Date:   1/8/2010 11:01:04 PM ( 15 y ago)
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URL:   https://www.curezone.org/forums/fm.asp?i=1551827

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I have been thinking about this short video and I had commented on it as it was posted three days ago below. What I didn't profess was I was of course immediately skeptical about her book.  This was because the video was not about a declaration on the historical scientific accuracy of her presentation but she is obviously anti-religion.

But did she have a point?  Everyone has a motive.  I have gained a respect for science in recent years and I don't believe motives should be used to discredit her work directly.  The points should be analyzed and not her motives. Any book like that should be based on good historical science.  Anyway, here is the video again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCLvu3ASpa8&feature=player_embedded

Not only was I naturally skeptical but I thought Jesus told us to be humble.  Telling people, "My religion is superior to yours." is not my idea of humility.

I ran some net searches on her name and found the following link and I am pasting some good quotes underneath it.

http://www.risenjesus.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2...

This book presents an hypothesis of how Christianity came into being. Although it has received no attention from scholarship, with the lone exception of a negative book review and that from an atheist scholar,(1)

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Ms. Murdock also holds that when we see 12 figures in the Bible that these are representative of the 12 zodiacal signs. She writes, "In reality, it is no accident that there are 12 patriarchs, 12 tribes of Israel and 12 disciples, 12 being the number of the astrological signs . . ."(8) If we want to accept her thoughts on this, we also need to accept that Dunkin Donuts is owned by an astrologer since they give a discount when you buy a dozen donuts. Grocery stores are also run by astrologers, since you buy eggs by the dozen. Even our legal system must have been influenced by astrology, since there are 12 jurors. When you want to see astrology in something, you see it, even when it requires that you read in foreign meanings into the texts.

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However, it is abundantly clear why scholars have ignored and turned their noses up at her views. The reason for the lack any positive acknowledgment from scholars is:

a. Almost all of her sources are secondary and are themselves wrong on many occasions.

b. A large number of her sources are not scholars.

c. She makes wild claims without supporting them.

d. Her claim that astrology permeates the Bible such as that the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 disciples represent the 12 signs of the zodiac is so erroneous that a Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago who specializes in ancient practices in astronomy referred to her as "nutty."

e. Her claim that Krishna represents a dying and rising god prior to Christianity is so mistaken that the Professor of Hindu Studies at Rutgers said that this claim is "absolute and complete nonsense," that "she doesn’t know what she’s talking about," and that she should take a religion 101 course before making these kind of claims.

f. Her claim that many similarities exist between Buddha and Jesus elicited a similar response from the Chair of the Department of Religion at Rutgers who specializes in Buddhism: "[The woman you speak of] is totally ignorant of Buddhism. It is very dangerous to spread misinformation like this. . . . Please ask [her] to take a basic course in world religion or Buddhism before uttering another word about things she does not know."

g. Indeed, even an atheist scholar, Bob Price called her book "sophomoric." He also commented that her book is "a random bag of (mainly recycled) eccentricities, some few of them worth considering, most dangerously shaky, many outright looney."

One thing you have to grant Ms. Murdock; she is consistent.(125) If you enjoy extreme and unsubstantiated views with an attitude, you will like The Christ Conspiracy. If you appreciate anything you can get your hands on that insults Christianity, irrespective of the quality of the arguments and the data, you will relish The Christ Conspiracy. But in terms of this book being a responsible account of the origin of Christianity, it is unsalvageable.

It seems to me the historians such as the atheist who rejects her work has respect for the historical sciences rather than embracing a viewpoint that may serve personal views.

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