Origins and History of the Church

Part Two, since there are no comments yet.

#2 - The Religion of the Aryans
© Mistress Rowenna de Ronçesvalles (Elizabeth A. Rowe) March, 2003

The Father Creator

History: early religion of the Aryans - ?'anthropomorphic polytheism' - means a set of gods with human characteristics i.e. immortal humans - Supreme Creator of Man is male - not of the Universe - this may still be female in the earliest versions

Divinity: a male Sun God or Sky and Storm God (Mazda or Zeus to the Doric Greeks) - becomes the Supreme Deity ruling over a pantheon of Nature deities

Cosmogony & Theogony: in the beginning is Chaos and Earth who conceives and bears Heaven (called Uranus) - then, with Uranus or Heaven, bears the Titans - the greatest of these, Cronos, marries his sister, Rhea, who then gives birth to Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon - Cronos has been told that one of his children will overthrow him so he eats all five - Rhea hides in a cave in Crete and gives birth to Zeus then wraps a stone up in a blanket and gives it to Cronos who swallows it - Zeus grows to manhood and then compels his father to disgorge his brothers and sisters who then join him in a huge battle with the Titans - Zeus defeats the Titans and becomes Lord of the Sky, the Cloud-Gatherer, and Master of the Thunderbolts - this is a typical theogony for all Aryan Supreme Gods no matter what name they go by (Mazda, Zeus, Jupiter, etc.)

Afterlife: the afterlife is a shady miserable existence, or non-existence, spent hovering about the banks of the Styx hungering for life and lamenting - Elysian Fields (the Egyptian afterlife) only available to the greatest heroes or demi-gods and only as a gift of the gods - even Achilles is denied this so there is no hope for ordinary mortals, tough luck

Eucharist: none

Ethics: none

Soteriology: none

Eschatology: none

Theology & Ritual: religion as a form of bribery - if you want something, you make a sacrifice to the appropriate god (or, less often, a goddess) and implore their aid - a divine protection racket - although their actions may be questionable, the gods themselves are not good or evil - may create terrible monsters but then send semi-divine Heroes to kill them…eventually

The Dualism of Zoroaster

History: worship of Mazda (or Aharumazda as he is now called) is very ancient - teaches brother-sister marriage - fairly common under matriarchies to keep family property intact - no sex or children - a legal marriage only - brother then becomes father figure for any children his sister may have - every blessing the workings of the Good Spirit and every calamity the workings of Ahriman, the Evil One
- Zoroaster refines and updates ancient religion of the Babylonians in the same way that Mohammed does later on for the Arabs
- the birth of Zoroaster (also called Zaratust or Zarathustra) is placed in 660 BCE - appears as his people are leaving the nomadic life and settling down into an agricultural communities & he puts the divine stamp of approval on all this - at age 42 Zoroaster converts King Vishtasp and becomes the first High-Priest - according to tradition, in 583 BCE, at age 77, he is slain and burned at his own altar by nomadic marauders from the north - this might be true and Zoroaster, like Mohammed, might be an actual historical person
- goes into decline during conflict with the Greeks esp. Alexander the Great but always around
- 226 CE - Ardashir overthrows the Parthian Empire (something Rome had never been able to do) and establishes the Sassanian dynasty in Persia with its capital at Persepolis - a Zoroastrian renaissance but conquered by the Moslems and replaced with Islam and the Koran in 633 CE - finally around 1000 CE the remnant who would not renounce their faith moved to India near Bombay and became known as Parsees (the religion fades but still exists today in a smaller and subdued form)

Divinity: the spiritual body of Zoroaster was created by Ahuramazda some 6000 years before his earthly manifestation - during this time of celestial pre-existence [an attribute that Christ takes on - the pre-existence of Christ throughout time before his actual birth] he dwells with the Creator and the seven archangels - 15 years before his birth the spiritual body of the prophet enters the body of the wife of Frahimrvana-zois, and by this miraculous conception she gives virgin-birth to Dukdaub, the destined mother of Zoroaster
- Dukdaub is filled with supernatural glory and becomes so radiant she arouses the hatred of the devas (demons) who bring winter, pestilence, and marauders (all from the north) - she is sent to live in the home of her betrothed, Purushaspo - at this point Aharumazda sends 2 archangels to earth - they give the sacred hom-juice (an wine-like intoxicant and probably an ancient eucharist - like beer & Osiris or wine & Dionysus) to him and make two virgin cows conceive - Dukdaub then gives their milk (probably another ancient eucharist - like milk & Isis) to her betrothed who mixes it with the hom-juice - he gives it to her to drink and she conceives Zoroaster who is the fleshly incarnation of his own pre-existing spirit [the ?'immaculate conception' of Mary is the direct Christian equivalent of this miraculous virgin birth - though only one archangel is involved]
- at the age of 20 Zoroaster becomes a wanderer and is said to have travelled as far as India and China [there are writings that claim the same for Jesus]
- at the age of 30, Zoroaster begins his active preaching with a sacred baptism in the river Daitih [like Jesus being baptised in the Jordan River] - thus purified, he has a vision in which he is conducted into the presence of Aharumazda and the archangels - there are seven such conferences and visions over 10 years in which Ahuramazda reveals the mysteries - the meaning of time and eternity - the origin of the world - the dual nature of the cosmos - the primeval history of the Persians - the role of Ahriman (the evil god) - the laws of the good religion - the future millennium saviours - the secrets of heaven and hell - the resurrection and final judgement - the ultimate salvation of mankind - the cataclysmic renovation of the universe - all this he writes down when he comes out of his trances and this becomes the ?'unalterable word of God'
- the Great Temptation - Ahriman, the Angry Spirit, the Maker of the Evil World - assails the prophet with fearful dreams and makes magnificent promises - offers to make him ruler of all the nations of the earth but Zoroaster rejects him with scorn [exactly like the Temptation of Christ]

Cosmogony & Theogony: Time consists of 12,000 years divided into four tri-millenniums - in the 1st tri-millennium, (9660 - 6660 BCE in our calendar) Ahuramazda who dwells in the Celestial Realm (or Heaven) creates the world and the perfect primary ideas of all things that remain motionless and insensible [Plato's ideas were not new at all!] - at its close in 6660 BCE, Ahriman, the Adversary, wanders near the upper bounds of his dark domain and sees a glimmer of light - he conceives an overpowering desire to seize the Celestial Realm and so control the entire universe - to achieve this he creates a vast Army of Darkness made up of fiends, wizards, devas - all creatures of eternal evil - and prepares to attack first the sublunary world and ultimately the Realm of Light - Ahuramazda is not yet prepared to fight the Ultimate Battle so he reveals himself to Ahriman and makes a 9000 year pact - he will rule for 3000 years, then Ahriman will rule for 3000 years, but in the last 3000 years they will contend for dominance
- BUT because prescient, he outwits Ahriman by stacking the deck:
- creates the Primeval Ox (animal creation) and the Primeval Man (human creation) who have remained hidden and quiescent during the first 3000 years and unknown to Ahriman
- causes archangels to create the spiritual body of his great prophet, Zoroaster who dwells for 6000 years in Heaven with Ahuramazda - from this same spiritual body will be created a series of pre-existing saviours who will appear to be men amongst men but in reality are supernatural incarnations - they will win over mankind to the good religion of Ahuramazda and ultimately defeat Ahriman
- also builds an impregnable wall around the heavenly mansions so Ahriman can't seize this last bastion of Light
- the rule of Ahriman begins in 3660 BCE and he rushes into the material world and corrupts it with evil creations - smoke, thorns, covers trees with bark, destroys the vegetation, kills the Primeval Ox, and creates billions of pests such as ants, lice, locusts, wolves etc. - he corrupts mankind and fills them with evil thoughts and wicked desires - creates storms, droughts, earthquakes, and numbing cold - in 3300 BC sends 7 years of frost and almost kills mankind but Yima (Primeval Man), through the Divine Will, leads a remnant of mankind into a well-stocked cave and they survive
- at the end of Ahriman's reign (660 BCE) Ahuramazda sends into the world the first of his saviours -final tri-millennium begins with the birth of Zoroaster in 660 BC - he is the Prophet who foretells the coming of the other Messiahs or Saviours - first one would be Hushedar (born in 341 CE and beginning his ministry at age 30 in 371 CE) - then Aushedar-Mah (born 1341 CE and beginning his ministry in 1371 CE) - finally Soshan (born 2341 and beginning his ministry in 2371 CE)

- Zoroastrians are convinced that Christians are followers of the Evil One sent to plague them with their aggressive denunciations - Zoroastrian apostasy are some of the very conflicts that foretell the coming of the first Messiah, Hushedar, due in 371 CE - he is to be born through a virgin-birth from a maiden directly descended from Zoroaster himself thus using the same divine spiritual body
- thus in 341 CE the 15 year old virgin Shemigabu touches the holy water and becomes pregnant with Hushedar, the First Messiah, and the first reincarnation of the spirit of Zoroaster - at the age of 30 (371 CE) the sun is to stand still for 10 days (thus suspending time - which is why humans don't notice it!) during which Hushedar ascends to Heaven and confers with the archangels - he then returns to the earth - establishes the Good Religion and one-third of mankind is converted and saved
- in 1341 CE the 15 year old virgin, Shapirabu, touches the holy water and conceives Aushedar-Mah - when he is 30 years old (in 1371 CE) the sun will stand still for 20 days during which time he goes to heaven, confers with the archangels, returns to earth, and converts two-thirds of mankind to the Good Religion
- the Final Days were to begin in 1371 CE - during this time such great advances in medical science will be made that no one will die of sickness or disease - all wars will stop - all of mankind will come to worship Ahuramazda
- in 2341 CE the 15 year old virgin, Gobakabu will touch the holy water, conceive and give birth to Soshans, the final reincarnation of Zoroaster - after his birth there is to be "17 years of vegetable-eating, 30 years of water diet, and 10 years of spiritual food" - at the age of 30, the sun will stand still for 30 days, while he confers with the archangels - Soshans will live for 57 years when the End of Time will occur in the Zoroastrian year 12,000 (our year 2400 CE) - in this year all evil will disappear on the earth as will death, and disease - all mankind will be united in the worship of Ahuramazda, the Good Religion

Afterlife: when a man dies, the disembodied soul remains near the corpse for 3 days - then the good soul is approached by a beautiful maiden who personifies the good conscience - the evil soul is approached by an ugly old crone who symbolizes the evil done during life - each soul is conducted to the Kinvad Bridge which separates this life from the next - then judged by Mithra, Sraosha, and Rashnu according to works of charity [Matthew 25:31-46]
- if good thoughts, words, and deeds outweigh the evil then the bridge becomes a broad highway and the soul enters heaven and takes up the position it has earned - the greatest become saints and proceed directly to the realm of Endless Light and sit on thrones with Ahuramazda
- if evil outweighs the good then the bridge becomes like a razor blade and the soul falls headlong into hell which is dark, filthy, evil, stinking, and icy cold - there tortured until the Last Judgement
- but a third choice - if good and bad equal - goes to Hamestagna or purgatory - a place of discomfort but not intense torture to await the Last Judgement - both Hell and Hamestagna are within the circumference of the earth (as in Dante's Divine Comedy)

Eucharist: - the juice from the hom-tree has been considered divine for many centuries before Zoroaster - mildly intoxicating and therefore brings divine revelation - Zoroaster believes it contains a supernatural essence that confers immortality - a ceremonial eucharist where eat sacred bread mixed with hom-juice and drink the Haoma (an elixir made from hom-juice) - transforms body and soul into eternal essences now suitable for existence in the Celestial Realm

Ethics: doesn't seek the redemption of a single individual soul but of the entire human race - as such it can be the only acceptable religion - all others are evil and worship demons or the Lord of Darkness - engenders extreme intolerance

Soteriology: there is no soter - no man-saviour that dies so that others might consume his body and blood in a eucharist and thus gain eternal life - instead an equally efficient devise for achieving immortality - a divine food and drink that magically confers eternal life - primitive belief that we are what we eat shows age of religion

Eschatology: Ahriman won't take this lying down though - mobilizes his vast army and marches upon Persia (the holy nation) - the great fiend Azi-Dahak, who has been imprisoned in the Pit, will be released [Revelations 20:7] and for a year and a half will run wild killing a third of mankind, cattle, sheep, and other good creatures, and destroying water, fire, and vegetation destroying a third of the
- Armageddon - the final great battle in which Soshan leads the Army of Righteousness against the Army of Darkness and the slaughter is so great that rivers of blood will reach the girths of the horses - in the end Ahuramazdha defeats Ahriman and the Army of Darkness - after this comes the Resurrection, the Final Judgement, and the renovation of the world where all evil is overthrown [Revelations is the much older Zoroastrian prophesies with the Judaic Christ taking the place of the Zoroastrian Messiahs]
- the Last Judgement - during the lifetime of Soshan all the dead are to be resurrected - the righteous and the wicked alike - each is roused on the spot where he died - the earth and the seas are to give up their dead who assume their former bodies [all this is adopted directly by Christianity] - all are gathered before the great judgement seat in the assembly called the Sadvastaran - the wicked, who will be as conspicuous as black sheep amongst the white, are separated from the righteous and cast into the depths of Hell, where frightful punishment is inflicted upon them BUT only for a short time
- the Great Conflagration - in which the world burns in a fantastic holocaust - the earth becomes like a river of molten metal through which all men must walk, the righteous and the wicked - to the righteous it will be like a pleasant bath of warm milk, but to the wicked it will be indescribable torture BUT by this holy baptism of fire all are cleansed from guilt and sin and will become saintly
- the Final Eucharist - made from hom-juice and the fat of the Ox and given to everyone who then becomes immortal - each will assume a body of 40 years of age and will receive again his wife and children but there will be no begetting as all mankind will be celestial spirits [Mark 12:25] - thus the first universalist faith - for in the end all men are to be redeemed - women are to be redeemed as well but only as a man's wife or mother - can't be redeemed on her own merit [Islam adopts this]
- Earthly Paradise - Heaven and Earth will be united where these immortal beings will live with Ahuramazda and the angels in bliss forever
- and what about Ahriman? - he and fiends are defeated but still exist in sublunary world [i.e. the physical Earth] - seven archangels lead the Army of Light and attack Ahriman with his seven Arch-fiends, and the Army of Darkness - they take refuge in the Pit of Hell but are burned in the river of molten metal that was the earth (same one as above - waste not want not!) - Hell is scoured and purified and Ahriman and his legions are annihilated at last

Theology & Ritual: Zoroaster sees all this and everything that will happen in visions and writes them down in the Avesta [many of the apocalyptic visions of Daniel are right out of the Avesta] - not just divine revelation but also the laws dictated by God and covers not only religious duties but all civil and ethical laws as well (like the Talmud and the Koran) - consists of the Gathas (psalms), the Vendidad (laws), and the Yasts (liturgies) - during the 1000 years prior to the Moslem invasion extra writings called the Pahlavi Texts (also called the Zend) written in a Parthian dialect - commentary and elaboration of the Avesta which becomes the world's foremost sacred book and fire-temples dedicated to Ahuramazda appear everywhere with a sacred perpetually burning flame
- gigantic dualism that rules the thoughts, words, and deeds of every human being - two primordial and uncreated Powers which stand opposed throughout eternity - the Good Spirit, Ahuramazda, who dwells in Eternal Light - Ahriman, the Angry Spirit, who dwells in the primeval Darkness
- the Good will eventually triumph and it is only Ahuramazda who is omniscient and merciful but not omnipotent nor is he the creator of the universe since that is the creation of Ahriman - Ahriman, however, doesn't know that Ahuramazda exits
- every physical ill is considered to be the direct intervention by Ahriman or one of his principal devas, the Princes of Darkness - disease, insanity, heresy, adherence to all other religions - caused by possession by a fiend or evil spirit - only by the superior spiritual power of Ahuramazda through the incantations and exorcisms of his priests can this evil spirit be separated from the bodies of the inflicted [hence Jesus curing the sick and insane by casting out demons - exorcism still a part of Catholic faith!]
- Ahuramazda created a whole hierarchy of assistants - an immortal bureaucracy of seven archangels, the Amesha-Spentas, and the Spirit of Wisdom, his active, creative agency in the universe [the ?'Logos' or the ?'Word'] - as well there is a whole pantheon of other divinities inherited from an older worship of Mazda which become divine lesser gods - now believed to have been even older gods from India - Mithra, the sun and the god of flocks, horses, war, contracts, and one of the Judges of the Dead [later becomes Mithras] - Sraosha, the Incarnate Word - Ardvi Sura Anahita, the Goddess of the Waters, who purifies men's seed from demonic possession and thus enables women to bear children in safety - many more as well as millions of ?'guardian angels'
- the Pure Wind - also called the Holy Spirit or Ghost of Aharumazda [when John the Baptist says that he baptizes with water but that after him would come one who baptizes with fire and with the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Ghost, he is showing an absolute direct link to Zoroastrianism]
- sacred Fire - the son of Ahuramazda and his greatest gift - devas run in terror from it - priests keep the sacred flame burning in the temples [and so Jesus baptises the Apostles with Holy Fire!]
- sacred Water - embodied in the goddess Ardvi Sura Anahita - has the power to purify whatever it touches [like the purification rites of the Covenanters & the Christian Holy Water] and can cleanse the believer from a multitude of impurities - sacrament of baptism becomes very important
- other holy things - earth, grain, horses, oxen, cows, sheep, and dogs
- Ahriman also has his hierarchy - Spirits of Evil called Aeshm - seven arch-fiends amongst whom is the great demon Azi-Dahak (the old Babylonian supreme god) - and millions of devas (demons) to oppose the angels [all this is reflected in Daniel in the Old Testament]
- all monotheists are caught on the horn of the same dilemma - either the one God is impotent because he allows evil to exist and can't stop it - OR he permits evil to exist and is therefore unjust and cruel because he punishes his own creations for the wickedness he himself brings upon them - it is idle to say man has free will and is thus morally responsible - for God makes him susceptible to temptation and sends the devil to seduce and destroy him - this causes no end of problems for the early Christian Church - has to deal with Zoroastrian theologians who use sayings of Jesus to back their claims he is really preaching Zoroaster's message - the Covenanters also borrow heavily from Persian ideology which had crept into Jewish belief
- Christianity adopts the Persian Ahriman and makes him the Devil - no counterpart in Jewish or other theologies but fails to make him as powerful as God - Zoroastrians demanded to know that if the Devil is only an angel fallen from grace, why does your God permit him to persecute and torment his worshippers? - if your God is omniscient and prescient then he had foreknowledge of all this - why did he then create men to be inclined to evil and so miserable a world? - if Christian God created everything then he must have created sin and misery and so therefore is the author of Evil - created Satan and so is responsible for every evil thing he does - Judaic/Christian God is therefore either wicked or impotent - Zoroastrians do not make this mistake - their Ahuramazda is not the ?'Supreme Being' until the allotted ages have run out and Ahriman is finally defeated and destroyed

Influence of Zoroastrianism on Christianity:

- the very real and personal concepts of Heaven and Hell
- the use of water for baptism and spiritual cleansing
- the saviour born of a virgin-mother
- the belief in demons who make human beings impure and must be exorcised
- the universal judgement of the soul based on good and evil works
- the Resurrection and personal immortality of each human soul
- the vision of an Apocalypse
- the doctrine of absolute metaphysical dualism which spawns many heresies
- the Logos concept
- transformation after the Resurrection into celestial spirits
- the millennial kingdom - the Earthly Paradise - the Kingdom of Heaven
- Armageddon
- the Final Conflagration
- adoption of Ahriman and his creatures as the Christian Satan and his demons, imps, etc.
- the ultimate defeat of Satan
- the renovation of the universe
- the lowering of the Celestial City from Heaven to the earth
- seven as a sacred (or lucky) number
- Purgatory (accepted in 5th century CE and dogma in the 7th CE)
- utter intolerance towards all other religions and the conviction that they are devil-cults

The Priest-State of Brahman

History: around 2000 BCE the Aryans of Iran invade India and establish themselves as the dominant people - institute an intricate system of sacred laws and beliefs whereby their position and privileges are given divine sanction - a bitter struggle for dominance ensues between the priests and the warrior-nobility - priests finally win and establish a priest-state - monopolize all learning - issue all the codes of law - make all the moral, religious, and civil decisions - appropriate almost all the social privileges - gradually gather most of the national wealth into their hands - system designed to consolidate the supremacy of the priesthood and maintain the racial purity of the nobility
- develops from same ancient worship of Mazda as Zoroastrianism but diverges much earlier and changes due to different needs and problems - common links to Zoroastrianism- the sky, water, plants, and trees are holy - also cows but since people of India are not shepherds, dogs become unclean scavengers - by inversion the evil devas of Persia become the daevas or ?'angels' of India - in Persia fire and water are so holy that no corpse can be brought near them so the dead are left in open-air exhumation sites where sacred vultures pick off the flesh - in India the dead are consigned to fire or water because these are seen as holy and purifying
-now known as in an altered form as Hinduism

Divinity: Zoroastrians become absolute dualists but Brahmanas become pantheists - the world (and everything in it) is made by and is, literally, part of the one Supreme God - claim authority from the Vedas but establish a theology and social system unknown to the ancients - simple nature gods are replaced by a heirarchy consisting of the abstract Brahman, the Father and Creator of the Universe, combined with the popular gods of the conquered - Vishnu, the Preserver, and Siva, the Destroyer - about 30 other lesser gods - amongst them the old Indian gods Indra, Agni, Vayu, and Mitra, Gineesh.

Cosmogony & Theogony: in the beginning the universe exists only as Darkness, immersed in a deep sleep - then the divine Self-Existent One, places a Golden Egg on the Primordial Waters [just as in early Egyptian Cosmogony], from this He is reborn as Brahman, the Progenitor of the World who produces all living creatures from his own body - there is no problem here of which came first, the chicken or the egg - the chicken was always there and hatched itself from the egg it laid in the first place!

Afterlife: doctrine of metempsychosis, soul-transmigration, or reincarnation - all living things have already been born again and again and will continue to be reborn again and again - a soul inhabits every insect, fish, bird, animal, and human - even trees, plants, and lichens!
- the condition under which each soul re-enters the world is predetermined by its kharma - the quantity of virtue or wickedness which it accumulates in former incarnations - invented to account for and justify the caste system - low caste and poverty, as well as disease and deformities, a sign of evil behaviour in past life so current misery is deserved - accounts for evil and suffering and perfumes all human injustice with the odour of sanctity
- Heaven and Hell - if obedient will spend a time in a vaguely happy Heaven between reincarnations - but if evil or heretical will spend time in any of the 23 separate Hells all described in great detail and used as a weapon of terror and suppression

Eucharist: none as such but a holy plant and drink - the Soma

Ethics: for the eternal security and prosperity of the world Brahman creates the four castes from his body:
- the Brahmanas (Aryan priests) from his head - duties are to conduct religious rituals, teach the Vedas, and accept gifts - Brahman as the creator of mankind is the Great Father - the Brahmanas (also Brahmin) are his direct representatives, little replicas of the god, and are themselves in fact actually gods or lesser Fathers in their own persons [thus the clergy of the Catholic Church designate themselves as ?'holy fathers' just like the Brahmanas] - can have 4 wives [like Islam] - forever free of taxation - can not be punished or even rebuked for any action against a lower caste; lose their caste if they leave India or break any of a variety of sacred laws
- the Kshatriyas (Aryan warrior nobles) from his arms - duties are to study the Vedas, give gifts to the Brahmanas, sacrifice to the gods, defend the nation in time of war, and administer the laws made by the Brahmanas - can have 3 wives
- the Vaisyas (non-Aryan tradesmen & craftsmen) from his thighs - duties are to give gifts to the Brahmanas and work at trade, agriculture, crafts, etc - can have 2 wives
- the Sudras (non-Aryan servants & workers) from his feet - duties are to serve the other three castes especially the Brahmanas - allowed to have 1 wife
- horrific punishments for perceived crimes especially against Brahmanas - if a Sudra should approach a Brahmana's wife, without committing physical contact, he would be tied round with long grass and thrown alive on a bonfire - while no beast or insect could be harmed or confined because it might contain a human soul, a Sudra could be killed on the slightest pretext
- the Brahmanas (superior of course) and the Kshatriyas - as Aryans - maintain the world - the other two castes are there to maintain them! - the conquered natives and their descendants are thus divinely ordained to everlasting inferiority, ignorance, and servitude
- three upper classes are "twice-born" - in addition to human origins, each experiences a second birth after a prescribed course of study under a Guru - students have to take vows of chastity, obedience, and poverty [like Christian monks!] - Sudras and all women are of course excluded from the sacraments and from all Vedic knowledge and therefore, from all
education
- to maintain the caste system it is necessary to classify all marriages according to quality - 8 forms are declared legitimate - of these 4 are acceptable for Brahmanas - feared most - uncleanness done to their beds and violence done to their persons - horrified of a lower caste male getting to their women and having sex with them - making them ritually unclean and then the Brahmana has sex with them and is made unclean - maybe without even being aware of it! - horrific punishments for adultery - both the man and the woman suffer cruel deaths
- a system of justice based not on the crime but on the caste of the victim and the criminal - killing a Guru, a teaching Brahmana, meant the criminal must live in a hut in the forest and live by begging, and must proclaim his crime wherever he goes for his entire life - if killed a non-teaching Brahmana this would last for 12 years - for the killing of a Kshatriyas the punishment is penance for 9 years - for a Vaisya, 3 years; for a Sudra or any woman, 1 year - also 1 year for killing a crow, a chameleon, a peacock, a vulture, a frog, a muskrat, or a dog.
- degraded as the Sudras were, they at least had caste - below them are the outcasts - the Untouchables who have lost their caste through some crime or because they are the offspring of illegal unions - excommunicated from birth and compelled to live in the most degrading servitude
- women - like Sudras are excluded from all sacred learning "In childhood, a female must be subject to her father; in youth, to her husband; and when her lord is dead, to her sons; a woman must never be independent." [sounds like Paul!] - if a woman's husband dies, she can never remarry - so dreadful a crime is this that if caught even her sons become Untouchables - when a man dies a good wife climbs onto the funeral pyre with him
- everyone (except Brahmanas as revealed by divine revelation) are subject to Trial by Ordeal - innocent if fire didn't burn or blister, if water didn't drown, if poison did not kill or upset the stomach - [again becomes a part of Christian law as opposed to Roman law]

Soteriology: no Saviour - so how does one escape the endless cycle of birth and rebirth? - concept of Nirvana or suicide of the soul - at the end of the cycle of birth and rebirth the ultimate reward is to join with the Universal Soul and become one with God - development of ascetics and hermits in reaction to misery of existence - conviction takes root that celibacy will be rewarded in the next life - have to undergo a long period of Vedic study and remain always under the authority of the Brahmanas - the ascetic hopes to attain Nirvana through renunciation of all human relationships, elimination of fear and desire from his soul; complete indifference to pain, pleasure, hell, heaven, past, present, and future - body is a filthy sink of iniquity and must seek the Universal Soul by keeping his mind fixed upon the eternal through the practice of yoga and the endless repetition of the syllable Ohm

Eschatology: never develops concepts of dualism, cosmic warfare, prophesy, apocalypse, Messiahs, resurrection, last judgement, final tribulation, universal holocaust, a renewed earth and heaven, or immortality of the individual human soul

Theology & Ritual: oldest sacred book in the world is the Rig-Veda, a series of hymns or invocations written by ancient (pre-Aryan) indigenous Indian poets - drifts into Tigris-Euphrates area & influences development of religion there - predates caste, purgatory, hell, heaven, the last judgement, reincarnation, or renunciation - also Yagur-Veda, the Sama-Veda and the Atharva-Veda consisting of magic spells and incantations - later comes the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Anugita expounding the metaphysics of mature Brahmanism
- excommunication - priesthood control every member and every aspect of society by revealed and sacred authority - Brahmanic codes are unalterable and everlasting and based on ancient and divine authority - the heretic, the unbeliever, the independent individual, or anyone who doesn't adequately perform his religious obligations can be excluded from his caste, made a Sudra, or thrown out entirely and made an Untouchable which cuts him off from all human contact and makes it impossible for him to earn a living - in effect a sentence of slow starvation
- is there a way to pay for one's misdeeds in this life so one is assured of a better life in the next incarnation?
- good works - not acts of charity but ceremonial acts - saving the life of a cow or a Brahmana, bestowing gifts on a Brahmana or a Guru, reciting the Vedas, bathing in holy water, journeying to sacred places, eating of the five products of the cow (urine, dung, milk, sour milk, and ghee or clarified butter)
- pilgrimages to sacred places so may attain a more favourable incarnation in the next birth - all mountains, rivers, holy lakes, places of pilgrimage, the dwellings of holy men, cowpens, and the temples of the gods - all places that destroy sin
- penance - elaborate formulas devised by which sinners might free themselves from guilt - penances always performed with the advise of a Brahmana - often a fine paid (surprise!) to the Brahmana! - range from a bundle of straw to committing suicide by fire or starvation [although not a vestige of this in the Gospel Jesus, or in early Christianity, penance becomes one of the tenets of the Catholic Church in the 4th C.]

