Bloodline of the Holy Grail: The Hidden Lineage of Jesus Revealed (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

One of the most important developments of the last 50 years in religious studies has been the emergence of suppressed and forgotten texts and lore. A flood of new archeological knowledge and newly discovered ancient texts sheds unexpected light on the traditions of Christian worship. Into this flood, Gardner, who holds the office of the Jacobite Historiographer Royal of the Royal House of Stewart, would like to inject yet another revelation: the bloodline of Jesus Christ. According to Gardner, Jesus married Mary Magdalene, and she was pregnant with his child when he was crucified at Qumran, not Golgotha as it is usually thought. Mary delivered a male child before she and her son were spirited out of Palestine to France, where she died. This child became the scion of an amazing genealogy that terminates?surprise?in the House of Stuart. Furthermore, that house did not expire but flourishes to this day. This book is an amazing patchwork of scholarly trappings and dizzy tomfoolery stitched together with myth and fable until it fabricates the amazing argument that indeed the Crown of England properly belongs to the Line of David through Jesus Christ himself. This is exhilarating fantasy worthy of a great romantic novel.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

A controversial book based on sovereign and knightly archives of Europe and Templar and Vatican records asserts that Jesus Christ had children and his descendants are in the royal houses of Europe. $50,000 ad/promo. Tour.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 489 pages
• Publisher: Element Books; First Edition edition (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852308702
• ISBN-13: 978-1852308704
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #834,934 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Where is the Evidence?, May 19, 2000

By A Customer

When it comes to history, Joe Friday had the right idea, "just the facts." An intelligent person does not want to read a listing of someone's conclusions, he or she wants to see the evidence and make up his or her own mind. In reading "Bloodline" one question kept returning to my head, "where is the evidence?" Gardner makes plenty of assertions, conclusions, and claims, but the evidence is missing. When he does provide a footnote, it is more likely to contain another wild assertion of fact than a reference to the source of his statement. When the source of information is cited, it is too often an archive unknown to other scholars. If a genuine citation to a verifiable source (i.e. one that I can check out for myself) is provided, it is inevitably to some universally known fact that no one ever questions. For instance, the second and third paragraphs on page 43 contain a long discussion of the supposed role of John the Baptist in a supposed dispute between Jesus and his brother James over who was the Messiah. The lone footnote (#27)in these two paragraphs tells us that Zadok was High Priest under King David and the subject of an 18th century musical composition by Handel. Any educated person knows about Zadok and Handel, what I want to know is the source for Gardner's claims about the role of John the Baptist in a dispute between Jesus and James. You can search in vain for Gardner's source, he never provides it. This is only one example of the problem. Time and again, Gardner makes claims that completely challenge accepted facts without providing any citation that would allow the reader to check for himself or herself. Each time I saw a new claim, I would rush to see the source only to discover that there was no citation or that the citation pertained to an irrelevant or unrelated fact. When I read an assertion of fact that the author fails to substantiate with verifiable evidence (verifiable by anyone), I can only reach one conclusion. That conclusion is that the author did not provide substantiation because it does not exist.

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars House of Cards, February 26, 2000

By	David Gladstone (San Francisco,CA) - See all my reviews

Unfortunately, instead of adding a new perspective, or new and illuminating information, Gardner, has used the dubious theories of Barbara Thiering and married them to his agenda to promote a restored aristocracy for some defunct nobles, to create a new kind of Christian (and watered-down) messianism. There are so many mistakes in this book it is not even funny. He follows verbatim the proselytising Christianity of Fathers, Milik and DeVaux ofthe Scrolls team, referring to Qumram as a pre-Christian monastary. He repeats the anti-Semtic, content of the NT, without analysis and the necessary detective work to place it in the proper context. I have been to Qumram and walked on the plain of Moab, and my then admittedly uneducated perception was that there was a military spirit that ruled here along with the spiritual and moral components that are still so evident. The use of the word 'essenes' is distracting, because no one is sure of its meaning. Dr. Eisenman's guess is that it refers to 'Oseh ha Torah' or doers of the Torah. This is far more likely than Gardner's desperate attempt to graft his agenda onto the branch of the 'desposyni' or the family of Jesus. Gardner also creates a split between Jesus and James, which is fictional and supicious for its continuing effort to seoarate Jesus from his family and his nation. Also he has no real familiarity with the distinction between the various sectarian groups, such as the Pharisees and the Sadduccees. he shows none of the ability to note the distinctions that Eisenman so masterfully demonstrated in "James,the Brother of Jesus". The Pharisees were the 'seekers after smooth things' referred to in the Scrolls.They were not the strict legalists the christians invented to show the superiority of their own 'new' religion. Gardner seems unaware of the extent to which the Jews were united as a people in their hatred of the Greco-Roman cultural imperialists. Paul was a Herodian, as he suggests and Eisenman establishes definitively, he may well have been involved in the death of Jesus, he was certainly involved in the stoning of James and his death just before the outbreak of war in 66 ce. Gardner fails to establish a credible path or reason for the 'desposyni' through time, his foundation is not secure (Thiering), and his assumptions are arrogantly expressed as being 'obvious'. He completely ignores the real meaning of the eschatological writings found at Qumram, the importance of the Star Prophecy of Daniel and the strength of the Yahad and its influence on the whole nation of Israel. I'm not contending that the book is completely worthless, but it is a close call, and that in itself is a disappointment.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars JESUS - HUSBAND AND FATHER, December 29, 1999

By	Michael T Lunsford (GA,. USA) - See all my reviews

This book is very daring. The recovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has led scholars to new understanding about ancient writings, terms and meanings. Using that, the author has determined a much different story of Jesus that we are all accustomed to hearing.

This book is about the Jesus we all DON'T know and in fact, probably should know. The story of Jesus told in a more believeable fashion that that of the Bible and -- to many, blesphamously so!

If you have ever been one to secretly question the inconsistancies of the Bible -- this book is for you! It will set you free!

There is simply too much evidence outside of the ancient gospels to confirm and support this new view of Jesus.

The only set back is that the author may have ignored some of this ancient outside-of-gospel evidence, which may change the authors conclusions on a few of his viewpoints. Example -- I understand that some historical records indicate that it was not just Jesus that rose from the dead, but many people, which led the leaders of the time to seal up burial chmbers to keep the dead inside. In this book, the author indicates that the death of Jesus was not literal and neither was his rebirth.

None the less, this book is extremely excellent and I was unable to put it down until I had finished it. It also has some intriguing Genealogies presented within it's pages -- for the descendants of Jesus Christ into modern times!