Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining reading- taken with a pinch of salt., 26 Sep 1999
This is one of the latest books to follow the path set by Henry Lincoln, Michael Baignet and Richard Leigh in their controversial bestseller, Holy Blood and Holy Grail. In Holy Blood and Holy Grail, the writers theorised that the artifact known as the Holy Grail, reputed to be held by the Knights Templer, was in some way connected to the legacy of Jesus who, far from being the passive figure portrayed by the gosepls, was in fact, the legitimate king of Israel. They also speculated that Jesus was in fact married and had sons and that the Mervoginian dynasty of France was descended from Jesus and this was a secret the catholic church tried to suppress. Much of history, for example the crusades, could be read as an attempt to restore the heirs of Jesus to their rightful throne. However, Lincol et al never discussed what, in fact, the Holy Grail was. This book however builds on their story to reveal the shocking truth that the Holy Grail was none other than the mummified head of Jesus. A shocking story indeed, if it is true. Unfortunately, the evidence Laidler gives, like in many similar books, is patchy and doubtful to say the least. One of Laidler's theories is that Moses and the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhnaton (who introduced a monotheistic sun-worship religion) are one and the same. To do this, however, he takes the accounts in Genesis and Exodus literally until they fail to support him, in which case he decides that they have been altered by propagandists. Jacob, Joseph and his twelve brothers are, according to Laidler, real historical characters. (And Laidler also repeats the fallacy that Joseph had a 'coat of many colours', a fact recorded nowhere outside of a certain musical!). His reading of the new testament is equally suspect. He takes what he needs from the new testament until it fails to support his theory, in which case he produces, almost out of the blue, apocryphal accounts and ancient Jewish stories to suggest that, for example, Jesus was not crucified but stoned to death. There is no attempt to critically weigh up sources, no attempt to evaluate evidence, no attempt to put into context, and no reasons given why we should accept one account and not the other. His methods on a literary level do not impress me as sound. He decides, to the amazement of everyone, that John the Baptist was already dead when Salome asked for his head. His reasoning? The gospel of Mark mentions that Herod thought that Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead and this fact is mentioned before the story of Salome. Ergo, John was dead before Salome danced. Yet any reading of the story will show that Mark is using the perfectly respectable literary technique of the flashback; he mentions the fact that Herod killed John the Baptist and then goes back in time to detail how this will do. (Fans of Quentin Tarantino will have no difficulty following this!). Another mistake that Laidler makes is assuming that all cultures which share symbols must be somehow linked. He decides that since the Severed Head is important to so many people, all these people must be related. However, a few minutes thought will reveal why the Severed Head would be important. If you cut off any part of someone's body, there is a chance they will survive, providing you do not behead them! This would show why severed heads would be so important to many cultures, without necessarily proving that they are linked. To sum up, like many of its kind, a fascinating story with absolutely no evidence to support it.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent thoroughly researched book, 2 Nov 2000
By A Customer
A well put together history of the search for the truth about the lost treasure of the Knights Templar... A believeable,well written and extrememly readable book for anyone wanting to know more about the Templars and the the Holy Grail and definite encouragment for anyone to make a visit to Rosslyn Chapel if they haven't already...
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dangerous Stuff!, 18 Jan 2005
The major thing worth pointing out here is that it all just makes sense! Unfortunately, modern research has shown that the Christian Bible has many hiccups and irregularities and Mr Laidler does a lot more than put two and two together.
Laidler has obviously done a plethora of homework on this task at hand and brings in a wealth of knowledge in regards to any kind of connections to the cult of worshipping the head. He has fantastically depicted arguments from the Koran, Bible, and Talmud amongst many authors and ancient texts to compare. - This simply is not tunnel vision to say the least!Keith Laidler presumably will be relying on the fact that the majority of people will take his insights and thorough research with a pinch of salt. Otherwise, he could be left in a sticky situation. This kind of knowledge is extremely powerful, and the Blurb being "Will rock the very foundations of Christianity", never mind Christianity, it rocks the very foundations of all Religions period! 99% of the world will not tipple, nor be interested, nor comprehend. However, for the rest ignorance is bliss, you may want to keep it that way! This book is GREAT but definitely not for the faint hearted.
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