Acharya S facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dorothy Milne Murdock
|
|
|---|---|
Publicity photo of Murdock
|
|
| Born | March 27, 1960 Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | December 25, 2015 (aged 55) |
| Pen name | Acharya S |
| Alma mater | Franklin & Marshall College |
| Subject | History of religions |
| Years active | 1995–2014 |
| Notable works | The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold (1999), Did Moses Exist? The Myth of the Israelite Lawgiver (2014) |
Dorothy Milne Murdock (born March 27, 1960 – died December 25, 2015) was an American writer. She was also known by her pen names Acharya S and D. M. Murdock. She supported the idea that Jesus was not a real historical person. Instead, she believed Jesus was a mix of older myths, sun gods, and gods who died and came back to life.
Murdock wrote books and ran a website. Her work focused on history, religion, and the study of how stars and planets influenced ancient religious beliefs (called astro-theology). She believed that ancient religions understood their myths as symbolic stories. However, she argued that Christians destroyed or hid many writings after they gained power in the Roman Empire. This led to many people not being able to read, which helped hide the mythical nature of the Christ story. She also claimed that Christian writings and important figures were based on myths from Roman, Greek, Egyptian, and other cultures. Most historians and experts do not agree with her theories.
Contents
Who Was Dorothy Milne Murdock?
Her Early Life and Education
Dorothy Murdock was born in Massachusetts. She grew up in Avon, Connecticut. She earned a degree in Classics, focusing on Greek Civilization, from Franklin and Marshall College. After that, she spent a year studying at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens in Greece. She had one son.
Dorothy Murdock passed away on December 25, 2015. She died from cancers in her immune system and liver. To her friends and family, she was known as "Dori."
Her Ideas About History and Religion
Murdock believed that many ancient myths were copied and changed over time. She thought that the story of Jesus was created by combining ideas from older myths. She argued that these older myths often featured a hero or god who was born, died, and then rose again.
She also believed that ancient people understood these stories as symbolic. However, she felt that later, these symbolic stories were presented as real history. Her ideas are not widely accepted by most historians or scholars who study the New Testament.
Her Books and Website
Murdock started her website, Truth Be Known, in 1995. This was where she shared her research and ideas.
What Was The Christ Conspiracy About?
In 1999, using the name Acharya S, she published her first book. It was called The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold. In this book, she argued that the story of Jesus Christ was made up. She continued this idea in her 2007 book, Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ. This book further explored her theory that early Christian history was mostly myth. She looked at historical and archaeological information to support her claims.
Other Writings
In 2009, she released two more books. These were Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection and The Gospel According to Acharya S.
Murdock also wrote articles that disagreed with "ancient astronaut" theories. These theories suggest that aliens visited Earth long ago and influenced human history. She argued that these theories might come from the same kind of thinking that created the Bible. She believed the Bible largely copied myths from other cultures and presented them as facts.
See Also
- Historicity of Jesus
