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"Man Made God: A Collection of Essays" By D.M. Murdock | Man Made God: A Collection of Essays Paperback – April 15, 2010 by Barbara G. Walker (Author), D. M. Murdock (Foreword), Acharya S (Foreword) 30 customer reviews See all formats and editions | Paperback $20.39 12 Used from $20.55 27 New from $20.39 | Best Books of 2014 "Man Made God" is a series of articles by the author of "The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myth's and Secrets." Extraordinary independent scholar of comparative religion and mythology Barbara G. Walker takes us through a journey back in time to when the Goddess and her consort/son ruled supreme, into the era when the patriarchy usurped Her worship, right up to Barbara's own personal experience being raised a Christian. In this remarkable collection, Walker turns a critical eye towards: - Religion as big business - Religion's effects on children - The Bible as a "moral guide" and "history" - Biblical infallibility - The doctrine of "original sin" - The biblical attitude towards sexuality - God as "Father" - Church doctrine regarding women - Church history vis - à - vis the Dark Ages, Inquisition, and book - and witch - burning - Christian afterlife traditions - Traditional Christian origins - And much more... A brilliant exposé of the long lost history of religious ideology, including goddess worship, and a scathing indictment of the male - dominated cultus. No beating around the bush, no nitpicking details, no confused questioning of what was - Walker cuts straight to the heart with her profound understanding and matter - of - fact conclusions. A frank and exceptional analysis, this powerful book "Man Made God" unveils mysteries that have perplexed mankind for millennia, and unravels detrimental religious ideologies that have been plaguing humanity for equally long. | Product Details | Paperback: 378 pages Publisher: Stellar House Publishing, LLC (April 15, 2010) Language: English ISBN - 10: 0979963141 ISBN - 13: 978 - 0979963148 Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews) Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) 44 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Comparative Religion | 93 of 96 people found the following review helpful | By Richard J. Goscicki (Sarasota Fl) - | This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Paperback) That's right. If I would have read Man Made God 50 years ago it would have changed my life. Now that I'm a senior, as I think back, only two books had a life - changing effect on me: "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding and "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins. Now I have a third. | Here's why. When I went to Catholic high school in the late '50s, I merely sat quietly and listened meekly to all the magical nonsense that was foisted on me on a daily basis. Believe what you want, was my attitude, just don't try to sell me any of this supernatural boogety - boo. Symbolic cannibalistic rituals were all right with me - - just as long as I can sit in the back of the auditorium with my own little teenage daydreams. | If I would have read Barbara's book back then, I would never have put up with it. "Hey, Brother, is it true the Church killed and tortured millions of people for over five hundred years? After the Council of Nicea, Europe was awash in blood and learning was ground to a standstill. The Dark Ages were imminent. Books were burned, libraries destroyed and the peasantry kept illiterate. All I got from your religion classes was the Apostle's creed." | How come you never mentioned the genocide caused by your religion? After the bloodbath had subsided in the 1800s, a century later Cardinal Angelo Sodano would apologize and call this insane sadistic mayhem, "a sad episode in church history." Is he crazy? What has the church done to human progress? | How can church officials live with themselves? How come there's no priests listed on the National Sex Offender list? What's going on? | In short, I didn't become a militant atheist until 40 years later. I was always an atheist but I was close - mouthed about religion and tolerant of it. This very year there will be hundreds of people, mostly children, tortured and killed in Africa because of witchcraft, just as Barbara describes it. She even gives the line from the Gospels, Christ's own words, that centuries later the Inquisitioners would use to rationalize burning heretics at the stake by the millions. One town in Germany, states Ms. Walker with accurate annotation, burned as many as 1000 pathetic victims in one year. Outrageous - - that's three per day! Watching public immolation must have been a national pass - time, like going to the movies or the Friday - night fights. | Good job, Barbara, it's the scholarship that makes Man Made God so powerful. I hope your book goes down in history as one of the most important anti - religion statements of the modern age. All I can say to any Holy Ghost/heaven - hell/Eve - came - from - Adam's - rib/Noah's Ark believers is: read it and deal with it. | Richard Goscicki, author of Mirror Reversal, Peppertree Press, 2007 | Mirror Reversal | s (14) | 50 of 50 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars Woman - made