Influence of Brahmanism on Christianity:

All of the following are unknown to the Gospel Jesus and the Apostolic Church BUT standard after 350 CE:

- trial by ordeal
- use of excommunication and prohibition against any conversation with heretics
- encouragement of pilgrimages to shrines as good "works"
- severe sanctions against remarried women
- recognition of degrees of legality in marriages
- bestowal of honours upon ascetics who torture their bodies and live lives of bizarre or fantastic hardship [hermits or monks like St. Anthony]
- the requirement that an ascetic, upon joining a religious order, give all his wealth to the official priesthood
- a precise and vivid description of the torments of Hell
- priests called ?'father' as representatives of the Divine Father
- the denial of the sacred scriptures to the laity
- the interpretation of the revealed scriptures by the official priesthood alone
- the priesthood as the ultimate authority with the right to establish all judicial codes
- belief that it is the duty of kings to administer and enforce such codes
- vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity
- immunity of the priesthood from taxation or civil duties
- use of confession and penance to expiate an intricate system of venal and mortal sins
- the priestly monopoly over education
- the use of spells and incantations (i.e. prayers) to defeat enemies, be successful in love, etc.

Mahavira, the Founder of Gainaism

- revolt against the Brahmanas - called for separation of church and state - backed by the Kshatriya who see it as a chance to gain control - gifts to the official priesthood will never reduce the giver's evil kharma - but alms to Gaina saints will bear fruit a hundredfold
- a pre-existing Supreme God who at the proper moment entered the body of Devananda, the wife of a Brahmana, but while still an embryo, transferred to that of Trisala, wife of a Kshatriya - thus a member of both castes - wonderful portents accompany his birth
- at the usual age soteriest of 30 begins his ministry - gives up his power and wealth, his friends, wives, sons, and relations - lives like a Brahmana ascetic but without the control of the priesthood - no thought for the morrow, where he will lodge, what he will eat, or how he will be clothed - teaches the pathway to Nirvana
- central doctrine - men are divided into 2 classes - the wise and the foolish - the wise renounce everything but the foolish heap up evil kharma by working, laying up stores, and supporting a wife and children!
- doctrine of universal equality - the brotherhood of man by which the lowest might escape unrequited toil and social degradation and attain the status of elect saints - thus overcoming the caste system [but only for men!]
- the repudiation of labour - even if beaten or starved - refusal to labour even for their own good
- repudiation of Family - instruments by which the exploiters fasten chains of slavery forever upon the necks of the poor - bondage is gilded over with a veneer of moral rectitude - born into slavery, condemned to treadmill of useless and meaningless work only to keep their oppressors in luxury and to feed, clothe, and house a domestic brood who give nothing in return - only those who abandon father, mother, sister, brother, wife, children, lands, and house without regret can be disciples of Mahavira

The Revolt of Gautama, called ?'the Buddha'

History: Gautama (called the Buddha) born about 557 BCE and died 477 BCE - travels around preaching to the common people by means of the parable or moral story - nothing written down in India at this time so scriptures must have been transmitted orally
- rejected solitary struggles of Gainas - founds celibate brotherhoods and sisterhoods - provides them with communal houses, donated by wealthy converts for their comfort and protection - invents the monastic life - rejects family, marriage, children etc. but not the fellowship of humanity - thus a monk could wear fine clothing, enjoy comfortable living quarters, and eat nourishing food without sin, so long as he did not crave these material things or perform any labour to obtain them
- 478 BCE - before his death - First Council with three main disciples
- 477 BCE - after his death - Second Council
- 256 BCE - conversion of King Asoka, ruler of a territory that comprised India, Afghanistan, and Baluchistan
- 242 BCE - King Asoka presides at the Third Council - establishes Buddhist canons which are declared divine and closed - immediately after this an intense missionary program - penetrates the known world including Greece, Egypt, Arabia, Asia Minor, and Persia

Divinity: the Buddha was a heavenly spirit for ages until enters the womb of Queen Maya, wife of King Sakya of the Gotama family in northern India - at his birth the angels sang [Luke 2:14] - his mother, overcome by the supernatural birth, dies and ascends to heaven in a miraculous assumption just like that later accorded to the Virgin Mary
- father seals him away, surrounds him with every luxury, marries him to an unblemished princess Yasodhara, who bears him a son, Rahula - but wants to see the world so goes out and discovers old age, death, disease, poverty etc. - and he is shocked
- age 30 he decides he must become a mendicant-ascetic so he abandons father, foster-mother, wife, son, relatives, houses, lands, and riches to seek the Kingdom of Righteousness - studies ascetics but can't see that hardship leads to any moral transformation - studies under a Gainian sage but metaphysical idealism leaves him unconvinced - he seeks not the mastery over desire but the complete emancipation from it - studies abstinence under a great sage for 6 years until he is skin and bones - decides that ultimate happiness can't be attained by mortification of the flesh, isolation, or self-denial - true sinlessness is meaningful only when it exits in one enjoying his full strength and in complete control of his faculties - bathes, takes food and drink, then declares he will sit under a nearby Bodhi tree until he gains enlightenment
- here he is tempted by Mara, the god of this world and Lord of Desire - offered an empire and worldly power [heard this before?] - defeats the Tempter and is left in triumphal peace - great light bursts upon him and has revelation of the Four Noble Truths combined with the Eight-Fold Path which leads to Salvation

Ethics: must not be proud, or harbour resentment or anger towards anyone - never use harsh language - no matter how one is attacked one must never retaliate but turn the other cheek - to be happy one must own nothing (if you have 2 coats give one away) - the rich man will go to Hell while the poor man will attain Nirvana [all this is found in Christianity]
- although the Buddhist saint despises the world he didn't scorn the good things in it - therefore alms or gifts to the saints are of incomparable virtue and the greatest virtue of laymen consisted in supplying the saint or monk with their every need - told that anyone who endows a monastery will himself at death attain instant Nirvana - so diverted the gifts from the Brahmanas to his own followers - made monasticism comfortable and attractive
- all this gentleness, non-violence, forgiveness, brotherhood etc. but implacable hatred towards anyone who rejects the doctrines of the Master - for these the very hottest fires of Hell

Soteriology: only those following the divine teachings of the Buddha called the ?'Middle Way' can be ?'saved' - avoids alike the worldliness of the Brahmanas and the harsh asceticism of the Gainas and brings salvation - consists of:
- Four Noble Truths: the nature of sorrow; the cause of sorrow; the cessation of sorrow; the path which leads to its cessation
- the Eight-Fold Path: right Views; right Aspirations; right Speech; right Conduct; right Livelihood; right Effort; right Mindfulness; right Contemplation

Theology & Ritual: six-spoked Wheel of the Law - symbol of Buddhism as the cross is of Christianity - represents the victory over the six deadly sins - cravings brought about by sight, taste, smell, touch, hearing, or the mind - made salvation an internal, not an external process
- Kingdom of Righteousness runs through Buddhist writings - two-fold meaning - a moral entity to be set up in the hearts and minds of the believer - and a physical reality to be established one day on earth when all become believers [like the Kingdom of Heaven in Zoroastrianism & the Gospel Jesus]
- Glorification of Celibacy & the renunciation of women - erotic desire the greatest sin - even looking at a woman with desire is the same as committing adultery [Jesus says the same thing] - the path to Nirvana is forever beset by fragrant and voluptuous women whose sole purpose is to tempt and enslave the righteous sexually - anything even distantly related to human procreation becomes repulsive and unclean (like the Pythagoreans) - Brahmanism degrades women to the level of beasts (actually many animals regarded more highly than women) but never belittles or rejects motherhood - Buddhism honours women as human beings but repudiates them as wives, lovers, and mothers - women can theoretically become Arhats (saints) but if they arouse even the slightest erotic disturbance in a man they are evil [very prominent idea amongst the early Christian writers]
- Reversion of Hell - Brahmanas threaten all who violate their code with the tortures of Hell - now Hell is made the inevitable destination of the rich, the comfortable, the powerful - hell becomes the means of compensating for social inequality
- Virtue of Poverty - poverty and sainthood become synonymous - since wealth is wicked the rich must give everything they own to the poor on pain of excruciating torture in Hell - Buddha [& the Gospel Jesus!] have not a single good word for industry, thrift, self-reliance, domestic responsibility, or hard work [the Protestant ?'work ethic' is, in fact, eternally damning!]



Influence of Buddhism on Christianity:

- monasticism incorporated into Christianity in 4th century CE - means of becoming an ?'elite' by giving up the world and all its works and renouncing wealth, sex, and family
- practice of brotherhood, charity, and communism amongst the Elect
- idea that before God all humanity is equal
- it is wicked to possess wealth and its moral contamination can be purged only by giving it away to the poor [through the agency of the Church of course!]
- only the poor can be righteous
- we must return love for hate, kindness for abuse, and never retaliate against those who injure us
- above all there must be a personal cataclysmic moral transformation called conversion (or revelation - much much later on this is called being ?'born again') by which we conquer the evil dwelling within and create therein the internal Kingdom of Righteousness

Manichaeism

History: a Dualist religion founded by the Persian Mani (216 - 276 CE) who claimed it was the true synthesis of all the religions then known - a mixture of Zoroastrian Dualism, Buddhist ethics, Mediterranean Mystery Cults and even Christianity - considered to be ?'gnostic' in that Mani professes to bring salvation through ?'knowledge' - explains the origin, composition, and future of the universe - in opposition to Christianity which is full of ?'mysteries'
- spreads through both East and West (Africa, Spain, France, N. Italy, and the Balkans) for a thousand years but pure Manichaeism rare in the West - usually blends with Christianity and considered to be a heresy even though really a separate religion

Cosmogony & Theogony: before the existence of heaven and earth there were 2 Principles - one Good and one Bad - the Good Principle dwells in the Realm of Light and is called the Father of Majesty or the Father with the Four Faces because Time, Light, Force, and Goodness were essential manifestations of the First Being - outside the Father are his 5 Tabernacles (the word contains the meaning of a dwelling or tent and ?'Divine glory or presence' - as it is used in the Old Testament) - the Father possesses them all so they are within him but distinct from him (this more-than-one-but-really-one sort of God would be familiar to any Christian of the time) - the Tabernacles are Forbearance, Knowledge, Reason, Discretion, and Understanding - distinguished from the five attributes of his pure Intelligence: Love, Faith, Truth, High-mindedness, and Wisdom - the Realm of Light or the light-world is of infinite extent in five directions and has only one limit in that below is the realm of Darkness which is likewise infinite in all five directions except above
- the Bad Principle dwells in the Realm of Darkness - never called God but otherwise is equal to the Father with its own Faces, tabernacles, etc.
- two Powers might have lived eternally in peace had not the Prince of Darkness decided to invade the Realm of Light - this Incarnation of Evil is called Satan - a monster half fish, half bird, yet with four feet and a lion's head - to do battle with this creature, the Father emanated the Mother of Life and She emanated the First Man - these constitute a Trinity in Unity (just like the Christian one - Father, Son, & Holy Spirit [which is the feminine form of God in Hebrew-Aramaic!]) - this feminine spirit and the First Man are also common to Gnosticism
- the First Man now emanates ?'sons' or Aeons of Light which are the five elements - Clear Air, Refreshing Wind, Bright Light, Life-giving Waters, and Warming Fire and are opposed to the five Aeons of Darkness - Pestilent Breath, Scorching Wind, Gloom, Mist, and Consuming Fire
- there is a huge battle in which the First Man with his Sons of Light are consumed by Satan and the Sons of Darkness - pray to the Father of Majesty who, moved by mercy, emanates as a second Creation (the 1st being the Mother of Life) - the Friend of Light which emanates the Great Ban which emanates the Spirit of Life - this constitutes a 2nd Trinity parallel to the first - the Spirit of Life is the Demi-urge or world creator & emanates five personalities or deities - from his intelligence, the Ornament of Splendour; from his reason, the Great King of Honour; from his thought, Adamas or Light; from his self reflection, the King of Glory; and from his will, the Supporter - these 5 deities were objects of special worship amongst Manichaeans
- these 5 descend to the Realm of Darkness, find the First Man in his degradation, and rescue him by the Word of their Power - they flay the Sons of Darkness and bring the skins to the Mother of Life who spreads them out and forms 12 heavens - their corpses are formed into 8 worlds the mountain ranges of which are their bones - the Spirit of Light forces the sons of Darkness to give up some of the light they absorbed and from this he forms the sun, the moon, and the stars (the vessels of light) - he then forms circles of wind, water, air, and fire revolving around the gross matter of the earth
- at this point the Mother of Life, the First Man, and the Spirit of Life beg the Father of Majesty for a further creation and he then emanates his 3rd Creation - the Messenger which emanates the 12 Virgins: Royalty, Wisdom, Victory, Persuasion, Purity, Truth, Faith, Patience, Righteousness, Goodness, Justice, and Light - the Messenger dwells in the Sun and the 12 Virgins revolve around him as the planets of the zodiac - all this is taken from Persian astrology
- no vegetation, animals or humans - created by a process of obscenity, cannibalism, abortion, and fighting between the Messenger and the sons and daughters (where did they come from?) of Darkness
- finally a female devil, Naimrael, and a male devil, Ashaklun, bring forth 2 children - Adam and Eve - within Adam is imprisoned a vast number of germs of light but he is the great captive of the Power of Evil (Eve has no germs of light so women are, by nature, completely of the darkness and evil)
- the Powers of Light take pity on Adam and send a Saviour, the luminous Jesus who teaches him the evil of matter by having him eat of the Fruit of Knowledge from the Tree of Life - this Jesus is the personification of the Cosmic Light imprisoned in matter i.e. the Incarnation

Afterlife: threefold state for the Perfect, the Hearers, and the Sinners:
- the Perfect are first received by Jesus after death accompanied by three aeons of light and the Light Maiden - rises to the moon, then to the First Man, the Sun, the Mother of Life, and finally to the Supreme Light - their bodies are purified by the sun, moon, and stars; give up their light-particles which form into minor deities that surround the person of the First Man
- the Hearers have to pass through a long purgatory before they arrive at eternal bliss
- the Sinners (non-Manichaeans) must wander in torment and anguish, surrounded by demons, condemned by angels, until the end of the world when they are, body and soul, thrown into Hell

Eucharist: seems to have had some form of baptism and eucharist but of water not wine which was considered ?'impure' - the refusal of the wine during Mass [not restricted to the priesthood in the early days] is used by Christians to identify Manichaean heretics

Ethics: ultimate aim of all followers of Mani is to set the light-substance free from the pollution of matter - means total repudiation of marriage and procreation - this leads only to the continual imprisonment of the light-substance in matter and the retarding of the blissful final conflagration of all things - maternity is the ultimate sin and because Eve seduced Adam and gave him the knowledge of sex all women are eternally damned - the Perfect have to remain completely free of sex but the Hearers were known to ?'lapse' - not a huge sin [because obviously ?'tempted' by evil woman] as long as no procreation - so homosexuality is okay! - as are oral sex and sodomy - and abortion is freely practised (if practised today birth control would be all the rage!)

Soteriology: in the Christian West Jesus gets mixed up in all this which is why it is considered a ?'heresy' by the Church - much more about this later

Eschatology: through the activity of the Elect - all light particles are gathered together - the Messenger appears - the Spirit of Life comes from the west - the First man & his hosts come from the north, south, and east together with all light aeons and all perfect Manichaeans - a Universal Conflagration ensues until nothing but lifeless ashes are left - burns for 1486 years during which the torment of the wicked are the delight of the just - all light is separated from all darkness which sinks into the Realm of Darkness - all is separated and tranquil again and peace reigns

Theology & Ritual: 2 classes of worshipers:
- the Elect or the Perfect - bear a striking resemblance to Buddhist monks - always itinerant being forbidden to settle anywhere permanently - forbidden to have property - to eat meat or drink wine - to gratify any sexual desire - to engage in any servile occupation, commerce, or trade - to possess house or home - to practice magic - or to practice any other religion (this includes worship of the Roman state gods which gets them in trouble within the Empire) - animal food rouses the demon of Darkness within man so only vegetables are allowed - no milk, meat, or eggs [adopted by Christianity for ?'fast days']
- the Hearers - the other 99% of Manichaeans - follow Ten Commandments which forbid idolatry, falsehood, avarice, murder (meaning all killing), fornication, theft, seduction to deceive, magic, hypocrisy (i.e. secret fidelity to Manichaeism to escape punishment by authorities), and religious indifference - duty to supply the Elect with food, clothing, etc. and pay them homage on bended knee asking for their blessing - 2 other duties - prayer 4 times a day and fasting - on selected days throughout the month and a month long fast (until sunset) during the 8th month of the year [adopted by Islam]

FURTHER READING:

Life After Death: The History of the Afterlife in Western Religion - Alan F. Segel, 1989

#3 - The Mystery Cults
© Mistress Rowenna de Ronçesvalles (Elizabeth A. Rowe) March, 2003

Osiris, the first God-Man Saviour

History: 8000 BCE or earlier - ancient clan totems (cow, bull, cat, dog, snake, ibis, hawk, etc) combine with the worship of divine ancestral spirits who eventually become localized animal-headed gods and goddesses - absorbed into newer cosmologies - the eating of the flesh of the animal god seen as the way its worshippers can absorb its divine powers - easy to go from eating of animal/man god to eating of humans - ritual cannibalism practised in very ancient Egypt and in most civilizations at one time or another
- sometime before 3000 BCE - Egypt is invaded by a race of light-skinned Aryan-Sumerians out of Mesopotamia - patriarchal and so everything changed - added their own pantheon & stories to the Egyptian and this becomes what we think of as quintessentially "Egyptian" - ritual cannibalism is forbidden and instead dead are embalmed and entombed - introduce irrigation and system of canals to control the flood waters as developed in Tigris-Euphrates valleys; cultivation of wheat and barley (Egyptian grain probably millet) and the making of bread and brewing of ale; writing, metal working, brick-making, stonecutting, street paving; a new calendar - year lengthened from 360 days to 365 days - later sanctioned by Osiris
- cult continues uninterrupted into Christian era - final destruction in 550 CE when Justinian dispatches General Narses to Philae and he destroys the temple, throws the priests into prison, and carries away the sacred images of Osiris to Constantinople where they disappear [the last Temple of Isis is destroyed at the same time]

Divinity: Judge of the Dead and Ruler of the Blessed, Osiris is the Original God-Man Saviour - there has never been more than one basic concept of a universal saviour-god of mankind - human and thus able to take upon himself all our sorrow - but also divine and therefore able to confer divinity upon humanity - members of his mystical cult given his flesh to eat and his blood to drink so that this divine eucharist will transfigure them into celestial beings - dies, is buried, and is resurrected from the grave - goes before them to prepare mansions for his initiates in Elysium - teaches justice - practices mercy - is the just and merciful judge before whom men and women must appear beyond the grave

Cosmogony & Theogony: in original Aryan-Sumerian cosmogony Tem, the Father of All is the one who creates the universe and lays the Cosmic Egg! - creates Maat and Thoth from His own substance and masturbates to create the rest of the gods & goddesses (thus no female element is necessary for creation) - Nut (Ra's wife) is seduced by Seb (who then seems to vanish) - Ra finds out that Nut has become pregnant by Seb and decrees that the offspring can't be born on any day of the year - Thoth comes to the rescue - he's been gambling with the moon (who rules the calendar) and has won a 72nd part of each day - 5 days total - Nut gives birth to one child on each day - Osiris, then Horus, Set, Isis, and Nephthys - Osiris marries Isis (son is Horus the Younger) - Set marries Nephthys (son is Anubis) - Horus the Elder becomes the celibate and intellectual scribe (and becomes confused with Thoth in many ways) - all are born of heaven and earth and so therefore of both divine and human natures
- Osiris crowned King of Egypt when 28 and rules for 28 years (old lunar calendar) - settles people in communities - teaches arts of war and peace, music and dancing - prohibits ritual eating of the dead - brings cultivation of wheat and barley - travels throughout the world civilizing all nations and peoples (all this attributed before, during, and later to Isis, the Great Goddess, who continues to be worshipped at the same time) - Isis rules in his absence but bothered by lecherous advances of Set - depicted as the Great Serpent (Greeks call him Typhon and yes - this is where the serpent in the garden of Eden comes from!) and commands the powers of darkness, storms, and disturbances of nature (also represents the old priesthood and the 360 day calendar)
- Set measures Osiris and builds him a coffin then induces him to get into it (to try it out!), clamps the lid shut and with the aid of 72 co-conspirators, welds it shut with molten lead - Osiris suffocates to death - the coffin is thrown into the Nile and it floats to Byblos (Jebeil in Lebanon - well known that anything thrown into the Nile floated out into the Mediterranean where the currents picked it up and deposited it there) - in 3000 BCE had a thriving Egyptian colony - Isis flees to the swamps of the Nile delta where she gives birth to Osiris' son, Horus the Younger, the hawk-headed god
- Isis leaves the infant with Thoth at Buto and sets out to find the body of her husband, which she discovers in a pine tree, and returns to Egypt - Set steals the corpse and tears it into 14 (or 16) pieces and buries them, one in each of the provinces of Egypt - Isis goes in search of the pieces and finds all but the penis which has been eaten by a pike (which becomes a sacred fish!) - she makes images of the missing part out of balsam wood and has them erected as objects of adoration in all the temples
- having learned magic and medicine from Thoth, Isis then puts the pieces back together and restores Osiris to life with her Divine Breath with the help of Thoth, and of Horus the Elder, who opens Osiris' mouth and gives him his eye to eat - Osiris comes back to life and thus becomes the first ever to rise from the dead - Osiris then instructs his son, Horus the Younger, in the arts of war and tells him to revenge his death at the hands of Set - Osiris then departs to the world of the immortals, Khenti-Amenti, where he becomes the Judge of the Dead and Ruler of the Blessed [and depicted exactly the same as the enthroned Christ]
- Set meanwhile has usurped the throne of Egypt - when Horus claims it, Set accuses Isis of adultery and Horus of being illegitimate (an impossibility in a matriarchy such as Egypt!) - a trial before the gods, who determine that Isis is virtuous and Horus is legit - battle between Set, the Adversary [one of the names of Satan], and Horus who binds him in chains and finally crushes the serpent's head [Genesis 3:15] and rules Egypt for the rest of his life
- Set is tried by the gods in Khenti-Amenti, and sentenced to annihilation by fire - Osiris takes Nephthys as his second wife and adopts Anubis as his son

Afterlife: Sekhet-Aaru or the Elysian Fields - depicted as a land teeming with wheat and barley where the blessed dwell for eternity in peace and abundance - expects to be reunited with family and rule over servants as on earth - when a great personage dies his wives, servants, as well as captured enemy slaves, are all executed and buried with him so they might serve him eternally - later replaced by small clay figurines - "promissory notes" that their spirit will serve his in the afterlife
- physical body called the Khat - at the heart dwells the Ba, the heart-soul, which was considered the essence of life - the Ba projects the Khu which is the spiritual double - after death the Khu lives on requiring food and drink, can visit the tomb or go abroad, and starves when the funerary offerings stop - if it hasn't entered Sekhet-Aaru by then it will wither into nothingness
- the Khat and the Ba are ephemeral - only the Khu has the potential of immortality - for this to be done it is necessary for it to be united with its Sahu, or spiritual essence - immortality is impossible unless the dead enters the after-life with his Khat inviolate - the body has to be preserved intact so that, as a result of magical incantations and ceremonies made over it by the priests, the Sahu might germinate from it - if the uncorrupted Khu can be united with the Sahu, and this new spiritual entity passes its trial before Osiris, it will be ?'blessed' i.e. mystically transformed into Osiris and thus gaining a home in Sekhet-Aaru (the Elysian Fields) a land of peace and plenty [mummification continued into Christian era until about 350 CE when Antony and Athanasius (both sainted) assured their followers that at the resurrection of Christ they would be given celestial bodies even if their earthly bodies had fallen into decay]

Eucharist: ultimate roots in prehistoric cannibalism which this replaced - originally cult of Osiris forbade the older ritual cannibalism BUT did not proscribe the dismemberment and eating of enemies - practised the bloody sacrifice of captives and later the sacramental tearing apart and eating of the sacred bull which symbolized Osiris - the Resurrection of Osiris becomes associated with the growth of grain in the spring - countless depictions of the god with wheat growing from his body - sacred field of grain grown within precincts of temple - wheat made into sacred bread which becomes the body of the god - barley brewed into sacred ale which becomes his blood - thus flesh is replaced by bread & ale - literally becomes the body and blood of the god - eating of this makes the believers celestial and immortal [the story of Cain & Able is the Jewish repudiation of this - they continue sacrificing & ceremonially eating flesh]
- gradually identification of bread with flesh and ale with blood and by partaking of the sacred food and divine drink during the annual mysteries the initiate would achieve a mystical transformation and become spiritually an Osiris

Ethics: to become an Osiris, and thus immortal, a man or woman must:
- be initiated into the cult of the god Osiris
- "be clean of hand and pure of heart"
- be transmuted into divinity by eating and drinking the sacred eucharist (the body and blood of Osiris)
- be properly embalmed on death [not necessarily ?'mummified']
- be vindicated at a public trial before the funeral ceremonies are performed
- have all creditors satisfied before being buried (especially the priests who did the embalming and performed the
- ceremonies!)
- have the proper incantations recited by the official priests

Soteriology: whosoever ate the flesh and drank the blood of Osiris had eternal life; for he would be resurrected beyond the grave - whosoever ate the flesh and drank that blood dwelt in Osiris and Osiris dwelt in him [sounds amazingly familiar, doesn't it?] - very ancient concept and found in writings from 2600 BCE!

