The Masks Of Christ: Behind the Lies and Cover-ups about the Man Believed to be God [Paperback]

This book is apparently aimed at people with no common sense, but who are sure there are vast, dark conspiracies out there, hundreds of them, no doubt some involving aliens. Among the idiotic claims:

Paul's "Letter to the Galatians...is generally accepted as the oldest known Christian writing" (p 5-6). Wrong. Nearly all scholars agree the first of Paul's epistles is 1 Thessalonians.

"Masks" claims that there are no "writings from Jesus' actual lifetime or the years immediately afterward" (p 5). False. Paul wrote about 20 years after the crucifixion. Embedded in Paul's epistles, as proven by textual evidence, are hymns and creeds. These date to the first years after the death of Jesus (see Martin Hengel "Between Jesus and Paul").

"Masks" claim the gospels have "clearly been changed" (p 5). False. If the gospels were changed, how could 1) all the fragments of papyrus we have found from the 2nd century onwards still be exactly what the gospels say today, and 2) how could all the quotations from the gospels from the church fathers--thousands and thousands of quotation, so many that we could easily replicate the gospels from the quotations--be exactly the same as the gospels we have today?

"Masks" claims "Paul...created a new and potent religion" (p 5). False. James, the relation of Jesus, not to mention most other relatives of Jesus, as well as the majority of the apostles, and all the thousands and thousands of people who knew and saw Jesus were still alive when Paul was preaching. What, nobody noticed Paul was telling lies? And what about Paul visiting and talking to James and Peter, and what about the Jerusalem church council? The man wrote and wrote. Nobody noticed he was writing lies? And if Paul invented the religion, how come the 4 gospels portray the same Jesus that Paul worships as God?

Here is Paul himself proving he did not start a religion: "I went up to Jerusalem again...I laid before the leading men the Good News as I proclaim it among the pagans; I did so for fear the course I was adopting or had already adopted would not be allowed". From Galatians, and very clearly showing Paul has to ask if what he is preaching is "allowed".

"Masks" call Paul a "fanatic" (p 6). Here are Paul's actual words: Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Sound like a "fanatic" to you?

"Masks" claim he moved from Tarsus to Jerusalem to "be close to the temple" (p 8). False. Paul went to Jerusalem to be a student of one of the most famous rabbinic teachers, Gamaliel.

"Masks" claims Paul was "blithely unconcerned with his Lord's earthly life" (p 10). False. Paul spent months, sometimes years, with each community. All the members no doubt heard the story of Jesus and his life and resurrection hundreds of times. There was no reason to repeat the story again in a brief letter, but what the heck do the author's think Paul meant when he kept telling everyone to hold fast to the traditions and to what he had told them?

"Masks" says "Paul went out of his way to avoid all eyewitnesses" (p 10). False. And why didn't these people even read the bible once before they made all these silly claims? Paul spent time with James and Peter, attended the Jerusalem council, and studied with other converts after his conversion.

"Masks" says "Paul never referred to the physical resurrection" (p 11).
False. Paul claimed he was last in line to see the resurrected Jesus, and that he could name at least 500 witnesses who also saw the resurrected Jesus.

"Masks" says there was another version of Christianity "which was radically different from Paul's" (p 11). False. Hello, Jerusalem council? Letters being sent to and fro? Lots of travel from one city to another on those well built Roman roads?

"Masks" says "Many authorities argue that...Paul was influenced by the pagan mystery cults of the Roman...world" (p 13). At last!! Something that's--almost--true. Yes, there were many authorities who claimed Paul was influenced by the mystery cults--in 1900. For pity's sake, this is called the "History of Religions" theory, and it is utterly refuted. There are thousands and thousands of books on the subject. Why didn't the author's read one?? Here are two good books on the subject: "The Jesus Legend" by Eddy and "The Gospel and the Greeks" by Nash.

This is ridiculous. I am only up to page 13 and already running out of space unless I want to write a book myself. Suffice to say, this book, which is as silly as it gets, goes on to propose every easy-to-refute conspiracy theory ever proposed about Jesus. The so-called secret gospel of Mark! Jesus surviving the cross, rolling away the huge boulder with hands that had been stabbed by nails, limping feebly in his grave wrappings through Jerusalem with no one noticing, arriving at the apostles and bleeding all over the floor, while the stupid apostles think it's a resurrection. Oh, yes, how very believable.

When I went to the index, what to my wondering eyes did appear this book on the top of their references: "The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross", which claims Jesus was a mushroom. I kid you not.