Great Book, November 23, 2010 By Book Shark (Maryland, USA) - (TOP 500 REVIEWER) Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Kindle Edition) Man Made God: A Collection of Essays by Barbara G. Walker | Man Made God is a collection of interesting essays from the excellent author Barbara G. Walker. The critical essays are about the nature and history of religion and mythology from the female perspective. In a very compelling and educational manner the author exposes the truth behind man - made driven beliefs. The book sheds light on the key differences between matriarchal and patriarchal societies. | Positives: 1. Great education of religious history from a woman's perspective. As a man, I take for granted that many of the religious beliefs in western culture are the product of male - conceived beliefs. For that alone, I thank Ms. Walker for the education. 2. Well researched and interesting history. 3. It's truly amazing how enlightening this book is. I had very little knowledge of the depths that men suppressed women through religion. Eye opening indeed. 4. The sins of the Church are so numerous...there are many examples provided in full detail. Massacres, genocides, infanticides, etc... 5. Some of the most controversial eye - opening biblical passages explained in direct, compelling manner. 6. Great quotes abound. Great reference material. 7. Many great freethinkers are referenced. I enjoyed the references to some of the lesser known female freethinkers in particular. 8. Sound use of logic and reasoning. 9. Some great explanations of religious concepts such as: blood as an essential substance of salvation, human sacrifice, doctrine of resurrection, afterlife, souls (always a personal favorite), original sin, and so many more. 10. A number of fascinating facts throughout the book. Did you know that biblical scholars have noted about 2,000 discrepancies in the Bible? I do now. You will also find out how many scientific errors have been found in the Bible too...it's in this good book, "Man Made God". 11. The best book bar none regarding Goddess worship and its evolution. 12. Critical thinkers will love this book. 13. It's a great book for all levels of scholarship. 14. Good job with the Kindle version. Links work well. | Negatives: 1. Repetitive at times but understandably so because it is a collection of essays. 2. As with any book of essays, some essays will be of more interest than others and at times can get a little dry. However, few and far between. 3. Of course, there are some topics I wanted more depth of information, such as religion as big business and the concept of souls but now I'm just being greedy. That being said, the extensive bibliography provides so many great resources to further quench my thirst of knowledge. | In summary, this book exemplifies why I enjoy reading so much. Barbara G. Walker and friends, provides so many well researched essays and so much knowledge that I am appreciative of her efforts. I highly recommend this book. | 43 of 45 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Provocative Book!!!!, June 20, 2010 By Armand Herpe (MIAMI FLA) - | Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Paperback) Barbara Walker's book is an extraordinary, revealing, insightful and penetrating expose into the ominous and dark history of religion. Barbara Walker shows that everything we've been taught as truth and divine is actually man - made beliefs to subjugate the human race. The most despicable and shocking information in the book is about the inquisitions carried out by the Church, which murdered over 2 million human beings simply because they didn't go along with the Church's Doctrine. Man indeed made God in his own image, a God of fear, hatred, jealousy, murder, bigotry and retribution!! Highly recommended read. I thank Barbara G. Walker for writing such an extraordinary and powerful book. Read it with an inquisitive and open mind, not with a preconceive blind - belief notion. only then will the human race be free of religious dogma, subjugation and slavery. It surely freed my mind even further! | 38 of 43 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars Powerfully Enlightening and Useful, June 23, 2010 By Angel (California) - This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Paperback) Finished reading Man Made God a few weeks ago and found it powerfully helpful in understanding how human behavior fundamentally transitions from a mother - child focused culture based on cooperation and kindness to a male focused culture based on competition and fear. This collection of essays provides valuable insight on how ancient observation of natural events as well as their practices, symbols, languages, and rituals are reformed or suppressed through time. | It lays out convincing motive for why secrets are kept and why symbols/words/phrases are violently protected. It explains the significance of blood and words, their origins and meanings, and how these concepts were used and still being used to associate real things with supernatural power to persuade human behavior. | It is especially enlightening for those who struggle to understand and attempt to reconcile the mysteriously illogical textual conflicts spread throughout the canonical bible. It untangles a great deal