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Summary: The Ultimate in Rationalist Thinking
Review: Simply put, this is a wonderfully subversive and dangerous book! As a former believer in the whole Christian mythology, I was quite angry when the truth of the matter began dawning on me. I was led or I somehow found Acharya's book, and it finally tipped me off the religious reservation altogether. The quote on her page says it all: The Truth Will Set You Free -- But First it will Piss You Off. After reading "The Christ Conspiracy" I am finally beyond the pissed-off part of my life and am coming into the set free part. Hallelujia! This is a must read for anyone who wants the unvarnished truth and who is no longer satisfied with merely accepting what they are told by theologians and True Believers. Dare to question, you have only your soul to gain.
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Summary: THIS IS THE BOOK THAT STOPPED ME "BELIEVING"
Review: Such an emotive word, "believing": but when used in the context of religion, it only means feeling something to be true and not wanting to have to back it up by rational reasons.But that feeling can go away: like Thom Yorke of Radiohead writes in "There There": "Just 'cause you feel it, doesn't mean its there." And like Olive Schreiner writes in "Story of an African Farm: "but what happens when the feeling goes away?"
You can think anything in the world if you want to - your mind can do that: so why trust to feeling and desire? Reason is needed to moderate them. And believe you me, friends and lovers, the feeling can - if you "feel" there's a Jesus in your head that you talk to, its just your mind doing that - because i had that feeling once, and i don't anymore... I went to a scholarly university talk based on ideas espoused by Acharya here and others such as Earl Doherty, where Christianity is argued as impossible from BIBLICAL EVIDENCE ITSELF! Principly through the fact that there are no quotes of the words and life of Jesus aside from that he died on the cross in the letters of Paul, which are the earliest christian writings - so how could there have been even an oral tradition keeping such lengthy and laughable quotings as in the Sermon on the Mount for four men to get together and take down around the end of the first century AD? In fact, what is more likely is those who agreed on similar details (Matthew Mark and Luke), dubbed the synoptic gospels, took their quotes from a book of popular philosophy of the time, the hypothetical Q gospel. Anyway, this book doesn't have to have the impact it had on me - but what it will let you do is realise that your hope that christianity might still be the ONE RIGHT RELIGION out of the miriad conflicting and irreconcilable religions of the world.
It was a vain hope, but it was the last thread i was clutching onto. (And why, indeed, does every group of humans need some story which explains how their surroundings got here and why people sometimes stop breathing and can be spoken to or gone places with no more. Hmm... Not surprising at all, really.)
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Summary: A great rebuttal to 'Jesus-ism'
Review: This book is a magnificint rebuttal to the claims of the world's largest religion of the world - Christianity. Acharaya uses a magnificient array of sources to demonstrate and prove that the Christian version of 'Christ' and the twelve 'Apostle' are mere allegories. Infact the similarities between the 'Jesus' and other ancient pagan gods like Mithra, Hercules, Krishna etc are resounding and thought provoking.A must buy!
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Summary: Very interesting but marred read!
Review: I can't really say who is better served by this book because it could be directed at several types of readers.
For Christians it offers copious amounts of data that at least challenges many accepted facts and ideas surrounding early Christianity. These ideas won't change the hard core believers of course, but the questions raised are significant when the author shows how many groups meddled around with the history of this period...making it convoluted and,well,somewhat "invented".
Those readers who sit on the fence will be swayed one direction or the other BUT they will be swayed. I got literally angry when I began to perceive just how thorough these religious zealots were in creating a mythology rooted in illusion and conjecture.As you might guess it knocked me off the fence once and for all.
The least affected will be those readers who have already made up their minds regarding the authenticity of Jesus (ie he's mythology personified) However interesting this book is it's just one more "nail in the coffin" for them.
There is one big problem I have with the author though which finally determined my 3.0 not 5.0 rating. The author has an obsession it seems with astrology. Instead of just focusing on the basics concerning Jesus' existance (lack of actual proofs/similarities of previous beliefs and superstitions)...the author goes on and on trying to show how everything in the old and new testament is translated into astrological events!!! I mean it gets totally ridiculous when she takes literally everything mentioned in the Bible and trys to imply that it REALLY refers to the ancients observation of planetary bodies and other obscure lost lore. This astrological junk as well as some inflamatory anti judeo-christian rehtoric ultimately knocks this book off the shelf of credulous research.
