The Jesus Papers: Exposing the Greatest Cover-Up in History

The Jesus Papers: Exposing the Greatest Cover-Up in History is a book by author Michael Baigent

Michael Baigent

Michael Baigent is an author and speculative theorist who co-wrote a number of books that question mainstream perceptions of history and the life of Jesus. He is best known as co-writer of the book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail....

published in 2006. Providing his detailed history of Jesus' life and crucifixion; using papers that, according to the author, were covered up. The book documents the political context of Jesus' birth, and then goes on to examine the history of the migration of the family of Jesus, the chronicles of his teachings, and his death. The book was published on the same day that The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery-detective novel written by Dan Brown. It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in Paris's Louvre Museum and discover a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus having been married to...

by Dan Brown

Dan Brown

Dan Brown is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Brown's novels, which are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour time period, feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories...

became available as a paperback

Paperback

Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...

in the US.

Content

In The Jesus Papers, author Michael Baigent claims that after having being taken down alive from the Cross, Jesus was removed from the tomb at night by Joseph of Arimathea

Joseph of Arimathea

Joseph of Arimathea was, according to the Gospels, the man who donated his own prepared tomb for the burial of Jesus after Jesus' Crucifixion. He is mentioned in all four Gospels.-Gospel references:...

and Nicodemus

Nicodemus

Saint Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, who, according to the Gospel of John, showed favour to Jesus...

, then smuggled away to Egypt along with his wife, Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...

. They moved to Narbonne

Narbonne

Narbonne is a commune in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Once a prosperous port, it is now located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea...

in the south of France in AD 38, following unrest in Cairo, close to where they had settled (in or near the Temple of Onias). Other Jewish families had settled in Narbonne claiming descent from King David.

Michael Baigent claims the source of Bérenger Saunière's

Bérenger Saunière

François Bérenger Saunière was a Roman Catholic priest in the French village of Rennes-le-Château, in the Aude region, officially from 1885 until he was transferred to another village in 1909 by his bishop, a nomination he declined and subsequently resigned...

wealth was derived from his knowledge and discovery that this was all historically factual, after the priest had found hidden documents (also taking for granted that the source of the priest's wealth was mysterious). Baigent argues that Station XIV of the Cross in the church of Rennes-le-Château

Rennes-le-Château

Rennes-le-Château is a commune in the Aude department in Languedoc in southern France.This small French hilltop village is known internationally, and receives tens of thousands of visitors per year, for being at the center of various conspiracy theories, and for being the location of an alleged...

, showing a Full Moon, indicates that the Sabbath/Passover had begun, and showing Joseph of Arimathea carrying the live body of Jesus out of the tomb.

Michael Baigent claims to have seen two papyrus documents - the "Jesus papers" - written in Aramaic

Aramaic language

Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...

, discovered in the Old City of Jerusalem during the 1960s. Baigent claimed these documents dated to AD 45 and were letters to the Sanhedrin from bani meshiha ("the Messiah of the Children of Israel"), defending himself against the allegation that he claimed to be the Son of God

Son of God

"Son of God" is a phrase which according to most Christian denominations, Trinitarian in belief, refers to the relationship between Jesus and God, specifically as "God the Son"...

.

Baigent claims these two papyrus documents were authenticated by the Israeli archaeologists Yigael Yadin

Yigael Yadin

Yigael Yadin on 21 March 1917, died 28 June 1984) was an Israeli archeologist, politician, and the second Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.-Early life and military career:...

and Naham Avigad, which distressed Pope John XXIII

Pope John XXIII

-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...

. The Pope asked Baigent's friend to destroy these two papyrus documents, but he refused and said he would release them after 25 years. However, the documents have not been released because of the rift this information would create between Israel and the Vatican, also creating a revivalism of Antisemitism.

Criticism

Hershel Shanks

Hershel Shanks is the founder of the Biblical Archaeology Society and the editor of the Biblical Archaeology Review and has written and edited numerous works on Biblical archaeology including the Dead Sea Scrolls....

