Customer Reviews

The Messianic Legacy

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

As a sequel to the book "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" you might expect a little something different then what you get out of this book. That is not to say this book is necessarily bad - just of a different type than its predecessor. (While being of a different type, it is of the same general theme.)

The book is, in some ways, three separate books. Part One concerns itself more with the time of Jesus and the idea of apocalyptic and Messianic thinking. Part Two concerns itself more with the modern "search for meaning" and how religion plays a part in this but that this, by necessity, brings back some of the Messianic thinking of Jesus' time. Part Three centers on an alleged secret society, the Priory of Sion. Even with these differences there is a thread that runs through the parts - namely that of providing an end to the "search for meaning" by the restoration of a dynastic bloodline via the use of Jungian archetypes. It just so happens that this dynastic bloodline happens to be that of the lineal descent of Jesus. The secret society comes in because they are planning to do just this, according to the authors - restore a bloodline from the Merovingian Kings that, in turn, is claimed to have been descended from Jesus.

All of it makes for interesting reading and I would say that Parts One and Two are, for the most part, very well put forth along with some social commentary that is thoughtful and well-put. (You can tell, if you have read "The Elixir and the Stone," that Bagient and Leigh's authorial hands are more in the first two parts than anywhere else.) What saddles this book, somewhat unfortunately, is Part Three which stands on much less stable ground than the material from the previous two sections. One complaint would be that while the first two sections are well written you are constantly waiting for the authors to finally make their point. You know they must have one and you can see they are groping towards it, but it is not really until Part Three that they finally just say what they want to say in any tangible fashion. Granted, all books of this nature have to have a set-up to a certain degree to posit their main point - but this one just seemed to drag on, particularly if you read "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" and pretty much knew where the ultimate destination was.

The problem is that the Priory of Sion has been mainly proven to be a hoax. It really did exist and Pierre Plantard really was its "Grand Master" but the problem is that the organization was never what Plantard claimed it to be, which is where the hoax comes from. A review like this is not the appropriate forum to divulge all those facts but needless to say the relevant documents have been published (although mostly in France). I recommend reading authors like Pierre Jarnac and Jean-Luc Chaumeil for the real story of the Priory of Sion, an organization that did not exist until 1956 and was only resurrected in name by Pierre Plantard for a brief time after the false reports of Noel Corbu. Thus the final goal of the book (showing the alleged plans of the Priory of Sion) is undermined. (Of course, if you were not aware of this fact the end of the book might give you a little fright, postulating, as it does, a conspiracy theory of somewhat epic proportions.) What this book will probably show you is that Henry Lincoln (and the other two authors) fell for the stories of Pierre Plantard and a group of people that wanted to seem more important than they were - basically a bunch of myth-makers and pseudo-royalists. This is even more telling when you realize that none of the authors, after this book, ever took up this theme again. Henry Lincoln's later books (The Holy Place and Key to the Sacred Pattern) pretty much avoid giving too much mention of the Priory of Sion in any great detail. Baigent and Leigh, for their parts, separated from this line of research and did not contribute any further with Henry Lincoln.

Beyond that, however, I would say the book is worth reading for the first two parts of it, which are very erudite in style. I would say that, regarding Part One, the authors do rely overly much on one particular researcher: Robert Eisenman. This is not to say that Eisenman's work is wrong or suspect - simply that you can tell they relied on him so much simply because his worked mirrored their own thoughts. One does not see a lot of dissenting views presented in the book that might cast doubt on the authors' theories as they are put forth. What is most unfortunate is that some of the well-stated ideas and concepts put forth in the beginning of the book may be marked as frivolous when one reads the latter portion of the book. My recommendation: take the good stuff at the beginning for what it is worth and be very skeptical of the conspiracy theory at the end. Do your research and you will find that the Priory of Sion really was nothing more than a few people's myth-making apparatus.

In the end, I had to give the book only three stars. The third star is because the first two parts of the book are really quite good when you remove them from the context of the conspiracy theory put forth in the third part.

I'm a bit baffled by the animosity expressed in the reviews of this book. I can only conclude that it is the result of poor marketing pulling in the wrong audience, since when I read the sensational cover blurbs I, too, almost put the book down. Upon committing and actually reading the work, however, I was pleasantly surprised and very much enjoyed the authors' perspectives.

