The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, John M. Allegro
The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, John M. Allegro
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The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross
A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity Within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East

Author: John M. Allegro

Narrator: Martyn Swain

Unabridged: 10 hr 33 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/06/2022

Synopsis

Where did God come from? What do the bible stories really tell us? Who or what was Jesus Christ? This book challenges everything we think we know about the nature of religion: -The ancient fertility cult at the heart of Christianity. -The living power of cultic rites and symbols. -The sacred mushroom as the emblem and embodiment of divinity. -The secret meaning of biblical myths. -The language of religion that links us to our ancestors. The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross sets out John Allegro's quest through a family tree of languages to find the truth about where Christianity came from.

About John M. Allegro

John M. Allegro was an English archaeologist and scholar of the Dead Sea Scrolls. He served in the Royal Navy during World War II before studying Hebrew and Greek at Manchester University. In 1968, his translations of scripture commentary known as pesharim were published as Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan V: 4Q158-4Q186. He resigned his post at the Faculty of Theology at Manchester University shortly before the publication of The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross in 1970.

About Martyn Swain

Martyn Swain is a professional audiobook narrator who has also acted on stage and screen, produced and voiced content for current-affairs radio, and tutored in media and presentation skills. A simultaneous interpreter for more than thirty years, interpreting in French and English for senior diplomats and international organizations, he interpreted personally for Nelson Mandela shortly after his release from prison. He also speaks German and Spanish.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Whitney on May 14, 2014

For such a dry book, this one really got my imagination going. Allegro is the philologist who translated The Dead Sea Scrolls. After initial acclaim, he was ostracized for carrying that work to its conclusion. He keeps the book very much on topic. It would be extremely easy to find several rabbit hol......more

Goodreads review by Peter on December 04, 2012

Heavy going and really this man is a scholar. The fact is it ended his career because people prefer a simple lie to a complicated truth. I thought the book was astounding.......more

Goodreads review by Jasper on August 12, 2011

Wow. John Marco Allegro was the only non-Catholic member to help translate The Dead Sea Scrolls, and when he found the Sumerian glyphs that represented mushrooms and peered deeper into the text, he underwent an existential reforming, radically changing and casting off his Protestant beliefs. Yet as......more

Goodreads review by DJ on December 09, 2015

This book is not an "easy read" in any sense of the phrase, but it is a book that cannot be denied. Originally published in May of 1970, it was attacked and buried - out of print for nearly 40 years! It's author - John M. Allegro - with Masters degrees in Ancient Languages, Hebrew, and Ancient Studies......more

Goodreads review by Erik on January 05, 2014

When taking my first Hebrew Scriptures course, our professor, Grinnell College Chaplain Dennis Haas began a lecture with a display of this book, saying how he had been shocked by its thesis that the roots of Judaism and Christianity were in a psychedelic fertility cult. John Allegro, its author, he......more

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