Acharya S

Dorothy Milne Murdock
Publicity photo of Murdock
Publicity photo of Murdock
BornMarch 27, 1960 (1960-03-27)
Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedDecember 25, 2015(2015-12-25) (aged 55)
Pen nameAcharya S
Alma materFranklin & Marshall College
SubjectHistory of religions
Years active1995–2014
Notable worksThe Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold (1999), Did Moses Exist? The Myth of the Israelite Lawgiver (2014)
Website
truthbeknown.com

Dorothy Milne Murdock[1][2][3] (March 27, 1960 – December 25, 2015),[4] better known by her pen names Acharya S and D. M. Murdock,[5][6] was an American writer known for her support of the Christ myth theory, a fringe theory asserting that Jesus never existed as a historical person, but was rather a mingling of various pre-Christian myths, solar deities and dying-and-rising deities.[7]

She wrote and operated a website focused on history, religion and spirituality, and astro-theology. 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, leading to widespread illiteracy in the ancient world, ensuring the mythical origins of Jesus's story was hidden. She argued the Christian canon, as well as its important figures, were based on Roman, Greek, Egyptian, and other cultures' myths.[8] Her theories are not accepted by mainstream historians, textual critics, and archaeologists, however have been promoted by scholars such as Robert M. Price, a fellow of the Jesus Project, and prominently featured in the 2005 documentary The God Who Wasn't There.

  1. ^ Picknett, Lynn & Prince, Clive (2008). The Masks of Christ. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-4165-9446-8.
  2. ^ Foreman, Mark W. (2012). "Challenging the Zeitgeist Movie: Parallelomania on Steroids". In Copan, Paul & Craig, William Lane (eds.). Come Let Us Reason: New Essays in Christian Apologetics. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-4336-7220-0.
  3. ^ "Participants-Other Schools". campus.lakeforest.edu. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  4. ^ "Dorothy Murdock". Hartford Courant. January 24, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  5. ^ Murdock, D. M. "Who is Acharya S?". Truth Be Known. Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  6. ^ Price, Robert M. (2011) [2007]. "Foreword". In Murdock, D.M. (ed.). Who Was Jesus?: Fingerprints of the Christ. Seattle: Stellar House. pp. v–vii. ISBN 978-0-9799631-0-0.
  7. ^ Bennett, Clinton (2001). In Search of Jesus: Insider and Outsider Images. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 208. ISBN 0-8264-4916-6.
  8. ^ "The Christ Conspiracy – Home". Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2009.