Bible conspiracy theory

A Bible conspiracy theory is any conspiracy theory that posits that much of what is known about the Bible is a deception created to suppress some secret, ancient truth. Some of these theories claim that Jesus really had a wife and children, or that a group such as the Priory of Sion has secret information about the true descendants of Jesus; some claim that there was a secret movement to censor books that truly belonged in the Bible, etc.

This subject should not be confused with deliberately fictional Bible conspiracy theories. A number of bestselling modern novels, the most popular of which was The Da Vinci Code, have incorporated elements of Bible conspiracy theories to flesh out their storylines, rather than to push these theories as actual suggestions.

Common theories

Jesus-myth theory

Some proponents of the Jesus-myth or Christ-myth theory consider that the whole of Christianity is a conspiracy. American author Acharya S (Dorothy Murdock) in The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold (1999) argues that Jesus and Christianity were created by members of various secret societies, mystery schools, and religions to unify the Roman Empire under one state religion, and that these people drew on numerous myths and rituals which existed previously and then constructed them into Christianity that exists today.[1][2] In the 1930s British spiritualist Hannen Swaffer's home circle, following the teachings of the native-American spirit "Silver Birch", also claimed a Jesus-myth.[3]

Church suppression of reincarnation conspiracy

Some New Age believers consider that Jesus taught reincarnation but the Christian Church suppressed it. Geddes MacGregor in Reincarnation in Christianity (1978)[4] suggests that Origen’s texts written in support of the belief in reincarnation somehow disappeared or were suppressed.[5]

Jesus, Mary Magdalene and the Holy Grail

Some common hypotheses are that:

  • Mary Magdalene was one of the apostles of Jesus, possibly even the only disciple, but this was suppressed by the early Church.[6]
  • Jesus had an intimate relationship with Mary Magdalene which may or may not have resulted in marriage, and/or children; their continued bloodline is then said to be Christianity's deepest secret.[6]

The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln (1982) is seen by many as the source of that plotline in The Da Vinci Code.

Books

See also

References

  1. D. M. Murdock/Acharya S website The Origins of Christianity and the Quest for the Historical Jesus Christ Archived 2006-05-08 at the Wayback Machine"
  2. Clinton Bennett In search of Jesus: insider and outsider images 2001 p208 "A New Age contributor One recent proponent of the Jesus-myth theory, Acharya S, who also sees Christianity as an ongoing conspiracy, argues that there was an ancient global civilization in which ideas and hero myths circulated freely"
  3. A. W. Austen The Teachings of Silver Birch London: The Spiritualist Press, 1938
  4. Theosophical Publishing House 1978
  5. "Reincarnation". catholic.com. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011.
  6. Biema, David Von (2003-08-11). "Mary Magdalene Saint or Sinner?". Time Magazine.

Further reading

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