Creating Christ: How Roman Emperors Invented Christianity

by James S. Valliant, Warren Fahy

Exhaustively annotated and illustrated, Creating Christ is an explosive work of history, unearthing clues that finally reveal the truth about one of the world's great religions. Christianity was born out of the cataclysmic conflict between the Roman Empire and messianic Jews that culminated in two bitter wars fought during the 1st and 2nd Centuries. The Romans not only reduced the legendary Jerusalem Temple to a Wailing Wall, they grafted their imperial rule onto the religion of the vanquished, as well--just as they had done with other conquered cultures. Inherited from an era of tyranny, war and deliberate religious fraud, the New Testament was created for a long-forgotten the pacification of messianic rebels.
After 30 years of research, authors James S. Valliant and Warren Fahy present irrefutable archaeological and textual evidence that proves Christianity was created by the Roman state with arguments that break new ground in Christian scholarship while providing a clear and definitive voice to a growing new understanding of Christian origins--one that is destined to change the way the world looks at religion forever.
Praised by scholars like Dead Sea Scrolls translator Robert Eisenman (the author of James the Brother of Jesus), Creating Christ is a comprehensive synthesis of historical detective work that integrates all of the surviving ancient sources about the earliest Christians and reveals new archaeological evidence for the first time--and, when taken together, that evidence is resoundingly Christianity was invented by Roman emperors.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Christianity, Philosophy, Audiobook, Mythology

390 pages, Paperback

First published September 7, 2016

Reviews

[Martel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very convincing, and therefore rather troubling, especially if you were raised a christian...
Could two thousand years of history and faith have been shaped by a single (but very clever) political strategy ?
This book gives many answers to apparent contradictions in the New Testament. Logical answers with historical indications such as gravestones inscriptions, coins, historical documents and so on. And then there are literary, mythological, and social cross references. And a well defined purpose.
Can we register all this as evidence ?
I don't know.
But some parts could "get the scales to drop from your eyes"...
In the end, it's all a matter of faith versus logic. The choice is yours ;)

[Dwayne Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

A scholarly exposition of the origins of Christianity. Who wrote the gospels? Is it coincidence that they show Rome, its emperors, its centurions in admiration while denigrating the Jews? Why do they attempt to pacify slaves and encourage giving unto Caesar? Why do 1st century coins and Roman catacombs bear early Christian symbols? Why do the legends of certain emperors parallel those of the Christ? As Rome assimilated the Greek mythology, did it also assimilate the messianic prophesies and legends of the conquered Jews?

It's a fascinating read, and it's very convincing!

[Jeffrey Falk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This remarkable, exhaustively researched, minutely detailed book is as fascinating as it is shocking. Although it is complicated and challenging to follow at first due to all of its obscure details, the authors (James S. Valliant and C.W. Fahy) do a decent job of relating their detailed, integrated argument to the uninitiated. No matter what you think of their conclusion, you will learn something and likely appreciate their respectful tone (which avoids proselytizing). Moreover, although the authors prudently avoid addressing deeper philosophic issues explicitly, their inductive method implicitly exemplifies an a posteriori epistemology that could serve this a priori culture (and any reader) well, regardless of the truth of their thesis (and it is convincing). This book will hopefully spark debate and become a recognized source for its subjects.

[Pietro Condello · Rating 5 out of 5]

The connection between Rome and Christianity has always been puzzling. How did the capital of a middle-eastern religion end up in Europe? Why did Christianity replace paganism as the official religion of the Roman Empire? Who wrote the gospels, and why? The result of 30 years of research, this book walks the reader step-by-step through the historical, biblical and archaeological evidence that Christianity as it is known today is the product of a 1st century creation of the Roman Empire during the Flavian dynasty, the gospels a tool of Roman propaganda designed to suppress messianic Jewish rebellion in the newly conquered province of Judea – a political campaign so successful, it long outlasted the empire that created it. The Romans were conquering machines, and throughout the Republic and subsequent Empire, they honed their skills in bringing new provinces into the fold, typically mixing their pagan religion, Roman culture and law with local customs and religions, often inventing new gods in order to make the transition to empirical rule as smooth as possible. The goal was always to turn the rebellious locals into emperor respecting, tax paying, peace loving citizens of their new Roman masters, solidifying the emperor's divine legitimacy as ruler. After reading this book, the paradoxes of the new testament's books suddenly become clear when examined from the perspective of the political, military and religious contexts in which they were written.

