The Virgin Mary Conspiracy: The True Father of Christ and the Tomb of the Virgin [Paperback]

Graham Phillips (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2005

A convincing and cogent argument refuting the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Church dogma and revealing the true father of Jesus

• Provides historical and archaeological evidence of a tomb of the Virgin Mary

• Introduces the theory that Jesus's father was Antipater, son of Herod

What became of the Virgin Mary after the Crucifixion is one of the greatest mysteries of the Bible. Although it appears nowhere in the Bible, the belief in the Assumption-Mary's bodily ascension into heaven-is accepted by many Christians as historical fact. Some, however, believe that Mary died naturally and was buried in a tomb in Jerusalem's Valley of Jehosaphat. Others say that her final resting place was in the Roman ruins of Ephesus in Asia Minor.

In 1950 Giovanni Benedetti, an archaeologist attached to the Vatican museum, found a fourth-century manuscript indicating that Mary had been smuggled out of Palestine to an island off the west coast of Britain. According to Benedetti's findings, England's first Bishop, St. Augustine, discovered Mary's tomb there in A.D. 597. The reigning pope, Gregory the Great, forbade St. Augustine to speak of this, initiating a conspiracy of silence that lasted 1,400 years. Similarly, as Benedetti was about to publish his findings, he was instructed by the Vatican to discontinue his research. Soon after, the Roman Catholic Church declared the Assumption dogma.

In The Virgin Mary Conspiracy Graham Phillips unravels the truth behind this centuries-old ecclesiastical cover-up and discovers what may be Mary's final resting place. During his extensive research Phillips also discovered another controversial theory revealing that Jesus was the son of Antipater, the son of Herod, and therefore the true heir to Herod's throne, thus explaining his title of "King of the Jews."

Editorial Reviews

Review

Qetesh, TCM Reviews, Dec 2005 : "This book is an amazing read with revelations that have been suppressed for centuries. The historical research is extensive and fascinating."

From the Back Cover

ANCIENT MYSTERIES / CHRISTIAN STUDIES

What became of the Virgin Mary after the Crucifixion is one of the greatest mysteries of the Bible. Although it appears nowhere in the Bible, the belief in the Assumption--Mary’s bodily ascension into heaven--is accepted by many Christians as historical fact. Some, however, believe that Mary died naturally and was buried in a tomb in Jerusalem’s Valley of Jehosaphat. Others say that her final resting place was in the Roman ruins of Ephesus in Asia Minor.

In 1950 Giovanni Benedetti, an archaeologist attached to the Vatican museum, found a fourth-century manuscript indicating that Mary had been smuggled out of Palestine to an island off the west coast of Britain. According to Benedetti’s findings, England’s first Bishop, St. Augustine, discovered Mary’s tomb there in A.D. 597. The reigning pope, Gregory the Great, forbade St. Augustine to speak of this, initiating a conspiracy of silence that lasted 1,400 years. Similarly, as Benedetti was about to publish his findings, he was instructed by the Vatican to discontinue his research. Soon after, the Roman Catholic Church declared the Assumption dogma.

In The Virgin Mary Conspiracy Graham Phillips unravels the truth behind this centuries-old ecclesiastical cover-up and discovers what may be Mary’s final resting place. During his extensive research Phillips also discovered another controversial theory revealing that Jesus was the son of Antipater, the son of Herod, and therefore the true heir to Herod’s throne, thus explaining his title of “King of the Jews.”

GRAHAM PHILLIPS is the author of The Templars and the Ark of the Covenant, Atlantis and the Ten Plagues of Egypt, and The Chalice of Magdalene. He lives in the Midlands of England.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Bear & Company (March 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591430437
• ISBN-13: 978-1591430438
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,218,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful journey, November 19, 2004

By 

Sara (LA, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Virgin Mary Conspiracy: The True Father of Christ and the Tomb of the Virgin (Paperback)

I read this book when it was first published in England and I cant wait for this new edition. It is exceptionally well written and involves the author's personal quest to discover the truth about the Virgin Mary. In addition to discovering what may have been her grave, Graham Phillips offers a beautifully described journey through the Holy Land to rediscover the life of Mary from her infancy in Jerusalem, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and her days married to Joseph in Nazareth. The author not only introduces his reader to the historical sources that survive concerning life in first-century Palestine, he also visits the sites associated with Christ's family and followers, accompanied by archaeologists who reveal the latest findings regarding the Gospel stories. Graham himself starts his journey as a sceptic but as his adventure continues he finds compelling evidence to show that Christ and his mother where historical figures (something that many modern historians have questioned).

