Jesus Christ ( )

The authors' thesis is that Christianity started out as a Jewish version of the pagan mystery religions and that believing in the Jesus story was only the outer mysteries while anyone who was initiated into the inner mysteries of Gnosticism would learn that it was a myth to be taken allegorically. They also believe that in order to make the mysteries more palatable to the Jews, the original myth of the dying and reborn God was fused with the idea of the Messiah and it was at that point that the Jesus story acquired its historical and geographical location. They say that Paul was a Gnostic and that most of the letters attributed to him in the New Testament are forgeries designed to make him appear anti-Gnostic, and also that most of the New Testament was either forged or edited to give it an anti-Gnostic slant when the canon was agreed.

Their last point was that Christianity's extreme intolerance of the heterodox led to the suppression of the scientific discoveries of the pagans as well as their religious literature, leading to the downfall of the Roman empire and a Dark Ages that lasted 1000 years.

If ever a book was referenced to within an inch of its life it's this one. The book finishes on page 310, while notes take up pages 311 - 399, followed by a bibliography and a who's who of people mentioned in the book. The authors really don't want to be lumped in with all the Grail/Templars/Lost Bloodline of Christ/Rennes Le Chateau rubbish that their book is likely to find itself shelved with. ( )

Was Jesus a pagan god? Mythical figure?

The background information concerning the pre-Jesus mystery cults is interesting and informative.
The rest of the book is the most poorly researched bunk I have ever read, much less heard of.
The authors' understanding and use of Greek is frivolous, reckless, and self-serving.
I am quite a 'liberal' when it comes to finding new meaning in the Scriptures, using liberal in the sense of free- and open-minded. But people have to present their case well. I almost couldn't finish this book once Freke & Gandy got rolling with their conclusions and interpretations.
True, mystery cults, Gnostics, and others DID exist, but it does not logically follow that the myth, person, or teachings of Jesus must have either come from such cults, nor purposely led to them. All it shows is diverse and multiple interpretations of religion pre-Jesus, and that such interpreting continued post-Jesus.

And if the reader investigates into the authors' current activities, they will find that Freke has started his own 'cult' built around this book. I'm not saying 'cult' in the negative sense, but it is very openly a religious community based on the 'mysteries'
What I AM saying is that this book serves as their evangelism tool. ( )

Christians not seeing that they in an institution (which includes the bible and who God and Jesus are) made by fallible human beings need read no further!

At one level book makes a commonplace argument in that Christianity like Judaism borrowed and incorporated a range of cultural themes and practices as it developed into the Roman Empire state religion. Given that it started as a end time radical Jewish sect and became a major social movement some borrowings were necessary. But it was one amongst more sophisticated and long standing philosophies and religionist traditions rather then the dominant force until state sponsorship. Christianity rather then the Goths etc destroyed and suppressed these measures.

At a more controversial level it questions how the cannon was formed and literal basis for its latter development. Again this despite the mid west bible belt this rises issues that Christianity has had to grapple with since the enlightenment and the cannon and the early church was formed out of 350 years if intersect struggle with one winning in the 4th century and the other voices suppressed.

This book brings back into the debate previously suppressed arguments. It also introduces the wider question of the conflicts within theistic faiths between its mystical and "mass" wings.

One of my criticisms of the argument is that individual-mystical approach turns the faith to a monastic structure as in Buddhism or into individual guru lead sects/movements so what about the majority whose ritualistic church or mosque services provide a religious experience and purpose? Quakers come from the mystical-individual tradition but never became a mass movement. Methodism did but quickly moved away from its mystical roots. Yet a Christianity of the book can become authoritarian, narrow and inward looking. And a Christianity of the spirit can be come elitist and aloof from ordinary struggles and pain.

The critical issue for me is how do we maintain the benefits of the two approaches in a more unified fellowship? ( )