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Summary: A Redacted Review To Conciliate Certain Censoring Ciphers
Review: Having been raised in a narrow-minded, fundamental Christian environment, I experienced the abuse and insidious practices of this power-hungry institution. Having extracted myself from this loathsome mindset and unwashed my brain of ridiculous fear and guilt programming, I relish the book Christ Conspiracy by Acharya S who bravely exposes popular Christian dogma for what it really is: a sham. This book goes a long way to help expedite the demise of false teachings. Acharya takes on what I consider the world's most dangerous establishment (and if you don't believe me, just look at the violent history of the church and so-called 'Christian nations'), and with flair, points out the many inconsistencies, contradictions, and the myths that have come to be interpreted as literal people and real events. Like forward-thinking people before her, she wades through false information, debunking the spiritual darkness that has been foisted upon hapless humanity for the past 2000 years. This is not to say that all teachings in the many versions of the Christian bible are odious. Some are wonderful guidelines for good living such as 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' Others sound like the decrees of blood-thirsty tyrants: 'Bring my enemies here and slaughter them in front of me.' The contradictory statements contained in the bible have caused schisms in many a mind and the deaths of millions, such as the Spanish Inquisition as one of many examples. And nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! Hip, scholarly and with keen insight, Acharya demolishes Christianity's most sacred concept (the Immaculate Misconception): that Jesus actually existed. Brimming with evidence supporting her theory, her book (and her web site) eruditely demonstrates that Christians are addicted to their belief system, even when their belief system is tenuous at best. Acharya's work gives me hope that there are people who are thinking for themselves, questioning the status quo, examining and disproving many long-held cherished convictions of the deluded. If you're serious about freeing your mind (and your body) from the shackles of blind faith, this book provides a resplendent road map to freedom to think for yourself. I give her book 5 stars, 4 planets, 3 comets, 2 asteroids and a partridge in a pear tree. 'Always look on the bright side of life!'
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Summary: Stoopid!
Review: ...Yes, this humble writer has discovred something that over a billion of the world's population can't see. (Or has she?) Sure, 'some' scholars say that the books of the Bible were written around 150AD, but most date them well before then, but if you want to read this book, only look at the evidence that backs your own claim; ignore the majority of evidence because it gets in the way. Ignore the fact that miracles continue to happen in the name of Christ, or that people continue to find peace in this faith. Sure, Peter and Paul died for their belief in Jesus as Christ, but ignore this too, pretend that Christianity was made up about eighty years after(!) that happened! Ignore in fact the hundreds of thousands who have died believing in that same thing! One of her theories is how sun worship of the pagans was transformed into "Son" worship of today's Christians! Can you believe that? I imagine that they spoke English too (sun / son, sound similar)! Oh, and for those aethists who think that Acharya is some sort of timely, 'god-send', she is herself a Hindu. The author of "Metta: The Philosophy & Practics of Univrsal Love" It is here we see the main motivation for her work. She believes taht Judaism, Christianity and Islam all stole their ideas from Hinduism! Never mind the fact that in Hinduism the idea is that Man is God, and Christianity says something completly different!
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Summary: Opens Up a Pandora's Box on Organized Religion in General
Review: First of all, while well worth reading, this is not an easy book to get through. Numerous references and excerpts from other works and a plethora of unfamiliar ancient language names most definitely force you to stay focused on your reading. This is not like plowing through a novel and not light reading. Nevertheless, the research and information was very thorough and comprehensive and well worth considering. Personally, I have a penchant for the Truth and not the rehashing of the commonly accepted dictums for living and this book is daring, and in my opinion successful, in it's approach to the taboo questioning of a very huge one. It left me with a solid mistrust of all organized religions, not just Christianity and the Christ myth. (However, to be fair, I began with that orientation as a result of my readings of the Conversations with God books by Neale David Walsch which I would also recommend.) If you are willing to be objective and willing to look at the possibility that we have "been took, been had, bamboozled" ,so to speak, by the Christian ideology and power structure, then get this book. If you are stuck hard and clinging to a belief system fed to you by the religious powers to be and fanatical "true believers", then don't bother because all you will do is disregard the facts presented in the material. Let me conclude with this. Just because a lie is repeated and believed by a lot of people for a long time, doesn't make it the truth, it just makes it a comfortable lie. As the phrase circulating in my early years put it- Question Authority. If you are willing and open minded enough to do that then by all means read this book.
