank you, FA, for the kind words and kudos. FYI, we - yes, this time I've had help with the book - are putting the finishing touches on Christ in Egypt, and with any luck it will be available by the end of February. And once again, the completion of this book has been marked by adversity that has delayed its publication for months. At times it seems somebody doesn't want this astounding information to be put out there!
Once again it's time to raise this great debate, as we hear from our pious Christian leaders that "Jesus is the Reason for the Season." Interestingly, over the past year and a half since the release of "ZEITGEIST," in objecting to the comparison of the sun gods with Jesus based on the winter-solstice birthday of December 25th, Christian fundamentalist critics have been very vocal that Jesus is NOT the reason for the season, proving our point in the first place.
Most of us in Christian lands who were raised Christian, as I was, were never told about the winter solstice, which begins at midnight on December 21st, i.e., the morning of the 22nd, and ends at midnight on December 24th or "Christmas Eve," which is essentially the same thing as the morning of December 25th. Without getting too complicated or technical, for three days during that period in the northern hemisphere the sun appears to "stand still" on a sundial, as its shadow moves neither north nor south. Hence, the word "solstice" means sun stands still. On the 25th of December, the sun appears to be moving north again, representing the birth of the sun!
Since very ancient times in many cultures around the globe, the sun's birth at the winter solstice has been celebrated with great festivities. This celebration of the sun's return after the darkest days of the year occurred especially in the regions farther away from the equator, such as Northern Europe, where Yuletide festivals are understandably quite pronounced.
"Christmas" as the birth of Jesus Christ was not officially adopted until the edict of Julius I in the fifth century, usurping this Pagan holiday so effectively that even in this day and age millions of people are unaware of the facts of the winter solstice and its celebration dating back thousands of years.
Moreover, despite the fracas from the fundamentalists over the comparison of Jesus with other sun gods based on the winter-solstice birth, sincere Christians such as Rev. Dr. Billy Graham remain completely oblivious to this debate.
For more information on this subject, check out my article:
In an exciting development, the promo for a new "God" movie prominently features me as the "mythicist." This fascinating documentary--which I truly believe should be a big deal--is called "God in the Box," and you may have come across it before.
These fellows traveled around the U.S. interviewing people from all walks of life about their opinions regarding God. As you can imagine, the results run the gamut.
In this promo clip, I am sandwiched between an African-American Christian preacher and a white American female convert to Islam. (Yes, I know--the irony of it.)
And here is an amazing human-interest twist of fate: The African-American fellow at the end of the video is a friend of mine from Los Angeles! None of us had any idea of this connection, so it is very cosmic--how appropriate for the subject matter. Even better, this individual named "Ting" was very helpful to me and mine during our direst time of need.
As I say, I am very hopeful that this interesting and inspiring documentary "God in the Box" will be very popular. It has already been submitted to the Sundance Film Festival, and I am also hoping that Artivist will take notice of it, as well as mainstream media.
Imagine my surprise when I heard that Bill Maher, plugging his new movie "Religulous," was on the highly popular show "The View" discussing the Egyptian god Horus!
In the segment provided below of the brave Maher's appearance among "The View's" she-wolves, he says that the story of the virgin-born savior who rose from the dead was popular around the Mediterranean for a "thousands years" before Christianity. Bill then relates that Horus raised "Lazarus" from the dead. Maher next attempts to raise "the Indian god Krishna," but he's cut off.
Now, Maher could only have gotten that information about Horus from a few places, one of which is my work. The only sources prior to my book The Christ Conspiracy that discuss the Horus-Lazarus connection to any extent are Alvin Boyd Kuhn and Gerald Massey. There are a few places since the publication of Christ Con, including Tom Harpur's The Pagan Christ, which has gotten some notoriety. It would be nice to know, of course, if Maher has been exposed to my work, whether directly or through the hit movie "ZEITGEIST." Since the bit about Lazarus is not in ZG, it's possible someone along the way during his movie project steered Maher towards my work.
In any event, in my work I address the correspondences between the biblical character Lazarus, whom Jesus raises from the dead, and the Egyptian story of Horus raising El-Azarus or Osiris from the dead, which was a central theme in the Egyptian religion. While I discuss the raising of Lazarus as an Egyptian motif in The Christ Conspiracy and Suns of God, I go into greater detail concerning this pericope in my book Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ. In that book, I provide an entire section called "The Raising of Lazarus," including a discussion of the name as related to "El-Azarus" or "El-Osiris." Indeed, we discover that in the general area where Christ supposedly lived emerged an ancient stela with an inscription called "the Carpentras" in which appears the epithet "Osiris-Eloh," a combination of the Egyptian god with the biblical "El," as in Elohim. More on the subject of this Lazarus-Osiris story will be found in my forthcoming book Christ in Egypt, where I examine the primary sources to show that the biblical Lazarus tale appears to have been lifted almost whole cloth from the Egyptian funerary literature.
