The Templar Revelation
OCLC 40159168 | | |
Followed by | The Sion Revelation |
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The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ is a book written by
Summary
While researching the life and works of
In the latter painting, they propose that the person in the painting seated, from a viewer's point of view, to the left of Jesus is Mary Magdalene rather than John the Apostle, as most art historians identify that person. Furthermore, they point out that their body angles form the letter M, a reference to the Magdalene, and that she and Jesus are dressed in similar but oppositely colored clothes, a negative image of each other. They also mention a number of other signs: a mystery knife pointed at one of the characters, that Leonardo da Vinci himself is in the painting with his face pointing away from Jesus, and that Jesus is confronted by an admonishing hand to his right making “the John gesture,” an index finger pointing up.
In trying to understand the significance of these unusual images they conducted research into what they term a “thread of heresy” that reaches back over 2000 years. They claim to find evidence for this
Among their conclusions are the following:
- Jesus was a disciple of John the Baptist, and that John's religious teachings were essentially that of the Egyptian .
- Jesus was initiated into the inner circle of John the Baptist, but was not selected to succeed him. Rather it was Simon Magus who was selected as John the Baptist's successor.
- Mary Magdalene had a ritualized, “sacred” sexual relationship with Jesus, in keeping with their religious beliefs, and as his initiator into the sacred mysteries had an equal relationship to Jesus.
- Politics and religion were synonymous in ancient Israel, and Jesus was an astute and aggressive political competitor against John.
- The Jesus group may have been responsible for the death of John the Baptist.
- Jesus’ disciples were not initiated into the inner mysteries of his teachings.
- The term Christhad a different significance to the participants in the biblical drama than they do nowadays. To those in John the Baptist's circle it would have referred to all who were baptized and initiated into the arcana of their belief system.
- Numerous images and stories in the canonical New Testament are in actuality adaptations of those found in other religious traditions, and are not unique.
- Jesus is one in a line of many dying-and-rising gods, who share many similar traits.
The authors offer, but not claim, that perhaps Leonardo da Vinci was sending veiled messages through his art, which could be understood only by others who were open to their meaning. And while on the surface these paintings seem to be simple biblical depictions, they represent in fact his belief in the superiority of John the Baptist over Jesus.
Reception
CNN dismissed the authors' findings in their review, calling their viewpoints "upside-down" and criticizing their reliance on non-canonical sources. They concluded that the book's ideas "are based on the flimsiest of premises which are supported by the slimmest of indirect and circumstantial evidence".[1]
In a review for
Writing for The Courier-Mail, Alison Coates similarly noted that "this is not a book for which serious academic claims can be made but it is not entirely without value, because it attempts (sometimes successfully) to put puzzling historical events into an understandable context and to raise important questions about the beginnings of the Christian church."[3]
References
- ^ Meagher, L.D. (19 February 1999). "Book makes 'X-Files' look like 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'". CNN. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- The Newcastle Herald. Archived from the originalon 2022-03-19. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
- ^ Cotes, Alison (1998-02-28). "Jesus the villain in this detective story". The Courier-Mail. Archived from the original on 2022-03-19. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
External links
- History vs The Da Vinci Code Analysis of the historical claims made in The Da Vinci Code, with frequent criticisms of the premises and content of The Templar Revelation.