The House of the Messiah: Controversial Revelations on the Historical Jesus

Rating:
Summary: INTERESTING THEORIES
Review: I am sure that at least some of the author's theories and parts of his re-interpretation of the Hebrew and other scriptures have value. It is also interesting to compare this book with the books of Velikovsky (Ages in Chaos, Worlds in Collision, Peoples of the Sea, etc.) and other unorthodox interpreters of the ancient history of the Middle East. What I found especially noteworthy, is that the Essenes do seem to have been the root of Christianity and that they were already active hundreds of years before Christ. I intend to pursue his line of thought by reading his other books too. The book contains several appendices, a chronology, notes, a bibliography and a thorough index.

Rating:
Summary: Most recommended!
Review: I've read this book and Osmans other books as well. Osman tries to show what really happened "back then". And he does a great job listing lots of historic facts which are hard (many downright impossible!) to dismiss. At the same time he shows why many existing ideas can't be true (with major consequences for our understanding of both OT and NT). [...]

Rating:
Summary: The known facts point to Moses as human father of Jesus
Review: My parents made me go the Sunday School just about every Sunday, but even with some background in the Bible, I had to read "The House Of The Messiah", twice to begin to grasp Osman's theory and his presentation of facts. What drove me to persevere was his intriging hypothesis that Jesus was a Pharoh of Egypt. That might sound farfetched, but he does presents a plausable explaination. One of his complaints was that limited access to the Dead Sea Scrolls robbed him and other scholars of the ability to check their theories against whatever might be found in the Scrolls. From what I gather that situation has changed since he wrote this book. I am very curious to see if he's found more support for his theory or if he has had to radically change it. It's helps to be an Egyptologist and Biblical Scholar to read Osman's book, but it's worth discovering how his radical theory might very well have merit.