SCHOLAR BIOS:
Joseph Atwill – Producer / Author of the “Caesar’s Messiah” book
As a youth in Japan, Joseph Atwill attended a Jesuit military academy, where most of the school day was spent studying Greek, Latin and the Bible. In later years, he continued studying hundreds of books on the origins of Christianity, including the Dead Sea Scrolls. Together with Robert Eisenman, he wrote a paper on the actual dating of the Scrolls. Joseph Atwill’s book Caesar’s Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus was published by Ulysses Press in 2006, becoming a best selling work of religious history in the US in 2007. Its German translation has also achieved #1 Best Seller status. The Flavian Signature Edition of the book was released in 2012 and achieved Amazon’s #1 status in Religious Studies.
Robert Eisenman, PhD – Professor of Middle East Religions, Archaeology, and Islamic Law, California State University, Long Beach
Robert Eisenman is perhaps the best known New Testament scholar due to his very public struggle to have the Dead Sea Scrolls released. He is the author of numerous articles and six books, including The New Testament Code and James the Brother of Jesus. He is Director for the Study of Judeo‐Christian Origins at CSULB, Visiting Senior Member of Linacre College, Oxford, and holds degrees from Cornell University, New York University, and Columbia University. He has appeared in the television series’ The Naked Archaeologist, Investigating History, and Mysteries of the Bible.
Timothy Freke – Bestselling author and internationally respected authority on world spirituality
Timothy Freke has an honours degree in philosophy and is the author of over thirty books that have established his reputation as a scholar and free-thinker. He is best known for his groundbreaking work on Christian Gnosticism with his close friend Peter Gandy, including The Jesus Mysteries, which was a top 10 best‐seller in the UK and USA, and a “Book of the Year” in the UK Daily Telegraph. In recent years he has articulated his own “lucid philosophy” in The Laughing Jesus, Lucid Living, How Long is Now?, and his latest book The Mystery Experience. He has appeared in the documentaries Who’s Driving the Dreambus?, Secrets of the Code, and Time Machine: Beyond the Da Vinci Code.
D.M. Murdock / Acharya S – Mythicist, Archaeologist, and Author
The late D.M. Murdock, who used the pen name Acharya S, received her BA degree in Classics, Greek Civilization, from Franklin and Marshall College, and was a member of one of the most exclusive institutes for the study of Ancient Greek Civilization, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Greece. She served as trench master on excavations, has studied the classics and the Bible in ancient Greek and Hebrew, was well-versed in over 7 languages, had many published articles and radio interviews, and was the author of seven books including The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold. Her work formed the basis for the smash‐hit Internet documentary Zeitgeist.
Rod Blackhirst, PhD – Lecturer in Religious Studies, La Trobe University, Australia
Rod Blackhirst has worked as lecturer, researcher, and writer in Philosophy and Religious Studies at La Trobe University for over a decade. He holds a PhD in Greek philosophy and early Greek natural science, and specializes in the Greek tradition and the monotheistic faiths. He has diverse interests in philosophy, cosmology and religion, as well as traditional symbolism and traditional science across both Western and Islamic civilizations, and has written numerous articles on these subjects. He is one of the scholars who formulated the Flavian Thesis for the origins of Christianity. Rod Blackhirst is a regular contributor to journals such as Sacred Web.
Kenneth Humphreys – Historian and Author
Kenneth Humphreys holds a Master’s degree from the University of Essex in history and social sciences, a post-graduate pedagogic certificate from the University of Leicester, and a higher national certificate in business studies. He taught for many years in the UK and abroad. Religion, and in particular the claims of Christianity, have been a life-long interest. His book Jesus Never Existed, published in 2005 by Iconoclast Press, currently ships to 30 countries. His website receives more than a million visitors a year. He is now fully occupied as a writer, radio broadcaster, and public speaker, and campaigns energetically against the tide of resurgent superstition and unreason.
John Hudson – Literary Analyst and Dramaturg
John Hudson has a B.A. from the University of Exeter in Sociology, specializing in the sociology of literature and the structuralist analysis of Biblical texts, a graduate degree at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and also a graduate degree from the University of Birmingham in Shakespeare and Theatre, where he wrote a thesis on the Flavian typology and the history of the Roman-Jewish war as reflected in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He also studied theology and the New Testament at the University of London and at the ordination program for Anglican clergy. He is artistic director of the world’s only experimental Shakespeare company, Dark Lady Players, in NYC.
FILMMAKERS
Nijole Sparkis – Writer & Producer
Fritz Heede – Director, Camera, Editor, Composer, Producer
Additional Team
Marissa Maldonado – Cinematography
Locations
Rome, Italy ~ England ~ Australia ~ New York ~ Los Angeles ~ Las Vegas
Premiered at the Laemmle Theatre in Beverly Hills, 2012
Distributed by Gaia TV, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Filmhub, DVD/Blu-ray