Lost Treasures of the Bible

By Michael McDonnell

Lost Treasures of the Bible by Michael McDonnell is concerned with treasures of the Bible that have, in some way or to some degree, been lost over time. These treasures include the Ark of the Covenant, Aaron's Rod, the Chalice of the Last Supper, the Veronica, the Shroud of Turin, the family tree of Jesus, a time-line of key Biblical dates, and Noah's Ark. Three primary sources of information are used. These are: the Bible, and the writings of the Catholic mystics Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824), and the Venerable Mary of Agreda (1602-1665). This book should be of interest to people who would like to learn more about both Jesus and the Bible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 30, 2011
• ISBN: 9781447559450

Michael McDonnell

Michael McDonnell is an associate professor of history at the University of Sydney. He is the author of The Politics of War: Race, Class, and Conflict in Revolutionary Virginia, winner of the 2008 New South Wales Premier's History Prize, and coeditor of Remembering the Revolution: Memory, History, and Nation-Making from Independence to the Civil War. His work was included in the Best American History Essays 2008 and he won the Lester Cappon Prize for the best article published in the William and Mary Quarterly in 2006. He has received numerous research scholarships and grants in the United States and Australia and has served as a distinguished lecturer for the Organization of American Historians. He lives in Sydney, Australia.

Book preview

Lost Treasures of the Bible

Michael McDonnell

Copyright

Copyright © Michael John McDonnell 2007, 2024.

All rights reserved.

First published in 2007.

Edition 2 published in 2024.

Published by Lulu. ID: 750037.

www.lulu.com

Printed book:

ISBN 978-1-84753-316-6

Ebook:

ISBN 978-1-4475-5945-0

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Dedication

To The Blessed Virgin Mary

Refuge of Sinners,

Mother of God

and Queen of Heaven

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my wife Jane for her steady support during the writing of this book. My thanks are also due to Rev. Dr John Dupuche, Parish Priest of Beaumaris and Black Rock in Melbourne, for his helpful comments on a draft of the first edition of this book.

Preface to Second Edition

This is a revised version of the first edition. The changes arise primarily from an improved understanding by the author of some of the source material. This has led to a three-year revision of the Crucifixion date. This in turn has led to the revision of some related dates.

List of Tables and Figures

Table 9.1. Male line ancestry (from Adam) of Mary, the Mother of Jesus (Luke 3:23-38).

Table 9.2. Male line ancestry (from David) of Joseph, the stepfather of Jesus (Matthew 1:1-17).

Table 9.3. Female line from Eve to Mary and then to Jesus as determined from Genesis and Anne Catherine Emmerich.

Figure 9.1. Genealogical table including Emorun, Emerentia and St. John the Baptist.

Figure 9.2. Family tree of Ismeria.

Figure 9.3. Family tree of Jesus.

Figure 9.4. Family tree of St. Anne after remarriages.

Figure 9.5. Family tree of Mary Cleophas after remarriages.

Figure 9.6. Family tree of Lazarus.

Figure 9.7. Family tree of Peter.

Figure 9.8. Family tree of Anna the Prophetess.

Table 10.1. Birth and death dates for male line from Adam to Jacob, derived from the Bible and cross-checked with Bishop Ussher.

Table 10.2. Biblical timeline from Adam to time of Jesus and Mary.

Figure 11.1. Schematic diagram showing the position of the earth and the moon, and the approximate path of the Crucifixion Asteroid, relative to the earth.

Introduction

The Holy Bible is full of treasures and is itself a great treasure. Indeed, Christianity is founded upon Jesus as the Word of God, and this Word is made available to us in the treasure house that is the Bible. ‘The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all’ (Matthew 21:42). Many of the parables in the Gospels are concerned with describing the great treasure that is the Kingdom of God. We are even told where to find it: ‘The Kingdom is within you’ (Luke 17:21). We are also told ‘Seek ye first the Kingdom of the Lord’ (Matthew 6:33).

