Jesus: Separating the Man from the Myths

In the annals of history Jesus is undoubtedly the most revered and well-known man. In spite of having four biographies written about him in the form of the first four Gospels of the New Testament, he remains an enigma. The cause of this consternation is that the four Gospels do not form a seamless whole. For the pious these inconsistencies must be overlooked but in this blog I will produce a reality check on the facts and list what could be myth. Were the Gospels in fact the gospel truth about the life and times of Jesus?

Main picture: The Dead Scrolls provided an evocative insight into one the sects contemporaneous with Jesus’ life. Whether as Barbara Thiering contends Jesus was an Essene is a moot point. Nevertheless these scrolls do throw a new light on the times when Jesus was alive.

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The Da Vinci Code: Fantasies and Conspiracy Theories

Before turning to writing, Dan Brown was an unsuccessful painter. His second novel was the sensational Da Vinci Code. Like a candle for a moth, Dan Brown lured the readers by implying that his book was based upon fact. Instead it comprised various implausible fantasies and conspiracy theories which were barely credible. Yet they had the effect of fixating the masses. Why are the theories propounded in the novel even more preposterous than believed with not a shred of evidence to substantiate any of them?

The Da Vinci Code is an amalgam of a raft of conspiracy theories in one novel. Apart from one, the cryptex, which is a pure figment of Dan Brown overactive imagination, the rest of the conspiracies have been peddled in various books and forums over the years. The only one of this genre which attained acceptable publication figures was one which is even in my personal library entitled Holy Blood Holy Grail on which Dan Brown’s book is based.

Main picture: The authors of the book Holy Blood Holy Grail claim that it must have been Mary Magdalene on Jesus’ right as their relative positions form an M for Mary.

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