- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: Harperone; 1 edition (Mar 28 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0060827130
- ISBN-13: 978-0060827137
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.5 x 3.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 544 g
- Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#7,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Occult > Unexplained Mysteries
- #6 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Controversial Knowledge
- #12 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Jesus > Christology
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Product Details |
Product Description
Book Description
What if everything you think you know about Jesus is wrong? In The Jesus Papers, Michael Baigent reveals the truth about Jesus's life and crucifixion. Despite -- or rather because of -- all the celebration and veneration that have surrounded the figure of Jesus for centuries, Baigent asserts that Jesus and the circumstances leading to his death have been heavily mythologized.
As a religious historian and a leading expert in the field of arcane knowledge, Baigent has unequaled access to hidden archives, secret societies, Masonic records, and the private collections of antiquities traders and their moneyed clients. Using that access to full advantage, Baigent explores the religious and political climate in which Jesus was born and raised, examining not only the conflicts between the Romans and the Jews, but the strife within the different factions of the Jewish Zealot movement. He chronicles the migrations of Jesus's family, his subsequent exposure to other cultures, and the events, teachings, and influences that were most likely to have shaped his early years. Baigent also uncovers the inconsistencies and biases in the accounts of the major historians of Jesus's time, including Josephus, Pliny, and Tacitus. The enduring influence of these accounts in forming our most common conceptions of Jesus reveals that spin is not a new phenomenon.
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. The evidence he has uncovered has lead him to make shocking new assertions that threaten the conventional account of Jesus's life and death and shake the very foundation of Western thought, based as it is upon the assumption of Jesus's divinity. Ultimately, his investigation raises the hope that we may gain a new understanding of Jesus.
About the Author
Michael Baigent was born in New Zealand in 1948. He graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Canterbury University, Christchurch, and a master of arts degree in mysticism and religious experience from the University of Kent, England. Since 1976 he has lived in England with his wife and children. He is the author of From the Omens of Babylon and Ancient Traces and the co-author of the international bestsellers Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Messianic Legacy (with Henry Lincoln and Richard Leigh), The Temple and the Lodge, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception, Secret Germany, The Elixir and the Stone, and The Inquisition. As a religious historian and leading expert in the field of arcane knowledge he has undertaken a two-decade-long quest for the truth about Jesus that has culminated in the publication of this book.
Inside This Book
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Lacks Documentation and Substance,
By
This review is from: The Jesus Papers: Exposing The Greatest Cover-Up In History (Hardcover)
Michael Baigent's new offering, The Jesus Papers, acts as an overview of several recent theories concerning the teaching and life of Jesus. The book reiterates the core ideas found in the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail, and proceeds to argue that Jesus' teaching was the Judaic equivalent of a mystery school, philosophical schools common in ancient Egyptian, Sumerian and Greek cultures.The problem is that the concept of Jesus teaching transcendence through initiatory ritual is not really new. Several recent books have explored this idea with far greater argument and clarity, and Baigent does little to supplement the existing work in the field. Baigent also argues that Jesus' early years where spent in Egypt and that he survived the crucifixion. Again, these ideas are not revolutionary by today's standards, and have been thoroughly explored, again with better detail and documentation by other writers. The title implies knowledge and/or disclosure of ancient documents directly relating to Jesus and the early Christian or Dead Sea Scroll communities. While the existence for such documentation is strongly implied (as being possessed by independent collectors or governmental bodies), no actual evidence is ever presented. Mr. Baigent once helped craft a book that changed the world (Holy Blood, Holy Grail), and set a generation in search of religious and spiritual truth. It cracked the veneer of organized religion, and opened the doors of possibility by pointing out scriptural and historic inconsistencies...Bravo! This book is not on the same par, and its title is misleading. It is a rant against the Catholic Church, a beginning primer of critical New Testament text evaluation, an overview of Mystery School mechanics, and a suggestion of potential coercion and covert activities regarding modern discoveries. I will always be grateful to Mr. Baigent for his enormous contribution to overall awareness, but this work sadly lacks the stones to fall the giant Baigent has so effectively portrayed in the past.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Where's the beef?,
By E. Greenman (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Jesus Papers: Exposing The Greatest Cover-Up In History (Hardcover)
On one hand I enjoyed the book tremendously, on the other I was incredibly disappointed. I liked that the book had a lot of new material which could be cross checked for accuracy while the conclusions, if not always credible, were at least interesting and thought provoking. Otherwise the Jesus papers, for which the book is named, take up a miniscule portion of this book and in the end, for all the author knew, he could have been looking at an ancient shopping list.
2.0 out of 5 stars
pass on this one,
By one happy customer! (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Jesus Papers: Exposing The Greatest Cover-Up In History (Hardcover)
It was okay. There really isn't anything "new" here and it isn't very interesting either. Do yourself a favor and pass on this book - buy any of Laurence Gardner's books - they far surpass this!
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