[Noah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The image of Roman authorities as the architects of Christianity, more specifically the Christian gospel is Intriguing. The evidence provided of similarities between sources, coopting of symbolism and pro-roman sentiment all provide weight to the argument. The conclusions drawn, however, are not so obviously the explanations the author suggests, though admittedly there are other books and historic research one should look into which underscores the author's conclusions. That there is more to the story of the advent of christianity than what popularly known or understood is without question, and so I do recommend this book to anyone looking for an eye opening look at the influences and conflicts that might have played a role in shaping this religion, but don't mistake this narrative as the only viable explanation.

[Taksya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lettura interessante, anche se spesso ripetitiva, riguardo la creazione fatta quasi a tavolino del movimento cristiano da parte dell'Impero Romano.
Citando fatti storici, prendendo a piene mani dalle opere di San Paolo e da quelle di Giuseppe Flavio, citando libri di storici e di teologi, i due autori riescono a dimostrare un'origine romana dei Vangeli e della religione ispirata alla figura di Gesù.
Senza confermare o meno la storicità della sua figura, spiegano le somiglianze della vità di Gesù con quella degli imperatori della dinastia Flavia e del loro storico, ebreo romanizzato, Giuseppe Flavio.
Gli scritti di San Paolo, la difficile relazione con San Pietro e Giuseppe il Giusto, e della progressiva separazione del culto Cristiano pacifista con quelli più guerrafondai, responsabili dell'attrito con i Romani.
La tesi è che Vespasiano e Tito, per convincere gli ebrei ad entrare nel multiculturale Impero Romano, abbiano studiato un nuovo culto che abolisse le restrizioni della religione giudaica e professasse amore e pace nei confronti dei gentili.
Nonostante le molte ripetizioni di concetti, dati e citazioni, la tesi è interessante e credibile. Risolverebbe, stando agli autori, le molte incongruenze presenti nel Vangeli e spiegherebbe la loro tollerenza nei confronti dei non ebrei e dell'Impero Romano.
Non essendo esperta dell'argomento non sono in grado di dire se hanno ragione o meno, ma la tesi è suggestiva e credibile.
Urgono altre letture a riguardo.

[Gideon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A convincing case

Valliant and Fahy take the reader step by step through their argument that the original Christianity was a Roman invention and at the end the reader is almost left wondering why no one had thought of this before. The case presented makes a lot of sense and clears up some confusions as relates to the New Testament attitude to Jews and Romans. I hope academics read this book as it clearly is only a beginning in terms of what might be discovered about early Christianity.

[j_ay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, Jesus is entirely made up with with little to no original thought behind it other than: manipulation?
Wow, who whudda thought.
Fascinating read, well done research and really, this should be the nail in the coffin (that never existed)...but, people are what they are...

[Marlene M. Oaks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absurd

I have read hundreds and hundreds of books on early Christianity, religion, history, etc both because I'm interested and because I earned advanced degrees in these areas. This book is nonsense and a total waste of money.

[Malum · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a Christian, but even I had my grain of salt ready when I picked up this book that claims that Christianity was an ancient Roman PSYOP to better control their Jewish subjects. Having read it though, I can't fault Valliant's research and reasoning, and I think he's really on to something here.

