Tag: religion

Gospel of Judas, The

[rating:5/5]

This book was, simply put, absolutely fascinating. It contains the recently re-discovered Gospel of Judas Iscariot and consists of the gospel; along with three well-written and accessible essays by the researchers who brought this document back to life.

To be honest, I’m amazed that there are those who criticize this book based upon their beliefs as to whether or not this book, or shall I say, the Gospel of Judas, has merit as historical fact. The authors; themselves, do not display such bias and approach the work from a clearly scholarly angle.

My only criticism is that the editors need to do a better job with proofing the text prior to printing as there are numerous errors (and rather sloppy ones, at that) throughout the book. Even so, the Gospel of Judas should appeal to anyone with a serious interest in early Christian writings.

Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land

Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land[rating:5/5]

Just finished this fascinating book. Arguably, it appears to be the most honest (i.e., authentic) book on Tibet that I’ve yet read. The author shares his journey into modern Tibet and provides interviews the numerous people he mets. He examines the evils of the communist takeover, including the horrors perpetrated upon millions of innocent souls by Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and other monsters.

Consistent with ethical authors who are concerned with reporting facts, rather the create propaganda to support their own view, French tells it like it is – including such things as the flawed policies of the American government to support the communists in pursuit of the almighty dollar, rather than standing up for the freedom of those (i.e., Tibetans) oppressed by the communists. Richard Nixon’s visits to China were discussed and Henry Kissinger’s vile actions were simply unconscionable.

While it is clearly evident that the author has a long history of supporting the Tibetan cause, he also discusses problems inherent with the Tibetan government-in-exile that have aggravated their own cause. Sadly, the author maintains that the mistakes that have already been made will not be resolved until the massive problems within the Chinese (not Tibetan) regime are toppled.

I would highly recommend this book to those interested in this topic.

Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail

Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail[rating:4/5]

Overall, this was a rather interesting book. While I remain concerned that much of it is based upon pure speculation (and therefore did little to persuade me that author was correct in her presumptions), it did raise many interesting questions. As with Holy Blood, Holy Grail, which inspired the writing of this book, the reliance upon the veracity of the Priory of Sion remains a very significant flaw – to date, there is nothing I’ve read that indicates, or at least persuades me to believe, that the Priory of Sion is not a complete hoax that was fabricated by a charlatan during the 1950’s. Furthermore, the second half of the book seems to have fallen into the trap of feminist garbage and, as a result, also distracts from the author’s claims.

Even so, the book does raise many interesting issues and causes one to want more information, although with a greater focus upon historical facts and less speculation.

Holy Blood, Holy Grail

Holy Blood, Holy Grail[rating:4/5]

After reading The Da Vinci Code, I thought I’d take a look at some of the other books available on the topic. As a rule, I disdain spin-offs and other such nonsense. Well, perhaps that’s an understatement – I actually HATE such nonsense – if those who like to ride on the coat tails of others could write, they should create something original and not bother us with their nonsense. Sadly, this seems to be the case with so many books that are now appearing – everyone wants to ride the on the success of Dan Brown. There are already far too many books that are exactly that – spin-offs. One book; however, did stand out and that was Holy Blood, Holy Grail. This book caught my attention for a couple of reasons:

The book was published long before The Da Vinci Code (I frequently look at the copyright page to obtain such information before buying a book), and the book concerned many of the same topics as the Da Vinci code but was listed as non-fiction.

Overall, I found this book to be highly enlightening and well written. Even so, after The Da Vinci Code, it was rather dry reading (although that didn’t bother me) and contained a tremendous amount of information. While the authors were obviously knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their topic, I was disappointed in many of their rather shocking conclusions. Granted, they consistently noted that these conclusions were speculative, at best, I believe that derived at many of their decisions just to continue with their story. In particular, their apparent belief to support the contentions of Plantard, (the Frenchman who appears to have invented the “Priory of Sion” back in the 1950’s) without fully probing into his background in greater detail, casts a pall over the entire book. In fact, I would have to say that their failure to do so now has repercussions on their entire work.

Another problem I have with Holy Blood, Holy Grail is that the authors seemed to extremely well versed in their topic, and numerous references were provided (although I wish these were placed at the bottom of each page as footnotes, rather than stored in the back of the book) but they consistently forged ahead with their story without providing sufficient information for uninformed readers (including myself) to fully grasp the context of their work.

Of greatest interest to me was the second half of the book which dealt with the Bible (especially the New Testament) and the history/role of the Catholic Church. As I am far more familiar with those topics, the information was particularly informative and, of course, shocking, if true. Many of the discussions on the early history of the Bible along with questions regarding the information included in the four Gospels were particularly interesting as they raised many of the same questions I’ve had regarding inconsistencies. This was particularly true regarding Mary Magdalen’s role in the Bible, along with her relationship with Jesus. While many of their hypothesis regarding this relationship could, conceivably, be true, the author’s failure to really address issues that would demonstrate that the Priory of Sion is really a hoax casts a long shadow over the entire book – after all, if the authors can’t fully explain, or at least investigate an organization that may really have been founded in 1958, why should we accept their conclusions regarding incidents that occurred over two thousand years ago?

Regardless, I would still recommend this book to those that enjoy reading dry, albeit controversial, materials and are interested in this fascinating topic.

Da Vinci Code, The

The Da Vinci Code[rating:5/5]

Overall, this was a great novel – I couldn’t put it down! The story is highly engaging, the characters are intelligent, the pace is quick, and the topic is simply great. Unlike many other pieces of fiction, this book actually makes one think and leads to an interest in related topics. I was rather stunned to learn that the organization call “Opus Dei” actually exists and that its members really engage in some of the bizarre (and rather sick) practices as described in the book. I am still not convinced; however, as to the veracity of the Priory of Sion – there seems to be too much information that indicates that “organization” is just a complete fraud invented by a French charlatan back in the 1950’s. It is rather disturbing that Brown claims this organization is real, even though the information to support its existence is spurious, at best.

Just the same, the Da Vinci Code really captured my attention and I would certainly recommend it – as work of fiction.