Product Description

What if everything you think you know about Jesus is wrong? In the sequel to 'The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail' Michael Baigent reveals the truth and tackles controversial questions, such as whether or not Christ survived the crucifixion. Twenty years ago Michael Baigent and his colleagues stunned the world with a controversial theory that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene married and founded a holy bloodline. His bestselling book 'The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail' (with co-authors Henry Lincoln and Richard Leigh) became an international publishing phenomenon and was one of the sources for Dan Brown's novel 'The Da Vinci Code'. Now, with two additional decades of research behind him, Baigent's 'The Jesus Papers' presents explosive new evidence that challenges everything we know about the life and death of Jesus. / Who could have aided and abetted Jesus and why? / Where could Jesus have gone after the crucifixion? / What is the truth behind the creation of the New Testament? / Who is working to keep the truth buried and why? Taking us back to sites that over the last twenty years he has meticulously explored, studied, and in some instances excavated for the first time, Baigent provides a detailed account of his groundbreaking discoveries, including many never-before-seen photos.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #67976 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Review
'An explosive book. The Today Show, NBC March 28, 2006 '!fascinating.' CNN

About the Author
Michael Baigent was born in New Zealand in 1948. Since 1976 he has lived in England with his wife and children. He is the co-author of the international bestsellers 'The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail' and 'The Messianic Legacy' (with Henry Lincoln and Richard Leigh), 'The Temple and the Lodge', 'The Dead Sea Scrolls', 'Secret Germany', 'The Elixir and the Stone', and 'The Inquisition'.

Customer Reviews

Some good points but . . .
There are some interesting ideas in here, mind you very well hidden. Much of what is included has been covered before but the author takes a somewhat different approach which does generate interest and thought, however, the book 'meanders', seeming to take off in different directions without any real sense of purpose, wandering from subject to subject. Threequarters through I almost forget what the subject was!
There are a number of 'leaps': occasions where the author makes a statement based on very little information and then, later in the book, acknowledges that statement as true and begins to build his argument around it.
So, some tenuous links, some wooly writing (and editing), and some good argument. It's a pity the book isnt more structured allowing the reader to know where the author is heading, what arguments he is trying to support, and what evidence he is using to do so.
Worth a read if this sort of thing interests you but there are more interesting approaches.

Too many loose ends!
I am a great fan of Michael Baigent and his views on alternative Christian history. However, in this book Baigent doesn't produce any new revalations as his sources for this book are largely secondary.

In this book Baigent through some of his antiquity-dealing friends comes upon several ancient documents that claim to offer indisputable proof that Jesus survived the crucifixion and lived into old age. Whether or not he was married to Mary Magdalene and had a child is of course the thesis of the Holy Blood and Holy Grail. It was while he was researching HBHG that he came into contact with a priest who claimed to have been told about documents (then in the possession of the Vatican) that surfaced in the early 20th century proving that Christ was alive post 33AD. Towards the end of the book Baigent alludes to an Israeli antiquities dealer who shows him Aramaic scripts further proving Jesus was alive long after the crucifixion. Frustratingly, Baigent admits that he cannot read Aramaic so cannot prove the claims of the dealer.

Aside from scrutinizing ancient documents Baigent also hypothesizes that Jesus may have been a Jewish mystic rather than the Son of God. References to the Kingdom of Heaven, he argues, are a metaphor for a state of consciousness that mystics of ancient times strived to reach or attain. Baigent, like many other previous authors, attacks the early church's attempts to outlaw many of the early gospels that possibly reveal a mystical element to Christ's teachings.

On completion of this book there seems to be too many loose ends; the book seems only half complete. No translation or dating of the texts inspected by Baigent is undertaken which is surprising as these provide the foundation of his arguments. The priest's account of further proof for Christ's existence after 33AD is yet to be followed up. Baigent points to the shadowy world of antiquities dealing and Church interests for these loose ends. Sadly whether or not these claims will ever be proven is any body's guess...

No revelations here
Conspiracy theories abound - such is the basis of the wildly popular 'Da Vinci Code', and such is the basis of 'Holy Blood, Holy Grail', another earlier book by Baigent that details in a nonfiction manner much of the same conspiracy theories that are at the heart of the fictional novel by Dan Brown (soon to be a major motion picture, coming to a cinema near you, et cetera...).

There is nothing new in this book. True, some of the photographs are 'never before published' as the press kit will put it, but they aren't really earth-shattering images, just some standard fare imagery apropos to the topic. Baigent explores the history of the Zealots and other sects in first century Judea, their relationship with the Roman dominating apparatus, and the possible motivations behind the writing of the gospels and other writings in the way that they were. There were differing interpretation of the Christian events from the earliest times, and these controversies were not settled for generations (indeed, some still have not been). But this is far different from conspiracy and intrigue that is being hinted at in this publication.

Pointing out inconsistencies in the texts of the Bible is an old game, and many scholars freely acknowledge the difficulties of resolving some of the issues. This doesn't seem to be acknowledged by Baigent in very clear tones.

I am disappointed in this text in that I cannot say much about anything new, as it is a recycling of information to get a publication out when the timing is right, a 'strike while the iron is hot' kind of publishing move. For those unfamiliar with some of these theories, it may be interesting read. For those already acquainted with the issues (even those whose exposure is limited to 'Da Vinci Code' elements), it might prove less worthwhile.