HUGH J. SCHONFIELD
Hugh J. Schonfield (London, 17 May 1901 – January 24, 1988, London) was a British Bible scholar specializing in the New Testament and the early development of the Christian religion and church. He was born in London, and educated there at St Paul’s School and King’s College, doing postgraduate religious studies in the University of Glasgow, Doctor of Sacred Literature. He was one of the founders and president of the pacifist organization Commonwealth of World Citizens “Mondcivitan Republic”. (More from Wikipedia)
John Lennon himself had been reading extensively about religion before making his ill-advised statement, and Maureen Cleave noticed a copy of The Passover Plot by Hugh J. Schonfield on his bookshelf during her interview. This scholarly work, which was published in 1965 (and informed many of Lennon’s views toward Christianity), was the Da Vinci Code of its day and portrayed Jesus and His closest disciples as having planned the events leading to the Crucifixion so that He could be taken down from the Cross after a few hours by well-connected individuals (such as Joseph of Arimathea) before He was actually dead and then nursed back to health.
(September 2014)
