Jesus the Sorcerer

Conner has done a great job of explaining how and why Jesus apeared to be a sorcerer or magician, as well as shedding light on one of the major reasons the Pharisees were perecuting him. Having spent time in Egypt, land of Egyptian Magick, where he also met Mary Magdalene, a Temple Priestess in the huge Alexandrian church (run by John the Baptist no less), he returned to his homeland (after spending 20 years in Egypt) where he had learned some basic tricks of the Magicians there.Jesus was not a sorcerer per se, it is just that the way he did his miracles looked like the way the Egyptian Magicians did it -- spitting (twice according to Mark) to give the blind man sight -- would not The God just speak the healing, or touch the man's forehead... why spit in the dirt?This is all better explored and exapanded on in Hegland's book Anunnakki Endgame III which goes into the backstpry of Jesus, Mary, John the Baptist, Paul and the creation of the New Testament (NT). Hegland also shares that he had the advantage of a Jewish Rabbi to explain scenarios in the NT and the Wedding at Cana is a real surprise. Key to the whole overall backstory is what the Piso Family in Rome was up to, and unfortunately Conner is not (yet) aware of that side of the story, but Hegland exposes it and connects the dots. You really need both Connor's and Hegland's books to get the whole picture... one expands the other.

This book consists mainly of comparisons between known magical practices of the time and, using sources both biblical and pagan, draws striking similarities to suggest that Jesus was a practitioner of sorcery. Well, you could probably tell that from the title, right? Anyway, the author gives the subject a highly academic treatment, often delving into the etymology of the words which described Jesus and the cultural context they appeared in while making use of new sources that have been swept under the rug by the church. There is also a fascinating discussion of homoerotic elements to early Christianity and Jesus's relationship with Lazarus. The author makes it clear that he is not writing to Christians and takes many things for granted about his audience... which is perhaps just as well since most Christians would hate what this book says about their messiah. It mostly draws from an earlier text "Jesus the Magician" by Mortan Smith, but due to the obscurity and limited availability of this work, this new study may make a valuable substitution. Otherwise, this book is well researched, brutally honest, and says what needs to be said!

This is a highly research work It comes replete with direct quotes, direct translations of early church fathers and alike. It draws parallels between early Judaism and early Egyptian and does not venture into the murky waters of modern religious thought. For those who are looking for a complex yet easy source and reference work, then this work is for you for the author will take you on a dizzying journey into how the society of Jesus lived viewed him at the time. It will challenge traditional thinking by forcing you to view things in a more archaic light. It comes with kaleidoscope of information that anyone will find useful. For those of you who have limited access to the times which Jesus lived, it may take several readings i n order for you to justify the authors thoughts.I also recommend Jesus, the magician for still more background. I also recommend early church writings the Greek Magical Papyri and Ancient Christian Magic to round out your library with the latter 2 are direct translations of the early 1st century ADE texts.All I can render is, what the early church believed and what we see today as truth are as different as night and day. I can say this as an early church historian. for those who want to study to show themselves approved, this works will take you on a dizzying ride to include mistranslations we generally see in the more modern biblical texts.

The two stars only acknowledge the level of research that had to go into this work. I cannot deny him this. His command of the relevant languages seems quite impressive. The research intense. But be warned, if you are Christian looking to learn about magic in the faith, you will find the work objectionable and ironically, not for the reasons you might think. As a person with a fair bit of education behind me, I actually can handle historical interpretations of Christ, informed analysis of the inconsistencies of the Biblical writings and even radical assertions based on strong evidence (e.g. Jesus & Lazarus which I actually quite enjoyed). But this book frequently even managed to insult me, much to my surprise, as I always understood us Anglicans to be rather hard to insult. The reality is as an historian and scientist, I prefer a lot less commentary. I prefer that the research be presented and that the judgement be left to me. Instead, I was faced with a very judgmental assessment of Christianity and Christ when, in fact, I was hoping to learn about magic and Christianity and gain some insight into the disenchantment of Christianity that has occurred over time. I gained some knowledge of this so it was worth it for that, but the entire time, his judgmental agenda distracted me from some of his really important stuff and made me question his research. That is why scholarship strives for objectivity and balance even if the attempt is as always imperfect.

Great book and super fast shipping!

I have been studying mythical vs historical Jesus and this book caught my eye (and unfortunately I bought it (along with a few other books by this author that aren't worth it). I find that there is not much here, and the writing style is hard to read. I am really not getting anything of value from the work and find it boring. As someone who knows a lot of about magic and healing etc. I am getting nothing new out of this book.

Written by an atheistic independent scholar. Provides useful insights into the historical personality of Yashua, the apocalyptic Rabbi who was heralded as the messianic Christ.

this is very interesting much based on the work of Morton Smith ,of whom Connorwas a student. It puts a different dimension on the teaching of Jesus