of confusion for those asking how an all powerful god could allow such sadistic behavior towards innocent woman and children through the ages and still expect to be worshipped as an all loving and all caring god. It helps those asking why god would create something and call it good just to encourage its suffering, and wondering how god can be both supreme and good. | It sheds light on how male dominated culture encourages abuse, violence, war and ultimately epic human suffering. Thankfully now, with anthropological and archeological advances, evidence of our human saga is being resurrected from the womb once again reminding us that our ancestors weren't always barbaric rivals obsessed with sexual dominance and conquering each other. We're rediscovering we were long ago harmonious cultures of enlightened people well aware of our natural surrounding, cultures that lived harmoniously for many thousands of years with each other. A time arrives when these cultures become systematically usurped to serve conquering rulers and their co - conspiring religious elite. | Still today our leaders are using the same genocidal methods of engineering ignorance to eliminate their competition, systemic persuasion to control the mind, and physical force to instill fear against rebellion. I would like to think we've left behind the dark ages with our 21st century progressive attitude towards woman and with our relative freedom of expression, but these essays expose a sobering reminder of just how stuck in its shadows we still are. Competition and fear enshrined into modern western thinking is still being bred into our youth as virtue. It's clear today's society still serves the desires of a few at the expense of many. | Even in today's civilized society, our governments still approve wars that will knowingly shed blood on a battlefield altar. I wonder if some decisions are still being made because someone still believes these sacrifices of blood are pleasing their god. | Although this work is a series of essays, it still reads like chapter book and flows well. There are some repeated passages but given the format it made sense to review some important points. There are also several interesting photos of ancient relics included to support the evidence presented. | Anyone seriously interested in repairing our relationships with ourselves, who genuinely cares about all others with whom we share this planet, who has an honest reverence for all living things in cooperation with our environment, or who intends to actually help move our species toward preserving our future existence, should consider viewing this work and honestly think about the current path we are all on, especially before we nuke ourselves to dust simply because a man needs to show off he has a bigger missile than his fellow man, sanctioned by his bigger god. | (1) | 14 of 15 people found the following review helpful 4.0 out of 5 stars Man Made God, October 25, 2010 By Tinker "Bella" (MA) - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Paperback) This book isn't only about the Christian religion it is, also, about the ancient Gnostic, pagan Goddess religions, a little about witches, wicca, midwives,etc. and Halloween. I had not known much about the ancient pagan beliefs except that they were more oriented toward women and goddess worship. I've enjoyed the author's articles in magazines and newspapers that I have received in the past and I wanted to get one of her books this one seemed to be what I was looking for not so comprehensive but a good overview. | 19 of 22 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible research, June 27, 2010 By James A. Worrell "A Rationalist" (Oklahoma City) - This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Paperback) Barbara Walker is absolutely thorough in her research before she starts writing. When you read this fantastic expose of how women have been put down and suppressed by religion, you will be impressed forever. Our male dominated world is really screwed up. Wars, debt, hate and division - - all because of religions dominated by men. My mother was a woman, and I would not let anyone put her down. I admire the courage, insight and honesty of Barbara G. Walker. If you want the truth about this world, buy and read this book. | s (11) | 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars History of Chistianity and its ancient influences., January 8, 2013 By JAMES MOSES - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Paperback) Anybody who is interested in the true history of religion. It is the alternative and scientific view of how Chistianity came about and not the one frabricated by the Catholic Church! | 8 of 9 people found the following review helpful 4.0 out of 5 stars Man Made God, July 28, 2012 By daleelaine - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Paperback) Barbara Walker covers numerous aspects of the development of the belief of Yahweh and how she believes the Judaic/Christian faith was derived from more ancient religions and traditions, thus she concludes that the concept of a deity is a human invention. Barbara Walker gives many examples from history, ancient writings, artifacts, etc. to support her hypothesis; yet I found the documentation somewhat lacking in terms of historical