Behind the Myths:The Foundations of Judaism, Christianity and Islam

by John Pickard

There has never been a more important time for a study of the social, economic, and political origins of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the three important world religions that share a common root. This book adopts a Marxist, that is a materialist, view of human development, so it takes as its starting point the idea that gods, angels, miracles, and other supernatural phenomena do not exist in the real world and therefore cannot be taken as explanations for the origin and rise of these faiths. It looks instead at the material conditions at appropriate periods in antiquity and the social and economic forces that were at work, to outline the real foundations of these three doctrines. In doing so, it challenges the historicity of key figures like Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed.

This is a unique book that draws on the research, knowledge, and expertise of hundreds of historians, archaeologists, and scholars to create a new synthesis that is both coherent and completely based on a materialist world outlook. It is a book written by an unbeliever for other unbelievers as a contribution to a discussion among atheists and secularists as to the real origins of the so-called Abramic faiths. It will be a revelatory read, even to those already firmly of an atheist or secularist persuasion, underpinning their nonreligious views, and it will provide a valuable resource for all those who might be coming to question the hold that organized religion has had on human society.

Genres: Religion, History, Mythology, Atheism, Theology, Theory, Nonfiction

492 pages, Paperback

First published January 11, 2013

About the author

John Pickard has been a lifelong socialist and activist for most of his adult life. Apart from working as a research scientist in the pharmaceutical industry and as a high school teacher of science, he spent sixteen years working as a full-time journalist for the British Marxist newspaper Militant. During that time, he was managing editor of the newspaper in its best years, in the early 1980s, during the miners’ strike and the struggle of Liverpool City council against the then conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.
Behind the Myths: The Foundations of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam was inspired initially by Karl Kautsky’s book, The Foundations of Christianity (1908) although it seeks to update and broaden the scope of the work. This book is the fruit of ten years of research and study of all the current literature on the topic, looking at historical works through the critical lens of a Marxist worldview.

Reviews

[Callie M · Rating 4 out of 5]

DNF. Reading this book is like eating a succulent steak sandwich... but the bread is made of cardboard. The content is absolutely incredible. But it is so dry! It reads like a textbook.

I finished the Judaism section, got part way through Christianity, and never reached Islam.

Judaism: Moses didn't exist, the exodus from Egypt didn't happen, there was no living in the mountains, Joshua didn't exist, nor did he lead the Jews to conquer the Cannanites and unite Israel and Judea as a single Kingdom. The origins of the Old Testament is a mix of existing myths put together by King Josiah in ~700BCE as propaganda to justify his own rule. He was a vassal ruler for the Assyrians. Then, there is like, 700 years of invasions, vassal statehood, and finally independence (Hasmonean Kingdom). Judaism forms a state religion across this period. Then the Romans take over and massacre the Jewish population and destroy the temple, converting Judaism into the scholarly Rabbinic Judaism of the Jewish diaspora.

Christianity: Emerges from the "Joshua" (meaning: "Salvation") cults in response to brutal oppression by Herod and Roman Empire. Jesus (Joshua) did not exist. Ninteen out of the twenty-seven gospels are forgeries (this is accepted by biblical scholars, not that the church ever tells you that!). The church emerges on top of synagogues and develops a system of mutual aid and charity. This is recognized as useful by the Romans, who eventually bring it in as a state religion. Most of the revolutionsry and communistic elements of Christianity are purged, with the Catholic church playing a particularly pernicious role.

Islam: I did not get there unfortunately :( Probably will come back to this in the future, but I have enough on my plate for further reading on Judaism and Christianity.

Overall, reading this book has pointed out a lot of future reading: St Paul's letters, Book of Enoch, Dead Sea Scrolls, the Essenes, the Maccabean Revolt, and the Roman Empire's rise and fall. Oh, also, Kautsky's "Origins of Christianity".

My conclusion is this is an excellent reference book, but certainly not a cover-to-cover read.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jesus christ, pun intended, this book is insane. It's also so depressing understanding the origins of what has been a source of horrors in the last millenia, including an ongoing genocide right now.
The book spends alot of time with literary analysis, archaeology, epigraghy, etc. It's interesting if not a potential drag. It mainly does this to provide bold evidence for its equally bold claims, especially for the religious and non-Marxists out there.
This book provides a dialectical, not mechanical, socio-economic / class analysis of the following events:
The rise of the Hebrew kingdoms, their development, and their fall
The development of Christianity, and its journey to becoming Rome's state religion
The Arab conquests, Arab Empire, and the development of Islam
Safe to say that this book is blasphemous, but not in an edgy way. It's respectful, all things considering, in its writing. But the evidence doesn't lie, and the analysis doesn't budge.
This is a great read for any Marxist wanting to obtain a clear understanding of 3 of the most important organisations / movements today, the Abrahamic religions.

[Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well researched and well written exploration of the origins of the 'Abrahamic' religions. Pickard deals thoroughly and systematically with every point, and provides a summary at each chapters' end. Also very enjoyable and a breeze to read.

Reviewers surprised by the book's content should return to the blurb which clearly says "this book adopts a Marxist, that is a materialist, view of human development". It is not an academic book to stuff up shelves or furnish college hall debates; it's a textbook for those who want to understand the real material foundations of religion so they can consciously intervene in the real material movement of the working class. It is this movement, which contains people of all faiths, that will overcome religion by eliminating the need for religion.

[Philip Ulbrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very enlightening information about the three monotheistic relgions.

It is written by an atheist for atheists so be advised. As I am quite familiar with Judaism and Christianity I benefited most from the section on Islam and the Holy Qu'ran. It turns out the Muslim holy scripture is more problematic than the New Testament. The Arabic language does not help, since it was only recently codified before the Qu'ran.

[Redpoet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellently and meticulously researched. I just personally found it went on too long and eventually became, well, sort of boring....

[Aaron Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth being educated around this for all sorts of reasons a very good read.

[Andrei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book, however the author is too much into marxism and socialism.