Customer Reviews

Jesus the Man: Decoding the Real Story of Jesus and Mary Magdalene

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Let's assume you are not a literal Christian that cannot accept anything that would threaten the Jesus as God preaching. Otherwise, don't buy or even touch this book because it is blasphemy.

Ok, for those of you who can think for yourselves, give it a try. It is complex and takes a careful reading to follow what was a complex society in Qumran. Those scholars (with credentials) that have examined this book (and the others) have not found fault with her compilation of the data. As a scientist I'm impressed with her method which is careful and consistent. Her story makes more logical sense than any other Jesus story I have read (including the Bible). She may be right or wrong but she is definitely not a crackpot or whacko.

As for the duplication; the original "Jesus the Man" was not available in the US for many years because of pressure from Christian groups(according to the publisher). Since there is money to make riding on the Da Vinci Code phenomenon (which Thiering detests) another publisher has jumped in for the bucks.

Her other two books are easier to follow but this one is the core information.

Barbara Thiering has been marginalized by the traditional Biblical and Dead Sea Scroll scholars because she dares to fill in the missing spaces in the history of the Essenes. Where others only ask questions or avoid discussing issues that are contrary to accepted dogma, she brings to life the history of the times in which the Christian church was born. The logical assumption that Jesus was a man who was involved in the political as well as the spiritual issues of his time is validated by even a cursory knowledge of human nature. A mystic wandering the wilderness of biblical Palestine would not have attracted as much attention as a man who was involved in the social changes that were taking place at the time. The fact that his followers also had personalities and were involved in social / political issues is also overlooked by many Biblical scholars. The people involved in the ministry of Jesus were not mythological beings; they were real people whose lives also had an impact on the times. The relationship between Jesus and those who ruled ruled Palestine is also revealed in real-life terms, not in mystical suppositions.

In short, a knowledge of the Essene organization and the political structure of Roman dominated Palestine is essential to an understanding of the roots of Christianity and no-one does it better than Prof Thiering.

Read this in 1992, and bought it again recently. It's still whacko. That is except for one brilliant point that stuck in my mind all this time. The problem is she mentions it only in passing..and doesn't follow it to the obvious conclusion. Jesus, she suggests, was the Wicked Priest that is so vilified in the Dead Sea Scrolls. I think she's right.

Surely Barbara's clinical research about this great Man will be the catalyst for people to think more about the truth rather than continue to accept, without question, the countless stories!

The bible suddenly makes sense. The reality of Jesus' royal bloodline and the marriages of Joseph and Mary and then Jesus and Mary Magdalene make perfect sense as jesus the man literally jumps out of the pages of the gospels. Jesus is a King, not a God - but a visionary King who is determined to bring monotheism to the pagan roman world. Be prepared to do a lot of reading - there are three books in this series, and you should also read Elaine Pagel's books on the gnostic gospels and the secret gospel of thomas, and the gospel of mary magdalene. Once you have Dr Thiering's explanations "under your belt" you will be able to make sense of all of it - the politics, the miracles, the crucifixion...

This is not a book for those who will be disturbed by a re-appraisal of christianity. But for everyone else, this will be a revelation!

Let me put it this way, I was so overwhelmed with confusion in reading this material that I emailed Elaine Pagles, one of the more noted scholars on early church history and gnosticism and her reply said it all; that my intuition that something was amiss was quite correct.

This is a very fantasiful composition in rife with what would be glaring inaccuracies and mis-applied information (associations) even to the cursory student of scripture let alone those that have invested significant time in such studies. It is a highly disappointing contrivance that I would discourage any and all from perusing.

