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31 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing and interesting Book on Details of Life of Jesus, March 1, 2007
This review is from: The Mystical Life of Jesus: An Uncommon Perspective on the Life of Christ (Hardcover)
I am so very glad that Sylvia's publisher encouraged her to write this book, because most of us Christians are fascinated by the life of Yeshua and those surrounding him, including Mother Mary, and especially Mary Magdelene, two individuals that we know very little about from the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke-Acts and John. Her book goes to great detail and length to explain the role of Mother God in the life of Yeshua, and how he came to die on the cross in an interesting and refreshing style. It also clearly explains the split in the church between the Jewish Christians, the Gnostic Christians and the Pauline Christians and the differences in philosophy in an interesting manner. I loved the book and could not put it down. I started it at 10 pm and had to finish it in the next four hours, which is possible because her writing style is interesting, exciting and clear--not difficult or scholarly.
In any case the one thing which she did not explain well, and I see it in many comments on reviews of her book on Amazon, is that people are concerned that Mother God is not mentioned in the bible, but this is not entirely accurate. She is, because the most popular name for God in the bible is "Elohim", mentioned some 2500 times, and it is derived from "Eloah" meaning Goddess with a masculine ending. The article used before it is gendered fe/male plural, with Hebrew being a gendered language, unlike English. Another word for god is "El Shaddai" which means the "mighty breasted one" and is gendered female. She forgot to mention this, so I thought this might help everyone better understand where the Mother God in her book comes from, or at least according to the bible. The unfortunate thing about this language interpretation, is only few biblical and intellectual scholar are aware of this, with the bulk of translations of the bible having been done by promoters of a patriarchal religion, which Sylvia does mention quite frequently in her book, but perhaps not always as completely as she should.
In any case, the details of the life of Yeshua and the holy women are amazing and it explains the strong existence of the Cathars in France for many decades in early Christianity.
Sylvia has once again, done a wonderful and credible job in promoting a loving, caring and nurturing Mother and Father God in this book who assisted and supported a Messiah throughout a long and notable life.
The book expands upon other books such as the Tomb of God and the Da Vinci code, which it is not incompatible with. These are also books I would highly recommend on this subject with the exception that the Tomb of God is much more scholarly and drier than reading Sylvia Browne. Another good series that is similar to the content of this book are the Essene Gospels of Jesus by Dr. Szekeley and Edgar Cayce's book on Jesus, which again, reaffirm the statements made by Slyvia in this book.
She also states in her book that much more archeological evidence will be uncovered in the next few years that will more clearly establish the fact that Yeshua survived the crucifixion, lived to have children, and Mary Magdelene was in fact instrumental in spreading his work and gospels.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Francine's "Life of Jesus", May 15, 2008
This book follows the life of Jesus as told by Francine, a "spirit guide" that has been "advising" Sylvia Browne for the past 60 years. If you can read this far and not turn away, then you might want to know that a lot of what Ms. Browne claims is not so far fetched. Indeed, comparing Francine's version of Jesus life with my own, told in my 2006 book Jesus Who?, you'll find that we agree on many things -
- Jesus' family wasn't poor
- Joseph was the true father
- There was no virgin birth
- Jesus was born in June
- Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married
- The wedding at Cana is Jesus' wedding
- John the Baptist was an Essene
- Jesus studied with the Essenes, but was no a card-carrying member
So apparently this information is out there for historical research, although I envy Ms. Browne that she had someone who could tell her these things. It took me years of research to find them out.
Ms Browne (or shall I say Francine) and I disagree on a few points:
- She claims Jesus was born at the time of the census in Luke. Most scholars dismiss this as a decade or two too late, as Jesus is born while Herod the Great is alive (he died in 4 BCE) and the census took place in 6 CE.
- She claims Mary and Elizabeth are sisters. The gospels describe them as relatives.
- She says Thomas put his fingers in Jesus' wounds, but the gospels make it clear that Jesus merely offers, and Thomas is satisfied.
You can see that our agreements are far greater than our disagreements. Francine also tells us that
- Jesus spent his "lost years" travelling with his brothers to Turkey, Iran, Iraq, India, Tibet, Kashmir, and Egypt (it's certainly possible).
- Jesus survived the crucifixion by plotting with Pilate and Joseph of Arimathea (this part of her book makes no sense at all)
- Jesus, Mary, and their children lived out their life in France (also possible, though unlikely).
There is no historical value in this text, although the ideas can certainly be found elsewhere with the historical foundations. Nonetheless, the book is well written. It will appeal to people who believe in "spirit guides" and the occult. More "right-brained people" should probably give it a pass.
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50 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This Book Rings Of The Truth, December 14, 2006
This review is from: The Mystical Life of Jesus: An Uncommon Perspective on the Life of Christ (Hardcover)
I devoured this book over the space of two days. What Sylvia says rings of the truth for me. Even as a small child exposed to religion and the Bible I did not believe that Jesus was born of a virgin. He was mortal, blood, bone and flesh... If he was truly the biological son of an all powerful God how could he be mortal? So much of the bible does not make sense, many stories are told several times with conflicting details. Much of it is pure bunk. However, that does not change the fact that Jesus was the child of God (as we all are) and that he had a direct connection to God that he used to help people. This book reminded me of how great a man he was and how relevant his teachings are even today. This is a fascinating book - you may not agree with all of it but it will certainly make you think.
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