[tamil] WARNING: NOT For Dogma Christians - Is Jesus Real - One Viewpoin

[Bala Pillai <bala@tamil.net>]

[WARNING: NOT For Dogma Christians. Please do not read this if you are a 
dogmatic (nothing wrong with this per se) Christian. It is likely to be too 
sensitive for your taste. You have been forewarned.]

Is Jesus Real - One Viewpoint

http://pub5.ezboard.com/fyourdonotheranddebates.showMessage?topicID=248.topic

Subject:
                  In the name of Jesus... did he even exist?
     Posted By:
                  ytwok pumps    (Registered User)
     Posted At:
                  8/3/00 6:58:18 pm
     From IP:
     The Origins of Christianity and
     the Quest for the Historical Jesus Christ
     by Acharya S


     Introduction
     Around the world over the centuries, much has been written about
religion, its
     meaning, its relevance and contribution to humanity. In the West
particularly, sizable
     tomes have been composed speculating upon the nature and historical
background
     of the main character of Western religions, Jesus Christ. Many have
tried to dig into
     the precious few clues as to Jesus's identity and come up with a
biographical sketch
     that either bolsters faith or reveals a more human side of this godman
to which we
     can all relate. Obviously, considering the time and energy spent on
them, the
     subjects of Christianity and its legendary founder are very important
to the Western
     mind and culture.

     The Controversy
     Despite all of this literature continuously being cranked out and the
significance of
     the issue, in the public at large there is a serious lack of formal and
broad education
     regarding religion and mythology, and most individuals are highly
uninformed in this
     area. Concerning the issue of Christianity, for example, the majority
of people are
     taught in most schools and churches that Jesus Christ was an actual
historical figure
     and that the only controversy regarding him is that some people accept
him as the
     Son of God and the Messiah, while others do not. However, whereas this
is the
     raging debate most evident in this field today, it is not the most
important. Shocking
     as it may seem to the general populace, the most enduring and profound
     controversy in this subject is whether or not a person named Jesus
Christ ever really
     existed.

     Although this debate may not be evident from publications readily found
in popular
     bookstores1, when one examines this issue closely, one will find a
tremendous
     volume of literature that demonstrates, logically and intelligently,
time and again
     that Jesus Christ is a mythological character along the same lines as
the Greek,
     Roman, Egyptian, Sumerian, Phoenician, Indian or other godmen, who are 
all
     presently accepted as myths rather than historical figures2. Delving
deeply into this
     large body of work, one uncovers evidence that the Jesus character is
based upon
     much older myths and heroes from around the globe. One discovers that
this story is
     not, therefore, a historical representation of a Jewish rebel carpenter
who had
     physical incarnation in the Levant 2,000 years ago. In other words, it
has been
     demonstrated continually for centuries that this character, Jesus
Christ, was
     invented and did not depict a real person who was either the "son of
God" or was
     "evemeristically" made into a superhuman by enthusiastic followers3.

     History and Positions of the Debate
     This controversy has existed from the very beginning, and the writings
of the
     "Church Fathers" themselves reveal that they were constantly forced by
the pagan
     intelligentsia to defend what the non-Christians and other Christians
("heretics")4
     alike saw as a preposterous and fabricated yarn with absolutely no
evidence of it
     ever having taken place in history. As Rev. Robert Taylor says, "And
from the
     apostolic age downwards, in a never interrupted succession, but never
so strongly
     and emphatically as in the most primitive times, was the existence of
Christ as a
     man most strenuously denied."5 Emperor Julian, who, coming after the
reign of the
     fanatical and murderous "good Christian" Constantine, returned rights
to pagan
     worshippers, stated, "If anyone should wish to know the truth with
respect to you
     Christians, he will find your impiety to be made up partly of the
Jewish audacity, and
     partly of the indifference and confusion of the Gentiles, and that you
have put
     together not the best, but the worst characteristics of them both."6
According to
     these learned dissenters, the New Testament could rightly be called,
"Gospel
     Fictions."7

     A century ago, mythicist Albert Churchward said, "The canonical gospels
can be
     shown to be a collection of sayings from the Egyptian Mythos and
Eschatology."8 In
     Forgery in Christianity, Joseph Wheless states, "The gospels are all
priestly forgeries
     over a century after their pretended dates."9 Those who concocted some
of the
     hundreds of "alternative" gospels and epistles that were being kicked
about during
     the first several centuries C.E. have even admitted that they had
forged the
     documents.10 Forgery during the first centuries of the Church's
existence was
     admittedly rampant, so common in fact that a new phrase was coined to
describe it:
     "pious fraud."11 Such prevarication is confessed to repeatedly in the
Catholic
     Encyclopedia.12 Some of the "great" church fathers, such as Eusebius13,
were
     determined by their own peers to be unbelievable liars who regularly
wrote their own
     fictions of what "the Lord" said and did during "his" alleged sojourn
upon the earth.14


     The Proof
     The assertion that Jesus Christ is a myth can be proved not only
through the works
     of dissenters and "pagans" who knew the truth - and who were viciously
refuted or
     murdered for their battle against the Christian priests and "Church
Fathers" fooling
     the masses with their fictions - but also through the very statements
of the
     Christians themselves, who continuously disclose that they knew Jesus
Christ was a
     myth founded upon more ancient deities located throughout the known 
ancient
     world. In fact, Pope Leo X, privy to the truth because of his high
rank, made this
     curious declaration, "What profit has not that fable of Christ brought
us!"15
     (Emphasis added.) As Wheless says, "The proofs of my indictment are
marvellously
     easy."

     The Gnostics
     From their own admissions, the early Christians were incessantly under
criticism by
     scholars of great repute who were impugned as "heathens" by their 
Christian
     adversaries. This group included many Gnostics, who strenuously
objected to the
     carnalization of their deity, as the Christians can be shown to have
taken many of
     the characteristics of their god and godman from the Gnostics, meaning
"Ones who
     know," a loose designation applied to members of a variety of esoteric
schools and
     brotherhoods. The refutations of the Christians against the Gnostics
reveal that the
     Christian godman was an insult to the Gnostics, who held that their god
could never
     take human form.16

     Biblical Sources
     It is very telling that the earliest Christian documents, the Epistles
attributed to
     "Paul," never discuss a historical background of Jesus but deal
exclusively with a
     spiritual being who was known to all gnostic sects for hundreds to
thousands of
     years. The few "historical" references to an actual life of Jesus cited
in the Epistles
     are demonstrably interpolations and forgeries, as are, according to
Wheless, the
     Epistles themselves, as they were not written by "Paul."17 Aside from
the brief
     reference to Pontius Pilate at 1 Timothy 6:13, an epistle dated ben
Yehoshua to 144
     CE and thus not written by Paul, the Pauline literature (as pointed out
by Edouard
     Dujardin) "does not refer to Pilate18, or the Romans, or Caiaphas, or
the Sanhedrin,
     or Herod19, or Judas, or the holy women, or any person in the gospel
account of the
     Passion, and that it also never makes any allusion to them; lastly,
that it mentions
     absolutely none of the events of the Passion, either directly or by way 
of
     allusion."20 Dujardin additionally relates that other early "Christian"
writings such as
     Revelation do not mention any historical details or drama.21
Mangasarian notes that
     Paul also never quotes from Jesus's purported sermons and speeches,
parables and
     prayers, nor does he mention Jesus's supernatural birth or any of his
alleged wonders
     and miracles, all which one would presume would be very important to
his followers,
     had such exploits and sayings been known prior to "Paul."22

     Turning to the gospels themselves, which were composed between 170-180
C.E.22a,
     their pretended authors, the apostles, give sparse histories and
genealogies of Jesus
     that contradict each other and themselves in numerous places. The
birthdate of
     Jesus is depicted as having taken place at different times. His birth
and childhood
     are not mentioned in "Mark," and although he is claimed in "Matthew"
and "Luke" to
     have been "born of a virgin," his lineage is traced to the House of
David through
     Joseph, such that he may "fulfill prophecy."23 He is said in the first
three (Synoptic)
     gospels to have taught for one year before he died, while in "John" the
number is
     three years. "Matthew" relates that Jesus delivered "The Sermon on the
Mount"24
     before "the multitudes," while "Luke" says it was a private talk given
only to the
     disciples. The accounts of his Passion and Resurrection differ utterly
from each
     other, and no one states how old he was when he died.25 Wheless says, 
"The
     so-called 'canonical' books of the New Testament, as of the Old, are a
mess of
     contradictions and confusions of text, to the present estimate of
150,000 and more
     'variant readings,' as is well known and admitted."26 In addition, of
the dozens of
     gospels, ones that were once considered canonical or genuine were later
rejected as
     "apocryphal" or spurious, and vice versa. So much for the "infallible
Word of God" and
     "infallible" Church! The confusion exists because the Christian
plagiarists over the
     centuries were attempting to amalgamate and fuse practically every
myth, fairytale,
     legend, doctrine or bit of wisdom they could pilfer from the
innumerable different
     mystery religions and philosophies that existed at the time. In doing
so, they forged,
     interpolated, mutilated, changed, and rewrote these texts for 
centuries.27

     Non-Biblical Sources
     Basically, there are no non-biblical references to a historical Jesus
by any known
     historian of the time during and after Jesus's purported advent. Walker
says, "No
     literate person of his own time mentioned him in any known writing."
Eminent
     Hellenistic Jewish historian and philosopher Philo (20 B.C.E.-50 C.E.),
alive at the
     purported time of Jesus, makes no mention of him. Nor do any of the
some 40 other
     historians who wrote during the first one to two centuries of the
Common Era.
     "Enough of the writings of [these] authors . . . remain to form a
library. Yet in this
     mass of Jewish and Pagan literature, aside from two forged passages in
the works of
     a Jewish author, and two disputed passages in the works of Roman
writers, there is
     to be found no mention of Jesus Christ."28 Their silence is deafening
testimony
     against the historicizers.

     In the entire works of the Jewish historian Josephus, which constitute 
many
     volumes, there are only two paragraphs that purport to refer to Jesus.
Although
     much has been made of these "references," they have been dismissed by
all scholars
     and even by Christian apologists as forgeries, as have been those
referring to John
     the Baptist and James, "brother" of Jesus. Bishop Warburton labeled the
Josephus
     interpolation regarding Jesus as "a rank forgery, and a very stupid
one, too."29
     Wheless notes that, "The first mention ever made of this passage, and
its text, are
     in the Church History of that 'very dishonest writer,' Bishop Eusebius,
in the fourth
     century. . . CE [Catholic Encyclopedia] admits . . . the above cited
passage was not
     known to Origen and the earlier patristic writers." Wheless, a lawyer,
and Taylor, a
     minister, agree that it was Eusebius himself who forged the passage.

     Regarding the letter to Trajan supposedly written by Pliny the Younger,
which is one
     of the pitifully few "references" to Jesus or Christianity held up by
Christians as
     evidence of the existence of Jesus, there is but one word that is
applicable -
     "Christian" - and that has been demonstrated to be spurious, as is also
suspected of
     the entire letter. Concerning the passage in the works of the historian
Tacitus, who
     did not live during the purported time of Jesus but was born two
decades after his
     purported death, this is also considered by competent scholars as an
interpolation
     and forgery.30 Christian defenders also like to hold up the passage in
Suetonius that
     refers to someone named "Chrestus" or "Chresto" as reference to their
Savior;
     however, while some have speculated that there was a Roman man of that
name at
     that time, the name "Chrestus" or "Chrestos," meaning "useful," was
frequently held
     by freed slaves. Others opine that this passage is also an interpolation.

     As these references and their constant regurgitation by Christian
apologists, Dr.
     Alvin Boyd Kuhn says:

     "The average Christian minister who has not read outside the pale of
accredited
     Church authorities will impart to any parishioner making the inquiry
the information
     that no event in history iis better attested by witness than the
occurences in the
     Gospel narrative of Christ's life. He will go over the usual citation
of the historians
     who mention Jesus and the letters claiming to have been written about
him. When
     the credulous questioner, putting trust in the intelligence and good
faith of his
     pastor, gets this answer, he goes away assured on the point of the
veracity of the
     Gospel story. The pastor does not qualify his data with the information
that the
     practice of forgery, fictionizing and fable was rampant in the early
Church. In the
     simple interest of truth, then, it is important to examine the body of
alleged
     testimony from secular history and see what credibility and authority
it possess.

     "First, as to the historians whose works record the existence of Jesus,
the list
     comprises but four. They are Pliny, Tacitus, Suetonius and Josephus.
There are
     short paragraphs in the works of each of these, two in Josephus. The
total quantity
     of this material is given by Harry Elmer Barnes in The Twilight of
Christianity as some
     twenty-four lines. It may total a little more, perhaps twice that
amount. This meager
     testimony constitutes the body or mass of the evidence of 'one of the
best attested
     events in history.' Even if it could be accepted as indisputably
authentic and reliable,
     it would be faltering support for an event that has dominated the
thought of half the
     world for eighteen centuries.

     "But what is the standing of this witness? Not even Catholic scholars
of importance
     have dissented from a general agreement of academic investigators that
these
     passages, one and all, must by put down as forgeries and interpolations
by partisan
     Christian scribes who wished zealously to array the authority of these
historians
     behind the historicity of the Gospel life of Jesus. A sum total of
forty or fifty lines
     from secular history supporting the existence of Jesus of Nazareth, and
they
     completely discredited!"30a

     Of these "references," Dujardin says, "But even if they are authentic,
and were
     derived from earlier sources, they would not carry us back earlier than
the period in
     which the gospel legend took form, and so could attest only the legend
of Jesus,
     and not his historicity." In any case, these scarce and brief
"references" to a man
     who supposedly shook up the world can hardly be held up as proof of his
existence,
     and it is absurd that the purported historicity of the entire Christian
religion is
     founded upon them.31 As it is said, "Extraordinary claims require
extraordinary
     proof"; yet, no proof of any kind for the historicity of Jesus has ever
existed or is
     forthcoming.

     The Characters
     It is evident that there was no single historical person upon whom the
Christian
     religion was founded, and that "Jesus Christ" is a compilation of
legends, heroes,
     gods and godmen. There is not adequate room here to go into detail
about each god
     or godman that contributed to the formation of the Jewish Jesus
character; suffice
     it to say that there is plenty of documentation to show that this issue
is not a
     question of "faith" or "belief." The truth is that during the era this
character
     supposedly lived there was an extensive library at Alexandria and an
incredibly nimble
     brotherhood network that stretched from Europe to China, and this
information
     network had access to numerous manuscripts that told the same narrative
portrayed
     in the New Testament with different place names and ethnicity for the
characters.
     In actuality, the legend of Jesus nearly identically parallels the
story of Krishna, for
     example, even in detail, as was presented by noted mythologist and
scholar Gerald
     Massey over 100 years ago, as well as by Rev. Robert Taylor 160 years
ago, among
     others.32 The Krishna tale as told in the Hindu Vedas has been dated to
at least as
     far back as 1400 B.C.E.33 The same can be said of the well-woven Horus
mythos,
     which also is practically identical, in detail, to the Jesus story, but
which predates
     the Christian version by thousands of years.

