This was supposed to be a book club nominee, but forgot to poast the rest. One of, if not, THE most controversial tombs in the 20th Century.
John Michael Allegro, a classicist and a theologian, was called upon to help study the dead sea scrolls upon their discovery. He spent 13 years with the source material and determined Christianity was based on psychedelic mushrooms and a fertility cult.
The Sacred Mushroom and Christian Myth Allegro's book The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross (1970) argued that Christianity began as a shamanistic cult. In his books The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross and The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth (1979), Allegro put forward the theory that stories of early Christianity originated in an Essene clandestine cult centred around the use of psychedelic mushrooms, and that the New Testament is the coded record of this shamanistic cult.[23][24] Allegro further argued that the authors of the Christian gospels did not understand the Essene thought. When writing down the Gospels based on the stories they had heard, the evangelists confused the meaning of the scrolls. In this way, according to Allegro, the Christian tradition is based on a misunderstanding of the scrolls.[25][26] He also argued that the story of Jesus was based on the crucifixion of the Teacher of Righteousness in the scrolls.[27] Mark Hall writes that Allegro suggested the Dead Sea Scrolls all but proved that a historical Jesus never existed.[28]
Allegro argued that Jesus in the Gospels was in fact a code for a type of hallucinogen, the Amanita muscaria, and that Christianity was the product of an ancient "sex-and-mushroom" cult.[29][30] Critical reaction was swift and harsh: fourteen British scholars (including Allegro's mentor at Oxford, Godfrey Driver) denounced it.[29] Sidnie White Crawford wrote of the publication of Sacred Mushroom, "Rightly or wrongly, Allegro would never be taken seriously as a scholar again."[31]
Allegro's theory of a shamanistic cult as the origin of Christianity was criticised sharply by Welsh historian Philip Jenkins who wrote that Allegro was an eccentric scholar who relied on texts that did not exist in quite the form he was citing them. Jenkins called the Sacred Mushroom and the Cross "possibly the single most ludicrous book on Jesus scholarship by a qualified academic".[32] Based on the reactions to the book, Allegro's publisher later apologized for issuing the book and Allegro was forced to resign his academic post.[25][30] A 2006 article by Michael Hoffman discussing Allegro's work called for his theories to be re-evaluated by the mainstream.[33] In November 2009 The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross was reprinted in a 40th anniversary edition with a 30-page addendum by Carl Ruck of Boston University.[34]
This was supposed to be a book club nominee, but forgot to poast the rest. One of, if not, THE most controversial tombs in the 20th Century.
John Michael Allegro, a classicist and a theologian, was called upon to help study the dead sea scrolls upon their discovery. He spent 13 years with the source material and determined Christianity was based on psychedelic mushrooms and a fertility cult.
The Sacred Mushroom and Christian Myth Allegro's book The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross (1970) argued that Christianity began as a shamanistic cult. In his books The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross and The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth (1979), Allegro put forward the theory that stories of early Christianity originated in an Essene clandestine cult centred around the use of psychedelic mushrooms, and that the New Testament is the coded record of this shamanistic cult.[23][24] Allegro further argued that the authors of the Christian gospels did not understand the Essene thought. When writing down the Gospels based on the stories they had heard, the evangelists confused the meaning of the scrolls. In this way, according to Allegro, the Christian tradition is based on a misunderstanding of the scrolls.[25][26] He also argued that the story of Jesus was based on the crucifixion of the Teacher of Righteousness in the scrolls.[27] Mark Hall writes that Allegro suggested the Dead Sea Scrolls all but proved that a historical Jesus never existed.[28]
Allegro argued that Jesus in the Gospels was in fact a code for a type of hallucinogen, the Amanita muscaria, and that Christianity was the product of an ancient "sex-and-mushroom" cult.[29][30] Critical reaction was swift and harsh: fourteen British scholars (including Allegro's mentor at Oxford, Godfrey Driver) denounced it.[29] Sidnie White Crawford wrote of the publication of Sacred Mushroom, "Rightly or wrongly, Allegro would never be taken seriously as a scholar again."[31]
Allegro's theory of a shamanistic cult as the origin of Christianity was criticised sharply by Welsh historian Philip Jenkins who wrote that Allegro was an eccentric scholar who relied on texts that did not exist in quite the form he was citing them. Jenkins called the Sacred Mushroom and the Cross "possibly the single most ludicrous book on Jesus scholarship by a qualified academic".[32] Based on the reactions to the book, Allegro's publisher later apologized for issuing the book and Allegro was forced to resign his academic post.[25][30] A 2006 article by Michael Hoffman discussing Allegro's work called for his theories to be re-evaluated by the mainstream.[33] In November 2009 The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross was reprinted in a 40th anniversary edition with a 30-page addendum by Carl Ruck of Boston University.[34]
This was supposed to be a book club nominee, but forgot to poast the rest. One of, if not, THE most controversial tombs in the 20th Century.
John Michael Allegro, a classicist and a theologian, was called upon to help study the dead sea scrolls upon their discovery. He spent 13 years with the source material and determined Christianity was based on psychedelic mushrooms and a fertility cult.
The Sacred Mushroom and Christian Myth Allegro's book The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross (1970) argued that Christianity began as a shamanistic cult. In his books The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross and The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth (1979), Allegro put forward the theory that stories of early Christianity originated in an Essene clandestine cult centred around the use of psychedelic mushrooms, and that the New Testament is the coded record of this shamanistic cult.[23][24] Allegro further argued that the authors of the Christian gospels did not understand the Essene thought. When writing down the Gospels based on the stories they had heard, the evangelists confused the meaning of the scrolls. In this way, according to Allegro, the Christian tradition is based on a misunderstanding of the scrolls.[25][26] He also argued that the story of Jesus was based on the crucifixion of the Teacher of Righteousness in the scrolls.[27] Mark Hall writes that Allegro suggested the Dead Sea Scrolls all but proved that a historical Jesus never existed.[28]
Allegro argued that Jesus in the Gospels was in fact a code for a type of hallucinogen, the Amanita muscaria, and that Christianity was the product of an ancient "sex-and-mushroom" cult.[29][30] Critical reaction was swift and harsh: fourteen British scholars (including Allegro's mentor at Oxford, Godfrey Driver) denounced it.[29] Sidnie White Crawford wrote of the publication of Sacred Mushroom, "Rightly or wrongly, Allegro would never be taken seriously as a scholar again."[31]
Allegro's theory of a shamanistic cult as the origin of Christianity was criticised sharply by Welsh historian Philip Jenkins who wrote that Allegro was an eccentric scholar who relied on texts that did not exist in quite the form he was citing them. Jenkins called the Sacred Mushroom and the Cross "possibly the single most ludicrous book on Jesus scholarship by a qualified academic".[32] Based on the reactions to the book, Allegro's publisher later apologized for issuing the book and Allegro was forced to resign his academic post.[25][30] A 2006 article by Michael Hoffman discussing Allegro's work called for his theories to be re-evaluated by the mainstream.[33] In November 2009 The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross was reprinted in a 40th anniversary edition with a 30-page addendum by Carl Ruck of Boston University.[34]
Comments
John Michael Allegro, a classicist and a theologian, was called upon to help study the dead sea scrolls upon their discovery. He spent 13 years with the source material and determined Christianity was based on psychedelic mushrooms and a fertility cult.
Who knows WHY that might be controversial ?!
@YellowSnow with his itchy trigger finger
@dnc @HillsboroDuck
@GrundleStiltzkin
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sacred-mushroom-and-the-cross-jr-irvin/1134306155?ean=9780982556276
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sacred-mushroom-and-the-cross-jr-irvin/1134306155?ean=9780982556276
Worried ‘bout you, boo.