Jesus: One Hundred Years Before Christ

By Alvar Ellegard and Alvar Ellegurd

Book Overview

It is commonly believed that the story of Jesus as told in the Gospels contains elements of fiction and myth, but in this ground-breaking and controversial book, Alvar Ellegard argues that even those... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879517204
• ISBN13: 9780879517205
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: Overlook Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 1.0" x 5.0"

Customer Reviews

delightful book

Although Mr Ellegard is rehashing some sholarship, there is much in this book that is new and intriguing. His dating of many biblical and extra-biblical documents is insightful and well presented. He does not appear to be pre-judging or allowing a bias to draw his conclusions for him in advance of his research. He presents his evidence in a clear and readable manner.

Dr. Bourquin's review

Dr. Bourquin's review seems more a reaction against a new idea than a review of the book. The real problem is that Ellegard asks us to accept the redating of a large number of ancient manuscripts, including the gospels, before we can really consider the argument itself. Since dating is one of Ellegard's specialties we have to take him seriously, even if we may ultimately disagree. My feeling was that Bourquin was reacting against the notion that the Jesus of the gospels is a fiction. But Ellegard does not say that Jesus did not exist, only that he lived much earlier than most scholars have thought. This is a thought-provoking book and I think all serious scholars should read it carefully and open their minds to this new idea.

Clarity on how the Myth of Christ started

While this book can be quite technical at times, it is indeed a very logical and well explained hypothesis on how the myth that a man can " rise in the flesh" to heavan could have started. In particualr, it is interesting how the author uses his linguistics background in chronologically dating the earliest chriostina texts to come to a logical, coherent hypothesis on the origin of the Christian myth and the conversion of its first (jewish) adherents.

Excellent study

This easy-to-read book is a must for those interested in the historical search for Jesus Christ. Ellegard's method of dating ancient Christian texts is very unique. He puts forth a convincing case for placing the Gospels in the 2nd century AD. He also argues an early date for several non-canonical Christian texts. I especially enjoyed the chapter on Ignatius, a 1st century church leader whose role in Church history was possibly more important than anyone could imagine. However, Ellegard's main thesis of equating Jesus with the Essene Teacher of Righteousness could be better supported. The texts studied in this book can easily support an entirely spiritual Jesus within the realm of the 1st century Platonic universe. But this does not take away from the premise that Christianity could ultimately be based on a myth. Ellegard's book as a whole provides a firm argument against an historical Jesus.