     The Jesus story incorporated elements from the tales of other deities
recorded in
     this widespread area, such as many of the following world saviors and
"sons of God,"
     most or all of whom predate the Christian myth, and a number of whom were
     crucified or executed.33a

     Adad of Assyria
     Adonis, Apollo, Heracles ("Hercules") and Zeus of Greece
     Alcides of Thebes
     Attis of Phrygia
     Baal of Phoenicia
     Bali of Afghanistan
     Beddru of Japan
     Buddha of India
     Crite of Chaldea
     Deva Tat of Siam
     Hesus of the Druids
     Horus, Osiris, and Serapis of Egypt, whose long-haired, bearded
appearance was
     adopted for the Christ character34
     Indra of Tibet/India
     Jao of Nepal
     Krishna of India
     Mikado of the Sintoos
     Mithra of Persia
     Odin of the Scandinavians
     Prometheus of Caucasus/Greece
     Quetzalcoatl of Mexico
     Salivahana of Bermuda
     Tammuz of Syria (who was, in a typical mythmaking move, later turned
into the
     disciple Thomas35)
     Thor of the Gauls
     Universal Monarch of the Sibyls36
     Wittoba of the Bilingonese
     Xamolxis of Thrace
     Zarathustra/Zoroaster of Persia
     Zoar of the Bonzes
     The Major Players
     Buddha
     Although most people think of Buddha as being one person who lived
around 500
     B.C.E., the character commonly portrayed as Buddha can also be
demonstrated to
     be a compilation of godmen, legends and sayings of various holy men
both preceding
     and succeeding the period attributed to the Buddha.37

     The Buddha character has the following in common with the Christ 
figure:38

     Buddha was born of the virgin Maya, who was considered the "Queen of
     Heaven."38aa
     He was of royal descent.
     He crushed a serpent's head.
     He performed miracles and wonders, healed the sick, fed 500 men from a
"small
     basket of cakes," and walked on water.38a
     He abolished idolatry, was a "sower of the word," and preached "the
establishment
     of a kingdom of righteousness."38b
     He taught chastity, temperance, tolerance, compassion, love, and the
equality of
     all.
     He was transfigured on a mount.
     Sakya Buddha was crucified in a sin-atonement, suffered for three days
in hell, and
     was resurrected.38c
     He ascended to Nirvana or "heaven."
     Buddha was considered the "Good Shepherd"39, the "Carpenter"40, the
"Infinite and
     Everlasting."40a
     He was called the "Savior of the World" and the "Light of the World."
     Horus of Egypt
     The stories of Jesus and Horus are very similar, with Horus even
contributing the
     name of Jesus Christ. Horus and his once-and-future Father, Osiris, are
frequently
     interchangeable in the mythos ("I and my Father are one").41 The
legends of Horus
     go back thousands of years, and he shares the following in common with
Jesus:

     Horus was born of the virgin Isis-Meri on December 25th in a
cave/manger42, with
     his birth being announced by a star in the East and attended by three
wise men.43
     He was a child teacher in the Temple and was baptized when he was 30
years old.44

     Horus was also baptized by "Anup the Baptizer," who becomes "John the
Baptist."
     He had 12 disciples.
     He performed miracles and raised one man, El-Azar-us, from the dead.
     He walked on water.
     Horus was transfigured on the Mount.
     He was crucified, buried in a tomb and resurrected.
     He was also the "Way, the Truth, the Light, the Messiah, God's Anointed
Son, the
     Son of Man, the Good Shepherd, the Lamb of God, the Word" etc.
     He was "the Fisher," and was associated with the Lamb, Lion and Fish
("Ichthys").45

     Horus's personal epithet was "Iusa," the "ever-becoming son" of 
"Ptah," the
     "Father."46
     Horus was called "the KRST," or "Anointed One," long before the
Christians duplicated
     the story.47
     In fact, in the catacombs at Rome are pictures of the baby Horus being
held by the
     virgin mother Isis - the original "Madonna and Child"48 - and the
Vatican itself is built
     upon the papacy of Mithra49, who shares many qualities with Jesus and
who existed
     as a deity long before the Jesus character was formalized. The
Christian hierarchy is
     nearly identical to the Mithraic version it replaced50. Virtually all
of the elements of
     the Catholic ritual, from miter to wafer to water to altar to doxology,
are directly
     taken from earlier pagan mystery religions.51

     Mithra, Sungod of Persia
     The story of Mithra precedes the Christian fable by at least 600 years.
According to
     Wheless, the cult of Mithra was, shortly before the Christian era, "the
most popular
     and widely spread 'Pagan' religion of the times." Mithra has the
following in common
     with the Christ character:

     Mithra was born of a virgin on December 25th.
     He was considered a great traveling teacher and master.
     He had 12 companions or disciples.
     He performed miracles.
     He was buried in a tomb.
     After three days he rose again.
     His resurrection was celebrated every year.
     Mithra was called "the Good Shepherd."
     He was considered "the Way, the Truth and the Light, the Redeemer, the
Savior, the
     Messiah."
     He was identified with both the Lion and the Lamb.
     His sacred day was Sunday, "the Lord's Day," hundreds of years before the
     appearance of Christ.
     Mithra had his principal festival on what was later to become Easter,
at which time
     he was resurrected.
     His religion had a Eucharist or "Lord's Supper."52
     Krishna of India
     The similarities between the Christian character and the Indian messiah
are many.
     Indeed, Massey finds over 100 similarities between the Hindu and
Christian saviors,
     and Graves, who includes the various noncanonical gospels in his
analysis, lists over
     300 likenesses. It should be noted that a common earlier English
spelling of Krishna
     was "Christna," which reveals its relation to '"Christ." It should also
be noted that,
     like the Jewish godman, many people have believed in a historical,
carnalized
     Krishna.53

     Krishna was born of the Virgin Devaki ("Divine One") 53a
     His father was a carpenter.54
     His birth was attended by angels, wise men and shepherds, and he was
presented
     with gold, frankincense and myrrh.54a
     He was persecuted by a tyrant who ordered the slaughter of thousands of
infants.55

     He was of royal descent.
     He was baptized in the River Ganges.55a
     He worked miracles and wonders.
     He raised the dead and healed lepers, the deaf and the blind.
     Krishna used parables to teach the people about charity and love.
     "He lived poor and he loved the poor."56
     He was transfigured in front of his disciples.57
     In some traditions he died on a tree or was crucified between two
thieves.58
     He rose from the dead and ascended to heaven.
     Krishna is called the "Shepherd God" and "Lord of lords," and was
considered "the
     Redeemer, Firstborn, Sin Bearer, Liberator, Universal Word."59
     He is the second person of the Trinity,60 and proclaimed himself the
"Resurrection"
     and the "way to the Father."60a
     He was considered the "Beginning, the Middle and the End," ("Alpha and
Omega"), as
     well as being omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent.
     His disciples bestowed upon him the title "Jezeus," meaning "pure
essence."61
     Krishna is to return to do battle with the "Prince of Evil," who will
desolate the
     earth.62
     Prometheus of Greece
     The Greek god Prometheus has been claimed to have come from Egypt, but 
his
     drama took place in the Caucasus mountains. Prometheus shares a number of
     striking similarities with the Christ character.

     Prometheus descended from heaven as God incarnate as man, to save 
mankind.
     He was crucified, suffered and rose from the dead.
     He was called the Logos or Word.62a
     Five centuries before the Christian era, esteemed Greek poet Aeschylus
wrote
     Prometheus Bound, which, according to Taylor, was presented in the
theater in
     Athens. Taylor claims that in the play Prometheus is crucified "on a
fatal tree" and
     the sky goes dark:

     "The darkness which closed the scene on the suffering Prometheus, was
easily
     exhibited on the stage, by putting out the lamps; but when the tragedy
was to
     become history, and the fiction to be turned into fact, the lamp of day
could not be
     so easily disposed of. Nor can it be denied that the miraculous
darkness which the
     Evangelists so solemnly declare to have attended the crucifixion of
Christ, labours
     under precisely the same fatality of an absolute and total want of
evidence."63

     Tradition holds that Prometheus was crucified on a rock, yet some
sources have
     opined that legend also held he was crucified on a tree and that
Christians muddled
     the story and/or mutilated the text, as they did with the works of so
many ancient
     authors. In any case, the sun hiding in darkness parallels the
Christian fable of the
     darkness descending when Jesus was crucified. This remarkable
occurrence is not
     recorded in history but is only explainable within the Mythos and as
part of a
     recurring play.

     The Creation of a Myth
     The Christians went on a censorship rampage that led to the virtual
illiteracy of the
     ancient world and ensured that their secret would be hidden from the
masses64, but
     the scholars of other schools/sects never gave up their arguments
against the
     historicizing of a very ancient mythological creature. We have lost the
arguments of
     these learned dissenters because the Christians destroyed any traces of
their works.
     Nonetheless, the Christians preserved the contentions of their
detractors through
     the Christians' own refutations.

     For example, early Church Father Tertullian (@ 160-220 C.E.), an
"ex-Pagan" and
     Bishop of Carthage, ironically admits the true origins of the Christ
story and of all
     other such godmen by stating in refutation of his critics, "You say we
worship the
     sun; so do you."65 Interestingly, a previously strident believer and
defender of the
     faith, Tertullian later renounced Christianity66.

     The "Son" of God is the "Sun" of God 67
     The reason why all these narratives are so similar, with a godman who
is crucified
     and resurrected, who does miracles and has 12 disciples, is that these
stories were
     based on the movements of the sun through the heavens, an 
astrotheological
     development that can be found throughout the planet because the sun and
the 12
     zodiac signs can be observed around the globe. In other words, Jesus
Christ and all
     the others upon whom this character is predicated are personifications
of the sun,
     and the Gospel fable is merely a rehash of a mythological formula (the
"Mythos," as
     mentioned above) revolving around the movements of the sun through the
     heavens.68

     For instance, many of the world's crucified godmen have their
traditional birthday on
     December 25th ("Christmas"69). This is because the ancients recognized
that (from
     an earthcentric perspective) the sun makes an annual descent southward
until
     December 21st or 22nd, the winter solstice, when it stops moving
southerly for three
     days and then starts to move northward again. During this time, the
ancients
     declared that "God's sun" had "died" for three days and was "born 
again" on
     December 25th. The ancients realized quite abundantly that they needed
the sun to
     return every day and that they would be in big trouble if the sun
continued to move
     southward and did not stop and reverse its direction. Thus, these many
different
     cultures celebrated the "sun of God's" birthday on December 25th.70 The
following
     are the characteristics of the "sun of God":

     The sun "dies" for three days on December 22nd, the winter solstice,
when it stops
     in its movement south, to be born again or resurrected on December
25th, when it
     resumes its movement north.
     In some areas, the calendar originally began in the constellation of
Virgo, and the
     sun would therefore be "born of a Virgin."
     The sun is the "Light of the World."
     The sun "cometh on clouds, and every eye shall see him."
     The sun rising in the morning is the "Savior of mankind."
     The sun wears a corona, "crown of thorns" or halo.71
     The sun "walks on water."
     The sun's "followers," "helpers" or "disciples" are the 12 months and
the 12 signs of
     the zodiac or constellations, through which the sun must pass.
     The sun at 12 noon is in the house or temple of the "Most High"; thus,
"he" begins
     "his Father's work" at "age" 12.
     The sun enters into each sign of the zodiac at 30°; hence, the "Sun of
God" begins
     his ministry at "age" 30.
     The sun is hung on a cross or "crucified," which represents its passing
through the
     equinoxes, the vernal equinox being Easter, at which time it is then
resurrected.72
     Contrary to popular belief, the ancients were not an ignorant and
superstitious lot
     who actually believed their deities to be literal characters. Indeed,
this slanderous
     propaganda has been part of the conspiracy to make the ancients appear
as if they
     were truly the dark and dumb rabble that was in need of the "light of
Jesus."73 The
     reality is that the ancients were no less advanced in their morals and
spiritual
     practices, and in many cases were far more advanced, than the
Christians in their
     own supposed morality and ideology, which, in its very attempt at
historicity, is in
     actuality a degradation of the ancient Mythos. Indeed, unlike the
"superior"
     Christians, the true intelligentsia amongst the ancients were well
aware that their
     gods were astronomical and atmospheric in nature. Socrates, Plato and
Aristotle74
     surely knew that Zeus, the sky god father figure who migrated to Greece
from India
     and/or Egypt, was never a real person, despite the fact that the Greeks
have
     designated on Crete both a birth cave and a death cave of Zeus. In
addition, all
     over the world are to be found sites where this god or that allegedly
was born,
     walked, suffered, died, etc., a common and unremarkable occurrence that
is not
     monopolized by, and did not originate with, Christianity.74a

     Etymology Tells the Story
     Zeus, aka "Zeus Pateras," who we now automatically believe to be a myth
and not a
     historical figure, takes his name from the Indian version, "Dyaus
Pitar." Dyaus Pitar in
     turn is related to the Egyptian "Ptah," and from both Pitar and Ptah
comes the word
     "pater," or "father." "Zeus" equals "Dyaus," which became "Deos,"
"Deus" and "Dios" -
     "God." "Zeus Pateras," like Dyaus Pitar, means, "God the Father," a
very ancient
     concept that in no way originated with "Jesus" and Christianity. There
is no question
     of Zeus being a historical character. Dyaus Pitar becomes "Jupiter" in
Roman
     mythology, and likewise is not representative of an actual, historical
character. In
     Egyptian mythology, Ptah, the Father, is the unseen god-force, and the
sun was
     viewed as Ptah's visible proxy who brings everlasting life to the
earth; hence, the
     "son of God" is really the "sun of God." Indeed, according to Hotema,
the very name
     "Christ" comes from the Hindi word "Kris" (as in Krishna), which is a
name for the
     sun.75

     Furthermore, since Horus was called "Iusa/Iao/Iesu"76 the "KRST," and
     Krishna/Christna was called "Jezeus," centuries before any Jewish
character similarly
     named, it would be safe to assume that Jesus Christ is just a repeat of
Horus and
     Krishna, among the rest. According to Rev. Taylor, the title "Christ"
in its Hebraic
     form meaning "Anointed" ("Masiah"77) was held by all kings of Israel,
as well as being
     "so commonly assumed by all sorts of impostors, conjurers, and
pretenders to
     supernatural communications, that the very claim to it is in the gospel
itself
     considered as an indication of imposture . . ."78 Hotema states that
the name "Jesus
     Christ" was not formally adopted in its present form until after the
first Council of
     Nicea, i.e., in 325 C.E.79

     In actuality, even the place names and the appellations of many other
characters in
     the New Testament can be revealed to be Hebraicized renderings of the
Egyptian
     texts.

     As an example, in the fable of "Lazarus," the mummy raised from the
dead by Jesus,
     the Christian copyists did not change his name much, "El-Azar-us" 
being the
     Egyptian mummy raised from the dead by Horus possibly 1,000 years or
more before
     the Jewish version.80 This story is allegory for the sun reviving its
old, dying self, or
     father, as in "El-Osiris."81 It is not a true story.

