Join Amazon Prime and ship Two-Day for free and Overnight for $3.99. Already a member? Sign in.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
37 used & new from $4.17

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Grail Code: Quest for the Real Presence
 
 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get yours here.
 
  

The Grail Code: Quest for the Real Presence (Paperback)

by Mike Aquilina (Author), Christopher Bailey (Author) "THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT LONGING and desire-our longing for the unattainable, and our burning desire to attain it anyway..." (more)
Key Phrases: earthly glory, Holy Grail, Walter Map, King Arthur (more...)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

List Price: $15.95
Price: $12.44 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $3.51 (22%)
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Only 1 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want it delivered Tuesday, July 7? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
23 new from $8.60 14 used from $4.17

Frequently Bought Together

The Grail Code: Quest for the Real Presence + Signs and Mysteries: Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols + The Fathers of the Church, Expanded Edition
Price For All Three: $34.23

Show availability and shipping details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Mass of the Early Christians

The Mass of the Early Christians

by Mike Aquilina
4.7 out of 5 stars (17)  $11.16
The Fathers of the Church, Expanded Edition

The Fathers of the Church, Expanded Edition

by Mike Aquilina
4.7 out of 5 stars (18)  $10.94
Reasons to Believe: How to Understand, Explain, and Defend the Catholic Faith

Reasons to Believe: How to Understand, Explain, and Defend the Catholic Faith

by Scott Hahn
4.4 out of 5 stars (38)  $15.61
Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God

Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God

by Scott Hahn
4.7 out of 5 stars (11)  $10.94
The Catholic Verses: 95 Bible Passages That Confound Protestants

The Catholic Verses: 95 Bible Passages That Confound Protestants

by Dave Armstrong
4.2 out of 5 stars (20)  $13.57
Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The Nazis wanted it; Indiana Jones risked his life for it; and it plays a substantial role in the legendary stories of King Arthur. What is so intriguing about the Holy Grail, the cup that, according to Christian Gospel accounts, Jesus used at the Last Supper? Aquilina (v-p of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology) and writer Bailey attempt to answer this question. From medieval Christian piety to contemporary popular culture, the authors provide an intriguing historical study of the lore that arose around the Grail. Aquilina and Bailey believe that what draws people to search for the Grail has little to do with a cup, but rather the cup "[s]till represents that unfulfilled longing for the divine that all of us feel." They present a traditionalist perspective, which at times comes across as judgmental and even outright rude, using phrases like "coarse and ignorant louts," "hack writers" and "the wacky fringe" for ad hominem attacks on people they do not appreciate. The work would be stronger if Aquilina and Bailey had avoided such tactics and stuck to their historical pursuits. Still, readers looking for a conservative historical treatment of the Holy Grail will find much to appreciate. (May 15)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description
The Holy Grail stories possess a mysterious power that has seized human imagination for centuries. They tell of a great secret finally revealed, of surprising answers to the most profound questions, of a hidden mystery that satisfies our deepest longings. Writers, poets, artists, composers, and filmmakers have pursued the Grail for 1700 years. This great quest drives the legends of King Arthur, propels Indiana Jones' greatest adventure, and keeps us turning the pages of The Da Vinci Code.

All this makes the Holy Grail stories themselves something of a mystery. Why have these tales captivated humankind so thoroughly and for so long? They enthrall us, say the authors of The Grail Code, because these stories really do touch the deepest parts of our hearts. They are profound meditations on the human condition, showing humans at their most heroic and most vile--pointing us toward God's remedy for what ails us. The Grail Code is a literary and theological detective story that ends where the Grail legends began--in the room where Jesus gathered his closest friends for the last time, spoke blessed words, broke bread, and shared a sacred cup.

See all Editorial Reviews


Product Details

  • Paperback: 241 pages
  • Publisher: Loyola Press (May 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0829421599
  • ISBN-13: 978-0829421590
  • Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 4.9 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #642,803 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Inside This Book (learn more)


What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Grail Code: Quest for the Real Presence
80% buy the item featured on this page:
The Grail Code: Quest for the Real Presence 5.0 out of 5 stars (13)
$12.44
Signs and Mysteries: Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols
20% buy
Signs and Mysteries: Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols 4.3 out of 5 stars (6)
$10.85

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below.

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search
No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

 

Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
5 star:
 (13)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Looking for the Grail but finding the divine, June 13, 2006
By Julie D. (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
The subject seems daunting. Who really wants to read an entire book about the Holy Grail? Not me. How about a book looking for King Arthur? Hmmm, that's a bit more interesting but still no sale. At least, that is, until I was shown that we really are not merely talking about the grail or King Arthur but a much bigger story, something divine really. To quote the book:

"If there was a real Holy Grail -- a cup venerated by the early Christians as the cup used at the Last Supper -- then it would eventually have become so encrusted with jewels and precious metals from the far corners of the earth that the original object would be hard to recognize. The cup would have been unchanged in essence but surrounded by a superstructure of ornamentation designed to draw attention to the beauty of its holiness.

All this is simply speculation. In spite of the strong claims about some relics in various parts of Europe, we really have no idea what became of the cup that Jesus used. Whether or not the object still exists, the veneration and ornamentation that might have happened to the Holy Grail is exactly what did happen to the story of the Holy Grail. One generation after another added jewels from all kinds of unlikely sources until the thing seemed to have a completely different shape. But the essence -- the original meaning of the Eucharist -- was unchanged. The added layers of ornament only expressed centuries of veneration for the truth of the Eucharist..."

Interesting concept isn't it? Certainly it is one that never occurred to me but is fascinating in the implications. Just to make sure I don't lose the trail, the authors then go onto King Arthur and work the same magic ... making connections I didn't know existed. Again, quoting from the book:

"It's a lot of fun to chase bits of historical evidence hither and yon, and to pounce on them when they seem to support our favorite theory. But to us, the historical truth about King Arthur is almost irrelevant. What's much more important is what people have believed about King Arthur for most of the last millennium and a half.

