64 Joyce, The Jesus Scroll, pp. 7–14.
65 Ibid., pp. 100–110, 131–140, 160.
66 Ibid., pp. 54–59, 76–99, 141–158.
67 Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln, Holy Blood, Holy Grail(New York: Delacorte, 1982), pp. 301–320, 324.
or somewhere else in Israel.^68 The vast bulk of the book is devoted to the remains of Jesus’ bloodline, through Mary Magdalene, as they settled and spread in France. This supposed bloodline is traced through royal families, secret organizations and age-old mysteries. But, as even the authors recognize, the major question is whether this French lineage did, in fact, come from Jesus.^69
Problems with International Travel Theory
These attempts to have Jesus avoid death and then travel afterward are laden with more difficulties than any other approach that we have studied. This is largely due to the presence of so much conjecture combined with an absence of facts. We present four major objections to such approaches to the life of Jesus.
1.Gospels are trustworthy
First, in our earlier discussions we determined that the New Testament, and the Gospels in particular, are authentic and trustworthy documents for the life and teachings of Jesus. We will not belabor this point any further, except to note that this conclusion is based on both the early and eyewitness testimony behind the Gospels, including authors who were close to the facts, as well as the attestation of the earliest church and overwhelming manuscript evidence. Such facts reveal that the Gospels are a valid basis for the teachings of Jesus, in opposition to these theses which almost always involve vast alterations of New Testament data. On this point alone these theses fail.
2.Swoon theory disproven
Second, most of these theses involve the swoon theory concerning Jesus’ resurrection, without which there would be no basis for any post-crucifixion travels followed by a later, obscure death. But as stated above in our examination of this hypothesis, this hypothesis falls prey to numerous problems which will not be repeated here.
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