It would be fantastic, of course, if the great Bill Maher were to have me on his HBO show to discuss all these issues. (Hint, hint! I would be more than happy to discuss these issues in the major media, as I have already so many times elsewhere since 1995. Please see "Acharya S in the Media." Be sure also to see my online videos.)
Contrary to rumors by those who have not read my books, I do not simply "debunk" religion. In actuality, I love religion, and I am attempting to cultivate carefully the good parts, while incinerating the bad. The spirit with which my writing is meant is wonderfully encapsulated by a lovely Indian person who recently wrote a review of my book Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled.
I am impressed by the wisdom and maturity with which this devout "keeper of the dharma," as he calls himself - from a Brahmin family - read and appreciated my book.
Brilliant work and full of relevant facts, September 23, 2008
By
S. Kulkarni
DM Murdock aka Acharya S had written a detailed sketch of the transition of the ancient beliefs that later turned out to be the religions of both the east and the west. This book clearly shows how much research a person writing about historical and religious issues must perform and how sensitive the information can be for certain groups. I am a Hindu and I have always held true that Dharma - the righteousness preached by our religion is very close to the Goodness in human nature. Rules are transient and with technology they are even more transient. Forcing rigid medieval dogmatic rules seems to have gotten worse in the modern age with Christians using new and new means to propagate the Church. On the other hand the Islamic world is under dark cloud of the fundamentalists. This book is a crucial read for not only hard core atheists and agnostics, but to every devoted Dharmic, Christian, Muslim, Jew or Buddhist who want to know how man wen on to establishing theology and religion from ancient times till date.
As a Hindu I do not take any offenses by the book. In fact the book clearly states that Vedic principles are indeed the oldest surviving religious works and all religion in the world had directly or indirectly emerged off a set of common beliefs which the Vedas are the most undisturbed or un spoilt source. As a rational human beings we can reason and think logically of religion and spirituality differs. How political is religion and how religious is polity!
I know that many groups are offended by the writings. Honestly we need proper dialog and discussion fora - bickering, censoring or fighting over such issues of hurt sentiments only strengthens the cause of political - mindied religious activists and makes the real thinking people less powerful!
I also received a kind email from this gentleman, with whose permission I have excerpted here.
Great Read - Suns Of God September 2008 From: S. Kulkarni
Hello Ms Acharya,
...I belong to the Brahmin caste, and I feel proud that we have been preserving our heritage for more that 4,000 years. Our lineage goes back to the seven Wise sages (Saptarishis - named after the seven bright stars of the Ursa Major).
I took the pleasure of reading your Suns of God book...and, boy, I was clearly impressed by your erudition and grip on the ancient world....
Too much valuable evidence has been destroyed via book burning and history rewriting right from the Byzantine Empire, through the Mongol invasions, Christian and Islamic conquests and crusades, and, like you, I think that it is really important to establish the true history of that period....
The way Christian missionaries are rampantly "harvesting" poor Indian tribals and natives, destroying our heritage and preaching an alien and unscientific religion is really agonizing....
Thanks and Regards, S. Kulkarni
Another Indian fellow also posted a five-star review of Suns of God on Amazon.
Christ and Krishna--similar solar deities, December 18, 2004
By
Raja Bhat
This is a superb book. There are books on the mythical nature of Jesus, particularly "The Jesus Mysteries" and its sequel "Jesus and the Lost Goddess" by Timothy Freke. Freke goes in-depth into the very nature of mystery myth deity worship, whereas Acharya S tends to focus her scholarship on the nature of these solar deities: Christ, Krishna, and Buddha. Enough scholarship to have been awarded a Ph.D., though unfortunately, in the American academic world, to question the historicity of Jesus is to ask for trouble and indeed not ever attain the status of professor of religion. Hopefully things will change.
Raja Bhat
I make a point of showing Indian support for the reason that there are those as fervent about Hinduism as Christians are about their faith, and over the years some have become upset at what they perceive as an affront in my work. Most if not all of the time, said individuals have not read my work to any extent but have heard rumors about it. As we can see here, my work can be appreciated for its very purpose: Getting at the truth behind the world's religious ideologies, wherever that may lead.
Unlike the supernatural genesis often attributed to a given religion, the reality is that humanity's spiritual ideas possess a history. The various theologies date back thousands of years and did not arrive fully blown in the minds of certain chosen people but, rather, evolved as naturally as any other subject.
"My work - especially as exemplified in my book Suns of God - represents a one-of-a-kind, in-depth look at the origins of the world's most popular religious concepts."