Frankly, there was nothing terribly earth-shattering inside. The book is largely a plausible and enjoyable exploration of Jesus as Messiah with an attempt to clarify what a Messiah really was (& is). This includes some discussion of specific problems of translation and misinterpretation. While this is hardly revolutionary scholarship, I must admit that I appreciate having specific instances of ambiguity pointed out to me by someone in a position to translate. One example of this is the authors' discussion of the association of Jesus with Nazareth, a town that did not yet exist in his time. They conclude that this is actually a reference to "Nazarean", which would tie Jesus to a radical political sect of the time. This political aspect of the Messianic is also expanded to include fascinating but brief perspectives on other candidates, including Constantine, Napolean & Hitler.

There are interesting--if truncated--discussions of Christian history, providing a thread of continuity to what is typically presented as very spotty, periodic and localized events liberally dosed with mythology and agenda. I was particularly interested to discover the importance of the Celtic church as a repository of scholarship during the middle ages, something I was unaware of. In contrast to the other reviewers, I noticed no glaringly hideous inaccuracies in the authors' presentation. For instance and in direct rebuttal, some of the Christian churches definitely DO differ on points considered heretical by Rome. The Armenian and Coptic churches, for example, DID splinter off after the Nicean council condemned their theology as Monophositic heresy. This was an argument that was ALL about the divinity of Jesus, something near and dear to Paul's heart. Pointing this out doesn't make one a bad writer, anti-Catholic or an evil person.

The book also discusses the vacuum of--for lack of a better term--"spiritual resonance" in modern western culture and official religion. The authors discuss the role of art, religion, politics & myth in fulfilling the deep psychological human need for meaning. They deride the application of advertising to capitalize on this aspect of humanity for petty gains.

While potentially interesting, the allusions to Jesus' bloodline, the Prieure of Sion, Knights Templar & other secret societies seemed rather peripheral -- intended primarily to tie this book to their previous best-seller, Holy Blood, Holy Grail. The linkages are a bit strained, but since this seems to be where the authors think their bread-and-butter lies, I guess they had to throw in something, however vague.

This is a great read for anyone who is interested in an introduction to the fascinating field of biblical scholarship without the necessity of devolving into scriptural dogma. I would also recommend Umberto Eco for readable historical fiction with a massive dose of erudition related to the same issues.

When it comes to writing about history from 2000 years ago through the Dark Ages, a lot of speculation is necessary. Literacy was low so there weren't many written records to begin with, and the church, etc., had a lot of control over what information could be dispensed. As a result, a lot of speculation over this period is necessary. Baigent, et al., recognizing this, for part of the book examine Biblical history using the oldest surviving records as a basis point instead of church doctrine or the latest translation of a translation, etc, of a pieced together, largely edited, and largely oral history called the Bible. Therefore, while their speculations may be as historically sound as anyone else's, some will denounce them as blasphemous. The rest of the book then seeks to at least verify that their interpretations of the Bible have existed long throughout history by trying to determine the beliefs of certain secret societies who claim to be guardians of "The Truth".

However, now instead of being impaired so much by a lack of records, the authors are forced to speculate about the secret societies' beliefs. Despite tracking down sources within a secret society, the authors' job is made difficult by the fact that such societies not only keep their secrets secret, but also fractionalize, engage in internal political struggles and have their own debates about dogma.

Like Foucault's Pendulum, which this inspired, this book is ultimately a detective novel about various writers trying to get inside the minds of secret societies and running into various obstacles. It may dissapoint readers who want all their answers handed to them (and the authors don't even pretend to have them), but life is not that simple. Sometimes knowing what the right questions are is just as important. This is a fun, interesting, thought-provoking, mind-expanding book.

Baigent et al. open this title with a follow-up to their successful & controversial Holy Blood Holy Grail. The authors revisit ancient times further speculating upon Jesus's divinity and bloodline.
Then they go off on a lengthy tangential train of thought researching almost everything and anything in history before retying their thoughts together in the final third of the book.
Reading this I learnt much as I did reading their Holy Blood Holy Grail. However my patience did wane slightly wondering if they were ever going to cover the topics described on the back cover, or for that matter further discuss some of the societys mentioned earlier in this book or in their other title.

They finally do return to topics and themes readers familiar to this effusive collaboration have grown accustomed to, and in my opinion fulfill the promises made by their potential and the hype their works have accredited.

