Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43294 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 284 pages

From the Publisher
Stellar House Publishing is a company dedicated to bringing to the public lost and hidden information regarding the world's religions, mythologies and spiritual traditions. SHP books attain to the highest standards of scholarship while being accessible to the public. Stellar House Publishing was founded in 2005 by author Acharya S, also known by her real name of D.M. Murdock.

About the Author
D.M. Murdock, also known as "Acharya S," is a Member of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Greece. Ms. Murdock is the author of the controversial books The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold and Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled. Her website appears at TruthBeKnown.com.

D.M. Murdock, also known as "Acharya S," is a Member of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Greece. Ms. Murdock is the author of the controversial books The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold and Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled. Her websites appear at TruthBeKnown.com and StellarHousePublishing.com.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

In the nearly two millennia since the story of Jesus Christ began to be circulated, millions of people have wondered, "Who is Jesus Christ?" Much ink has been spilled, and many thousands of books have been written about this grandest of gods and men, in the quest to portray the "real Jesus." Practically every personality type and special interest group has been able to find a reflection of itself in Jesus, and countless people have looked to Christ as their example, inspiration and champion. Many millions, in fact, are quite convinced that Christ is indeed the God of the universe who came to Earth in a human body 2,000 years ago. Still others have settled into a comfortable position that Jesus was a "nice guy" and a "great leader" or a "political rebel" who fought for the underdog. These individuals often believe that Jesus was simply a human being, not God, but that his enthusiastic followers added a series of fairytales to his biography after his death. A minority of others have looked at the gospel story with a jaundiced eye and found little evidence to be convinced of either of these two perspectives. (p. 1)

A close examination does indeed reveal that the numerous inconsistencies and divergences of the canonical gospels and the ancient copies often were founded upon political, sectarian or doctrinal differences, which means that these texts are not necessarily recording "historical" events that had occurred decades or centuries earlier. In this regard, "holy writ" becomes not a historical record but a matter of political expediency. It is unquestionable that what has become accepted by some true believers as dogma, i.e., the "gospel truth," is asserted by other factions to be human error. This disparity, in fact, is at the root of the many fractures within Christ's church: For example, Protestant versus Catholic, as well as the countless sub-sects within each major break--all have determined that their doctrine is more accurate and authentic than the others, essentially impugning error upon the others. Such being the case, it seems impossible to make any honest claims of "inerrancy" within any of these factions. In addition to an inspection of textual difficulties with an eye to detecting propaganda moves, we need to look at the nature of purported "errors" charged by one faction upon another as well, and vice versa. Such an analysis, in fact, will reveal a significant latent fingerprint of the Christ. (pp. 216-217)

It is because there appears to be so little honest admission--as well as, often, civil response--that many people feel put off and antagonistic toward biblical stories and doctrines. Instead of saying, "Well now, you're right--that doesn't sound too good," the rejoinder is all too often to attack the person making the observation. Judging by its "fruits," it seems to many people that Christianity teaches disrespect of human beings, such that its defenders feel they can personally attack those not convinced of the faith, addressing them with little respect and making offensive comments and insults. Among others, the Christian teaching that people are "born in sin" appears to make fervent believers hostile towards others. Other scriptures calling for the deaths and/or tortures of "evildoers," as well as remarks concerning "anti-Christs" as at 1 John 4:3 or the condemnation of non-believers at Mark 16:16--categories consisting of people who do not believe in Jesus--have contributed to an atmosphere of hatred and prejudice against individuals who may be moral and ethical but who simply cannot believe in something that may in fact be spurious and thus go against their morality.

With so much of our global social structure based on holy writ of some sort or another, it is imperative that we examine thoroughly our sacred cows and not shirk from exposing them to the bright sunlight. In consideration of the current political climate, which includes an ardent movement to "fulfill prophecy" by bringing about Armageddon and all of the attendant "End Times" tribulations and horrors, the issue of who Jesus was is not to be taken lightly. We should not blindly follow mummified traditions and ancient texts that could very well prove to be misleading, misinterpreted and mythical. Leading our lives and creating--or destroying our futures based on such texts is perilous and irresponsible. It is paramount, therefore, that we consider the possibility that, rather than being the omnipotent Son of God, Jesus Christ is a manmade, literary character devised for a variety of purposes that no longer serve the greater good of humanity. (pp. 264-265)

Customer Reviews

Excellent Book !!!
I am not aware of another book on the subject of Christianity that packs more information into 284 pages than Who Was Jesus? D. M. Murdock, also known as Acharya, has written another very fine book on New Testament studies. This volume concentrates on the person of Jesus, but also goes into great detail about how the New Testament was compiled, and how we can determine for ourselves the reliability of the writings. Many dozens of topics are covered in a way that lay people can understand, and the format is designed in such a way that material is very easy to find, because the exhaustive table of contents identifies the subject matter so well. The planning and the detail in this book show that everything is well thought out and clearly presented. It is nice to find a book for people who have serious questions about Jesus and Christianity that provides answers in a straight forward manner without meandering and rambling. This is a first class piece of work that will be referred to over and over by the readers.

The history of Jesus is conveyed in detail for each of the four Gospels, including issues about the dating and authorship of these books. Murdock clearly shows us where the New Testament writers are using historical information and where they are adding their own theological ideas to the text. This book helps to make it more clear for us how and why the New Testament was a progressive compilation that tended to make Jesus more God-like with each telling of the story. This volume also shows the importance of understanding that the New Testament took time to be collected, and it also took time to determine which books were included in the canon, because the finished product was completed in centuries, not decades.

Christians and skeptics alike will find Who Was Jesus? is not vindictive or condescending in the way the information is presented. Because many of the details may be new to the reader, this is a book every Bible student should have in their personal library.

A look behind the thinly disguised myths of Christianity
This is the second book by this author that I have read and I am simply overwhelmed by the research, the scholarship and the use of pure reason in dismantling the thinly-veiled mythology behind Christianity. In a well-written and very readable volume, D.M. Murdock (Acharya S) uses Christianity's own words and works to lay before the reader in clear and easily understood prose how the early Christian fathers reworked ancient myths to create a fictional character named Jesus Christ who seemed to embody all the qualities of the gods and legends these simple pagans already worshiped

I am a historian, although my bailiwick is military history, and yet I have always been interested in the history of things. Back in my prep school days, I started to delve into the history of Christianity and found a great deal that I felt I wanted no part of. I gave up my religion at about age sixteen, passing up gladly the easy allure of blind faith for the stonier path of reason. In Ms. Murdock's work I have finally been able to exorcise those last remaining doubts brought about by the early programming I received in school and church.

I would highly recommend this work, especially to those who prize their ability to think for themselves, as well as Acharya's previous volumes, particularly "The Christ Conspiracy" and "The Suns of God."

Well done and brava!

Examines all the metaphorical "fingerprints" left behind
On those CSI TV shows they're always dusting for fingerprints, trying to figure out "Who was here?" and "What happened?" Their motto is, "Follow the evidence." and "The evidence will tell us." The evidence often contradicts their original assumption, pointing them in a new direction, where they eventually find the truth.

In this book Acharya examines all the evidence regarding Jesus. Every scrap of historical evidence we have, every metaphorical "fingerprint" left behind. Acharya follows the evidence, letting the evidence tell it's story. When we put it all together we get the best possible picture of Jesus and where the story came from.