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{{Short description|none}}
{{short description|Conspiracy theory that what is known about the Bible is a deception to suppress ancient truths}}
{{Bible sidebar |expanded=interpretation}}
{{Bible sidebar |expanded=interpretation}}
A '''Bible conspiracy theory''' is any [[conspiracy theory]] that posits that much of what is believed about the [[Christian Bible|Bible]] is a deception created to suppress some secret, ancient [[truth]]. Some of these theories claim that [[Jesus]] [[Jesus bloodline|really had a wife and children]], or that a group such as the [[Priory of Sion]] has secret information about the true descendants of Jesus; some claim that there was a secret movement to [[Censorship by religion|censor books]] that truly belonged in the Bible, etc.
'''Biblical conspiracy theories''' posit that much of what is believed about the [[Christian Bible|Bible]] is a deception created to suppress a secret or ancient truth. Such [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]] may claim that [[Jesus]] [[Jesus bloodline|really had a wife and children]], or that a group such as the [[Priory of Sion]] has secret information about the true descendants of Jesus; some claim that there was a secret movement to [[Censorship by religion|censor books]] that truly belonged in the Bible, etc.


This subject should not be confused with deliberately ''fictional'' Bible conspiracy theories. A number of bestselling modern novels, the most popular of which was ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]'', have incorporated elements of Bible conspiracy theories to flesh out their storylines, rather than to push these theories as actual suggestions.
This subject should not be confused with deliberately fictional Bible conspiracy theories. A number of bestselling modern novels, the most popular of which was ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]'', have incorporated elements of Bible conspiracy theories to flesh out their storylines, rather than to push these theories as actual suggestions.


==Common theories==
==Common theories==
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Some common [[hypothesis|hypotheses]] are that:
Some common [[hypothesis|hypotheses]] are that:
* [[Mary Magdalene]] was one of the [[Twelve apostles|apostles]] of Jesus, possibly even the only [[Disciple (Christianity)|disciple]], but this was suppressed by the early Church.<ref name="time">{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=August 11, 2003 |title=Mary Magdalene Saint or Sinner? |author=Biema, David Von |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030811-472868,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050313174302/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030811-472868,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 13, 2005}}</ref>
* [[Mary Magdalene]] was one of the [[Twelve apostles|apostles]] of Jesus, possibly even the only [[Disciple (Christianity)|disciple]], but this was suppressed by the early Church.<ref name="time">{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=August 11, 2003 |title=Mary Magdalene Saint or Sinner? |author=Biema, David Von |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030811-472868,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050313174302/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030811-472868,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 13, 2005}}</ref>
* Jesus had an intimate relationship with Mary Magdalene which may or may not have resulted in marriage, and/or children; their continued bloodline is then said to be Christianity's deepest secret.<ref name="time" />
* Jesus had an intimate relationship with Mary Magdalene which may or may not have resulted in marriage or children; their continued bloodline is then said to be Christianity's deepest secret.<ref name="time" />
''[[The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail]]'', by [[Michael Baigent]], [[Richard Leigh (author)|Richard Leigh]] and [[Henry Lincoln]] (1982) is seen by many as the source of that plotline in ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]''. :)
''[[The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail]]'', by [[Michael Baigent]], [[Richard Leigh (author)|Richard Leigh]] and [[Henry Lincoln]] (1982) is seen by many as the source of that plotline in ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]''.

===Resurrected Jesus as an impostor===

''[[The Gospel of Afranius]]'', an atheistic Russian work that came out in English in 2022, proposes politically motivated gaslighting as the origin of the foundational Christian belief in the [[resurrection of Jesus]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mina|first=Mikhail|date=1998-04-30|title=In retrospect by Mikhail Mina|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/31855|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=392|issue=6679|pages=884|doi=10.1038/31855|bibcode=1998Natur.392..884M |s2cid=35300944 |issn=1476-4687}}</ref>