points were made and referred to but no documentation was given in some cases. There is other extensive documentation yet the documentation doesn't adequately support the points in that the quote or example is from another secondary source rather than noting the original source of the information. Nevertheless, the book does have many good valid, factual information to make the point that religions are human creations rather than divinely inspired. This book is not as scholarly written as I would like and has errors in it: like page 39 taking some 'Biblical errors' out of context or she notes on page 39 that Matthew and Mark give Christ's genealogies when in reality it is Matthew and Luke, not Mark; and page 287 saying the story of Gilgamesh was written 4000 BCE while most other historians say between 2500 and 1800 BCE. Again, though, the book is still worth one's time to get an overview of the topic and I did enjoy reading it. | (1) | 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Essays in Critical Thinking, February 12, 2012 By Amazon Customer "Nancy Terrell" (British Virgin Islands) - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Kindle Edition) This is an excellent book for those of us who think "out of the box" I read it when it first came out and found it to be well researched with many "options" in critical thinking. | This book should be required reading for all Right Wing Christians - opps - I forgot that they are only allowed to read the Bible, which is one of the most violent and sexually disgusting books ever written. | 8 of 9 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening, September 25, 2011 By Patricia B. Randa (Florida) - | Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Paperback) This is the most enlightening book I have ever read. Barbara Walker really knows Religion. When I first starting question Religious belief, I felt "saddened by my enlightenment"! Now I just feel "Enlightened"! |
| 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough, cogent, with minor repetition, October 12, 2013 By LaRamee - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Kindle Edition) I am not a woman. However, Walker's detailed research and interpretation of historical aspects about how women were sidelined (and worse) in order to create the dominating faiths "of the Book" can be mind - opening for both women and men. She has uncovered views and events that will never, never be examined without bias from a traditional pulpit or religious study group. There were minor repetitions of statements because this is a collection of essays that was never intended to be compiled as an edited whole. It's also an excellent of summary of landmark turning points and critical players in the early evolution of Christianity, along with a discussion of the consequences, intended or not. Well footnoted. | 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars common sense, October 7, 2013 By jerome luskin (MANHASSET, NY, US) - This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Kindle Edition) All these authors who have the determination and courage to present their sincere thoughts on skepticism are to be commended. for entering into an area which has been insanely taboo:. Religion has produced war, pestilence, hatred, divisiveness, early illiteracy and the Dark Ages, . Religion serves no serious purpose. It is certainly NOT a source of morality; rather it produces a cover of immorality . Barbara Walker, although not ranking IN the world of skeptics along with Harris, Dawkins and Hitchens, is nevertheless unique in her own right. Her approach is sensible, simple and honest. This book doesn't belabor detailed philosophy,but spans a broad area of thought This writer and her products should be supported by the entire community of atheists. | 6 of 7 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars Man Made God., August 20, 2011 By Caddy10 - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Paperback) Oh thank you Barbara G. Walker. It was a great book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the wonderful work of a logical & sane mind. This book should be made compulsory reading everywhere in the world in order to bring the world into the 21st century. When all religions are finally done away with, then and only then, will we progress to our full potential as human beings. | (1) | 6 of 7 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars The Title says It ALL., August 19, 2011 By Ben Kenobi (Mesa, AZ United States) - This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Paperback) Love this book; so much good stuff; Highlighted on every page...a must read for thinking people. Should be read before every Bible(Buy Bull)class; people need to understand how some of these myths came about and Barbara tells it all. This book should be the one handed out door to door! | 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, February 15, 2013 By Amazon Customer - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Paperback) I'm a fan of this author, she is insightful, knowledgeable about the subject matter, and her facts and research are impeccable. | 12 of 16 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars From an archetypalist, August 23, 2010 By Thistle