Eschatology: once all the requirements are met the deceased is ferried across the Great Lake and into the Hall of Maat - or the Hall of Judgement - must make the Negative Confession - declare his innocence of 42 crimes - must declare he has not committed robbery, violence, theft, or murder; has not lied, deceived, cut measures, or stolen that which belongs to any of the gods; has not slandered anyone, wasted the land, killed any sacred animals, pried into holy secrets, given way to wrath, or terrified anyone; has never been guilty of adultery or sodomy; has not been deaf to the truth, stirred up strife, or caused anyone to weep; has never abused anyone or judged hastily; has never scorned the god of the city or been irreverent to the God Osiris; has never cursed the king, used too many words, made his voice haughty, been insolent, fouled the water, or increased his wealth unjustly
- if all this strictly enforced no one would see salvation! - but by the advice of Nephthys, the intercession of Isis, the advocacy of Thoth, the mediation of Horus, and the mercy of Osiris himself the worthy are made immortal
- Anubis weighs the heart of the supplicant on the great scales against the feather of Maat - if the heart is not heavier than the feather of Justice, it is decreed to be perfect (we still speak of a sense of doom as having a ?'heavy heart') - Thoth records this in his book and announces the result to the gods - then escorted into the presence of Osiris (seated on his throne, grasping the sceptre, flail, and slave hook, wearing the tall white crown, body still wrapped as a mummy) - behind him stands Nephthys, (on his left side) who advises him, and Isis, (on his right) who intercedes for the deceased [later this function is usurped by the Virgin Mary] - then led by Horus to kneel before Osiris - Horus acts as mediator and prevails upon his father to admit the supplicant to the Blessed Realm - judgement is complete and the new Osiris (or resurrected soul) enters the Elysian Fields
- BUT if the heart is heavier than the feather of Justice and the supplicant is found guilty - no waiting for judgement, no hell, no torture for the damned - heart of the damned is eaten by the monster Apep (with the head of a crocodile, the forebody of a lion, and the rear of a hippopotamus) - the Ba ceases to be and the rest is annihilated in the Lake of Fire (which later is incorporated into the concept of Hell)

Theology & Ritual: ?'mystery' cult because a sacrilege to reveal doctrines and ceremonies to the uninitiated - new calendar based on solar year of 365 days rather than old lunar calendar of 360 days - still a disparity of 6 hours that adds up - a cycle of 1461 solar years until the calendar and solar year exactly coincide again - called the ?'Sothic year'
- the Book of the Dead - funerary writings addressed to Osiris, written over several centuries, to be learned by a man when living or inscribed on his coffin so that when dead he might enter the after-life
- Osiris becomes associated with the Sun (although old cult of Ra as the Sun god becomes pre-eminent later as Amen-Ra) and the constellation of Orion - Isis with the Moon
- Osiris then becomes associated with the bull - at Sakkara sacred living bulls are sacrificed yearly - why cows & bulls? - 5000 years ago the zodiacal year, equal to 26,000 solar years and known as the Great or Platonic Year, reaches a point where the sun is passing through Taurus, or the Sign of the Bull, at the summer solstice when the Nile begins to flood - the bull becomes worshipped as the incarnation of Osiris (and the cow as Isis) that brings about the Sacred Flood - 4000 years ago, this altered when the sun passes through the Ram at the summer solstice [astrologically this is called the ?'progression of the equinoxes' & we'll see later with Mithras] - rams and lambs become the sacred animals - the Ram is shown as the incarnation of the Soul of Osiris [the calves and bulls of the Jewish Genesis are replaced by sheep and lambs - hence the sacrificed Christ is the Lamb of God] - later still, when the sun passes through Pisces at the summer solstice, fish become the sacred symbol (also of The Fertility Goddesses as fish are associated with fertility - remember the pike!)
- public rites - yearly re-enactment of murder and dismemberment of Osiris, the search for and the finding of his body by Isis, his triumphal return as the Resurrected God, and the battle in which Horus defeats Set
- secret rites - esoteric rituals performed by the priests within the temples and witnessed only by initiates and involving the sacrament of the eucharist

Aphrodite & Adonis

History: Egyptian cult of Osiris exported through Byblus to Babylonian-Assyrian empires - Astarte/Ishtar/Aphrodite too important and established but Tammuz is just a goddess' boy-toy and easily replaced - synthesis of the myths of Ishtar and Osiris become new mystery-cult of Aphrodite (a more modern version of Ishtar) and Adonis (the new Osiris) around 2500 BCE - earliest temple in Greece dates back to 1500 BCE - Adonis later becomes a boy-toy and they are disassociated by the time of the Romans whose equivalent, Venus, becomes the watered-down Goddess of Love & Beauty

Divinity: Aphrodite, the Semitic Ishtar, the Great Goddess

Cosmogony & Theogony: Aphrodite falls in love with the beautiful Adonis and, when he is killed by a boar in a hunting accident, she follows him to Hades and seeks his return - but Persephone, Hades' wife, also falls in love with Adonis and won't allow him to leave - Aphrodite appeals to Zeus and he decides that Adonis will live half the year with Aphrodite and half the year with Persephone in the underworld (note that Hades doesn't have a say & doesn't seem to mind his wife's infidelity - this reflects the antiquity of the myth - goddesses still very powerful & still reflects a matriarchal society where husbands can be ?'shared')

Afterlife: this is the ?'mystery' part - stages of initiation to show how the sacrifice of Adonis gives salvation and immortality to his followers in an Elysian paradise

Eucharist: none - only an offering of fruits and grains - mystical union through the sex act takes the place of sacred meal - new initiates become one with either Aphrodite or Adonis through sexual union with a priest or priestess taking on the role of Adonis or Aphrodite - equality of the sexes is interesting - in the primitive stage of the cult, a priest, personifying Adonis, is ritually slain - this is later replaced by a simulated re-enactment

Ethics: none - afterlife is guaranteed if initiated and participates in the sacred rites (have sex with priest, live forever!)

Soteriology: every spring their god, Adonis, is gored and slain by a cruel boar upon the mountainside and his blood appears as a profusion of anemones and poppies - dies at planting-time because he is the god of resurrection who symbolizes renewed life

Eschatology: none

Theology & Ritual: - on June 20th of each year a drama re-enacts the story of Adonis - he is slain by the wild boar, his blood stains the earth - women mourners lament - the appearance of the Star of Aphrodite in the East (the planet Venus - called the Morning Star of Salvation - also the Star of Isis and Astarte!) - signals the goddess coming to rescue her lover from Hades and to resurrect him to life - Adonis then ascends from the Underworld to join Aphrodite (Astarte, Ishtar, whatever) in Heaven

Demeter & Dionysus

History: religion of Osiris spread by Egyptian armies or merchants throughout Middle East and into Scythia and Thrace about 2000 BCE - moves from people to people and each one modifies and takes what they want from the original - some of them modify an already modified religion so some pretty weird extremes by the time arrives in Greece - probably different manifestations of Osiris arrive from different places at different times - first worship comes directly from Egypt brought by a hierophant named Melampus - mentioned by Homer about 1300 BC - definitely phallic as in Egypt and most of its devotees are women
- next influx from Thrace about 1200 BCE - a rather violent offshoot characterized by wild sex orgies, frenzied behaviour, and the eating of raw flesh either that of a bull, a captured enemy, or a male infant as a eucharist of the divine Dionysus - definitely cannibalistic - again mostly women - the wild Maenads who search for living victims (usually men) to tear to pieces - also called Bacchantes because Dionysus is also called Bacchus, the God of Wine, and women become intoxicated - can be viewed as a rebellion of women against the patriarchy of the Doric Greeks and their poor treatment in society - used to be free to marry, enter into business, own land etc. - now locked up inside houses and little more than breeding stock - no wonder they go a little nuts - BUT less and less acceptable as Greeks become more ?'civilized' so has to undergo a transformation
- first major reform by Orpheus so called the "Orphic Reform" - around 1150 BCE - worshipped on his own but also becomes entwined with the worship of Demeter who takes the place of Isis
- around 500 BCE - the ?'Reforms of Onomacritus' - brings in a form of dualism from Persia - changes from women to men as primary worshippers & women split off to worship Demeter as the means of their salvation
- by 125 CE Dionysus has become the universal redeemer who promises resurrection and immortality to his followers - is called ?'the Saviour'

Divinity: 4 distinct characters and so very confusing as all aspects found in the Roman Empire at the same time: patron of the theatre and the arts, phallic mystery-god of the Maenads, the mystic deity associated with Demeter, the divine saviour who died for mankind and whose blood and body were symbolically eaten and drunk in the eucharist of the Orphic-Pythagorean celibates

Cosmogony & Theogony: in the earliest form - Zagreus (the reincarnation of Dionysus), while still a boy is killed, cooked, and eaten by the Titans, who are then killed by Zeus' thunderbolts and burned to ashes from which the human race is generated - in the later, fully developed form - Dionysus is reborn from Persephone as Zagreus, a man, who suffers dismemberment and death; is resurrected from his heart, and lives as a god in the Celestial Realms; his body is eaten by the Titans from whose ashes the human race is created, with Dionysus as the divine spark; he is then reborn from the pure virgin Semele [note the virgin birth!] and now sits forever at the ?'right hand of God' (Zeus in this case)

Afterlife: only men who have been initiated into the ?'mysteries' can attain immortality now seen as a mystic union with the God but this never succeeds entirely - dual means of salvation - men through Dionysus and women through Demeter

Eucharist: repudiates the eating of flesh of either cattle or humans and replaces it with a eucharist of bread and wine - the body & blood of Dionysus

Ethics: rigid dogma and more & more stringent rules of behaviour as advance in levels of initiation - only those who are initiated and who partake of the eucharist will be ?'saved'

Soteriology: designed to bring about the salvation of mankind otherwise irretrievably lost in sin and debasement because their souls (i.e. the divine spark of Dionysus) are imprisoned in sinful bodies (made from the ?'evil' Titans)

Eschatology: originally no concepts of dualism (good vs. evil), a last judgement, hell, or universal immortality but all these become incorporated later with the reforms of Onomacritus

Theology & Ritual: Orpheus said to have accompanied Jason in his quest for the Golden Fleece and some place him at the siege of Troy - arrives too late to be made into a god and so remains a legendary great poet and musician - his sacred poetic writings and divine revelations form a dogmatic theology
- celibacy - to account for this comes up with the myth of Orpheus' wife, Eurydice - when she dies Orpheus is disconsolate and descends into Hades to win her back - permitted (through the unsurpassed playing of his harp) to leave on the condition he not look back - just as reaches the world he looks back and she is lost to him forever - because of this he forswears women which brings upon him the wrath of the Maenads who either lynch him or tear him apart
- misogyny - a revulsion from the Maenads and the bad behaviour of women in general who are seen as the ?'murderers' of the Saviour - their bad behaviour condemns all women

Cybele & Attis

History: Thracians colonize Phrygia and bring home Osiris in the form of Dionysus - meets the Great Goddess and they become amalgamated in worship of Attis and Cybele - spreads to Rome in 205 BCE when it faces crop failure and imminent destruction by the armies of Hannibal - remembered that the Delphic Oracle had declared that a foreign foe would be driven out of Italy if "the Idaean Mother is brought from Pessinus to Rome" - send a delegation to Phrygia and return with a sacred black stone and the emasculated priests of Cybele - crops are good that year and Carthage is defeated! - the original site of the new Temple of Cybele is where the basilica of St. Peter stands today!

Divinity: the Great Goddess, called Cybele in Phrygia and her love-interest Attis who conflates into a form of Osiris - Cybele is still worshipped alone without the soter-Attis

Cosmogony & Theogony: Cybele is sleeping upon a mountain and is assaulted by Zeus but she repulses him - he then spends his lust upon a stone which brings forth Acdestis, a fierce and repulsive creature - Dionysus makes him drunk and tries to emasculate him - from drops of his blood springs up the pomegranate - Nana [a remembrance of Inanna, once the supreme Sumerian Goddess], daughter of King Midas, places some of the fruit in her bosom and conceives and bears a son which her father exposes on a mountainside as illegitimate - but he is suckled by wild beasts - when Cybele sees him she falls in love with him but so does the evil and lustful Acdestis who gives him gifts and forces on him an ?'unnatural relationship'(!) - King Midas offers one of his daughters in marriage as a solution to this ?'disgraceful' intimacy - Cybele, determined to keep him both from ?'shame' and matrimony, fills him with a ?'divine passion' & he castrates himself under a pine tree and bleeds to death [see Innana and Osiris for more about ?'pine trees'] - a grief-stricken Cybele buries him, violets spring from his grave (or from his blood), and she then carries the sacred pine tree to her cave (?) and there mourns him weeping and mutilating her breasts - in many versions the crops fail because of her grief and only the people's prayers cause her to allow the crops to grow again

Afterlife: same Elysian Fields type paradise

Eucharist: no sacred food but initiation into secret rites - the last stage - vows of perpetual chastity - in the case of men, castration - now instead of salvation through sex we have salvation through celibacy and castration! - priests of Cybele not only celibate but eunuchs as well - whole thing getting weirder and weirder

Ethics: once initiated the only thing that can keep a believer from paradise is revealing the ?'mysteries'

Soteriology: Attis takes on the ?'sins' of all mankind - not definite about what these entail but homosexuality seems definitely to be one of them if not sex itself - obviously the initiate learns all about it - sacrifices himself, dies, is buried, and then resurrected on the 3rd day

Eschatology: none

Theology & Ritual: annual festival of Cybele lasting 4 days and beginning on March 22nd [also sacred to Demeter and the original date of Easter!!!] - on the 1st day a cut pine tree is ceremonially carried into the temple and wreathed in violets - originally a priest was then nailed or impaled on the tree but this is later changed to an effigy instead - on the 2nd day there are processions of overwrought mourners who follow the statue of Cybele through the streets accompanied by music - they scream, dance, and leap about slashing one another with knives! - 3rd day, March 24th, is the Day of Blood - initiates gather under the pine tree and, in a religious frenzy, castrate themselves and throw their severed testicles against the statue of the goddess! - the priests them remove the body of Attis from the tree and lay it in a tomb watched by the newly desexed initiates and the priests until the dawn of March 25th - the 4th day - the tomb is opened and a great shout of joy goes up from the worshippers for the tomb is empty - Attis has been resurrected into eternal life! - the curse of Deuteronomy [21:23] against all who are ?'hanged on a tree' must have been directed at priests of Attis who were crucified or impaled as representatives of the god - striking resemblance to Easter not just a coincidence
- priestesses of Cybele noted for going into a frenzied religious trance and prophesying - taken very seriously
- because of influence of god-saviour Attis - Jesus says " there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake," - auto-emasculation was practised widely amongst early Christians and later forbidden - date of the Crucifixion argued for centuries - in the earliest Church the date was fixed as March 23rd with the Resurrection on March 25th thus the Christian Easter and the passion of Christ incorporated a date and a ritual which had been celebrated for over 2000 years - later the Church changes its mind and uses the Jewish Passover as indicated in the gospels

#4 - Monotheism
© Mistress Rowenna de Ronçesvalles (Elizabeth A. Rowe) March, 2003

The Sun God, Aton

- 1375 BCE Amenhotep IV (also known as Ikhnaton) comes to the throne of Egypt - and dies 17 years later
- concept of the sun-god Aton had arisen under the reign of Amenhotep III, Ikhnaton's father - Amenhotep IV proclaimed himself the High priest of Aton - plural symbol for "gods" and Amun were removed from all public monuments and Aton proclaimed to be the One True God and Benevolent Father of all mankind, not just the Egyptians - he was the creator of the natural world
- priesthood lived in wealth, luxury, and power - huge temples, large treasure houses and granaries, enormous influence and power and this was an attempt to overthrow that power
- idea that there was only one Divinity in the universe was just too stupid to be believed - not just one man - not just one tree - so how could there be one god? especially in Egypt the Land of a Thousand Gods!
- Ikhnaton goes even farther - frees slaves- also confiscates the huge landed estates of the priesthood of Amun and gives them to the slaves in the form of freeholds - attempts to establish schools where all could come to learn to read and write thus breaking the priests' monopoly on education - calls for the dissolution of the Empire - all men should rule themselves and not impose rule upon others! -releases convicts from prison and hires them as squads of enforcers - legions of informants who raid and enslave people caught worshipping the old gods in their homes [but didn't he free the slaves? - personally owned slaves - not those enslaved for criminal acts who become ?'state' slaves]
- he attempts to establish a religious dictatorship and banish the worship of Isis, Osiris, and Horus by discrediting their mythology - but the religion of the common people and too much a part of culture to just go away - been worshipping Isis, Osiris, Horus etc. for close to 2000 years!
- needless to say this didn't work and after his death - nephew (who married one of his daughters) becomes pharaoh - Tutankhamen - murdered soon after and uncle takes over the throne - goes back to worship as it always had been and Amenhotep III, Ikhnaton or Amenhotep IV, Aton and anything and anyone associated with the religion is wiped from the records, their names & images chiselled from the monuments, their history forgotten - BUT…

Yahweh of the Jews

Mythology as History: the history of the Jews is stated as absolute historical fact in the Bible and accepted as such for 2000 years - Adam & Eve, then Noah and the Flood - Abraham goes from ?'Ur of the Chaldeans' to Canaan, and makes the Covenant with God - [Gen.17:8] "And I will give to you, and your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession: and I will be their God." - so on God's side He gives the Jews the land of Canaan, forever - on Abraham's side, he acknowledges God as… well, God and all males of a Jewish household, whether born or bought as slaves, are circumcised as proof of this covenant or agreement - then Sodom & Gomorrah, Jacob & Isaac, Joseph in Egypt, and enslavement of the Jews by Egypt - deliverance by Moses - they ?'wander' for 40 years and return to Canaan - fight various Moabites, Midianites, Amalekites and other "-ites" - and the Phillistines - finally Saul becomes King, then David, Solomon, the building of the First Temple - splits into two Kingdoms - Israel & Judah - conquered by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar - Jews rebel & he razes Jerusalem, destroying the 1st Temple of Solomon - takes the people as slaves into Babylon - called the ?'Babylonian Captivity' - but then comes the Persians under Cyrus who sends them home to Canaan - chronology ends there - rest is all prophesy and bits of political infighting
- in this whole immense story only the ?'Babylonian Captivity' and Cyrus returning the Jews to Canaan are real events - EVERYTHING ELSE IS FICTION
- 1207 BCE - the Egyptians fight a war in Canaan - a stylae records that 3 cities are taken and that "the people of Israel lie desolate and their seed is no more" - at Kharnak a wall painting shows a Semitic tribe being defeated and 3 cities being taken [Jews already there so if wandered for 40 years - must have left Egypt in the reign of Ramases the Great - vast amounts of information from this reign - nothing mentions any of the "plagues of Egypt" or a Prince named Moses, or huge numbers of slaves trekking out of Egypt - now know the pyramids weren't built by slaves and that Egypt didn't enslave populations after conquering them - exacted tribute instead - entire Exodus a myth with elements of ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian legends BUT - an absolute tenet of modern Judaism (and modern Christianity!) that the Pentateuch - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy - are the written words of Moses as revealed to him by God and cannot be questioned

History: 1358 BCE - Amenhotep IV dies and worship of Aton dies with him - Moses (name in Egyptian means ?'birth' as in ?'noble birth') probably a royal Egyptian nobleman banished for worship of Aton - wanders and finds nomadic Jews (just like the very Bedouin-type tribe he marries into in the Bible) settles down with them, becomes their leader and lawgiver, and preaches the concept of One God (ie. Aton) with the Jews as the ?'Chosen People' - the laws i.e. the Ten Commandments are carved in stone (an Egyptian practise) then put into a cart (called the Ark of the Covenant) and carried around - this sounds reasonable as they are nomadic - as ?'Chosen' they must be kept separate and racially ?'pure' - so have strict rules governing who they can marry, what they can eat [the primitive ?'you are what you eat' concept], when they worship and how - circumcision shows them to be Jews even if naked! - story of Cain & Abel about rejection of Osirisian eucharist of bread and ale (or wine) - story of Isaac all about changing human to animal sacrifice

Divinity: - there is only one God who created everything - male and therefore only men have souls - the deal is that the Jews are the Chosen People and God favours them as long as they keep the Covenant - animal sacrifice, circumcision, food laws, marriage laws, etc - if faithful will have good luck in this world - afterlife another story

Cosmogony & Theogony: extreme monotheism in the beginning but all sorts of Zoroastrian dualism creeps in during the ?'Babylonian Captivity'

Afterlife: Orthodox belief is the basic Semitic one - the dead exist, if at all, as bloodless shades in ?'Sheol' or Hades - no reward for the good or punishment for the evil - little or no concern over man's eternal destiny - very ancient religion because it's so simplistic - because of this keeps having problems when it runs into more sophisticated religions

Eucharist: none

Soteriology: the very earliest writings (perhaps pre-450 BCE) show a belief in a Jewish ?'Messiah' - over time the development of 3 principal Messianic concepts:
- a human Jewish leader, descended from David, who will defeat the foreign invaders (Persians, Greeks, or Romans) and make Israel the centre of a divinely-approved world-empire - called the ?'Star Prophesy'
- an all-powerful supernatural being who will defeat the Greeks (or Romans), save all the Jews (everyone else is destroyed), and establish a divine Everlasting Jewish Kingdom
- an all-powerful supernatural being who will defeat the Evil One (Satan), save the good and destroy the evil, and establish a Kingdom of Righteousness on earth for all men not just the Jews

Eschatology: Zoroastrian doctrines of Hell, Heaven, Immortality, Resurrection, and the Last Judgement adopted by the Chasidim (see below) and introduced into Judaism

Theology & Ritual: weekly holy day is Friday sundown to Saturday sundown - no work is allowed - except priests making sacrifices of rams & lambs - slaughtered and burned - again this shows extreme age and simplicity of religion - major holy days - Hanakkah (celebrates the historic rededication of the Temple by the Maccabees), Passover (celebrates the legendary Exodus from Egypt), and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) - the central act of the religion - once a year the High-Priest goes into the Holy of Holies (i.e. into God's very presence), takes on the sins of the entire Jewish people, and asks for forgiveness - if God is angry [he has frequent hissy-fits in the Old Testament] he can strike the High-Priest dead with a bolt of lightning (like a good Aryan God) - his death is then accepted in atonement for any transgressions - or he comes out alive meaning God has accepted his prayers & now the Covenant with God is renewed for another year

The Four Jewish Sects:

Chasidim - [the 1st sect] - originally the group of fanatic priests that helped spark the Maccabaean revolt (more about this later - became the ?'orthodox' Jews centred around the Temple in Jerusalem - under the Maccabaean kings they adopt Zoroastrian eschatology and remake the Jewish Messiah in the image of the Persian Saviour - in Daniel (c. 160 BCE) - the Messiah is an all-powerful supernatural being who will defeat the enemies of Israel, call the dead from their graves, and conduct the Last Judgement in which only the Jews will be saved and established in an Everlasting Kingdom

Pharisees [the 2nd sect] - develop from the Chasidim & centred around the Temple - composed of the wealthy Hellenized nobility who become more worldly and seek power, wealth, and popular influence - the ?'establishment' who later support Herod & the Romans - the rabbis who run the synagogues are all Pharisees - they hold the belief that the Messiah is an all-powerful, supernatural being who will return (in the Second Coming or the ?'Parousia') and defeat the Evil One (Satan), establish a Kingdom of Righteousness on earth for all men and not just the Jews, and that the Final Judgement will be based on ethical not ethnic factors and so will include all ?'good' people (whatever that means)

