Customer Reviews

Illustrated Bloodline of the Holy Grail

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

When it comes to history, Joe Friday had the right idea, "just the facts." An intelligent person does not want to read a listing of someone's conclusions, he or she wants to see the evidence and make up his or her own mind. In reading "Bloodline" one question kept returning to my head, "where is the evidence?" Gardner makes plenty of assertions, conclusions, and claims, but the evidence is missing. When he does provide a footnote, it is more likely to contain another wild assertion of fact than a reference to the source of his statement. When the source of information is cited, it is too often an archive unknown to other scholars. If a genuine citation to a verifiable source (i.e. one that I can check out for myself) is provided, it is inevitably to some universally known fact that no one ever questions. For instance, the second and third paragraphs on page 43 contain a long discussion of the supposed role of John the Baptist in a supposed dispute between Jesus and his brother James over who was the Messiah. The lone footnote (#27)in these two paragraphs tells us that Zadok was High Priest under King David and the subject of an 18th century musical composition by Handel. Any educated person knows about Zadok and Handel, what I want to know is the source for Gardner's claims about the role of John the Baptist in a dispute between Jesus and James. You can search in vain for Gardner's source, he never provides it. This is only one example of the problem. Time and again, Gardner makes claims that completely challenge accepted facts without providing any citation that would allow the reader to check for himself or herself. Each time I saw a new claim, I would rush to see the source only to discover that there was no citation or that the citation pertained to an irrelevant or unrelated fact. When I read an assertion of fact that the author fails to substantiate with verifiable evidence (verifiable by anyone), I can only reach one conclusion. That conclusion is that the author did not provide substantiation because it does not exist.

Unfortunately, instead of adding a new perspective, or new and illuminating information, Gardner, has used the dubious theories of Barbara Thiering and married them to his agenda to promote a restored aristocracy for some defunct nobles, to create a new kind of Christian (and watered-down) messianism. There are so many mistakes in this book it is not even funny. He follows verbatim the proselytising Christianity of Fathers, Milik and DeVaux ofthe Scrolls team, referring to Qumram as a pre-Christian monastary. He repeats the anti-Semtic, content of the NT, without analysis and the necessary detective work to place it in the proper context. I have been to Qumram and walked on the plain of Moab, and my then admittedly uneducated perception was that there was a military spirit that ruled here along with the spiritual and moral components that are still so evident. The use of the word 'essenes' is distracting, because no one is sure of its meaning. Dr. Eisenman's guess is that it refers to 'Oseh ha Torah' or doers of the Torah. This is far more likely than Gardner's desperate attempt to graft his agenda onto the branch of the 'desposyni' or the family of Jesus. Gardner also creates a split between Jesus and James, which is fictional and supicious for its continuing effort to seoarate Jesus from his family and his nation. Also he has no real familiarity with the distinction between the various sectarian groups, such as the Pharisees and the Sadduccees. he shows none of the ability to note the distinctions that Eisenman so masterfully demonstrated in "James,the Brother of Jesus". The Pharisees were the 'seekers after smooth things' referred to in the Scrolls.They were not the strict legalists the christians invented to show the superiority of their own 'new' religion. Gardner seems unaware of the extent to which the Jews were united as a people in their hatred of the Greco-Roman cultural imperialists. Paul was a Herodian, as he suggests and Eisenman establishes definitively, he may well have been involved in the death of Jesus, he was certainly involved in the stoning of James and his death just before the outbreak of war in 66 ce. Gardner fails to establish a credible path or reason for the 'desposyni' through time, his foundation is not secure (Thiering), and his assumptions are arrogantly expressed as being 'obvious'. He completely ignores the real meaning of the eschatological writings found at Qumram, the importance of the Star Prophecy of Daniel and the strength of the Yahad and its influence on the whole nation of Israel. I'm not contending that the book is completely worthless, but it is a close call, and that in itself is a disappointment.