Brown (Bellefontaine, OH USA) - This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Paperback) Yes, I dig Jung and live a life of galloping synchronicty and always have. However, my mysticism in no way prevents me from delighting in Barbara Walker's scholarship. There is a difference between belief and fact - historical and scientific (although discoveries may continue to have us take another look). Mrs. Walker's scholarship is unquestioned by those who know enough about the subject to recognize what is most likely intelligence about which some of us are not yet familiar. | The big deal for me is too often mentioned and in the wrong context: DO NO HARM. | We live in a world where religion is not only it, but runs rampant. Briefly: Love Jesus or I'll kill ya; love Allah or I'll kill ya; love Adonai or I'll kill ya. | I know I'm waxing preachy, but I don't apologize. Voices crying in the wildneress have been around since sentience. | 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful 3.0 out of 5 stars I SALUTE YOU, July 25, 2014 By kate - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Kindle Edition) Much effort made in the researching of this book for which I salute you. A bit tedious in the reading, however. Seems there were more gods than people at times; and to think we are still holding tight to the last of it's kind and when that last one fades into oblivion perhaps we can devote all the time spent on that unproven entity and begin spending more time and effort on the less fortunate of every species. | 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful 4.0 out of 5 stars could not put it down, August 27, 2013 By Lennie Barrere - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Paperback) I loved it.... simply knowing that the word "hag' which is now a derogatory word stems from hagia meaning "holy woman" in Greek. The word "crone" is related to the word crown. I dont think you need to prove anything else when just the facts will suffice. In recent years conservatives have made "femnist" a dirty word too. Its pretty obvious whats going on with that. Also learned the word "heretic" meant "choice" so if you chose anything but the Catholic Church you were labeled a heretic and that more than 9 million heretics died at the hands of the church during the inquisition. | 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars Very clear explanation of the pagan origins of Bible stories, August 1, 2013 By Kris - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Kindle Edition) Man Made God, clearly explains and traces Bible stories and Christian traditions back to their pagan roots. This is a wonderful book! | 8 of 10 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT, October 15, 2010 By J. Mueller (Switzerland) - | Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Paperback) Brilliant eye - opener! Many thanks to Barbara G. Walker and D.M. Murdock. A book that we wish to be translated and studied in theology schools all over the world! | 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful 3.0 out of 5 stars I SALUTE YOU, July 25, 2014 By kate - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Kindle Edition) Much effort made in the researching of this book for which I salute you. A bit tedious in the reading, however. Seems there were more gods than people at times; and to think we are still holding tight to the last of it's kind and when that last one fades into oblivion perhaps we can devote all the time spent on that unproven entity and begin spending more time and effort on the less fortunate of every species. | 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars All Gods are man made, January 24, 2014 By Philip I. Kyson (Queensland, Australia) - | Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Paperback) The sooner the human race gets over this fascination with explaining anything it doesn't can be explained with a god. The sooner we might get a long team future hear of earth. | 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful 4.0 out of 5 stars Eye - Opener, October 5, 2013 By critical reader - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Kindle Edition) The essays provide an overview of the origins and history of mythologies and their adaptions in the three monotheistic religions. Very informative, but at times rather polemic. Interesting reading, but quite a lot of repetitions. | 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant writing and unassailable scholarship, September 24, 2013 By Jim Boswell - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Kindle Edition) Barbara Walker has delivered a clear and totally absorbing, scholarly work that shows the origins of religion. She does not debate but simply states the facts with brilliant, clear, convincing facts. | 5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Exposition, September 16, 2014 By I W "I W" (Caribbean) - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Kindle Edition) This book made me laugh, but mostly it made me cry. It made me grieve for the humongous loss of life and truly living in my own life and in others throughout time. It made me hope that the tables are turning and things will be a bit better for my children. The authors validated many of my secret