Radical Claims of The Lost Gospel
The book, The Lost Gospel, is based upon one solitary manuscript purchased by the British Museum in 1847 from an Egyptian monastery. The document has been there for 160 years, and has been studied by a few scholars. But no one has considered it to be historically significant–until Jacobovici and Wilson began speculating it is really a coded history of Jesus Christ.
Let’s look at the key facts about this document, which is a portion of the Ecclesiastical History of Zacharias Rhetor:
- The 29-chapter text dates back to 570 AD.
- It is written on vellum in the Syriac language (related to Aramaic).
- It is written by an unknown author.
- The “gospel” is entitled, Joseph and Aseneth.
Wilson and Jacobovici interpret the love story of Joseph and Aseneth as an allegory for Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Central to their claim is that Joseph was actually a code name for Jesus — and that Aseneth was actually a code name for Mary Magdalene.[10]
Dr. Robert R. Cargill, Assistant Professor of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Iowa notes,
By that same allegorical logic, you could swap out the names of Samson and Delilah and claim that Mary Magdalene cut Jesus’ hair. Or swap out Adam and Eve and conclude that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were the primordial couple. Or read David and Bathsheba allegorically and end up with Jesus having a son named Solomon, who is guarded by the Priory of Sion, and…well, you get the picture.[11]
In other words, the entire premise for believing this 6th century manuscript is another gospel of Jesus Christ is based on the authors’ assumption that the names Joseph and Aseneth refer to Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
Although world scholars don’t seem to be taking The Lost Gospel seriously, several Jesus-conspiracists, including some mass media outlets certainly are.
Assuming that Jacobovici and Wilson are correct about their interpretation of the names Joseph and Aseneth, let’s see if any actual facts substantiate their claims about Jesus.
Click here to read page 4 of 5 of “The Lost Gospel”
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