The Murder of Christ: The Emotional Plague of Mankind Paperback – January 1, 1953

Really good book. It’s a very different perspective on Jesus Christ than the one people are accustomed to from the gospels. The author doesn’t view him as the one and only son of God but rather everyone is a son of god. It looks at Jesus from a more historical and biological perspective and his miracles are due to his incredible vibrant energy which “cures” people’s illnesses. God is nature and a cosmic being rather than an old man up in the clouds. Overall the message is that we kill Christ every time we deny the truth. It also has an interesting perspective as to why humanity is under constant slavery and misery no matter the time. It’s a good read but sometimes it is a bit confusing and hard to read so I’m giving it 4 stars.

I have not read very much about Reich, having come to him through Robert Anton Wilson. But if this book is any indication, he was a passionate and deep thinker, one I can learn a great deal from.That said, this particular book is quite sloppy and repetitive. Each chapter is very similar in content, with only the particular Gospel trope Reich looks at changing. They all end up the same - Christ is Life, and humanity kills him because they cannot bear to really live.At the beginning of the book it is mentioned that this work is "immature" and was released by the Reich foundation for archival and educational purposes. Having read this warning, I was prepared for the book to be imperfect - had I not read it, I would have been a bit more disappointed.I bought this book looking for any similarity to the thought of Rene Girard, and did find some. Both Reich and Girard share the basic insight that the death of Christ occurs because of humanity - it is the culmination of a sort of disease of the spirit, not an action independent of that disease, directed at it. They also share some ideas about how this "emotional plague" (Reich) or "mimetic desire" (Girard) works, which may be due to their common influence, Freud.Other than these broad strokes, however, the two go their separate ways - Girard to Catholicism and Jesus as God, and Reich to Jesus as sexually liberated innocent.I think this book, despite its flaws, could be a good introduction to new ways of thinking about Christianity, to typical atheists and Christians alike.

Giving a review of a book is subjective (2,3,4,5 stars? who knows). The author seems to be totally insane or totally genius. I am not smart enough to figure out which. I did seek this book not for his controversial history or any of his sex-related topics/theories; I did so for the dualistic undertones. They were there along with the whole "addiction to self" theme. The rest has difficult to follow. Maybe I am just stupid who knows.

This book is one of the unique instances in which I’ve agreed with maybe 70% of what was written, yet feel that this was one of the most impactful books I’ve read as it drives the right type of critical observation about the emotional plague of armored man.

awesome to say the least.... read it at least 5-6 times! highly recommend it and have done so to several people already; I even underline in red! well, it's just that it will undo a lot of ignorance by reading it if 'they' are willing to have some awareness and think for themselves without being influenced one way or another;

Why haven't I discovered Reich much earlier. I don't understand. If you want to understand the human condition this is a good place to start. Reich most likely was a genius. An important and singular man and superb writer.

heavy to read!! still worth it to get to understand how institutions and the masses function over individual persons willing to change our paradigms!!

Important understanding about the distortions of the teaching of Jesus

One of Reich's best and most accessible works. Extraordinarily passionate and brilliantly insightful at the same time. This is one of those rare books that can truly change lives.

WR wrote this book using the 19th century writer Renan as his key to understanding the Gospel writings.renan as a theological base is flawed; but WR's general argument stands. If he'd had a better scriptural critical bas, he'd have discovered just how much hi own life long research is in tune with the liberation theology reading of the Gospel texts. This book is well worth such a positively critical reflective read.

In depth, fascinating and well written.

Such insight

Great book