Jesus After the Crucifixion by Graham Simmans © 2007 Bear and Company
ISBN 1-59143-071-2 320 pages plus color insert Paperback $18.00 (U.S.)
$22.75 Canada)
I have heard more about the Rennes-la-Chateau of France and the Cathar
sect
of Christianity in the past half a dozen years than I had in the fifty
years
preceding them. Part of that is because of my renewed interest in the
Knights Templar and associated ideas, and part of it is because of the
Priory of Sion-themed books which have been coming out recently.
Although this book shares some of those characteristics (it is about the
sacred bloodline of Jesus), it is only marginally in the same category.
This author attempts to show that Jesus din NOT die on the cross (Okay,
The
Passover Plot made that claim 30 years ago, as did the Jesus Scroll [a
novel], thus one novel and one more academically based book with similar
premises but different conclusions); that he fled the Holy Land after his
alleged death; and that he, as well as other members of his family,
carried
his teachings to southern France.
The author takes time to explain the concepts of Coptic Christianity for
those readers, like myself, who are not familiar with them. He also shows
the pre-Christian roots of Gnosticism and proposes circumstantial evidence
tying together the Kabbalah, Gnosticism, Babylonian and Egyptian thought.
He then goes forward to propose connections between the Greek colonial
cities and Jewish dias****ic centers in southern France (in the Languedoc
region), and their possible role in welcoming a fleeing Jesus.
Of course, as with almost all the books which have dealt with this topic
in
recent years, most of the book is composed of supposition and speculation.
Unlike the majority of these books, however, little attention is paid to
the
Priory of Sion, the Knights Templar, and the Cure Sauniere of
Rennes-la-Chateau. The emphasis in this work is placed on the Gnosticism
of
the teachings of Jesus and their (probable) survival into the Middle Ages
and beyond.
It is, in my opinion, one of the most readable, easy to understand
expositions of this topic to come out in a long time. In spite of, or
perhaps because of, some minor side trips into the author's personal
history, it is highly informative.
If you are looking for a book dealing with the "mysteries" associated with
this region of France, you can pass this book by. If you are looking for
an
easy to understand introduction to the possible survival of the teachings
of
Gnostic followers of jesus, this book is for you. I highly recommend it.
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