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A Cultural History of Art Bell

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Thumbnail for October 23, 1998: Hilly Rose - Secret History of Jesus - Dr. Glenn Kimball

October 23, 1998: Hilly Rose - Secret History of Jesus - Dr. Glenn Kimball

Oct 23, 1998
2h 7m
Hilly RoseDr. Glenn Kimball
0:00 / 0:00
Fill-in host Hilly Rose welcomes researcher Glenn Kimball for a discussion spanning 25 years of research into ancient manuscripts about the historical Jesus. Kimball draws from records found in the Vatican's 17-mile library, the British Museum, and archives across Europe to present a portrait of Jesus that differs sharply from popular tradition. He argues that Jesus' father Joseph was not a poor carpenter but a wealthy architect and builder, and that the family belonged to the royal House of David with access to fleets of merchant vessels.

Kimball traces connections between Jesus' family and England, claiming that the Virgin Mary's mother was born there and that Joseph of Arimathea, Jesus' great-uncle, owned tin and lead mines in Britain. He describes how the Magi who visited the infant Jesus came from Persia, Arabia, and India, and that Jesus himself spent approximately three years in India where he is quoted in Hindu sacred texts. Kimball also discusses the calendar error of Dionysius Ignatius, arguing that Jesus was born in 7 B.C. and was approximately 40 years old at his death.

Callers ask about the Book of Jasher, the Quran's references to Jesus, and the historical evidence for the resurrection, including Kimball's claim that Pontius Pilate himself encountered the risen Jesus and had a scribe record their conversation.

Key Moments

  1. Seventeen miles of Vatican library and the blue fungus plague: Kimball recounts how two exiled Catholic priests he befriended abroad told him the Vatican Library contains seventeen miles of library rows of ancient documents, and notes the Vatican's recent public statement about a blue fungus destroying many of those manuscripts.

  2. The calendar is off by seven years and Jesus was born in 7 B.C.: Kimball explains that the monk Dionysius Ignatius created the AD calendar in 533 A.D. and missed the actual birth of Jesus by about seven years, citing Herod's death in 4 B.C. and Kepler's identification of the Star of Bethlehem as the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Pisces in 7 B.C.

  3. Jesus was not the son of a poor carpenter: Kimball argues the Greek word translated as carpenter actually means architect or contractor, that Joseph built thrones and palaces, and that the Magi's gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh were a king's ransom that would have made any family wealthy for a hundred years.

  4. Jesus spent three years in India and was 40, not 33, when he died: Responding to a caller who studied the Vedas, Kimball says Jesus spent about three years in India, is quoted firsthand in the Vishnu Purana and Rig Vedas, and that because of the seven-year calendar error he was actually about 40 years old at the crucifixion, matching the Messiah text's prophecy that the Messiah would die around his 40th birthday.

  5. Tiberius Caesar's letter asking for Jesus' healing arrived too late: Kimball describes a recorded letter from Tiberius Caesar to his granddaughter Claudia Procula, Pilate's wife, asking her to bring Jesus to Rome to heal his affliction, and says the correspondence did not arrive in time, which made Tiberius so angry that Pilate was eventually beheaded for allowing the crucifixion.