According to The Independent, “a controversial American biblical scholar made his first appearance in London to present a discovery that he claims proves the story of Jesus Christ was invented as a system of mind control to enslave the poor.”
His name is Joseph Atwill and his book is called ‘Caesar’s Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus.’ Arwill suggests that Christianity was not conceived as a religion and was simply a propaganda campaign waged by the Roman empire in an attempt to control their citizens; his theory claims that it was created as a system of mind control to turn the populace into obedient sheep who would believe God decreed that they be slaves.
Mr Atwill presented evidence that the New Testament was actually written by Roman aristocrats who completely made up the story of Jesus Christ.
From The Independent:
“Mr Atwill says that acts of insurrection by Jewish sects, who were awaiting the arrival of a so-called ‘warrior Messiah’ in Palestine, were a perpetual problem for the Roman Empire and that after the Empire had exhausted all traditional means of dealing with the problem they resorted to psychological warfare.”
“They surmised that the way to stop the spread of zealous Jewish missionary activity was to create a competing belief system,” … “That’s when the ‘peaceful’ Messiah story was invented.
“Instead of inspiring warfare, this Messiah urged turn-the-other-cheek pacifism and encouraged Jews to ‘give onto Caesar’ and pay their taxes to Rome.”
Mr Atwill continues: “To this day, especially in the United States, it is used to create support for war in the Middle East.”
Mr. Atwill made his discovery when comparing the only known first-person historical record from that time period with the New Testament. He quickly found a highly constructed pattern of events and came to the conclusion that:
“The biography of Jesus is actually constructed, tip to stern, on prior stories, but especially on the biography of a Roman Caesar.”
Here’s a quick explanation of his thesis:
For a more in depth analysis, check out this fascinating conversation between host Doug McKenty and Joseph Atwill. Though the focus of the discussion hinges on Joe’s controversial thesis that the life of Jesus was truly nothing more than an elaborate fable told by the court of Titus Flavius, the conversation expands to include a deeper understanding of the mind of the patrician class and its use of propaganda.
If you wish to explore this issue further, here’s a historical documentary:
For those who want to read alternative viewpoints that believe that Atwill’s thesis is pure bunk, check out this essay from Catholic Answers and this excellent analysis from Richard Carrier entitled, Atwill’s Cranked-up Jesus.
We hope you enjoyed our article. Please feel free to share your own point of view on our Facebook page!
Sources:
The Independent: Story of Jesus Christ was ‘fabricated to pacify the poor’, claims controversial Biblical scholar
Vice: Was Jesus a Roman Hoax to Trick the Jews?
Joseph Atwill’s website
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