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Summary: A very dull read.
Review: I am sure a lot of the information in the book is correct, but unless you enjoy seeing the words "IN FACT" in almost every sentence, you will find it a badly written and boring book.
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Summary: I know Christianity is false, but. . .
Review: The word that best sums up this book is "shrill." There are plenty of great books out there which tell the unflattering yet still fascinating truth about Christianity and the Bible; their authors, whom readers interested in this subject should check out, include Hyam Maccoby, Geza Vermes, Robin Lane Fox, Burton L. Mack, and Richard Elliot Friedman. "The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold" is not one of these books, nor is its author in the same league as those I just listed. The author doesn't even bother to double-check her sources' claims. For example, she claims Buddha was born on December 25th, and cites her source, but her source was in error. No one knows on which day Gautama Siddhartha was born, so, in honor of the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, Buddhists who deified Gautama assigned the eighth day of the fourth month (lunar calendar) or April 8th (solar calendar) to be his birthday. "The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold" does to Christianity what "Islam Unveiled" and "The Sword of the Prophet" do to Islam. While there is little doubt that the "gospels" are basically sectarian historical fiction rather than solid history, there's virtually no serious Bible scholar left today who doubts the _existence_ of Jesus, let alone subscribes to a conspiracy theory about powerful individuals concocting him for their own gain. Yes, the Church has done many wicked things, but more often out of ignorance and thoughtlessness rather than malice. This book, by failing to point this out, and by its author having an ax to grind, not having read a wider range of books for her research, and not checking on the accuracy of the ones she did use, is nothing but nonsense...
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Summary: Tool Against Terrorism
Review: Acharya S demonstrates that religious culture mostly arises from human perception of the rising and setting sun expressing itself metaphorically as various god-men. The Roman state consolidated the various local expressions of this cycle into one state religion to establish its dominance. This gave birth to Christianity. It remains a difficult premise for many Christians to accept today, but Acharya delivers it convincingly and with the charm of a good-humored iconoclast.
Is it relevant to a wider audience than the various believers and skeptics with intellectual axes to grind? Consider the origin of the Thirteenth Tribe, popularized by a book of the same name written by Arthur Koestler. Long before the 1947-48 restoration of Israel, in the 8th century, a Turkoid (and therefore non-Semitic) people called Khazars was converted by its King to Judaism. The purpose was to create a unifying religion, just as Rome unified its empire with Christianity. Most modern western Jews, or Askenazi, descend from the Khazars and are in no way "seed of Abraham".
Consider then another, more sinister cycle: the slaughter of the innocent that happens among Israelis and Palestinians that now so helps embroil the US in that awful, backward middle east battleground. Where did that begin? In the ethnic cleansing of the Land of Canaan, commanded by Jehovah according to the Hebrew-Christian Bible to make way for his "Chosen People"? In the many ethno-religious clashes before the defeat and dispersal of the remaining tribes of Benjamin and Judah in the year 70? Huh? It makes so little sense in light of the actual history. The Christ Conspiracy offers a great antidote to the various cultural and religious prejudices used to justify the warfare world, maybe especially with the 9/11 disasters being used to consolidate state power much like the Khazars and the Romans. Certainly Christians of various stripes support that process now, using various nonsensical religious arguments devois of a true understanding of history. The Christ Conspiracy is a map through the processes of actual history and the historical reality of conspiracy, back to the astronomical reality that shaped spiritual practices in the ancient past. As it says on the back cover, it's the "conspiracy of the soul" exposed to the light of day. Quite a remarkable book. Not just a great work of scholarship, but a tool against religious terrorism.
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