questioning a but shattered my already cracking "faith." | Very lightening and freeing words especially for a female who has felt the invisible hands pressing and squeezing and molding but feeling unable or ashamed of questioning ( I mean seriously all these smart, wonderful folks can't be wrong). | I would caution anyone who wants to read this book to seek support for when the house of cards comes crashing down. | Powerful ideas that could change the world...for better. | 5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic explanation., June 27, 2014 By Monsignor Chupa Cabra - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Paperback) I think this is one of the best books I have read as it gives a very good reasoning of how and why human's have invented so many strange gods and why we have so many problems as a result of those gods. As a child I traveled with my Air Force family to all corners of the earth and wondered why people in all these different cultures were so intense in their beliefs in what seemed to me to be silly Mythologies and I then began to see my own families beliefs in that same light. All others have Mythologies but our beliefs are the "One True Religion". This book is the best that I have read that explains why humanity has this strange way of existing that results in so much suffering, blood and carnage as these mythologies collide. | 5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening look at everyday customs we take for granted, May 25, 2014 By Skeptical - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Kindle Edition) As an militant atheist I already knew a lot about christian dogma but the matriarchal origins the author covers was a fascinating fresh take (for me) of the hijacked myths turned still in our culture. This book has replenished my wavering feminism. I loved this book. | 5.0 out of 5 stars Never too much information, May 29, 2013 By Phillip Woodard - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Kindle Edition) Barbara Walker writes these essays in such a convincing manner with plenty of supporting evidence and facts to support her material. Everything is easily searchable for those doubters out there and you will not be disappointed. One of the most eye - opening and life - changing books in my library. Thank you Ms. Walker! | 4.0 out of 5 stars Makes One Think, November 21, 2014 By Tina Rae Collins "Moonbeam" (Lexington, KY United States) - | Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Paperback) This book is well written and documented. It is repetitive in places because it is articles and sometimes they overlap one another. But if a person has never heard what is being said, then repetition can be good. I enjoyed reading the book and consider it an important part of my library. It definitely makes one think. | 4.0 out of 5 stars Most of the essays were illuminating and filled with wisdom ..., August 9, 2014 By Joyce H. Higham - Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Kindle Edition) Most of the essays were illuminating and filled with wisdom. I encountered some material here that I have not encountered elsewhere. My complaint is with the slipshod editing. The repetitive essays should have been pruned; there is no excuse for all of that deadwood. |
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"Where Christmas really came from" By Jay Parini | December 23, 2014 | STORY HIGHLIGHTS | Jay Parini: In the retail rush of Christmas, people don't ponder where holiday came from He says it coincides with winter solstice and other ancient midwinter festivals He says two Gospels don't mention Christmas tale and two others don't get stories straight Parini: Christmas a melange of ancient and meaningful practices |
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Editor's note: Jay Parini, a poet and novelist, teaches at Middlebury College in Vermont. He has just published "Jesus: The Human Face of God," a biography of Jesus. Follow him on Twitter@JayParini. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. | (CNN) - - As Christmas arrives, eyes turn naturally toward Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace was supposedly born just over 2,000 years ago. Countless Christians - - some devout, others wedded to force of habit - - arrive at a vast array of churches that represent one of the thousands of known denominations. Indeed, the World Christian Encyclopedia suggests that over 33,820 denominations can be identified in almost 200 countries. That's a lot of splintering over two millennia! Jay Parini Jay Parini | Still, it's difficult to keep in mind that Christmas is a religious and not a shopping thing, and retailers deck the halls with whatever it takes to draw you in: candy canes, evergreen wreaths, mangers, images of Santa, Frosty the Snowman, you name it. | The loudspeakers in malls throb with lousy holiday Muzak: "Sleigh bells ring. Are you listenin?" In fact, Christmas is as much a secular event as a spiritual one, a civil holiday that accounts for over 19% of yearly retail sales; that translated to $3 trillion in sales last year. | For purveyors of goods, there is every reason to believe in Christmas. | But what do Christians who take their religion seriously really think about Christmas? Most of them, I