The author asserts that the 2000 year old Qumran scrolls, found in 1947 at the Dead Sea, include a coded testimony of Jesus and the first Christians. But her arguments are very weak. If you study the facts about the Qumran scrolls you might get the idea that the author just wanted to write an entertaining piece of fantasy literature.
She identifies for example the teacher of justice, mentioned in th scrolls, would be John the Babtist and argues that Jesus must have been married. The only unlucky thing is that C14 measurement has brought to our mind that these scrolls date back to times before Christ or John The Babtist lived!. To claim that Christianity is older than Christ seems to be a funny thing. Besides that everything what the Essenes who wrote the Qumran texts, believed, taught and practised was special. No other religious party, neither in Judaism nor in Christianity later, had same teachings or practises! The Essenes were waiting for 2 different Messiahs in difference to the Jews. They were even more strict with the Mosaic law than the Pharisees with whom Jesus bothered because of their blind piety. Example Lord`s supper: The blessing of bread and wine has nothing to do with the Christian supper, for it is common practise in Judaism to bless the food before the meal. Whether on Pesach or on Sabbath day. To pray before eating was practise. There is no parallel to the rites of the Essenes. Therefore the thesis is wrong that the Christians took something over from the Essenes.
The New Covenant of the Essenes was kind of renewal of the Covenant God made with Moses. It was about promises and commandments. The New Covenant in the New Testament is the Covenant of God to enable thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ all people to become justified through grace. It has therefore a totally different quality.
To ignore this is only possible by exercising violence to the facts and press them in one`s own think-system. Take a heap of knowledge, some witty thesis and make it spicy with some "it-is-all-the-church` s-mistake" and wrap it linguistically aptly in a Burger eatable by
"I-have-known-it-all-along"- consumer and there you have the best-seller. That is how it will go in our days. On top of the best-seller lists are the products of nonsense and soap literature. The main point is it sells, even if the truth factor is drifting towards zero!

It should be noted, as other reviewers have also pointed out, that `Jesus the Man: Decoding the Real Story of Jesus and Mary Magdalene' is the same book as `Jesus the man', which is the same book as `Jesus & the Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls'; all different ISBN's and publishers but essentially the same book; repackaging in trying to dodge the negative reviews of the past and trying to cash in on the Da Vinci $.

Thiering uses the pesher technique to try to prop up her works. A look at most other reviewers from those that have read her books, will tell you how flawed this technique is.

I think very little of the present author along with another writer, Laurence Gardner. They both contend that Jesus descended from the cross of which he was nailed and crucified to. Gardner goes that bit further and say's that Jesus Christ was drugged while on the cross until reviving post crucifixion. Both authors use this argument to then continue to say that Jesus lived the happy family life in begetting children. This then is Gardiner's cash cow, the power of the crucifixion to give the appearance of power via an imaginary blood line. Let's put the word 'Logic' on the cross instead. Even if you don't believe in Jesus Christ having been crucified, try to at least understand this. Crucifixion is a death sentence. You have a crowd of people watching and Roman soldiers doing the crucifying. You then have a body that is nailed to timber at the hands and feet. Added to all of this is the scourging that the Romans inflicted inclusive of the spear that pierced the side of Jesus, causing water and blood to gush out. According to scripture, Christ did return to walk this planet, but in a glorified state i.e. "Touch me not for I have not yet ascended". From an esoteric perspective, the mission of Jesus was an evolutionary pathway. According to esoteric wisdom, the need for a human partner would have been a necessity prior to Jesus' sacrificial mission. To insinuate Christs return to father children is preposterous.

So which is it, there is no proof of Christ ever existing, as most armchair internet theologians would try to tell you, or Christ died and came back and fathered children; all equally trying to devalue the mission of Christ in the spirit of Antichrist; the continued voice of the masses, which still cries to this day "Crucify him and give us the murderer Barabbas instead". Hardly the middle ground of Christ came as a sacrifice to die for the sins of humanity. Christ gives us the example towards spirit and spiritual ascension, while the ego with its desires, passions and lusts, stands in direct opposition to this.

This book deserves a 0 star rating. This is the worst book that I have ever read, a book full of unverified fabrications and outright lies. If you're into the Da Vinci code stuff, do yourself a favour and look for a book and author with more credibility, so as to not waste your time and money and to save filling your mind with useless dribble.