Book Review: The Christ Conspiracy

The Christ Conspiracy: the Greatest Story Ever Sold (ISBN 0-932813-74-7) by Acharya S asserts that the historical Jesus never existed and that Christianity as we know it is was created by the Romans to become the new state religion. Plenty of evidence is given to support the assertion, including quotes from early clergy members and other Roman writers. It also documents that many attributes of the Jesus story, for example the virgin birth and the resurrection, existed in other religions before Christianity.

This book has a difficult mission in that the people who most need its message will be the least likely to pick it up in the first place. Those who do will be turned off by the first few chapters, which seem to be beating a dead horse after the first few pages. It also gives the impression of the author being just another bitter atheist. If you'll visit her website (http://www.truthbeknown.com) you'll see that she's at least not really an atheist (although I'm not sure if
she's bitter).

Other interesting subjects treated by the book include little-known references to astrology in the Bible and evidence of a global culture in prehistoric times.

I would recommend reading her book if you're interested in the subject matter, but the material on her website seems to me to be more worthwhile.

Why I'm Here

The idea that the major world religions have a common source and goal is not new. I discovered the idea in the course of my research. My contribution, if I have one to make, will be to compile the relevant sources and put out the information in a 21st century format.

What these religions are ultimately pointing at cannot be adequately described by words. If it could, it would have been common knowledge long ago. Therefore, a strict literal interpretation of any scripture is not suitable for our purpose. We will be reading between the lines, and remembering that the map is not the territory.

Also, I have found that the search for truth causes a change inside ourselves that makes life more meaningful and rewarding. I hope that proves true for you as well.