Rating: 
Summary: For sincere seekers only
Review: Having spent 40 years researching comparative religions for truth and not simply to feed false hopes or vanity, I found this book to be among the most logical links between fact, fantasy, and fiction. This author has great courage to face-off with those who hide behind regimented dogma and wishful thinking. ...I saw her as a sincere seeker of unvarnished truth. As for this work having a massive amount of references, that is absolutely necessary because of the mountains of works already on the shelves that prove her proposition one fact at a time. This speaks well of Acharya's determination to weld together her work by quoting other works of fact. Having followed much of the same path, I must applaude her diligence and ability to offer the truth, not the fantasy.< ...I read the history of how Christians burned people alive for not 'believing' in their 'loving God.' I read of the Children's Crusade which left them starving and sold into slavery - where was this Loving God then? Why did The Almighty let it happen? Why? I found out why. Christianity was based upon and proved itself true to one consistent rule: Believe as we believe . . . or we will kill you. Hm. Sounds much like the Taliban whom we condemn. Yet there is so much good basic intentions in all the Christian, Muslim, and Judaic faiths. The intentions are good, but often those intentions are lost in practice via the so-called ministers to that 'faith' - as we see in the rampant molestation of children by Catholic priests. Again, why? And what is 'faith?' Faith seems to be best defined as accepting something without proof . . .. Acharya offers this book to those who truly want to know who they are, why they are, what makes us the way we are, and how can we become better. Check every reference she lists - then THINK! Make your own decisions; that's why God gave you a brain.
Rating: 
Summary: Pathetic Reseach Value
Review: Most of work is quoted from other authors with heavy dose of personal opinion injected w/ high bias and verbal persuation. Argument based on few facts and mostly personal feelings. Author has little understanding of biblical Jesus and Christianity resulting in many bible references out of context and misinterpreted. If you're looking for a book that will fairly evaluate both sides of the issue and support both w/ facts, references, and well thought argument, this isn't it. I wish I could find such an unbiased evaluation to truly get to the root of this matter, but haven't yet. Book written by 3rd grader for 1st graders who can be influenced w/ such shallow and unsupported arguments that are easy to disprove.
Rating:
Summary: What Does Dorothy Do Now
Review: The best metaphor for the effects this book may have upon a reader is that of the movie " The Wizard of Oz." All the Munchkins, Dorothy, and her new friends believed the Great Wizard was all powerful and that only He could solve all their problems. Once the Wicked Witch was slain, Dorothy returned to the Wizard for his help to return home, but discovers that the Wizard is merely a man, and the effects and signs of His power are all just smoke and mirrors. It becomes clear then and there that Dorothy had accomplished everything all by herself and she is left with the final question " What do I do now?" Her belief system was shatterred and she was left in a very insecure place. There is no less secure place to be than where one's core beliefs are dismantled.
All that is required to read this book is an open mind and a lot of courage. Readers of this book may find that they end up in a place where they see "behind the Wizard's curtain" and discover they believed in nothing real, and this may lead to them finding themselves, their real selves after years of misguided belief. The author does not claim nor pretend to have all the answers as most religious propagandists purport of their own faiths, however so many inconsistencies are proferred to surround religious history that one cannot ignore the factual probability that many faith systems are built upon false premises, and the interpretation of corrupt texts.
This book may take you out of your comfort zone and into your own courageous and free-thinking search for truth. It may very well tell you more about yourself than about religious beliefs.
Once read, you might ask " What do I do now?"
Rating:
Summary: Christ Conspiracy / conspiracy...
Review: I believe books like this are great deceptions to turn people away from the truth. This book is neither accurate or honest in its scholarship. I would suggest that you read the rebuttal of this book written by one who knows the facts...
Rating:
Summary: Grab it if you get the chance!!
Review: Acharya writes an honest perspective on the New Testament, all easily verifiable as well, despite the other reviewers' comments. To truly find a firm footing in your faith you should read this book, for no other reason but to strengthen your faith. I really liked the parallels to Mithra and Hercules being brought out into such detail. This book is bold and daring and I take my hat off to Acharya for have the balls to write it!! Religion is for people who don't want to go to hell....Spirituality is for people who don't want to go back!
