Dorothy Milne Murdock (March 27, 1960 – December 25, 2015), better known by her

pen names A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Acharya S and D. M. Murdock, was an American writer supporting the

Christ myth theory The Christ myth theory, also known as the Jesus myth theory, Jesus mythicism, or the Jesus ahistoricity theory, is the fringe view that the story of Jesus is a work of mythology with no historical substance. Alternatively, in terms given by ...

, which asserts that

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

never existed as a historical person, but was rather a mingling of various pre-Christian myths, solar deities and dying-and-rising deities. She wrote and operated a website focused on history, religion and spirituality, and

astro-theology The worship of heavenly bodies is the veneration of stars (individually or together as the night sky), the planets, or other astronomical objects as deities, or the association of deities with heavenly bodies. In anthropological literature these ...

. She asserted the pre-Christian civilizations understood their myths as allegorical, but Christians obliterated evidence by destroying or suppressing literature after they attained control of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, leading to widespread

illiteracy Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

in the

ancient world Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

, ensuring the mythical origins of Jesus's story was hidden. She argued the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

canon, as well as its important figures, were based on Roman, Greek, Egyptian, and other cultures'

myth Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

Life

Murdock was born to James Milne Murdock and Beatrice Murdock in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, and grew up in

Avon, Connecticut Avon ( ) is a town in the Farmington Valley region of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, United States. As of 2020, the town had a population of 19,795. History At the end of the last Ice Age, 12,400 years BP of the Younger Dryas, nom ...

. She received a

Bachelor of Liberal Arts A Bachelor of Liberal Arts (BLA or ALB) is a type of undergraduate bachelor's degree. Harvard University confer the degree of "Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies" on those who completed Harvard Extension School undergraduate degree prog ...

degree in

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

and Greek Civilization from

Franklin and Marshall College Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1787 as Franklin College and later merged with Marshall College in 1853, it is one of the oldest colleges in the United St ...

, then spent a year at the

American School of Classical Studies at Athens The American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA; ) is one of 19 foreign archaeological institutes in Athens, Greece. It is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC). CAORC is a private not-for-profit federat ...

, Greece. She had one son. She died of liver cancer on December 25, 2015. She was known as "Dori" to her loved ones.

Writing career

Murdock began her website, ''Truth Be Known'', in 1995. 1999, as Acharya S, she published her first book, ''The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold'', arguing the

story is a fabrication.Adventure Unlimited Press, rear cover of Murdock (1999) Her 2007 book, ''Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ'' continues the theme of ''The Christ Conspiracy'' by expanding her theory questioning the

historicity of Jesus The historicity of Jesus is the scholarly question in Biblical criticism and early Christian history of whether Jesus historically existed or was a purely mythological figure. Scholarly discussions questioning the historical existence of Jesus ...

, alleging "early Christian history to be largely myth, by sorting through available historical and archaeological data." In 2009, she released ''Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection'' and ''The Gospel According to Acharya S''. Murdock also wrote refutations of

ancient astronauts Ancient astronauts (or ancient aliens) refers to a Pseudoscience, pseudoscientific set of beliefs that hold that Extraterrestrial intelligence, intelligent Extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial beings (alien astronauts) visited Earth and m ...

theories, asserting they "may be prompted by the same type of motivation that produced the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, a chronicle largely consisting of the plagiarized myths of other cultures" re-fashioned as 'fact' concerning purported legend-based characterizations, and may be driven by the attempt to validate biblical myth as historical under a different 'interpretation'."

Reception

Murdock's work received strong criticism from New Testament scholars and historians of early Christians. Agnostic

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

scholar

Bart D. Ehrman Bart Denton Ehrman (born October 5, 1955) is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books ...

wrote in his '' Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth'' that "all of Acharya's major points are in fact wrong" and her book "is filled with so many factual errors and outlandish assertions that it is hard to believe the author is serious". Taking her as representative of some other writers about the Christ myth theory, he continues "Mythicists of this ilk should not be surprised that their views are not taken seriously by real scholars, mentioned by experts in the field, or even read by them". Emeritus Professor of New Testament Languages and Literature at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

Maurice Casey Philip Maurice Casey (18 October 1942 – 10 May 2014) was a British scholar of New Testament and early Christianity. He was an emeritus professor at the University of Nottingham, having served there as Professor of New Testament Languages and ...

criticized her work for "her anti-Christian outlook, a lack of any proper sense of reality, failure to give adequate references, inability to interpret primary sources correctly, and dependence on inaccurate out-of-date secondary sources rather than primary evidence." Baptist comparative religion scholar

Clinton Bennett Clinton Bennett (born 7 October 1955, Staffordshire, England) is a British-American scholar of Religious studies and participant in interfaith dialogue, specializing in Islamic studies and the relations between Islam and other religions. He is ...

compares her views to those of radical freethinker Robert Taylor (nicknamed "the Devil's chaplain"), secularist MP and Christ-mythicist John M. Robertson, and American mythographer

Joseph Campbell Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of t ...

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study within six colleges in the arts, business, communic ...

religion professor

James F. McGrath James Frank McGrath is an American scholar of religion. He is the Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University. He is known for his work on Early Christianity, Mandaeism, criticism of the Christ myth t ...

describes her viewpoint as one that "once had some currency among scholars" in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but was subsequently abandoned. The book received mixed reviews among conspiracy theorists and supporters of the Christ myth theory. Writer

Russ Kick Russell Charles Kick III (July 20, 1969September 12, 2021) was an American writer, editor, and publisher. Russell Charles Kick III was born on July 20, 1969, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Early in his career, Kick wrote articles, a column, and a cover ...

, in his book ''You Are Being Lied To'', describes ''The Christ Conspiracy'' as "an essential book for anyone who wants to know the reality behind the world's dominant religion". Conspiracy theorist and publisher

Kenn Thomas Kenn Thomas (June 12, 1958 – September 22, 2023) was a conspiracy writer, archivist, and editor and publisher of '' Steamshovel Press'', a parapolitical conspiracy magazine. Thomas, who was born in St. Louis, Missouri, wrote over a dozen books o ...

calls her a "great chronicler of the conspiracy known as Christianity". Atheist activist and Christ mythicist

Richard Carrier Richard Cevantis Carrier (born December 1, 1969) is an American ancient historian. He is a long-time contributor to skeptical websites, including The Secular Web and Freethought Blogs. Carrier has published a number of books and articles on ph ...

criticized her use of the inscriptions at Luxor to make the claim that the story of Jesus' birth was inspired by the Luxor story of the birth of

Horus Horus (), also known as Heru, Har, Her, or Hor () in Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and t ...

. Theologian and Christ-mythicist

Robert M. Price Robert McNair Price (born July 7, 1954) is an American New Testament scholar who argues in favor of the Christ myth theorythe claim that a historical Jesus did not exist. Price is the author of a number of books on biblical studies and the hi ...

also criticized Murdock's first book, while promoting her ''Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled'' in ''The Pre-Nicene New Testament: Fifty-Four Formative Texts'',p. 1179 and writing the foreword to her ''Who Was Jesus?: Fingerprints of the Christ''.

Publications

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References

External links