Jesus After The Crucifixion

Suggests that Jesus survived the crucifixion, went to Egypt, then settled in France • Reveals new discoveries that show the beginnings of Christianity in Egypt • Presents historical and archaeological research that proves a connection between Jerusalem, Egypt, and Rennes-le-Château in the south of France • Posits Rennes-le-Château as the actual location of Jesus Christ’s tomb, and that writings by him will be found there Jesus did not die on the cross. He survived and went to southern France with his wife, Mary. This possibility is proposed by Graham Simmans, who spent many years on a quest to find the real beginnings of Christianity. Simmans believes that the spread of Christianity beyond Jerusalem was tied to Jesus’s survival of the crucifixion and his subsequent emigration to Europe. Using Coptic and Jewish sources, including the Talmud, that allow a glimpse of the Christian philosophy espoused by Jesus, he contends that true Christianity was brought into France, Britain, and Spain from first century Egypt and Judea, not fourth- and fifth-century Rome. His investigation shows that after a time in Egypt, Jesus settled in Rennes-le-Château, a sophisticated and cosmopolitan center of spiritual diversity. It was a natural move for Jesus to settle in the Narbonne area of France--an area already heavily settled by Jewish and Gnostic groups. Here, safely outside the reach of the cultural dictatorship of the Roman Church, the Gnostic secrets he taught survived the centuries. Later, the Knights Templar centered their activity in the Languedoc region around Rennes-le-Château, where, within the Jewish communities, a well-connected and influential opposition to Rome already existed. This resistance to Rome gave rise to a religious culture that included elements of Gnostic, Pythagorean, and Kabbalistic teachings. Until the Crusades against the Cathar heretics reasserted the dominion of Rome, the culture that flourished around Rennes-le-Château embodied the true essence of Christ’s message.

In her controversial 1992 bestseller Jesus the Man, Barbara Thiering first showed how the pesher method of 'decoding' two separate levels of meaning found in the Dead Sea Scrolls could be used by applying it to the Gospels, and presented a completely new historical interpretation of the life of Jesus Christ. Now, in a new work of remarkable research and scholarship, she sets out to unravel the mysteries that have long surrounded the elusive complexities of the Book of Revelation. 'It was not,' she writes, 'about vision and apocalypse, but about the profoundly important history of the Christian movement from AD 1 to AD 114.' In Jesus of the Apocalypse, Barbara Thiering presents a new and significant view of the development of Christianity from the time of the crucifixion until the second century AD. She argues that Jesus was no solitary preacher appearing suddenly on the shores of Lake Galilee: he was a central figure in a major political movement to overthrow the pagan Roman empire. Although crucified, he did not die on the cross, and he, and subsequently his sons, took an important role in the evolution of the new underground religion which was developing out of Judaism. With detective-like perseverance Theiring unfolds the mystery of words, meanings and places that have been allowed to pass unchallenged, including a radical new interpretation of such mystical themes as the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, the seven seals. the Beast whose number is 666, the Great Harlot clothed in scarlet and purple. In so doing, she provides an absorbing and enlightening background to a period that has so often been seen more through the implications of scripture than the facts of history.

A profound exploration of how to hold on to hope when our unchanging faith collides with a changing culture, from two respected Christian storytellers and thought leaders. “Offers neither spin control nor image maintenance for the evangelical tribe, but genuine hope.”—Russell Moore, president of ERLC As the pressures of health warnings, economic turmoil, and partisan politics continue to rise, the influence of gospel-focused Christians seems to be waning. In the public square and popular opinion, we are losing our voice right when it’s needed most for Christ’s glory and the common good. But there’s another story unfolding too—if you know where to look. In Gospelbound, Collin Hansen and Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra counter these growing fears with a robust message of resolute hope for anyone hungry for good news. Join them in exploring profound stories of Christians who are quietly changing the world in the name of Jesus—from the wild world of digital media to the stories of ancient saints and unsung contemporary activists on the frontiers of justice and mercy. Discover how, in these dark times, the light of Jesus shines even brighter. You haven’t heard the whole story. And that’s good news.

Few treatments of the death of Jesus Christ have made a point of accounting for the gruesome, degrading, public manner of his death by crucifixion, a mode of execution so loathsome that the ancient Romans never spoke of it in polite society. Rutledge probes all the various themes and motifs used by the New Testament evangelists and apostolic writers to explain the meaning of the cross of Christ. She shows how each of the biblical themes contributes to the whole, with the Christus Victor motif and the concept of substitution sharing pride of place along with Irenaeus's recapitulation model.

Acts is the sequel to Luke's gospel and tells the story of Jesus's followers during the 30 years after his death. It describes how the 12 apostles, formerly Jesus's disciples, spread the message of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean against a background of persecution. With an introduction by P.D. James

The publication of the King James version of the Bible, translated between 1603 and 1611, coincided with an extraordinary flowering of English literature and is universally acknowledged as the greatest influence on English-language literature in history. Now, world-class literary writers introduce the book of the King James Bible in a series of beautifully designed, small-format volumes. The introducers' passionate, provocative, and personal engagements with the spirituality and the language of the text make the Bible come alive as a stunning work of literature and remind us of its overwhelming contemporary relevance.

In this New York Times–bestselling study, the co-author of Holy Blood, Holy Grail explores further mysteries surrounding Jesus Christ. What if everything we have been told about the origins of Christianity is a lie? What if a small group had always known the truth and had kept it hidden . . . until now? What if there is evidence that Jesus Christ survived the crucifixion? In Holy Blood, Holy Grail Michael Baigent and his co-authors Henry Lincoln and Richard Leigh stunned the world with a controversial theory that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene married and founded a holy bloodline. The book became an international publishing phenomenon and was one of the sources for Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code. Now, with two additional decades of research behind him, Baigent’s The Jesus Papers presents explosive new evidence that challenges everything we know about the life and death of Jesus. Praise for The Jesus Papers “An explosive book.” —The Today Show “Fascinating.” —CNN’s American Morning

Written by an L. A. County homicide detective and former atheist, Cold-Case Christianity examines the claims of the New Testament using the skills and strategies of a hard-to-convince criminal investigator. Christianity could be defined as a “cold case”: it makes a claim about an event from the distant past for which there is little forensic evidence. In Cold-Case Christianity, J. Warner Wallace uses his nationally recognized skills as a homicide detective to look at the evidence and eyewitnesses behind Christian beliefs. Including gripping stories from his career and the visual techniques he developed in the courtroom, Wallace uses illustration to examine the powerful evidence that validates the claims of Christianity. A unique apologetic that speaks to readers’ intense interest in detective stories, Cold-Case Christianity inspires readers to have confidence in Christ as it prepares them to articulate the case for Christianity.