The scrolls had been written around or shortly before the time of Jesus. They give insight into the religious life and thought of a Jewish sect based at Qumran by the Dead Sea and usually identified as Essenes. Allegro believed the scrolls could help us understand the common origin of three religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam. He hoped they might be able to bring together scholars of each tradition in studying their common heritage without the barriers of religious prejudice.

It's author - John M. Allegro - with Masters degrees in Ancient Languages, Hebrew, and Ancient Studies - he was THE MAN asked to translate the Dead Sea Scrolls! Historian Tom Rowsell examines how ancient prejudices against traditional polytheistic religions still result in exclusion from powerful institutions, which claim to promote diversity and interfaith dialogue. Feats of actorly endurance are all the rage at the moment, and now Succession's Sarah Snook is getting in on the action, playing all 26 roles in a West End production of The Picture of Dorian Grey. 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. This Jesus Christ has freed us from the hopeless exercise of trying to bless our sins and hide our vices under the worship of false gods or the embrace of foolish conspiracy theories. This Jesus Christ has given us the right to know that these vices and sins no longer have any power over us. They are forgiven, dead, lifeless, washed away in the flood of Christ’s blood.a b c Philip R. Davies, "John Allegro and the Copper Scroll" in George J. Brooke; Philip R. Davies, eds. (2002). Copper Scroll Studies. Sheffield Academic Press. pp.26–27. ISBN 0826460550. Allegro’s thirteen books include The Dead Sea Scrolls (1956), The Treasure of the Copper Scroll (1960), The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross (1970) and The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth (1979) as well as Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan vol. V (1968) and numerous articles in academic journals such as the Journal of Biblical Literature, Palestine Exploration Quarterly and Journal of Semitic Studies, and in the popular press.

Considering how fragile the threads by which your composure hangs are – danger Will Robinson – warning warning: Beware Allegro’s END OF A ROAD (1970) his infamous sequel to SACRED MUSHROOM AND THE CROSS. You best be careful to steer the hell clear of that thing if you value your ‘blissful ignorance’– so riled by the informed perspective I speak from. What I could appreciate, however, was Allegro's defense of the notion that much of what appears to be obscure and outrageous ancient religious literature is, in fact, experientially based and relevant to the concerns of real life. In other words, the use of psychotropic plants could certainly result in strong beliefs about other worlds or dimensions, even of other sentiences, and fertility is certainly of major concern to all agricultural communities. Allegro argued that Jesus in the Gospels was in fact a code for a type of hallucinogen, the Amanita muscaria, and that Christianity was the product of an ancient "sex-and-mushroom" cult. [29] [30] Critical reaction was swift and harsh: fourteen British scholars (including Allegro's mentor at Oxford, Godfrey Driver) denounced it. [29] Sidnie White Crawford wrote of the publication of Sacred Mushroom, "Rightly or wrongly, Allegro would never be taken seriously as a scholar again." [31] The name “Jesus” has its roots in a Sumerian word that means “semen, which saves” — not “god’s semen,” which Rogan claims. John Marco Allegro (17 February 1923 – 17 February 1988) was an English archaeologist and Dead Sea Scrolls scholar. He was a populariser of the Dead Sea Scrolls through his books and radio broadcasts. He was the editor of some of the most famous and controversial scrolls published, the pesharim. A number of Allegro's later books, including The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, brought him both popular fame and notoriety, and also complicated his career.J.M. Allegro (1956). "Further Messianic References in Qumran Literature". Journal of Biblical Literature. 75 (3): 174–187. doi: 10.2307/3261919. JSTOR 3261919. s/t: A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross : A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity Within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient near East

It's been five years since I published my book, Functional Programming in Javascript. And since then a dramatic shift in the programming language has unfolded.His unconventional claims have been subject to ridicule and scorn. As Time magazine put it in an article headed "Jesus as mushroom": [3] Allegro began to argue against most authorities in the field – and probably just a few more people, too – that Jesus was a walking mushroom. He was also pugnacious in his argument that the God of the Old Testament was “a mighty penis in the heavens who in a thunderous climax of the storm ejaculated semen upon the furrows of Mother Earth”. But not sure the supposed existence of a trippy cult, disproves the existence of messiah (Christ or whoever), reason? : Allegro, John M. (2009) The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, 40th anniversary edition, Gnostic Media, ISBN 978-0-9825562-7-6. The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross: A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity Within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East by John Allegro (1971-05-03)

An extremely difficult book to get through. The concept is great, but even though the book is intended for the general reader, it fails to accomplish that. Any unique idea or point that the author tries to make, is soon bogged down by a technical linguistic explanation. The author is so specialized (in ancient Sumerian linguistics) that the reader has to take his word for it when he shows his evidence. There are many references, but the general reader, myself included, is not given the tools to connect the information to the concepts in the text. As their differences deepened, Allegro came to resent and despise their tradition and belief system (Christianity) – on which opposition to his views stood. As a specialist in Semitic languages (Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic) – NOT Sumerian – an honest scholar would rely on a specialist in Sumerian, to collaborate with. Allegro didn't bother – suspicious avoidance.Underpinning The Sacred Mushroom is the idea that fertility was of fundamental importance to primitive religion, as it is to life. Allegro set out this concept in a preliminary plan of the book, sent to the publishers Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., on October 23, 1968: The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross: A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity Within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East is a 1970 book about the linguistics of early Christianity and fertility cults in the Ancient Near East. It was written by John Marco Allegro (1923–1988). [1] [2] Theories [ edit ]