     Horus's principal enemy - originally Horus's other face or "dark"
aspect - was "Set" or
     "Sata," whence comes "Satan."82 Horus struggles with Set in the exact
manner that
     Jesus battles with Satan, with 40 days in the wilderness, among other
similarities.83
     This is because this myth represents the triumph of light over dark, or
the sun's
     return to relieve the terror of the night.

     "Jerusalem" simply means "City of Peace," and the actual city in Israel
was named
     after the holy city of peace in the Egyptian sacred texts that already
existed at the
     time the city was founded. Likewise, "Bethany," site of the famous
multiplying of the
     loaves, means "House of God," and is allegory for the "multiplication
of the many out
     of the One."84 Any town of that designation was named for the
allegorical place in
     the texts that existed before the town's foundation. The Egyptian
predecessor and
     counterpart is "Bethanu."85

     The Book of Revelation is Egyptian and Zoroastrian
     One can find certain allegorical place names such as "Jerusalem" and
"Israel" in the
     Book of Revelation. Massey has stated that Revelation, rather than
having been
     written by any apostle called John during the 1st Century C.E., is a
very ancient
     text that dates to the beginning of this era of history, i.e. possibly
as early as 4,000
     years ago.86 Massey asserts that Revelation relates the Mithraic legend 
of
     Zarathustra/Zoroaster.87 Hotema says of this mysterious book, which has
baffled
     mankind for centuries: "It is expressed in terms of creative phenomena;
its hero is
     not Jesus but the Sun of the Universe, its heroine is the Moon; and all
its other
     characters are Planets, Stars and Constellations; while its
stage-setting comprises
     the Sky, the Earth, the Rivers and the Sea." The common form of this
text has been
     attributed by Churchward to Horus's scribe, Aan, whose name has been 
passed
     down to us as "John."88

     The word Israel itself, far from being a Jewish appellation, probably
comes from the
     combination of three different reigning deities: Isis, the Earth Mother
Goddess
     revered throughout the ancient world; Ra, the Egyptian sungod; and El,
the Semitic
     deity passed down in form as Saturn.90 El was one of the earliest names
for the god
     of the ancient Hebrews (whence Emmanu-El, Micha-El, Gabri-El, Samu-El,
etc.), and
     his worship is reflected in the fact that the Jews still consider
Saturday as "God's
     Day."91

     Indeed, that the Christians worship on Sunday betrays the genuine
origins of their
     god and godman. Their "savior" is actually the sun, which is the "Light
of the world
     that every eye can see." The sun has been viewed consistently
throughout history
     as the savior of mankind for reasons that are obvious. Without the sun,
the planet
     would scarcely last one day. So important was the sun to the ancients
that they
     composed a "Sun Book," or "Helio Biblia," which became the "Holy
Bible."91a

     The "Patriarchs" and "Saints" are the Gods of Other Cultures
     When one studies mythmaking, one can readily discern and delineate a
pattern that
     is repeated throughout history. Whenever an invading culture takes 
over its
     predecessors, it either vilifies the preceding deities or makes them
into lesser gods,
     "patriarchs" or, in the case of Christianity, "saints." This process is
exemplified in the
     adoption of the Hindu god Brahma as the Hebrew patriarch Abraham.92 
Another
     school of thought proposes that the patriarch Joshua was based on Horus
as "Iusa,"
     since the cult of Horus had migrated by this period to the Levant. In
this theory, the
     cult of Joshua, which was situated in exactly the area where the Christ
drama
     allegedly took place, then mutated into the Christian story, with
Joshua becoming
     Jesus.93 As Robertson says, "The Book of Joshua leads us to think that
he had
     several attributes of the Sun-god, and that, like Samson and Moses, he
was an
     ancient deity reduced to human status."

     Indeed, the legend of Moses, rather than being that of a historical 
Hebrew
     character, is found around the ancient Middle and Far East, with the
character
     having different names and races, depending on the locale: "Manou" is
the Indian
     legislator; "Nemo the lawgiver," who brought down the tablets from the
Mountain of
     God, hails from Babylon; "Mises" is found in Syria and Egypt, where
also "Manes the
     lawgiver" takes the stage; "Minos" is the Cretan reformer; and the Ten
     Commandments are simply a repetition of the Babylonian Code of
Hammurabi and the
     Hindu Vedas, among others.94 Like Moses, Krishna was placed by his
mother in a
     reed boat and set adrift in a river to be discovered by another
woman.95 A century
     ago, Massey outlined, and Graham recently reiterated, that even the
Exodus itself is
     not a historical event. That the historicity of the Exodus has been
questioned is
     echoed by the lack of any archaeological record, as is reported in 
Biblical
     Archaeology Review ("BAR"), September/October 1994.96

     Like many biblical characters, Noah is also a myth97, long ago
appropriated from the
     Egyptians, the Sumerians and others, as any sophisticated scholar could
     demonstrate, and yet we find all sorts of books - some even presumably
"channeling"
     the "ultimate truth" from a mystical, omniscient, omnipresent and
eternal being such
     as Jesus himself - prattling on about a genuine, historical Noah, his
extraordinary
     adventures, and the "Great Flood!"98

     Additionally, the "Esther" of the Old Testament Book of Esther is a
remake of the
     Goddess Ishtar, Astarte, Astoreth or Isis, from whom comes "Easter"99
and about
     whose long and ubiquitous reign little is said in "God's infallible
Word."100 The Virgin
     Mother/Goddess/Queen of Heaven motif is found around the globe, long
before the
     Christian era, with Isis, for instance, also being called "Mata-Meri"
("Mother Mary").
     As Walker says, "Mari" was the "basic name of the Goddess known to the
Chaldeans
     as Marratu, to the Jews as Marah, to the Persians as Mariham, to the
Christians as
     Mary . . . Semites worshipped an androgynous combination of Goddess 
and God
     called Mari-El (Mary-God), corresponding to the Egyptian Meri-Ra, which
combined
     the feminine principle of water with the masculine principle of the sun."

     Even the Hebraic name of God, "Yahweh," was taken from the Egyptian
"IAO."101

     In one of the most notorious of Christian deceptions, in order to
convert followers of
     "Lord Buddha," the Church canonized him as "St. Josaphat," which
represented a
     Christian corruption of the buddhistic title, "Bodhisat."102

     The "Disciples" are the Signs of the Zodiac
     Moreover, it is no accident that there are 12 patriarchs and 12
disciples, 12 being
     the number of the astrological signs, or months. Indeed, like the 12
Herculean tasks
     and the 12 "helpers" of Horus, Jesus's 12 disciples are symbolic for
the zodiacal signs
     and do not depict any literal figures who played out a drama upon the
earth circa 30
     C.E. The disciples can be shown to have been an earlier deity/folkloric
     hero/constellation.103 Peter is easily revealed to be a mythological
character104,
     while Judas has been said to represent Scorpio, "the backbiter," the
time of year
     when the sun's rays are weakening and the sun appears to be dying.105
James,
     "brother of Jesus" and "brother of the Lord," is equivalent to Amset,
brother of Osiris
     and brother of the Lord.106 Massey says "Taht-Matiu was the scribe of
the gods,
     and in Christian art Matthew is depicted as the scribe of the gods,
with an angel
     standing near him, to dictate the gospel."107 Even the apostle Paul is
a compilation
     of several characters: The Old Testament Saul, Apollonius of Tyana and
the Greek
     demigod Orpheus.108

     Was Jesus an Essene Master? 109
     As regards Jesus being an Essene according to "secret" Dead Sea
Scrolls, even
     before the discovery of the scrolls, over the centuries there has been 
much
     speculation to this effect, but Massey skillfully argued that many of
Jesus's
     presumed teachings were either in contradiction to or were non-existent
in Essene
     philosophy.110 The Essenes did not believe in corporeal resurrection,
nor did they
     believe in a carnalized messiah. They did not accept the historicity of
Jesus. They
     were not followers of the Hebrew Bible, or its prophets, or the concept
of the
     original fall that must produce a savior. Massey further points out
that the Essenes
     were teetotalers and ate to live rather than the other way around.
Compared to
     this, the assumed Essene Jesus appears to be a glutton and drunkard.
Also, whereas
     according to Josephus the Essenes abhorred the swearing of oaths, Jesus
was fond
     of "swearing unto" his disciples.111 While many Essenic doctrines are
included in the
     New Testament, the list of disparities between the Dead Sea Scroll
Essenes and
     their alleged great master Jesus goes on.112

     Qumran is Not an Essene Community
     It should also be noted that there is another debate as to whether or
not Qumran,
     the site traditionally associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls, was an 
Essene
     community. In BAR, previously cited, it is reported that archaeological
finds indicate
     Qumran was not an Essene community but was possibly a waystation for
travelers
     and merchants crossing the Dead Sea. In BAR, it has also been
hypothesized that
     the fervent tone and warrior-stance of some of the scrolls unearthed
near Qumran
     belie any Essene origin and indicate a possible attribution to Jewish
Zealots instead.
     In Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, Norman Golb makes a very good case
that the
     Dead Sea Scrolls were not written by any Essene scribes but were a
collection of
     tomes from various libraries that were secreted in caves throughout
eastern Israel
     by Jews fleeing the Roman armies during the First Revolt of 70 A.D.
Golb also
     hypothesizes that Qumran itself was a fortress, not a monastery. In any
case, it is
     impossible to equate the "Teacher of Righteousness" found in any
scrolls with Jesus
     Christ.

     Was the New Testament Composed by Therapeuts?
     In 1829 Rev. Taylor adeptly made the case that the entire Gospel story
was already
     in existence long before the beginning of the Common Era and was probably
     composed by the monks at Alexandria called "Therapeuts" in Greek and
"Essenes" in
     Egyptian, both names meaning "healers."113 This theory has stemmed in
part from
     the statement of early church father Eusebius, who, in a rare moment of
seeming
     honesty, "admitted . . . that the canonical Christian gospels and
epistles were the
     ancient writings of the Essenes or Therapeutae reproduced in the name of
     Jesus."114 Taylor also opines that "the travelling Egyptian Therapeuts
brought the
     whole story from India to their monasteries in Egypt, where, some time
after the
     commencement of the Roman monarchy, it was transmuted in
Christianity."115 In
     addition, Wheless evinces that one can find much of the fable of "Jesus
Christ" in
     the Book of Enoch116, which predated the supposed advent of the Jewish
master by
     hundreds of years.117 According to Massey, it was the "pagan" Gnostics
- who
     included members of the Essene/Therapeut and Nazarene118 brotherhoods,
among
     others - who actually carried to Rome the esoteric (gnostic) texts
containing the
     Mythos, upon which the numerous gospels, including the canonical four,
were based.
     Wheless says, "Obviously, the Gospels and other New Testament booklets,
written in
     Greek and quoting 300 times the Greek Septuagint, and several Greek Pagan
     authors, as Aratus, and Cleanthes, were written, not by illiterate
Jewish peasants,
     but by Greek-speaking ex-Pagan Fathers and priests far from the Holy
Land of the
     Jews."119 Mead averred, "We thus conclude that the autographs of our
four Gospels
     were most probably written in Egypt, in the reign of Hadrian."120

     Conclusion
     As Walker said, "Scholars' efforts to eliminate paganism from the
Gospels in order to
     find a historical Jesus have proved as hopeless as searching for a core
in an onion."
     The "gospel" story of Jesus is not a factual portrayal of a historical
"master" who
     walked the earth 2,000 years ago. It is a myth built upon other myths
and godmen,
     who in turn were personifications of the ubiquitous sungod mythos.

     The Christ of the gospels is in no sense an historical personage or a
supreme model
     of humanity, a hero who strove, and suffered, and failed to save the
world by his
     death. It is impossible to establish the existence of an historical
character even as
     an impostor. For such an one the two witnesses, astronomical mythology 
and
     gnosticism, completely prove an alibi. The Christ is a popular
lay-figure that never
     lived, and a lay-figure of Pagan origin; a lay-figure that was once the
Ram and
     afterwards the Fish; a lay-figure that in human form was the portrait
and image of a
     dozen different gods.

     Gerald Massey

     footnotes
     (1)
     In the '80s this controversy erupted once again when GA Wells published
Did Jesus
     Exist? and later The Historical Evidence for Jesus, both of which
sought to prove
     that Jesus is a nonhistorical character. An attempt to repudiate Wells
was made by
     Ian Wilson in Jesus: The Evidence, an entire book written to establish
that Jesus did
     exist. (There is a chapter titled, "Did Jesus Even Exist?," which in
itself immediately
     places a possibly hitherto unknown doubt in the reader's mind.) It
should be noted
     that no such book would be needed if the existence of Jesus Christ as a
historical
     figure were a proven fact accepted by all.

     (2)
     As regards the work of Erich von Daniken, Zecharia Sitchin and others,
it should be
     understood that few of the stories of godmen can be taken literally to
reveal actual
     superhuman "masters" or alien presences and influences. Most of these
characters
     are, to learned mythologists, clearly myths. (See below)

     (3)
     "Evemerism," named after Evemeras, a 4th Century B.C.E. Greek
philosopher who
     developed the idea that, rather than being mythological creatures as
was accepted
     by the reigning intellectuals, the gods of old were in fact historical
characters, kings,
     emperors and heroes whose exploits were then deified. Evemerists have
put forth a
     great deal of literature attempting to prove that Jesus was a great
Jewish reformer
     and revolutionary who threatened the status quo and thus had to be put
to death.
     Unfortunately for historicizers, no historian of his purported time
even noticed this
     "great reformer." In Ancient History of the God Jesus, Dujardin states,
"This doctrine
     [Evemerism] is nowadays discredited except in the case of Jesus. No 
scholar
     believes that Osiris or Jupiter or Dionysus was an historical person
promoted to the
     rank of a god, but exception is made only in favour of Jesus. . . .It
is impossible to
     rest the colossal work of Christianity on Jesus, if he was a man." The
standard
     Christian response to the Evemerists has been that no such Jesus,
stripped of his
     miracles and other supernatural attributes, could ever "have been
adored as a god or
     even been saluted as the Messiah of Israel." (Dujardin) This response
is quite
     accurate: No man could have caused such a hullabaloo and hellish
fanaticism, the
     product of which has been the unending spilling of blood. The crazed
"inspiration"
     that has kept the Church afloat merely confirms the mythological
origins of this tale.
     "The general assumption concerning the canonical gospels is that the
historic
     element was the kernel of the whole, and that the fables accreted round
it; whereas
     the mythos, being pre-extant, proves the core of the matter was
mythical, and it
     follows that the history is incremental. . . . It was the human history
that accreted
     round the divinity, and not a human being who became divine." (Massey, 
The
     Historical Jesus and the Mythical Christ, henceforth, "MC") The bottom
line is that
     when one removes all the elements of those preceding deities and myths 
that
     contributed to the formation of this Jewish god-man - which is what
Evemerists
     insist on doing - there is nothing historical left to point to. As
Massey says, ". . . a
     composite likeness of twenty different persons merged in one . . . is
not anybody."
     (MC)

     (4)
     "Those who denied the humanity of Christ were the first class of 
professing
     Christians, and not only first in order of time, but in dignity of
character, in
     intelligence, and in moral influence." (Taylor) While those who held
onto the
     millennia-old gnostic Mythos of Christ preceded the carnalizers, or
sarkolaters (those
     who made Christ into flesh), having long-established rituals and
doctrines, it was
     they who were accused of being heretics by their younger, ignorant,
carnalizing
     cousins, who were in reality the true heretics. Taylor: "The deniers of
the humanity
     of Christ, or, in a word, professing Christians, who denied that any
such man as
     Jesus Christ ever existed at all, but who took the name Jesus Christ to
signify only
     an abstraction, or prosopopćia, the principle of Reason personified;
and who
     understood the whole gospel story to be a sublime allegory . . . these
were the first,
     and (it is not dishonour to Christianity to pronounce them) the best
and most
     rational Christians."

