This work details the author's painstakingly collected evidence supporting a shocking theory, that Jesus was the grandson of both Herod the Great and the last Hasmonean king (Antigonus). The analysis begins with one loose thread in the official biography of Jesus Christ, the claim by the Sanhedrin that it lacked authority to execute him. Why didn't the Sanhedrin execute Jesus after convicting him of blasphemy? The same legal body executed Stephen and James the brother of Jesus for the same crime. During Roman times, the Sanhedrin lacked authority to execute only one class of Jew--Roman citizens. All descendants of Herod were Roman citizens. Two elements of proof for the theory are the ancestor list found in Luke, Ch. 3 (it appears to contain the names of Hasmonean kings) and Jesus' denial that he is a son of David. See Matthew 22:41-45, Mark 12:35-37 and Luke 20:41-44.
Herodian Messiah: Case For Jesus As Grandson of Herod
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Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
From the Inside Flap
Index of Chapter Titles
- Chapter 1 Summary Argument
- Chapter 2 Jesus, Messiah of Levi
- Chapter 3 Luke's Genealogy
- Chapter 4 Mary the Mother of Jesus (Mariamne bat Antigonus)
- Chapter 5 Mary Magdalene (Mariamne bat Aristobulus)
- Chapter 6 Crucifixion of Jesus
- Chapter 7 Paul of Tarsus (Phasaelus ben Timius)
- Chapter 8 The Jesus Movement, Origins and Theology
- Chapter 9 Antipater ben Herod (Father of Jesus)
- Chapter 10 Josephus, Jewish Traitor
- Chapter 11 Paul, Speculative Theories
About the Author
Joseph Raymond was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family in St. Louis, MO USA and educated in Catholic schools. He received degrees from two Jesuit universities graduating law school in 1986. Thereafter, he served as a Department of Justice lawyer in Washington, DC but later left the practice of law to found an internet company. In 1988, he began a spiritual journey of study and reflection largely focused upon the origins of Christianity. Once started, the journey is never complete. In January of 2012, Joseph Raymond gave an on-camera interview in Los Angeles with Karga Seven Pictures regarding theories contained in Herodian Messiah for a documentary on the Discovery Channel called "Jesus Conspiracies". I appeared in episodes 1 and 3 of the series.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By M. Kinney
Format:Paperback
I found this book while doing research on the genealogies of Christ, as written in Matthew and Luke's gospels. It gave me an entirely different feel for the era, and a new insight into the life and time of Christ.
Even among Bible scholars, these two genealogies are not only difficult to reconcile, but 36 out of the 45 names listed in Luke's genealogy of Christ are unaccounted for in the Old Testament.
In "Herodian Messiah," the author introduces the concept that perhaps 5 of the names listed in Luke actually point to the Hasmonean Dynasty. He then brings to light all of the intrigue surrounding the politics of Rome and the Kingdom of Judea, including the historic religious and social upheavals, leading up to and converging at the time of Christ.
As the Hasmonean Dynasty gave way to the Herodian Dynasty, it may very well be that the last Hasmonean Princess (the daughter of Matattayah Antigonus) gave birth to a son, who was Jesus the Christ.
While we tend to focus our attention on his future role as "King of Kings"(at his second coming) the Hebrews of his day once welcomed him into Jerusalem crying out;
Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. John 12:13
There is more to this story than you know.
Even among Bible scholars, these two genealogies are not only difficult to reconcile, but 36 out of the 45 names listed in Luke's genealogy of Christ are unaccounted for in the Old Testament.
In "Herodian Messiah," the author introduces the concept that perhaps 5 of the names listed in Luke actually point to the Hasmonean Dynasty. He then brings to light all of the intrigue surrounding the politics of Rome and the Kingdom of Judea, including the historic religious and social upheavals, leading up to and converging at the time of Christ.
As the Hasmonean Dynasty gave way to the Herodian Dynasty, it may very well be that the last Hasmonean Princess (the daughter of Matattayah Antigonus) gave birth to a son, who was Jesus the Christ.
While we tend to focus our attention on his future role as "King of Kings"(at his second coming) the Hebrews of his day once welcomed him into Jerusalem crying out;
Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. John 12:13
There is more to this story than you know.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Ii Naotaka
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Herodian Messiah is one of the most fascinating books I've ever read.
The story of Jesus, or at least that of his family, is vitally important to our understanding of the modern world, especially the tensions among the three religions at the heart of today's conflicts. This is a key point of understanding: that the life of Christ is central to understanding politics and power discourse in Western history. He is important as narrative certainly, but more invisibly his life is important because of little understood connections to the development of Imperial Rome at its brith. Jesus' family was instrumental in developing events leading to the The Great Revolt, and the effects of that war still resonate today in important yet unseen ways. Its importance translates into the shaping of the moral outlook of a significant piece of the world's population. The better we understnd who Jesus was, the more likely we are to deal intelligently with our global political realities. Raymond's Herodian Messiah is one of the most insightful contributions there is in aiding this understanding. Historians and Biblical scholars concerned with tradition, people like Bart Ehrman, Robert Eisenman, Elaine Pagels, James Tabor, and Robin Lane Fox, to name a few, are controversial precisely because they investigate the impact of altered power discourses on modern society, and they attempt to answer where so many refuse to question. Raymond's book is a very important contribtuion to this body of work that attempts to answer the riddles of our discursive heritage. Because he draws out conclusions from meticulously compiled evidence, Raymond is able to venture where few others have been able to do so. His training as a lawyer has equipped him with the tools (and the attention to detail) that others perhaps lack. Therein lies the great value of his interpretation of the available data points.
