Examining Accuracy of Research in Genealogy: Did Jesus Die India? eBook
Examining Accuracy of Research in Genealogy: Did Jesus Die India?; By Dwight A. Radford; Forewords by Claire Smith-Burns and Arif Khan; 2025; 158 pp; Color throughout; PDF eBook: ISBN: 978-1-62859386-0; Item #FR0157-PDF
This page is for the eBook. The volume is also available as a soft-bound book. Click here to access the page.
Sheila Benedict's review:
Once again, Dwight Radford has hit a home run. I say that as one of the people who have viewed and reviewed some of his other books but cannot state it better than his own words that "This work is not a thesis on Whether Jesus ever went to India and died there.
Instead it is meant to survey the use and abuse of historical documents in developing a workable narrative. In the end, whether a narrative is reasonable and is not a waste of time depends on the application of that evidence." All of us as genealogists, historians, archivists and others know that from sources comes information and that means finding factual and provable evidence. There is bad and there is good evidence and do we understand the difference? This book delves deeply into those questions and more, making this book a "must have" and keeping it available and at arm's length not as something to just read but to fully understand the importance of citing sources and following the genealogical standard analysis., correlation, and proving what you have is reliable. Dwight Radford has taken an esoteric topic and made it work for all genealogists, beginners through advance. Bravo Dwight and thank you!
Sheila Benedict
Benedict Research Services. Forensic and Family History Research
California, USA
Ahmadiyya Islam Review
I first came into contact with Dwight in September 2015 as the national Publications Secretary for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association. I was pleasantly surprised to learn of his "massive" project of Jesus in India. This is a most difficult subject to discuss and Dwight has risked his reputation and risk losing respect of many of his students by presenting "the use and abuse of evidence".
Dwight has to be commended and lauded for the extensive research he undertook for a subject that I feel is so important, not just for Christians and Muslims but for the majority of the world's religions. A very good subject that Dwight touches upon is the one on Interfaith dialogue, especially between Muslims and Christian theologians while discussing Jesus with both biblical and qur'anic verses. He is right in assuming that "the Bible and the Quran are intertwined at a certain level." This will be of great interest especially amongst the Ahmadiyya community worldwide.
As national publications secretary I am aware of the keenness with which especially the young members love to read, and where the founder of the community, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, is pivotal in the discussions of the book, the interest will be intensified. I think Dwight has succeeded in simply educating the masses at large and adeptly not offending anyone (it is sincerely hoped); I certainly was not!
One facet that Dwight mentions that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad "drew his authority not from the :esearch itself but from a higher power" resonates with me strongly. I am so glad to have become Dwight's friend and be introduced to genealogy, a most noble profession, which is a primary resource for preserving the world's records. Whether readers believe what Dwight has written (and argued) it is none the less hoped that it has encouraged many to delve into the wonderful world of genealogy.
Mohamed Arshad Ahmedi
National Publications Secretary, Islam International Publications, Ltd., UK
Author of Rushdie: Haunted by his Unholy Ghosts (2006)
Following is the Table of Contents. Note that the Front Matter (vi-xx) are moved to the bottom of this listing:
Chapter 1 - The Foundation: The Islamic Jesus
Chapter 2 - The Context: The Background Story
Chapter 3 - The Importance of Theology
Chapter 4 - The Sources: Who is Referencing Whom?
Chapter 5 - The Motive and Reputation: Why the Subject?
Chapter 6 - How Sources are Utilized: Channeled Literature, Scriptures, & Inspiration
Chapter 7 - Original versus Transcript
Chapter 8 - The Investigative Process
Chapter 9 - Bullet Proofing the Research
Chapter 10 - The Creation of the Narrative
Chapter 11 - Probable and Possible: Filling in the Gaps
Chapter 12 - Research Conclusions: Bringing the Research Together
Chapter 13 - The Genealogist Mind and the 556 Signatures
Bibliography
Index
Front Matter:
vi - Maps, Images, Charts, Photographs, Reference Aids
viii - English–Arabic Words
ix - Foreword: Genealogical Perspective
x - Foreword: Ahmadiyya Muslim Perspective
xii - In Memory of Mohamed Arshad Ahmedi
xv - Paternal Ancestry of Mohamed Arshad Ahmedi (1952–2023)
xvii - Introduction
xx - Maps of India, and Disputed Kashmir