     (5)
     Rev. Robert Taylor, The Diegesis. Rev. Taylor was an English clergyman
widely
     known for his "heretical" sermons, which he began to deliver after
discovering,
     through a superior classical education, that Christ was a mythological
character. He
     was twice imprisoned in England in the 1820's for "blasphemy." Taylor
was one of the
     early "freethinkers," although he maintained he was a "Deist," and,
therefore, not an
     atheist. Taylor suffered tremendous persecution for his stance, yet
from his prison
     cell, he composed The Diegesis, a remarkable and scholarly dissertation
of the
     highest quality.

     (6)
     Ibid.

     (7)
     With acknowledgment to Randel Helms, author of Gospel Fictions.

     (
     The Origin and Evolution of Religion by Albert Churchward.

     (9)
     Forgery in Christianity by Joseph Wheless: "As said by the great
critic, Salomon
     Reinach, 'With the exception of Papias, who speaks of a narrative by
Mark, and a
     collection of sayings of Jesus, no Christian writer of the first half
of the second
     century (i.e., up to 150 A.D.) quotes the Gospels or their reputed
authors.'" In The
     Book Your Church Doesn't Want You to Read, John Remsburg states: "The 
Four
     Gospels were unknown to the early Christian Fathers. Justin Martyr, the
most
     eminent of the early Fathers, wrote about the middle of the second
century. His
     writings in proof of the divinity of Christ demanded the use of these
Gospels had
     they existed in his time. He makes more than 300 quotations from the
books of the
     Old Testament, and nearly one hundred from the Apocryphal books of the 
New
     Testament; but none from the four Gospels. Rev. Giles says: 'The very
names of the
     Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are never mentioned by him
(Justin) -
     do not occur once in all his writings.'" In A Short History of the
Bible, Keeler says,
     "The books [canonical gospels] are not heard of till 150 A.D., that is,
till Jesus had
     been dead nearly a hundred and twenty years. No writer before 150 A.D.
makes the
     slightest mention of them."

     (10)
     Wheless quotes the Catholic Encyclopedia: "Enterprising spirits
responded to this
     natural craving by pretended gospels full of romantic fables, and
fantastic and
     striking details; their fabrications were eagerly read and accepted as
true by
     common folk who were devoid of any critical faculty and who were
predisposed to
     believe what so luxuriously fed their pious curiosity. Both Catholics
and Gnostics
     were concerned in writing these fictions. The former had no motive
other than that
     of a PIOUS FRAUD." (NB: "C.E." denotes "Common Era" and is equivalent
to "A.D.,"
     whereas "B.C.E." denotes "Before the Common Era" and is equivalent to
"B.C." )

     (11)
     Wheless, op cit. Mangasarian states: "The church historian, Mosheim,
writes that,
     'The Christian Fathers deemed it a pious act to employ deception and
fraud.'
     [Ecclesiastical Hist., Vol. I, p. 347.] Again, he says: 'The greatest
and most pious
     teachers were nearly all of them infected with this leprosy.' Will not
some believer
     tell us why forgery and fraud were necessary to prove the historicity
of Jesus. . . .
     Another historian, Milman, writes that, 'Pious fraud was admitted and
avowed by the
     early missionaries of Jesus.' 'It was an age of literary frauds,'
writes Bishop Ellicott,
     speaking of the times immediately following the alleged crucifixion of
Jesus. Dr. Giles
     declares that, 'There can be no doubt that great numbers of books were
written
     with no other purpose than to deceive.' And it is the opinion of Dr.
Robertson Smith
     that, 'There was an enormous floating mass of spurious literature
created to suit
     party views.'"

     (12)
     Wheless: "The clerical confessions of lies and frauds in the ponderous
volumes of the
     Catholic Encyclopedia alone suffice . . . to wreck the Church and to
destroy utterly
     the Christian religion. . . . The Church exists mostly for wealth and
     self-aggrandizement; to quit paying money to the priests would kill the
whole
     scheme in a couple of years. This is the sovereign remedy."

     (13)
     In one of his works, Eusebius provides this handy chapter entitled:
"How it may be
     Lawful and Fitting to use Falsehood as Medicine, and for the Benefit of
those who
     Want to be Deceived." (Wheless) Wheless also calls Justin Martyr,
Eusebius and
     Tertullian "three luminous liars." Keeler: "The early Christian fathers
were extremely
     ignorant and superstitious; and they were singularly incompetent to
deal with the
     supernatural."

     (14)
     Wheless. "If the pious Christians, confessedly, committed so many and
so extensive
     forgeries and frauds to adapt these popular Jewish fairy-tales of their
God and holy
     Worthies to the new Christian Jesus and his Apostles, we need feel no
surprise when
     we discover these same Christians forging outright new wonder-tales of
their Christ
     under the fiction of the most noted Christian names and in the guise of
inspired
     Gospels, Epistles, Acts and Apocalypses. . . . Half a hundred of false
and forged
     Apostolic 'Gospels of Jesus Christ,' together with more numerous other
'Scripture'
     forgeries, was the output, so far as known now, of the lying pens of
the pious
     Christians of the first two centuries of the Christian 'Age of
Apocryphal Literature' . .
     . 'Almost every one of the Apostles had a Gospel fathered upon him by
one early
     sect or another.' . . .If the Gospel tales were true, why should God
need pious lies to
     give them credit? Lies and forgeries are only needed to bolster up
falsehood. . . But
     Jesus Christ must needs be propagated by lies upon lies; and what
better proof of
     his actuality than to exhibit letters written by him in his own
handwriting? The 'Little
     Liars of the Lord' were equal to the forgery of the signature of their
God - false
     letters in his name, as above cited from that exhaustless mine of
clerical falsities,
     the Catholic Encyclopedia [C.E.] . . . The forged New Testament
booklets and the
     foolish writings of the Fathers, are the sole 'evidence' we have for
the alleged facts
     and doctrines of our most holy Faith, as is admitted by C.E."

     (15)
     The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, by Barbara Walker, p.
471. Rev.
     Taylor, in The Diegesis, reports a slightly different version of Leo
X's admission: "It
     was well known how profitable this fable of Christ has been to us."
(footnote, p. 35.)

     (16)
     Massey, MC: ". . . It was the Gnostics who had faithfully preserved the
true
     traditions. It was they who continued the mythos intact from Egypt;
they who made
     the images in the Christian iconography, and reproduced the Iao-Chnubis
and the
     Kamite Horus on the talismanic stones and the catacombs of Rome . . . "

     (17)
     "The entire 'Pauline group' is the same forged class . . . says E.B.
[Encyclopedia
     Biblica] . . .'With respect to the canonical Pauline Epistles, . . ..
there are none of
     them by Paul; neither fourteen, nor thirteen, nor nine or eight, nor
yet even the four
     so long "universally" regarded as unassailable. They are all, without
distinction,
     pseudographia (false-writings, forgeries). . . ' They are thus all
uninspired
     anonymous church forgeries for Christ's sweet sake!" (Wheless)

     (1
     Walker: "The most 'historical' figure in the Gospels was Pontius
Pilate, to whom Jesus
     was presented as 'king' of the Jews and simultaneously as a criminal
deserving the
     death penalty for 'blasphemy' because he called himself Christ, Son of
the Blessed. .
     . . This alleged crime was no real crime. Eastern provinces swarmed
with self-styled
     Christs and Messiahs, calling themselves Sons of god and announcing the
end of the
     world. None of them was executed for 'blasphemy.'" Massey (MC) avers:
"The great
     judge of the dead in Amenti [Egyptian place of afterlife] was
designated the Rhat
     (Eg.), whence the Greek Rhadamanthus. The Rhat with the letter L
instead of R is
     the Lat, and with the masculine article Pi, becomes Pilate, for the
judge in Amenti."
     Mangasarian states: "A Roman judge, while admitting that he finds no
guilt in Jesus
     deserving of death, is nevertheless represented as handing him over to
the mob to
     be killed, after he has himself scourged him. No Roman judge could have
behaved as
     this Pilate is reported to have behaved toward an accused person on
trial for his
     life." As to the "Acts of Pilate," an "apocryphal" and spurious
document that purports
     to relate the trial of Jesus before Pilate, in accordance with the
canonical gospel
     accounts but with greater detail, Mead relates that a scholar named
Rendel Harris
     opined that the scenes in the "Acts" were directly lifted from the
Iliad: ". . . Pilate
     has been turned into Achilles, . . . Joseph is the good old Priam,
begging the body of
     Hector, and the the whole story is based upon the dramatic passages of 
the
     twenty-fourth book of the Iliad." (Did Jesus Live 100 B.C.?) Jacolliot
evinces, " . . .
     the Iliad of Homer is nothing but an echo, an enfeebled souvenir of the
Ramayana, a
     Hindoo poem in which Rama goes at the head of his allies to recover his
wife, Sita,
     who had been carried off by the King of Ceylon."

     (19)
     Massey, ibid., states: "It is demonstrable that Herod is a form of the
Apophis serpent
     called the enemy of the sun. In Syriac Herod is a red dragon. Herod in
Hebrew
     signifies a terror. Her (Eg.) is to terrify, and herrut (Eg.) is the
snake, or typical
     reptile."

     (20)
     Ancient History of the God Jesus by Edouard Dujardin, p. 33.

     (21)
     Ibid., p. 36.

     (22)
     "Is it conceivable that a preacher of Jesus could go throughout the
world to convert
     people to the teachings of Jesus, as Paul did, without ever quoting a
single one of
     his sayings? Had Paul known that Jesus had preached a sermon, or
formulated a
     prayer, or said many inspired things about the here and the hereafter,
he could not
     have helped quoting, now and then, from the words of his master. If
Christianity
     could have been established without a knowledge of the teachings of
Jesus, why
     then, did Jesus come to teach, and why were his teachings preserved by
divine
     inspiration? . . . If Paul knew of a miracle-working Jesus, one who
could feed the
     multitude with a few loaves and fishes, who could command the grave to
open, who
     could cast out devils, and cleanse the land of the foulest disease of
leprosy, who
     could, and did, perform many other wonderful works to convince the
unbelieving
     generation of his divinity - is it conceivable that either
intentionally or inadvertently
     he would have never once referred to them in all his preaching? . . .
The position,
     then, that there is not a single saying of Jesus in the gospels which
is quoted by
     Paul in his many epistles is unassailable, and certainly fatal to the
historicity of the
     gospel Jesus." (Mangasarian) Massey: "The 'sayings' [logia] were common
property in
     the mysteries ages before they were ever written down." (MC) Meaning
they were
     not original with Jesus, also leading one to conclude that "Paul" and
crew were not
     initiates into the mysteries, since they were ignorant of these
ages-old logia.

     (22a)
     ". . . the New Testament is not a single book but a collection of
groups of books and
     single volumes, which were at first and even long afterwards circulated
separately. .
     . . the Gospels are found in any and every order. . . . Egyptian
tradition places Jn.
     [John] first among the Gospels." (Mead, The Gospels and the Gospel)

     (23)
     Wheless: "Both genealogies are false and forged lists of mostly
fictitious names."

     (24)
     Wheless: "Like the whole 'Sermon on the Mount,' the [Lord's] Prayer is
a composite
     of ancient sayings of the Scripture strung together to form it, as the
marginal
     cross-references show throughout." We might add that the "Scripture" is
not only
     from the Old Testament but is part of the ancient Mythos/Ritual. Many
of the
     concepts within the Sermon, which is held up by Christian defenders as
the core of
     Jesus's teachings and a reflection of his compassion, can also be found
in the Vedas
     as spoken by the compassionate Krishna, in the doctrines of the
Therapeuts, and in
     the "Dhammapada" attributed to the equally compassionate Buddha. There
is nothing
     new here that would merit such attention as has been given this Jesus
character.
     Also, there is apparently within the Egyptian Hermetic or Trismegistic
tradition a
     discourse called "The Secret Sermon on the Mount," so it would seem
that "Sermons
     on the Mount" were also a common occurrence within the Mythos and
Ritual. (Mead,
     Did Jesus Live)

     (25)
     There have been "Passions" of many gods. Dujardin: "Other scholars have
been
     impressed by the resemblance between the Passion of Jesus as told in
the gospels
     and the ceremonies of the popular fętes, such as the Sacća in Babylon,
the festival
     of Kronos in Greece, and the Saturnalia in Italy. . . . If the stories
of the Passions of
     Dionysus, Attis, Osiris and Demeter are the transpositions of cult
dramas, and not
     actual events, it can hardly be otherwise with the Passion of Jesus."
(See footnote
     93 below.) As concerns the accounts of the resurrection, Graves states,
"With
     respect to the persons who first visited the sepulchre, Matthew states
that it was
     Mary Magdalene and another Mary; but Luke says it was 'Mary Magdalene and
     Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women;' while,
according to John
     (and he virtually reiterates it), Mary Magdalene went alone. It will be
observed,
     then, that the first 'inspired' and 'infallible' witness testifies
there were two
     witnesses; and the second that there were four; and the third witness
declares
     there was but one. What beautiful harmony! No court in the civilized
world would
     accept such discordant testimony!"

