Compare then with now.
There is a tendency today always to seek the conspiracy-driven explanation in a given situation. This is not to deny the possibility of political conspiracies globally - I am sure that such do exist - but rather an explanation of how mankind loves the cathartic effect of being thrilled and excited. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story, though.Take the various offshoots of Christianity which began to develop, particularly towards the end of the First Century onwards. All were heretical, opinionated and distanced from the actual events surrounding the life of Christ. Principal amongst these were the gnostics but there were many more.
Compare with today. Various cults have sprung up on the fringes of Christianity: Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Children of God, Unitarians, Christadelphians and countless others.
All of these heretical groups are easily countered and that is what the evangelical Church does today - and academics do not spring to the defence of these cults. There is nothing defendable.
It was ever thus.
The many 'Gospels of....' and heretical texts were examined by the early Church and dumped.
The Dan Browns of this world grab hold of these rejects and present them as "Church suppressed truth." If it were not so seriously spiritually damaging for the uneducated and the terminally simple, it would be laughable.
LINK: http://bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Library.show/CT/RA/k/486