Rating:
Summary: An Important Work on a Forbidden Subject
Review: This book will be a revelation to anyone who believes that Jesus Christ is the only begotten son sent from God to save us from our sins. The fact is that such a person never existed. Acharya S has done a service to forensic anthropology similar to what Euclid did for geometry. She has pulled together all available materials to reveal the inner workings of perhaps the biggest folly of Western man. Reading "The Christ Conspiracy" brought to mind the picture of a hockey game in which one team didn't show up and the other ... instead of just taking the forfeit ... played the game anyway, shooting pucks into an open net. Long shots, slap shots off the glass, lofted shots, behind the back, through the legs, etc. Some shots miss but ... you get the picture. I don't think that she is being unfair to the Church by not representing their views because ... they simply don't have any. That is, they have nothing to say to bolster their contention that Jesus was a real, flesh and blood human being 2000 years ago. If they had such evidence, they would have produced it long ago. I would suppose that they do have, in those underground vaults, plenty of evidence that their enterprise is a sham (as serial killers keep trophies) but you're not going to get to see that ... nor will anyone else with less authority than an Italian cardinal from the "old school". Her story in brief ... is that Jesus is a made up character like Pinochio who entered the world as an historical figure ... ex post facto ... around 150 CE (the Common Era). He is the creation of multiple "Christian" sects flourishing then, which predate what is presently understood to be Christianity. Their purpose was to make a state religion for Rome ... to subsume all other religions by taking parts of each and all to construct the "ideal bastard" (with a thousand fathers). They placed him in the past, circa 30 CE, calling him the "real deal" and refined the scam for hundreds of years thereafter. In fact, the Jesus myth is simply a rehash of Solar myths, sun gods, Zodiacal stars and "luna"-tics. It is as old as time and is manifested in virtually every culture on Earth to some extent. The same generalities are apply to the Jewish religion, i.e. no real Moses and lots of mythical figures. Some excellent things I learned here (or re-learned because I just forgot):
That when one religion replaces another it generally takes the previous dominant gods and makes them subordinates of the new god (or apostles or prophets)
That the ancients knew the world was round and revolved around the sun (only some forgot during the self-inflicted, church-sponsored, memory lapse)
That the fish symbol on the red-necks cars down here in Texas represents the "Age of Pisces"
That St. Paul is also not a real person
That there are Zodiacal images all over, under and around Christian churches (who profess it a sin to believe in such things) Acharya S ties up her bundle with a thousand strings that lead to hundreds of other truth seekers, principally from the last two hundred years ... from Thomas Paine to Gerald Massey to Earl "The Jesus Puzzle" Doherty. This Reverse Inquisition has been going on for that long, intermittently, without my knowledge because I have never investigated the matter before. I was born and raised a Catholic ... I became a "born again" athiest at 14 and never looked back. But I never questioned that Jesus was a real person. I simply assumed, for want of seeing any opposition, that he was some sort of Jim Jones type who did a few tricks, had some groupies, and became a big shot ... post mortem ... through the artifice of those who came after and thought of him a useful idiot. Apparently this is not the case. Christianity is a willful fraud perpetrated by experts in the manipulation of pliable minds. It is dangerous only if left unexamined. My guess is that if all who presently regard themselves Christians read this book, half would gradually abandon their churches and the other half would refuse to believe the obvious truth even as some believe that OJ is innocent ... and ... Osama's tape has been electronically altered. There are none so blind as those who deceive themselves. I suppose that some people will declare this to be a rant ... but it is most definitely not. I know what a rant is. I make them on occasions. This book is 99.7% scholarly and 0.3% rant, i.e. a few genuine rant paragraphs. But I expect an author's bias to show through somewhere. And how could one not be biased by a fable that has caused so much destruction through the ages? I enjoyed this work immensely in a purely intellectual way and recommend it without qualification to anyone on this planet seriously attempting to develop an intellect.
PS: I recommended to her that the next book be priced significantly higher so that she could make a reasonable profit from her work. At ($), the Christ Conspiracy is too close to a "freebie".
Rating:
Summary: A little bit of truth...