     (26)
     In the canonical gospels, Jesus himself makes many illogical 
contradictions
     concerning some of his most important teachings. First, he repeatedly
states the he
     is sent only "to the lost sheep of Israel," and forbids his disciples
to preach to the
     Gentiles. Then he is made to say, "Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing
     them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
(It is also
     interesting to note that the Trinity was not adopted by the Church
until the 4th
     century, long after "Jesus's" purported statements concerning it. These
     proselytizers, then, were awfully slow in their preaching of this
doctrine!) Next,
     Jesus claims that the end of the world is imminent and warns his
disciples to be
     prepared at a moment's notice. Then he tells them to build a church
from which to
     preach his message. Now, if the end of the world is coming, why should
they build
     anything? We know that this "prophecy" didn't happen; nor has Jesus
returned
     "soon," as was his promise. Even if he had been real, he would not have
been worthy
     of listening to. "The Gentile Church of Christ has therefore no divine
sanction; was
     never contemplated nor created by Jesus Christ. The Christian Church is
thus
     founded on a forgery of pretended words of the pretended Christ."
(Wheless) "Again,
     'several of the reported sayings of Jesus clearly bear the impress of a
time he did
     not live to see.'" (Mead)

     (27)
     Wheless: ". . . the Hebrew and Greek religious forgers were so ignorant
or careless of
     the principles of criticism, that they 'interpolated' their fraudulent
new matter into
     old manuscripts without taking care to erase or suppress the previous
statements
     glaringly contradicted by the new interpolations." The Church forgery
mill did not limit
     itself to mere writings but for centuries cranked out thousands of
phony "relics" of
     its "Lord," "Apostles" and "Saints." The Shroud of Turin, among
innumerable others, is
     counted in this group."There were at least 26 'authentic' burial
shrouds scattered
     throughout the abbeys of Europe, of which the Shroud of Turin is just
one. . . .The
     Shroud of Turin is one of the many relics manufactured for profit
during the Middle
     Ages. Shortly after the Shroud emerged it was declared a fake by the
bishop who
     discovered the artist. This is verified by recent scientific
investigation which found
     paint in the image areas. The Shroud of Turin is also not consistent
with Gospel
     accounts of Jesus' burial, which clearly refer to multiple cloths and a
separate napkin
     over his face." (Freethought Datasheet #5, Atheists United) At one
point, a number
     of churches claimed the one foreskin of Jesus, and there were enough
splinters of
     the "True Cross" that Calvin said the amount of wood would make "a full
load for a
     good ship." (Walker) The disgraceful list of absurdities and frauds
goes on, and, as
     Pope Leo X claimed, it has been enormously profitable for the Church.
And where the
     fraud failed, fear and force prevailed, as millions were subjected to
horrible tortures
     and murders in the name of the pretended "Prince of Peace," during an
abysmally
     dark Age of Faith that propelled the world into a state of ignorance.

     (2
     McKlintock and Strong's Cyclopćdia of Theological Literature.

     (29)
     Mangasarian. Wheless: "The fact is, that with the exception of this one
incongruous
     forged passage, section 3, the wonder-mongering Josephus makes not the
slightest
     mention of his wonder-working fellow-countryman, Jesus the Christ -
though some
     score of other Joshuas, or Jesuses, are recorded by him, nor does he
mention any of
     his transcendent wonders."

     (30)
     Massey, Mangasarian, Taylor. Zealous defender of the faith Eusebius
never mentions
     the Tacitus passage, nor does anyone else prior to the 15th century
C.E. (Taylor)

     (30a)
     Who is this King of Glory?, p. 258-9.

     (31)
     See Taylor and Wheless for more on the fraudulent nature of these
passages. "It has
     always been unfailing source of astonishment to the historical
investigator of
     Christian beginnings, that there is not a single word from the pen of
any Pagan
     writer of the first century of our era, which can in any fashion be
referred to the
     marvellous story recounted by the Gospel writer. The very existence of
Jesus seems
     unknown." (Mead, Did Jesus Live 100 B.C.?)

     (32)
     Gnostic and Historic Christianity by Massey (see below). See also The
Diegesis by
     Rev. Robert Taylor, The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors by Kersey
Graves, Pagan
     Christs by JM Robertson, any works by Hilton Hotema, Pagan and
Christian Creeds by
     Edward Carpenter, and Deceptions and Myths of the Bible by Lloyd
Graham. Although
     some historicizers may glob onto these dates as proof that the research
is outdated,
     this is simply not true. These numbers are provided here to demonstrate
that this
     truth has been known, and has been suppressed by vested interests, for
a long
     time.

     (33)
     Graves, p. 15. "'We cannot,' says the celebrated Orientalist, Sir
William Jones,
     'refuse to the Vedas the honor of an antiquity the most distant.'"
(Jacolliot, The
     Bible in India) Indeed, certain scholars have opined that the Rig Veda
contains
     mention of an astronomical configuration that could only have occurred
90,000 years
     ago; it true, this would attest that the Veda was recording the
experience of
     someone far too advanced for that period, according to the standardized
     anthrolopogical perspective, not to mention that the Veda would
represent the
     world's oldest "historical" recording, although the actual physically
extant copies are,
     obviously, very recent. Ancient scribes India mostly used, as occurs in
some places
     today, leaves to write on, and these were endlessly copied over the
thousands of
     years. As everywhere, knowledge was also passed along orally. This
subject opens
     up the debate as to whether ancient India or Egypt was the progenitor
of Western
     and Middle Eastern culture. Both have claims to extreme antiquity. The
question is
     who came first within the Mythos, Brahma-Krishna or Osiris-Horus? Based 
on
     linguistical evidence, many scholars have concluded it was India.
However, the
     ancient Egyptian language is not fully known, nor has the extent of its
influence
     been adequately examined. Walker hypothesizes that "Horus" was "Heruka"
of India,
     indicating that the Horus myth succeeded and was built upon the 
Indian. The
     chronology of the Brahmins goes back millions of years, and there has
been effort
     made by such Hare Krishna authors as Thompson and Cremo to push
civilization,
     rather than man's apelike progenitors, back at least to that period.
Obviously, such
     "Forbidden Archeology" is widely dismissed for seeming lack of solid
evidence. What
     is known is that the Judeo-Christian bible can be found in earlier
versions in both
     countries. Thus, it is the rehash of the well-developed systems and
ideologies (Ritual
     and Mythos) of both nations. (See Jacolliot and Massey.)

     (33a)
     Many on this list come from The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors by
Graves. This is
     not to suggest that all of these godmen characters were utilized in the
formation of
     the Christian myth, as overt contact had not occurred in such places as
Mexico or
     Bermuda. Also, modern orthodoxy does not allow for the dates provided
by Graves,
     i.e., that Quetzalcoatl originates in the 6th B.C.E., a date far too
early in the
     orthodox perspective. However, we utilize this list to demonstrate that
the same
     concepts are found worldwide with and without cultural exchange,
because they are
     derived from the same astrotheological observations. Also, we are in
concurrence
     with the "ancient advanced civilization" theory ("Atlantis") that would
allow for one
     or more centralized civilizations to have spread throughout the world
during a very
     remote period in protohistory, thus taking with it the well-developed
Mythos and
     Ritual, which would then mutate into the various forms found around the
globe.

     (34)
     Taylor quotes the letter of Emperor Adrian (134 C.E.): "The worshippers
of Serapis
     are Christians, and those are devoted to the God Serapis, who (I find) 
call
     themselves the bishops of Christ."

     (35)
     Walker: ". . . Later, an unknown Gospel writer inserted the story of
doubting
     Thomas, who insisted on touching Jesus. This was to combat the
heretical idea that
     there was no resurrection in the flesh, and also to subordinate
Jerusalem's municipal
     god Tammuz (Thomas) to the new savior. Actually, the most likely source
of primary
     Christian mythology was the Tammuz cult in Jerusalem." The "doubting
Thomas"
     character also finds its place in the Mythos, as the "genius" of the
time when the
     sun is at its weakest (winter solstice). (Taylor)

     (36)
     The Sibylline Oracles, books produced over time allegedly by a number
of pagan
     prophetesses called Sibyls, were widely regarded in the ancient world
prior to the
     advent of the Christian era. "The Sibyls are quoted frequently by the
early Fathers
     and Christian writers, Justin, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of
Alexandria, etc."
     (Catholic Encyclopedia, cited by Wheless) These books or Oracles were
often cited
     by Christians as proof of their religion. For instance, the following
is considered a
     Sibylline Oracle: "With five loaves at the same time, and with two
fishes, He shall
     satisfy five thousand men in the wilderness; And afterwards taking all
the fragments
     that remain, He shall fill twelve baskets to the hope of many. . . .He
shall still the
     winds by His word, and calm the sea as it rages, treading with feet of
peace and
     faith. . . . He shall walk on the waves, He shall release men from
disease. He shall
     raise the dead, and drive away many pains. . ." (Wheless) Although the
Christians
     interpreted this as a prophecy of Christ becoming fulfilled, it is in
fact an aspect of
     the ubiquitous Mythos and was already said of Horus, for one, hundreds
of years
     earlier. It has never referred to an actual man but, once again, is
astrotheological.
     The fact that it purportedly existed prior to the Christian era
constitutes proof to
     those who use logic that the Christians utilized it in creating their
Christ character,
     rather than it acting as a prophecy of their godman. As they did with
other texts,
     the Christians forged and interpolated many passages into the
well-known Oracles in
     order to cement their fiction and convert followers. It is also amusing
to note that
     the Christians had to resort to despised "pagan" documents for their
enterprise,
     especially since they spent their lives attempting to demonstrate that
everything
     that preceded them was "of the devil." This then implies that
Christianity was also a
     work of the devil.

     (37)
     Pagan Christs by JM Robertson.

     (3
     In Gnostic and Historian Christianity, Massey says, "In . . . Buddhism
in Christendom,
     [author] Mr. Lillie thinks he has found Jesus, the author of
Christianity, as one of the
     Essenes, and a Buddhist! But there is no need of craning one's neck out
of joint in
     looking to India, or straining in that direction at all, for the origin
of that which was
     Egyptian born and Gnostic bred! Essenism was no new birth of Hindu 
Buddhism
     brought to Alexandria about two centuries before our era; and
Christianity, whether
     considered to be mystical or historical, was not derived from Buddhism
at any time.
     They have some things in common, because there is a Beyond to both." We
will add
     that the Egyptians refined the Mythos in exquisite and overwhelming
detail, but
     linguistical theory has in the past, and now again with the Nostratic
theory, traced
     the origins of Western and Middle Eastern language and culture in large
part to India.
     It is yet difficult to say which came first, Krishna, the predecessor
of Buddha, or
     Osiris-Horus. Certainly Horus was a well-developed savior-god by the
time attributed
     to THE Buddha. There would be no need to build Horus upon Buddha 
(Egyptian
     "Putha" or "Ptah"), and it is true that Christianity did not need to
rely on the
     doctrines of Buddhism, having the complete Mythos at hand. However, we
do know
     absolutely that there was cultural exchange between the West/Levant 
and the
     Buddhistic world of the Far East prior to the inception of
Christianity, in the form of
     travelers, traders, and monks of the vast brotherhood network, who were
constantly
     exchanging information concerning religion, the esoteric gnosis, and
the Mythos and
     Ritual. Also, it has been suggested that there was at least one group
of Brahmanic
     and Vedic scholars living in the Levant prior to the founding of
Christianity. These
     individuals, who would likely be members of one or more aspects of the
brotherhood
     network, would certainly also be exchanging information about the very
ancient
     Krishna, et al., and contributing to the culture around them. It is not
only entirely
     possible but probable that Hindus ventured to the Levant over the
millennia. But
     they would not have needed to, in order to spread their version of the
Mythos, since
     there were those, such as Alexander the Great, who went to them.
Indeed, Louis
     Jacolliot expertly traces the Judeo-Christian Bible back to India,
noting many
     similarities between the Hindu and Christian priesthoods. (The Bible in
India) There
     are also quite a few similarities between the Catholic and Tibetan 
Buddhist
     hierarchies and rituals. The influence from the Far East has come in
waves beginning
     several thousand years ago, and culture may have begun to develop there
in in the
     protohistoric period some 12,000 years ago or more. If the reckonings
of maverick
     Egyptologists are accurate, however, Egypt would have been developing
     simultaneously with this Indian culture, the origins of both, then,
being a possibly
     much older civilization. There is no question, however, that the
archaic Indian
     language Sanskrit or its Nostratic predecessor has highly influenced
many of the
     Western/Middle Eastern languages. Therefore, there has unquestionably
been early
     and ongoing contact, and with language comes religion. "The ancient
peoples of
     India were Asiatic Ethiopians, and it should not surprise us that they
shared common
     traditions with their brothers in Africa." (John Jackson, Christianity
Before Christ)

     (38aa) Some people have tried to dispute the "virgin" status of
Buddha's mother.
     However, in the first place, it should be remembered that the "life of
the Buddha"
     does not represent the biography of a person but is an account of a
solar hero;
     thus, the typical solar attribute would be appropriate. In any case,
Joseph McCabe
     relates: " . . . Mr. Robertson shows from St. Jerome that the Buddhists
themselves
     did call Maya 'a virgin' - they believed in a 'virgin birth' - and he
rightly rejects the
     statement of Professor Rhys Davids that these Buddhists understood the
birth of
     Buddha quite differently from the Christians because 'before his
descent into his
     mother's womb he was a deva.' That is exactly what Christians say of
Jesus."

     (38a)
     Mead, p. 133.

     (38b)
     Ibid.

     (38c)
     Graves, p. 118.

     (39)
     Isis Unveiled by Helena Blavatsky, vol. II, pp. 209, 537-538.

     (40)
     Massey, MC, p. 150.

     (40a)
     Mead, p. 134.

     (41)
     Walker says, "Of all savior-gods worshipped at the beginning of the
Christian era,
     Osiris may have contributed more details to the evolving Christ figure
than any
     other. Already very old in Egypt, Osiris was identified with nearly
every other
     Egyptian god and was on the way to absorbing them all. He had well over
200 divine
     names. He was called the Lord of Lords, King of Kings, God of Gods. He
was the
     Resurrection and the Life, the Good Shepherd, Eternity and
Everlastingness, the god
     who 'made men and women to be born again.' Budge says, 'From first to
last, Osiris
     was to the Egyptians the god-man who suffered, and died, and rose
again, and
     reigned eternally in heaven. They believed that they would inherit
eternal life, just
     as he had done. . . . Osiris's coming was announced by Three Wise Men:
the three
     stars Mintaka, Anilam, and Alnitak in the belt of Orion, which point
directly to Osiris's
     star in the east, Sirius (Sothis), significator of his birth. . . .
Certainly Osiris was a
     prototypical Messiah, as well as a devoured Host. His flesh was eaten
in the form of
     communion cakes of wheat, the 'plant of Truth.' . . . The cult of
Osiris contributed a
     number of ideas and phrases to the Bible. The 23rd Psalm copied an
Egyptian text
     appealing to Osiris the Good Shepherd to lead the deceased to the
'green pastures'
     and 'still waters' of the nefer-nefer land, to restore the soul to the
body, and to give
     protection in the valley of the shadow of death (the Tuat). The Lord's
Prayer was
     prefigured by an Egyptian hymn to Osiris-Amen beginning. 'O Amen, O
Amen, who are
     in heaven.' Amen was also invoked at the end of every prayer."

     (42)
     The celestial manger in the Mythos is also thought of as a cave.
(Massey) Although
     Jesus is typically depicted as being born in a manger, early Christian
tradition places
     Jesus's birth in a cave, like that of many other preceding gods.
Walker: "The cave
     was universally identified with the womb of Mother Earth, the logical
place for
     symbolic birth and regeneration. . . . Like Adonis, Jesus was born of a
consecrated
     temple maiden in the sacred cave of Bethlehem, 'The House of God.'"

