The Passover Plot: Special 40th Anniversary Edition

The Passover Plot: Special 40th Anniversary Edition

Review"Fascinating . . . lucidly written and carefully documented, it is a valuable addition to the library of anyone seeking to understand the origins of Christian faith." --Chicago Tribune - ReviewsFinally back in print, this special 40th anniversary edition of Dr. Schonfield's international multimillioncopy bestseller is set to rock the establishment view of the life of Jesus all over again.There is probably no other figure in modern Jewish historical research who is more controversial or famous than Hugh J. Schonfield, who once said: "The scholars deplore that I have spilled the beans to the public. Several of them have said to me, 'You ought to have kept this just among ourselves, you know.'"What he did to "spill the beans" was present historical evidence suggesting that Jesus was a mortal man, a young genius who believed himself to be the Messiah and deliberately and brilliantly planned his entire ministry according to the Old Testament prophecies--even to the extent of plotting his own arrest, crucifixion and resurrection.Since Schonfield's death in 1988, his popularity and the interest in his prodigious work, which included over 40 books, has drawn increasing attention, particularly outside Judaism. In fact, it is probably fair to say that his contribution to the Gentile understanding of Jewish aspirations among those within the Christian cultural framework has been without parallel. In true Christian tradition, he has also been the cause of much contention.In the wake of resurgent interest in religious history spurred by Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, this 40th anniversary edition of The Passover Plot is set to engage a completely new generation of readers searching for truth.About the AuthorBorn in London in 1901, Dr. Hugh J. Schonfield was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his services toward international humanity.Excerpt. ? Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.THE PASSOVER PLOTBy HUGH J. SCHONFIELD The Disinformation Company Ltd.Copyright ? 1965 Hugh J. SchonfieldAll rights reserved.ISBN: 978-1-932857-09-2ContentsIntroduction,PART ONE The Man who believed He was Messiah,1 The Last Times,2 He that should Come,3 A Child is Born,4 The Formative Years,5 The Anointing,6 Attempt and Failure,7 The Disclosure,8 Setting the Stage,9 The King Comes,10 The Plot Matures,11 It is Finished,12 Thou wilt show me the Path of Life,13 He is not Here,14 Faith and Deeds,PART TWO The Sources and Growth of the Legend,1 Messianism and the Development of Christianity,2 North Palestinean Sectarians and Christian Origins,3 The Suffering Just One and the Son of Man,4 Gospels in the Making,5 The Second Phase,6 Some Gospel Mysteries,Bibliography,Index,CHAPTER 1The Last TimesChristianity is rooted in Palestine in a Jewish environment and in thehistorical circumstances of a plainly dated period. This assuredly requires noargument. To this time and place we are therefore bound to go for theelucidation of Christian Origins.But it is by no means easy to relate the life of Jesus and the activities of hisoriginal followers, known as Nazoreans (Nazarenes), to the contemporarysituation. This is largely due to the character of the New Testament and thepaucity of external evidences about the beginnings of Christianity. To reachconclusions which can fairly be regarded as corresponding as nearly as possibleto the reality entails a vast amount of analysis and comparison, the patientpiecing together of a host of hints and scraps of tradition, and in particular asympathetic involvement in the affairs of the Jewish people and detachment fromconsiderations of Christian theology.Because of what the Church has taught for so many centuries it has beenextremely difficult for Christian scholars to undertake such an investigationobjectively. Those who have embarked upon it and produced most valuable resultsmerit the highest praise. One pi