Caesar's Messiah
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Caesar's Messiah is a book written by American author Joseph Atwill and released in 2005 by Ulysses Press that examines religious and historical texts that have been used as a basis for mainstream Christian understanding of the historical Jesus.
Caesar's Messiah primary thesis is that Christianity was the creation of a circle of individuals associated with Roman Emperors Vespasian and Titus, and whose purpose was to aid in subduing the Jewish people by providing an alternative to the warlike philosophy that spawned the first Jewish Revolt. Included in this effort were the writings of Jewish historian Josephus, which Atwill believes were written to complement New Testament documents.
According to Atwill the two sets of documents form an elaborate and satirical joke in which Jesus' movement across the province of Iudaea during his missionary years reflect the events in Titus' campaign during the First Jewish-Roman War, using a literary technique commonly used in the Bible known as typology. Atwill points out that unless the reader has detailed knowledge of Titus' campaign, he will miss the dark humour present in the religious texts.
Atwill supports his comparison of the New Testament texts with Josephus' writings by pointing out shared chronological sequences between the events, and the use of shared symbolism.
Caesar's Messiah is Atwill's first book. It was initially self-published as "The Roman Origins of Christianity", which appeared in 2003.
'Caesar's Messiah" is being made into a major motion picture by Folfilm, a film company that contians a number of former executives of George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic. http://www.fofilm.com/php/backgrounder-press.php
[edit] Editions
- ISBN 1-56-975457-8, April 15, 2005, Ulysses Press
- ISBN 0-9740928-0-0, 2003