This book is not about the Kingdom of God. No, it is about the many other treasures that are mentioned, directly or indirectly, in the Bible and have over the intervening millennia been, in some way, lost. This is all, no doubt, in accordance with God’s great plan. In recent years, additional information has been made available, or has become available, which can help shed more light on some of these treasures and mysteries of the Bible. In my view, this information has been made available for a purpose. My aim in writing this book is, with God’s help, to assist the reader to a better knowledge of lost biblical treasures. I hope that this will in turn lead some readers to a stronger faith and to a better knowledge of the Kingdom, and of God’s love for us.

We live in an era of great belief in the wonders of science, and great disbelief in the wonders of God. Indeed, the very existence of God is in dispute according to much modern thinking. In such an environment, those with some faith can fall into doubt in the face of widespread modern arguments that they do not know how to counter effectively. All the knowledge that is required can be found in the Bible, and, in particular, in the Gospels. Nevertheless, I hope that this book will help to sow some faith where there is doubt.

The most familiar and obvious treasure of the Old Testament is, of course, the Ark of the Covenant. This in turn leads to a list of treasures that were kept within the Ark and, eventually, to some famous religious icons from the New Testament. These are all discussed in later chapters. Preparation of these chapters has led in turn to consideration of another type of treasure. That is the treasure of lost information. There are many types of information that were common knowledge at various times in the Bible story, but which have become largely lost in the present era. These include, for example, knowledge of key Biblical dates and of the extended family of Jesus Christ.

In preparing this book I have tried to draw on the best available sources that I am aware of. Unfortunately, I do not have the time, knowledge, skill, or experience to draw on all available reference sources. These would include, for example, the Vatican Archives, ancient Jewish writings, and material stored in the great libraries, museums, and Churches of the world. In my view, a detailed study of such additional reference material would, in general, support rather than significantly alter the contents of this book. I have used the best reference sources that I could find and will now discuss these in turn.

As a prelude to this I would like to mention the recent and highly successful film ‘The Passion of the Christ’ (15) produced by Mel Gibson in 2004. This film dealt principally with the period of the Passion: the last eighteen hours or so of the life of Jesus Christ, from the last supper through to the Crucifixion. Particularly notable is the realism with which the scenes are portrayed. The principal reference sources used for the film are the Gospels (1), and two books of personal revelations (2; 11). These personal revelations were to the Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824) and to the Venerable Mary of Agreda (1602-1665). These books (the first in particular) provide considerably more descriptive detail than can be found in the Gospels and thus helped to provide the richness of detail found in the film.

Essentially the same reference sources are the primary reference sources used in this book. The Bible is used instead of just the Gospels, and the collected works of Anne Catherine Emmerich (2-10) are used instead of her main single work (2). These reference works are the key to this book, and it draws heavily on them. Other secondary reference sources are also used where appropriate, but they are not central to the book.

Every work of prose can be characterised by its style. The Bible is no exception. The Gospels are written in a simple factual narrative style. The synoptic Gospels (those by Saints Matthew, Mark, and Luke) are particularly simple in style and heavily overlap in places. The Gospel of the Apostle St. John is much more poetic in the beginning and in describing the Last Supper. The rest of it is in a narrative style like the synoptic Gospels. The simple narrative style has many advantages in that it is easy to read, short and memorable. However, from a modern point of view, the lack of descriptive detail in the Gospels leaves many possible questions largely unanswered. The available amount of direct written material about the period of Jesus’ public ministry is extremely small when compared to the impact that this period has had on the world.

In contrast, the writings of Anne Catherine Emmerich (2-10) are voluminous and highly descriptive. They are packed with interesting information that deserves close study and consideration by the Christian community. The life of Anne Catherine has been extensively documented (2, pp. 3-57; 8; 9). She was born on September 8th, 1774 at Flamske in the bishopric of Munster in Germany. Her parents were poor pious peasants. From her earliest years she enjoyed an exceptional interior spiritual life, which she kept largely hidden because it was so different from the lives of those around her. She was also endowed with a range of interior gifts such as a deep knowledge of Biblical and liturgical matters. The Holy Family and many saints were her intimate friends. She would have conversations with them and have visions of their lives. She would often journey in spirit with them, or her Guardian Angel, to distant times and places and to carry out spiritual labours of love for her neighbour and for her Church.