Sadducees [the 3rd sect] - reformers who reject Zoroastrian eschatology and are anti-Greek - as time goes by become more conservative both economically and politically and less religious - not happy with the Romans and deplore the Herodian priesthood but do nothing about it - they make endless religious commentaries on the Law about what is permissible and what is not - but an intense belief in a coming Messiah or the ?'Anointed One' - the ?'Silent majority' and where a great deal of the support comes from for the revolutionaries (Zealots) - during time of the Roman occupation of Palestine most Jews live in daily anticipation of a Messiah who will come and crush the Romans - for this reason anyone with Messianic pretences is executed for sedition and treason

Zealots [the 4th sect] - not content with anti-Herodian discussion in the synagogues - revolutionaries who are fanatic adherents to a ?'new' Law in what they consider to be a ?'purer' form and who actively participate in acts of terrorism vs. the Romans, the Herodian government, and any Jew they consider a collaborator

The Brotherhood of Pythagoras

History: Pythagoras lived c. 580 - 500 BCE - a mathematician (a²+b²=c²) who made important contributions to music and astronomy, a philosopher, a social revolutionary, a political organizer, and a theologian who taught metempsychosis and claimed he could remember 4 previous reincarnations - most consider this to be a ?'philosophy' rather than a religion but wrong
- from an early age he was involved in politics - driven from his native Samos in 529 BCE as a ?'dangerous subversive' - moved to a Greek colony in Italy and established a ?'school of philosophy' and a political organization whose sole purpose was a moral regeneration of society based on celibate communal brotherhoods - therefore it can be viewed as an economic, religious, and social reform movement
- supposedly wrote 3 books but none in existence by 300 CE - only those of his disciples survived
- said to have travelled to India and this seems likely (for once!) - Buddhism not arrived yet but the conditions and ideologies were rife - reincarnation - idea of monastic life of poverty and celibate brotherhood - did not repudiate labour BUT established the principle ?'from each according to his ability, to each according to his need' [as in the New Testament!]
- several versions of his death but clearly he was assassinated (one of the tenets of faith is non-violence) - following his martyrdom his followers proliferated - but persecuted in 450 BCE - his followers were murdered and residences sacked and burned
- by 350 BCE strictly a religious cult (no more dangerous interference in politics) but hugely influential - Aristophanes makes fun of it in the Frogs but Vergil, who writes the Aeneid about 30 BCE, obviously familiar with philosophy - Socrates and especially Plato are steeped in it BUT by this time a sharp divergence in attitudes towards marriage - see a community of all husbands, wives, and children so at least the human race would continue!
- 100 CE - the Life of Apollonius of Tyana by Philistratus - Apollonius, a follower & interpreter of Pythagoras, had a virgin birth, absorbed the wisdom of Pythagoras, practised celibacy, vegetarianism, and voluntary poverty - he healed the sick, cured the halt and the blind, drove out devils, restored the dead to life, foretold the future, and taught the mysteries - finally said that he never died, but went directly to heaven in a physical assumption [all sounds rather familiar, doesn't it? - remember this - we'll come to it again]

Divinity: monotheism - One God who created the Universe and everything in it - present in everything - becomes a universal spiritual force - forbade any representation of God either in pictures or statues - like Zoroastrians, Jews, and later Moslems

Cosmogony & Theogony: - no real dualism (God of Good vs. God of Evil) as only one God - the nature of evil & the dilemma of all monotheisms (see Zoroastrianism) - all this explained and reconciled to initiates - secret and we have no idea what was taught

Afterlife: Brahmin doctrine of metempsychosis or reincarnation - the doctrine that souls transmigrate from age to age until, by an Orphic initiation and life, they attain blessed immortality OR by outrageous sin and crime are consigned to an eternity of torture in Hell - substituted Eternal Mansions in Heaven [this should sound familiar to any Christian] for his Orphic ?'saints' instead of the idea of Nirvana - introduction of Hell - part of the Pythagorean myth that Pythagoras descended into Hell and lived there for 7 years [when he was in India?] - certainly was responsible for introduction of the Zoroastrian concept of Heaven and Hell to the Greek world - special level of Hell reserved for those who didn't follow Pythagoras

Eucharist: retained the Orphic-Dionysian sacrament of bread & wine as a sacred food by which devotees achieve spiritual divinity - sacrament must be received daily to maintain this state

Ethics: dualism from Zoroastrianism - all humanity is metaphysically separated into the Elect and the Reprobate, the Children of Light and the Children of Darkness - only the Elect have the power of adopting the Orphic way of life - the essence of righteousness consists in renouncing all carnal and material things, all the sensuous pleasures of the world - by adopting a celibate, communal, vegetarian, and equalitarian way of life, all aggressions will cease and salvation be assured

Soteriology: reformed Dionysian worship by appropriating the soter element of it because Dionysus/Osiris was the centre of every mystery-cult - wrote a new Orphic poem which he ascribed to Orpheus and in it he set forth his innovations - synthesis of religions of Greece, Egypt, Persia, and India - but soteriology only a part of the new doctrine - the dying man-god was no longer sufficient for salvation - this had to include an elaborate system of ethical renunciations and the study of a difficult theology

Eschatology: descriptions of elaborate punishments in Hell for the Reprobate but no real Judgement of the Soul as such - no Armaggedon, Great Conflagration etc.

Theology & Ritual: attitude towards sex, marriage, and women - an extreme misogyny - sex was the surrender of the soul to the evil passions of the body and children meant the capture of another soul in an evil body [see Manichaeism] - sex, women, and marriage and every symbol even remotely related must be repudiated - supposedly a horror of beans because they resemble the human testicles and when sprouting look like female genitalia! - sexual passion the mark of ultimate wickedness, the essence of sin - all women seen as the ?'evil temptress' - women viewed as not worthy of salvation (BUT we hear that Pythagoras' virgin daughter (!) was the head of a band of female celibates that lived communally!)
- rejected the idle mendicant brotherhood [as found in Buddhism] in favour of one which was industrious and self-supporting [adopted by the Covenanters and later by the Catholic Church]
- ?'metaphysical dualism' - the soul, which is our higher principal, is imprisoned in the mortal body as in a tomb - it is the body that is governed by evil passions and must be subdued so the soul can be supreme - this lower ?'titanic' nature is spoken of as ?'original or inherited sin' - greatly resembles the concept of kharma [and the ?'sinfulness' that so oppresses St. Augustine]

The Brotherhoods:
- vegetarian and renounced sex, family, and private property - called thiasoi
- initiation period of from 3 - 5 years then initiated into mysteries of Orphic sacrament and become one of the Elect called an Esoteric - at the end of life would escape the circle of death and rebirth and live eternally in Heaven
- daily sacrament to maintain spiritual immortality - ate only uncooked vegetables, drank only pure water, and dressed in white linen robes [we'll see this again with the Covenanters]
- must regard nothing as personal property BUT have a moral and inescapable duty of the capable and the industrious to support those who cannot or do not work
- intense personal soul-searching on a daily basis
- forbade the use of oaths (common to the culture at large & sets them apart)
- must support the established government [render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's] this solved the early political problems
- must never give in to base emotions of fear, grief, or hatred
- must pay divine worship to God, in reverent silence, in white robes, after a daily purification by bathing in water, having avoided contact with birth, death, and all forms of ?'pollution', by abstention from meat and all products of animals, and by participating in the mystic rites of the cult

Islam

(We'll deal with this later.)

FURTHER READING:

God Against Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism - Jonathan Kirsch, 2004.
History of Greek Philosophy, vol. 1: The Earlier Presocratics and the Pythagoreans - W.K.C. Guthrie, 1962.

There we go. That last one should shake a few trees.

#5 - Religion in the Roman Empire
© Mistress Rowenna de Ronçesvalles (Elizabeth A. Rowe) March, 2003

Early Religion

- primitive system of animism - Nature spirits - each tree, stream, hill, and other natural feature had its in-dwelling spirit - dryads in trees, hydrads in springs and streams, oreads in hills and mountains
- age old questions of who made the universe? Who made man? Why are things the way they are? - needed more powerful deities - Great Goddess as the Creator with her consort (usually a Sun God) who spawn nature deities of the moon & planets, vegetation, the sea, etc. - coming of Aryan gods also changes the cosmogony & theogony
- the "old gods" - Chronos, Rhea, Uranus, etc. called the Titans - some are friends of humanity - Prometheus, also called Lucifer or "fire-bringer", was a titan - then the coming of the Pantheon: the gods and goddesses of mythology - the Olympian deities (the ?'new & improved' Aryan gods) who overthrow the old gods - have carefully delineated spheres of interest - Neptune is the sea but not the rain, or rivers, or lakes - ?'anthropomorphic polytheism' - gods who are born, act like humans with enemies, friends, lovers, children etc. - grow old unless eat the golden apples of immortality
- same afterlife as Greek/Semitic - shadowy existence and spirits of the dead are jealous of the living - can cause harm and so need to be propitiated by sacrifices and ceremonies - this leads to ancestor worship - each family and family home has its "household gods." - lares (actually spirits of land owned by the family) and penates - busts of "famous" ancestors in hall of every nobleman's home and paraded in religious processions - thought to act as mediators with the gods for the good fortune of the family or clan - genii - in addition, each individual has his own "genius," a deified ancestral ?'spirit' assigned at birth and transformed by the early Christians into the "guardian angel." - for males only - female guardian spirit called a juno
- concept of group guilt - the ?'sin' of one person brings the wrath of the god down on whole community - a famine so they decide one of the vestal virgins isn't a virgin any longer - search out the ?'guilty one' - have her executed and famine goes away with the new crops
- Rome is now becoming a ?'power' and begins conquering its neighbours - gods are used to back up the power of the Republic - morality is based on the qualities required of a citizen (loyalty, chastity, piety, etc) and are deified into Piety, Chastity etc. - priesthood is a civic office like magistrates, consuls, etc. - every man who goes into public service takes on these religious offices just like any other - not a vocation in itself - no sense of personal morality or happiness in an afterlife - individual's needs are completely subsumed by the needs of the Republic
- gladiatorial games begin as a religious rite honouring the death of an important member of the aristocracy - used criminals and slaves - horrified by human sacrifice of Celts and Teutonic tribes but didn't see games as the same thing at all!
- magic and superstition - people needed "emotional" support - very superstitious and fearful of "bad luck", their stars not being in a good alignment, being cursed by enemies, etc. - also believed in witches, the evil eye, and other malevolent forces - gods not involved with individual misfortunes

Conquest & Contact

- conquer Greece - their religious structure although the same basic ?'Olympian' deities is several centuries more advanced - mythological stories (i.e. Leda & the Swan) - by the time of the Empire no one actually believes in them if they ever did - literary constructs - gods are a different thing
- philosophical systems (Scepticism, Epicurianism, Stoicism) that offered moral basis of conduct - individual is responsible for his own actions and choices
- hierarchy from the Persians and gods now arranged in an elaborate system - demi-gods, the "almost gods", like Cupid - and the Heroes - humans who achieve divine status - Hercules is the most famous example - the gap between god and human is not so great as to be uncrossable BUT even Achilles is just a shade in Hades - how can a normal man achieve any kind of happy afterlife?
- guardian cults for the professions - Pan becomes God of shepherd's, Isis the Patroness of fishermen etc. - basis for Christian ?'patron saints'
- conquer the Middle East & Egypt - soteriology & the Mystery cults - Mithras, Isis & Serapis, Ishtar & Attis, Cybele, etc - give a code of ethics, individual salvation, a eucharist as a means of that salvation, and hope for happiness in an afterlife - offer what Roman religion can't: centuries old traditions, the basis of science and culture, processions & splendid ceremonies, oaths of secrecy & the excitement of their ?'mysteries', deities that are compassionate and caring not cold and distant, appeal to the conscience and systems of ethics, acts of ?'purification' to cleanse the soul, promise of reward in an afterlife, cultivation of social bonds outside of birth, class, ethnicity, etc. - a ?'group' to belong to - personal rather than civic and satisfied the individual
- Mithras as an example: likened the practice of their religion to military service - neophyte takes an oath (sacramentum) similar to the one taken by those entering the army - the 3rd stage of initiation is that of the ?'soldier' (miles) - from then on the initiate belongs to the sacred militia of the Invincible God and fights the powers of evil under his orders - all this in accordance with Zoroastrian dualism that sees all of Creation as a struggle against the malevolent spirits - the mystics of Isis are also regarded as forming sacred cohorts enlisted in the service of the goddess - in Stoic philosophy human existence is likened to a campaign - astrologers call the man who submits to destiny a ?'soldier of fate' - similar conceptions in Christianity - the whole body of the faithful is referred to as the militia Christi or the ?'Church Militant' - the baptism of the neophyte is the oath of fidelity to Christ ?'the commander-in-chief' and to his disciples, who form cohorts triumphing under his command over the demons of Satan - apostates or heretics are ?'deserters and traitors'

Religion in Imperial Rome

- years of civil wars, foreign wars, influx of slaves that brings about the destruction of the small farmer, craftsman, and merchant - taken over by the wealthy and their slave labour - citizens lose land and businesses - drift to Rome where they pay no taxes and are entitled to the ?'dole' - free wine and bread - life becomes meaningless and tedious - a life of subsistence - games and chariot races and rioting in the streets whenever the discontent boils over - wealthy and influential still take offices but now meaningless because Emperor and bureaucracy hold all the real power - nobility can do little except make more money from lands and business which are run by slaves, live a life of meaningless decadence, spend money on sponsoring games and civic building projects, and get involved in politics and religion - with the introduction of Eastern Faiths & mystery cults - no longer seen as necessary for religion to be connected with the state - no longer seen as a public duty - no longer is the individual subordinated to the interests of the city or state - religion assures man's welfare in this world and especially in the afterlife to come - one of eternal happiness - the focus of morality changes & the entire system of ethical values is overturned - the salvation of the soul is promised upon the accurate performance of the sacred ceremonies - sacred rites possess a power of purification and redemption and free man from the dominion of hostile spirits
- under Greek philosophy the aim is to realize the goodness of life in this world not the next - this changes so now man is to no longer expected to attain tangible goals, but to attain ideal hopes - existence in this life is a preparation for a sanctified life ending in a trial whose outcome is either everlasting happiness or everlasting torment
- religion becomes the most important and absorbing matter - the rites can be performed only by a priesthood devoted entirely to the task - priests (& priestesses!) are no longer magistrates and scarcely even citizens - devoted entirely to their ministry and demand total submission to their sacred authority

How Religion Actually Worked

State Deities - Augustus, the first Emperor, enacts laws enforcing the religious practices of ?'Roman' gods in an attempt to back up the power of the Empire and give it some legitimacy besides brute force - borrows some of the ?'flash and dazzle' of Eastern religions - processions, costumes, elaborate sacrifices done on days marked in ?'official' calendar - attendance is mandatory but the day is a ?'holy day' and business is suspended - also deification of the Emperors themselves (an idea brought from the East where Persian rulers viewed as divine) - so everyone in the Empire has to attend certain rites and sacrifices to Roman protective deities - also place statues of Roman gods (i.e. Jupiter, Sol Invictus, Magna Mater, and the deified Emperors) in all the temples of the Empire - each home has a religious shrine and daily prayers and offerings made (the man of the house is also the family ?'priest') - would have a statue of favoured gods & goddesses and whichever of the deified Emperors favoured by the present Emperor

Local Deities - processions & sacrifices to local deities of city or province - statues in household shrine of Roma, Vesta, etc. (every city had a guardian deity - later on this duty is taken over by saints, i.e. St. Genevieve the ?'patron saint' of Paris)

Family or Clan Deities - ?'guardian gods' of particular aristocratic families - i.e. Apollo as guardian of the Julian family - also statues of famous ancestors - libations poured, incense & candles burned, prayers offered - important families have these busts carried in state processions

Personal Deities - way to personal salvation - an Eastern ?'saviour' religion or ?'mystery cult' - men have gods and cults - women have their own goddesses and cults - amongst educated males this might also include a philosophy such as Stoicism

Magic - wear amulets of protection acquired from a ?'magi' - consult astrologers for advice on everything from major business dealings to when the most auspicious time to cut your hair! - potions & incantations to influence people and put them under your ?'spell' or to curse enemies & as protection against their curses - certain ?'holy men' become celebrities and fashionable and patronized by the most wealthy and powerful (remember this for later!)

- all this only in the cities and towns - in the countryside - illiterate, uneducated, enslaved, rural peasantry (called ?'pagans') living a life of unrelenting toil and poverty with no hope in this life nor any hope in an afterlife
- no state presence so no state religion
- no city or town so no local religion
- no family or clan so no family religion
- no mystery cults or foreign religions - temples based in the cities and can't read sacred texts
- superstitions regarding nature deities of woods, streams, hills etc.
- magic of the lowest kind - amulets against disease - incantations to bring the rain & avert hail

The State God: Sol Invictus

- many anthropologists see a natural progression of all pagan gods dividing off from a naturalistic Sun worship and then eventually coalescing back into a metaphysical Sun worship
- Helios - the original Greek Sun God who drove the fiery chariot of the Sun through the heavens daily from East to West
- Apollo - from the 5th century BCE Helios becomes associated with Apollo who takes on the aspects of the Sun - when Alexander's army runs into Persian gods they add the concept of Lord of Light
- Sol - a very old Roman Sun god - Sol Indiges - annual sacrifice on August 9 - becomes equated with the Greek Helios and later with Apollo in many guises - Sol-Apollo, Apollo-Phoebus, etc.
- Apollo is the patron god of the Julian family - worshipped by Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, & Nero
- Hadrian an initiate of cult of Oriens, the Rising Sun - only one of a diverse groups of Sun Gods thriving in the Empire - Hadrian's wife, Julia Domina [she and her sister, Julia Maesa, were daughters of the High-Priest of the Sun God at Emesa & supposedly fervently anti-Christian - her grandson is Varius Avitus, called Elagabalus! see below]
- Marcus Aurelius - worshipped Jupiter/Heliopolitanus (or Jupiter-Helios) - erected Temple in 176 CE (destroyed 341 CE) association of the Supreme Roman ?'state' god (Jupiter) with the overwhelmingly popular Sun Gods - felt the need for a ?'unifying' religion
- his son Commodus - member of cult of Hercules, as Son of Jupiter, and Mithras, as the Son of the Sun God
- some Emperors starting try to transform Jupiter into the Supreme Protector of the Empire - called Jupiter Invictus - worshipped by Caracalla amongst others
- then Varius Avitus, called Elagabalus [218 - 222 CE] - entered at birth into the hereditary priesthood of Ba'al as Sun God (yet another god who becomes the Sun) at Emesa in Syria & brings it to Rome - builds a temple on the Capitoline and tries to make this the ?'state' religion - declares himself to be the living incarnation of the Sun-God - first to wear the new ?'halo crown' (of sun's rays) rather than the traditional laurel wreath - an attempt to amalgamate Western & Greek Sun worship with Eastern & Persian Sun worship - okay for personal religion but considered too ?'Eastern' for a State religion
- next Emperor - Septimus Severus - combines the worship of the Syrian Sun-God to a more acceptable Roman model by combining it with Jupiter Invictus - thus forming ?'Sol Invictus'
- Aurelian [270 - 275 CE] - seeking a new unifying religion - has all Sun worship combined into worship of Sol Invictus - builds Temple in Rome 274 CE - the holy day designated as ?'Sunday' and the ?'Birth of the God' as December 25th [the ?'Pantheon' in Rome is a perfect example of what a temple of Sol Invictus probably looked like]-all existing religions must conform or be outlawed
- Diocletian [284 - 305 CE] - divides the empire in two under two Emperors or ?'Augusti' and 2 Caesars who are to assist and succeed them - Emperors under the protection of Jupiter as Sol Invictus and Caesars under the protection of Hercules as son of Jupiter - why not Mithras as son of Sol Invictus? - Mithras meant to be an exclusive mystery cult not ?'universal' - his co-Emperor, Maximian, supports the ?'state' religion of Sol Invictus but is a member of the cult of ?'the Christos' who are called ?'Christians'
- Constantine the Great - as well as being an initiate of Mithras (in the highest level of Pater Patras or ?'Father of Fathers') and is (as the Pontifex Maximus) the High Priest of Sol Invictus (and never a ?'Christian') but his surviving sons are Christian (whatever that means at the time) and from then on a political battle for supremacy that the ?'Christians' finally win [much, much more about this later!]

Divinity: in the oldest tales of Persia and India so predates 2000 BCE - Lord of Heavenly Light and identified with the Invincible Sun (i.e. Immortal & Eternal - not born and can't die) - god of cattle & agriculture - Creator of mankind and all good creatures - combines with Zoroastrianism and becomes the religion of the Parthians whose empire was founded in 248 BCE - astrological symbolism & influence of mystery cults - Supreme God is Ormazd, Father of Mithras - and, like Ahuramazda, the God of all that is Good and in a state of perpetual warfare with the Evil One - further combines [the theological term is ?'conflates'] with Baal and all other Sun gods of the East
- all the Sun Gods of both East & West combine to become Sol Invictus and the ?'State Religion' of the Roman Empire - attractive to nobles and emperors because it teaches kingly authority as being granted by Sol Invictus - preaches the worth and necessity of government so supported by civil servants - seen as the protector of the Emperors and the Empire
- not involved in salvation - for this one must go to one of the mystery cults - biggest is that of Mithras- denied access to women - NOT a weakness as the Church claims - religious separation of the sexes been around and accepted for a few thousand years
- just as all gods are turned into a mystic Immortal Sun God - Sol Invictus - so try to combine all goddesses into one - the Magna Mater - the ?'Great Mother' - becomes part of ?'official' State Religion
- so we're back to the original primeval Mother Goddess and primeval Sun God just with a lot of intervening philosophy and mythology!!!!
- Magna Mater is called the ?'Mother of God' - in the Mithras cult (& many, many others) she becomes his mother (making her the wife of Sol Invictus, though this is seldom mentioned, and ?'Queen of Heaven' which is) - when Christianity is conforming to the State Religion it has ?'Christ' being born in a cave (like Mithras) of a ?'bright light' (something to do with the Sun I would guess) - and probably restricted to men just like the cult of Mithras
- what to do with the women? - can't have them going off and worshipping Cybele (the female mystery cult associated with Mithras) or Isis or even (God-forbid) Aphrodite! - need a ?'Christian' female ?'mystery cult' - enter the Virgin Mary - Jesus is now shown born of a woman (though a virgin!) - at the beginning this may have been just the belief of the ?'Virgin Mary cult'

The State Cult: Mithras

- believed to be initially from India - the ancient Vedic god - Mitra, God of the Sun - shown in art coming from the Lotus or a Pearl
- moves into Persia and becomes the Sun God, Mithra - the ?'taurobolium' is added on [more about this below] - shown exactly the same in art but coming from a Rock (probably a sacred meteorite like at Mecca as the lotus is somewhat scarce in Persia!) and from the Cosmic Egg (instead of a Pearl)
- adopted by the Parthians from the Persians where becomes Mithras, the son of the Parthian's supreme God, Ormazd (the old Mazda or Ahura Mazda of the Persians) - takes on the aspect of the invincible God of Battle - very little progress in the West until Roman legions ran into it on the Parthian borders - preached the brotherhood of man and thundered against social injustice - attracted the poor, the exploited, and the slaves as well as the aristocrats - image of a ?'soldier of God' popular with the legions
- considered a ?'mystery cult' because it deals with personal salvation - so close to Christianity that later Christian writers could only declare that the devil had established Mithraism for the sole purpose of mocking Jesus and sowing confusion [the reality is somewhat different]
- an exclusive religion and not equipped to do battle against a priest-state - not out to control the government and tolerant of other religions - it invited all men to join but did not make the effort to persuade them

Divinity: son of the Invincible Sun - god of battle and protector of soldiers and good men - one of the judges who meets all souls on the Kinvad bridge - the agency by which his Father, Sol Invictus, who created mankind and all good creatures, acts upon the World - Mithras then becomes the ?'Logos' or ?'the Incarnate Word' [and so does Christ] - born miraculously of a bright light [notice no woman is involved] in a cave on December 25th, witnessed only by some shepherds, who bring gifts, and adore the new-born god [sound familiar? See Luke 2: 8 - 20]

Soteriology: central mystery is the slaying of the Primeval Bull [in Zoroastrianism it's an Ox] by Mithras - with regret because it is a good creation - but from the soul of the Bull comes the celestial spheres and from its body springs all the life on earth including man - from the carcass grows all good plants usually symbolized by wheat, from its blood grows the grape which furnishes the wine used in the sacrament etc. - Mithras then goes about on earth countering Evil and saving mankind from floods and fires etc. - finally, his work on earth done, he ceremonially celebrates a Last Supper [!!!!] and returns to his Father - as the religion develops the Bull mystically becomes Mithras himself - who then sacrifices himself for mankind
- David Ullaney has a new astrological explanation of whole bull connection - involved with the progression of the equinoxes - when Sun at summer equinox leaves the part of the sky designated as Taurus the Bull (@ 2,000 BCE) - from the view of Persian astronomers (who were ethnocentric i.e. saw the Earth as centre of the Universe) the Heavens physically moved - what could possibly have been powerful enough to do this? - enter a new sun god from India - Mitra - his ?'slaying' of the Bull becomes the mythology behind an astrological event [same thing happens with the worship of Osiris - sacrament is linked to sacrifice of a bull - Jewish sacrifices go from heifers & calves to rams and lambs when the Sun enters Aries, the Ram]
- Constantine is a follower of Sol Invictus - the story about the battle where he sees the Cross (actually the Chi Roh - but that's Greek) in the sky as a sign of victory [the Cross of Mithras Å is a mystic symbol which stands for the Universe] - gives victory, as God of Battles, to his faithful worshipper - Christ is born on December 25th (the birth of the Sun) and in one of the apocryphal gospels, the Gospel of Thomas, takes over the birth mythology of Mithras completely - even to being born of a bright light in a cave! - Christians adopted haloes [the mystic rays of the sun] as a sign of holiness

Theology: - identical with Christianity - concepts of Heaven and Hell, the Last Judgement, the Immortality of the Soul and the Resurrection of the Dead - the same sacraments - baptism by water and the eucharist of bread and wine - also regeneration through a second birth - all believers are a kind of mystical brotherhood - seen as the mediator between God and man, the final judge of souls, and through him alone is salvation possible - emphasizes constant warfare between good and evil, requires abstinence and self-control - and accords to celibacy the highest honours
- to be saved man must suppress and mortify his evil Ahriman-created nature - he must constantly employ the sacrament of baptism, certain purifications, and partake of the eucharist of bread and wine to achieve a mystic union with the god - taurobolium - the slaying of a bull as the main sacrifice - initiates placed under a grating below where the bull is slain and they are ?'washed by the blood of the bull and so saved' [Christianity changes the bull to a lamb!]
- the believer passes through seven degrees or ?'orders' [just like a Catholic cleric!]- the Raven signifying a messenger (the neophyte taking religious instruction) - the Cryphius, or the Hidden, indicating the esoteric (further classes and takes a first oath of secrecy) - after this actually initiated into the cult proper by becoming a Miles or soldier, signifying the fight against evil and having an equal-sided cross, the symbol of Mithras, drawn on their forehead [at one time thought to have been burned there but now think was just drawn with something, blood, paint, ash etc.] - swears a further oath never to reveal the secrets of the order and undergoes various purifications - now inducted into higher mysteries [if he so chooses] - Leo or the Lion - purified with honey and baptized, not with water, but with fire [just as John the Baptist says his successor will baptize his followers] - after this considered to be participants and receive the Eucharist of bread and wine commemorating the Last Supper
- believe all souls pre-exist in the ethereal regions and at birth one of these souls is trapped in the evil body created by Ahriman - after death the soul returns to the ethereal regions [Purgatory] - but if suppressed material, worldly, and carnal desires and have been initiated into the rites of Mithras - will be ?'saved' and go directly to an Elysium-style Heaven
- divided humanity into 3 classes [just like most ?'mystery cults' and the Covenanters]:
- the Elect, the higher initiates (who have received baptism of fire and partaken of the bread and wine Eucharist) will go straight to Heaven
- the lesser followers of Mithras, who have succeeded only in part (been baptized by water and marked by the cross but not given the blood and wine or further initiations), will pass a time in Purgatory but eventually will be saved
- the wicked, the evildoers, and followers of every other religion, will go straight to Hell - in some Eastern versions that are closer to an extreme dualism, this includes women - possessed by an evil spirit from Ahriman, have no souls, cannot be ?'saved', and automatically go straight to Hell - the cult in the Roman world just ignores them - women get ?'saved' by the officially recognized female equivalent, cult of Cybele - same theology just with a goddess

- as the ?'rock-born' Mithras is called ?'Theos ek Petras' or the ?'God from the Rock' - may be the reason the Vatican hill in Rome is regarded as sacred to Peter, the Christian ?'Rock,' - already sacred to Mithras, for Mithraic remains have been found there & we know rites took place there - Mithra was ?'the rock,' or ?'Petra' ie. Peter, and was also ?'double-faced,' like Janus who was the Keyholder (and so also a prototype for the ?'apostle' Peter) - when the Gospel Jesus says that the ?'keys' of the kingdom of heaven are given to ?'Peter' and that the Church is to be built upon ?'Peter,' as a representative of Rome, he is usurping the authority of Mithraism, the official Roman cult and already headquartered on what becomes Vatican Hill - it is thought-provoking that the center of Mithraic philosophy and learning was the city of Tarsus - the birthplace of St. Paul!

