RESEARCH AND INTERESTS OF THE LATE VERNAL HOLLEY
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Joseph Atwill Caesar's Messiah (Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press, 2005) |
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[ i ] CAESAR'S MESSIAH The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus JOSEPH ATWILL Ulysses Press |
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[ ii ] Table of Contents
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In the popular mind, and in the minds of most scholars, the origin of Christianity is clear: The religion began as a movement of the lower-class followers of a radical Jewish teacher during the first century C.E. For a number of reasons, however, I did not share this certainty. There were many gods worshiped during Jesus' era that are now seen as fictitious, and no archeological evidence of his existence has ever been found. What contributed most to my skepticism was that at the exact time when the followers of Jesus were purportedly organizing themselves into a religion that urged its members to "turn the other check" and to "give to Caesar what is Caesar's," another Judean sect was waging a religious war against the Romans. This sect, the Sicarii, also believed in the coming of a Messiah, but not one who advocated peace. They sought a Messiah who would lead them militarily. It seemed implausible that two diametrically opposite forms of messianic Judaism would have emerged from Judea at the same time. This is why the Dead Sea Scrolls were of such interest to me, and I began what turned into a decade-long study of them. Like so many others, I was hoping to learn something of Christianity's origins in the 2,000-year-old documents found at Qumran. I also began studying the other two major works from this era, the New Testament and War of the Jews by Flavius Josephus, an adopted member of the imperial family: I hoped to determine how the Scrolls related to them. While reading these two works side by side, I noticed a connection between them. Certain events from the ministry of Jesus seem to closely parallel episodes from the military 2 CAESAR'S MESSIAH campaign of the Roman emperor Titus Flavius as he attempted to gain control of the rebellious Jews in Judea. My efforts to understand this relationship led me to uncover the amazing secret that is the subject of this book: This imperial family, the Flavians, created Christianity, and, even more incredibly, they incorporated a skillful satire of the Jews in the Gospels and War of the Jews to inform posterity of this fact. The Flavian dynasty lasted from 69 to 96 C.E., the period when most scholars believe the Gospels were written. It consisted of three Caesars: Vespasian and his two sons, Titus and Domitian. Flavius Josephus, the adopted member of the family who wrote War of the Jews, was their official historian. The satire they created is difficult to see. If it were otherwise, it would not have remained unnoticed for two millennia. However, as readers may judge for themselves, the path that the Flavians left for us is a clear one. All that is really needed to walk down it is an open mind. But why then has the satirical relationship between Jesus and Titus not been noticed before? This question is especially apt in light of the fact that the works that reveal their satire -- the New Testament and the histories of Josephus -- are perhaps the most scrutinized books in literature. The only explanation I can offer is that viewing the Gospels as satire -- that is, as a literary composition (as opposed to a history) in which human folly is held up to ridicule -- requires the reader to contradict a deeply ingrained belief. Once Jesus was universally established as a world-historical individual, any other possibility became, evidentially, invisible. The more we believed in Jesus as a world-historical figure, the less we were able to understand him in any other way. To understand why the Flavians decided to create Christianity, one needs to understand the political conditions that the family faced in Judea in 74 C.E., following their defeat of the Sicarii, a movement of messianic Jews. The process that ultimately led to the Flavians' control over Judea was part of a broader and longer struggle, that between Judaism and Hellenism, Judaism, which was based upon monotheism
Introduction 3