A lot of things that don't really make a lot of sense, like Jesus telling people he would be right back to rule the world (Valliant argues that this "prophecy" was set up to be fulfilled by upcoming Roman emperors) and why religious literature of the time is so pro Roman (remember to pay your taxes, turn the other cheek if you are abused, and obey your masters if you want to get into heaven!) seem obvious if you look at it in the light of being made up by the ruling government as a form of control. Also, keep in mind that we 100% know that Rome did this exact same thing at other times, such as creating the god Serapis in Egypt (it just happened to get wildly out of their control in the case of Christianity). It also has one of the best explanations of the controversial Josephus quote about Jesus outside of it just being a later forgery.

Overall, a fascinating book and has a lot to chew on if you have an open mind.

[Roselyn Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!!!

[Jc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though Creating Christ does have some interesting ideas and an intriguing perspective, I really cannot recommend it very highly. The authors do not seem to have much background in literary, biblical, or historical criticism. Maybe they needed a third author to keep them from sounding almost conspiracy-theorist-like. But again, much of the information is quite good, if clumsily put together. However, those with the background to understand and argue with what they are suggesting probably will not read this, and those without such a background probably would be misled or confused as to what the authors conclude and how they get there. My perspective is that of a liberal atheist who is fairly well-versed in early christian history and writings, so I am not saying that what they say is off because it contradicts christian teaching, but more so because it is oddly put together, making it difficult for the newbie to the field to get what they are saying. Plus, their oft repeated claims to have found and finally be revealing the hidden-in-plain view, the secretly repressed, TRUTH about christianity was a bit off putting.

[Jim Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m still sifting through this. Very difficult to keep straight who is who, and all the relationships among the Roman elite. I don’t know what I think about the premise that the Flavian family essentially created Christianity, but I do agree with certain assertions. One, I’m agnostic about whether or not there was a “Jesus character” as an actual historical figure, but I’m quite confident that even if there were he was nothing like the character presented in the New Testament. Two, it is obvious to me that Christianity is a “made up” religion, cobbled together from bits and pieces of the Old Testament and a number of pagan beliefs and archetypes. Three, I think that “Paul” (whoever he was) essentially invented the Christian religion and that what he invented had nothing to do with an historical “Jesus.” Four, the decision of the emperor Constantine to sanction Christianity as more or less the state religion was a huge mistake that has had far-reaching and terrible repercussions throughout history.

[Spellbind Consensus]

**Overview**

*Creating Christ: How Roman Emperors Invented Christianity* by James S. Valliant and Warren Fahy presents a controversial and revisionist thesis: that Christianity was not a grassroots spiritual movement, but a deliberate invention by Roman imperial elites—specifically the Flavian dynasty—to pacify and control a rebellious Jewish population. The book argues that elements of the Gospels mirror Roman propaganda, and that Jesus Christ was crafted as a literary figure in response to Jewish resistance and messianism, particularly during and after the Jewish-Roman wars.

**Key Concepts and Actionable Ideas**

**1. Christianity as a Political Tool**

* The central claim is that Christianity was designed by Roman authorities to replace militant Jewish messianism with a pacifist, obedient, and Roman-friendly ideology.
* Jesus is portrayed as a foil to Jewish revolutionaries, preaching submission (“render unto Caesar”) and turning the other cheek.

**Action:** Study the historical context of 1st-century Judea, especially the Jewish-Roman conflict, to better understand the political pressures that shaped early religious narratives.

**2. The Role of the Flavian Dynasty**

* Emperors Vespasian and Titus, who crushed the Jewish rebellion and destroyed the Second Temple, are suggested as key figures behind the creation of the Christian message.
* The book draws parallels between Titus’s military campaign and scenes from the Gospels, particularly the Passion narrative.

**Action:** Compare primary Roman histories (e.g., Josephus’s *Wars of the Jews*) with Gospel accounts to examine claimed literary and thematic parallels.

**3. Flavian Propaganda and Josephus**

* Jewish historian Josephus, who defected to the Romans and became a client of the Flavian emperors, plays a central role in this theory.
* The authors suggest that Josephus's writings were part of a coordinated propaganda effort and that his texts influenced the Gospels directly.