FURTHER READING:

The Cults of the Roman Empire - Robert Turcan, 1992.
The Cambridge Companion to Greek & Roman Philosophy - ed. David Selby
History of Greek Philosophy, vol. 2: The Presocratic Tradition from Parmedides to Democritus -
W.K.C. Guthrie, 1962.
Religions of the Roman Empire - John Fergeson, 1970.
Religions of Rome, vol. 1: A History - Mary Beard, 1993.


And that's all for tonight. Parts 6-11 coming soon!

Part Six! More ultra-controversial stuff! I see no one has questions or comments! I'm not sure whether that is good or bad!

#6 - The Real History of the Jews
© Mistress Rowenna de Ronçesvalles (Elizabeth A. Rowe) March, 2003

Early History

- Jews are a Semitic people, like all the peoples of the Middle East - originally nomadic and probably lived in the Sinai and N. Arabia but some always trickling north into the cities along the coast - likely trade hides, horn, and horses to the Egyptians (a Egyptian tomb painting c. 1000 BCE shows bearded Semitic tribesmen trading horses) - the language of the Philistines is proto-Hebrew
- Egypt conquers the area and remnants of Jewish herdsmen (who obviously fought the Egyptians) scatter north into conquered ?'Canaan' - i.e. a bunch of city-states all worshipping Semitic goddess Astarte and the god Baal (or Tammuz in some places) with various intrusions from Babylonian and Assyrian gods & goddesses - here many turn to worship of Astarte & Baal which is why their worship is vilified in the Bible and not that of Isis and Osiris
- "Jewish" temples are exactly like temples to any of the Semitic gods & goddesses and impossible to tell apart by archaeology except for the finding of statuettes - on hilltops with a courtyard and a water tank so the priesthood can wash (rite of purification), an inner Holy of Holies seen only by the priesthood, and an altar - actually a huge raised platform on which animals are sacrificed and burnt
- gradually Jews move east into vacant countryside and up into the hills with groups still living in the cities (Abraham wanders with his herds while his brother Lot lives in Sodom) - countryside vs. city - country keeps the ?'old ways' and in conflict with urbanized Jews who stop following the Law and begin to worship other gods and goddesses & intermarry!
- raiders come down from the north and take the city-states along the coast but are stopped by Egyptians - settle in Canaan in direct competition with the Jews - called the ?'Peliset' by Egyptians but the ?'Philistines' in the Bible - intro of more gods & by all evidence intermarriage to the point of total immersion - the Philistines and the "Jews" are in fact the same people - they are just the urbanized Jews - in the hills the ?'old ways' still prevail and wandering preachers (the Prophets) keep ?'that old time religion' going - message is ?'you are unique'; ?'you are special'; ?'you are the Chosen' - will be okay as long as stick together and keep God's covenant BUT if go off to the cities, worship other gods, take up other cultures, and marry their women - God will punish you! - that's what Sodom & Gomorrah is all about
- no unbiased archaeological evidence or corroborative texts to show that Kingdoms of Judah or Israel ever existed - or David - or Soloman - or the 1st Temple - none! zero! nada! - the archaeological layer that should show Jerusalem at the time of Solomon shows the area to have been uninhabited!
- 701 BCE King Ahab, a Philistine King, & wife Queen Jezebel, probably a priestess of Baal - defeat the Assyrians and holds them back for a few years but they keep coming - looting, destroying cities, & taking slaves as they go - the Jew/Philistines become refugees and scatter up into the hills - "AHA!" the prophets say. "Told you so!" - things settle down and the populace trickles back into the cities along the coast - the prophets stay in the hills with their mud huts
- in 607 BCE the Babylonians take Assyria and it's the whole thing all over again - Babylonian King sets up a buffer state with a puppet-king - BUT Jew/Philistines who have ?'run for the hills' begin raiding & other acts of terrorism
- 598 BCE - Babylonian King gets tired of the raids and sends an army to take them out - rounds up all the Jews
- 586 BCE - the ?'Tribes of Judah' are forcibly deported to Babylon and settled in ghettos - the noble families are held as hostages for the behaviour of the masses - start becoming ?'Babylonianized' - Zoroaster's new religion (he dies in 583 BCE!) is taking Babylon by storm - real likelihood the Jews will be assimilated - this is when the Jewish stories are first written down - entire history to show prior irrefutable claim to Palestine (given to them by God - before the Flood - a Babylonian mythological event) - nostalgic - we were once great (Solomon) and look at us now - all because we didn't keep the Law - but do not despair - once were slaves in Egypt and look what happened to them! - will be great again if only return to ?'pure' Mosaic Law - in Genesis when Abraham goes down into Egypt he is given a gift of camels - camels are not domesticated until c. 600 BCE - the time of the ?'Babylonian Captivity'
- 538 BCE Persians under Cyrus the Great conquer Babylon - Jews allowed to leave and go back to Palestine because Cyrus wants a buffer state with Egypt - Jerusalem (now a small village on a hill - but supposedly once a great city!) becomes centre of orthodoxy - in other cities Jews share the temples with other gods and goddesses - worship with others and freely intermarry
- c.450 BCE - a Jew called Ezra or Esdras is sent from Babylon to be the governor of Jerusalem - much of the work of writing, assembling, and editing the scriptures of the Old Testament is now attributed to him - the Bible shows him reading passages of ?'the Law' on the steps of the new Temple in Jerusalem and the people reacting as if they'd never heard them before - if this is the new Bible, that's probably a true portrait
- before the Captivity the greatest crime had been idolatry - now the greatest crime becomes the violation of racial purity - only way to preserve the ?'Jewish' way of life (which has never been as ?'pure' and isolated as is supposed) is to isolate it completely from all those dangerous ?'foreign' women with their different languages, religions, and sophistications
- Mosaic Law is finalized - it is the Written Word attributed to Moses dictated to him by God himself - now the sole and final authority to be interpreted by the established priesthood and none other - prophesy (and thus all the trouble stirred up by all those rather irritable prophets) is no longer to be tolerated and becomes blasphemy - any new idea from now on must be presented as the newly discovered vision or writing of some ancient Hebrew prophet - ?'faked' in other words
- 333 BCE - Alexander conquers Persia - founds Greek trading cities - dangerous influx of foreign gods, foreign ideas, and foreign women! - again! - this time not Philistine, not Babylonian, not Persian, but Greek - Jewish communities in most of these new cities - Greeks very intellectual and Jews set up ?'schools of philosophy' to study the Law in imitation of Greek schools - first synagogues (from the Greek for ?'meeting house') - Hebrew Bible translated into Greek because most educated Jews speak Greek not Hebrew
- after Alexander - ruled by Seleucid Dynasty of Persia or the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt - Persians set up satrapies or Princedoms ruled by royal princes of Seleucid house - one in Palestine - BUT in the countryside still the same wandering fanatic preachers keeping ?'the Chosen' pure of contamination from the cities - intensely xenophobic!
- 175 BCE - Antiochus Epiphanes IV, 8th Seleucid King of Palestine comes to the throne - he invades Egypt but the new boys on the block, the Romans, warn him to give it back to their allies the Ptolemies - he withdraws and takes out his disappointment by looting Jerusalem (having been invited by one faction to help destroy an enemy faction - at least according to Josephus) - tears down the walls, desecrates the Temple by establishing the Dionysian rites there, expels any Jews who haven't become Hellenized, and outlaws the Jewish faith!
- BIG MISTAKE ! - fanatic Chasidim from the city combine with the fanatic preachers in the countryside - corroborative evidence so can trust biblical account in the Book of the Maccabees - even Jews consider this a history and not a sacred writing - a Greek official insists they sacrifice to a Greek God (probably Dionysus) in defiance of Mosaic Law - a local country priest, Mattathias Maccabeus, who "burned with zeal for the Law" refuses but another priest does the sacrifice anyway - Mattathias then kills the priest (with an axe) and the Greek official and raises a revolt with his 5 sons - Judas, Jonathan, Simon, Eleazar, and John
- 166 BCE - Mattathias dies and gives leadership over to his son, Judas

The Kingdom of Judaea

Judas Maccabeus, High Priest of Judaea (considered the 1st King of Judaea) [166 - 160 BCE] - 1st son of Mattathias
- leads Maccabaean revolt after death of father, Mattathias - leads followers into the ?'wilderness' where ?'purify' themselves and conduct guerrilla warfare that escalates into a full-scale revolt - series of stunning victories against the Seleucids
- 165 BCE - captures Jerusalem (only the citadel resists) and ?'cleanses' the Temple of foreign idols - this is the Rededication of the Temple that is celebrated in the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah
- 162 BCE - Persians defeat Judas and drive him from Jerusalem - Judas wins another battle near Hebron but his brother, Eleazar, (Mattathias' 4th son) is killed
- 160 BCE - Battle at Elasa vs. Persians who win a stunning victory - John (Mattathias' 5th son) is killed during the battle and shortly thereafter Judas dies of a mortal wound - one of the "Nine Worthies" - legendary chivalric heroes revered in the Middle Ages (3 Pagan Heroes: Hector, Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great; 3 Jewish Heroes: Joshua, David, and Judas Maccabaeus; and 3 Christian Heroes: King Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon of the First Crusade)

Jonathan, High Priest and Ethnarch of Judaea [160 - 142 BCE] - 2nd son of Mattathias
- continues generally successful guerrilla warfare vs. the Seleucids - makes a truce of friendship with Roman Republic - meets for treaty discussions with Antiochus V of Persia, but Trypho (Regent and virtual ruler), seizes him, attacks the Jews, and has Jonathan murdered when he's repulsed by his brother, Simon

Simon, High Priest and Ethnarch of Judaea [142 - 134 BCE] - 3rd and last surviving son of Mattathias
- takes over vs. Seleucids and pushes them out of the area around Jerusalem - conducts guerrilla warfare and throws the invasion out - recognized as Ethnarch by the Seleucids BUT at a celebration banquet is assassinated by his own son-in-law, Ptolemy, who also murders Simon's wife and 2 sons and sends a hit squad out after the 3rd son, John, who escapes and eventually after much bloodshed kills Ptolemy, all the rest of his enemies, and takes over the country

John Hyrcanus, High Priest and Ethnarch of Judaea [134 - 104 BCE] - 3rd and only surviving son of Simon
- rules for 30 years in peace (as no one left to oppose him) and leaves 5 sons

Aristobulus I, High Priest and King of Judaea [104 - 103 BCE] - 1st son of John Hyrcanus
- first to officially call himself ?'king' - locks up 3 of his brothers and his mother (Josephus claims he starves her to death) - when 4th brother, Antigonus (who is on a military campaign) returns he is slain at a banquet to celebrate the victory (by now a family tradition!) - one brother escapes - Aristobulus dies of a bleeding ulcer (Josephus claims insanity)

Alexander Jannaeus, High Priest and King of Judaea [103 - 76 BCE] - 2nd son of John Hyrcanus
- first thing upon being released, he murders his other 2 brothers - dies after 27 years worn out by campaigning vs. the Parthians who've conquered the Persians - rule known for brutality and excess but success militarily

Salome Alexandra, Queen of Judaea [76 - 67 BCE] - wife of Alexander Jannaeus
- very popular and ruled well for 9 years - religious and influenced by the Pharisees

Aristobulus II, High Priest and King of Judaea [67 - 63 BCE] - 1st son of Alexander Jannaeus
- Aristobulus is a xenophobic, anti-gentile, zealous Jewish type backed by the Sadducees - Hyrcanus, the 2nd son, who was High Priest during the reign of his mother (although a teenager) is hellenized, sophisticated, tolerant, docile politically, and backed by the Pharisees - everyone's gearing up for a civil war but the brothers make a deal - enters Antipater, son of Antipas the Idumaean, a pro-Roman Graeco-Arab agitator (from Nabatea - in fact around Petra - the family has and continues to make a fortune in trade from the East) - becomes a councillor of Hyrcanus - Antipas persuades Hyrcanus that he is in danger from his brother and to call upon Pompey who is in the area fighting the Parthians (great-granduncle Jonathan had made a treaty of friendship with the Roman Republic)
- Pompey defeats Mithridates VI (who then commits suicide) and enters Palestine - Josephus claims that Hrycanus is the eldest son and should have had the throne but when Salome becomes ill, 2nd son Aristobulus grabs the throne before she dies - not true but makes a call for help from the ?'legitimate' heir seem, well - legitimate
- 63 BCE - 97 years after Jonathan makes himself Ethnarch of Judaea - Pompey besieges & takes Jerusalem - makes Judaea part of the Roman province of Syria - deposes Aristobulus and sets Hyrcanus on the throne as a puppet-ruler with Antipater as first Procurator of Judaea

Hyrcanus II, High Priest and King of Judaea [63 - 40 BCE ] - 2nd son of Alexander Jannaeus
- Antipater is the real ruler in Judea backed by Roman army - aids Pompey vs. Julius Caesar - Pompey makes eldest son, Herod, Governor of Galilee in 47 BCE - Pompey goes to Egypt & is promptly assassinated - Antipater then courts Julius Caesar and helps him vs. his enemies in the East and is given Roman citizenship, citizenship for his male heirs in perpetuity (some Roman citizenship given for service is only for the lifetime of the recipient), and exemption from taxes
- 49 BCE - intrigue on the part of the deposed Aristobulus that includes the murder of Antipater's brother, Phalion - Antipater later gets Cassius & Brutus to have him poisoned
- 46 BCE - Gaius Julius Caesar named ?'Imperator' (Emperor) for life
- 44 BCE - Julius Caesar is assassinated by a conspiracy of Roman Senators - Antipater backs his murderers (!) Cassius & Brutus vs. Mark Antony & Octavius Caesar
- 43 BCE - Antipater dies - Josephus claims he is poisoned by an old enemy but very likely he's killed by his son, Herod (who is backing Mark Antony & Octavius) - Herod then kills Hyrcanus II saying he's responsible for his father's death - Antigonus, son of Aristobulus II, calls in the Parthians and they kick out the Romans & make him King
- 40 BCE - Herod flees to Rome and when the Romans hear about the Parthian takeover, they name him King of Judaea, a new satellite kingdom to be ruled by Rome

Antigonus II, High Priest and Ethnarch of Judaea [40 - 37 BCE] - 1st son of Aristobulus II
- made King & High Priest by Sadducee-dominated Senhedrin (Council of Priests)
- 37 BCE - Herod arrives in Judaea with an army supplied by Mark Antony and, with an execution order signed by Mark Antony, has Antigonus killed as well as brother, Alexander

Herod the Great, King of Judea [37 - 4 BCE] - 1st son of Antipater, Roman Procurator of Judea

- marries Alexander's daughter, Miriamme, the last Maccabaean princess to legitimize his rule - has 2 sons by her and sends them to Rome to be educated, and in the Roman custom, to act as hostages - makes his wife's brother, Jonathan, High Priest at age 13, but has him drowned the next year
- 29 BCE - Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, called Augustus becomes Emperor [29 BCE - 14 CE] - nephew and adopted son who was 18 years old at Julius Caesar's assassination - Herod, who backed Octavius vs. Mark Antony & Cleopatra in Roman Civil War, is made! - has eliminated all resistance to his rule and so accuses his Maccabaean wife, Miriamme, of adultery with his uncle, Joseph (married to his sister, Salome) - has them both murdered
- 27 BCE - kills off the Sadducee-dominated Senhedrin & appoints Pharisees in their places - this sets off endless succession of revolts as the government & the official Temple priesthood are now total Roman collaborators
- 7 BCE - beheads his 2 sons by Miriamme, Alexander & Aristobulus for conspiring to take the throne - did kill all the Jewish children who sought to replace him - but his own Jewish children with Maccabaean blood (they were actually grown men and fathers of their own children) not a massacre of the Innocents as goes down in Christian doctrine!
- we come to the founding of "the fourth Jewish sect" by Judas of Gamala - called ?'Zealots' - a political/ religious faction - would be considered today as be fundamentalist terrorists - militant, fanatical, revolutionary, xenophobic, and messianic - hard-line reactionaries - goal is to throw out Romans, re-establish a ?'new' orthodox Mosaic Law, re-instate the ?'true' High-Priest, and put a ?'true' King on the throne - their hit-squad of assassins are the dread Sicarii (for the curved Arabian daggers or sicae they carried under their robes) who lead guerrilla warfare and acts of violence and sabotage and assassination vs. Romans and especially against Jewish collaborators
- Judas of Gamala sees himself as the spiritual descendant of Judas Maccabaeus - whips up public demand for a ?'real' high-priest to be installed - launches revolt accompanied by a priest called ?'Sadduc' or ?'Zadok'- the hellenization of the Hebrew, Zaddik, or ?'Righteous One' and who was supposedly the High-Priest under David - in reality the head of a fanatic group of Chasidim who fought with Judas Maccabaeus - Zealots also called ?'Zadokites' or ?'Sons of Zadok' - all part of a religious group who call themselves the Covenanters
- ?'Rebel Alliance' vs. the ?'Evil Empire' - Judas of Gamala, Zaddik, & the Zealots + Sadducees + common Jewish people and some of the nobility vs. Herodian Kings and most of the nobility + the Romans + the Pharisees (the Temple priesthood and the Rabbis)
- 4 BCE - Herod dies and all hell breaks loose
- Jewish Kingship and High-Priesthood of the Temple - parallel lines - priests must be descended from Aaron and the King must come from the ?'House of David' - (both of these descents are mythical and so can be doctored at will) - both are anointed and called ?'Anointed Ones' in the Bible - in Hebrew ?'Anointed One' is ?'Messiah' - hence Israel has two ?'Messiahs' - in Greek the ?'Anointed One' is the ?'Christos' or ?'Christ' - obvious from Josephus that Zaddik claimed to be the priestly Messiah descended from Aaron and that Judas claimed to be the secular Messiah descended from David
- Herod was not ?'Jewish' by religion or by blood but of Graeco-Arab descent - so in no way could he ever be the ?'real' King of Judaea or the High Priest - by Mosaic law if mother is Jewish then children are Jewish - Herod had only 2 Jewish wives - Miriamme, the Maccabaean princess and another Miriamme (just to be completely confusing) the daughter of Boethus, the High Priest from Egypt appointed by Herod - Herod has his Maccabaean sons killed (but their sons are ?'legit') - so only ?'legit' son according to Mosaic Law is Herod (called ?'Philip' in the Gospels!) but he's dead
- Judaea divided up after Herod's death
- ½ to 1st son Archelaus - Ethnarch of Judaea
- ¼ to 2nd son Philip - Tetrarch of Trachonitus and Batanea
- ¼ to 3rd son Antipas - Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea
- other 4 sons are all dead by unknown causes or murdered by Herod

Archelaus, Ethnarch of Judaea [4 BCE - 7 CE], 1st son of Herod the Great - dies childless
= marries Miriamme (4), his niece, d. of Aristobulus

- 4 BCE - Judas, Zadok, and followers raid the armoury at Sepphoris (Sepphoria) in Galilee - attack and burn down Herod's palace at Jericho and begin years of incessant guerrilla warfare and terrorist activity - pro- Roman/Herodian nobility live part of the year in palaces in the cooler foothills - Zealots raid at night, kill everyone, loot, burn, then disappear - perfect guerrilla/terrorist tactics - difference between a guerrilla/freedom fighter and a terrorist? - the guerrilla/freedom fighter wins! - the Romans retaliate with hundreds of crucifixions (the standard judicial punishment for treason & sedition)
- 6 CE - Rome makes Judaea a separate province from Syria & sends Coponius (or Cyrenius) as Roman Governor - he calls for a census for taxation purposes - opposed by Judas of Gamala and the Zealots - supported by the Pharisees (and the Gospel Jesus - the ?'render unto Caesar' passage! [how can Jesus support the census if only six years old? Oh, wait! According to this other Gospel Jesus was born during the census! Oh, you mean, six years after this third gospel says he was born, and ten years after this fourth gospel says he was born?) - the Taxation Uprising - the likely date for the death of Judas of Gamala as he's not mentioned after the census - this causes the removal of Archelaus by the Romans and his banishment to province of Vienne in Southern Gaul

Philip, called Antipater by Josephus, 2nd son of Herod the Great - Tetrarch of Trachonitus and Batanea, [4 BCE - 34 CE] - Ethnarch of Judaea [7 CE - 34 CE] - dies childless
= marries Salome, his niece, d. of Herod, called ?'Philip' in the Gospels

- Judaea remains in a state of constant agitation so the Romans impose direct rule through the governors who are answerable only to the Emperor (until the rule of Agrippa)
- 14 CE - Tiberius becomes Roman Emperor [14 - 37 CE] - made Augustus' successor when all other male members of his direct line are dead - worships Apollo as the Sun
- 18 or 19 CE banishes Jews from Rome for fraudulent fundraising practices (at least this is the stated reason)
- 26 CE - Pontius Pilate, Roman Governor (may have become Governor in 18 CE) until 37 CE - then no Roman Governor until 44 CE - so 18 CE may be considered the earliest possible date of the Crucifixion

Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea King of Judaea [4 BCE - 37 CE], Ethnarch of Judea [34 CE - 37 CE] (called ?'Herod the Tetrarch' in the Gospels)
= marries Herodias, his niece, d. of Aristobulus
1. Salome ?'of the Seven Veils'

- Pontius Pilate still rules as Governor of Judaea and answerable to no one but the Emperor until the end of the reign
- 35 or 36 CE - John ?'the Baptist' is beheaded after being captured along with son Joshua in a Roman raid - this is also the most likely date for the Crucifixion (more later)
- 37 CE - Gaius Tiberius Caesar, called Caligula, becomes Roman Emperor [37 - 41 CE] - youngest son of Tiberius' brother, Germanicus, & Tiberius' adopted son - has Julius Caesar & Augustus deified - eventually makes himself the supreme God - removes Antipas' territories and gives them to his good friend, Agrippa, thus making him King of Judaea - Antipas and his wife, Herodias, are banished to Spain & Pontius Pilate is recalled to Rome - Herod will now govern alone

Agrippa I, King of Judaea [37 - 44 CE], called ?'Herod Agrippa', 1st son of Aristobulus, grandson of Herod the Great & the Maccabaean princess Miriamme - finally a king with acceptable Jewish blood BUT the son of an incestuous marriage
= marries Cypros (not too sure who she is)
1. Bernice
2. Agrippa II
3. Miriamme
4. Drusilla

- 39 CE - Caligula has a statue of himself as a god put into the Holy of Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem - as Agrippa allows this he becomes the most hated target of the Zealots - the unrest worsens - Messianic furore grips Judaea - ?' true' Kings and High-Priests coming out of the woodwork - anyone can claim to be the Messiah and gain a following (or claim to personally know the Messiah and gain a following) - a dime a dozen and all of them causing political upheaval - Romans see all of them as Zealots and enemies of Rome so executes any of the ?'Messiahs' they can find
- 41 CE - Caligula is assassinated by the Praetorian Guard - Caligula's uncle, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, called Claudius, made Emperor by the Praetorian Guard [41 -54 CE]
- 44 CE - Agrippa dies under suspicious circumstances - may have been assassinated by the Sicarii and it was kept quiet, or may have been poisoned by almost anyone!