, reviewing The Jesus Papers for Biblical Archaeology Review
Biblical Archaeology Review
Biblical Archaeology Review is a publication that seeks to connect the academic study of archaeology to a broad general audience seeking to understand the world of the Bible and the Near and Middle East . Covering both the Old and New Testaments, BAR presents the latest discoveries and...

, commented on the "foolishness of its central thesis", noting how Baigent had seen papyri written in Aramaic, a language that he did not understand, yet was able to say that what he saw dated from "about A.D. 34" - Shanks noted that archaeological finds cannot be dated so precisely, adding that the two previous famous archaeologists who had allegedly seen this papyri were now conveniently dead. Kevin McClure, reviewing the book for Fortean Times
Fortean Times
Fortean Times is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing and then I Feel Good Publishing , it is now published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. As of December 2010, its circulation was approximately 18,000...

commented how the author was unable to obtain photographs of the said papyri, adding that "Baigent records no further effort to investigate these supposedly amazing documents, and appears not to have approached any academic body or community for help".

There are criticisms that the release of the book was timed with the release of The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code (film)
The Da Vinci Code is a 2006 American mystery thriller film directed by Ron Howard. The screenplay was written by Akiva Goldsman and based on Dan Brown's worldwide bestselling 2003 novel, The Da Vinci Code...

film version in an attempt to cash in on the marketing hype. Baigent's response is on p. 355 of the book, where he points out that the publication schedule had been set by Harper Collins long before. Around the same time of the book's release, Baigent was also involved in a plagiarism lawsuit against author Dan Brown

Dan Brown

, which he acknowledges in the postscript. The lawsuit claims that Brown improperly used information from The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail
The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail
The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail is a book by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln....

(which Baigent co-wrote) for Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code. This too has drawn speculation that the lawsuit and trial were merely a publicity vehicle for Baigent's new book, although the £3 million costs that remain under appeal will likely negate any gain proceeds from the sale of the book. On 7 April 2006, High Court

High Court of Justice

The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...

judge Peter Smith rejected the copyright infringement claim by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh

Richard Leigh (author)

Richard Harris Leigh was a novelist and short story writer born in New Jersey, USA to a British father and an American mother, who spent most of his life in the UK. Leigh earned a BA from Tufts University, a Master's degree from the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D...

, and Dan Brown

Dan Brown

won the court case.

Jonas E. Alexis observed that Baigent acknowledged he had no evidence for his entire thesis, and that everything was circumstantial. "How would anyone defend such an assertion in a court of law, and how can anyone argue from the lack of evidence?"

Interviews

Baigent appeared on the Today Show in an interview with Lester Holt, in which he claimed that he had seen the papers referred to in the title. Baigent says the papers themselves prove that Jesus existed after his crucifixion, and therefore he could not have been put to death. Baigent referred to Jesus the mystical man rather than to Jesus the mythical messiah, and to books containing teachings attributed to Jesus that were voted out of the Christian Bible centuries ago.

Michael Baigent also appeared in another similar televised interview on The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor, originally titled The O'Reilly Report from 1996 to 1998 and often called The Factor, is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who often discusses current controversial political issues with guests.The program was the most watched...

, 26 April 2006.

Editions

The Jesus Papers: Exposing the Greatest Cover-Up in History ISBN 0-06-082713-0, March 28, 2006, Harper Collins Publications

External links

Jesus: The coverup, Laura Miller's review of The Jesus Papers
Sample and audio excerpt (Official publisher web page)
Interview: Michael Baigent discusses The Jesus Papers on Astraea Magazine and Web Radio
CNN, "'Da Vinci' effect: Books come to Jesus", March 28, 2006
USA Today, "'Da Vinci' paperback vs. 'The Jesus Papers'", March 26, 2006
CTV.ca, "'Da Vinci Code' rival releases new book", March 28, 2006

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Content

Criticism

Interviews

Editions

Further reading

External links