     (43)
     Massey, Churchward, et al. Massey (MC) says, ". . . the Star in the
East will afford
     undeniable data for showing the mythical and celestial origin of the
gospel history.
     When the divine child is born, the wise men or magi declare that they
have seen his
     star in the east. The wise men are identified as the Three Kings of
other legends
     who are not to be derived from the canonical gospels. The three kings
or three solar
     representatives are as ancient as the male triad that was first
typified when the
     three regions were established as heaven, earth, and nether-world, from
which the
     triad bring their gifts. . . When the birthplace was in the sign of the
Bull [6,000 years
     ago], the Star in the East that arose to announce the birth of the babe
was Orion,
     which is therefore called the star of Horus. That was once the star of
the three
     kings; for the 'three kings' is still a name of three stars in Orion's
belt . . . "

     (44)
     Like Jesus, Horus has no history between the ages of 12 and 30. "And
the mythos
     alone will account for the chasm which is wide and deep enough to engulf 
a
     supposed history of 18 years." (Massey, MC) There exists a very old
Egyptian
     papyrus dated to 75 C.E. but based on an older document, which contains
a story
     about the "Son of Osiris" (i.e., the "Son of God") that parallels in a
number of details
     the gospel narratives. The Son of God is claimed to have wondrous
powers and to
     have outwitted all of the teachers in the Temple of Ptah. In the
papyrus is also
     related a tale of two dead men that closely resembles the biblical
fable of Dives and
     Lazarus (Lk. 16:19-31). (Mead)

     (45)
     Massey: "Horus in Egypt had been a fish from time immemorial, and when
the equinox
     entered the sign of Pisces, Horus, was portrayed as Ichthys with the
fish sign of
     over his head." Dujardin: "The patriarch Joshua, who was plainly an
ancient god of
     Palestine and bore the same name as the god of Christianity, is called
the son of
     Nun, which signifies 'son of the fish.'" Walker: "The fish symbol of
the yonic Goddess
     was so revered throughout the Roman empire that Christian authorities
insisted on
     taking it over, with extensive revision of myths to deny its earlier
female-genital
     meanings." Wheless: "The fish anagram was an ancient Pagan symbol of
fecundity . .
     ."

     (46)
     Churchward, op cit., p. 365. See also The Book Your Church Doesn't Want
You to
     Read, pp. 15-16.

     (47)
     Churchward, ibid., p. 397. See also The Egyptian Book of the Dead by
Massey, pp.
     13 and 64; MC.

     (4
     Churchward. Massey, MC: "It was the gnostic art that reproduced the
Hathor-Meri
     and Horus of Egypt as the Virgin and child-Christ of Rome . . . .You
poor idiotai
     [idiots], said the Gnostics [to the early Christians], you have
mistaken the mysteries
     of old for modern history, and accepted literally all that was only
meant mystically."

     (49)
     Walker: "The cave of the Vatican belonged to Mithra until 376 A.D.,
when a city
     prefect suppressed the cult of the rival Savior and seized the shrine
in the name of
     Christ, on the very birthday of the pagan god, December 25." Shmuel
Golding, in The
     Book Your Church: "Paul says, 'They drank from that spiritual rock and
that rock was
     Christ' (I Cor. 10:4). These are identical words to those found in the
Mithraic
     scriptures, except that the name Mithra is used instead of Christ. The
Vatican hill in
     Rome that is regarded as sacred to Peter, the Christian rock, was
already sacred to
     Mithra. Many Mithraic remains have been found there. The merging of the
worship of
     Attis into that of Mithra, then later into that of Jesus, was effected
almost without
     interruption."

     (50)
     Robertson. Wheless: "Mithraism is one of the oldest religious systems
on earth, as it
     dates from the dawn of history before the primitive Iranian race
divided into sections
     which became Persian and Indian . . . When in 65-63 B.C., the
conquering armies of
     Pompey were largely converted by its high precepts, they brought it
with them into
     the Roman Empire. Mithraism spread with great rapidity throughout the
Empire, and it
     was adopted, patronized and protected by a number of the Emperors up to
the time
     of Constantine." Of Mithraism, the Catholic Encyclopedia states, as
related by
     Wheless: "The fathers conducted the worship. The chief of the fathers,
a sort of
     pope, who always lived at Rome, was called 'Pater Patratus."'

     (51)
     Taylor: "'That Popery has borrowed its principal ceremonies and
doctrines from the
     rituals of Paganism,' is a fact which the most learned and orthodox of 
the
     established church have most strenuously maintained and most convincingly
     demonstrated."

     (52)
     The Eucharist, or the sharing of the god's blood and body, has been a
sacred ritual
     within many ancient mystery religions and is part of the Mythos and
Ritual. In a
     standard ritual that was practiced around the world, and which
continues in some
     places, participants in the ritual actually ate and drank the "god's"
body and blood,
     which was in reality that of a sacrificed human (king) or animal. The
Christian form of
     the Eucharist is very similar to the ritual that was practiced as part
of the Greek
     Eleusinian Mysteries, in detail, as is outlined by Taylor. The
Eleusinian Eucharist
     honored both Ceres, goddess of wheat, and Bacchus/Dionysus, god of the
vine. The
     Christians also adopted the Bacchanal symbol IHS (Greek) or IES -
Iesu/Jesus. These
     letters stood for the sun. (See below.) "Mr. Higgins observes, 'The
whole paschal
     supper (the Lord's supper with the Christians) was in fact a festival
of joy to
     celebrate the passage of the sun across the equinox of spring.'" (Graves)

     (53)
     At this point, the following needs to be addressed: Jesus believers
distinguish their
     godman from all these others by claiming a historical framework, which
gives more
     credence to their "Savior" being the "right" one. We contend that this
is precisely
     why the sungod mythos was carnalized or made historical in the first 
place.
     However, let us pretend that Jesus was historical. Followers of Krishna
also claim he
     was historical, yet his advent predates that of Jesus by hundreds to
thousands of
     years. If we assume both are historical, and both are teaching nearly
the identical
     thing, why should we not go to the source and become Krishna followers?
Here we
     see clearly the ugly head of cultural bigotry, when the Christians
claim their godman
     superior to one already in existence that is virtually identical. Why
not go with
     Krishna? Because he was not of the "right" ethnicity. The question is
moot, however,
     since both characters are mythological and, by the arguments of the
Christians,
     should then be dismissed. However, we must not dismiss the Mythos upon
which
     they are formulated, as it is true revelation of the workings of the
cosmos.

     (53a)
     As with "Buddha," a number of people have disputed the "virgin" status
of Krishna's
     mother. As Joseph McCabe says, "The orthodox legend of Krishna is that
he was
     born of a married woman, Devaki; but like Maya, Buddha's mother, she was
     considered to have had a miraculous conception. . . . Thus one of the
familiar
     religious emblems of India was the statue of the virgin mother (as the
Hindus repute
     her) Devaki and her divine son Krishna, an incarnation of the great god
Vishnu.
     Christian writers have held that this model was borrowed from
Christianity, but, as
     Mr. Robertson observes, the Hindus had far earlier been in
communication with Egypt
     and were more likely to borrow the model of Isis and Horus."

     (54)
     The Book Your Church . . . p. 185. See also Taylor.

     (54a)
     Graves, The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors: "And we have the
statement from Mr.
     Higgins, that the same assortment of spices (with the gold) 
constituted the
     materials offered as gifts to the sun, in Persia more than three
thousand years ago;
     and likewise in Arabia near the same era."

     (55)
     It should be noted that the terrible story of Herod killing the infants
as portrayed in
     Matthew is not found in any histories of the day, including Josephus,
who does
     otherwise expose Herod's real abuses. The "slaughter of the infants" is
yet another
     part of the standard Mythos. This story is a rehash of the Krishna
tale: "[The tyrant
     Kansa] ordained the massacre in all his states, of all the children of
the male sex,
     born during the night of the birth of Christna. . ." (Jacolliot)

     (55a)
     Graves, p. 110.

     (56)
     Jacolliot, p. 250.

     (57)
     Ibid., p. 306.

     (5
     The Book Your Church; Graves; Taylor. The crucifixion of the godman
between two
     "thieves" is an element of the Mythos, and is found in a number of
sungod traditions
     that predate the Christian myth. "Anup on one side of Horus, and Aan on
the other,
     are the two thieves on either hand of the Kamite Christ upon the cross
at Easter."
     (Massey, MC) Anup and Aan are also the two "witnesses" of Horus, and
are the
     predecessors of the two Johns who are Jesus's witnesses. (Churchward,
Massey,
     ibid.)

     (59)
     Blavatsky, Walker, Graves.

     (60)
     "At first, Christianity did not hold to the Trinity doctrine. That
doctrine developed
     slowly and did not become officially the creedal fact until C.E. 325."
(Adrian
     Swindler, The Book Your Church) Walker: "From the earliest ages, the
concept of the
     Great Goddess was a trinity and the model for all subsequent trinities,
female, male
     or mixed. . . .Even though Brahmans evolved a male trinity of Brahma,
Vishnu, and
     Shiva to play these parts [of Creator, Preserver and Destroyer],
Tantric scriptures
     insisted that the Triple Goddess had created these gods in the first
place. . . . The
     Middle East had many trinities, most originally female. As time went
on, one or two
     members of the triad turned male. The usual pattern was
Father-Mother-Son, the
     Son figure envisioned as a Savior. . . . Among Arabian Christians 
there was
     apparently a holy trinity of God, Mary, and Jesus, worshipped as an
interchangeable
     replacement for the Egyptian trinity of Osiris, Isis, and Horus. . . "
Jacolliot: "The
     Trinity in Unity, rejected by Moses, became afterwards the foundation
of Christian
     theology, which incontestably acquired it from India."

     (60a)
     Graves.

     (61)
     Jacolliot, p. 251. "As we have seen, all these names of Jesus, Jeosuah,
Josias, Josué
     derive from two Sanscrit words Zeus and Jezeus, which signify, one, the
Supreme
     Being, and the other, the Divine Essence. These names, moreover, were
common not
     only amongst the Jews, but throughout the East." (Ibid., p. 301.)

     (62)
     Jacolliot, p. 282.

     (62a)
     The "Word" is a very ancient concept and does not originate with
Christianity. The
     term "Logos" is Greek, and it is obvious that the Christian copyists
adopted the Word
     concept directly from the Greeks, whether it be from Plato or
applicable to the gods
     Prometheus and Hermes. However, the Greeks in turn had adopted this
idea from
     more ancient traditions, such as the Indian and Egyptian. Graves
states, ". . . the
     Chinese bible, much older than the Christian's New Testament, likewise
declares,
     'God pronounced the primeval Word, and his own eternal and glorious
abode sprang
     into existence.' Mr. Guizot, in a note on Gibbon's work, says,
'According to the
     Zend-Avesta (the Persian bible, more than three thousand years old), it
is by the
     Word, more ancient than the world, that Ormuzd created the universe.' .
. . And the
     ancient Greek writer Amelias, speaking of the God Mercury [Hermes]
says, 'And this
     plainly was the Logos (the Word), by whom all things were made, he
being himself
     eternal, as Heraclitus would say, . . . He assumed to be with God, and
to be God,
     and in him everything that was made, has its life and being, who,
descending into
     body, and putting on flesh, took the appearance of a man, though still
retaining the
     majesty of his nature.' Here is 'the Word made flesh,' set forth in
most explicit
     terms."

     (63)
     Taylor, The Diegesis, pp. 192-4. Taylor indicates that the following
stanza is found
     in "Potter's beautiful translation" of Aeschylsus's play: "Lo,
streaming from the fatal
     tree, His all-atoning blood! Is this the Infinite? 'Tis he -
Prometheus, and a God! Well
     might the sun in darkness hide, And veil his glories in, When God, the
great
     Prometheus, died, For man, the creature's sin." However, this stanza
apparently
     does not appear in modern translations, including Potter's. It is
well-known that the
     Christians mutilated or destroyed virtually all of the works of ancient
Greek and
     Roman authors, such that we might suspect this stanza has either been
removed or
     obfuscated through mistranslation. On the other hand, it may be a
mistake on
     Taylor's part or a result of his ambiguous language preceding the
passage, or he may
     have been thinking of another "Prometheus Bound" written after the
Christian era,
     perhaps by Milton. Taylor was in prison when he wrote The Diegesis,
thereby having
     difficulty accessing books, so he is to be excused for errors that
invariably creep
     into anyone's work.

     (64)
     "To get rid of the damning fact that there is no historical basis for
their theological
     fictions, the Christian priesthood have been guilty of the heinous
crime of destroying
     nearly all traces of the concurrent history of the first two centuries
of the Christian
     era. What little of it they have permitted to come down to us, they
have so altered
     and changed, as to destroy its historical value." (JM Roberts, Esq.)
"In some of the
     ancient Egyptian temples the Christian iconoclasts, when tired of
hacking and
     hewing at the symbolic figures incised in the chambers of imagery, and
defacing the
     most prominent features of the monuments, found they could not dig out 
the
     hieroglyphics, and took to covering them over with plaster; and this
plaster,
     intended to hide the meaning and stop the mouth of the stone word, has
served to
     preserve the ancient writings as fresh in hue and sharp in outline as
when they were
     first cut and colored. In a similar manner the temple of ancient
religion was invaded
     and possession gradually gained by connivance of Roman power; and that
enduring
     fortress, not built but quarried out of sold rock, was stuccoed all
over the front and
     made white a-while with its look of brand-newness, and reopened under
the sign of
     another name - that of the carnalized Christ." (Massey, MC)

     (65)
     Wheless, p. 147.

     (66)
     Ibid., p. 144.

     (67)
     Mangasarian: "The idea of a Son of God is as old as the oldest cult.
The sun is the
     son of heaven in all primitive faiths. The physical sun becomes in the
course of
     evolution, the Son of Righteousness, or the Son of God, and heaven is
personified as
     the Father on High. The halo around the head of Jesus, the horns of the
older
     deities, the rays of light radiating from the heads of Hindu and Pagan
gods are
     incontrovertible evidence that all gods were at one time - the sun in
heaven."

     (6
     Jordan Maxwell, The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You to Read, Pagan and
     Christian Creeds, by Carpenter, The Diegesis by Taylor. See also Massey,
     Churchward, Hotema, Graves, et al.