**Action:** Read Josephus’s works critically alongside Gospel passages to evaluate the plausibility of intentional mirroring or propaganda layering.

**4. Parallels Between Titus and Jesus**

* The book outlines narrative and symbolic parallels between the campaigns of Titus and the ministry of Jesus, suggesting a literary “double meaning” or satire.
* These include shared geographic journeys, symbolic actions (e.g., cleansing the Temple), and methods of execution.

**Action:** Make a side-by-side comparison of Jesus’s movements in the Gospels and Titus’s in Josephus to explore structural alignment and narrative overlap.

**5. Subversion of Jewish Messianism**

* According to the authors, the Roman-invented Jesus undercuts traditional Jewish messianic expectations, discouraging rebellion and promoting peace and loyalty to Rome.
* This strategy reframes the Messiah as a spiritual, suffering servant rather than a political liberator.

**Action:** Examine Old Testament messianic prophecies and how Gospel interpretations differ or reinterpret these texts to shift their tone and meaning.

**6. The Gospels as Roman Satire or Allegory**

* The book suggests that the Gospels were not intended as historical records but as sophisticated political allegory—written by elite Romans familiar with both Jewish and Roman culture.
* Humor, irony, and inversion are proposed tools used in crafting the New Testament narrative.

**Action:** Analyze Gospel episodes through the lens of Roman literary techniques—irony, inversion, double entendre—to explore hidden satirical intent.

**7. Christianity’s Sudden Imperial Favor**

* The authors question how a fringe sect that undermined Roman authority could have survived and grown so rapidly without elite sponsorship.
* The eventual adoption of Christianity by later emperors (e.g., Constantine) is framed as the culmination of an imperial social engineering project.

**Action:** Reevaluate early Christian history in light of imperial policy. Consider whether Christianity’s early survival and spread were as organic as typically portrayed.

**8. Literary Construction of the New Testament**

* The book posits that the New Testament was created by skilled writers—possibly Josephus or his circle—using literary devices, historical allusions, and theological hybrids.
* The canonization process is seen as consolidating this constructed narrative under Roman auspices.

**Action:** Study early textual transmission and manuscript history of the New Testament to better understand who controlled its content and dissemination.

**9. Implications for Modern Christianity**

* If the thesis is true, Christianity's origins are political rather than spiritual, raising questions about the authenticity of its foundational texts.
* The book encourages readers to question long-standing religious assumptions and institutional narratives.

**Action:** Reflect on the role of myth and narrative in shaping belief systems. Separate philosophical or ethical teachings from historical origin claims.

**10. Challenges and Controversy**

* The theory is highly controversial and challenges both secular and religious academic consensus.
* Critics argue that the evidence is circumstantial and that many parallels are interpretive rather than conclusive.

**Action:** Approach the material with critical balance—verify sources, examine counterarguments, and be wary of confirmation bias when exploring revisionist theories.

**Conclusion**

*Creating Christ* presents a provocative, deeply skeptical view of Christian origins, framing the religion as a state-crafted ideology designed to pacify rebellion and co-opt Jewish prophecy. Whether accepted or not, the book serves as a call to scrutinize religious texts not just theologically, but politically and historically. It invites readers to question who benefits from dominant narratives—and how belief can be shaped by power.

[Andreas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does today's Christianity represent the teachings of Jesus? Is Christianity an invention of Rome?
These questions alone are blasphemous for some and hence the essence of this book could be offensive to some readers. That said, I don't think the authors are trying to offend anyone but rather use archeological and historical evidence to prove their theory; Christianity was created in Rome and not in Palestine; at least the Christianity that has come down to us through the ages. The authors are well versed in the subject and make a convincing point in my opinion. Many things in the book I heard or read before by authors like Eisenman, Atwell and others but nonetheless the book provided enough new information to keep me interested. I also watched the documentary which could be a nice alternative to reading the book.

[Bejinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-researched, exciting and meticulously argued, this book compellingly asserts that the narrative we've come to know from the gospel has been significantly reshaped by the influence of the Romans Emperors.

Through a thorough examination of historical evidence, the author sheds light on the numerous inconsistencies within the New Testament. Sometimes too detailed, it’s a nice read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the historical context behind the New Testament.

[Austin Gisriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the culmination of 30 years of research that puts forth the argument that "Christ" was a creation of the Roman political machine. James Valliant and Warren Fahy consider archeological evidence as well as myriad contemporaneous historians, but the most persuasive evidence presented is that the two scholars take the New Testament at face value, regarding what is written as what was meant to be written. In short, theirs is a very compelling argument.

Be forewarned that this is no easy read. A strong knowledge of Roman history and the New Testament will aid in digesting a very heavy meal of historical argument. It is repetitious, but understandably so as Valliant and Fahy meticulously build their case that "Christianity" was a Roman political strategy that survived the State that developed and employed it.

[Richard Bellows · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good save at the end

I would have loved to give this book the full 5 star rating. The research put into this book is excellent and showing very strong reason. As a comment was made to Occam's razor was made, I have to say through much of this book I got a feeling the author was pushing the crucifixion too really. Since except for the Bible there exists no mention what so ever from all the historians of the era of Christ time period any comment whatsoever of biblical events, I would have to agree more with Joseph Atwill's conclusions. Even though his book is a nightmare to follow, it accounts better for the lack of evidence more clearly.

[Erik Empson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book. Anything that raises questions about the veracity of the pervasive ideology of Christianity is worthwhile in my view, and this doesn't disappoint. It's a powerful challenge to the notion that Christianity develops organically out of Judaism, and rather posits it as a cynical fabrication by the Roman Empire during the Jewish wars, to coopt elements of Jewish beliefs and create a religion obedient to the new authorities and hostile to the mores of the faith. Convincingly argued, balanced, respectful, and thorough.

[Ietrio · Rating 4 out of 5]

2025-02-08:

so far a fascinating read. the statements regarding the orthodox churches are wrong, as they are based on popular beliefs. so i wonder if the rest of the documentation is as dubious. still, an interesting idea.

[Mara Quinn-porzig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting topic but written like classical try textbook

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I checked out this book after hearing Ian Crossland on mention it a few times on Timcast IRL. There are earlier books such as Caesar’s Messiah in 2005 making the same case which are mentioned in this book as well. Inspiration for such books seems to follow the discovery of gnostic and messianic jewish texts from the Nag Hammadi library and Dead Sea scrolls respectively. The reasoning of the book is lawyer-like as at least one of the authors James Valliant appears to have been a lawyer and can be pretty convicing or glib depending on your receptivity. Valliant earlier wrote a book defending Ayn Rand so may be coming from the Objectivist persuasion.

The authors dont exactly propose mythicism-that Jesus Christ the person did not exist at all, they claim agnosticism on the issue, but rather that the Christian religion was created by the Flavian dynasty of Rome and their allies in the first century. The motivation? To co-opt a subversive religion as was done previously by pagan conquerors of foreign gods into their pantheon such as the Greek Ptolemy creating a new god Serapis from Egyptian gods Osiris and Apis. The evidence? Largely textual interpretation, pro-Roman attitudes of the gospels, parallels of the Flavian’s lives with the gospels said to be composed in their reign, and artifacts like coins from Titus’ reign depicting an anchor and dolphins shared by early Christians before adoption of the cross.