If one seeks modern implications through better understanding of Palestine's great Roman war there are questions that one must attempt to answer: Why is Jesus, an ostensibly humble Galilean peasant carpenter, so importantly ubiquitous in modern narrative? Why did the Roman founder of Christianity Paul think he could get away with hijacking Jesus' name? Why does Paul urge his followers to obey Roman law while contesting the members of Jesus' own family? Why does Paul protest repeatedly that he is not a liar while disparaging Jesus' brothers in sarcastic terms? Who was Jesus' father that Jesus should be so important to Romans and to the Herodian puppets in Palestine? Who was his mother? Raymond provides some of the best answers to these questions and to many others.
The production values of the book are low, but that should not distract you from the content and the rigorous analysis that Raymond pursues.
The story of Jesus, or at least that of his family, is vitally important to our understanding of the modern world, especially the tensions among the three religions at the heart of today's conflicts. This is a key point of understanding: that the life of Christ is central to understanding politics and power discourse in Western history. He is important as narrative certainly, but more invisibly his life is important because of little understood connections to the development of Imperial Rome at its brith. Jesus' family was instrumental in developing events leading to the The Great Revolt, and the effects of that war still resonate today in important yet unseen ways. Its importance translates into the shaping of the moral outlook of a significant piece of the world's population. The better we understnd who Jesus was, the more likely we are to deal intelligently with our global political realities. Raymond's Herodian Messiah is one of the most insightful contributions there is in aiding this understanding. Historians and Biblical scholars concerned with tradition, people like Bart Ehrman, Robert Eisenman, Elaine Pagels, James Tabor, and Robin Lane Fox, to name a few, are controversial precisely because they investigate the impact of altered power discourses on modern society, and they attempt to answer where so many refuse to question. Raymond's book is a very important contribtuion to this body of work that attempts to answer the riddles of our discursive heritage. Because he draws out conclusions from meticulously compiled evidence, Raymond is able to venture where few others have been able to do so. His training as a lawyer has equipped him with the tools (and the attention to detail) that others perhaps lack. Therein lies the great value of his interpretation of the available data points.
If one seeks modern implications through better understanding of Palestine's great Roman war there are questions that one must attempt to answer: Why is Jesus, an ostensibly humble Galilean peasant carpenter, so importantly ubiquitous in modern narrative? Why did the Roman founder of Christianity Paul think he could get away with hijacking Jesus' name? Why does Paul urge his followers to obey Roman law while contesting the members of Jesus' own family? Why does Paul protest repeatedly that he is not a liar while disparaging Jesus' brothers in sarcastic terms? Who was Jesus' father that Jesus should be so important to Romans and to the Herodian puppets in Palestine? Who was his mother? Raymond provides some of the best answers to these questions and to many others.
The production values of the book are low, but that should not distract you from the content and the rigorous analysis that Raymond pursues.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a fascinating book. If you're at all interested in the facts behind Christian canon (and mythology), you will find them here in abundance. Terrifically researched, dense but digestible, iconoclastic without irreverence, Herodian Messiah challenges you to think critically about the factual basis of ancient scriptures. This is not a book about faith, it's a book about fact, with some very interesting theories to fill gaps left in the contemporary record. Highly recommended, just be sure to read it with an open mind.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
searching for historic events
fast shipping,I WOULD RECOMEND TO ALL WHO NEED TO SEaRCH FOR THE historic SIGNIFICANT
ROLE OF THE GREEK MACEDONIAN ENTERING THE Archpriest Role those days before HERODE AND... Read more
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Published 2 months ago by ELENI AXIOGLOU
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fresh and Original Thoughts and many assumptions.
Ok, I first contacted the author when I started reading his book and had some areas I though he could throw more light on. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Boz
5.0 out of 5 stars
Herodian Messiah
TO BE Honest i'm not Really religious & Not at all an Atheist ! even though i was once a Roman Catholic. Read more
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Must Read on the Topic of the Historical Jesus
Monday, 6/13/2011 (This review is a draft.)
This book helped me understand some flaws in the gospels of the New Testament and some flaws in the works of Flavius... Read more
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Published 23 months ago by Stephen Campbell
4.0 out of 5 stars
You're on the right track, but not far enough
Good to see some actual scholarship going on about the true place in history of the Herodians, but the proof of the Truth is not really going to be found in the propaganda of the... Read more
Published 23 months ago by David Seals