     (69)
     The logical question arises: Why, if Jesus is a historical character,
are there are
     presently two dates for both Christmas and Easter? This purportedly
well-known
     character, who set the world on fire, has no birthdate whatsoever, and 
the
     "historical" references and genealogies found in the gospel accounts
differ from each
     other. The gospels are not history at all but a retelling of the
Mythos. The historical
     Jesus is a phantom. "These, which cannot both be historical, are based
on the two
     birthdays of the double Horus in Egypt." (Massey, as related by
Jackson) In addition,
     early Christian "doctors" were constantly contradicting themselves as
to when
     exactly "the Lord" died or "ascended to heaven" after "he" was
resurrected. Two of
     the most powerful early bishops, Irenaeus and Papias opined that Christ
lived to be
     very old, "flatly denying as 'heresy' the Gospel stories as to his
crucifixion at about
     thirty years of age." (Wheless)

     (70)
     See above. In "The Truth about Jesus, M. Mangasarian states: "The
selection of the
     twenty-fifth of December as his birthday is not only an arbitrary one,
but that date,
     having been from time immemorial dedicated to the Sun, the inference is
that the
     Son of God and the Sun of heaven enjoying the same birthday, were at
one time
     identical beings. The fact that Jesus' death was accompanied with the
darkening of
     the Sun, and that the date of his resurrection is also associated with
the position of
     the Sun at the time of the vernal equinox, is a further intimation that
we have in the
     story of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, an ancient and
nearly universal
     Sun-myth, instead of verifiable historical events."

     (71)
     Many of the sungods, including Horus, Buddha and Krishna, are depicted
with haloes,
     hundreds to thousands of years before it became fashionable in
Christianity.

     (71a)
     Jordan Maxwell, "The Naked Truth."

     (72)
     Mangasarian: "Like the dogmas of the Trinity, the virgin birth, and the
resurrection,
     the sign of the cross or the cross as an emblem or a symbol was
borrowed from the
     more ancient faiths of Asia." Walker: "Early Christians even repudiated
the cross
     because it was pagan. . . . Early images of Jesus represented him not
on a cross,
     but in the guise of the Osirian or Hermetic 'Good Shepherd,' carrying a
lamb." In
     Christianity, the original occupant of the cross was a lamb, not a man.
The man
     hanging on the cross did not occur until the 7th cent. C.E. "The stave,
stake, prop
     or stay of the suffering sun was the Stauros, which was primarily a
stake for
     supporting, shaped as a cross." (Massey, MC) This image can be found in
crosses
     that have a circle on them. Taylor: "On a Phoenician medal found in the
ruins of
     Citium, and engraved in Dr. Clarke's Travels, and proved by him to be
Phoenician, are
     inscribed not only the cross, but the rosary, or string of beads,
attached to it,
     together with the identical Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of
the world."
     Graves: ". . . the consecrated twenty-fifth of March is also the day
marked in our
     calendars as the date of the conception and annunciation of the Blessed
Virgin
     Mary." March 25th was considered the end of the sun's passing through
the vernal
     equinox, when the sun was "resurrected," i.e., the day was now longer
than the
     night.

     (73)
     "The picture of the New Beginning commonly presented is Rembrandt-like
in tone.
     The whole world around Judea lay in the shadow of outer darkness, when
suddenly
     there was a great light seen at the centre of all, and the face of the
startled
     universe was illuminated by an apparition of the child-Christ lying in
the lap of Mary.
     Such was the dawn of Christianity, in which the Light of the World had
come to it at
     last! That explanation is beautifully simple for the simple-minded; but
the picture is
     purely false - or, in sterner words, it is entirely false." (Massey,
G&HC) Jacolliot: "We
     have repudiated Greek and Roman mythologies with disdain. Why, then,
admit with
     respect the mythology of the Jews? Ought the miracles of Jehovah to
impress us
     more that those of Jupiter? . . . I have much more respect for the
Greek Jupiter
     [Zeus] than for the God of Moses; for if he gives some examples not of
the purest
     morality, at least he does not flood his altar with streams of human
blood."

     (74)
     As it had with so many preceding purveyors of wisdom and ideologies,
the Church
     ripped off both Aristotle and Plato, presenting their known
accomplishments in
     philosophy. The "Logos" is pure Platonism, which refined the "Word"
aspect of the
     extant Mythos, the Logos in Greece being Hermes, who is also found in
Egypt as the
     "Trismegistus." Cardinal Palavicino is quoted as saying, "Without
Aristotle we should
     be without many Articles of Faith." It is amusing to consider that the
omniscient
     "Lord," who came to deliver a "New Dispensation," needed the writings
of Aristotle to
     determine doctrine for his Church.

     (74a)
     As concerns the "Jesus Lived in India" theory by Kersten, et al., it is
claimed that in
     Kashmir is a tomb of a traveling prophet named "Yuz Asaf," which is an
Arab name
     that some have attempted to link to "Jesus." Notovich claimed to have
found a text
     in Tibet about the "Life of Saint Issa." It is also claimed that the
tombs of "Moses"
     and "Thomas" are in India. And there are several places where the
"Virgin Mary"
     purportedly rested and/or died. It should be noted that there were
innumerable
     "traveling prophets" throughout the ancient world, all spouting the
same parables
     and platitudes and doing the standard bag of magic tricks, as do the
countless
     Indian yogis of today. It is difficult to believe that the Indians or
Tibetans would be
     very impressed by such stories, since they have had numerous miraculous
godmen of
     their own. It has also been claimed by the Athenians that the olive
tree alive today
     on the Acropolis was miraculously planted by the goddess Athena, an act
for which
     she was honored by having that city-state named after her; and, there are
     numberless "footprints" of this Buddha and that throughout Buddhist
countries. In
     addition, in the Notovich text concerning the "Life of Saint Issa,"
which is of late
     date, it says at the very beginning, "This is what is related on this
subject by the
     merchants who have come from Israel," thus demonstrating both that it
is not an
     eyewitness account of a visit by the Jewish godman and that there was an
     extensive trading and brotherhood network which would readily allow for
such stories
     to spread. Again, all around the globe are stories of where this god or
that set foot,
     did miracles, was born or died. This is standard in the world of
mythmaking, and it is
     not an indication or evidence of historicity.

     (75)
     The Egyptian Book of the Dead by Massey, pp. 1-2. Morals and Dogma of
     Freemasonry, p. 78. Taylor: "'. . . Chrishna in Irish means the Sun.'"

     (76)
     "'Ies,' the Phoenician name of the god Bacchus or the Sun personified; 
the
     etymological meaning of that title being, 'i' the one and 'es' the fire
or light; or taken
     as one word 'ies' the one light. This is none other than the light of
St. John's gospel;
     and this name is to be found everywhere on Christian altars, both
Protestant and
     Catholic, thus clearly showing that the Christian religion is but a
modification of
     Oriental Sun Worship, attributed to Zoroaster. The same letters IHS,
which are in
     the Greek text, are read by Christians 'Jes,' and the Roman Christian
priesthood
     added the terminus 'us'. . ." (Roberts)

     (77)
     Dujardin says, "The title of Messiah is one that the Rabbis seldom
apply to the
     Liberator; it is mainly the Christians who state that the Jews expected
'the
     Messiah.'"

     (7
     The Diegesis, p. 7.

     (79)
     Introduction to The Egyptian Book of the Dead by Massey, p. 9.

     (80)
     Deceptions and Myths of the Bible, by Lloyd Graham, p. 338.

     (81)
     Massey, Gnostic and Historic Christianity, p. 3.

     (82)
     See Walker, Massey, Churchward.

     (83)
     Ibid.

     (84)
     See Massey, Churchward and Graham.

     (85)
     Ibid.

     (86)
     Massey, Mythical Christ, pp. 3-6 Wheless cites the Encyclopedia
Biblica: "The author
     of Revelation calls himself John the Apostle. As he was not John the
Apostle, who
     died perhaps in Palestine about 66, he was a forger." We would that
"died perhaps"
     is also accurate, in that John "lived not at all."

     .(87)
     Jacolliot states that "Zoroaster" is a Persian version of the more
ancient Indian
     "Zuryastara (who restores the worship of the sun) from which comes this
name of
     Zoroaster, which is itself but a title assigned to a political and
religious legislator."

     (8
     Churchward, 399.

     (89)
     Ibid., p. 397. There are two astrotheological interpretations of
John-Anup the
     Baptist, neither of which necessarily precludes the other, since the
Mythos was
     ever-changing and evolving. As stated above, John the Baptist was
considered the
     month of Aquarius, the initiation time of the sun, which was "born" in
the previous
     month. The other interpretation, of which the Bible and other
Christian-Pagan
     traditions and rituals serve as evidence, revolves around Saint John's
day, June
     25th, which would be precisely the opposite of December 25th; in other
words, as
     the sun is "born again" on December 25th, the edge of the winter
solstice, and its
     strength continues to increase, while on June 25th, the edge of the
summer solstice,
     its strength begins to decrease again. This drama is reflected in the
enigmatic
     statement by John the Baptist at John 3:30: "He must increase, but I must
     decrease." This curious remark only makes sense in astrotheological
terms, in the
     sungod mythos.

     (90)
     Walker.

     (91)
     See the IRES's "The Naked Truth" video series available at PO Box 7536,
Newport
     Beach, CA 92658-7536 or through Lightworks.

     (91a)
     Hotema, Intro, Egyptian Book of the Dead by Massey. Like the New
Testament, the
     Old Testament is also filled with sungod stories, such as the tale of
Sampson, or
     Samson, which means "sun," whose "hair" (rays) was cut off by Delilah.
"Sol-om-on"
     refers to the sun in three different languages. In 2 Kings 23:11 is
clear evidence of
     Jewish sunworshipping, as the king Josiah, "removed the horses that the
kings of
     Judah had dedicated to the sun. . . " More obscure references such as 
those
     referring to "eternal light" or any variety of names that mean "sun"
are found
     peppered throughout the Judeo-Christian bible.

     (92)
     Walker, p. 5. Dujardin: "Many of the old Baals of Palestine were
assimilated by
     Judaism, which converted them into heroes in the cause of Jahveh
[Yahweh], and in
     fact many scholars agree that the patriarchs of the Bible are the
ancient gods of
     Palestine."

     (93)
     Dujardin and others demonstrate that the Christ drama, with its obvious
Passion
     play, is indeed a play, with its condensed time-frame, stage directions
and ritualistic
     lines. The entire gospel story purports to take place over a period of
a few days. In
     content and form, it is clearly a sacred king drama, based originally
on the sun and
     other elements such as fertility rites, that became a ritual practiced
yearly or at
     some other increment. This sacrificial and/or redemptive drama was
acted out in
     numerous places over the millennia, long before the Jesus story, in
much the same
     form as that presented in the gospels. In an imitation of the earlier
Mythos, in which
     this drama took place in the heavens, with the sun as the sacrificed
Son of God,
     etc., ancient practitioners would sacrifice a surrogate for the god in
order to ensure
     fecundity and prosperity. This "victim" of the sacrifice was at times a
human, usually
     a king or other high official, or an animal or grain offering. When the
surrogate was
     killed, the blood was sprinkled upon the congregation or audience of
the play, who
     would cry, "Let his blood be upon us and our children," a standard
play/ritual line
     that was designed to ensure future fertility and the continuation of
life. Later, wine
     was substituted for blood. The Passion only makes sense as part of the
Mythos and
     Ritual. As a historical tale about foaming-at-the-mouth Jews calling
for the blood of
     the "gentle" Jesus, it is not only an ugly insult to Jews but a
dangerous, unfounded
     belief that has led to innumerable pogroms and much prejudice against
them for
     nearly 2,000 years, as they have thus been perceived as rabid, evil
"Christkillers." As
     Dujardin says, "It is absurd to imagine that the crowd would demand the
death of an
     innocent man and would wish his blood to be on their heads and those of
their
     children."

     (94)
     Maxwell, Graham, Taylor, Jacolliot. Jacolliot traces the original to
the Indian Manou:
     "This name of Manou, or Manes . . . is not a substantive, applying to
an individual
     man; its Sanscrit signification is the man, par excellence, the
legislator. It is a title
     aspired to by all the leaders of men in antiquity." He also says, "We
shall presently
     see Egypt, Judea, Greece, Rome, all antiquity, in fact, copy
Brahminical Society in its
     castes, its theories, its religious opinions; and adopt its Brahmins,
its priests, its
     levities, as they had already adopted the language, legislation and
philosophy of that
     ancient Vedic Society whence their ancestors had departed through the
world to
     disseminate the grand ideas of primitive revelation."

     (95)
     The Mahabharata.

     (96)
     The BAR article seeks to prove that the Exodus is historical. Massey:
"The Exodus or
     'Coming out of Egypt' first celebrated by the festival of Passover or
the transit at
     the vernal equinox, occurred in the heavens before it was made
historical as the
     migration of the Jews. The 600,000 men who came up out of Egypt as Hebrew
     warriors in the Book of Exodus are 600,000 inhabitants of Israel in the
heavens
     according to Jewish Kabalah, and the same scenes, events, and
personages that
     appear as mundane in the Pentateuch are celestial in the Book of
Enoch." Mead: ". .
     . Bishop Colenso's . . . mathematical arguments that an army of 600,000
men could
     not very well have been mobilized in a single night, that three
millions of people with
     their flocks and herds could not very well have drawn water from a
single well, and
     hundreds of other equally ludicrous inaccuracies of a similar nature,
were popular
     points which even the most unlearned could appreciate, and therefore
especially
     roused the ire of apologists and conservatives."

     (97)
     See Walker, Maxwell, et al.

     (9
     There have been floods and deluge stories in many different parts of
the world,
     including but not limited to the Middle East. The so-called Flood of
Noah may refer to
     the annual flooding of the Nile - an event that was incorporated in
Egyptian
     mythology. However, it is also yet another part of ancient mythology.
As Walker
     says, "The biblical flood story, the 'deluge,' was a late offshoot of a
cycle of flood
     myths known everywhere in the ancient world. Thousands of years before
the Bible
     was written, an ark was built by the Sumerian Ziusudra. In Akkad, the
flood hero's
     name was Atrakhasis. In Babylon, he was Uta-Napishtim, the only mortal
to become
     immortal. In Greece he was Deucalion, who repopulated the earth after
the waters
     subsided [and after the ark landed on Mt. Parnassos] . . . In Armenia,
the hero was
     Xisuthros - a corruption of Sumerian Ziusudra - whose ark landed on
Mount Ararat. .
     . . According to the original Chaldean account, the flood hero was told
by his god,
     'Build a vessel and finish it. By a deluge I will destroy substance and
life. Cause thou
     to go up into the vessel the substance of all that has life."

     (99)
     Walker, et al., and The Encyclopedia of Religions.

     (100)
     Indeed, although professing to contain the history of the universe, the
supposedly
     all-knowing "Word of God" barely mentions the many thousands of years
on this
     planet that the Goddess was recognized and worshipped and only does so
in order to
     disparage her and convert her followers. At Acts 19:27, the author does
admit the
     existence and popularity of the "great goddess Artemis . . . she whom
all Asia and
     the world worship." In addition, despite all efforts to erase from
history the memory
     of the Goddess in the Old Testament, the truth of her existence slipped
by the
     redactor's pen at 1 Kings 11:5, where Solomon "went after Ashtoreth the
goddess of
     the Simonians." Regardless of the presence of these few passages and
any others
     concerning the Goddess, the compilers of the Bible certainly did not
wish to
     acknowledge how powerful and widespread was the belief in and reverence
for the
     divine feminine principle. In addition, Wheless has this to say about
the books of the
     Old Testament: "It may stated with assurance that not one of them bears
the name
     of its true author; that every one of them is a composite work of many
hands
     'interpolating' the most anachronistic and contradictory matters into
the original
     writings, and often reciting as accomplished facts things which
occurred many
     centuries after the time of the supposed writer . . . " Indeed, we
would add that the
     bulk of the Old Testament is as mythical as the entire New Testament.

