The Jesus Mysteries: Was the "Original Jesus" a Pagan God? is a book by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy that attempts to reconstruct the true origins of Christianity. It relies heavily on the Gnostic gospels found at Nag Hammadi.

The authors suggest that a number of pagan mystery religions, such as those of Osiris, Dionysus, Attis, and Mithras, were all manifestations of a single cult of a dying and rising "godman" myth, whom they call Osiris-Dionysus. The authors also assert that Jesus did not really exist, but was instead a syncretic re-interpretation of the fundamental pagan "godman" by the Gnostics, who were the original sect of Christianity as a consequence. Orthodox Christianity, according to the authors, wasn't the predecessor to Gnosticism, as conventional wisdom states, but a later outgrowth that rewrote history in order to make literal Christianity appear to predate the Gnostics.

The book, originally published in the UK, gained a favourable reputation amongst UK broadsheets - it became Sunday Times bestseller, and Daily Telegraph book of the year.

Criticism and Support

Critics have labeled the claims of The Jesus Mysteries far-fetched and based on insufficient research. For example, David Allan Dodson, a reviewer for CNN, states that "while the authors discuss many examples of elements of Osiris/Dionysus in the Jesus story, they virtually ignore the more direct ties to Jewish tradition and prophecy. This oversight undermines the credibility of many of their arguments, and could have the tendency to mislead the novice reader in this subject" (CNN.com, "Review: Jesus -- man or myth?", September 21, 2000).

Supporters challenge the "insufficient research" accusation, pointing out that the book has 63 pages of citations in the endnotes, which constitutes a hefty 18% of the entire book. They also point out that while Dodson wasn't fully convinced by the authors that Jesus was completely fictional, he did end his review with the following supportive remarks: "The Jesus Mysteries left this reviewer more convinced than ever that the life of Jesus as we know it is filled with mythological, political, and even polemical elements. Freke and Gandy succeed in bringing some important points about Christianity to the public in a readable, compelling book. Perhaps their willingness to state 'the unthinkable thought' will lead to more objective thinking about religion and tolerance. If so, The Jesus Mysteries is a worthy effort indeed".

More reviews

• "An erudite and well-researched book stuffed with controversial ideas" (Fiona Pitt-Kethley, Daily Telegraph).
• "Whether you conclude this book is the most alarming heresy of the millennium or the mother of all revelations, The Jesus Mysteries deserves to be read" (Fort Worth Star-Telegram).
• "This is not for readers with a delicate nervous system. The book is shock treatment in paperback" (Marie Mares, New Vision).
• "The theory is not new. For two centuries at least, scholars have been aware of the intriguing parallels between the accounts of Jesus' life and that of preceding and contemporaneous figures such as Osiris, Dionysus and Mithras. What is new is the powerful scholarship brought to the issue by authors Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy in The Jesus Mysteries, just published in Australia. The result, which draws strongly on the Gnostic gospels discovered at Nag Hammadi in 1945, is so persuasive that is doubtful whether theological scholarship will ever be the same" (Robert Macklin, The Canberra Times, "Panorama," 1 July 2000).
• "A provocative, exciting and challenging book" (Right Reverend John Shelby Spong, Bishop of Newark)
• "An assemblage of outdated and incorrect ideas compiled in an effort to revive the discredited 'pagan borrowing' thesis" ("Venerable Bede", www.tektonics.org).

External links

• Book's official web site
• The Jesus Mysteries (excerpts)
• Review: Jesus -- man or myth?