This book has to be read by anyone who doubts the Bible story is true and also by Christians, as it is a wonderful guide book to the sites associated with the New Testament and the latest archaeology that has been carried out at them. They should not be put off by the word "conspiracy" in the title. This refers to a conspiracy that the author suggests took place in the Vatican to conceal the whereabouts of the Virgins "true" tomb. This is not your usual conspiracy theory book.

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Other Mary, May 28, 2005

By 

Kerri Merron (Detroit) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Virgin Mary Conspiracy: The True Father of Christ and the Tomb of the Virgin (Paperback)

There has been a great deal written about Mary Magdalene recently, after the success of Dan Brow's Da Vinci Code, but very little has been written about the other biblical Mary - the mother of Christ. For anyone who wants to learn about the history of the Virgin Mary in Christian tradition, this book is a mine of information. It is also an informative guide to the people, places and events of the Gospels. I'm not too sure if Dan Brown fans will agree with Mr. Phillips' suggestion that the Grail legend was tied up with Jesus' mother, but it is a new angle on the enigma that I have not come across before. There are quite a few leaps of faith in this book, but to his credit the author does admit that this was a personal quest rather than an academic exercise. It is a well written, though speculative book that proposes some original and fascinating ideas.

30 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally--a Jesus story not scripted by Walt Disney, April 22, 2005

By 

Tom Holzel "Tholzel" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Virgin Mary Conspiracy: The True Father of Christ and the Tomb of the Virgin (Paperback)

The most off-putting aspect of the gospel stories of Jesus' life is that they are so badly scripted. In Sunday school, I remember watching wretchedly produced movies of "The Life of Jesus" in which an Aryan actor would posture in front of a bunch of extras who seemed to have been herded onto the set. They stood around like commuters, stuperously waiting for the bus while God's gift to a sinful world orated like a man hawking newspapers. This can't be real I suspected then, at age 15, because none of what these people did in them seemed real. If he were the savior, then his followers would be entranced. But in those films where they were entranced, they should not look like Soviet Workers poster children.

In one of several masterpieces of historical deduction, Graham Phillips, has blown off the clammy fog of hagiography and described the Jesus legend in a way that rings instantly authentic. His first stunning discovery is the biological father of Jesus; his source for this revelation is the gospel accounts themselves. How could a poor humble carpenter win Pontius Pilate's agreement that "there is no fault in him" to Jesus' otherwise suicidal claim to be King of the Jews? There is only one possible answer: Jesus was the son of Antipater, who himself was the son of Herod. And Herod had been appointed King of the Jews (i.e., ruler of Palestine) by no less than Augustus, Emperor of Rome.

As Antipater's son, Jesus was not a humble carpenter's apprentice, but of royal blood. Antipater's wife, Mirimne (Greek for Mary) was also of high stature. (This startling recasting of their actual origins also explains why Jesus' brother, James, could be the high priest of the Temple in Jerusalem.)

Phillips leaves the astonishing implications of Jesus' high-born lineage rather too quickly, because he is on another spur. But that alone is certainly fodder for an entire recasting of the gospel stories (See, for example: http://www.velocitypress.com/pages/Religion.php )

By skillful reading and brilliant exegesis, Phillips seems to have discovered that after the crucifixion, Mary and her second husband Joseph left the Middle East and traveled to England. This sounds a fantastic claim, but travel to all of Europe was well-established even then, and England was a major mining land, selling lead and iron to much of the world. The records show that St. Augustine traveled to Britain, and reported back that a thriving Christian community existed there, including several references to a mysterious Holy Grail. Unlike the myriad fabrications (e.g., Holy Blood, Holy Grail, The DaVinci Code) Phillips sticks to the facts. His central thesis: Mary, the mother of Jesus, traveled to Britain and died there. Her grave site is now known but as yet unexcavated. No one seems particularly interested to put the question to the test. No Catholic is interested because their 19th Century dogma asserts that Mary, too, ascended bodily into heaven, and you are not permitted to believe otherwise.

Phillips' great strength is not in amassing large lists of footnotes-all the charlatans have discovered that trick. His skill is in thinking about what facts mean, rejecting those that don't fit, and placing the rest in the correct order. The result is so startling, the Orthodoxy will not even arch an eyebrow of interest. Meanwhile, the rest of us have an intellectual feast of epicurean proportions.