Laurence Gardner has written a book that introduces controversial ideas, but fails to provide any reliable evidence to support his conclusions. He lists a great deal of information, but he does not give references to his sources. Most of the footnotes contain additional, unsubstantiated, claims instead of citations to sources. Those that do cite a source refer to discredited modern writings or outdated translations of questionable ancient documents. Gardner repeatedly cites sources and writings that every other scholar has rejected. Numerous false Gospels, forged Christian writings, fake genealogies, myths, lies, and other inaccurate information has circulated over the centuries. Scholars at the time rejected these writings. Gardner now cites these discredited sources without giving any justification for changing past scholars' rejections of them. More disturbing is Gardner's failure to list any traditional scholarly credentials. It is normal for the author of a book such as this to describe his education and training. Even a high-school dropout would list the high school he attended. Instead, Gardner lists only questionable distinctions awarded by his friend "Prince Michael of Albany." His claim to be "an internationally known sovereign and chivalric genealogist" is misleading. "Internationally known" merely means that people in more than one country know that he claims to be a genealogist. Anyone who studies, even in passing, the genealogy of a royal family can claim to be a "sovereign and chivalric genealogist." Ultimately, this designation, while impressive looking, is meaningless. Unfortunately, "Prince Michael" has been repeatedly exposed as a fake prince with no connection to the House of Stewart. This fact raises questions about Gardner's credentials. Worse, when you reach the end of "Bloodline" you discover that the whole purpose of the book is to prove that "Prince Michael" is heir to the throne of King David of Israel, senior blood descendant of Jesus, and rightful King of Scotland. Unfortunately, we now know that "Prince Michael" is a failed Belgian caterer with no royal blood. An examination of the genealogy that Gardner provides for "Prince Michael" demonstrates that the claims are not true. This genealogy contains the names of several people who simply did not exist. The Vatican or the British Royal Family did not cover up their existence; they simply did not exist. The assertion that the British Royal Family managed to conceal information about "Prince Michael's" ancestry is laughable. As anyone who reads the news knows, the Royal House of Windsor cannot conceal what the Queen had for dinner last night. Every bid of dirty laundry the Windsors have ever had has become the subject of gossip and tell-all books. Yet, we are to believe they could cover-up the existence of generations of members of the Stewart family. Similarly, the Vatican is hardly an organization noted for its ability to keep a secret. In any case, far from working together to conceal the existence of Stewart princes, the Vatican and the British Royal Family have been at odds with each other for most of the last two centuries. Unless you are blinded by an addiction to conspiracy theories, you cannot believe that Prince Charles Edward the Young Pretender divorced his wife secretly, secretly remarried, and left a secret line of descendants who lived unknown for two centuries. Further, contrary to Gardner's claim, the story of "Prince Michael" is not well known in Europe. In contrast, I have yet to find any European who has heard of "Prince Michael" or the continuing House of Stewart. If you look at media reports on Europe's reigning families (Belgium, Denmark, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Spain) you never see "Prince Michael" included in their gatherings. There is little doubt that Gardner's claims about "Prince Michael" are completely false. Given that fact, I must seriously question the rest of his conclusions. If Gardner can be duped by a fake prince and accept false evidence about events in the last two centuries, I cannot believe that he can be accurate about events occurring two thousand years ago. The sad fact appears to be that Gardner set out to enhance the status of "Prince Michael" and grabbed any story that supported "Prince Michael's" claims regardless of their validity. A man who cannot discern between a caterer with royal pretensions and a prince cannot be trusted to discern the truth about Jesus Christ. In conclusion, Gardner's book fails every test of scholarly legitimacy. He has no recognized training or credentials. He fails to provide any evidence to support his claims. His claims about a vast conspiracy by the Vatican and the British Royal Family are simply laughable. His conclusion concerning "Prince Michael" is false. As a result of these facts, the conclusions of "Bloodline of the Holy Grail" have to be rejected as poor scholarship unsupported by adequate evidence. There are some very good books in publication that ask useful questions about the meaning of Christian scripture, the life of Christ, and the history of the Church. Notably, John Shelby Spong, has done extensive scholarly research in this area. Many very good books are available on these subjects written by excellent scholars. Some of these books raise serious challenges to traditional Christian viewpoints and teachings. Laurence Gardner and "Bloodline of the Holy Grail" do not fit into this category.

Having read most of the book, I would like to know where is the proof. I Have met the author, at a day long series of talks on early Christianity in London, where he was discussing this book and another he was finishing.

The 2nd book was proposing an alternative site for Mt Sinai and for the story of Moses and 10 commandments etc. The entire evidence for his theory, was (supposedly) a copy of a controvertial book (the existance of which is unproven) supposedly written by the reputed archaeologist Petrie who visited a site in sinai at around 1890 (ish). Conveniently the only copy in existance (or so Gardiner says)was in the hands of Gardiner, who stated that even the publishers denied having published the book, because it was all one great big conspiracy!

After speaking at some length to the author afterwards, he admitted that despite having written at length about this important site, he had not actually been there! This seems to strike a cord with this book, as the geneological records referred to are from, "private sources." How convenient. This means no chance of verifying their contents. Unfortunately this kind of questioning results in answers like, the public has a right to know etc, or the evidence was stolen, lost, burned etc by the authorities who don't want the public to know! Again how convenient, to be able to babble any nonsence you like and when questioned for proof, the evidence was there but has mysteriously disappeared!

I would advise anyone reading any controvertial book to look up any references given carefully, as they are often misquoted. Some controvertial books actually prove themselves admirably, but unfortunately, this isn't one.

