Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, Henry Lincoln
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Book Reviews of Holy Blood, Holy Grail
Book Review: Required reading for all Christians....
Summary: 5 Stars
Oh boy, is this book going to shake your world! You will simply never view religious dogma, medieval history, or the Western World the same after reading "Holy Blood Holy Grail".Unlike many other "esoteric" and/or "conspiracy" type books and authors (such as Graham Hancock) the really impressive thing about "Holy Blood Holy Grail" is that every single fact in this book stems from contempory documents. The authors go back to parchments, land grants, surviving letters etc. many of which have been lying moldering & unseen for centuries. The footnotes are impressive, the research the authors put in staggering.
What truly is amazing about "Holy Blood Holy Grail" is that Baigent, Lincoln and Leigh never set out to discover what they did; this all began as a simple 1-hour show for the BBC on an area in France called Rennes les Chateux. One question led to another clue which led to another, then to a stash of strange documents in the French Biblioteque and....
Especially valuable is the overview of biblical origins in "Holy Blood Holy Grail". Whether you are a believing Christian or an atheist with historical leanings, this is fascinating (& absolutely correct!) stuff! Next time someone rants about "Jesus Saves" to you, you'll definitely have some ammunition for them!
Whether or not you agree with the conclusions of Baigent. Lincoln and Leigh, the process of uncovering the truth and the organisations that are brought to the light of day in "Holy Blood Holy Grail" will fascinate you. By the way, if you enjoy computer games Sierra's "Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Innocent" is based on this book as well...
Book Review: A Long Un-Blinding Road
Summary: 5 Stars
Here they come!!!! The die-hard apologists, the queezy agnostics, even the egalitarian congregationalists must, absolutely must denounce this work.Synthesis indeed!!!
The work of the authors here is nothing short of sheer genius, but really it is better than that because it contains some of the most important qualities that a socially significant work possesses: Hard work, Truth & Humor.
Delusion being such a key to control and profit that it is, the targets of this book are not exclusive. The writers build within the reader a slow realization of the position of the human race and its self awareness. Cliches abound, but are rooted in truth.
This is no less important simply because so many cliches are used. As the authors found, when you try to stand in the shoes of Socrates and take swiping snips at the puppetting hands of power, lo and behold, some puppets will fall on you.
A good friend of mine sadly warned me once, "That book leads to atheism!" My response was "And!" It never occured to him that maybe Jesus was an atheist, and after publicly hemuliation, the shadows of power spindoctored him into something he fought to debunk. It was bad enough that the roman general Pompeii considered the Jews atheistic, just imagine what a rebel like Jesus must have seemed to his own, giving away truth, encouraging "Thought" Sad to say, times have not changed.
I will say this, reading "The Messianic Legacy" immediately after this book is a better way to take in the full spread of the author's points. And to think how silly "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" looks after you have read this. Seek Truth!
Book Review: Absolutely fascinating!
Summary: 5 Stars
Yes, "The DaVinci Code" sparked my interest in this book and its subject matter which, despite my being fairly well versed on current events, I hadn't heard about back in '81. Nevertheless, this book fascinated me from page 1. Yes, the authors never found the "incontrovertable proof" that Jesus did not die on the cross, or that the Holy Grail is Jesus's bloodline, nor what is the truth of the mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau. And they are as disappointed as we are. Unfortunately, their theory may never be proved as they and we are two thousand years removed from the actual events.
History is written by those in power and nowhere is this more evident that what the authors reveal--that the Roman government held sway over what would be in the "Bible" to suit their ends; that Jesus, according to Jewish custom at the time, was probably married and fathered children; that the divinity of Jesus was VOTED ON by a group of ecclesiastics four centuries after his death; that the Catholic church suppressed any other opinions and this information by any means necessary. Yet the information lived on through myths, symbols and secret socities for anyone who would take a hard look.
I was impressed with the authors' scholarship--relying on primary sources as much as possible. Moreover, they did say their conclusions were not proved but only based on their deductions from their research. What they conclude makes sense.
The introduction is particularly insightful as to the inevitable charges leveled at them by the church and other academics. Nevertheless, I think they put forth a very plausible, well-researched thesis.
Book Review: The One that started it all
Summary: 5 Stars
Anthony Burgess described this book as a wonderful basis for a novel. He was right, but what sort of novel? It is part mystery, part thriller, part historical, and totally rivetting from page one. This "novel" has the greatest twist of them all. It could al be true.The general "plot" is that a mystery concerning a valuable treasure in the South of France slowly unfolds to reveal an ongoing campaign to get a new, truthful, version of history accepted. A version of history that suggests Jesus did not die on the cross, but survived, married and founded a dynasty that has played a major role in the events of the European stage and beyond. The Holy Grail is said to be this truth that has been kept secret by vested interest groups including the Catholic Church.
The story could be true, all speculation engaged in by the authors is grounded in the many facts they produce. The quest for the grail is, however, given a new form by the authors, in that they find their own lives changed by the efforts of the research itself. Many other lives have been changed too. This book has spawned a small industry of books and souvenirs adding to or modifying the basic plot.
In the final analysis I would say this book is "the stone at the head of the corner" of the ultimate Post-Modernist novel, a novel with a basic storyline that can be taken up and modified by everyone with a will to try. It is written by many authors from many countries, and may still have many plot twists left. Who knows, read this book and you may be inspired to be the author of the next dramatic sequence.
Book Review: Start of a Good Thing
Summary: 5 Stars
I actually read this book several years ago, and still hold it in high regard as an historical study. Its substantial value to all of us, though,is that it was the progenitor of a flood of works by many other authors who, emboldened by this daring,controversial book, stormed the traditional halls of history with fresh insights and vigorous research, opening up fascinating new vistas into our ancient past. Gardner, Hancock, Thiering, Bauval, Knight, Lomas, Lockhart, Sinclair, Picknett, Prince, and others all owe a debt of gratitude to the courage of Baigent, Leigh, and Lincoln for being the first to show the world that the "history" which we all learned in school and in church has serious flaws, many of which are related to sensitive, fundamental religious belief and doctrine. If you haven't read the book yet, get the paperback edition, which has in its introduction a section that summarizes all the backlash the authors endured in the years between the publication of the hardcover edition and the paperback edition. As far as the book itself goes, it is a fun read; almost like a mystery novel, except that it is non-fiction with real historical figures and events. The sequel, The Messianic Legacy, picks up where the first book ends, and carries its theme right up to the present day. Do yourself a favor, and read these two works. They are rewarding in their own right, and lay the groundwork for many related and significant works to follow.