An Easter Blockbuster
  by Janet Brazill

At Easter A.D. 367, Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, declared that all non-canonical books in Egypt should be destroyed.

Just in time for Easter, 2006, Michael Baigent has published "The Jesus Papers: Exposing the Greatest Cover-Up in History" - a book the Catholic Church of today will doubtless wish destroyed as well.

Using his extensive background as a religious historian, this author dissects the New Testament and couples it with his knowledge of ancient texts, archaeological sites and historical facts, to construct a revised view of history fully as intriguing as the mystery plot Dan Brown created in "The Da Vinci Code." However, this book, as an historical account rather than a plot of fiction, may turn out to be an even greater blockbuster than Brown's book!

Michael Baigent is also the co-author of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail," the 1980 book that Brown has admitted offered some inspiration for his book. Baigent shows that he has used these last twenty years to further investigate the tantalizing clues from ancient texts. One document he was told about claimed that Jesus was alive in A.D. 45, which would mean that he somehow survived his crucifixion.

Baigent's narrative skillfully paints a history of the world 2000 years ago - its political scene and its religious rivalries. Those who believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God will learn that much hinged on the split between James, the brother of Jesus, who wanted to adhere to Jewish law, and Paul, who wanted to appeal to the Gentiles. This created a basic fault line that eventually determined which books, of the many ancient texts, would be included in what we now know as the New Testament. (The actual New Testament canon was not settled until the Church Councils of A.D. 393 and A.D. 397, over 360 years after the events described in the chosen texts.)

Many Easter worshippers may be surprised to learn that it wasn't until the Council of Nicaea, in A.D. 325, that Jesus was declared divine, a matter decided by a 217-3 vote. Baigent notes that nowhere in the Gospels does Jesus declare himself divine.

Citing ancient texts rejected by the early church, along with the Dead Sea Scrolls, his access to private collections, and his interpretation of mysterious passages in the Bible, Baigent explains the logical deductions that support his beliefs, including that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, and that he survived his crucifixion.

This extensive research, along with visits to holy sites throughout the Mediterranean area, lead Baigent to a completely new understanding of Jewish/Christian history and a totally different image of Jesus from the one promoted by the Church - a Jesus more human, and yet infinitely more spiritual - and herein lies the threat. Though much of his theory is conjecture at this point, Baigent stresses that certain ancient documents that are rumored to exist, documents that could furnish definite proof, have not surfaced yet for fear the Church will destroy them, and he cites personal knowledge of such possibilities. He feels sure that these will eventually become known.

Until then, as another scholar, Morton Smith, has observed, "history…is by definition the search for the most probable explanations of preserved phenomena." Readers can decide for themselves whether Baigent's history is more probable than the history the Church preaches.
 

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