13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Decoding the New Testament, September 25, 2008
This review is from: King Jesus: From Egypt (Kam) to Camelot (Paperback)
The latest book by author Ralph Ellis, "King Jesus", is nothing less than a tour de force. Ralph marshals a compelling case that the New Testament Saul and the Jewish historian Josephus are one and the same person. The claim may sound preposterous, but the reasoning behind the claim is what is important (one reviewer seems not to have understood this simple fact). In fact the author could have rested his case on the Saul-Josephus connection after the second chapter, but he continues to build the case throughout the book.
Other claims are made as well (which I won't go into as others have already mentioned them), but the author painstakingly and methodically builds his case for each claim--he works for his conclusions, he doesn't just assert them. The claim that Jesus cum King Arthur was exiled to the Deva Victrix fortress (which relies mainly on the author's analysis of the anomalous Zodiac arcurate found at that site) is mainly speculation--as the author admits. However, this is a setup for Ralph's next book and a La Brea tar pit for unsuspecting critics (he knows more than he lets on). Ralph likes to play his cards close to the vest as he did when introducing the Saul-Josephus connection in "Jesus, Last of the Pharaohs".
While connecting the dots and decoding the New Testament, the author displays brilliant scholarship and a very engaging writing style. He is a bona fide writer--and a very talented one at that.
In short, "King Jesus" is a damn good read!
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding Scholarship AND Impressive Lateral Thinking!, December 3, 2008
This review is from: King Jesus: From Egypt (Kam) to Camelot (Paperback)
First, I'd like to say that I have read every book published by Ralph Ellis - cover-to-cover in detail, and all the appendices. They are that good. It is like reading an excellent mystery novel, except this is history! Outstanding scholarship, AND impressive lateral thinking.
(By the way, the chronologically first reviewer had no sense of Ellis' work. He skimmed for trivia, without wrapping his head around the larger issues surfaced in this book. He even admits only reading the first few pages. He is either a 'plant' for the orthodoxy, or a 'born again' type. The other reviewers cleave more to the true 'flavor' of the book.)
Now, to this book. Basically, Ellis states how his thinking was in his Acknowledgments page. "[This book] was intended as a joint effort on the subject of Saul-Josephus, but no agent or publisher was forthcoming and the project stalled. However, the concept still looked worthwhile, so I built it into an investigation into the entire New Testament."
With apologies to Ellis for 'reading him', this is probably what happened: Ellis did his usual excellent work, this time extending his earlier material on Saul-Josephus. The results clearly exposed some major inconsistencies in Biblical history. Various 'agents or publishers' took a look at his material, said "Oh, my God!", and either backed away slowly or ran screaming into the woods. They knew what a can of worms he was presenting them with. (Assuming no Orthodoxy freezeout.)
Ellis was then presented with either canning the project or making it acceptable in some way. I presume that he chose to 'water it down' or 'disguise it' by wrapping it in the Jesus and Grail materials (which DO provide much to think on). But, the really explosive and provable content remains the Saul-Josephus 'core'.
For anyone who allows themselves to think deeply about this, the Saul-Josephus identity should be both highly enlightening and troubling. This one man, who may have been a Roman agent since early in his career, has been responsible for much of the shaping and 'information flow' of his version of Christianity (or what Ellis calls 'Simple Judaism'). With the near-extermination of the original Jesus/James side (at the hands of the Roman legions), Saul-Josephus had a near free hand.
(Although Ellis does not speak of this, I feel that Saul-Josephus was unlikely to have been 'alone' in his later career. As Saul/Paul or Josephus, he was probably accompanied or even 'coached' on what he could speak or write. Remember, if he was not already a deep-cover Roman agent from his early days, he was a top Judaic general who had turned quisling against his own people. He was in a very vulnerable position. He was also [intentionally or not] one of the few top-level survivors of the day. If you were a Roman emperor or Roman intelligence officer, would you have failed to make use of this fabulous asset?)
Ellis does a virtually watertight proof that Saul and Josephus are the same person. His comparison list of the two lives (especially in the details) leaves any fair reader with no doubt. Other details from many sources corroborate the point. This is the true 'core' of the book.
Other 'gems' for me were: A real sense of how royalty moved, jousted, or intermarried (including spoils of war) in those times. A real sense of the region east of the river Jordan (Aurania, Bethanya, etc.) that has been mostly ignored or distorted in the Bible. A 'heads up' on the very unusual Dewa Victrix (Roman) fort at Chester, England. A sense (in continuation of his other Egyptian research) of how there is likely an underground stream of "heirs to the theology of Pharaoh Akhenaton and perhaps even bloodline descendants too" extending through Jesus and at least to Roman Emperor Elagabalus.
One cautionary note: Readers may not like some of what they read about Jesus' revised family history. If true (and Ellis makes a good case), Jesus' grandmother (Thea Muse Ourania, or Cleopatra of Parthia) was a real badass. She was given to the King of Parthia (Persia), Phraates IV, and had a son, Phraates V or Phraataces. Then, she "managed to manipulate the aristocracy into excluding all the king's other sons from the succession bar her own, and have them sent to Rome as hostages." Oh, and she also murdered (with or without help) her husband, Phraates IV, and then married her son, Phraataces. The latter was an Egyptian custom, but decidedly not Parthian. So, as a result of all of the above, the Parthian aristocracy raised an army and persuaded/drove Jesus' grandmother, son, and entourage westwards out of Parthia. Quite a black widow.
About the only minuscule criticism of the book (as mentioned by another) I have is that - while spell-checked - there are about a dozen cases where a sentence, if read through, has an obvious flaw (contradicts an earlier sentence, wrong name, etc.). These are easily unraveled by a conscious reader. I expect them to be gone in a later edition.
In summary, this is a must-read. If you are at all conscious, it will bring up quite a few feelings and a desire to know more. I recommend it highly. A slight caveat: You will get a better 'flavor' of the huge scope of the research by reading at least some of Ellis' other books first, although this is a true stand-alone.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"King Jesus..." way worth the read!, August 1, 2008
This review is from: King Jesus: From Egypt (Kam) to Camelot (Paperback)
Author Ralph Ellis has certainly impressed me with his exhaustive research and solid logic in most of his conclusions. Ellis is a great non-fiction storyteller and keeps the reader's interest moving along nicely.
The first half delves into the characters of Saul (St. Paul) and the 1st-century historian, Josephus Flavius, who both appear, through their identical families, travels, trials/tribulations, and writing styles, to have been the same individual. This section of the book also uncovers other 'Biblical' identities and offers an alternative, yet more plausible, timeline for New Testament events.
The second half begins by inspecting a 1st-century Roman garrison in Chester, England, containing a fountain in the center of a zodiacally-oriented Temple and separate bath quarters for a special 'exiled' prisoner of the Roman Empire; unusual in that it was built using the Thoth-cubit. Ellis then connects all the historical records and finds King Jesus of Gamala, his wives Mary & Martha, and the 12 Disciples engaged in the Jewish Wars, which ended with the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 A.D. John the Baptist, however, was beheaded in 33 A.D., according to the book's new timeline for Jesus.
Anyone interested in Grail lore should read Ellis' deconstruction of this saga in the book. His speculative arguments in favor of the King Jesus/King Arthur/wounded Fisher King characters, and how these 'myths' are linked to ancient Egyptian traditions, are on target. I do believe Jesus must have been the grandson of Cleopatra VII and Marc Antony, as Ellis suggests, in order to have the claim to the INRI/King of the Jews title.
A great read-- I've already read it twice on vacation! Highly recommended; Four & a half stars, points removed only for poor proofreading by Ellis' editor, though I am available!
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