A central claim is that Vespian and Titus’ destruction of the second Jewish temple fulfilled the second coming of Christ. This position is known as preterism that interprets the events of the book of revelations as having occurred in the first century and is not likely to have been what the followers of Christ expected back then or today. Ancient non-Christian historians Flavius Josephus, Tacitus, and Suetonius and Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai are cited as claiming that Vespian and Titus fulfilled the role of prophesied messiahs who would rule over the world which I was unaware of. A crucial distinction is made between the early more jewish-christian church who curiously kept to the mosaic law despite what is said in the gospels and later pauline christians who jettisoned circumcision and mosaic dietary laws, the former being subject to most of the persecutions by the Romans.

The role of Paul in the narrative is different than the Flavians as Paul may have genuinely been trying to spread the fledgling Christian religion to a gentile audience and been influenced by Greek-Roman ideas rather than acting as a covert agent but it is pointed out the comparatively favorable treatment by and towards the Romans relative to the Jews. Paul who was a Roman citizen but lived before the Flavian dynasty and predates the rest of the gospels is claimed to have had Roman connections with those friends in the house of Caesar in the time of Nero, particularly that Epaphroditus the patron mentioned in Phillipians and the secretary to Nero being the same person. A connection in terms of theological influence is made to the ethics of Stoic philosopher Seneca who tutored Nero as well as neo-platonist philosopher Philo who sought to reconcile monotheism and Greek philosophy and whose nephew Tiberius Alexander was second in command to Titus.

The book concludes with the suprising claim that former Jewish leader turned court historian Flavius Josephus may be the author of the gospels due to similarities between his autobiography and Jesus’ and the similarities of his attitudes toward the moasic law and Rome. Unfortunately it ends there but it wouldn’t be as if Josephus himself wrote the gospels but could’ve been used as a source for the gospels of Matthew and Luke since the earlier Mark does not mention Christ’s early life, much of his sayings and parables, and post-resurrection while Josephus is the earliest known Roman source of Christ. In any case Josephus wrote a comprehensive history of the Jews, details of which Christ’s life has parallels to in order to foretell the coming messiah and son of god.

I think we are left with a possible conclusion if Jesus did exist; that a historical Jesus claimed to be the messiah and did preach the fundamentals of his moral message but over time was co-opted by the Roman state in a syncretic fashion after his death. The lack of evidence from this period makes it hard to piece together how exactly this all would come about so there are explanatory gaps such as to how the deified Flavian messiah cult would become separated from the Roman religion, become Christians and centuries later become the official state religion. What is likely is that the Flavian name became adopted by the many freed slaves of that era became christians who by association with the deeds and thoughts of the name developed an at least superficial connection to early Roman christianity. Regardless it was beneficial to learn all of this early church history.

[David Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing has changed. Governments keep inventing stupid junque to keep us in line. The Romans were genius at this and in this book, you will find added proof to that reality. I say "added" as I have been reading a good deal on the subject. Why? Because I am just smart enough to be skeptical. Not all skeptics are geniuses, I am not one, however, many of us non geniuses, I am sure are way smarter than the average of earth's tenants.
The Romans invented Jesus H. Chrysler. No, not the car, just a guy they needed to scare the holy carp out of their minions. Boy oh boy, did that ever work. How many "Jesus types" have been invented since? I cannot prove this by all reasonable doubt, however, the number - "over 10,000", keeps coming up.
So, if you care to care about your beliefs or those of others, read this book. The best part is that, all of those references are clear and multiple. Growing up, I was taught the Jesus Carp, I could not buy one second of it. Everything I was taught kept being proven wrong. Oh, yes, many said that good things happened to them and they "KNEW" that Jesus did it. But they never EVER look at the high probability that heathens and other non-believing bad actors have as many good accidents of life and they are never attributed to this fake, phony monstrosity of ignorance that so many call the son of god. What, he had kids, no sex, just kids and all were virgins and none even existed ... I'm thinking, I'm thinking.
I will leave you with this. The god of the christians was all knowing, all caring, all powerful and will take you to a place with streets lines with gold when you kick off. Wait a minute, devaluing gold to that of asphalt, really? And this world full of idiots and killers all trying to convert the others to their own idiotic jesus look-a-like ... if this is the best he she or it can do ... gimme a break. I am having a great life and that's it!!! He is sending me to hell, but he loves me ... yup.