     (101)
     Taylor, pp. 21-22.

     (102)
     " . . . the holy Saint Josaphat, under which name and due to an odd
slip of inerrant
     inspiration, the great Lord Buddha, 'The Light of Asia,' was duly
certified a Saint in
     the Roman Martyrology." (Wheless) Walker: "Medieval saintmakers adapted
the story
     of Buddha's early life to their own fictions, calling the father of St.
Josaphat 'an
     Indian king' who kept the young saint confined to prevent him from
becoming a
     Christian. He was converted anyway, and produced the usual assortment of
     miracles, some of them copied from incidents in the life story of
Buddha. St.
     Josaphat enjoyed great popularity in the Middle Ages, an ironical
development in a
     Europe that abhorred Buddhism as the work of the devil."

     (103)
     In Antiquities Unveiled, JM Roberts, Esq., reiterates that Christ drama
represents " . .
     . the passage of the Sun, in its annual course through the
constellations of the
     Zodiac; having his birth in the sign of the Goat, the Augean stable of
the Greeks; his
     baptism in Aquarius, the John the Baptist in the heavens; his triumph
when he
     becomes the Lamb of God in Aries; his greatest exaltation on St.
John's, the beloved
     disciple's day, on the 21st of June, in the Sign of the Twins, the
emblem of double
     power; his tribulation in the Garden of Gethsemane, in the sign of the
rural Virgo; his
     betrayal in the sign of Scorpio, the malignant emblem of his
approaching death in the
     stormy and adverse sign, Sagittarius, and his resurrection or renewed
birth on the
     twenty-fifth of December in the same sign of the celestial Goat . . ."
Walker states,
     "Medieval monks tried to Christianize the zodiac as they Christianized
everything
     else, by renaming it the Corona seu Circulus Sanctorum Apostolorum: the
Crown of
     the Circle of the Holy Apostles. They placed John the Baptist at the
position of
     Aquarius, to finish off the circle."

     (104)
     Walker, p. 787: "The myth of St. Peter was the slender thread from
which hung the
     whole weighty structure of the Roman papacy. . . . Unfortunately for 
papal
     credibility, the so-called Petrine passage was a forgery. It was
deliberately inserted
     into the scripture about the 3rd century A.D. as a political ploy, to
uphold the
     primacy of the Roman see against rival churches in the east. Various
Christian
     bishropics were engaged in a power struggle in which the chief weapons 
were
     bribery, forgery, and intrigue, with elaborate fictions and hoaxes
written into sacred
     books, and the ruthless competition between rival parties for the
lucrative position
     of God's elite. . . . Most early churches put forth spurious claims to
foundation by
     apostles, even though the apostles themselves were no more than the
mandatory
     'zodiacal twelve' attached to the figure of the sacred king."

     (105)
     "The Naked Truth" video series by IRES. Antiquities Unveiled, above.

     (106)
     Massey, MC.

     (107)
     Ibid. "The lion is Matthew's symbol, and that is the zodiacal sign of
the month of
     Taht-Matiu (Thoth), in the fixed year. Tradition makes Matthew to have
been the
     eighth of the apostles; and the eighth (Esmen) is a title of
Taht-Matiu. Moreover, it
     is Matthias, upon whom the lot fell, who was chosen to fill the place
of the
     Typhonian traitor Judas. So was it in the mythos when Matiu (Taht)
succeeded Sut
     [Set], and occupied his place after the betrayal of Osiris. . . . It is
to the Gnostics
     that we must turn for the missing link between the oral and the written
word;
     between the Egyptian Ritual and the canonical gospels; between the
Matthew who
     wrote the Hebrew or Aramaic gospel of the sayings, and Taht-Mati, who
wrote the
     Ritual, the Hermetic, which means inspired writings, that are said to
have been
     inscribed in hieroglyphics by the very finger of Mati himself."

     (10
     Deceptions and Myths of the Bible by Graham; Apollonius the Nazarene by
Raymond
     Bernard, PhD. Like Bernard, et al., Hotema also claims the "historical"
details later
     added to the sungod mythos were those from the life of Apollonius of
Tyana, who
     was also called "Pol." According to this theory, "Pol" then serves as a
model for both
     the Christ character and the apostle Paul. It is said that Apollonius
brought the New
     Testament from India, and that he had certain yogic powers which
allowed him to do
     miracles. This theory is, to our mind, unsatisfactorily reconciled at
this time. While it
     may be true that the historicizers, looking back in time, decided they
needed to
     pluck up a quasi-historical character who was still in memory upon
which to base
     their fictions, they would not have needed to add much to the extant 
sungod
     mythos and ritual, merely a few "historical" details.

     (109)
     "Another popular delusion most ignorantly cherished is, that there was
a golden age
     of primitive Christianity, which followed the preaching of the Founder
and the
     practice of his apostles; and that there was a falling away from this
paradisiacal
     state of primordial perfection when the Catholic Church in Rome lapsed
into idolatry,
     Paganised and perverted the original religion, and poisoned the springs
of the faith at
     the very fountain-head of their flowing purity. Such is the pious
opinion of those
     orthodox Protestants who are always clamouring to get back beyond the 
Roman
     Church to that ideal of primitive perfection supposed to be found in
the simple
     teachings of Jesus, and the lives of his personal followers, as
recorded in the four
     canonical gospels and in the Acts of the Apostles. But when we do
penetrate far
     enough into the past to see somewhat clearly through and beyond the
cloud of dust
     that was the cause of a great obscuration in the first two centuries of
our era, we
     find that there was no such new beginning, that the earliest days of
the purest
     Christianity were pre-historic, and that the real golden age of
knowledge and simple
     morality preceded, and did not follow, the Apostolic Roman Church, or
the Deification
     of its Founder, or the humanising of the 'Lamb of God' . . ." (Massey,
G&HC) "It
     sounds strange to hear persons in these days express a desire for a
'return to
     primitive Christianithy, when all was peace and love.' There never was
such a time."
     (Keeler)

     (110)
     Indeed, Jesus's character and many of his actions were utterly contrary
to the
     notion of him being a great Essene healer. "A poor Canaanitish woman
comes to him
     from a long distance and beseeches him to cure her daughter who is
grievously
     obsessed. 'Have mercy on me, O Lord,' she pleads. But he answered her
not a word.
     The disciples, brutes as they were, if the scene were real, besought
him to send her
     away because she cried after them. Jesus answered, and said: 'I was
only sent to
     the lost sheep of the House of Israel.' She worships him, he calls her
one of the
     dogs." (Massey, G&HC) We might add that if Jesus only came for the
'lost sheep of
     the House of Israel,' then we may ignore him, for we are not lost
sheep, nor are we
     of the House of Israel.

     (111)
     This is another aspect of the Christian character that is conflicted.
While Jesus is
     busy swearing unto, he also exhorts his followers to "swear not at
all." (Matt. 5:34;
     James 5:12) These are Essenic/Therapeutan dictates that would be
appropriate for
     a spiritual community, such that they were no doubt useful to the
Christian copyists
     in their attempts at making the drama appear to be historical. It is an
intricately, if
     clumsily, woven tale, utilizing everything possible at hand, which is
the only
     explanation for the glaring contradictions.

     (112)
     Massey, Gnostic and Historic Christianity. Graves provides numerous
examples of
     Essenic doctrine, such as the Essene writer Philo's pronouncement, "It
is our first
     duty to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness." (Matt. 6:33;
Lk. 12:31) It
     would seem that, in order to give the sungod mythos the appearance of a
historical
     man heading a spiritual movement, the NT compilers also drew heavily on
the Essene
     spiritual community. (See below.)

     (113)
     Taylor: ". . . Eusebius has attested, that the Therapeutan monks were
Christians,
     many ages before the period assigned to the birth of Christ; and that
the Diegesis
     and Gnomologue, from which the Evangelists compiled their gospels, were
writings
     which had for ages constituted the sacred scriptures of those Egyptian
visionaries."
     While this Therapeut/Essene origins of the autograph or original
"gospel" texts would
     seem to contradict what Massey says about "Jesus" not being an Essene,
it is the
     Essenes of Josephus to whom he refers, rather than the 
Alexandrian/Egyptian
     Therapeuts. Of the two differing groups of "healers," historian Philo
opined that the
     communities in Palestine and Arabia "did not soar to such a lofty 
height of
     philosophic and mystic endeavour as the members of the community near
Alexandria.
     . . " (Mead, DJL) In our opinion, the Essenes of Palestine, i.e., those
who may or
     may not have lived near the Dead Sea, were much simpler and more
contemplative
     than the worldly Therapeuts, who were profoundly engaged in the mystery
religions,
     initiations and rituals. Clearly, while both were called "healers,"
these are two
     different sects, although they were probably connected. The Therapeuts
seems to
     have been a solid part of the brotherhood network that stretched from
Egypt to
     India and up into Europe, while the Dead Sea Essenes - for want of a
better term -
     were isolationists.

     (114)
     Massey, MC.

     (115)
     Taylor: "The first draft of the mystical adventures of Chrishna, as
brought from India
     into Egypt, was The Diegesis; the first version of the Diegesis was the
Gospel
     according to the Egyptians; the first renderings out of the language of
Egypt into
     that of Greece, for the purpose of imposing on the nations of Europe,
were the
     apocryphal gospels; the correct, castigated, and authorised versions of
these
     apocryphal compilations were the gospels of our [sic] four
evangelists." There is,
     however, a legend about the Egyptian god Osiris traveling to India in
very ancient
     times and establishing his religion there. This brings up again the
"out-of-India" v.
     "out-of-Egypt" debate. It may very well be that an extremely ancient
culture from
     Africa/Egypt migrated many thousands of years ago to India. In this
theory, India
     would still remain the cradle of Western/Middle Eastern culture, with
subsequent
     migrations back to the west, carrying the mutated Proto-Egyptian/Indian
language
     and the refined Mythos, which would be further refined or change by
Egyptians.
     What cannot be disputed is that India and Egypt have both have a
profound impact
     on Western/Middle Eastern culture and that the original Mythos and
Ritual were well
     developed by both nations.

     (116)
     Massey says, "In the Book of Enoch one form of the Messiah is the 'Son
of Woman';
     this was Enoch or Enos, the Egyptian Sut-Anush [Set], who had been twin
with
     Horus but was superseded by him." (MC) Wheless: "The Book of Enoch,
forged in the
     name of the grandson of Adam, is the fragmentary remains of a whole
literature
     which circulated under the pretended authorship of that mythical
Patriarch. . . . This
     work is a composite of at least five unknown Jewish writers, and was
composed
     during the last two centuries B.C. . . .In this Book we first find the
lofty titles:
     'Christ' or 'the Anointed One, 'Son of Man,' the Righteous One,' 'the
Elect One,' - all
     of which were boldly plagiarized by the later Christians and bestowed
upon Jesus of
     Nazareth. . . . It abounds in such 'Christian' doctrines as the
Messianic Kingdom,
     Hell, the Resurrection, and Demonology, the Seven Heavens, and the
Millennium, all
     of which have here their apocryphal Jewish promulgation, after being
plagiarized
     bodily from the Persian and Babylonian myths and superstitions, as we
have seen
     confessed. There are numerous quotations, phrases, clauses, or thoughts
derived
     from Enoch, or of closest of kin with it, in several of the New
Testament Gospels and
     Epistles. . ."

     (117)
     Wheless, pp. 85-87.

     (11
     In yet another attempt to produce a history for this mythical
character, Bible
     translators have taken to rendering the title "Jesus the Nazarene" as
"Jesus of
     Nazareth," a village that many scholars opine did not yet exist at the
time of Jesus's
     purported birth. "There is no such place as Nazareth in the Old
Testament or in
     Josephus' works, or on early maps of the Holy Land. The name was
apparently a
     later Christian invention." (Holley) As Dujardin states, "It is
universally admitted that
     Jesus the Nazarene does not mean Jesus of Nazareth." Massey and 
Churchward
     point out that the title "Nazarene" is part of the Mythos, with
Horus/Jesus being
     considered "the plant, the shoot, the natzar. . . . the true vine."
(Churchward)

     (119)
     "There is another proof that the Gospels were not written by Jews.
Traditionally,
     Jesus and all the 'Apostles' were Jews; all their associates and the
people of their
     country with whom they came into contact, were Jews. But throughout the
Gospels,
     scores of times, 'the Jews' are spoken of, always as a distinct and
alien people away
     from the writers, and mostly with a sense of racial hatred and
contempt." (Wheless)

     (120)
     The date of Hadrian's reign (117-13 precedes the period we have ascribed
     to the appearance of the canonical gospels. However, we are proposing
that the
     texts composed by the Alexandrian Therapeuts were autographs, or
originals, upon
     which the Christian gospels were based. This would mean that these
originals were
     nonhistorical, gnostic texts composed to commit the Mythos and Ritual
in its totality
     to writing. These texts then were transported to Rome, where they were
worked
     upon by historicizers and eventually changed into the Christian gospels.

     Sources:

     Ancient History of the God Jesus by Edouard Dujardin
     Antiquities Unveiled by JM Roberts, Esq.
     Apollonius the Nazarene by Raymond Bernard, PhD
     A Short History of the Bible by Bronson C. Keeler
     Christianity Before Christ by John G. Jackson
     Christianity: The Last Great Creation of the Pagan World by Vernal Holley
     Deceptions and Myths of the Bible by Lloyd Graham
     Did Jesus Exist? by GA Wells
     Forgery in Christianity by Joseph Wheless, Esq.
     Gnostic and Historic Christianity by Gerald Massey
     Isis Unveiled by Helena Blavatsky
     Pagan and Christian Creeds by Edward Carpenter
     Pagan Christs by JM Roberts
     The Bible in India by Louis Jacolliot
     The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You to Read
     The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth by John Allegro
     The Diegesis by Rev. Robert Taylor
     The Egyptian Book of the Dead by Gerald Massey
     "The Great Myth of the Sun-Gods" by Alvin Boyd Kuhn, PhD
     The Gospels and the Gospel by G.R.S. Mead
     The Historical Jesus and the Mythical Christ by Gerald Massey
     The Historical Evidence for Jesus by GA Wells
     "The Naked Truth" video series
     The Origin and Evolution of Religion by Albert Churchward
     "The Truth about Jesus," lecture by M. Mangasarian
     The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects by Barbara Walker
     The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets by Barbara Walker
     The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors by Kersey Graves



     © 2000 Acharya S

     Acharya S. is the author of

     "The Christ Conspiracy"

     Click the thumbnail image for more information on the book.

     Return to Origins of Christianity


     
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     Truth can be perceived as existing at the center of a circle with
opinion and interpretation focused on it from 360 degrees of observation. 
(HBNP 111-20)


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