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Summary: The plot weaves like an intricate detective novel...........
Review: The plot weaves like an intricate detective novel, with a lot of twists and counterplots. But the book is not detective fiction, it is a meticulously researched theory chronicling medieval orders, secret societies, grail hunts and lost dynasties and tying it all to Jesus and his supposed bloodline.An all too plausible theory that 'explains' a lot of historical quirks and errors, biblical and medieval - Who got married at the feast of Cana? Who really is 'Jesus' Barabbas? Why was King Clovis' pact with the Catholic Church rescinded? What really happened at Renne le Chateau? Who was the 'beloved disciple' in the Gospels? The KJV Bible is the True Word of God! Or is it? Inspired? Or not? I believe all of the one star ratings and rantings are from uneducated Protestants. For example:
In 'Acts 5:30; 10:39.' the KJV, in speaking of Jesus' death, reads, "Whom ye slew 'and' hanged on a tree." The word "and" is 'not' in the Greek text, and by adding it to the text at this point in the verse it leads to some confusion on the part of the readers. The conjunction "and" indicates grammatically that one action followed another (i.e.: two separate actions independent of one another). Some unbelievers have tried to use this verse to demonstrate that Christ was killed first, 'and then' His dead body was hung on a 'tree'. By inserting the word "and," numerous complications have arisen which could have been prevented by a correct translation of the original text.
The tip of the iceberg: Numerous authorities who had noted the errors in the K.J.V. such as William Kilburne (1650's) 20,000 errors, John Wesley (in 1755) 12,000 changes in the New Testament alone, the Revised Version of 1881 consisted of 36,000 errors and on and on. The NIV, RSV and The Living Bible are also replete with thousands of errors. Do some research!
The KJV translators also did not know what the "Asherah" was (a wooden idol representing a Canaanite goddess), so they translated the word repeatedly as meaning a "grove" of trees. In 'I Kings 16:33' they state, "And Ahab made 'a grove," which provoked the Lord God to anger. In point of fact, Ahab made an 'idol' here (the Asherah); his sin was 'idolatry', not planting a grove of trees!! In Deuteronomy 33:17 the KJV speaks of "the horns of unicorns." There are two mistakes in this passage: (1) The animal mentioned here in the original text is the "wild ox" and not the mythical "unicorn," and (2) in the original text the passage speaks of one animal (singular) with horns (plural). In Luke 18:12 the KJV reads, "I give tithes of all that I possess." The Law did NOT require one to tithe a tenth of all that he "possessed" (all his capital holdings), but rather a tenth of his increase (that which he acquired in addition to his possessions). This is clearly stated in the Greek word used in this passage. Although many ideas are speculative, the authors nevertheless give background data just enough to shake the foundations of our 'traditional knowledge'. A must read for skeptics and devout Christians alike. "He who believes blindly sees not the truth." If you are open minded and looking for those books begging for its pages to be turned...look no further. I just read a copy of Edgar Fouche's 'Alien Rapture,' which also blew me away. Fouche was a Top Secret Black Program 'insider', whose credibility has been verified over and over. Another fun book is Brad Steiger's 'Werewolf.' Want to be shocked, check out Dr. Paul Hill's 'Unconventional Flying Objects' which NASA tried to ban.
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Summary: Would have made a great novel....
Review: Foucault's Pendulum is a fantastic book, a great novel, and where this book falls down is that it was written as non-fiction. The story in this book is fascinating, but its claims as non-fiction open the authors to ridicule, whereas if they had told their story as the fiction that it is it might have made for a much more intriguing book with the opportunity to develop some of the 'what-ifs' of their story. A missed opportunity, as it predates Foucault's Pendulum.
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Summary: One of my favorite books for almost 23 years.
Review: I still have the hardback copy of this book that I bought in 1982, and it still fascinates me just as much now as it did then. Of course, now there is a whole genre of books devoted to connections between Jesus's bloodlines, the Knights Templars, and Rennes-le-Chateau, and I have read many, but none of them can top this book. No, nothing in it can be proved, but so what? Ironically, it's obvious that many readers here are threatened by this book despite their contention that it can't be proved. Those who deem it nonsense based on their faith in the Bible can't prove that the Bible is any more factual than this book. Those who deem it pseudo-science haven't offered a shred of proof to back their assertions, either. I will always be grateful for this book, and the world it opened up to me.
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Summary: Leap of faith?