Maybe a little less than three stars? I will not go through the book, point by point revealing outright errors and obvious faults in interpretation of sources, as well as unprofessional methods employed. Lacklustre notation throughout. Given time, anyone with a clear head can do that for themselves. If you don't believe the Bible literally, but are at least sufficiently familiar with it anyway, you will see many faults in his argumentation... By now, you should realize I do not think this work should be taken any more seriously than say, Philip Jose Farmer's TARZAN ALIVE and THE REAL DOC SAVAGE books of past decades.

On first reading I was momentarily amazed, but by the fifth or sixth reading I saw all the cracks in the column begin to appear. The first hint of unreliability occurred in the first few pages where he talks about people worhipping YHWH and Asherah/Ashtoreth both. 1) That has actually been known for decades, but 2) THE WHOLE fact is that at that time when both were being worshipped, there were those who worshipped only YHWH, and were directly opposed to worship of both. Also, the `YHWH-movement' pre-dated the `YHWH-and-Asherah' movement. He does the nip-n-tuck with a lot of facts so that they are only partially presented, and thus conveniently manipulated into his theses. If you bash a square peg into a round hole, it does not make it round, but broken once it is through. Of course, when you realize that many assertions are based on materials not available to the public (for our own scrutiny) but only him, through this and that connection to this and that group, you have to wonder. Too many people think that unprofessional presentation of facts or theories is a badge of authenticity these days. By all means read this book for yourself, I am not saying don't buy it... Do buy it, to get some idea of what a Gnostic version of the National Enquirer might be like.

P.S. I have no problem with a rightful descendant of Bonnie Prince Charlie wanting a role in Scotland's future, (Och, I'm for it!) but would such an individual ally himself with this mess?

Suggestions: 1) For a (much less faulted, but equally opinionated) overview of the development of monotheism, consider A HISTORY OF GOD: THE 4,000 YEAR QUEST OF JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM by Karen Armstrong (who also knows more about Kabbala than Gardner apparently). Only a few chapters drag. 2) For an exhaustively researched look at the "dark ages" seldom taught, consider THE AGE OF ARTHUR: A HISTORY OF THE BRITISH ISLES FROM 350 TO 650 by John Morris. More reliable coverage of some of the same ground Gardner blunders through. 3) For a look at most everything else ie. Freemasonry, Druidism, House of Stuart, Pythagoras, Gnostics, Essenes, Templars, Tower of Babel, and Hiram Abif etc., consider THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY by Albert Mackey. He sorts the legends from history, and both from undue speculation, refers to documents extant, and makes REASONED and SUBSTANTIAL observations. The language is a bit archaic, but not everything that is an easy read is a worthy read! These three books are available at amazon.com and while buying all three will cost you more than Gardner's book, you will actually GNOW what has gone on within the responsible realm of verifiability.

This book is very daring. The recovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has led scholars to new understanding about ancient writings, terms and meanings. Using that, the author has determined a much different story of Jesus that we are all accustomed to hearing.

This book is about the Jesus we all DON'T know and in fact, probably should know. The story of Jesus told in a more believeable fashion that that of the Bible and -- to many, blesphamously so!

If you have ever been one to secretly question the inconsistancies of the Bible -- this book is for you! It will set you free!

There is simply too much evidence outside of the ancient gospels to confirm and support this new view of Jesus.

The only set back is that the author may have ignored some of this ancient outside-of-gospel evidence, which may change the authors conclusions on a few of his viewpoints. Example -- I understand that some historical records indicate that it was not just Jesus that rose from the dead, but many people, which led the leaders of the time to seal up burial chmbers to keep the dead inside. In this book, the author indicates that the death of Jesus was not literal and neither was his rebirth.

None the less, this book is extremely excellent and I was unable to put it down until I had finished it. It also has some intriguing Genealogies presented within it's pages -- for the descendants of Jesus Christ into modern times!

Firstly I consider this book to the definitive text on the topic of the bloodline of Jesus. Having read other books on the topic I have found them wanting either in information or clarity. The last book I read was Holy Blood Holy grail by Baigent which I found to be satisfactory but frequently annoying in its repetition of the same rhetoric. Also the information was all there but so difficult to read which takes alot of the fun out of the topic.
Gardner's book however is the ideal resource for this topic. The dogma is clearly articulated and the style of writing begs your attention. After reading, you get a clear picture of what the gnostic gospels offer and why they were omitted from cannonisation. The secrets of the templar Knights is also exposed but most importantly is the appocryphical portrayal of the true relation of Jesus with his disciples and especially Mary Magdalene with its resultant outcome. Interstingly ita lso goes in depth into the myths surrounding the crucifixion and the miracles of the historical jesus.

