"The book your church doesn't want you to read" banned book
Excerpt:
Page 73
The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 generated a flurry of excitement both in scholarly circles and among the general public. But by 1954 that excitement had been skillfully defused. The scrolls, it was assumed had revealed everything they were going to reveal, and this was made to seem less dramatic than had been expected.
In tracing the progress of the Dead sea Scrolls fro their discovery in the Judean desert to the various institutions that hold them today, we found ourselves confronting a contradiction we had faced before, the contradiction between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith. Our investigation began in Israel. It was to extend to the corridors of the Vatican, and even more ominously, into the offices of the Inquisition. We also encountered a rigidly maintained "consensus" of interpretation towards the content and dating of the scrolls, and came to understand how explosive a non-partisan examination might be for the whole of Christ tradition. And we discovered how fiercely the world of orthodox biblical scholarship was prepared to fight to retain its monopoly of available information.
Consider this book as a kind of consumer protection guide to religion, a big step forward toward religious literacy. Readers will explore myths, origins, fundamentalism, television ministries, the identical stories of Stellar/Pagan/Christian beliefs, unfounded doctrines, child abuse, the Year 200, and women's rights. It's entertaining and readable, with a sense of humor reflecting the absurdities of fundamental religion -- while being inoffensive. The approach is one of not hitting the reader over the head with "you're wrong", but rather "consider this". The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You To Read contains many interesting, unknown facts such as there being no mention of Jesus Christ is the Dead Sea Scrolls; the oldest story in the world (predating Christianity by millennia) being that of a virgin mother bearing a newborn baby; God finding out about the Trinity from the Catholic Church in 325 A. D. ; and Christmas being a pagan holiday with December 25th shared as a birthdate by many other crucified saviors.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Steve Allen
Dan Barker
Edd Doerr
Dr. Robert Eisenman
Dr. Rocco Errico
Annie Gaylor
Dr. Stephan Hoeller
Thomas Jefferson
Dr. Gerald Larue
Jordan Maxwell
Arthur Melville
Austin Miles
Alan Snow
Sherwin Wine
Excerpt:
Page 73
The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 generated a flurry of excitement both in scholarly circles and among the general public. But by 1954 that excitement had been skillfully defused. The scrolls, it was assumed had revealed everything they were going to reveal, and this was made to seem less dramatic than had been expected.
In tracing the progress of the Dead sea Scrolls fro their discovery in the Judean desert to the various institutions that hold them today, we found ourselves confronting a contradiction we had faced before, the contradiction between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith. Our investigation began in Israel. It was to extend to the corridors of the Vatican, and even more ominously, into the offices of the Inquisition. We also encountered a rigidly maintained "consensus" of interpretation towards the content and dating of the scrolls, and came to understand how explosive a non-partisan examination might be for the whole of Christ tradition. And we discovered how fiercely the world of orthodox biblical scholarship was prepared to fight to retain its monopoly of available information.
Consider this book as a kind of consumer protection guide to religion, a big step forward toward religious literacy. Readers will explore myths, origins, fundamentalism, television ministries, the identical stories of Stellar/Pagan/Christian beliefs, unfounded doctrines, child abuse, the Year 200, and women's rights. It's entertaining and readable, with a sense of humor reflecting the absurdities of fundamental religion -- while being inoffensive. The approach is one of not hitting the reader over the head with "you're wrong", but rather "consider this". The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You To Read contains many interesting, unknown facts such as there being no mention of Jesus Christ is the Dead Sea Scrolls; the oldest story in the world (predating Christianity by millennia) being that of a virgin mother bearing a newborn baby; God finding out about the Trinity from the Catholic Church in 325 A. D. ; and Christmas being a pagan holiday with December 25th shared as a birthdate by many other crucified saviors.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Steve Allen
Dan Barker
Edd Doerr
Dr. Robert Eisenman
Dr. Rocco Errico
Annie Gaylor
Dr. Stephan Hoeller
Thomas Jefferson
Dr. Gerald Larue
Jordan Maxwell
Arthur Melville
Austin Miles
Alan Snow
Sherwin Wine