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If you're into alternative Christianity, supposed Catholic-Church suppression conspiracies, and secret and/or semi-secret societies of both the past and present then this book is right up your alley.

If in particular Jesus perhaps surviving the crucifixion and secret and/or suppressed books regarding early sects of alternate Christianty also fascinates you, then I highly recommend "Mystical Life of Jesus" and the "Secret Doctrines of Jesus" both by H. Spencer Lewis, former Imperator of the AMORC Rosicrucian Order.

Regardless of the accuracy, truth or falsehood of the canonical vs apocrypha as well as the relatively recently disovered "lost books of the Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls, etc., always keep the following in mind:

Once the ecumenical councils decided what Catholicism would be centuries after the death of Jesus, the apostles, disciples and up to this very day, they had zero tolerance for anything that deviated from it. Just because some theological overlearned egghead nowadays can parrot such dogma chapter and verse doesn't necessarily mean that it's all true. You can be the most learned person in the world, but if your books are skewed to favor a revisionist history to whatever degree then you're still ignorant to that very same degree.

Indeed the Cathar sect of Christianity (rumored to have possessed the Holy Grail) taught "horrible" things like women are equal to men and that women may preach the gospels. For that "heresy" the Pope's army put them to the sword, burned many of them alive and razed the Cathar fortress to the ground in their greed and zeal to acquire the Grail.

The Gnostic sect of early Christianity taught that we were to emulate Jesus rather than merely worship him as the son of God--not that dissimilar to the mystical branch of Judaism, Kabbalah; and the mystical branch of Islam, Sufism and naturally similar to many Eastern philosophies and Western mystical organizations like the AMORC Rosicrucians.

Reincarnation was well-known in the region and lifetime of Jesus, and indeed the Hassidic Jewish sect as sell as the mystical Sufis (mystical branch of Judaism) still believe it to this day.

It's funny how the "inner circle" mystical branches of the world religions all seem to get along swimmingly. Yet the "outer circle" relgious/churchianity establishment and members are often the most heinous examples of intolerance and self-righteousness.

The Templars had some interesting alternative views on Christianity, and if some are right they may be alive and well but now known as the AMORC Rosicrucians.

So what's the point? The point is that someone once said that "might makes right." All that can be said with absolute certainty is that the present version of Christianity that ultimately prevailed had more might to annihilate all other alternate sects of Christianity and all other systems of spirituality it encountered in the Holy Land and abroad.

Accordingly might made "right," and then those same individuals burned those books which offended them and then wrote history in in accordance with their dogmatic sensibilities. It doesn't necessarily make what they decreed historically accurate. It only means that they had more swords to swing and more fire pits for a heretic barbecue and the blood lust to use them.

Indeed, if the Cathars, for example, had prevailed, just imagine how much better things would have been for women all of these centuries. If the Gnostics had prevailed, perhaps we wouldn't have this, subtle, yet undeniable philosophy of "learned helplessness" whenever it comes to matters of organized religion vs personal spirituality and indeed even things like allopathic health care vs. alternative medicine and personal empowerment vs big governement. Would Galileo have been accused of heresy for merely using a telescope to describe the moon? The Catholic church finally "forgave" Galileo back in the 1980's. Mighty "magnanimous" of them, don't you think?

You control a society either through hope or through fear. And Constantine et al. did marvelous job of establishing a monopoly on both. There's no profit in a mystical Christian sect like Gnosicism, for example, that places the power squarely in the lap of each aspirant. No, you have to convince the populace first that they're helpless. Second you have to convince them that only your religion has the keys to hope and fear and when you can do that you can sell hope and the avoidance of fear at whatever price the market will bear.

The plot weaves like an intricate detective novel, with a lot of twists and counterplots. But the book is not detective fiction, it is a meticulously researched theory chronicling medieval orders, secret societies, grail hunts and lost dynasties and tying it all to Jesus and his supposed bloodline.

An all too plausible theory that 'explains' a lot of historical quirks and errors, biblical and medieval - Who got married at the feast of Cana? Who really is 'Jesus' Barabbas? Why was King Clovis' pact with the Catholic Church rescinded? What really happened at Renne le Chateau? Who was the 'beloved disciple' in the Gospels?

If you are open minded and looking for those books begging for its pages to be turned...look no further. I just read a copy of Edgar Fouche's 'Alien Rapture,' which also blew me away. Fouche was a Top Secret Black Program 'insider', whose credibility has been verified over and over. Another fun book is Brad Steiger's 'Werewolf.' I also really liked Dan Brown's 'Angels and Demons.' Want to be shocked, check out Dr. Paul Hill's 'Unconventional Flying Objects' which NASA tried to ban.

The KJV Bible is the True Word of God! Or is it? Inspired? Or not? I believe all of the one star ratings and rantings are from uneducated Protestants. For example:

In 'Acts 5:30; 10:39.' the KJV, in speaking of Jesus' death, reads, "Whom ye slew 'and' hanged on a tree." The word "and" is 'not' in the Greek text, and by adding it to the text at this point in the verse it leads to some confusion on the part of the readers. The conjunction "and" indicates grammatically that one action followed another (i.e.: two separate actions independent of one another). Some unbelievers have tried to use this verse to demonstrate that Christ was killed first, 'and then' His dead body was hung on a 'tree'. By inserting the word "and," numerous complications have arisen which could have been prevented by a correct translation of the original text.

The tip of the iceberg: Numerous authorities who had noted the errors in the K.J.V. such as William Kilburne (1650's) 20,000 errors, John Wesley (in 1755) 12,000 changes in the New Testament alone, the Revised Version of 1881 consisted of 36,000 errors and on and on. The NIV, RSV and The Living Bible are also replete with thousands of errors. Do some research!

The KJV translators also did not know what the "Asherah" was (a wooden idol representing a Canaanite goddess), so they translated the word repeatedly as meaning a "grove" of trees. In 'I Kings 16:33' they state, "And Ahab made 'a grove," which provoked the Lord God to anger. In point of fact, Ahab made an 'idol' here (the Asherah); his sin was 'idolatry', not planting a grove of trees!!

In Deuteronomy 33:17 the KJV speaks of "the horns of unicorns." There are two mistakes in this passage: (1) The animal mentioned here in the original text is the "wild ox" and not the mythical "unicorn," and (2) in the original text the passage speaks of one animal (singular) with horns (plural).

In Luke 18:12 the KJV reads, "I give tithes of all that I possess." The Law did NOT require one to tithe a tenth of all that he "possessed" (all his capital holdings), but rather a tenth of his increase (that which he acquired in addition to his possessions). This is clearly stated in the Greek word used in this passage.

Although many ideas are speculative, the authors nevertheless give background data just enough to shake the foundations of our 'traditional knowledge'. A must read for skeptics and devout Christians alike. "He who believes blindly sees not the truth."

1. Absolutely devoid of footnotes, citations, and other basic requirements of a peer-reviewed academic work, because it isn't.

2. The authors are not historians, archeologists, or any other type of scientest.

3. Better, more entertaining works of fiction include all of the Spider Man series and most of the Sponge Bob Squarepants collection.

This book was a great excuse to con mucho suckers out of their hard earned dollars, and the authors succeeded admirably.