Given the centuries of death, misery & suffering brought about by the various petty squabbles over who's guess at what the gospels really mean, it is truly refreshing to see a book that uses the gospels (ALL of the gospels, particularly the Apocrypha and the Dead Sea Scrolls), related historical records, and established timelines to mesh these tales together in a way that makes FAR more sense than what so many have been indoctrinated with for hundreds and hundreds of years.

If you are a Christian, and you're comfortable understanding your particular sect's interpretation, then I would recommend that you NOT read this book; however, if you're Christian and a lot of what you've been taught just never seemed to make much sense, then you NEED to read this book.

It contains some truly amazing revelations; many based on facts and lineages, but other conjecturized based on cross-referencing other historical documents.

- Who was Moses, and why are there no records of Hebrew slaves in the Egyptian records?

- Could there have been less than miraculous explanations behind the virgin birth, turning water to wine, the loaves & fishes, walking on water and the ressurection itself?

- How important is the divinity of Jesus, compared to his teachings, actions and influence?

You won't find THE answers in here, but there are very PLAUSIBLE answers; far more than a simple "and God made it so" (the literary equivalent of 'we'll figure this out later').

Welcome to the truth, at last revealed from centuries of deliberate church suppression. Based partly on actual writings from the days of Jesus Christ himself; you can be appalled or you can be astonished, but it will make you think either way. Unlike "Holy Blood, Holy Grail", which covers similar concepts, but focuses on the validation of a specific modern-day claim to the 'throne' by using some very questionable sources, "Bloodline..." approaches the subject matter with far less bias.

It's truly a marvelous jigsaw puzzle that ends up looking very little like the picture on the box, or at least what you thought the picture looked like when you started... which is only a problem if you wanted everything to look like you expected it to when you started. In fact, if that's the case, what's the point of reading at all? *****/*****

Sir Laurence Gardiner's 2 books: "Bloodline of the Holy Grail" and "Genesis of the Grail Kings" are two of the most interesting, well researched, and worthwhile books I've read in a long long time. Once I started both books I found them completely engrossing, and compelling reading. Although each book works well as a stand-alone work, I really recommend that readers read both books. Drawing upon priveleged genealogical records, protected by the various European Royal Houses, especially the Scots Royal House of Stewart, for "Bloodline", ; and drawing upon Mesopotamian and Sumerian records for "Genesis of the Grail Kings", Sir Laurence backs up his points with detailed fascinating research. Among some of the topics covered in the two works: -The meaning & symbolism of the Holy Grail, or Sangreal, or Blood Royal

-A bloodline has been perpetuated from ancient times to the present, having its origins in Mesopotamia & Sumeria,which was genetically enhanced first thru the ingestion of Annunaki "Star Fire", and later enhanced by ingesting alchemically altered gold that had been turned into a white powder.

-The true facts concerning Jesus' parentage, familial relationships, Davidic descent, and marriage to Mary Magdalene. -The true facts concerning many of the parables of the New Testament, in that they were coded references to political situations, not supernatural or spiritual phenomena. The evidence that many of the stories in the Old Testament are retellings and recombinations of elements from much older, more complete Mesopotamian and Sumerian records.

-The true facts concerning Jesus' birth, death and resurrection. -The importance and prominence of women such as Mary Magdalene, in the original church. -How the Roman Catholic Church rose to power and authority and wealth, and then how it sought to maintain that usurped power and authority and wealth by: Preventing the true facts on Jesus' parentage, birth, training, marriage, and resurrection to be brought to light; Suppressing the expression of intellectual and individual freedoms in Art, Literature, learning thru various instruments as the Inquisition; Denying and suppressing the importance and access of women to roles in the Church, and society.

-The rise of European Royal Houses, and in particular, the suppression of the Scots Royal House, by England. -The importance of how properly managed and properly instituted government can secure the greatest individual freedoms and liberties.

And many other points too numerous to mention.

In short, I wholeheartedly recommend BOTH books to all sincere seekers,and hope that they will find these two lifechanging works as beneficial as I have.

I'm not going to spend much time here. The premise of the book has already been discussed. What I find so disconcerting is the lack of evidence when he really needs it. I'll give an example, Mr. Gardner's knowledge of the kingship lineages of Europe is beyond question. He obviously knows, at least has a grasp, on the medieval lineages of European royalty. In fact, this part of his book is well documented and footnoted. But when he makes the claim that Jesus had sons and that he even knows their names (which he then gives) the footnotes mysteriously dry up. Any intelligent reader understands that his claim is what needs the footnotes and research the most! Until he can name the source that gives the names of Jesus' son, and can prove the validity of that source, this book will simply remain a doorpost to my house.