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EUROPE'S MOST VISITED SF/F WEB SITE |
| The
Dead Sea Scrolls Deception by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh
The treatise is also for those who are attracted to the common
sense and compassion of Christianity and at the same time repelled
by the magic and doctrines of its Church.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are the catalyst for the authors' assertion
that the reason no translation of anything contentious to the Church
has been forthcoming since their first discovery in the caves at
Qumran in 1947, is to prevent it being undermined by historical
revelations. There
may well be evidence in the Scrolls of the existence of Jesus or the personas
or persona he arose from, but this proof could also blow apart the cast-iron certainties
on which the influence of the Church depends. The Essenes had established a socially aware community and, from what has already been gleaned from of the Dead Sea Scrolls, there are inescapable parallels with the teaching of Jesus. This suggests that Christianity existed in all but name well before his birth. Members of the community at Qumran were also probably more ubiquitous
than history credits, having in common a covenant that laid down their code of
living. Baigent and Leigh point out that the name 'Essene' is derived from the
Greek 'Essenoi' or 'Essenioi' which have no equivalent in Hebrew or Aramaic, being
more probably derived from 'Osei ha-Torah' meaning 'Doers of the law'. It
is for the reader to ask themselves whether the common sense of Jesus' teaching
needs the magic of multiplying loaves, the Virgin Birth or Resurrection to make
it any more valid. This may well have helped in controlling the Byzantine and medieval flocks racked by famine and plague. Are we still so unsophisticated that we need to be protected from historical truth? Especially by a papacy most people do not recognise. As the authors point out, the Dead Sea Scrolls belong to humanity
that should not have its access limited to them by a few scholars
with an agenda to prevent any challenge to the Church. For anyone interested
in the ultimate conspiracy theory, here is one so potent and well put together
in its plausibility it is surprising it has not created a greater furore. Jane
Palmer
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OTHER REVIEWS - February 2003
NEW NOVELS The
Dead Sea Scrolls Deception by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh Buffy
The Vampire: The Cordelia Collection Volume 1 by Nancy Krulik Tourniquet
Heart edited by Christopher C. Teague The
Devil In Green (Book One of The Dark Age) by Mark Chadbourn Angel: The Longest Night by Pierce Askegren Dark
Angel: Before The Dawn by Max Allen Collins Guilty
Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton The
Divine Comedies: Here Comes The Sun & Odds And Ends by Tom Holt The
Drawing Of The Dark by Tim Powers. Fantasy Masterworks # 33 The
Far Enough Window: The Reclaiming Of Fairyland by John Grant and illustrated
by Ron Tiner The
Ruins of Ambrai (Exiles Volume 1) by Melanie Rawn The
Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson (SF Masterworks # 51) HARDBACKS INTO PAPERBACKS Wizard's
Funeral (The Red Pavilions Book Two) by Kim Hunter Wanderers
And Islanders (Legends Of The Land Book One) by Steve Cockayne Effendi (The Second Arabesk) by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
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This
book by the authors of 'The Holy Blood And The Holy Grail' was first
published over ten years ago. Here is a review for anyone who is
interested in conspiracy theories and might have missed it. 
'The
Dead Sea Scroll Deception' is expertly researched and offers the
premise that Christian belief did not stem from a small local affair,
but that its tenets were already an institution well before the
coming of Jesus. 
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