The story of King Arthur is the story of the creation of a terrestrial paradise -- a paradise that was destroyed by sin. It is also a story of longed-for redemption, the hope that some miracle could restore the perfect world that sin destroyed."

Wow! I'm just at the beginning of this book but can assure you that it is neither boring nor difficult to read. I'm sure more excerpts will follow as I follow the interesting historical trail the authors have laid out for us in this book.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Not really an anti-Da Vinci Code book, June 24, 2006
Although the introduction, chapter 1, and the afterword deal with modern focus on the Holy Grail, The Grail Code is much more vibrant in the chapters that deal with how the legend of the Holy Grail came to flourish and grow, than in those brief passages.

Starting with the history and legends surrounding Joseph of Arimathea and King Arthur, and detailing the bardic traditions of idealizing romantic and courtly love, Aquilina spells out, step by step, how what basically started as a 'pop fiction romance' grew to be the obsession we experience today.

What Aquilina considers to be the true meaning of the obsession with the Grail--the need to experience the Real Presence of Christ, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the Eucharist as celebrated in the Catholic Church--is also emphasized. Non-Catholics will probably not agree with his theology, but don't let that stop you from experiencing this amazing literary history.

Warning: The Grail Code may turn out to be just the beginning of your quest--you'll need access to a well-stocked library to read all the interesting books (including translations of all the various 'original' versions of the Grail and Arthur legends) mentioned in the selected bibliography--and after finishing The Grail Code, you'll want to read them.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Love, sex, God, swordplay, December 19, 2006
By Penn Jacobs (Rutherford, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
  
One of my favorite books this year, Grail Code is the thoughtful answer to a question that has been on my mind for years, well before Dan Brown unleashed the merchandising behemoth that The Da Vinci Code became: namely, what is the core of the Arthur/Grail stories, and how do we understand the relationship of these stories to Christian culture? Mike Aquilina and Chris Bailey have done a bang-up job with this book. It's fun, with mock arthurian stylings in its chapter heads and allusions to such popular treatments as the 1981 John Boorman film Excalibur and 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Aquilina and Bailey highlight the changing contours of the legends in the hands of men like Chretien de Troyes, Walter Map, Sir Thomas Malory, and Alfred Lord Tennyson. They've turned the history of these romances into an engaging intellectual romance; they pull the reader in to a world that is much larger than he could ever have imagined. Aquilina and Bailey capture the sense of yearning that is the strong undercurrent of these stories. They liken the tale to a jewel-encrusted relic, a tale that grew in reverent retelling. Christian theology, British history, romance and adultery, this is a wide-ranging, romping read.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Presence of the Creator
Since the publication of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, there have been a number of excellent books refuting the historical inaccuracies that Brown asserted as facts. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Christian Book Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and engaging
Our family homeschools, and we're wandering through the Middle Ages this year. I just finished reading The Grail Code and then stayed up too late to finish wandering around the... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Karen Edmisten

5.0 out of 5 stars What I Expected and More
Having taken a course in Grail legends in college (so many years ago that the professor quite possibly knew Arthur), I was curious to see what the author's take would be on this... Read more
Published on September 30, 2006 by D. Ross

5.0 out of 5 stars A Moving Journey
It is unfortunate that The Grail Code will be seen by some merely as a work refuting The DaVinci Code. Read more
Published on June 29, 2006 by Matthew E. Bunson

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect overview of True Grail
In a world that is searching for a mestery and other explinations for the Grail, this book puts it all in perspective. Read more
Published on June 25, 2006 by William Henning

5.0 out of 5 stars Enough with the Conspiracies
"The Grail Code" by Mike Aquilina and Christopher Bailey is an excellent introduction to the medieval grail legends, tracing their development from Joseph of Arimathea to King... Read more
Published on June 19, 2006 by Jeremy Abel

5.0 out of 5 stars The Adventure of the Grail Legend
If the authors had done no more than present an historically accurate account of the grail legend, it would have enough. Read more
Published on June 12, 2006 by Paul C. Fox

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Detective Story for Finding the Holy Grail
This fascinating detective story shows us the quest for the Holy Grail and the meaning the quest continues to have. Read more
Published on May 25, 2006 by Teresa F. Bailey

5.0 out of 5 stars Read it and begin your quest
What is it about the Holy Grail that's so beautiful and compelling as to inspire knights, kings, and millions of readers for almost a thousand years? Read more
Published on May 15, 2006 by David Scott

5.0 out of 5 stars The Antidote to the DaVinci Code
Obviously there is a need for books which meticulously analyze and refute the fiction claiming to be fact in the DaVinci Code. Read more
Published on May 11, 2006 by Stephen D. Galvanek

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


   


Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)


So You'd Like to...


Look for Similar Items by Category


A Savings Shower

Home Improvement Value Center
Find the right showerhead at the right price in the Home Improvement Value Center, where you can find items up to 50% off.

Shop the Value Center

 

Big Savings in Books

Bargain Books
Find great titles at fantastic prices in our Bargain Books Store.
 

Buy Three Books, Get a Fourth Free

4-for-3 Books
Order any four eligible books under $10 and get the lowest-price book free in our 4-for-3 Books Store. See more details.
 

Best Books

Best of the Month
See our editors' picks and more of the best new books on our Best of the Month page.
 
Ad

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Where's My Stuff?

Shipping & Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue shopping: Top Sellers
Paranoia
Paranoia by Joseph Finder
Glenn Beck's Common Sense
Glenn Beck's Common Sense
Darkfever
Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

Conditions of Use | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates