Customer Reviews

The Jesus Conspiracy: The Turin Shroud and the Truth About the Resurrection

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This is the most ineresting books that i have read that talk about the turin shroud,christ and the resurrection. The authors of the book postulate that christ did not die on the cross but was actually rescued from his death.

This theory is based on the findings of their painfully detailed scientific research that blood flowed from the body of christ into the cloth after he was removed from the cross. This bleeding as such has revealed that christ was indeed still alive at the time of being wrapped in the cloth. Their thorough analysis of the scriptures then lead them into a hypothesis that Joseph and nicodemus in conjuction with the centurion had a plot to rescue jesus. They site in their detailed research that jesus had a "quick" death. He was put on the cross at 12pm and then removed at 3pm, they site that other people who where crucifed at the same time who had the same punishment survived a much longer period of time; days in fact. It is postulated that Jesus was drugged with an opium based vinegar that was presented to him by the centurion. This made him unconscious and then he was removed from the cross and moved to a tomb made by Joseph. According to the book this tomb that was supposedly built by Joseph for his family was indeed intended to save jesus. As Joseph and his family lived far away and building a family tomb so far away made no sense ..unless it was built to save jesus. The theory then states that the burial of jesus was in fact incomplete, according to the eyewitness account of john. He had previously been witness to the burial of Lazarus and therefore understood the jewish method of burial. In the case of jesus this was very different, it was incomplete becasue he was not being buried but being 'healed'. Jesus upon being packed with aloe,oil and myrth was wrapped in the cloth to help heal his wounds..which were still bleeding. After jesus had regained consciousness he was escorted away by joseph and nicodemus. The authors explain there was no guard at the tomb to prevent this because it is highly unlikely that the romans would have complied to such an unusual request.

Upon his regaining of consciousnous they helped jesus from the tomb and then he was dressed in gardners clothes to help disguise him. This is where mary magdalene mistakes jesus for a gardner. The theory states that it would be likely for her to mistake him as he was badly beaten and his faced was bruised and discoloured from the aloe and mirth cocktail. After this the authors state that jesus was then taken away by the essenes and recovered in a settlement with them. After a period of time he came back to see his disciples and he revealed himself again, but in a bodily form. It is said that he ate with them to show them that he was indeed a body and not a spirit.

The Turin shroud is the underlying key to the hypothesis that jesus survived the crucificion. As it has a great many details about the person that was wrapped in it. The shroud itself is very carefully tracked through history by the authors in immmense detail. The shroud is said not to be a forgery it is said to be indeed a genuine article, which held the still living body of christ. The authors present a very valid case why this is so.

According to the authors the dating of the shroud that reveals its medieval background was definitely rigged. There are way too many discepancies and inconsistencies in the stories of ALL involved that make this book so wonderfully compelling. Why did they rig the test?? What was there to hide? Was the Vatican involved? The authors state that the central pauline theme of christianity which declares that christ died on the cross was in jeapordy. Therefore the Vatican fearing this participated in the fixing of the dating tests with the carefully selected scientists who would participate. The authors mention something of great interest in that one of the scientists had a book that was being sold BEFORE the official dating test results were released. In which the scientist told of the shround's medieval history. The authors then state How would he know this BEFORE the test were completed??? And why did he say it was a medieval relic and not one from say the 600AD?? very interesting indeed..

It is not an easy read as their are hundreds of quotes, people and facts that need to be absorbed. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to all. Obviously those of the christian faith may be somewhat disturbed by what they read but if taken with an open mind an excellent case has been formed.

Whether it is all true or not that will come down to the individual..nevertheless it is a great book one sure to stir emotions and spark debate..READ IT!!

Holger Kersten is known for his book Jesus Lived in India which was published about ten years ago and updated in 1994. I remember reading some of that book several years ago and being absolutely unimpressed by his so-called evidence that Jesus had traveled to India at some time. His new book The Jesus Conspiracy is a little more creditable, but not much. His main thesis is that the Vatican rigged the 1988 carbon dating test of the SHROUD OF TURIN to show a medieval date for the origin of the shroud. Kersten believes the SRHROUD to be the authentic burial cloth of Jesus, but that it shows that Jesus was still alive when he was taken from the cross (due to evidence of blood flow). So Kersten believes the Catholic Church wants to cover up the shroud's authenticity, therefore they rigged the carbon test, substituting cloth from a 13th Century knight's head-dress for the cloth from the shroud.

Actually, he does a pretty good job of pointing out the many irregularities and inconsistencies of the test, up to a point. Then he gets into a long and garbled account of his high-tech examination of the photos of the various shroud samples as compared with a photo of the shroud itself, where the cutting was done. He attempts to prove that the photo of the cloth sample that was received by the Oxford carbon-dating facility could not have been cut from the shroud, due to differences in the weave, etc. However, by examining the photos provided in the book (plates 12 and 14),I found several points of similarity--i.e., a raised thread at the same place on the cloth, etc.--convincing enough for me that the Oxford cloth was cut from the shroud.

Kersten provides a computer-enhanced overlay comparison in plates 27 and 28, but the Oxford photo has been printed with the negative reversed (!), making any real comparison impossible. I don't have a clue whether this was purposeful or an oversight.

As for the possibility of blood flowing from a dead body, this has been discussed in other books; for example The Crucified.

I thought of a half-baked theory that might explain the lengthy waffling of the Catholic Church before the carbon test: it gave them time to secretly carbon-test the shroud themselves, perhaps using various methods. When they discovered that that accelerator mass-specrtromotholomometry method gave a consistent medieval date, they allowed that method for the actual test. Perhaps the Church felt that there was too much emphasis on the SHROUD, and wanted the whole matter to die down a bit, whatever their beliefs about its authenticity. The Church is based on faith, after all, which is something not necessarily subject to scientific scrutiny.

Despite its many faults, The Jesus Conspiracy makes for some interesting reading--but take it with a grain of salt!

I've read a variety of books dealing with similar mysteries, and this is certainly one of the more entertaining and interesting of that genre. However, the authors fall into the fairly typical track of getting extremely excited about their "discovery," and then analyzing the evidence to prove their theory. One of the most telling, and irritating, examples of this is their reliance on the specific words used in the Gospels. Even the oldest manuscripts we have of the gospels are copies and translations, so relying heavily on certain words, and giving them sub-textual meaning, is hardly "evidence" of any kind of conspiracy. Also suspect is their quickness to dismiss alternate accounts of events from other Gospels, simply ignoring their sources as either not being in on the "secret," or having gotten their information second hand.

That being said, this is still a great read if you can keep your eye out for the corners that are being cut.

Perhaps one may assess the value of this book by the almost palpable *silence* emanating from *any* branch of the media with regard to its contents: It's hot stuff!! Perhaps *too* hot, even for a media which is generally perceived as "liberal."

For hundreds of years the Church, though never "officially" claiming the Santa Sindone (Holy Shroud) to be burial cloth of Jesus Christ, paraded this cloth in such a manner as to make it quite obvious that, indeed, the Church had a position: The Santa Sindone belonged to Christ, and represented the "truth" of the divinity and ressurrection of Jesus Christ.

Then came Holger Kersten! In his book, Kersten reveals that the bloodstains and markings on the Santa Sindone show NOT that Christ died, but that he SURVIVED the crucifixion.

Kersten covers every aspect of the Santa Sindone: Its interest to modern science; it's facinating and intricate history; the murky events surrounding the crucifixion ! itself; and a deep conspiracy he believes emanates from the highest authorities in the Vatican. And he does it all in stunning *detail.*

This book is must reading!!

The authors are really informative in their investigation of the possible shell-game involving the (possible) samples of the Shroud used to perform the now-half-doubted C-14 "datings."

They are also on the money in lining up their theory (Jesus didn't really die) as a direct conflict to the doctrine of the resurrection.

However, they don't really face a realistic question. If Jesus lapsed into a coma (part of a deceitful plan) and was wrapped in a pre-ordered Shroud and lain in a specially-bought tomb; and if he somehow revived and lied to his followers, claiming to have died and rose again...

How could this beaten, blood-drained, bruise-covered wreck of a man convince ANYBODY that he was the supernaturally Risen Lord of Life?

The authors are also not honest when they say that Jesus did not predict his own substitutional death, and when they say that he did not predict his own literal resurrection from a literal death. These ideas were not inserted by that wacky ol' Paul. These ideas are also to be found in the Old Testament and, again, in the very words of Jesus.

No -- "demythologise" Him not --
He is no Holy Lie --
He needs no higher critic's mind --
He lived -- did truly die --

He bled upon an actual cross
Laid in a very grave --
And on That Day He lived again --
To know Him -- this is brave!


Do YOU dare to be this brave? You CAN know him.

I would give the authors five stars for their insightful research and their intriguing theory. However, I would give them only one star for their grand assumption. The authors assume all along that they are investigating the historical case of Christ Jesus.

Their research concludes that whomever was enwrapped in the shroud, hadn't died and was still alive when the shroud was removed. Except for the body's identity, the author's research and conclusions could be mostly correct. However, I seriously doubt that this particular shroud ever held the body of Christ Jesus. The Bible indicates that Jesus' burial linen clothes consisted of at least two pieces.

It's amazing when researchers will utilize some parts of the Bible to bolster their claims, but will ignore other parts which refute their claims, such as...

"Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself." John 20:6,7. KJV

I was studying to be a priest when I first read this book, now I have no religion but for this I am glad. It is an honest look at history and an interseting read. Only one problem though, for those of you who have read it, page 293 proves the shroud to be a fake because the blood on the feet are flowing in the wrong direction. Besides this one minor problem the book is an excellent source of truth and on of my most prized possesions.

I have many philosophy and theology books. This is one of the very most important books I have read. It is intriguing how the Church is set atop a single slender pillar, so that such evidence as this threatens to bring the whole institution crashing down upon everyone's heads.

It seems that just as the novelty of Abraham is that he did *not* follow through with the custom of killing his firstborn son as in the ancient religions that God so strongly condemns, so does God indicate that he is *willing* to kill his son to allow *our* power of rulership -- but does not need to actually follow through by killing Jesus. From ancient human sacrifice, Christianity rises up to the level of purely gestural, symbolic, substitutive, *mock* sacrifices. There is rich material here for a drastic revision of theology, though this book concentrates on proving that Jesus was alive when taken down from the Cross. It is interesting how the authors are not able to propose why Jesus willingly gave himself into the hands of the worldly government. After reading this book I concluded that Jesus' mission was to prop up belief in and commitment to moral agency and personal human responsibility, despite God's omnipotence; to prop up the illusion of moral agency, Jesus supported popular belief in resurrection, while also giving clues for others that our resurrection and moral punishment or reward is a psychological need (part of our personal self-control system) rather than a warranted hypothesis.

Kersten and Gruber have exploded the institutional half-truths and outright lies that have revolved around the Shroud of Turnin for centuries. With a meticulous scientific chronology the authors lay out the facts supporting the contention that the famous Shroud is genuine. Then they destroy the veracity of the carbon dating fiasco sponsored by the highest reaches of the Vatican. Required reading for anyone interested in the factual history of Jesus Christ and the Shroud of Turin.