Herod of Chalcis, King of Chalcis and Judaea [44 - 49 CE] 2nd son of Aristobulus
= 1st marries Miriamme
1. Aristobulus V (called Jonathan)
= 2nd marries Bernice, his niece, d. of Agrippa I

- 44 CE - Rome again sends a new Roman Governor - Fadus - Josephus mentions John of Gischala, Eleazor the Zealot, and Simon of Gioras as ?'bandits' who conduct a three sided, three-pronged civil war against the wealthy Jewish collaborators, the Romans, and each other - these are most likely individual bands of Zealots
- 45 CE - beheading (a Herodian execution for insurrection) of one of these ?'Messiahs'- ?'Theudas the Egyptian' - led thousands into the wilderness and claimed he could walk dry shod over the Jordan river like Joshua (hence Jesus shown walking on water) - the beheading indicates a ?'personal' vendetta on the part of Herod - Emperor Claudius banishes the Jews from Rome because they are "at the instigation of ?'Chrestus' [Christos, the family of Judas, John, & Jacob], repeatedly rioting"
- 47 CE - Two Zealot leaders Simon and Jacob/John are captured and crucified by the Romans (supposedly sons of Judas of Gamala, but if so then they're in their 70s, much more like 'sons' meaning descendant, and they are grandsons of Judas through his second son)

Agrippa II, King of Judaea [49 - 93 CE]; King of Galilee [54 - 68 CE]

- 54 CE - Claudius is poisoned by his wife Agrippina after adopting her son as his heir - Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, called Nero [54 - 68 CE] becomes Roman Emperor
- 55 CE - Jonathan, the High-Priest of the Temple in Jerusalem is assassinated by the Sicarii
- 62 CE - Jacob, the ?'true' High Priest of the Zealots and the Covenanters (and therefore most of the common people) is killed - this blows the lid off Judaea
- 64 CE - Jerusalem barred to Romans and the whole province going up in flames - speaking of flames - the Burning of Rome in July - Nero blames it on ?'followers of Chrestus' and begins the first persecution - Agrippa flees to Antioch in Syria
- 66 CE - ?'official' date of the 1st Jewish Uprising or Revolt (which has been going on for some time you might note) - Roman army led by Vespasian approaches Palestine - just before Romans enter Judaea, Menahem, another ?'son of Judas' successfully takes the Roman fortress (and armoury) of Masada & then attacks Jerusalem - Roman garrison surrenders and are massacred
- 67 CE - Roman army advances on Gamala, original home of Judas & his sons - 4,000 Jews die trying to defend the town and when they fail, 5,000 more of them commit suicide (this is backed up by Roman records & archaeology) - Zealots believe this to be a martyr's death to be rewarded in Heaven
- 69 CE - Nero assassinated - Servius Sulpicius Galba, called Galba, becomes Roman Emperor but he is soon murdered and Marcus Salvas Ortho, called Ortho, is made Roman Emperor, then Aulus Vitellius, called Vitellius
- meanwhile - Vespasian reduces Galilee (centre of Zealots), marches into Judaea, lays siege to Jerusalem - the leader of the Rabbis (who are Pharisees one and all) is Rabbi Yohanan ben Zacchai who goes to Vespasian and tells him that he is the ?'Star' who will come out of Palestine and rule the world as foretold in the ?'Star Prophesy' (Josephus claims he did this) - we know what the Romans do to people claiming to be Messiahs - days later word comes that Titus Flavius Vespasianus, called Vespasian, has been made Emperor and he returns to Rome leaving his son, Titus, to finish the job - again and again (according to Josephus) Titus offers generous terms and is turned down - siege lasts 8 months and by the time the Romans take it they'd had enough - burn the Temple and loot the city - thousands slaughtered or enslaved - a guess of 3 - 4 million Jews killed throughout the Roman Empire for the period 60 - 80 CE is probably not inflated at all - this makes the 1st Jewish Uprising an event equivalent to the Holocaust
- 70 CE - Josephus writes the "History of the Jewish Wars" and is made a member of the Flavian family (Vespasian's family) as a reward - Rabbis become the Roman tax collectors - Rabbi Yohanan is given the synagogue at Yavneh where he lays the foundations of what will become Rabbinic Judaism - Vespasian decrees that no ?'Zealots' are allowed to live in Judaea - this is usually considered to be the Diaspora but wrong - Jews not scattered as most history books say - only the Zealots who escape to Jewish communities in major cities of the Empire - in Alexandria they attempt to mobilise the Jewish population - but too Romanised and want only to live in peace - 600 men, women, and children are handed over to the Romans who torture them supposedly to make them worship the Emperor as a god
- 74 CE - Masada is besieged and falls - last known commander is said to be Eleazar, also a descendent of Judas of Gamala - defenders supposedly kill themselves BUT archaeology throws doubt on whether this suicide actually happened - likely defenders of Masada vanished over the walls - probably accounts got ?'blended'- combination of the taking Masada from the Romans (a political & military victory) and the suicide at Gamala (a moral victory) because they made a better story - the heroes of Masada could then become martyrs of the cause as well
- 79 CE - Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus, called Titus, Vespasian's 1st son becomes Roman Emperor
- 81 CE - Titus (who has refused to marry his mistress, Herodian princess, Bernice) dies in suspicious circumstances - his brother, Titus Flavius Domitianus, called Domitian, Vespasian's 2nd son, becomes Roman Emperor
- 93 CE - Agrippa II, King of Judaea dies in exile in Rome

Aristobulus V (son of Herod of Chalcis), Agrippa III (2nd son of Aristobulus V), and AristobulusVI (3rd son of Aristobulus V) - all called Kings of Judaea but lived in luxury in Rome hoping the Romans will finally put down the rebellious Jews and they can return - none of them ever sets foot in Judaea

- 95 CE - Domitian executes his secretary, Epaphroditus, who'd also been Nero's secretary (Josephus' publisher and a close associate of Paul's), described by many as a ?'follower of the Christos' - Josephus himself vanishes and it's possible he too is killed
- 96 CE - Marcus Cocceius Nerva, called Nerva, becomes Roman Emperor
- 98 CE - Marcus Ulpius Traianus, called Trajan, becomes Roman Emperor
- 111 - 115 CE - the entire Jewish population of Egypt - a million to a million and a half people are killed on the orders of Trajan (archaeological evidence from monumental a find of papyrus)
- 117 CE - Judaea revolts - put down by Trajan - dies returning to Rome & Publius Aelius Hadrianus, called Hadrian, becomes Emperor
- 132 CE - 2nd Jewish Revolt led by charismatic Messianic figure of Shim?'on or Simeon bar Kochba called the "Son of the Star" - the same "Star of Jacob" foretold in Numbers 24:17 - "a star shall come forth out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel" - this time very well organized - set up stores of weapons & supplies and careful planning - campaign based on hit-and-run tactics - construction of vast underground tunnels and networks in cities - from there lead raids that just disappear into thin air - hire mercenaries from all over and recruit from foreign Jewish communities - in first year destroy one complete Roman legion and probably a second - Romans effectively thrown out of Palestine - Jerusalem is recaptured
- within a hair's breadth of success - expected opposition from Rome and had made treaties with Parthians for aid - Hadrian arrives with an army of 12 legions (that's basically half the entire Roman army!) in a two-pronged attack - Persians are attacked by northern nomadic tribes [proto-Huns!] and can't come and help as promised
- 135 CE - Simeon eventually cornered and makes his last stand at Battir a few miles west of Jerusalem - captured and crucified
- Hadrian then completely destroys the Temple - no Jew can come within sight of Jerusalem and must leave Judaea - the' Diaspora' - end of Temple Judaism or Judaism of the Priesthood - priests outlawed, hunted down, and exterminated - but surely not the ones that supported the Romans?
- beginnings of Rabbinic Judaism - sacred writings scattered and many are lost - have to be collected from what is saved - total rejection of Zoroastrian eschatology - total rejection of anything even hinting at political rebellion or a Messiah

The Asmodean Dynasty

Jonathan, High Priest and Ethnarch of Judaea [160 - 142 BCE] - 2nd son of Mattathias - murdered
Simon, High Priest and Ethnarch of Judaea [142 - 134 BCE] - 3rd son of Mattathias - assassinated by son-in-law
1. John Hyrcanus
John Hyrcanus, High Priest and Ethnarch of Judaea [134 - 104 BCE] - 3rd & only surviving son of Simon
1. Aristobulus
2. Antigonus - died 103 BCE - murdered by brother John
3. Alexander Jannaeus
4. unknown son - murdered by brother Alexander
5. unknown son - murdered by brother Alexander
Aristobulus I, High Priest and Ethnarch of Judaea [104 - 103 BCE] - 1st son of John Hyrcanus
Alexander Jannaeus, High Priest and Ethnarch of Judaea [103 - 76 BCE] - 3rd son of John Hyrcanus
= marries Salome Alexandra
1. Aristobulus
2. Hyrcanus, High Priest 76 - 67 BCE
Salome Alexandra, Queen [76 - 67 BCE] - wife of Alexander Jannaeus
Aristobulus II, High Priest and Ethnarch of Judaea [67 - 63 BCE] - 1st son of Alexander Jannaeus & Salome Alexandra;
poisoned by Cassius and Brutus 49 BCE
1. Antigonus
2. Alexander; ordered executed by Mark Antony, 40 BCE
= Salome Alexandra*
1. Miriamme
2. Jonathan or Aristobulus III, High Priest; drowned by order of Herod, 36 BCE
Hyrcanus II, High Priest and Ethnarch of Judaea [63 - 40 BCE] - 2nd son of Alexander Jannaeus & Salome Alexandra;
executed by Herod the Great 40 BCE
1. Salome Alexandra*; executed by Herod, 28 BCE
Antigonus II, High Priest and Ethnarch of Judaea [40 - 37 BCE] - 1st son of Aristobulus II; executed by Mark Antony at
Herod's insistence, 37 BCE

FURTHER READING:

The Jewish War - Joseph ben Matthias or Flavius Josephus
Antiquities of the Jews - Joseph ben Matthias or Flavius Josephus
Life - Joseph ben Matthias or Flavius Josephus

Appendix A: The Herodian Kings, Ethnarchs, or Tetrarchs

Antipas the Idumaean

= marries?
1. Antipater, Roman Procurator of Judea
2. Phalion, murdered by Aristobulus II
2. Joseph, executed by Herod the Great after rumoured adultery with his wife Miriamme** 29 BCE
= marries Salome (1), his niece, sister of Herod the Great

Antipater, the Roman Procurator of Judea
- under nominal kingship of Hyrcanus II but he is in fact the real ruler - Josephus claims he was poisoned by an old enemy

= marries Cypros
1. Herod the Great
2. Phasael - Josephus gives him a heroic death defying the invading Parthians
3. Pheroras (Josephus confusingly calls him ?'Joseph')
4. Salome (1)
= 1st marries Joseph, her uncle, son of Antipas the Idumaean
= 2nd marries Helcias (1), Temple Treasurer
= his 2nd wife
1. Helcias (2) Temple Treasurer [Saul's uncle]
= marries unnamed d. of Herod the Great [Saul's aunt]
1. Helcias (3), Temple Treasurer [Saul's 1st cousin & brother-in-law]
= marries Cypros, [Saul's sister]
1. Julius Archelaus - [Saul's nephew] [Acts 23:16]
= marries Mariamme, d. of Agrippa I
2. Antipas, Temple Treasurer executed by the Zealots 68 CE

Herod the Great, Roman King of Judea [37 BCE - 4 BCE] [Saul's grandfather]

= marries Cleopatra, a Greek?
2. Philip, Tetrarch of Trachonitus and Batanea, called Antipater by Josephus [4 BCE - 34 CE] [Saul's uncle]

= marries Malthace, a Samaritan
1. Archelaus, Ethnarch of Judea [4 BCE - 7 CE] [Saul's uncle]
3. Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea [4 BCE - 39 CE] [Saul's uncle]

= marries Miriamme (1), d. of Boethus, High Priest from Egypt
4. Herod, erroneously called ?'Philip' in the Gospels [Saul's uncle]
= marries Herodias*, his niece, d. of Aristobulus (4) [Saul's 1st cousin]
1. Salome (2) - of the ?'Dance of the Seven Veils' fame [Saul's 1st & 2nd cousin]
= 1st marries Philip, Tetrarch of Trachonitus and Batanea - her uncle
= 2nd marries Aristobulus (Jonathan)V, son of Herod (3), King of Chalcis
= marries Miriamme (2), Maccabaean Princess, executed by Herod for adultery with his uncle, Joseph** 29 BCE
5. Alexander (3) - brought up in Rome - executed by his father, Herod [Saul's uncle]
= marries d. of King of Cappadocia
1. Alexander (4) [Saul's 1st cousin]
1. Tigranes II, King of Armenia
1. Alexander, King of Cilicia
= Jotape, d. of Antiochus, King of Commagene
2. Tigranes I, King of Armenia [Saul's 1st cousin]
6. Aristobulus (4) - brought up in Rome - executed by his father, Herod [Saul's uncle]
= marries Bernice* (1), his half-sister!, d. of Herod & Costobarus [Saul's aunt]
1. Agrippa I [Saul's 1st cousin]
2. Herodias* [Saul's 1st cousin]
3. Miriamme (4) [Saul's 1st cousin]
4. Herod of Chalcis (Claudius' friend, Herod Agrippa) [Saul's 1st cousin]

= marries Costobarus, an Idumaean
7. Bernice* (1) [Saul's aunt]
= marries Aristobulus, her half-brother! (this is incest even by Mosaic Law)
8. Antipater [Saul's father]
= marries Cypros (2)
1. Costobarus (2) [Saul's brother]
2. Saul
3. Cyros (3) [Saul's sister]
= Helcias (3), Temple Treasurer, [Saul's 1st cousin & brother-in-law]
1. Julius Archelaus - [Saul's nephew] [Acts 23:16]
= Mariamme (5), d. of Agrippa I [Saul's 2nd cousin]
9. unnamed daughter [Saul's aunt]
= marries Helcias (2) Temple Treasurer [Saul's uncle]

Archelaus, Ethnarch of Judaea [4 BCE - 7 CE] [Saul's uncle] - banished to Vienne in S. France & dies childless?

= marries Miriamme (4), his niece, d. of Aristobulus (4) [Saul's 1st cousin]

Philip, Tetrarch of Trachonitus and Batanea, called Antipater by Josephus [4 BCE - 34 CE], Ethnarch of Judaea [7 CE - 34 CE] [Saul's uncle] - dies childless

= marries Salome (2), his niece, d. of Herod called ?'Philip' in the Gospels [Saul's 1st & 2nd cousin]

Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea [4 BCE - 37 CE], Ethnarch of Judea [34 CE - 37 CE] (called ?'Herod the Tetrarch' in the Gospels) [Saul's uncle] - banished to Spain with Herodias in 39 CE by order of Caligula

= marries Herodias*, his niece, d. of Aristobulus (4) [Saul's 1st cousin]
1. Salome (2) [Saul's 1st & 2nd cousin]
= 1st marries Philip, Tetrarch of Trachonitis and Batanea, her uncle
= 2nd marries Aristobulus V, son of Herod of Chalcis

Agrippa I, King of Judaea [37 - 44 CE], son of Aristobulus, grandson of Herod the Great & the Maccabaean princess Miriamme, [Saul's 1st cousin] - dies under suspicious circumstances - probably poisoned

= marries Cypros (4)
1. Bernice (2) [Saul's 2nd cousin]
= 1st marries Marcus Alexander son of Alabarch of Alexandria; brother of Tiberius Alexander the Roman Governor
46 - 48 CE; Philo's nephew
= 2nd marries Herod of Chalcis, her uncle
l mistress of Titus, son of Emperor Vespasian who refuses to marry her in 79 CE before he succeeds his
father as Emperor
= 3rd marries Polemo, King of Cilicia
2. Agrippa II [Saul's 2nd cousin]
3. Miriamme (5) [Saul's 2nd cousin]
= 1st marries Julius Archelaus, [Saul's nephew]
= 2nd marries Demetrius, Alabarch and richest man in Alexandria
4. Drusilla [Saul's 1st cousin]
= 1st marries Azizus, King of Emesa in Syria
= 2nd marries Felix, Roman Governor of Judea 52 - 60 CE
- Antonius Agrippa, dies in the eruption of Vesuvius 79 CE

Herod of Chalcis, King of Chalcis and Judaea [44 - 49 CE] (Claudius' friend, Herod Agrippa) [Saul's 1st cousin]

= 1st marries Miriamme (3)
1. Aristobulus (Jonathan)V [Saul's 2nd cousin]
= marries Salome (2), his 2nd cousin
- Herod (4) called Herodion
- Agrippa III
- Aristobulus (Jonathan)VI

= 2nd marries Bernice (2) his niece, d. of Agrippa I & mistress of Titus

Agrippa II, King of Judaea [49 - 93 CE]; King of Galilee [54 - 68 CE] [Saul's 2nd cousin] dies in Rome 93 CE

Aristobulus V (son of Herod of Chalcis), Agrippa III (2nd son of Aristobulus V), and AristobulusVI (3rd son of Aristobulus V) and perhaps more! - all called Kings of Judaea but lived in luxury in Rome hoping the Romans would finally put down the rebellious Jews and re-instate them on their thrones - none of them ever set foot in Judaea


Appendix B: Roman Governors of Judaea

55 - 43 BCE - Antipater (Herod's father), Procurator
6 - 9 CE - Coponius or Cyrenius
9 - 12 CE - Ambivulus
12 - 15 CE - Rufus
15 - 26 CE (or perhaps 15 - 18 CE) - Valerius Gratus
26 - 37 CE (or perhaps 18 - 37 CE) - Pontius Pilate
44 - 46 CE - Fadus
46 - 48 CE - Tiberius Alexander; brother of Marcus Alexander, 1st husband of Bernice (2)
48 - 52 CE - Cumanus
52 - 60 CE - Felix - married to Drusilla, d. of Agrippa I, sister of Agrippa II, niece of Herod of Chalcis
60 - 62 CE - Festus
62 - 64 CE - Albinus
64 - 66 CE - Florus

Look away, theologians, look away, look away!
Um, yeah, don't kill me...

#7 - The Origins of Christianity
© Mistress Rowenna de Ronçesvalles (Elizabeth A. Rowe) March, 2003

The Covenanters

- traditional view - supposedly pacifistic, non-political, vegetarian, white-robed - called the Essenes which means ?'Holy Ones' and was a name used by outsiders to describe the cult - called themselves the Covenanters, or the ?'Sons (followers) of Zadok' - Zadok being ?'the Righteous One' - hence ?'Zadokites'
- about 100 BCE - an anonymous Teacher grafts some of the ideas of the Orphic- Pythagoreans onto Judaism and composes the Book of Enoch and the Manual of Discipline - rejects the blood sacrifice of Temple Judaism BUT never surrenders the discipline of the Mosaic Law nor does he give up any of the Jewish scriptures - believes Abraham's original agreement with God has been broken by the Temple priesthood who have allowed heathen idols to be worshipped in the Temple - Therefore God then has allowed the Greeks, and later the Romans, to take Palestine
- Covenanters have established a ?'new' Law and a ?'new Covenant' with God - the Maccabaeans had retaken Judaea from the Greeks but then the Romans invaded & it's the same thing all over - depicted as some weird Jewish cult far removed from mainstream Judaism BUT in fact seen by the majority of the Jews as the ?'real' and ?'legitimate' Judaism
- during the reign of Herod the Great they form the ?'Zealots' & actively participate in acts of terrorism vs. the Romans, the Herodian government, and any Jew they consider a collaborator - two components - the Sicarii who are provocateurs, saboteurs, terrorists, and assassins - and the religious ?'army' called the Nazrim or Nazareans [this is where all this Jesus the Nazarene comes from - not a geographic designation - not from Nazareth which doesn't exist yet]
- political/religious stance:
- opposition to ?'foreign' kings which most certainly includes the Herodians
- opposition to ?'foreign' appointments of the High Priests
- opposition to the receipt of gifts or sacrifices in the Temple from, or on the behalf of, ?'foreigners'
- opposition to the ?'pollution of the Temple' i.e. statues of foreign gods & Emperors placed in the Temple for worship
- opposition to ?'fornication' i.e. unlawful marriage practices - divorce, polygamy, & incest which includes marriage between uncles & nieces, and between 1st & even 2nd cousins none of which is against the original Mosaic Law and all practised by the Herodians - but not the Covenanters
- 3 levels of Covenanters - the ?'Nazarites' or ?'Rechabites' who form the priesthood, the ?'Holy Ones' or ?'Essenes', and the regular believers (according to Josephus these are the "second order of Essenes who marry")

The ?'Holy Ones'

- celibate religious communities - although Jewish priests had always married, those in the communities are ?'on retreat' and celibate as long as they are there - can leave and have or rejoin their family and return whenever they wish [a classic ?'have your cake and eat it too' situation]
- rejection of wealth and private property - live in communities and hold all possessions in common like the thasoi - easily done since most are poor anyway - the wealthy support the Herodian party
- 3 year period of probation before being admitted to the community
- bathe & pray before dawn, work for 5 hours, then bathe and don clean clothes made of white linen [like the thasoi] - after this they assemble in a communal room and eat a meal - not vegetarians as some state but followers of Jewish dietary laws to the absolute letter - study & pray again, then eat and bathe and pray again before sleep
- extreme ideas of ?'purity' - 3 daily baths or lustrations, eating, association - the thought of entering a tavern and sitting down with Gentiles and eating their ?'unclean' food would give any Covenanter fits of religious horror - the very air breathed out by Gentiles is ?'unclean' - the shadow of a Gentile falling upon you makes you ritually ?'impure' (and how Brahman is this!) - hence the reason for the extreme isolation of the ?'Holy Ones' - preferably out in the desert


The Nazarites or Rechabites

- an even more extreme group from which the priests are chosen - life-long celibacy, vegetarian, will not drink wine, hair can never be cut (which was done in penance for breaking an oath) showing he'd never broken and can never break an oath, no anointing with oil, nor going to the public baths (but only the purifying lustrations) and no garments of wool only linen
- not only vegetarian but a total aversion to blood - seen as the most polluting and unclean of substances - anything that might have been touched by blood is ?'unclean' - the idea of blood as a sacrament is horrifying to one of these and would be greeted with extreme revulsion

Covenanter Documents - used by the so-called ?'Judaic' Christians - the ?'Dead Sea Scrolls'

The Book of Enoch - (c. 100 BCE) - original Covenanter document
The Manual of Discipline - (c. 100 BCE) - original Covenanter document
The Habakkuh Commentary - (c. 50 - 60 CE) - against ?'the Liar' who secedes, breaks with the New Covenant, and ceases to adhere to the Mosaic Law, ie. Saul/Paul
The War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness - (c. 50 - 60 CE)
The Damascus Document - (c. 50 - 60 CE) - mentions ?'the Liar'
The ?'War Scroll' - (6 - 66 CE) - written after Roman occupation of Judaea but before the 1st Jewish War
The ?'Temple Scroll' - (c. 37 BCE - 60 CE) - written under the Herodian Kings

The ?'Holy Bloodline' - the family of Zaddik

Problems: - ?'son of ' could just meant ?'descendent of ' - hellenized or Herodian names are very unpopular amongst the Covenanters and the Zealots and I suspect most of them have taken other, more Hebrew, ?'revolutionary' names (also makes it harder for the Romans to identify them) - the change of names with language from Aramaic to Greek to Latin can make you think one person is, in fact, several

Zaddik, the ?'Righteous One' - the religious leader of the Covenanters and the ?'true' High Priest, also called 'Zadok' - I believe he has 2 children (before he becomes the celibate High Priest of course) - a son named John and a daughter named Miriamme
- John - the son of Zaddik - becomes the religious leader of the Zealots, fighting in the wilderness, converting the people and the fighters, and baptizing them in the rivers - a lustration or an act of ritual bodily purification signifying a spiritual purification and symbolizing their ?'rebirth' as Covenanters
- Miriamme - more about her later

The ?'Royal Bloodline' - the family of Judas of Gamala

Judas of Gamala - co-founds the ?'Zealots' with Zaddik, the ?'Righteous One' - of the ?'House of David' and so the ?'true' King of Judaea - that's what gives him the legitimacy and the huge support from the people - upon the death of Herod in 4 BCE he raids the armoury at Sepphoria and then burns down Herod's palace in Galilee - he is said to have died shortly after this or at the time of the Taxation Uprising - the cause is then led by his 2 sons (supposedly the Simon & Jacob, who must have been grown men in their 30's to have taken over, but are recorded as being captured and crucified by the Romans in c. 47 CE, which would have them in their 70's, which is possible, just not very likely) - I believe his two sons are - Judas the Galilean and Simon the Zealot
- Simon the Zealot - the 2nd son of Judas of Gamala - this is my name for him and he's wholly conjectural on my part - but I think he's the crucial ?'uncle' who is often mentioned - I believe he has 3 sons
- John (or Jacob) of Gischala, Simon of Gioras, and Eleazar the Zealot - the 3 sons of ?'Simon the Zealot' - the grandsons of Judas of Gamala - described by Josephus as ?'bandits' conducting a three sided, three-pronged civil war - conducting raids against the wealthy Jewish collaborators, the Romans, and each other - each one likely to have a band of guerrilla fighters that does indeed carry out a three-pronged attack on wealthy Jewish collaborators and the Romans - the rest is Josephus' self-serving propaganda - I believe that these are the 2 ?'sons of Judas' (but not Judas of Gamala) that are captured and crucified c. 47 CE

Menahem - mentioned as the one who leads the attack on Masada and one of the leaders of the 1st Jewish Revolt - likeliest to have been a grandson of ?'Simon the Zealot' but definitely a great-grandson of Judas of Gamala - Josephus calls him a rabbi (which are Pharisees so this is unlikely) but if he means ?'a teacher' he may very likely have been a Covenanter ?'teacher'- Josephus tells of his death by torture (which is possible if caught by the Romans) and stoning but his assertion that this is done by ?'the people' is propaganda
Eleazar - mentioned as the last commander of Masada who supposedly exhorts them to commit suicide - no idea whose son he might have been but definitely another grandson or great-grandson of Judas of Gamala - Josephus says he is the ?'son of Jairus' and related to Menahem

