Deceptions and Myths of the Bible: The True Origins of the Stories of Adam and Eve, Noah's Flood, the Tower of Babel, Moses and Mount Sinai, the Prophets, ... Faithful, Atheists, and Agnostics Alike!

by Lloyd M. Graham

Lloyd M. Graham is out to show that the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments as we know them, are not “holy” nor are they the “word of God” revealed. The stories of the Bible were set down by power-seeking priests eager to inspire awe and to gather flocks who would take part in their rites and rituals, and they weren’t very original, either. In Deceptions and Myths of the Bible, Graham reintroduces us to the true origins of Adam and Eve, who were derived from a Babylonian account; to the story of Noah’s flood, which was the result of over four hundred years of flood accounts from various ancient civilizations; to the man named Moses who was fashioned after the Syrian story of Mises; and even to the laws of the Bible, which were patterned after the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi. Graham points out the 137 similarities between the story of Jesus and the story of the Egyptian god Horus, and the hundreds and hundreds of similarities between the story of Christ and the Hindu god Krishna. For any reader interested in history or theology, Graham’s book is essential, eye-opening, and controversial reading. If you are an atheist, you’ll be eager to read these arguments in support of your beliefs. If you are agnostic, you will want to have this evidence at your fingertips as you weigh systems of belief and disbelief. If you are religious, you will want to know how your faith came into being and how a study of history might shake or support your beliefs.

Genres: Religion, History, Nonfiction, Philosophy

498 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Norberto Feliberty jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is so much to be said of this book but I will keep my review as brief as possible. Not everyone will have an open mind to read this book but for those that do, this book may really surprise you and depending on how open minded you are could change the way you think about the world. This book reveals how the stories of the bible are not original at all and are certainly not the inspired word of God but are essentially replicas of other mythical stories with various degrees of editing to make them appear as though they are original and inspired by God when in fact they were written by power hungry, manipulative, cunning religious leaders who wrote them to have the stories serve their own purpose which was to rule people by fear which in turn has become the root cause of most wars. We learn that the bible is mostly made up of stories which most are based on mythology and are not to be taken literal but rather have symbolic meanings. Is the bible a great read? Absolutely. Is it holy as it has been made out to be and the inspired word of God? Absolutely not. Don't take my word for it though if you are interested, read this book, after which do your own research and come to your own conclusions.

[Aron · Rating 1 out of 5]

The worst piece of new age trash. Got to about the second chapter. Once the author started to "explain" how the earth was once a sun that became a moon then grew life to become earth and that the moon will soon be an earth and was once a sun.... It was beyond a laughable criticism read. If it wasn't an ebook I would have burned it. If you gave this book top ratings .. May you walk off the edge of the earth. That you obviously believe is still flat.

[Ezmyrelda Andrade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fucking amazing. If you are a christian please for the love of all that is freaking actual read this book and pull your heads out yo asses.

If you are not Christian... Read it.. It's a great book.

[KevinF · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pseudoscience. Embarrassed to admit I've read this.

[Florencia LaChance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative read. I read this after impulsively becoming a Baptist, getting baptized and having so many questions my minister basically did not know and kept talking about faith. If you want to know the real deal about the true authors of the scripture and why all “Christian” holidays are actually Pagan holidays, and how the many Bible myths ie: resurrection, virgin birth, son of God, etc were prevalent long before Christ. Shocking and a bit dismaying but the book is well-written and meticulously researched. Facts or Faith that is the question.

[Joseph Hogan · Rating 1 out of 5]

read : http://www.tektonics.org/gk/grahamllo...

'nuff said.

[Raja G · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was first published in 1975 and again in 2012. My copy is a 2015 edition printed for Barnes and Noble and that is where I found it. It is tedious reading with 473 pages plus a useful index. There are several books with the "Entire Bible is myth" theme, and a very excellent one I've read being "The Jesus Mysteries" by Timothy Freke. I see reviews trashing this book on Goodreads, and I disagree. This is a fascinating book. The author says what I've read elsewhere as well, that Abraham, the patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, was a mythical character. He was Abram first, as the Bible states. The name Abraham, the author states, is derived from the name Brahma, the Hindu God of creation. The author explores the numerous myths in the Bible, plagiarized from earlier myths such as from Babylon. It is a fascinating read but as I said above, very tedious reading. On Amazon's introduction to the book, it reads: "The stories of the Bible were set down by power-seeking priests eager to inspire awe and to gather flocks who would take part in their rites and rituals, and they weren’t very original, either." Indeed, every religion on earth is based on myth, a subject magnificently studied by Joseph Campbell the great mythologist. To summarize, this book reliably informs us as to how the entire Bible is based on myth. It will always be in my home library.

