Robert M. Price
Literature & Fiction
Prometheus Books
4.0
Was Leonardo Da Vinci a member of the "Priory of Sion," a secret society reaching all the way back to the Crusades? Does his famous painting, "The Last Supper," contain a hidden code about this society’s most precious secret? Did Jesus father children by Mary Magdalene? What was the Holy Grail?

The best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown has stirred the popular imagination by cleverly interweaving theories about such questions with a fast-paced fictional narrative. Many readers have been so swept away by the drama of this murder mystery that they have accepted Brown’s fictional reconstruction of Christian origins and medieval history as established fact.

New Testament scholar Robert M. Price, a member of the Jesus Seminar, examines the creative uses of history in Brown’s novel, showing that, however intriguing Brown’s fictional speculations may be, the real facts behind the novel are even more fascinating. What does the best historical evidence say about the possibility that Jesus might have survived the crucifixion? How did the Gospels come to be accepted as the established accounts of Jesus’ life and why were other Gnostic traditions suppressed? How did the Roman Emperor Constantine figure in the development of Christian dogma? What was Mary Magdalene’s role in early Christianity and how was it adapted in later attempts to develop a "sacred feminine" element in Christianity? These are some of the important questions about Christianity that Dr. Price pursues in this engrossing discussion of Christian history. Price combines sophisticated historical analysis with completely accessible and witty prose in this enlightening, factually based sequel to Brown’s speculative bestseller.

Robert M. Price
Nonfiction
Prometheus Books
4.0

Robert M. Price
Religion & Spirituality
Prometheus Books
4.0
What do the Gospels really reveal about the historical Jesus?

Scholars have dissected the Gospels and other stories about Jesus for more than a century, attempting to determine their historical accuracy. Many experts today believe that the writings of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John cannot be taken as revelatory. A group of more than 100 scholars called the Jesus Seminar concluded that only about 18 percent of the Gospels is historically correct.

Believing his Jesus Seminar colleagues "too critical," Robert M. Price presents THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING SON OF MAN, a balanced yet radically pessimistic new assessment of gospel historicity. While indebted to two centuries of scholarship, Price's latest book charts new territory, illustrating the virtual lack of historical information in the New Testament's Jesus stories. After an excellent introduction to the historical-critical method in language tailored to nonspecialists, Price analyzes sections of the Gospels, separating fact from fiction in all episodes of Jesus' life. Price examines both familiar parables and Jesus' teachings for authenticity, carefully studying miracle stories and drawing surprising conclusions. In addition, Price critically explores whether Jesus preached his Messiahship or predicted his own death as a means to save souls.

Written for a general audience in a refreshing and accessible style, Price's highly informative discussion will interest anyone who has wondered about the origins of Christianity.

Robert M. Price
Religion & Spirituality
Signature Books
4.5
Through to the mid-fourth century AD, there were twice as many sacred writings in circulation in Christendom as were ultimately canonized for the New Testament. Not until AD 367, forty-two years after the famous Council of Nicea, would Saint Athanasius begin sorting through and determining which works should be granted special status. Prior to that time, Christians had recognized only the Hebrew Bible as scripture, all other works being seen as expressions rather than as sources of faith. Out of political necessity, and for the sake of unity and order in the church, canonization was harshly imposed on the churches. For scholars today, seeking to understand the breadth of early Christian teachings, it is important to consider all available sources. To that end, Professor Price offers the earliest extant versions of fifty-four books, all of which were once considered sacred, including both the New Testament books and lesser known works. These have been compiled into a single convenient, readable, and reliable volume.

S. G. F. Brandon
Subjects
Charles Scribner's Sons

Schniedewind William M.

Queriniana

La fissazione scritta dei testi biblici viene oggi anticipata, a motivo di recenti scoperte, all'epoca compresa fra VIII e VI secolo a.C. Questo libro illustra come e perché quei racconti siano stati messi per iscritto e, in seguito, siano divenuti "sacra Scrittura". Un contributo importante per gli studi biblici e per la storia dell'antico Israele.

Tom Harpur
History
Walker & Company
3.5 (61 voti)
For forty years and in nine previous books, scholar and religious commentator Tom Harpur has challenged church orthodoxy and guided thousands of readers on subjects as controversial as the true nature of Christ and life after death. Now, in his most radical and groundbreaking work, Harpur digs deep into the origins of Christianity. What he has discovered will have a profound effect on the way we think about religion. Long before the advent of Jesus Christ, the Egyptians and other peoples believed in the coming of a messiah, a madonna and her child, a virgin birth, and the incarnation of the spirit in flesh. The early Christian church accepted these ancient truths as the very tenets of Christianity but disavowed their origins. What began as a universal belief system based on myth and allegory became instead, in the third and fourth centuries A.D., a ritualistic institution headed by ultraconservative literalists. "The transcendent meaning of glorious myths and symbols was reduced to miraculous, quite unbelievable events. The truth that Christ was to come in man, that the Christ principle was potentially in each of us, was changed to the exclusivist teaching that the Christ had come as a man." Harpur's message is clear: Our blind faith in literalism is killing Christianity. Only with a return to an inclusive religion will we gain a true understanding of who we are and who we are intended to become. Drawing on the work of scholars such as Gerald Massey and Alvin Boyd Kuhn, Tom Harpur has written a book of rare insight and power.

Wikenhauser Alfred

Paideia

Zen Leo

Clinamen

Questo libro, attraverso una documentata e rigorosa ricostruzione, delinea l'esigenza di superare ogni mitologia religiosa, soprattutto nelle forme escludenti ed intolleranti del monoteismo. Il lavoro di Leo Zen, infatti, pone in evidenza come dall'iroso e tirannico Dio d'Israele si siano originate due religioni - cristianesimo ed islamismo - che pretendendosi, ciascuna per se stessa, depositaria unica ed assoluta di una presunta rivelazione di verità, reiterano il dato del primitivo dispotismo divino. Da qui un proselitismo, assai spesso fanatico, che ha seminato il mondo di lutti di ogni genere: nel passato, i massacri delle crociate cristiane ed oggi la ripresa delle jihad da parte del criminale terrorismo islamico. Sono proprio queste religioni a rappresentare uno degli ostacoli maggiori alla pacifica convivenza tra i popoli.

Zen Leo

Clinamen