The ?'Royal Family' - of Judas the Galilean

Judas the Galilean - the eldest son of Judas of Gamala - called Cleophas (also Clopas, Cleopas, Alphaeus) - Josephus has him founding the Zealots around the time of the Census of Cyrenius (Coponius) in 6 - 7 CE (around the time of Jesus' supposed birth) - the confusion is caused because this Judas is the 1st son of Judas of Gamala, founder - the ?'true' King of Judaea - he has 4 sons
Miriamme - daughter of Zaddik and the sister of John, the next ?'true' High Priest - marries Cleophas or Judas the Galilean, the ?'true' King of Judaea - so this makes her the ?'true' Queen of Judaea - the line of ?'true' High Priests comes through her after her father, Zaddik, dies and her brother, John, is killed without heirs
- Jacob - son # 1 - considered by the Zealots, the Covenanters, and probably most of the Jews of Judaea to be the ?'true' High Priest - him and his siblings called 'The Christos', meaning 'Annointed Ones' - stoned to death by the Herodian High-Priest - his death is the direct cause of the 1st Jewish Revolt
- Simon - son # 2 - called Simon the Canaanite, Simon the Zealot, Simeon bar Cleophas (son of Cleophas) - the leader of the Zealots who is considered the ?'true' King of Judaea after his father - when his brother, Jacob, is stoned he becomes the next ?'true' High Priest - likeliest guess is that he is killed, or commits suicide, or is captured and crucified in 67 CE when the Roman army razes Gamala - I believe he has a son, Cleophas bar Simon, who takes over the leadership of the Zealots - and he has a son, another Simon bar Cleophas about whom Hegesippus says: ?'Simon son of Clopas was crucified under Trajan at the age of a hundred and twenty'. This would have been in the year 106 - 107 CE
- Judas - son # 3 - called Judas the Zealot, Judas Thomas and Didymus - both the Aramaic ?'Thoma' and the Greek ?'Didymus' imply that he is a twin brother but of Simon or Joshua? - most likely to have actually been the ?'Theuda the Egyptian' (noted for their magi and astrologers) who is beheaded in 45 CE by the Herodians for sedition
- Joshua - son # 4 - a reference in Josephus from a very early copy in Old Russian (and not found in others) portraying him as a revolutionary who is released as a ?'public-relations stunt' only to be re-arrested and then crucified - it is almost a certainty that Joshua was captured at a young age in the same raid that kills John, the son of Zaddik, and he is crucified by the Romans in 35 or 36 CE while Pontius Pilate is still the Governor of Judaea
- Salome - # 1 daughter
- Miriamme - # 2 daughter

The Herodian Solution

- let's review things from a Herodian point of view - seized the opportunity to win a Kingdom by siding with the Romans - Greek and Arab by ethnicity and Greek by culture - not Jewish at all - polygamous as is common amongst the Arabs and nothing vs. Mosaic Law in marrying your niece (as is again a common custom amongst the Arabs) - cultured, educated, and thoroughly hellenized - speak Greek (as do the educated Romans) as well as Aramaic and Latin - send their sons off to be educated in Rome [where they act as partial hostages] - Roman citizens and exempt from taxation - family wealth from trade through Petra - live a life of privilege and luxury - palaces, slaves, Roman buddies (even Emperors!) - supported by Pharisees, Temple priesthood, and the rabbis who have a relaxed view of Judaism - want to put a statue of Jupiter in the Holy of Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem? - no problem - it's just a statue! - say a few prayers and make a sacrifice to the Emperor? - why not?
but ?'the people', who really shouldn't care about this stuff anyway, get all riled up by a bunch of religious loonies who want a strict version of the Law - who you can marry, what you can eat, who you can be friends with, and who you can associate with - none of their business - want total isolation from ?'foreigners' - in a Roman world?
- do a little renovation job on the palace in Jerusalem - build a top story so wives and kids can sit out in the evening and catch the breeze without it being blocked by the huge Temple next door - so you can see down into the Temple courtyard - so what? - you can't imagine the uproar that causes!
so you set up a High-Priest who's one of ?'your boys' hoping he'll be able to contain all this - nope - the loonies just appoint their own ?'true' and ?'rightful' High Priest AND then they set up their own ?'true' and ?'rightful' King! - that's going too far!
- acts of sabotage - loot & burn your palaces - then start attacking garrisons, armouries, patrols etc. - assassinations done by screaming fanatics who never stop coming - kill one and they just send another
and the Romans, who should be protecting you, chase these nutballs all over the countryside - just vanish into the hills and then pop up unexpectedly to raid and burn and loot and kill - again! - and again! - catch a few and crucify them (ie. John and Joshua) and you'd think that would deter them - but no! - made into ?'martyrs'
- all the while keeping up a constant personal attack about your wives and daughters being ?'whores' and you being ?'fornicators'
- 37 CE - Herod Agrippa is made King by his pal Emperor Caligula - by 40 CE getting nowhere with the Zealot problem - the only way to bring down guerrilla fighters is ?'betrayal from within' - what you need is information about the leaders and a plan to trap them all in one place so you can get the Romans to wipe them out for you - what you need is a ?'narc'
- young Prince of the Herodian family - Saul, son of Antipater, grandson of Herod the Great about 20 years old - dad's dead - no info on this guy which is odd considering we know who all the others marry, their children, etc. - but not Saul - mother Cypros is obviously Jewish since her daughter marries into the Temple Priesthood, i.e. the Temple Treasurer - this would mean he's probably been raised Jewish or at least been circumcised - anyway he's a bit of a playboy and definitely a lady's man and maybe it's time he did something for the family besides hanging out at the gymnasium with his Roman pals, sitting around arguing philosophy with his intellectual Greek buddies, and dangling after other men's wives - he's been doing a little work for the Romans tracking down Zealots and translating while they are being ?'questioned'
- so you send Saul underground - he's got the background in philosophy and the right ?'abridged equipment' - he ?'sees the light' and supposedly wants to become a fanatic Jew and throw the Romans out of Judaea - he just might be the family rebel! - goes to Damascus (which may not actually mean the city but is a ?'codename' for the area in Galilee and Gamala almost exclusively Covenanter and Zealot) and hooks up with the Covenanters - say this takes a year for them to take him seriously
- next he says he wants to be an ?'Essene', i.e. a ?'Holy One' - undergoes 3 years of initiation and then is put in a community out in the middle of nowhere - no women, strict Mosaic diet, baths three times a day, a lot of praying - but he sticks it out
- Zealots don't trust him - they're not stupid, he's a Herodian! - so they send him to his home town of Tarsus (in Turkey and the northern link to the trade routes through Petra) - the Zealots have ?'recruiters' (just like the IRA) who talk up the revolution and send money and young men back home to fight for the cause - given a letter of introduction from Jacob in Jerusalem and agree to send back reports [just in passing - Tarsus is the theological centre of the cult of Mithras!]
- 43 CE - Saul is in Antioch (the capital of the province of Syria) and the 3rd largest city in the Empire (Rome and Alexandria are the other two) - the Herodians have connections there - but unlike Alexandria, it has only a small Jewish community & mainly Covenanters who report back to Jacob - hooks up with a wealthy widow (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean?) and begins to preach in her house to both Jews and Gentiles (the non-Jewish hellenized populace) - but not preaching Covenanter recruitment doctrine, no! - all sorts of things - that he saw a vision of the ?'Anointed One' - salvation is not through constancy to the Mosaic Law but through ?'belief' and ?'good works', Gentiles are welcome, no need for circumcision, no need for a special restricted diet, the Romans are really ?'good guys' and ?'render unto Caesar…' - likely writes the Didache
- the money is now given to Saul instead of the Zealots and the young men become his followers - all this reported back to Jacob by the local Covenanters - sorcerers use a powerful dead spirit to work magic - Saul sets himself up as a Magi and calls upon the spirit of the resurrected ?'Anointed One' to work miracles - in 48 CE he supposedly strikes a well-known magician (or Magi) blind in Cyprus
- 48 CE - Saul returns to Jerusalem without permission and with enough of his followers that he feels protected and his Herodian nature comes out (he is the grandson of Herod the Great!) - Jews are having a series of religious debates about the ?'Messiah' on the steps of the Temple between Pharisees and Sadducees and Covenanters (with Jacob as their spokesman)
- our most intriguing source is Hegesippus (c. 90 - 180 CE) - nothing survives except excerpts from Eusebius which is suspect but maybe reliable because he doesn't seem to understand the significance of what he's relating - don't know anything about Hegesippus except that he comes from Palestine, seems to have been a follower of Jacob, and so is accepted as a ?'Christian' [ie. follower of the Christos] - Eusebius says that he knew Hebrew and that he was ?'a convert from the Hebrews' - about Jacob: ?'He was Holy from his mother's womb; he drank no wine or strong drink, nor did he eat meat. No razor came near his head, nor did he anoint himself with oil, and he did not go to the baths. He alone was allowed to enter into the Place of Holiness, for he did not wear wool, but linen, and he used to enter the Temple alone, and was often found upon his bended knees, interceding for the forgiveness of the people, so that his knees became as callused as a camel's, because of the constant importuning he did and kneeling before God and asking forgiveness for the people.' - yup definitely the ?'true' High Priest!
- Jacob's turn comes to address the crowd - the Pseudoclementines or ?'Recognitions of Clement' says ?'…and when matters were at this point… an Enemy [a marginal note in one of the manuscripts identifies this ?'Enemy' as Saul] entered the Temple with a few others and began to cry out… to excite the people and raise a tumult… Therefore he began to drive all into confusion with shouting… and like a madman, excite everyone to murder… Then ensued a tumult on either side of beating, and the beaten. Much blood was shed and there was a confused flight, in the midst of which the Enemy attacked Jacob and threw him headlong from the top of the steps, and supposing him to be dead, did not care to inflict further violence upon him. But our friends lifted him up, for they were more numerous… and we returned to the house of Jacob and spent the night there in prayer. Then before daylight we went down to Jericho (nearby Jerusalem and close to Qumran) to the number of five thousand men.'
- Saul has now seen the power of a directed mob of religious fanatics and he returns to Antioch determined to win more followers for himself - 60% of the Roman Empire consists of slaves and poverty-stricken freemen - sees the potential, pulls out all the stops, and by 50 CE has collected enough money to go on ?'walkabout'
- (by his own writings) he continues to pose as a ?'recruiter' - repeatedly states that he doesn't need any letter of introduction so obviously Jacob and ?'Covenanter Headquarters' have repudiated him - still preaches in the Jewish communities but more to the Gentiles - gathers more followers and writes ?'Letters' or ?'Epistles' with the established groups he leaves behind as his intended reader [this is a literary device and not a delivered letter] - to Galatea (c. 57 CE), Corinth (c. 58 CE), Ephesus, Phillipi, Colossae, Thessilonika, and even to Rome - writes about a ?'Joses' or ?'Joshua' who is the ?'Christ' or the ?'Anointed One' and the Messiah not of an earthly kingdom but of the ?'Kingdom of Heaven'
- Jacob knows who this ?'Joshua' is - his younger brother crucified over 25 years ago by the Romans and no one's amused! - hearing strange reports from overseas Covenanter communities - Saul has lifted all their theology, sacred writings, and fanatically held beliefs and turned them on their heads - mixes Pythagorean philosophy with a Zoroastrian Saviour and throws in a few weird Brahmin and Buddhist ideas for flavour - everything he writes and preaches is a blasphemy - knows just what buttons to push - then he kicks it up a notch by writing more stuff - this ?'Joshua' is not just the human Messiah, but the actual Son of God who died for man's sins and through whom anyone can be saved just by believing and taking a sacrament of blood!
- the Covenanters are by now completely berserk on the subject of ?'the Liar' and ?'the Deceiver' and ?'the Enemy' and ?'the Traitor' - we know this because we have their writings about it carefully rolled up and hidden in clay jars for the last @ 2,000 years - the ?'Dead Sea Scrolls'
- 62 CE - it's been 20 years since Saul infiltrated the Covenanters - Saul now has quite a following as a Magi and religious leader (mostly Gentiles) and he decides it's time for a final showdown - he returns to Jerusalem with a large number of his followers - the Roman Governor, Felix (married to Drusilla, d. of King Herod Agrippa, and Saul's 1st cousin) has just died (or more likely been assassinated by the Sicarii - the Romans have things to hide too) and the new Governor, Festus, hasn't arrived yet so the ?'security forces' in Jerusalem are in the hands of the Herodian High Priest (the one the Covenanters call ?'the Wicked Priest') - it seems like the time for the Herodians to make their move unhindered by Roman sensibilities
- 2 calendars - lunar calendar traditionally used by the Jews and followed by the Pharisees - and the new solar calendar used by the Covenanters - so Passover is on a different date for the 2 groups - wait for ?'Covenanter Passover' when they will all come to Jerusalem
- again the source is Hegisippus - supposedly fearing the crowds will be whipped into a Messianic frenzy and riot, the Pharisees and Temple Priesthood send for Jacob and ask him to restrain the people. ?'Stand , therefore, upon the Pinnacle of the Temple that you may be clearly visible on high and your words readily heard by all the people, for because of the Passover all the tribes have gathered together and numbers of Gentiles too [Saul's following]'. So the aforesaid Scribes and Pharisees make Jacob stand on the Pinnacle of the Temple, and shouting to him, cry out, ?'O Just One, whose word we all ought to obey, since the people are led astray after the Messiah, who was crucified, tell us what is the Gate [or Path] to the Messiah?' And he answers shouting out loudly, ?'Why do you ask me concerning the Son of Man? He is now sitting in Heaven at the right hand of the Great Power and is about to come on the clouds of Heaven.' - if you didn't quite get this, it's an announcement of the immanent coming of the Messiah - to quote Eisenmann "It is equivalent to lighting an incendiary and crying ?'fire' in a crowded room." (p. 417)
- he goes on to describe the people as ?'glorying' in this testimony and crying out (as is said of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem Matt. 21:9 - 15) ?'Hosanna to the son of David' [meaning is ?'Save us, son of David.'] - the Pharisees aren't pleased, Hegesippus continues "They said to each other, ?'We made a mistake in providing the Messiah with such testimony, but let us go up and cast him [Jacob] down, so they - the people - will be frightened and not believe in him.' And they cried out, saying ?'Oh! Oh! Even the Just One has erred (or been deceived).'… ?'So they went up and cast down the Just One, saying to one another, ?'Let us stone Jacob the Just,' and they began to stone him, since the fall had not killed him. But he turned and fell to his knees, saying, ?'I beseech You, O Lord God and Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' Thus they were stoning him, when one of the Rechabim, spoken of by Jeremiah the Prophet [Epiphanius identifies him as Simeon bar Cleophas] cried out, saying, ?'Stop what you are doing, the Just One is praying for you.' And one among them, who was a fuller, took the club with which he beat out clothes and struck the Just One on the head… Thus, he suffered martyrdom, and they buried him on the spot by the Temple, and his monument is still there by the Temple…And immediately Vespasian began to besiege them."
- actually 4 years pass before Vespasian arrives - after Jacob's death there's a riot but this time it's the Herodian party attacking the Covenanters who are beaten, killed, and arrested
- the stoning of a completely unknown character with a Greek name ?'Stephen' in Acts is actually a ?'hidden' account of another stoning - that of Jacob [Acts 7:54 - 8:3] "Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth against him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and the Messiah at the right hand of God; and he said, ?'Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.' But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together upon him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ?'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,' And he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, ?'Lord, do not hold this sin against them,' And when he had said this, he fell asleep [a euphemism for ?'dead']. And Saul was consenting to his death. And on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him."
- the stoning of Jacob, the ?'true' High Priest is the catalyst that blows the political lid off of Judaea - it's now open war and there will be no quarter asked and none given - Josephus, in the Antiquities, tells of a ?'Saulus' who, with his brother Costobarus, and another relative, Antipas (the Temple Treasurer executed by the Zealots 68 CE - his brother, Helcias is married to Saul's aunt and his nephew, also Helcias, is married to Saul's sister!) - together they lead a ?'riot' in Jerusalem in which he ?'used violence with the people… to plunder those weaker than themselves' Next Acts [8:3] takes it up ?'But Saul laid waste the church, and entering house after house he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.'

The Truth Revealed

- if you haven't by now guessed the identity of ?'Saul' let me be crystal clear - [Acts 22:6 - 16] "As I made my journey and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' And I answered, ?'Who are you, Lord?' And he said to me, ?'I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.' Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. And I said, ?'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, ?'Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.' And when I could not see because of the brightness of the light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing by me said to me, ?'Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And in that very hour I received my sight and saw him. And he said, ?'The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Just One and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.'
- At this point let's reveal a few other people mentioned in the Gospels à

The ?'Holy Family'

Miriamme à the mother, called ?'Mary' in the Gospels

John - the son of Zaddik & Miriamme's brother à John ?'the Baptist' beheaded for sedition against Antipas the Herodian King of Judaea in 35 or 36 CE

Judas the Galilean à or Cleophas, called ?'Joseph' in the Gospels - why Joseph? - because Joseph was the father of the biblical Joshua, the great Jewish hero

Jacob à the 1st son of Cleophas or ?'Joseph' - called ?'James' in the Gospels, a corruption of the Latin ?'Jacimus' for Jacob - called ?'the Lesser' also called ?'the Just' - considered to be an Apostle by some and the 1st Bishop of Jerusalem by the Christian Church - in reality the ?'true' High priest of the Jews ?- his stoning becomes the stoning of 'Stephen'

Simon à also called Simon Iscariot or Simon of the Sicarii - called ?'Simon Peter' or ?'Peter' in the Gospels - the leader of the Zealots who was considered the ?'true' King of Judaea after his father - as St. Peter he is supposedly crucified (upside-down!) by the Romans in Rome in 55, 57, or 67 CE [even the Church can't make up it's mind about the date] - I believe the crucifixion depicted in Mark is really that of Simon ?'Peter', the ?'King of the Jews', which did take place in 67 CE but not in Rome

Judas à Jude in Luke, also called ?'Thaddaeus' in Mark, ?'Thaddaeus surnamed Lebbaeus' in some versions of Matthew, Judas the brother of James, Judas known as Zelotes (or Judas the Zealot), and so on to Judas Thomas [and maybe morphs into St. Thomas?] who is also called Didymus [Gospel of Thomas 1:1] - called ?'Judas Iscariot' (or Judas the Sicarii) in the Gospels - most likely to have actually been the ?'Theuda the Egyptian' who is the only other Zealot beheaded by the Herodians for sedition in 45 CE like John the Baptist a decade earlier

Joshua à in some references in the Gospels he is turned into Jesus' brother, Joses or Joseph, but other than that is not mentioned in the Gospels, nor does he appear in any listing of the Apostles as do the other brothers - the English translation of the Hebrew ?'Yeshu'a' is Joshua or Joses which means ?'one who saves' or ?'Saviour' - the closest Greek equivalent of this name is ?'Jesus'- Jesus Barabbas - usually the ?'Jesus' is dropped but the meaning of ?'Barabbas' in Aramaic is ?'the son of the father' - described as a political ?'bandit' who ?'committed murder at the time of the Uprising' and is released by Pontius Pilate [Matt. 27:26] - only problem is that the ?'Uprising' happened about 30 years after the governorship of Pontius Pilate - it is almost a certainty that Joshua was captured in the same raid as John the Baptist and was crucified by the Romans in 35 or maybe 36 CE while Pontius Pilate was still the Governor of Judaea

Salome - the ?'sister of James the lesser and Joses' [Mark 15:41] and also the ?'sister of James' [Mark 16:1]

Miriamme - likely to be all the extraneous Mary's and Martha's, etc. mentioned in the Gospels

Mary - called the ?'Magdelene' in the Gospels - so who was she? - some have speculated she was Jesus' wife but is this likely? - obviously someone so important and well known she couldn't be left completely out of the Gospels even though depicted as a whore! - probably of the nobility who supported the Zealots and a very important dynastic marriage - very unlikely she was married to James (as Covenanter High Priest he would have been a Nazrim and totally celibate) - very, very, very likely she was the wife of Simon, the ?'true' King of Judaea (or at least the heir) - when he had to take on the mantle of the High Priest after James is stoned, the ?'true' King would have been his son - it may be that he was too young and that Mary Magdelene was seen as a sort of Regent - there is a strong tradition that she fled to the Jewish community in Marseilles with her children

But St. Paul couldn't have helped kill James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem!

- let me drive a few more nails into the coffin:
- Paul in Acts [Acts 21:15 - 28:30] takes the whole incident in 48 CE where the Jews are having a series of religious debates on the steps of the Temple between Pharisees, Sadducees, and Covenanters (on the Messiah) but this time he is the one speaking not James - and he is the one set upon, beaten, and arrested by the Romans - they are going to scourge him (as Jesus was) when he says he's a Roman citizen (so it is illegal to whip him) and appeals to Caesar (i.e. the Emperor)
Paul is imprisoned, but his nephew comes to tell Paul and the ?'tribune' that ?'some Jews' (40 of them!) have vowed they will neither eat or drink until they have killed him (this is the Sicarii! - and maybe true!) so they take him away under guard (specifically 200 soldiers with 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen - this is a cohort!) in the 3rd hour of the night to Caesarea (a safe Roman/Herodian sea port) - he is accused before Felix, the governor, by the High-Priest Ananias [the same one who restores Saul's eyesight in 'Damascus'] and some elders who've come from Jerusalem [Acts 24:5] "For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and agitator among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him." Felix puts off making any decision by saying Paul should be held in custody but allowed to have visitors - supposedly he is held in jail for 2 years by the Romans - visited by Felix and his wife Drusilla (Saul's 1st cousin) - finally questioned by Agrippa the King (Saul's 1st cousin) and Bernice (Saul's 2nd cousin) when they come to greet the new Governor, Festus - they act like they don't know him from Adam and say they think he's done nothing wrong and should be released, but since he's made an appeal to the Emperor, and he's a Roman citizen, he'll have to go to Rome - put on a ship (there's a story about him calming a storm - like any good Magi would) and lands in Rome - he then preaches for 2 years unhindered - no mention of arrest or a trial - then nothing… absolutely nothing more is said of him
- clearly this takes place exactly in the interval between Governor Felix and Governor Festus - precisely the period when Jacob is stoned - this is Paul's alibi for the death of James
- 66 CE - Vespasian is on the outskirts of Jerusalem - Josephus tells us that ?'the principal Pharisees, the Chief Priests, the men of power (meaning the Herodian party), and all those desirous of peace' invite the Romans to enter Jerusalem and put down the Uprising - he also tells us that the intermediary in this process is a member of the Herodian family named Saul
- In his Letter to the Romans Paul asks them to "Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus (son of King Herod of Chalcis & Sauls's 2nd cousin). Greet my kinsman Herodion (Aristobulus' son)."

Saul, the grandson of Herod the Great, is St. Paul, called the Apostle.

