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A review by the_games_a_foot
Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent
4.0
While this book will forever hold a special place in my heart, spirit, and library. It is not academically sound.
I read this book at a very young age, barely into my teens, when I felt so isolated and strange. My heart could not imagine the image that orthodoxy had given Jesus in that last 1,750 years or so. He felt cold distant a stranger that was totally inconsistent with how the Church said I should feel.
Reading this book felt like I was getting validation that there were and are more ways of interpreting the life, character, and your relationship with Jesus than I ever had thought possible to that point. In some ways it was like coming home. What I didn't realize in the late 1990s was that I had started on a path that has consumed the rest of my life.
I study history and specifically religion for a living now, and while I have always loved history; this book spurred me to continue to find the "truth" of who and what Jesus was. As I have grown older both personally, academically, and professionally I have realized that the truth in history, especially this far back, very subjective and open to a myriad of interpretations. And as an academic, I would rarely if ever use this book as a source of proof for my assertions; the authors admit at several points that they have had access to material that is not readily available to the majority of the academic community. While I am happy they got that rarefied access, because they use that information to justify points of their thesis for me, academically, it throws the entire book into doubt regarding provability. So I cannot in good conscious use this an authoritative text in research.
But as I mentioned it has special meaning for me nonetheless, and I do recommend it as a read if you have not.
I read this book at a very young age, barely into my teens, when I felt so isolated and strange. My heart could not imagine the image that orthodoxy had given Jesus in that last 1,750 years or so. He felt cold distant a stranger that was totally inconsistent with how the Church said I should feel.
Reading this book felt like I was getting validation that there were and are more ways of interpreting the life, character, and your relationship with Jesus than I ever had thought possible to that point. In some ways it was like coming home. What I didn't realize in the late 1990s was that I had started on a path that has consumed the rest of my life.
I study history and specifically religion for a living now, and while I have always loved history; this book spurred me to continue to find the "truth" of who and what Jesus was. As I have grown older both personally, academically, and professionally I have realized that the truth in history, especially this far back, very subjective and open to a myriad of interpretations. And as an academic, I would rarely if ever use this book as a source of proof for my assertions; the authors admit at several points that they have had access to material that is not readily available to the majority of the academic community. While I am happy they got that rarefied access, because they use that information to justify points of their thesis for me, academically, it throws the entire book into doubt regarding provability. So I cannot in good conscious use this an authoritative text in research.
But as I mentioned it has special meaning for me nonetheless, and I do recommend it as a read if you have not.