'Pagan Resurrection' puts forward a fascinating and controversial idea, namely that it is the pagan god Odin and not Christ who is the single most important spiritual influence in western civilisation.

Pagan Resurrection Myths and the Resurrection of Jesus, based on a postmodern critique of the dark side of the Enlightenment, argues effectively that the human imagination-and particularly the religious imagination-has been diminished by some of the fallacies of the previous 300 years of intellectual history and unjustified hostility toward religion. This is particularly true in regard to the Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus. For many followers of Enlightenment values, the resurrection of Jesus is foolishness and "nothing but" another myth. This "nothing but" fallacy is shattered by the book's thesis. McKenzie argues against the trivialization of Christian belief on the part of many extreme liberal Christians (Protestant and Roman Catholic); it is notable because it is argumentative without belligerence, and sympathetic to different views without falling prey to the easy relativism so common among religious people today. The resurrection of Jesus was "forth-told" not only by the prophets. It is not the pagan myths that explain the resurrection of Jesus; the resurrection of Jesus validates the core of pagan myths, the resurrection archetype, and universal human experience of the resurrection theme. This interpretation, it is suggested, will help in the rehabilitation of the Christian imagination.

Explores ancient beliefs about life after death, highlighting the fact that the early Christians' belief about the afterlife belonged firmly on the Jewish spectrum, while introducing several new mutations and sharper definitions, forcing readers to view the Easter narratives not simply as rationalizations, but as accounts of two actual events: the empty tomb of Jesus and his "appearances." Simultaneous. Hardcover no longer available.

In this groundbreaking book, Dennis R. MacDonald offers an entirely new view of the New Testament gospel of Mark. The author of the earliest gospel was not writing history, nor was he merely recording tradition, MacDonald argues. Close reading and careful analysis show that Mark borrowed extensively from the Odyssey and the Iliad and that he wanted his readers to recognise the Homeric antecedents in Mark's story of Jesus. Mark was composing a prose anti-epic, MacDonald says, presenting Jesus as a suffering hero modeled after but far superior to traditional Greek heroes. Much like Odysseus, Mark's Jesus sails the seas with uncomprehending companions, encounters preternatural opponents, and suffers many things before confronting rivals who have made his house a den of thieves. In his death and burial, Jesus emulates Hector, although unlike Hector Jesus leaves his tomb empty. Mark's minor characters, too, recall Homeric predecessors: Bartimaeus emulates Tiresias; Joseph of Arimathea, Priam; and the women at the tomb, Helen, Hecuba, and Andromache. And, entire episodes in Mark mirror Homeric episodes, including stilling the sea, walking on water, feeding the multitudes, the Triumphal E

What Really Happened? Most reasonably informed Christians are well aware that many of the traditions that surround the Christmas holidays have pagan origins and very little correlation with the actual events as recorded in the Bible. However, most of us are surprised when we discover that some of what we have been taught about Easter is not only in error, but deliberately so!

In the work of documentary filmmakers, explains Nick Polizzi, one cardinal rule is never forget that your job is to document, not participate. But when Nick set out to explore the native outback of the Americas - meeting healers, shamans, and medicine women and tapping their well of ancient wisdom, nearly lost to the rest of the world - he had to bend that rule. As he found his way into highly sacred and often very private shamanic ceremonies, not participating ceased to be an option. Nick invites readers along on his journey of discovery to make indigenous knowledge of healing accessible to us all.

Presents evidence and information, aside from the Christian scriptures, on the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. Features excerpts in Roman correspondence and the early Christian writings known as the "New Testament Apocrypha.".