Review: The Jesus Papers by Michael Baigent

The Jesus Papers (Harper San Francisco, 2006)

Michael Baigent is best known as one of the co-authors of the very controversial book "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" (which inspired "The DaVinci Code"). "The Jesus Papers" concerns the life of Jesus and the controversy surrounding his true teachings and of his possible marriage to Mary Magdalene. It does beg the question: Why are so many Christians terrified of the idea that Jesus married and had children?

The answer is simple in many ways: The Church needs to be in control of all dogmas and doctrines, and allowing any questioning of the faith will have people searching for the truth. Even the recently translated Gnostic Gospels are condemned by the Church, as they state that knowing God comes through knowledge, not through the belief that Jesus Resurrected.

The book itself deals with these subjects and goes on a journey of Jesus' life. Much of what is written has clues in the actual Bible, other stuff comes from the findings of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nag Hammadi texts and what the author has claimed to see from private collections.

The main part of the book is Jesus lived in Egypt for most of his life before claiming his right of kingship (through the House of David from his father, Joseph) and the High Priesthood (through the bloodline of Aaron from his mother, Mary). He learned in Egypt the mystical ways of how they could enter the Far-World, beyond space and time (or heaven).

If one is content with their views on Christianity and dogma, this book will be condemned. If one is open to ideas on the other meanings of Christianity, this book will be an eye-opener. There are many color pictures from the areas that the author discusses (and in many cases visited). The book is a quicker read than his earlier works, but well worth it.

Here are links to a couple reviews of Michael Baigent's "The Jesus papers":

priory-of-sion.com...
www.tektonics.org...

They seem to be underwhelmed by Baigent's "historical proof".

i believe in a pretty literal interpretation of the bible and im not the least bit scared about having my 'faith' challenged by some other writings.....i dont know whats wrong with ppl.

reply to post by jagdflieger


I agree that his proof is lacking in many areas, but his ideas are sound. Some of them come from the Bible themselves, and there have been recent releases after the publishing of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" that support many of the ideas in the book.

The book is mainly meant for others to look into this subject and to also get some of the documents in private collections released to scholars.

can the op please tell us all something that we dont already know - even in bible study we were told clear as day that the bible was not to be take so much literally as spiritually as a guide to the morale way of life.

Which is of course to slaughter everyone that doesn't believe in god and call everyone else pagan and witch. Welcome to 6th grade history class my friend.

reply to post by ikonspyre


That question is meant for those who have an almost violent reaction to the idea that Jesus was a man, got married and had children (whose bloodlines exist today). I always thought Jesus had brothers and sisters, and the idea that he married was never strange to me. I brought this up with my family, and they state that Mary (the Virgin Mary) is a perpetual virgin now. No other siblings for Jesus.

The authors of these books are asking the same thing, and are looking for all the documents from that era to see if he did marry Mary Magdalene and sire children.

reply to post by circuitsports


This is a review of a book, not a revelation of any secrets not known to us previously. It is put in this section as it does deal with the cover-up and conspiracy of the Church to take out any ideas they deemed heresies.

The book is written for those who know a little bit about these ideas and want it fleshed out more. New ideas are what Jesus might have learned in Egypt and there is some circumstantial evidence to back them up.

Much of what is written has clues in the actual Bible, other stuff comes from the findings of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nag Hammadi texts and what the author has claimed to see from private collections.

It is put in this section as it does deal with the cover-up and conspiracy of the Church to take out any ideas they deemed heresies.

Could we see some Biblical quotes supporting Baigent's contentions. Also what documents in private collections are there. Also what heresies is the Church wanting to take out. Do not forget that the Church (I assume you mean the Roman Catholic Church) does not speak or represent all Christians. In short the evidence is highly circumstantial. Now we have some interesting view points:
1. Michael Baigent who says the Jesus spent His missing years in Egypt, and that historical documents exist which prove that Jesus was married, had children and escaped to France. (Where's the documents).
2. Those who say that Jesus was in India during the missing years and He was teaching a form of Hinduism to the Israelites.
3. Those who say that there is no historical evidence for Jesus, and that his story is a myth.

However, none can answer why Paul is running all round the Roman world from 40CE to around 50CE preaching "Christ crucified".

reply to post by jagdflieger


Again, the book is circumstantial with its evidence. You will have to read his book and see what he has to say on the subject. I am just writing a review of what I read and that it is very interesting stuff.

Mr Baigent also states he has no proof of Jesus getting married, other than what has been rumored by many for years. The search is for any such documents if they exist. There also is an alleged document which proves that Jesus was alive in 45AD, much later than his crucifixion time.

Those who say there was no Jesus are a different subject than this book. Mr Baigent states Jesus the man existed, not Jesus the myth (which is the running subject of his books).

I also happen to believe Mr Baigent and other authors on this subject have ideas that are not that revolutionary when one thinks about it.

1. Jesus was raised as a Jew, and died as a Jew. There is no dispute in that.

2. Jesus' mother Mary was a direct descendant of Aaron and Joseph was a direct descendant of David, two points also not in dispute.

3. It would of been part of Jesus' responsibility to carry on the royal bloodline as first male born child, and those rules of succession are still followed by some monarchies (and by most other monarchies until modern times).

Again, why should it be so shocking that he married and sired children?