==Books==
==Books==
* [[The Gospel of Afranius]]
* ''[[The Jesus Papers: Exposing the Greatest Cover-Up in History]]'', Michael Baigent (2006)
* ''[[The Jesus Papers: Exposing the Greatest Cover-Up in History]]'', Michael Baigent (2006)
* ''[[Jesus the Magician: Charlatan or Son of God?]]'', Morton Smith (1978)
* ''[[Jesus the Magician: Charlatan or Son of God?]]'', Morton Smith (1978)
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==See also==
==See also==
* [[Bible code]]
* [[Constantinian shift]]
* [[Constantinian shift]]
* [[Criticism of the Bible]]
* [[Criticism of the Bible]]

Latest revision as of 20:29, 10 December 2024

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Biblical conspiracy theories posit that much of what is believed about the Bible is a deception created to suppress a secret or ancient truth. Such conspiracy theories may claim that Jesus really had a wife and children, or that a group such as the Priory of Sion has secret information about the true descendants of Jesus; some claim that there was a secret movement to censor books that truly belonged in the Bible, etc.

This subject should not be confused with deliberately fictional Bible conspiracy theories. A number of bestselling modern novels, the most popular of which was The Da Vinci Code, have incorporated elements of Bible conspiracy theories to flesh out their storylines, rather than to push these theories as actual suggestions.

Common theories

[edit]

Jesus-myth theory

[edit]
Main article: Jesus Myth

Some proponents of the Jesus-myth or Christ-myth theory consider that the whole of Christianity is a conspiracy. American author Acharya S (Dorothy Murdock) in The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold (1999) argues that Jesus and Christianity were created by members of various secret societies, mystery schools, and religions, that these people drew on numerous myths and rituals which existed previously, and that the church then constructed these ideas into Christianity by suppressing the originally intended understanding.[1][2] In the 1930s British spiritualist Hannen Swaffer's home circle, following the teachings of the native-American spirit "Silver Birch", also claimed a Jesus-myth.[3]

Church suppression of reincarnation conspiracy

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Some New Age believers consider that Jesus taught reincarnation but the Christian Church suppressed it. Geddes MacGregor in Reincarnation in Christianity (1978)[4] suggests that Origen's texts written in support of the belief in reincarnation somehow disappeared or were suppressed.[5]

Jesus, Mary Magdalene and the Holy Grail

[edit]

Some common hypotheses are that:

  • Mary Magdalene was one of the apostles of Jesus, possibly even the only disciple, but this was suppressed by the early Church.[6]
  • Jesus had an intimate relationship with Mary Magdalene which may or may not have resulted in marriage or children; their continued bloodline is then said to be Christianity's deepest secret.[6]

The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln (1982) is seen by many as the source of that plotline in The Da Vinci Code.

Resurrected Jesus as an impostor

[edit]

The Gospel of Afranius, an atheistic Russian work that came out in English in 2022, proposes politically motivated gaslighting as the origin of the foundational Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus.[7]

Books

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

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  1. ^ Acharya S. "The Origins of Christianity and the Quest for the Historical Jesus Christ". Archived from the original on May 8, 2006.
  2. ^ Bennett, Clinton (2001). In Search of Jesus: Insider and Outsider Images. p. 208. A New Age contributor One recent proponent of the Jesus-myth theory, Acharya S, who also sees Christianity as an ongoing conspiracy, argues that there was an ancient global civilization in which ideas and hero myths circulated freely
  3. ^ Austen, A. W. (1938). The Teachings of Silver Birch. London: The Spiritualist Press.
  4. ^ Theosophical Publishing House 1978
  5. ^ "Reincarnation". Catholic Answers. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011.
  6. ^ a b Biema, David Von (August 11, 2003). "Mary Magdalene Saint or Sinner?". Time. Archived from the original on March 13, 2005.
  7. ^ Mina, Mikhail (1998-04-30). "In retrospect by Mikhail Mina". Nature. 392 (6679): 884. Bibcode:1998Natur.392..884M. doi:10.1038/31855. ISSN 1476-4687. S2CID 35300944.

Further reading

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