and faith, was simply incompatible with Hellenism, the Greek culture that promoted polytheism and rationalism. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 4 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) Following the destruction of the Maccabcan state, the Sicarii, a new movement against Roman and Herodian control, emerged. This was a movement of lower-class Jews, originally called Zealots, who continued the Maccabees' religious struggle against the control of Judea by outsiders and sought to restore "Eretz Israel."The efforts of the Sicarii reached a climax in 66 C.E., when they succeeded in driving the Roman forces from the country. The Emperor Nero ordered Vespasian to enter Judea with a large army and end the revolt. The violent struggle that ensued left the country devastated and concluded when Rome captured Masada in 73 CE. In the midst of the Judean war, forces loyal to the Flavian family in Rome revolted against the last of the Julio-Claudian emperors, Vitellius, and seized the capital. Vespasian returned to Rome to be proclaimed emperor, leaving his son Titus in Judea to finish off the rebels. Following the war, the Flavians shared control over this region between Egypt and Syria with two families of powerful Hellenized
Introduction 5
Jews: the Herods and the Alexanders. These three families shared a common financial interest in preventing any future revolts. They also shared a long-standing and intricate personal relationship that can be traced to the household of Antonia, the mother of the Emperor Claudius. Antonia employed Julius Alexander Lysimarchus, the abalarch, or ruler, of the Jews of Alexandria, as her financial steward in around 45 C.E. Julius was the elder brother of the famous Jewish philosopher Philo Judeaus, the leading intellectual figure of Hellenistic Judaism. Philo's writings attempted to merge Judaism with Platonic philosophy. Scholars believe that his work provided the authors of the Gospels with some of their religious and philosophical perspective. Antonia's private secretary, Caenis, was also the long-term mistress of Vespasian. Julius Alexander Lysimarchus and Vespasian would therefore have known one another through their shared connection with the household of Antonia. Julius had two sons. The elder, Marcus, married Herod's niece Bernice as a teenager, creating a bond between the Alexanders and the Herods, the Roman-sponsored ruling family of Judea. Marcus died young and Bernice eventually became the mistress of Vespasian's son Titus. Bernice thereby connected the Flavians and the Alexanders, the family of her first husband, to her family, the Herods. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 6 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) Then someone from within this circle had an inspiration, one that changed history. The way to tame messianic Judaism would be to simply transform it into a religion that would cooperate with the Roman Empire. To achieve this goal would require a new type of messianic literature. Thus, what we know as the Christian Gospels were created.In a convergence unique in history, the Flavians, Herods, and Alexanders brought together the elements necessary for the creation and implementation or Christianity. They had the financial motivation to replace the militaristic religion of the Sicarii, the expertise in Judaism and philosophy necessary to create the Gospels, and the knowledge and bureaucracy required to implement a religion (the Flavians created and maintained a number of religions other than Christianity). Moreover, these families were the absolute rulers over the territories where the first Christian congregations began. To produce the Gospels required a deep understanding of Judaic literature. The Gospels would not simply replace the literature of the old religion, but would be written in such a way as to demonstrate that Christianity was the fulfillment of the prophecies or Judaism and had therefore grown directly from it. To achieve these effects, the Flavian intellectuals made use of a technique used throughout Judaic literature-typology. In its most basic sense typology is simply the use of prior events to provide form and context for subsequent ones. If one sits for a painting, for example, he or she is the "type" of the painting, the thing it was based upon. Typology is used throughout Judaic literature as a way of transferring information and meaning from one story to another. For example, the Book of Esther uses type scenes from the story of Joseph in the Book of Genesis, so that the alert reader will understand that Esther and Mordecai are repealing the role of Joseph as an agent of God.
Introduction 7
The authors of the Gospels used typology to create the impression that events from the lives of prior Hebrew prophets were types of events from Jesus' life. In doing so, they were trying to convince their readers that their story of Jesus was a continuation of the divine relationship that existed between the Hebrew prophets and God. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 8 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
Introduction 9
is surely no accident but proof that Moses, the first savior of Israel, is used as a type for Jesus, the second savior of Israel.
