"The religion of Jesus is not being followed by Christians today," says Wilson, author of How Jesus Became Christian, which will be officially released Tuesday, March 18. "Paul was not a disciple of Jesus, he had different beliefs and practices and he never even met him."

In the book, Wilson, a professor of humanities and religious studies, examines the following questions: Did Paul substitute the teachings of Jesus for his own radically different religion? Is today’s Christianity more about the Christ figure than what the Jewish rabbi Jesus really preached? Was there a Jesus cover-up?

The New Testament is Paul’s version of Christianity, not a neutral collection of church writings, and was endorsed by the same group that endorsed the cover-up, says Wilson.

Wilson writes that Jesus taught about the coming Kingdom of God – the universal rule of God – and adherence to the Jewish Torah, while Paul developed a faction of Christianity based on the Christ figure, which shunned the Torah. Paul’s own brand of religion displaced the teachings of Jesus and, at the same time, a divine Gentile Christ was substituted for the human Jewish Jesus. Although Jesus’ brother James continued to preach the teachings of Jesus, Paul’s version was what caught on, Wilson explains.

The book also delves into how Christian anti-Semitism came about and its connection to the Jesus cover-up. "Anti-Semitism is rooted within New Testament writings and is the result of the cover-up," says Wilson, who is not afraid to take on contentious and controversial subject matter.

Wilson says friends, family and students were always asking him questions about religion. That was part of the impetus to write the book, he says. "No one had told them that story in a popular way. So the book really came about because people are interested in the story."

“[The book] is intended for general readers who are curious about the origins of Christianity, who are interested in the big picture and who are perplexed by some of the same mysteries that have intrigued me over the years," says Wilson.

While Wilson admits his take on Paul is more radical than that of most of his colleagues, he contends it’s an important perspective. "I hope it is a catalyst for discussion and that it leads to finding out more about the truth of this mysterious period."

Wilson is also the author of Hermeneutical Studies: Dilthey, Sophocles, and Plato and About Interpretation: From Plato to Dilthey – A Hermeneutic Anthology.

How Jesus Became Christian is being published in five countries – New Zealand, Australia, the US, the UK and Canada.

Media contact:

Melissa Hughes, Media Relations, York University: 416 736 2100 x22097 / mehughes@yorku.ca

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