[Tom Nowak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this! Thank you James and CW for your excellent detective-historian work.

If you've ever wanted to know the real roots of Christianity, stripped of any mystical mumbo-jumbo that countless historians have counted as real evidence (even the atheist ones!), and you want a historical narrative that takes all the evidence for the creation of Christianity at face value - this is the book for you. I relish the fact that the authors went through a lot of work to ensure that the theory they are presenting in this books is really just an integration of all the available evidence. James and CW treat the people alive during the time of Christianity's birth as just that - people, with their own lives, ideas and motivations. A standing order while reading this book is to treat the people mentioned with the same suspicion as your local politician - then everything will make sense!

[James Lowery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but.....

For a thorough mention of Bruno Bauer at the end, this book ironically does a poor job of peicing together any form of arguments coming from the so-called Dutch Radical School. A study of the first mention of the canonical gospels by historians occurs in Irenaeus' Against Heresies around 185 CE. The earliest fragment one has of an attested "orthodox" codice comes no earlier than 125 CE and is known to scholars as P52. Also, if one is to talk about "Paul" in connection with the abolition of Mosaic Law, and, therefore, the demarcation of the Old and New Testaments, the first appearance of any of his attributed letters occurs with the supposed heretic Marcion in the second century.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books demonstrates how the ideology of Pauline Christianity served the Roman Empire. The appellation "Son of God," or "Divis Filli" applied to sons of deified Emperors. The most insightful is Jesus' phrase in the New Testament that "the [new] Temple be for all nations." This wasn't the ideology of the Judaism, nor does it serve the Christians, but it *did* serve the Empire.

The Emperor was the Pontifex Maximus, later utilized by the Popes of the Rom. Catholic Church. The miracles of Vespasian match those of Jesus in the New Testament. The travels of Titus in Judea match those of Jesus as well.

The Crucifixion by Pilate, created an anti-Semitic viewpoint which was to carry through history for another 2 millenia. Rome conquered Judea & put the blame on the Jews!

[Kristjan · Rating 2 out of 5]

While it was certainly interesting seeing where we find evidence of syncretism within Christianity ... the author uses questionable scholarship into the actual context from which he builds his conspiracy theory ... especially with his use of anachronistic (vs historical) characteristics of Jewish and Christian faith to postulate absolutes that could never be supported while ignoring vast amounts of other data that would undermine his conclusions that it was all invented by the Romans. I doubt Mr. Valliant truly understands how syncretism and appropriation actually works.

I was given this free review copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#CreatingChrist #AudibookFree

[Eric Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jaw Dropping! I approached my reading of this book with a healthy dose of skepticism, for obvious reasons. As a life long student of Early church history, I felt I owed it to myself to "hear the author out"and I am so glad I did. The author's case is very well presented with solid historical documentation and will definitely leave the reader with a few self-examining questions. However, in the end, I felt that while I find it hard to refute out of hand the evidence presented that perhaps there was something missing to the author's assertions. Yet, All in all, I very good read. Definitely recommended for anyone interested in the world of early Christianity.

[Johnny Ruiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an interesting and enlightening read. The authors bring a thought provoking perspective on a topic most are either afraid to delve into deeply, or are ambivalent about. As the reader goes through its pages, not with an open mind, but an active mind, he is able to walk away with a new understanding of Christianity's origins and very possibly, it's implications in our personal lives. Great job to James Stevens Valliant and C. W. Fahey.

[Mike MacDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like drinking water from a firehose

Creating Christ takes all we have been made to believe and stands it on its head. Citing endless sources, the authors give evidence of what has been taught and why it has been taught.
A challenge to faith, an opportunity to question, and a clear chance to dig deep into who, how, and why Christ is our earthly connection to God is a lot of information. Deserves more than one read.