This volume I must confess I found overall less interesting, possibly because while the authors haven't become apologetic or revoked their earlier research they didn't add more controversy to their titles. Baigent and his co-author's aren't accused of towing the party line but only recovered the earlier revelations/theories without much expansion which I think was the only really hurtful factor to my enjoyment of this book.

Firstly, this book is much less coherent than "Holy Blood, Holy Grail." (If you did not read that book, do NOT buy this one. HBHG is a wonderful book, pseudo-history at it's best. ML assumes you know the theories laid out in HBHG). The first fourth of the book is just more "proof" of the authors' claims about Jesus. It adds the claim that Timothy was Jesus's twin and that Saint Paul distorted Christianity, but it's not all that interesting.

The second fourth is devoted to vicious (and now dated) attacks against President Ronal Reagan and American fundementalists. The authors, instead of criticising Reagen on his record, choose a barage of name calling.

The second half of the book is a masterpiece. It continues the Holy Blood, Holy Grail story by adding more information. Pierre Plantard figures prominently, and the Priere of Sion is made more "round." If you loved Holy Blood, Holy Grail you will almost love this book. Once you get the first half out of the way it is hard to put down. Though nothing "definitive" is reached, the conspiracy looks even better. When you finish it you wish the book was longer... parting with this book is "such sweet sorrow."

And as always, more cryptic mottos:

Et In Arcadia Ego...

Etats Unis d'Occident 1937-1946

Baigent has done it again. I didn't think he could surpass "Holy Blood, Holy grail" but he did. This book takes the discussion further. Do authors collaborate? I have just read the even more astounding "THE Autobiography of Jesus of Nazareth and the Missing Years" by Richard G. Patton. Patton has produced a real page-turner that seems to verify Baigent's work. Who would have thought anyone could produce a mystery thriller about the man we know as Jesus? "THE Autobiography.." does just that! These authors should be sold as a complete package since they each enhance the other. Thank God for authors like these that don't allow our 'presumed' knowlege to become stagnent. Buy this book soon.

Having been fascinated by the authors' The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, I had high expectations for this one. The first part of the book met these expectations, with a historical review of Judeo/Christian evolution.
Then came part 2...
The rambling and incredible bias presented in this section almost caused me to put down the book (despite the fact that I don't disagree with their opinions). It is editorialism at its worst and greatly detracts from the book.
Part 3 somewhat redeems the book, with a focus back on the Prieure de Sion, and the touch of historical journalism that made the first book so powerful.
If you can bring yourself to skim through (or skip altogether) the second part, the book is very recommendable. While I can sympathize with the authors' angst, it really detracts from the book's literary value, and creates a disjointedness making it hard to follow. That said, I gained much from the more factually stated portions of the book.

I purchased this book with some trepidation, why? Well I wondered whether the authors really needed to write this book, particularly as they had just republished The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail, or were they simply riding the crest of the wave of publicity surrounding the court case brought by themselves against Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown.

In fact this book does have new facts to compliment their previous efforts and new investigations into the society of the `Prieure de Sion' The Guardians of the Holy Grail. They also delve into the world of politics, Freemasonry and religion.

If you say it sincerely and with conviction you can make a lot of people believe a lot of things. I am not saying that the book is not factually accurate, only that it is down to the individual to put their own interpretation on to the facts that are placed before them. The thing about books like this is that if you do not read them you cannot form an opinion one way or the other.

This is the kind of book that you just can't pick up. After reading "Holy Blood,etc" and enjoying it immensely, I expected more of the same. Not so. Instead I got a loosely connected screed about the Bible, Christianity, and whatever the authors could come up with just to fill up the pages. Boring and very disappointing.

After the great success the first book of this "saga" had, Baigent Leigh and Lincoln made another step further. Saunière and his mystery is the starting point for a very interesting exploration of the hidden face of history. Using the usual British approach for history, the result is a book sometimes hard to read and not so much flowing, especially compared to Lincoln's "Key to the Sacred Patterns".
The history of a man escaping his common known fate and founding his own dinasty; the telling of obscure plot at the shadow of the church and much more can be found here.
A great companion to two other interesting books, Starbird's "The Woman With the Alabaster Jar" and Patton and Mackness "Web of Gold", the three writers deserve a very high position among those who wrote about Rennes le Château and all the things it involves.