Review: Well, I recently read The Christ Conspiracy by Acharya S, and to be honest, it left me feeling somewhat disheartened. Not because of the supposed threat this book poses to the Christian faith, but as a result of the glaring inaccuracies throughout the book. In other words, I think many will accept and have accepted the claims this book makes about Christianity (as well as other religions) without question, and I found that to be discouraging. The book may develop an interesting theory (i.e. that the sources for the Christian religion were not actual events, but religions such as Hinduism, various pagan cults, and the ancient "science" of astrology). Nevertheless, in order to do so, Acharya was forced to utilize fabrications to build her case. After reading her book I was left wondering: how does one piece together misinformation to arrive at truth? Truth, as this book claims to contain, must be factual and consistent throughout. To mingle false information with truth does not meet those critical criteria! For someone to take on such an enormous task as Acharya did, i.e., to successfully disprove the claims of an almost 2000 year old religion that influences the entire world, it not only requires a thorough knowledge of the subject matter, but it is also owed to the students and readers, by the scholar/historian, to examine history objectively and present it to them in like manner. Unfortunately, it became evident that this book was neither a thoroughly researched project, nor an objective representation of history. In fact, Acharya seemed so overcome by her own subjectivity that she consequently had no reservations about reinventing history! I realize that many will disagree, as a number of the reviews posted praised this book while commenting on how well researched it was. However, just because Acharya cited a number of other books that agree with her presuppositions, it doesn't allow us to assume that she also had either a thorough knowledge of Christian literature or a complete understanding of their side of the argument. In fact, it was precisely because of the many inaccurate statements that I felt compelled to come to the conclusion I did- that she was NOT aware of many of the Christian evidences. I imagine that to most that have been formally educated in Christianity, mythology, or any of the related topics this book discusses, the conclusions Acharya reached probably will not go over very well. A few examples of error in The Christ Conspiracy: In an attempt to discredit the Gospels early authorship Acharya adopted the view of a John Remsburg, who claimed that the four Gospels were virtually unknown to the early church, and therefore could not have been written early in church history. As evidence of this supposition, it was alleged that an important Christian apologist named Justin Martyr (circa AD 150) never used any of the Gospels in his writings. In light of all that Justin had written and despite the many works he did quote from, Remsburg (and then Acharya) commented that there was not one citation "from the four Gospels" (p. 25). In truth, however, Justin Martyr did indeed use all four Gospels in his writings, quoting mostly from Matthew and Luke (cf. The First Apology of Justin & Dialogue with Trypho). In "Dialogue with Trypho," Justin even stated before one quote from Matthew, "it is written" (chap. 49), which was the usual formula used when quoting from works considered to be inspired Scripture. Also, Justin mentioned the apostle's "Memoirs" a number of times, and once even stated that the memoirs that were "called Gospels" were read on Sundays (First Apology, chap. 66-7). And lastly, Justin specifically referred to the apostles as "they who have recorded all that concerns our Savior Jesus" (ibid., chap. 23). As to when the NT was actually written: Acharya gave a very late date for its authorship. For example, she alleged that Matthew was written around AD 180 (p. 40). However, this theory completely crumbles, particularly regarding Matthew, when one reviews early Christian literature. A number of the apostolic fathers either used Matthew's Gospel in their writings, quoting directly from it, or indicated in some way that they knew of it (e.g. Polycarp, Ignatius, Papias, etc.; and all well before AD 180). The "Teaching of the Twelve Apostles," written between 100 and 120, used his Gospel, particularly the Sermon on the Mount. And the "Epistle of Barnabas," circa AD 130, also quoted from this Gospel (chap. 4; and even acknowledged it as Scripture). So anyway, to conclude, what I found surprising, and certainly worth noting, was that while Acharya attempted to expose the supposed lies put forward by Christianity and its Scripture, and ultimately discredit this religion, her very own book was replete with error. In other words, she is guilty of the very allegations she makes against Christianity (i.e., propagating misinformation)! If one does decide to read The Christ Conspiracy, dare to investigate the claims in the book. Approach the subject from the side of the Christians as well as their opposition. Do not let this book be the deciding factor in your quest for truth! And as to the supposed threat this book poses: it certainly isn't to Christianity.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!!!
Review: The fact that the Christ story is not an original, in fact their are more than a few that are even older, this book should make you think or at least question more than a few things the Bible has to say about Christ. This book is a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Should be mandatory reading in every school and university
Review: This superb and well researched book is clearly and well written. You will come away from this book with a new understanding of the underpinnings of Christianity Should be read by Christian and unbeliever alike.
Buy , beg, steal or borrow it. ... But READ it .
Rating: 
Summary: It is Time for the Whole Truth
Review: I have just finished reading The Christ Conspiracy. I found it to be a thorough and scholarly work which supports what I have believed for some time. I first found Col. James Churchward' s The Lost Continent of Mu in my Junior High library and read the book in the mid -fifties. I always wondered about the veracity of the findings. In the last several years I have had the time to go back and read more on the early history of Man. Much has been (re)-discovered since the fifties that certainly seems to support the story as reported by Churchward. I have read all of Gardener's books, but I find them to be selfserving in support of the ruling monachy, and don't tell the entire truth. I have been interested in the Knights Templar history for some time as well and the Prior of Sion story.
I think your book and the earlier works by Massey, which I have started to read, do spell out the history of the Mythos and what it really means. I am an educated person, trained in physics and engineering, and an amateur (very) astronomer. I understand the precesion of the equinoxes and I have read Hamlet's Mill.
There is hope in my heart that the next generation (or two) will finally get the facts straight and a new age can begin. Unless, Man is doomed to continually kill his own kind forever, due to a basic flaw in our genetic programing, then we may not survive, unless that flaw can be eliminated.
I must say, of all that I have read in the last ten years, your book was a major breakthrough in truth-telling. I am also a follower of Zechariah Sitchin. I believe the story of mankind lies in the Sumerian tablets, or in even older tablets not yet available to the west (such as those refered to by Churchward. I hope that you will continue to publish the truth and that more people will avail themselves of it through works such as those you have written.
Philip Trask
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