[Joe Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not Much Substance

From the title, I thought the book would give the original sources of Bible stories and discuss some of the politically or theologically motivated passages and revisions. There was some of that, but gist of the book is that we should look to metaphysics, rather than Western religion or science, to find answers to philosophical questions. The parts I read had no scholarly support, but claimed Judaism and Christianity stem from a long-term conspiracy by clerics to gain and retain power. The text includes words like “fiatic” which don’t appear in standard dictionaries. Is the author trying to impress the reader or just using jargon from a belief system?

Here is a sample passage:

“As the three highest [elements] were beyond the ken of anyone, they were called spirit in lieu of knowledge. They did not remain spirit, however; as the ancients said, Spirit became matter. This being so, they are no longer spirit. What then are we worshiping?”

There are many better books that discuss the origins of Bible text that combine scholarly analysis and an accessible writing style. I give the book two stars instead of one because the author obviously is familiar with the historical/critical analysis of the Bible.

[Blaine Hebert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficult to wade through in its entirety, Graham seems to be attempting to create a new religion by discrediting an old one.
The thoroughness that Graham picks through his interpretations and translations of bible chapters and verses is admirable and serious students of religion or the bible might do well to at least consider some portions of this viewpoint, but it is doubtful that any christian will be converted by this, nor will most readers likely find deep religious meaning within.
The index seems to be lacking in its depth and only covers major topics, but misses others that might be deserving of proper coverage. There is also a serious paucity of references outside of the bible itself. The diagrams tend to be mysterious and difficult to understand.

[Jessica Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

An arduous read at best.

I only reas the first 5 pages. The authors thoughts are so unbearably disjointed, it's difficult to even finish a sentence without being forced to reread it especially without exclaiming,"what the heck did I just read?!" Yeah it's that bad. There's no real cohesion of thought and it seems as if the author grabbed a thesaurus and attempted to replace his regular vernacular with big words he didn't understand which not add to a clearer picture of any real meaning.

[Rob Catania dog dad · Rating 5 out of 5]

((((( DECEPTIONS AND MYTHS OF THE BIBLE )))))

........This book is excellent and has to be the greatest book ever written on planet Earth!
.........This book is a masterpiece!
........Only intelligent ....spiritual people could understand this great book.
.........This book is the "cure"!..........not kidding.
......DECEPTIONS AND MYTHS OF THE BIBLE.... IS THE ANSWER TO ALL YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT EVERYTHING.........AND THE MEANING OF THIS LIFE AND THE AFTERLIFE.
........READ IT ......... AND TRY TO UNDERSTAND THIS GREAT BOOK!

[Dean · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lloyd M. Graham spews unsubstantiated rhetoric and opinion driven by an atheistic and egotistical need to believe that everything created itself from nothing, aka Animism, the most primitive of all the religions. Lloyd apparently needs to believe there is no Creator, so he can believe he is his own authority. That sums up this fiction in a nut shell. Pure fairy tale.

There is no such thing as an actual Atheist, at least not an honest or intelligent one.

[Pat Mayorga · Rating 2 out of 5]

A theory

It presents a theory to put down what it considers another theory. It takes a no-God belief to disprove a god-belief. The author writes well, but obviously faulty. To present a theory to disprove another theory is illogical.

[Mike Hester]

Mr. Grahams book is an absolute masterpiece. This is not an easy book to read,but when you master the difference between involution and evolution, it all makes since. His collateral references are excellent and now I know the rudiments of a solar myth.

[Lydia M · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another one bites the dust.

Vitriol isn’t evidence or argument. The only people on Earth that can turn an non-theist into a religious person are hateful atheists. You do more for religion with every word than a single evangelist ever has.

[Amber Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible book...

After reading this book all I wanted to do was throw up! I am so glad I didn't buy this I'm sure I would have gotten sicker!

[David Hany · Rating 1 out of 5]

Facking and fake book 👎 👎

[Kristine Sprunger · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF
I got part way in and realized it wasn't what I thought it was.
Fortunately, it was a library book, so have returned it.

[Tina Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and informative book.

[Tim O'Neill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting outlook/theory on aspects of both old and new testaments. Lot of information which I assume can be verified. (Don't quote me on that)