The typological sequence in Matthew that establishes Jesus as the new savior of Israel is well known to scholars. What has not been widely recognized is that the story also reveals the political perspective of the authors of the New Testament. In the Hebrew Bible it is the Israelites who tempt God, but notice that the devil takes their place in the parallel New Testament story. This equating of the Israelites with the devil is consistent with what the Flavians thought of the messianic Jews, that they were demons. Moreover, the parallel sequences demonstrate that the Gospels were designed to be read intertextually, that is, in direct relationship to the other books of the Bible. This is the only way that literature based on types can be understood. In other words, as the example concerning Jesus' infancy illustrates, to understand the Gospels' meaning a reader must recognize that the concepts, sequences, and locations in Matthew are parallel to the concepts, sequences, and locations in Genesis and Exodus, where their context has already been established. By using scenes from Judaic literature as types for events in Jesus' ministry, the authors hoped to convince their readers that the Gospels were a continuation of the Hebrew literature that had inspired the Sicarii to revolt and that, therefore, Jesus was the Messiah whom the rebels were hoping God would send them. In this way, they would strip messianic Judaism of its power to spawn insurrections, since the Messiah was no longer coming but had 10 CAESAR'S MESSIAH already come. Further, the Messiah was not the xenophobic military leader that the Sicarii were expecting, but rather a multiculturist who urged his followers to "turn the other cheek." If the Gospels achieved only the replacement of the militaristic messianic movement with a pacifistic one, they would have been one of the most successful pieces of propaganda in history. But the authors wanted even more. They wanted not merely to pacify the religious warriors of Judea but to make them worship Caesar as a god. And they wanted to inform posterity that they had done so. The populations of the Roman provinces were permitted to worship in any way they wished, with one exception; they had to allow Caesar to be worshiped in their temples. This was incompatible with monotheistic Judaism. At the end of the 66-73 C.E. war Flavius Josephus recorded that no matter how Titus tortured the Sicarii, they refused to call him "Lord." To circumvent the Jews' religious stubbornness, the Flavians therefore created a religion that worshiped Caesar without its followers knowing it. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
Introduction 11
• The Gospels were written following the 66-73 C.E. war between the Romans and the Jews, and many of the events of Jesus' ministry are satirical depictions of events from that war. • The purpose of Christianity was supersession. It was designed to replace the nationalistic and militaristic messianic movement in Judea with a religion that was pacifistic and would accept Roman rule. I developed these findings over the past few years, but delayed publishing them for a number of reasons. Though I am no longer a Christian, I see Christianity, on the whole, as valuable to society. I certainly did not wish to publish a work that might cause it substantial damage. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) |
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[ 12 ]
The First Christians and the Flavians This book provides a new approach to understanding what the Gospels are and who composed them. I shall show that intellectuals working for Titus Flavius, the second of the three Flavian Caesars, created Christianity. Their main purpose was to replace the xenophohic Jewish messianism that waged war against the Roman Empire with a version of Judaism that would be obedient to Rome. One of the individuals involved with the creation of the Gospels was the first-century historian Flavius Josephus, who, as he relates it, led a fabulous life. He was born in 37 C.E. into the royal family of Judea, the Maccabees. Like Jesus, Josephus was a child prodigy who astounded his elders with his knowledge of Judaic law. Josephus also claimed to have been a member of each of the Jewish sects of his era, the Sadduccees, the Pharisees, and the Essenes. When the Jewish rebellion against Rome broke out, in 66 C.E., though he had no described military background and believed the cause hopeless, Josephus was given command of the revolutionary army of Galilee. Taken captive, he was brought before the Roman general Vespasian, to whom he presented himself as a prophet. At this point, God, rather conveniently, spoke to Josephus and informed him that his favor had switched from the Jews to the Romans. Josephus then claimed that Judaism's messianic prophecies foresaw not a Jewish Messiah, but Vespasian, whom Josephus predicted would become the "lord of all mankind." After this came to pass, so to speak, and Vespasian was proclaimed emperor, he rewarded Josephus' clairvoyance by adopting him. Thus, the Jewish rebel Josephus bar Mattathias became Flavius
The First Christians and the Flavians 13
Josephus, the son of Caesar. He became an ardent supporter of Rome's conquest of Judea, and when Vespasian returned to Rome to be crowned emperor. Josephus stayed behind to assist the new emperor's son Titus with the siege of Jerusalem. Once the city had been destroyed. Josephus took up residence within the Flavian court at Rome, where he enjoyed the patronage of Vespasian and the subsequent Flavian emperors, Titus and Domitian. It was while he was living in Rome that Josephus wrote his two major works, War of the Jews, a description of the 66-73 C.E. war between the Romans and the Jews, and Jewish Antiquities, a history of the Jewish people. Josephus' histories are of great significance to Christianity. Virtually all that we know regarding the social context of the New Testament is derived from them. Without these works, the very dating of the events of the New Testament would be impossible. Josephus' histories provided Jesus with historical documentation, a fact that is widely known. They also provided Jesus with another kind of documentation, a fact largely forgotten. Early Christians believed that the events Josephus described in War of the Jews proved that Jesus had been able to see into the future. It is difficult to find even one early Christian who taught another position. Church scholars such as Tertullian, Justin Martyr, and Cyprian were unanimous in proclaiming that Josephus' description of the conquest of Judea by Titus Flavius in War of the Jews proved that Jesus' prophecies had come to pass. As Eusebius wrote in 325 C.E.: If anyone compares the words of our Saviour with the other accounts of the historian [Josephus] concerning the whole war, how can one fail to wonder, and to admit that the foreknowledge and the prophecy of our Saviour were truly divine and marvelously Strange. 