The ?'Followers of Christos'

- there are 4 groups calling themselves the followers of ?'Christos' or the ?'Anointed One':
1. the religious followers of ?'John the Baptist' (the beheaded & martyred ?'true' High Priest)
2. the Covenanters, the religious followers of James (the stoned & other martyred ?'true' High Priest)
3. the Zealots, the political followers of Simon (the crucified & martyred anointed ?'true' King)
4. the followers of Paul's ?'Jesus Christ'
- to the Romans THEY ARE ALL THE SAME - all subversives who should be destroyed as quickly and as thoroughly as possible - preferably crucified or sent to the Arena as examples to the rest of the populace
- Paul has to 1) show that John the Baptist acknowledges Jesus' superiority and is only a harbinger; 2) discredit James by blaming the ?'Jews' for Jesus' death; 3) separate his followers from the rest of the ?'Christians'; 4) make the Romans see that his followers are ?'good guys' and 5) get the Romans to kill the rest for him
- the Gospels give Paul the chance to have his theology coming from the mouth of Jesus and recorded in ?'independent' works BUT they were all written by Paul or an immediate disciple
- if Jesus is the Messiah and God, he has to work miracles - and miracles have to come from his divinity and not from the power over some demon or powerful spirit (though some thought Jesus had harnessed John the Baptist's spirit and this was how he did miracles) - Paul sets himself up as a powerful Magi who does miracles in Jesus' name - Jesus is modelled in part on Apollonius of Tyana and part on Paul himself - the more powerful Jesus is - the more powerful Paul is
- 43 CE - Paul writes the Didache in Antioch when he first acquires a following
- 50 - 62 CE - Paul goes on his travels after his first attack on James - makes converts & disciples and begins to write down his teachings in letters to his followers - writes all the Letters (except Romans, Timothy 1 & 2, and Titus) - the Letters give Paul initially what he wants - the betrayal and destruction of James and the leaders of the Covenanters and Zealots - religious part is all anti-Covenanter
- 62 - 66 CE - after James' death and the arrest of the Covenanter and Zealot leadership, Paul writes Letters to Romans, Timothy 1 & 2, and Titus as well as a truncated Acts of the Apostles in the form of another Letter (to Theophilus) - Acts gives Paul his various alibis and talks about him as a miracle worker, follower of the ?'Christ' etc. these other Letters gives him a fictitious life - this is to separate ?'Saul' from ?'Paul' - anyone who sees Saul in Jerusalem and says he's the one responsible for James' death can't confuse him with ?'Paul' who's travelling around working miracles in Jesus' name, being persecuted, imprisoned, and eventually martyred - can't be the same guy!
- 67 CE - Simon is captured and crucified when the Roman army razes Gamala - I believe the crucifixion depicted in Mark is actually that of Simon (notice all the stress on ?'King of the Jews') - Saul writes the Gospel According to Mark to discredit the ?'Holy Family' many of whom are still alive - doesn't want any of his followers to go and ask one of them about Jesus, etc. - shows Jesus' family rejecting him, trying to lock him up, etc. so they're not to be trusted - ridicules Peter and the other brothers even though he's saying they are disciples - even has one brother, Judas, made into his betrayer! - has Mary and Mary Magdelene and sister, Salome at the Crucifixion but Mary is mentioned as the mother of James and Joses! - no birth is mentioned and Jesus even denies his brothers and his mother - 20 miracles mostly casting out demons and healing - parables are vs. teachings of Covenanters and have had to be ?'reinterpreted' later for ?'Christian' meanings - still trying to pick up followers amongst those of ?'John the Baptist' and James, i.e. the Covenanters
- 70 - 75 CE - destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple - Paul hopes to absorb the Zealots now that they are scattered and virtually leaderless - Jesus is the true King of the Jews and the true ?'Anointed One' and they should follow Paul as his ?'true' Apostle (and they won't find any of the other ?'Apostles' because they're all fictitious - or dead)
- Herodian family has all moved to Rome - Jerusalem & Judaea no longer important (at least not right now - still hope to be reinstated by the Romans) - Paul writes the Gospel According to Matthew [Matt. 16:16 - 19; 18:18] - the whole ?'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church' thing - Peter is safely dead so Paul can make up anything he wants - church needs to move from Jerusalem to Rome & so Peter, who was ridiculed in Acts & Mark, is rehabilitated in Matthew and turned into the ?'1st Bishop of Rome' - according to the Church it is an ?'undisputed fact' that Peter was martyred under Nero (that's possible but not in Rome) & a spot below the altar of the Vatican is his burial place - 1st Epistle of Peter is accepted - 2nd one not so ?'unquestionable' as to authorship - also writes the ?'Blood Curse' in which Jesus himself curses the Jews [Matt 23:29 - 39] - the basis for the persecution of Jews blaming them for the death of Jesus - writings of Justin Martyr in Rome [150 - 165 CE] is virulently anti-Jewish
- 75 - 80 CE - Paul (or one of his ?'disciples') writes the Gospel According to John, Revelations, the Gospel According to Luke (which is almost completely aimed at Gentiles) as well as countless other ?'gospels' which are later considered ?'spurious' by the Church - Thomas for example and Mary!
- c. 80 CE - it is reasonable to believe that Paul probably died sometime around this time at about age 60

Magician, Magi, and ?'Divine Man'

- all the cultures of the Mediterranean - Greek, Roman, and ?'Jewish' - share the belief that the world is filled with supernatural beings - gods, angels, demons, sprites, nymphs, spirits of the dead - Jews might believe in ?'one god' but they also believe in angels & demons - all of these supernatural beings are seen as being like ordinary humans - can be angered, placated, persuaded, bribed, tricked, and even commanded
- like people, these beings are of differing status - each culture has its own pantheon of great ?'official' gods & goddesses who are honoured publicly by the city or state - other gods & goddesses have cults and shrines where they are worshiped personally by individuals - spirits of the dead are worshipped and placated by families - the great Roman senatorial families have altars to family ancestors, pour libations to them, and make sacrifices so they will be placated and intercede for them with higher powers
- those with ?'powers' can get spirits to intervene on their behalf in all sorts of practical ways - Jews & their god, Yahweh, famous for use in magic - #1 prerequisite of any level of magician - have to do miracles - healing & casting out demons from the ?'possessed' - also walking on water, making walls and buildings crumble, dividing rivers, etc. - all standard
- magician - lowest level of ?'magic practitioner' - recount stories of their travels to the underworld, act as mediums, practise necromancy, produce charms and curses, sell amulets and potions - many are accused of deceit and chicanery
- magi or ?'sorcerers' - originally a priestly clan of Persia introduced to the Greeks when Cyrus the Great conquered the Greek cities of Anatolia - Herodatus tells us they were interpreters of dreams, omens, and portents - also astrologers - they supervised all private and public sacrifices - the Magi came to be associated with Persian Zoroastrians in particular and the dualist struggle between the forces of light and darkness, good and evil - higher prestige than magicians - considered more powerful, ancient, mysterious - many strange and scandalous stories circulate about them - a secret society, practising incest (believed they held their wives in common & married their mothers & sisters) and cannibalism, and worshipping demons with human sacrifices
- lots of magi in circulation in 1st C. both ?'genuine' and ?'false'- also produce ?'miracles' but of a higher order - the Roman governor of Cyprus is a patron of a Jewish magi who tries to discredit Paul in 48 CE - Paul shows that he is the greater magi by striking his opponent blind [Acts 13:6 - 12] - the magi does his magic by incantations and spells or rituals found in various magical texts - magicians and magical texts are outlawed in many places
- the Roman jurist Paulus writes a collection of legal opinions about the practices of magi in early 200s CE - "Any who perform, or procure the performance of, impious or nocturnal sacrifices, to enchant, curse, or bind anyone with a spell, are either crucified or thrown to the beasts. Any who sacrifice a man, or make offerings of his blood, or pollute a shrine or temple are thrown to the beasts, or if people of position, are beheaded (like Paul supposedly was!). It is the prevailing legal opinion that participants in the magical art should be subject to the extreme punishment, that is, either thrown to the beasts or crucified; but the magicians themselves should be burned alive. It is not permitted for anyone to have in his possession books of the magic art. If they are found in anyone's possession, when his property has been expropriated and the books burned publicly, he is to be deported to an island, or, if he is of the lower class, beheaded. Not only the practice of this art, but even the knowledge of it, is prohibited." - this becomes the law c. 327 CE under Constantine - notice that Constantine, who supposedly closed the Arenas, has them mentioned as a judicial punishment - how can it be both? - which one is true?
- prophets & astrologers are lumped in with magi - again Paulus - "Prophets who pretend that they are filled with the god are to be expelled from the city to the end that public good behaviour should not be corrupted by human credulity for the hope of some promised event (like the Last Judgement or the Second Coming), or, in any case, that the peoples' minds should not be disturbed by this. Therefore, they are first lashed, then expelled from the city. But if they persist, they are thrown into public prison, or deported to an island, or, at all events, sent elsewhere. Those who introduce new sects or religious observances unknown to reasonable men, things by which peoples' minds might be disturbed, are to be deported if upper class, executed if lower. Anyone who consults astrologers, soothsayers, readers of entrails, or diviners about the life expectancy of the emperor or the stability of the government, is to be executed, as is the one who gives the response. One had better avoid not only divination, but the science itself, and its books. But if slaves consult about the life expectancy of their masters, they are to be subjected to the extreme penalty, that is, the cross. And any persons consulted, if they give answers, shall be either condemned to the mines or banished to an island."
- Roman judicial punishments for magicians, magi, prophets, astrologers, soothsayers, readers of entrails or diviners, or those who ?'introduce new sects or religious observances unknown to reasonable men (i.e. Gentiles) - imprisonment, exile to an island, enslavement in the mines, being thrown to the beasts in the Arena, crucifixion, being burned alive, or beheading
- a ?'divine man' - the highest form of magic practitioner - now we're moving from magic into religion (although all of this was considered ?'religion' at the time) - the magician himself is actually a god or demon in disguise within an apparently human body - did his miracles by his inner divine power and had no need for rituals or spells - one way a magi could become a ?'divine man' was to capture or ?'enslave' a spirit (often an angel or demon) who he could force to do his bidding - need only give his orders and they would be done by the captive spirit - in even more extreme circumstances the magi could become divine himself by joining with the spirit in a permanent and ?'perfect' union (something Paul claimed to have with Jesus) - this changed the nature of his soul and made him divine as well - could now perform miracles by his own power and not by that of the spirit - no longer carried any of the unpleasant connotations of a magi - and not seen as a criminal - in fact now a ?'holy man'
- John the Baptist seen as a ?'magi' - a worker of miracles - acquired a cult following of those who saw him as a ?'divine man' - Jesus seen as someone who practised necromancy and ?'captured' John the Baptist's spirit for his use - joined with that spirit and so became a ?'divine man' - able to do magic without rituals, spells, or incantations - only his command was necessary as the power now comes from his own divinity - another name for a ?'divine man' was ?'son of god' - in the Gospel According to Mark this is invariably attributed to Jesus when he is working miracles - in time this is upped one more level
- Jesus is a god himself only clothed in a human body [this is very important to understand because it is the basis of the Arian Heresy that came very close to being the standard ?'Christianity'] - Paul is even more powerful because he has joined with Jesus who is a God - at the least he can do miracles ?'in his name' - and Paul is shown to do this over and over in the Letters and Acts of the Apostles
- enemies of Christianity say Jesus is a ?'magician' - a petty charlatan and faker - or a magi involved with all sorts of perversities (like drinking blood and eating human flesh) and so a criminal - his cult following argues that Jesus is a ?'divine man' and therefore, holy or sacred - an early ?'apologist' - Quadratus [c.125 CE] - writes that Jesus wasn't just a magician and his ?'miracles' weren't just tricks and hallucinations
- Paul (as an educated Prince of the fabulously wealthy Herodian family well acquainted with the members of the Senatorial families in Rome) can wield considerable power as a ?'divine man' himself or at least a very powerful magi who does miracles through Jesus who is his own personal God - wealthy upper class just as superstitious as the rest of society but can pay a lot more and have more power - what a perfect racket!
- the only thing feared by upper class of Romans is the mob that rampages through the streets burning, looting, and killing - Zealots proved what can be done with mobs of religious fanatics - burned Alexandria, Antioch, and - yes, Nero was right! - Rome - done by ?'followers of the Chrestus' but Jacob was meant not Jesus - Zealots are tortured, thrown to the beasts in the arena, crucified, burned alive, etc - later on the Church will claim all those ?'followers of Christos' as ?'Christians' - thus the Martyrs
- the Church in Rome - Paul, his disciples, and anyone who can get a following are being called ?'pope' or ?'father' - when Paul sets up in Rome his followers get ?'letters of authenticity' (like Jacob gave to Saul) that appoints them as ?'bishops' supposedly from St. Peter - the ?'head office' writes gospels of all kinds to back up their authority as ?'magi' and cult leaders - write and re-write them as necessary

Apollonius of Tyana

- Life of Apollonius - written by Flavius Philostratus for the empress Julia Domina (wife of Septimus Severus not Hadrian - they had the same name!) and completed after her death in 217 CE - says he got his information from Apollonius' writings and letters written to communities of his faithful (sound familiar?) - Julia's son, Emperor Caracalla, dedicates a shrine to Apollonius
- lives at exactly the same time as Paul - born of a wealthy Greek family Apollonius is sent for higher education to the city of Tarsus (a centre of Greek & Mithraic learning) about the same time Paul's parents send him to Jerusalem for his education
- becomes a Pythagorean (real similar to the ?'Essenes') and after some years goes to Babylon where he studies with the Magi - then goes to India and learns the teachings of the Brahmans - becomes a hero to the Pythagoreans who write many mystical stories about him - legends of his birth, etc.
- returns, gathers a circle of disciples, and lives with them as an itinerant philosopher, holy man, and doer of miracles going from temple to temple along the coasts of Syria, Anatolia, and Greece (exactly the areas of Paul's ?'missionary journeys') - in the last years of Nero goes from Greece to Rome and then on to Spain ends up in Alexandria where he is consulted by Vespasian - he foretells Vespasian's future as next Emperor - then goes to a community of ?'naked sages' in upper Egypt - a community of ?'holy men' with pretensions of supernatural powers - returns to Mediterranean and itinerant life
- 93 CE in Rome facing charges of magic and sedition - accused of sacrificing a Greek boy to divine from his entrails the fate of a conspiracy to kill Domitian (this is the same year Domitian kills his secretary and Josephus disappears) - reportedly vanishes miraculously from the courtroom and teleports to Asia Minor where he lives until his death in 96 CE shortly after Domitian's assassination - witnesses claim he ascended to Heaven - said to have appeared after his ascension to a young man who did not believe in his teachings (the original ?'doubting Thomas'? - who also was said to have gone to India)


Similarities with Jesus:

- both itinerant miracle workers and preachers
- both have an inner circle of devoted disciples who accompany them
- both were rejected at first by their brothers and townspeople although the brothers eventually come around
- both make severe moral demands on their followers
- both are credited with prophecies, exorcisms, healing, and the occasional raising of the dead
- both taught as if with authority and came into conflict with the established religious priesthood
- both are charged with sedition and magic but mainly tried for sedition
- both are believed by their followers to be the sons of gods with supernatural powers
- both are said to have been amazingly precocious
- both, in the early stages of their careers, go off into the wilderness and there encounter and defeat demons
- both do similar miracles
- Apollonius escapes miraculously from his trial - Jesus miraculously escapes death
- both ascend to Heaven
- both return and are seen even by those who don't believe in them
- both accused by their enemies of being common ?'magicians'
- much of earliest writings of ?'Church fathers' such as Eusebius is dealing with ?'false prophets' and ?'magicians' and how Jesus was not one of these but a ?'divine man' or in fact a God himself - had to show Apollonius as a ?'faker' because he came too close for comfort to Jesus himself!

Apollonius of Tyana was Paul's model for the life of Jesus.

* * *

Meanwhile back in Antioch…

- all those ?'followers' in small communities in Syria, Cappadocia, and Greece are left behind when Paul goes to Rome - the real ?'true believers' - poor freedmen & slaves - live communally often in insulae or ?'apartment blocks' - eat dinner communally as a commemoration of the ?'Last Supper' where break bread & drink wine in the earliest communion or ?'Mass' - give money to the leaders as insurance - pays for burial & won't let wife & children starve if they die - become source of money and fanatic mobs for the Church in Rome - women often preachers and leaders of these little communities - get visited every once in a while by one of the ?'fathers' but pretty much on their own absorbing all sorts of ideas from outside depending on local religious conditions - teachers (think of them as gurus) arise who take on disciples and lead them through various stages of initiation into the ?'mysteries' of the teachings of Christ - this is based on special knowledge or ?'gnosis'- they are constantly being confused with Jews, Covenanters, & Zealots and so rounded up by the Romans for questioning - some undoubtedly get killed but most are considered harmless nutcases and released

Homework

Read the Gospel According to Mark - only Mark


Appendix C:

Roman Emperors (* indicates military men)

*Gaius Julius Caesar called ?'Imperator' (Emperor) [60 - 44 BCE] assassinated
CIVIL WAR [44 - 29 BCE]
*Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, called Augustus [29 - 14 BCE]
*Claudius Nero Caesar Tiberius, called Tiberius [14 BCE- 37 CE]
Gaius Tiberius Caesar, called Caligula [37 - 41 CE] assassinated by the Praetorian Guard
Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, called Claudius [41 - 54 CE] poisoned by his wife
Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, called Nero [54 - 68 CE] commits suicide
*Servius Sulpicius Galba, called Galba [68 - 69 CE] murdered by his successor
*Marcus Salvas Ortho, called Ortho [69 CE] commits suicide
*Aulus Vitellius, called Vitellius [69 CE] slain in street fighting
*Titus Flavius Vespasianus, called Vespasian [69 - 79 CE]
*Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus, called Titus [79 - 81 CE] dies under suspicious circumstances
*Titus Flavius Domitianus, called Domitian [81 - 96 CE] assassinated
Marcus Cocceius Nerva, called Nerva [96 - 98 CE]
*Marcus Ulpius Traianus, called Trajan [98 - 117 CE] dies of a suspicious illness
*Publius Aelius Hadrianus, called Hadrian [117 - 138 CE]
Antonius Pius [138 - 161 CE]
*Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, called Marcus Aurelius [138 - 161 as co-emperor, then alone until 180 CE]
Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus, called Commodus [180 - 192 CE] assassinated by leader of the Praetorian Guard & his favourite concubine
Publius Helvius Pertinax [193 CE] murdered by the Praetorian Guard
Marcus Didius Severus Julianus [193 CE] executed by a panic-stricken Senate
*Lucius Septimus Severus, called Septimus Severus [193 - 211 CE] dies of unknown causes in Britain
*Bassianus Marcus Aurelius Antonius, called Caracalla [211 - 217 CE] murdered by his successor
*Marcus Opelius Macrinus, called Macrinus [217 - 218 CE] killed after being defeated
*Varius Avitus, called Elagabalus [218 - 222 CE] murdered by the Praetorian Guard
*Alexander Severus [222 - 235 CE] murdered by a military conspiracy
*Caius Julius Verus Maximinus, called Maximinus [235 - 238 CE] killed by his own troops
*Marcus Antonius Giordianus, called Giordianus [238 - 244 CE] murdered by one of his officers
CIVIL WAR [244 - 268 CE]
*Julius Philippus Arabus, called Philip [244 - 250 CE] - slain by a rival
*Gaius Trajanus Decius [250 - 251CE] - slain in battle against the Goths
*Publius Aurelius Licinius Valerianus, called Valerian [253 - 260 CE]
*Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus, called Gallienus [260 - 268 CE] assassinated by his officers
*Marcus Aurelius Claudius, called Claudius ?'Gothicus' [268 - 270 CE] dies of some plague
*Lucius Domitius Aurelianus, called Aurelian [270 - 275 CE] assassinated by some of his officers
*Marcus Claudius Tacitus [275 - 276 CE] dies under suspicious circumstances
*Marcus Aurelius Probus [276 - 281 CE] killed under very suspicious circumstances
*Marcus Aurelius Carus [281 - 283 CE] supposedly killed by lightning
*Carinus [283 - 285 CE] murdered by one of his officers
*Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletinus, called Diocletian [284 - 305 CE]
*Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus, called Maximian [286 - 305 CE]; [306 - 310 CE]
*Gaius Galerius Valerius, called Galerius - Emperor of the East [305 - 310 CE]
*Flavius Valerius Constantius, called Constantius - Emperor of the West [305 CE] dies ?'unexpectedly'
CIVIL WAR [306 - 312 CE]
*Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus, called Constantine the Great ?

- to Antioch [Acts 13: 14 - 50] - Paul's first recorded sermon [Acts 13:16 - 41] - disciples made amongst the Jews [v. 43] - disciples made amongst the Gentiles [v. 48] - Paul & Barnabas are persecuted and expelled [v. 50]
- to Iconium [Acts 13:51 - 14:6] - Jews and Gentiles converted - because of persecution, they flee to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia
- at Lystra [Acts 14:8 - 20] - healing of the cripple [v. 8 - 10] - worship refused [v. 10 - 18] - Paul stoned [v. 19 - 20]
- at Derbe [Acts 14:20 - 21]
- visiting congregations founded [Acts 14:21 - 25]
- from Attalia return to Antioch [Acts 14:26 - 27]
- mission report at Antioch (to whom?) [Acts 14:27 - 38]
- Council or Synod at Jerusalem [Acts 15:1 - 35] - some say in 49 or 50 CE
- 48 CE - Saul returns to Jerusalem with enough of his followers that he feels protected - first attack against James - Saul thinks he's dead

Paul's Second Missionary Journey [Autumn 49 - 52 CE] [or 50 - 53 CE]

- 50 - 62 - Saul goes on his travels - not safe in Judaea - certainly not a ?'recruiter' any more but it is clear he is still posing as one to distant communities of Covenanters - makes converts & disciples - writes all the Letters c. 57 - 62 CE except Romans, Timothy 1 & 2, and Titus
- at Antioch [Acts 15:36 - 41] - Paul's refusal to take Mark - joined by Silas - through Syria & Cilicia
- to Derbe & Lystra [Acts 16:1 - 7] - joined by Timothy
- winter of 49 - 50 CE - visits various places
- to Troas [Acts 16:8 - 11] - vision and Macedonian call [v.9]
- to Philippi [Acts 16:12 - 40] - Lydia and others converted - healing of the damsel possessed - Paul & Silas imprisoned - Philippian jailer and others converted - released
- to Thessalonika [Acts 17:1 - 9] - disciples made - persecution, arrest, and release of Jason [supposedly wrote Letter to the Thessalonians in 47 - 50 CE]
- to Berea [Acts 17: 10 - 14] disciples made - persecution
- to Athens [Acts 17:15 - 34] - altar to ?'the unknown god' - certain men and women believe
- to Corinth [Acts 18:1 - 18] - Aquila and Priscilla - disciples made - Paul is strengthened by the Lord - insurrection against Paul
- to Ephesus and Caesarea during return home [Acts 18:19 - 23]
- to Jerusalem and report on work [Acts 18:22]
- to Antioch [Acts 18: 22 - 23]

Paul's Third missionary Journey [52 - 57 CE] or [53 - 58]

- leaves Antioch [Acts 18: 23]
- spends about 3 years in Ephesus [Acts 19:1 - 41] - preaching the Gospel (they haven't been written yet!) and working miracles
- revisits Macedonia [Acts 20:1 - 5]
- to Troas; Eutycus restored to life [Acts 20:6 - 12]
- to Miletus [Acts 20:13 - 35] [supposedly wrote Letters to the Corinthians and Galatians 1 & 2 in 52 - 57 CE - some say also Philemon & Philippians] [supposedly wrote Letter to the Romans in 57 CE]
- journey to Jerusalem [Acts 21:1 - 16]
- reception at Jerusalem [Acts 21:17]

The Last Years of Paul's Life [57 - 66 CE] [or 58 - 67 CE]

- 62 CE - Saul now has quite a following as a Magi and religious leader (mostly Greeks) and he decides it's time for a showdown - Jacob, the ?'true' High Priest of the Zealots and the Covenanters (and therefore most of the common people) is killed - Saul is the instigator & remains in Jerusalem arresting known Covenanters - writes Letters to Romans, Timothy 1 & 2, and Titus as well as the Acts of the Apostles 62 - 66 CE
- at Jerusalem [Acts 21:18 - 23; 22] - Paul's vow and the mob at the Temple - rescued by the Roman army - addresses the mob - a prisoner - Paul's defence - a vision of good cheer - conspiracy against Paul's life
- to Caesarea [Acts 23:23 - 26; 32] - sent to Felix, the Governor - trial before Felix - two years in prison - accused before Festus - appeal to Caesar - consultation with King Agrippa II (they have it wrong - it's Herod of Chalcis as he's the one married to Bernice) - Paul's defence before Festus
- to Rome [Acts 27:1 - 28:31] - voyage & shipwreck on Malta - from Malta to Rome - reception at Rome - conference with Jews of Rome - 2 years in prison (but it says in Acts 28:30 ?'and he lived there for 2 whole years at his own expense' - no mention of prison!)
- Paul's release - missionary journey to Europe, second imprisonment and martyrdom [Romans 15; 1 Timothy; Titus; 2 Timothy; writings of early church fathers]
- Paul expresses a wish to go to Spain [Rom 15:24 - 28]
- reference to Timothy speaks of being freed [2 Tim 4:17]
- Church tradition speaks of his Spanish trip [Muratorian Canon; Clement of Rome]
- some Church historians have him also visiting Great Britain!
- from Spain [and Great Britain?] Paul returns to Ephesus
- from Ephesus to churches in Greece
- 63 CE - from Greece he writes 1st Letter to Timothy
- takes a ship to Crete
- returns to Ephesus where he writes to Titus - tells him he plans on wintering in Nicopolis [Tit 3:12]
- taken prisoner by the Romans at Troas [2Tim 4:13]
- 65 CE - Gospel According to Mark attributed to the Apostle Peter and supposedly written by his secretary
- 66 CE - the execution of Paul by decapitation (a Roman punishment for magicians, astrologers, soothsayers, etc.) is supported by various traditions of the early Church but the Catholic Church also says this happened in 55 CE!
- other references [Catholic Encyclopaedia] say he was in prison in Rome 60 -62 CE where he wrote Letters to Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians, & Philippians (but maybe 52 - 57 CE for Philemon & the Philippians) - travelling again 62 - 66 CE - arrested for the 2nd time 66 CE - martyrdom in 67 CE
- 66 CE - Vespasian is on the outskirts of Jerusalem - Josephus tells us that ?'the principal Pharisees, the Chief Priests, the men of power (meaning the Herodian party), and all those desirous of peace' invite the Romans to enter Jerusalem and put down the Uprising - he also tells us that the intermediary in this process was a member of the Herodian family named Saul - who's still in Jerusalem
- 67 CE - crucifixion of Peter in Rome - traditionally upside-down by his request! - Peter is captured and crucified when the Roman army raze Gamala - Saul writes the Gospel According to Mark
- 69 - 70 CE - destruction of the Temple - Jerusalem & Jews no longer important - Herodian family has all moved to Rome
- 70 - 75 CE - Saul writes the Gospel According to Matthew [Matt. 16:16 - 19; 18:18] - the whole ?'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church' thing - Peter is safely dead so Paul can make up anything he wants - needs to move from Jerusalem to Rome & so Peter, who was ridiculed in Acts & Mark, is rehabilitated and turned into the ?'1st Bishop of Rome' - ?'undisputed fact' that he was martyred under Nero (that's possible but not in Rome) & a spot below the altar of the Vatican is his burial place - 1st Epistle of Peter is accepted - 2nd one not so ?'unquestionable' as to authorship
- 75 - 80 CE - Saul (or one of his ?'disciples') writes the Gospel According to John, Revelations, the Gospel According to Luke as well as countless other ?'gospels' written and are considered ?'spurious' by the Church - The Gospel of Thomas and Mary for example
- c. 80 CE - it is reasonable to believe that Saul died sometime around here
- 75 CE - writing of Gospel According to John
- 100 CE - writing of Revelations
- 110 CE - writing of the Gospel According to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles by Luke who was supposed to have been with Paul on his 2nd & 3rd missionary journeys and shipwrecked on Malta with him and acted as a kind of secretary

- the Dead Sea Scrolls clearly show the Letters were written first, then the Acts of the Apostles, the Gospel According to Mark, the Gospel According to Matthew, the Gospel According to John, Revelations, and the Gospel According to Luke

FURTHER READING:

The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception - Michael Baigent & Richard Leigh, 1991
The Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered - Robert H. Eisenman & Michael Wise, 1992
The Dead Sea Scrolls and the First Christians - Robert H. Eisenman, 1996
James the Brother of Jesus - Robert H. Eisenman, 1997
The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated - Florentino Garcia Martinez [this is the Church's translation]
The Lost Books of the Bible - William Hone - first published in 1820 - 1979 edition

Crap, I suppose that whole bit about (what I say about Saul is in bold) doesn't come across well. Let's see if I can edit posts.