Review: After reading this book, and then coming here to read reviews, it seems that most people that don't like the book don't because it either requires a "leap of faith" to even consider the research, or that the research is based on pretty much nothing except the authors own conclusions about what amounts to hearsay. Well, doesn't the Bible require a leap of faith to believe? In fact, I would think it requires a huge leap of faith (water into wine, walking on water, etc., etc.) and a closed mind to believe. And isn't the Bible pretty much based on what some men wrote long ago? The Bible was written by God and handed to anyone. Men wrote it. And we know how mankind has a way of skewing things in favor of what the writers believe. I would rather consider this research as something tangible and probable before I would a book that is wholly unbelievable...unless you take a huge leap of faith. Books like this require one to have an open mind and critically analyze the information that we have accepted without question our entire lives. My motto these days is that "there are two sides to every story." Well, at least two sides!
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Summary: Draw Your Own Conlusions
Review: Here's an idea: instead of waiting for the authors of the book to draw clear-cut conclusions...attempt using your brains and drawing your own. The research is there, maybe these authors are not fans of telling people what to think; which is unfortunately something that too many people in todays world tend to do. Good day.
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Summary: Lot of details, no conlusion
Review: Having recently been in the Languedoc in France and as fervent adept of history I wanted to know more about the Cathars, Templars and the treasure of Rennes-le-Château. So I started to read The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. It really gives a good overlook about the Templers, Cathars and Secret Societies. But besides a lot of interesting details the authors fail to produce a proof for their claims. Their strategy seems to be quite clear; first they present a lot of documents and names behind the documents (which probably really exist), then they manifest their skepticism by saying how doubtful, absurd and intriguing everything is (this in order to increase their credibility as serious and skeptical researchers) and finally they make an intellectual salto mortale by concluding that it is impossible that someone would have an interest to forge all those semi secret documents and thus they come to the conclusion that it has to be true. Then follow a lot of ifs (if this and that document is true, if this and that source is credible and so on). And suddenly they take their assumption as proven. But assuming that all the documents presented exist and can be attributed to the corresponding persons what would this proof? That there is a Holy Bloodline? That the Templars possessed the secret all proofing documents? No! It simply proofs that over the centuries a lot of people had a great interest in arcane and esoteric myths and conspiracy theory. It would be the same thing as if we wanted to proof the existence of the Egyptian gods Horuz, Toth and Isis by finding old documents which are testifying their existence. This would only proof the belief in them but not their existence. If someone wants to proof the bloodline of Christ and the descent of the Merowinginas of Christ and so on he would have to find a tomb with a corps and to make some DNA analysis. But up to now nothing has been found. No tombs of Merowingian kings or of any of Jesus' family members nor any treasure or secret documents of the Templar which gives the alleged proof. I am still waiting for this book.
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Summary: hard research falls flat in conclusion
Review: I read this book to understand where Dan Brown got many of his ideas for the DaVinci Code. It is well researched and documented. AS a thinking Christian of faith, I seek to understand.
The authors exhaustively researched the Priority Scion, Knights Templar and the legends of the Holy Grail. In the end though, in making conclsuions that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and sired a line who lived in France, the research is non existant and skewed. Since the authors can't find research on what really happened and what the Grail really is, they began to hypothesize and then tried to support it with scripture. Here begins the slippery slope from falacious reasoning. I.E. The authors conclude the Wedding at Cana was Jesus' and Mary's because of His mother Mary's authority in speaking to the servants. They leave out the line in the John1:2 which says, "Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding." This manipulation of scripture is just the beginning and is indicative of all the authors' research relating to Jesus and Mary.
Anyone who studies the scriptures available, including the Gospel of Mary and Philip and Gnostic Gospels can draw their own conclusions. My advise is just don't draw them from felonious adaptations to support a wild hypothesis.If you are interested in what my own research concluded on this text, please continue reading. The authors also make much of the place of the crucifixtion and burial saying it was in a garden and not Golgotha and therefore the private property of JOseph of Arimithea, who was a wealthy secret disciple, and who also could have perpetuated the appearance of a resurrection by removing him or taking him before He died. John's gospel says the women stood nearby, not as the authors claim, at a distance, which private property would have required. And if Joseph was a disciple he would not have made Jesus' mother stand at a distance. John says there was a garden at the place where He was crucified. He was not crucified IN a garden just because one was nearby. And just because Golgotha is totally barren in the 20th century does not mean it did not have a garden near 2000 years ago. As a geology student,I have seen what can happen to a completly lush area which becomes desert, let alone what can happen to a garden.
They even claim that Jesus may not have died and that it was too much of a coincidence that he died right before his legs were to be broken, which would have led to his suffocation. They claim that Jesus orchestrated many things including the donkey on Palm SUnday to fulfill scriptures. Why would anyone orchestrate events to make sure he was crucified? They don't mention the miracles for which he was crucified and that he was a threat to religious leaders because of His power. All this is a real stretch because instead of trying to look for evidence, as they did early in the book, they are supposing that anything that doesn't support their theory is suspect and orchestrated. They read into the sciptures things that are not there and ignore other lines vital to the chapters, simply to support a wild hypothesis.
