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Genesis of the Grail Kings
Laurence Gardner
Full Title:
Genesis of the Grail Kings
I really wanted to like this book. I had already read his more recent book, Lost Secrets of the Sacred Ark, and found his insights into monatomic gold and the Ark of the Covenant fascinating. However, Genesis of the Grail Kings is largely a poorly thought-out revisionist history that basically argues that the geneologies of the Bible are all lies propagated by Hebrew historiographers who wanted to place their own "patriarchal bias" upon the biblical texts. To this end, Gardner argues that certain ancient books, such as The Book of Jasher and The Book of Jubilees, were purposely suppressed by the Jews and kept out of the main canon of Scripture, relegated to the dubious category of "apocryphal literature", as they did not fit into the pre-established patriarchal paradigm. Nevermind that these books are both not only consistent with the rest of Scripture, they are not even internally consistent, thus the reason to relegate them to the pile of "apocryphal literature", a euphemism for "unreliable information". Yet, in Gardner's mind, whatever fits into his preset theory must therefore be true, so these unreliable books are therefore correct, as long as they support his own pet theories. Rubbish. Gardner, who essentially espouses a combination of liberal critical and New Age "scholarship", takes the position of Julius Wellhausen et al that the Hebrew history as elucidated in the textus receptus is essentially a "glorified mirage" that was invented by the Jews during the Babylonian captivity. Gardner, however, adds a liberal dose of salt to the liberal critical wound by stating that the Hebrew history had not only been "made up", but it had actually been purposely altered to cover up the fact that many of the ancestors of the Israelites were pagan kings of both the ancient Mesopotamians and the ancient Egyptians. Not content with dirtying the blood of the Israelite race by implying that the divine kingship of the line of David and Jesus was less than pure, Gardner implies that they were not pure descendants of Shem, but of Ham, of a line of pagan kings whom he argues extended their lifespans through the ingestions of hormonal extracts derived from the menstruations of women! Even a novice in the study of the Old Testament knows that such an implication is very likely the gravest insult that one could ever level at any Israelite, let alone the kingship! Yet, Gardner, like a child with a new toy, arrogantly reallocates thousands of years of tradition and scholarship — all of which is infinitely superior to his "scholarship" — without even a second thought. For this reason alone, I cannot recommend this book, as most of it is simply ridiculous. However, despite the absurd, unfounded revisionist history that Gardner (and others of his ilk) engages in, the book does have some interesting ideas. The idea that ancient kings ingested hormonal extracts from women (and female animals) for health and improved longevity is a valid one, as science has recently found that such extracts can indeed improve health. Moreover, his first grasping at the concept of monatomic gold, a concept which is much more fully elaborated in Lost Secrets of the Sacred Ark, makes for some interesting reading. That, along with the hormonal extracts, may be key to understanding some of the more enigmatic aspects of ancient religion, particularly that of the Egyptians. His understanding of the "lively oracles" of the Ark and its true purpose as a communication device was also very cogent, a crucial subject that we will deeply delve into in future issues.
Though Gardner has no future in biblical exegesis, books such as Lost Secrets of the Sacred Ark show the promise of some real breakthroughs into an more fuller understanding of some heretofore cryptic passages in both the Bible and other ancient traditions, particularly as regards the Ark — and the mysterious Table of Showbread. Regarding biblical history, however, Mr. Gardner should leave it to the professionals.
Books
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enesis of the Grail Kings is the latest in a series of books by the prolific author, Laurence Gardner, on the subject of the so-called "bloodline of the holy grail". Gardner anoints himself with a number of earthly titles including (but not limited to) "Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries", "Associate of the Institute of Nanotechnology", "Chevalier de St. Germain, "Knight Templar", "Presidential Attach� to the European Council of Princes", and even the dubious title, "Attache to the Grand Protectorate of the Imperial Dragon Court, Hungary 1408" (whatever that means). Gardner's career first took off with the publication of The Times and Sunday Times bestseller, Bloodline of the Holy Grail that gained Laurence a UK Author of the Year award in 1997. With all those impressive titles (and many more on his website), you would think that his work would be equally impressive, even top notch. Unfortunately, it is not.
Genesis of the Grail Kings