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American woman: I descended from Jesus Christ
Journalist-turned-novelist says 'there are probably millions' of others
Posted: July 23, 2006
6:04 p.m. Eastern

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

A California woman publishing a novel similar to "The Da Vinci Code" claims she is a direct descendant of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Kathleen McGowan of Los Angeles is making the statement as her work, "The Expected One," becomes available this summer.

"I don't want people to think I'm claiming to be some elitist figure in the [Jesus] bloodline," McGowan told the Sunday Times of London. "But what I'm saying is that Mary and Jesus had children and after 2,000 years of procreation there are probably millions of descendants around the world. I believe I'm one."

Despite the fact the Bible gives no hint that Jesus was ever married or had children, there have been numerous claims over the years that he did have children with Mary Magdalene, another New Testament figure.

McGowan submitted her proposal to publishers in 1997, and says, "I was laughed out of New York City. ... I was told nobody would ever publish a book claiming Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene."

Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code" asserted that after the crucifixion of Jesus, Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus' child, moved to France with the help of Joseph of Arimathea, Jesus' uncle. She purportedly lived among local Jews and gave birth to a daughter named Sarah.

A former editor for the Irish News in Belfast, McGowan originally published her version herself last year after selling shoes on eBay to pay for research. Though it sold only 2,500 copies, the rights were snagged by Touchstone Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

The publishing house has already spent seven figures acquiring the rights to the story, and will spend another $275,000 on marketing.

"I certainly expect there will be a backlash," McGowan told USA Today. "But I have the support of my family and friends and that's what I draw from."

She says the book's title refers to an ancient prophecy about a woman chosen by divine providence to bring the real story of Mary Magdalene's life to the world. But she won't say whether or not she considers herself "The Expected One."

"I'm not grandiose about this, and it concerns me a lot that I could be portrayed that way," she told USA Today. "I don't want it to appear that I'm standing up and saying I'm the expected one. That's a dangerous, ego-driven kind of thing."

When asked about how the publishing company could verify McGowan's claim she descended from Jesus, Simon & Schuster spokesman Digby Halsby told Britain's Independent, "It's impossible to verify. It's all to do with a matter of faith. She makes a very convincing argument."

Historians offer skepticism to her divine heritage.

"A historian simply has to look at what evidence there is," Bart Ehrman, chairman of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill told USA Today. "You can survey anyone who is a scholar of early Christianity and they will all tell you the same thing. It's completely bogus."
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Galatians 2:4 [My precaution was] because of false brethren who had been secretly smuggled in [to the Christian brotherhood]; they had slipped in to spy on our liberty and the freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might again bring us into bondage [under the Law of Moses].

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