After further reading in the Gospels of Mary and Philip, it appears Jesus and Mary had a very special, close relationship. Maybe they were married. His age would have almost required it. How does that make him a fraud? How does that relate to progeny in France and strange rituals of female worship? I just urge you to draw your own conclusions from your own research and not from someone who slants writings to support wild and controversial ideas to sell a book.
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Summary: Something in it for everyone
Review: I found this book to be highly informative but found that it read like a history text at times. What made that o.k. for me is that I know so little about the period of history from the time of Christ up until about 1400. Reading the book in little spurts here and there, I finally finished it, and while not wholly satisfied, I found it to be wonderfully mysterious and thought-provoking. I don't believe anyone will go to hell for reading this book or for considering some of the authors' theories as actually being possible. For those of you who are the kind of believers who believe your faith becomes stronger through questioning, this will provide fodder for just such a path. For those who are skeptics or agnostics, this book will point up the fact that so little is really known today about what happened so long ago, and that "I don't know and you don't know either" could be a more accurate historical statement about the way things were 2,000 years ago than how history is portrayed in the Bible or other early historical documents. The authors seem to tend toward what appears to be wild speculation at times, but at one point in the book, I began to think they were simply finding too many coincidences, and that it would not be unreasonable to think that some of what they posit could well be true. If you are of the mindset that "anything is possible", the authors create a sense of wonder about a very mysterious time in our world's history. Read the book, and take some time to wonder.
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Summary: Holy Blood, Holy Grail
Review: This book is nonsense. Not worth reading. The "comments" on the book cover are not addressed. I was greatly disappointed.
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Summary: The Book That Inspired The Da Vinci Code
Review: Holy Blood/Holy Grail by Michael Baigent and his research team inspired the recent and best selling novel, The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. This book, published in the 80's, rocked the foundation of many people's Christian beliefs and caused quite a great controversy. This was also the same decade that saw the Scorcese film "The Last Temptation Of Christ" which feauted a dream sequence in which Jesus and Mary Magdalene engage in human intercourse and are apparently in love. The theory is not altogether new. For years, these ideas have been put together by collecting the Apocryphal and Gnostic Gospels that never made it to the standard Bible. The Gospel Of Mary Magdalene is the most important, since she is in her own words relating how she was the most loved of Jesus' followers. Extensive research lead others, like Laurence Gardner, to collect a wealth of information on the theory. And there are so many reasons why one could believe this. First of all, the information is always open to public scrutiny and criticism. Baigent, Gardner and Da Vinci Code writer Dan Brown are not forcing anyone to believe this notion of Jesus being a father and married to Mary Magdalene. They are merely expressing their own beliefs. Most of the population in the West (North America, South America and Europe) believe that Jesus is either the son of God or God himself. A lot of people are not ready to believe other ideas. It's really up to you. This book only offers their thoughts on what they regard as truth. It does not cheapen or lessen the glory of Jesus in any way. He was a great man nonetheless and his wisdom and teachings helped millions live a better life. Jesus is to the West what Buddha is to the East. It's that simple. This book mostly proposes the question and only offers some evidence. Laurence Gardner, who must have read this book himself, gathered a lot more information and "evidence". Jesus, who was a Jewishs man let's not forget, could not have remained single and chaste for so long. Also, there is no mention in the Gospels of his teen years and life in his 20's. There is missing time after his 12th birthday when he hob-nobbed with the Jewish rabbis and temple scholars and when he was ages 30-33 at which time he was conducting his ministry with his disciples only to die on the Cross and "resurrect" on the third day. What did he do in his 20's ? Is it possible that he remained single that long ? Jewish tradition was far more strict and single men were looked upon as weird or even mistrusted citizens. Mary Magdalene has always been dubbed a whore and prostitute, though repentent, but she is still connected to Jesus in a signifcant, vague way. Why was she at his tomb the day after he was buried ? Would'nt a wife be paying tribute to her dead husband that way ? Why was she the first who saw him in his resurrected body ? It somehow indicates that she was intimately close to him to deserve such honors. She might have been either his wife or his favorite follower and Disciple to whom he may have even trusted the Church he founded. The Chuch would later cover this up by having Peter, who never liked Mary Magdalene because he was a sexist, becoming the first Pope or Christian leader after Jesus' death. As for Mary Magdalene, she became an obscure figure who has only little mention in the Bible, condemned as a prostitute, when for all we know she may have been of royal blood as Jesus was of royal blood. Her obscurity even triggered the search for the lost Goddess figure. The Goddess, or Shekinah, was the wife of God who was later demolished in a male-dominated religion. I find this book is very great to read for the open minded.
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