suspect, don't think about it much. | They enjoy the lead - up to the day itself - - the sense of expectation - - in the month before Christmas, a time known as Advent, with its special hymns and prayers. The rhythms of the so - called Church Year are heavily dependent on Christmas, with the 25th of December as a peak of sorts - - a moment of hope that comes at the darkest time of the year, not incidentally related to winter solstice, a calendar moment when the day is shortest, the night longest, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. View my Flipboard Magazine. | In fact, midwinter festivals, including Saturnalia and Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, were broadly celebrated in ancient Rome. In ancient Egypt, there was a festival that marked the birth of a child sun - god, Horus, whose mother (called Isis) was a virgin. Indeed, this child was "laid in a manger," one of many similarities with the Christmas story. | Scholars have been all over this, going back to one of the earliest Christian writers, St. Epiphanius of Salamis, who noted the similarities. (The details of this connection will be found in a recent book by Barbara G. Walker and D.M. Murdock, "Man Made God: A Collection of Essays".) | There is just no doubt that ancient cultures felt a strong need to proclaim the season of a new "sun," the start of the fresh agricultural and astrological season that signaled hope "in the bleak midwinter," as the beautiful Christian hymn puts it well. | But the earliest Christian writer, the Apostle Paul, whose writings precede the four Gospels by decades, seems never to have heard of Christmas. Although his many famous letters occupy a large space in the New Testament, Paul fails to mention even once the manger in Bethlehem, the hovering star, the wise men, angels keeping watch over their flocks by night, Joseph and Mary on the run - - anything that we normally associate with this major church festival. | Why is this? Was the early Christian church wholly unaware of the origins of Jesus? | It's worth noting that the earliest of the gospels, Mark, makes no mention whatsoever of Christmas. Nor does the fourth Gospel, John, where the only vague allusion to the origins of Jesus occurs in the opening hymn, where we read: "In the beginning was the Word." No manger, no hovering star. Nothing but this haunting mystical Greek hymn about "the Word," which in Greek is logos, one of the least translatable of Greek words and one that I would myself translate as "understanding." | But there was, among early Christian gatherings, a strong need to have a myth of origins, a story about the beginnings of the man who ultimately became the Messiah, the Christ. Probably drawing on Persian myths, Matthew and Luke came up with Christmas stories that have almost nothing in common. They can't be reconciled, in fact. Will bad weather mess up holiday travel? White House decor goes to the dogs Spend Christmas with Anthony Bourdain | In Matthew, we get the three kings. We get Herod the Great issuing an order that all children under a certain age should be killed. We get Jesus being whisked away by his parents to Egypt, where he remains in hiding until it's safe to return. | In Luke we get a kinder and gentler Christmas, with no wise men, no mean Herod, no flight to Egypt. Instead, we get the shepherds keeping a watch over their flocks by night. As any Jewish male would, if born to devout parents, the baby Jesus was taken to the great Temple in Jerusalem to be circumcised. It's a lovely story. | Christians didn't celebrate Christmas in the first two centuries. In fact, the major early writers of Christianity fail to mention the holiday at all, and one of them - - Origen of Alexandria - - actually made fun of birth celebrations, regarding such anniversaries as a pagan practice. | It wasn't until the middle of the fourth century that almanacs began to list Christmas as a celebration. As Christianity moved into Western Europe, the idea of Advent as a major season that culminated in Christmas obviously caught on. | It linked to various local traditions, in Germany and Scandinavia and elsewhere. There were old Celtic celebrations associated with the winter solstice that connected to the idea of "Yule," which means "Wheel of the Year," and these ceremonial occasions involved the burning of a "Yule log." Brightly decorated trees were also part of the celebration, and this obviously carried over into Christian practices. | The great success of Christianity in the world had much to do with its ability to assimilate earlier religious traditions wherever it was transplanted, and the Christmas season must be considered a melange of many ancient and meaningful practices. | But one must never forget that Christians themselves - - and I am one of them - - consider this a holy time, a time of spiritual renewal, a time of the year when darkness opens to the possibility of light. | Whatever the specifics of his birth, Jesus became the Light of the World for those who follow his path. He is, indeed, the Prince of Peace, and he invites us to a change of heart, a way of overcoming violence in the world with love and grace. | This is the Good News that the gospel writers proclaimed. |
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