Acharya S

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Acharya S is the pen name of D.M. Murdock, an author and proponent of the Jesus myth hypothesis. She has authored three books and operates a website named Truth be Known. She believes religions are founded on earlier myths and the characters depicted in Christianity, especially, are based upon Roman myths.

Books
In 1999, Acharya published her first book, The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold, (ISBN 978-0932813749) arguing the concept of Jesus Christ as myth. She states the Christ story is a fabrication based on earlier pagan mythology.

A follow-up book, Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled, (ISBN 978-1931882316) was published in 2004. Acharya comments on the Hindu story of the life of Krishna, as well as the life of Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama). She claims parallels to the Christian stories of the life of Jesus, evidence that the story of Jesus was written based on existing stories, and not the life of a real man. Suns of God (with a foreword by author and theologian W. Sumner Davis ) also seeks to address some of the criticisms leveled at Christ Conspiracy.

Her latest book, Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ (ISBN 978-0979963100) continues the theme of her first book by expanding her theory questioning the historical validity of Jesus Christ.

Claims about Christianity
Acharya describes the New Testament as a work of mythic fiction within a historical setting. The story of Christ, she maintains, is a retelling of various pagan myths, representing "astro-theology," or the story of the Sun. She asserts the pagans understood the stories to be myths, but Christians obliterated evidence to the contrary by destroying and controlling literature when they attained control of the Roman Empire. This led to widespread illiteracy in the ancient world, ensuring the mythical nature of Christ's story was hidden. Scholars of other sects continued to oppose the authenticating a mythological figure.

Acharya compares Jesus' history to other "Saviour gods" such as Mithra, Horus, Adonis, Krishna, Quetzalcoatl, and Odin, claiming the similarities result from a common source: the myth of the sun-god or solar deity.

In The Christ Conspiracy, Acharya notes the allegorical parallels between the story of Christ and the story of the solar deity: "The sun 'dies' for three days at the winter solstice, to be born again or resurrected on December 25th...The sun enters into each sign of the zodiac at 30 ; hence, the 'Sun of God' begins his ministry at 'age' 30."

Life
Acharya is classically educated in archaeology, history, mythology, and languages. Her formal training includes a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree in Classics, Greek Civilization, from Franklin and Marshall College. She also attended the American School of Classical Studies at Athens in Greece.

While preserving her privacy, Acharya has been interviewed on a variety of radio stations. In an interview, she stated she came from a moderate Christian background. Acharya's inspiration for exploring the Jesus myth theory was Joseph Wheless' book Forgery in Christianity.

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