2One example of the foreknowledge that so impressed Eusebius was Jesus' prediction that the foes of Jerusalem would encircle it with a wall, demolish the city and its temple, and level its inhabitants. And when He was now getting near Jerusalem. 14 CAESAR'S MESSIAH For the time is coming upon thee when thy foes will throw up around thee earthworks and a wall, investing thee and hemming thee in on every side, and level you and your children With in you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you: because you did not know the time of your visitation.Josephus recorded in War of the Jews that all the precise details Jesus foresaw for Jerusalem did indeed come to pass. Titus ordered his soldiers to "build a wall round about the whole city." 3 Titus, like Jesus, saw the encircling of the city as an event sanctioned by God, who inspired his soldiers with a "divine fury." Josephus also recorded that Titus did not merely burn Jerusalem and defile its temple, but ordered that they should be left exactly as Jesus has foreseen, with "not one stone upon another." [Titus] gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and Temple... 4Jesus stated that these calamities would befall Jerusalem's inhabitants because they did not know the "time of your visitation." The coming visitation was to be made by someone he called the "Son of Man, -- a title used by the prophet Daniel for the Jewish Messiah. 5 While it has been universally believed that Jesus was referring to himself when he used the expression the "Son of Man," he usually spoke of this individual in the third person and not as himself. Jesus repeatedly warned the Jews that during the Visitation of the Son of Man various disasters, like those he foresaw above, would occur. Be on the alert therefore, for you do not know the day on which your Lord is coming.
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Though Jesus did not say exactly when the visitation of the Son of Man would occur, he did state that he would come before the generation alive during his ministry passed away. So you also, when you see all these signs, may be sure that He is near -- at your very door. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 16 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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(this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 18 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) The only works to have survived this century of religious warfare, the Gospels and the histories of Josephus, had a pro-Roman perspective. In the case of Josephus' histories this is hardly surprising, as he was an adopted member of the imperial family. It is notable, however, that the New Testament also has a point of view positive to the Romans. The first century was not a time when one would expect that a Judaic cult with a viewpoint favorable to the Empire would have emerged. Yet the New Testament texts never portray Roman soldiers in a negative light, and actually describe them as a devout and God-fearing.There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, a devout man, and one that feared God with his entire house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always.The New Testament also presents tax collectors, who would have been working for the Romans, in a favorable light. The Apostle Matthew, for example, is actually described as a publican, or tax collector. The citizenship espoused in the works of Josephus and the New Testament would have been seen favorably by Rome. Each work proclaims the holiness of subservience. And each takes the position that as it is God who has given the Romans their power, it is therefore against God's will to resist them. For example, the Apostle Paul teaches that Roman judges and magistrates were a threat only to evil- doers. Therefore the man who rebels against his ruler is resisting God's will; and those who thus resist will bring punishment upon themselves.
The First Christians and the Flavians 19
For he is God' s servant for your benefit. But if you do what is wrong, be afraid. He does not wear the sword to no purpose: he is God's servant -- an administrator to inflict punishment upon evil-doers.Josephus shared Paul's belief that the Romans were God's servants and only inflicted punishment upon evil-doers. Indeed what can it be that hath stirred up an army of the Romans against our nation? Is It not the impiety of the inhabitants? Whence did our servitude commence? Was it not derived from the seditions that were among our forefathers, when the madness of Aristobulus and Hyrcanus, and our mutual quarrels, brought Pompey upon this city, and when God reduced those under subjection to the Romans who were unworthy of the liberty they had enjoyed? 6Thus, the only works that describe first-century Judea share a positive viewpoint toward Rome. Why is it that only they have survived? I believe that the New Testament and the works of Josephus survived because they were both created and promulgated by Rome. This work presents evidence indicating that the Gospels were created by Titus Flavius, the second of the three Flavian emperors. Titus created the religion for two reasons, the most obvious being to act as a theological barrier against the spread of the militant messianic Judaism of Judea to other provinces. Josephus mentions this threat in War of the Jews: ...the Jews hoped that all of their nation, which were beyond Euphrates, would have raised an insurrection with them. 7Titus had another, more personal, reason for creating the Gospels -- this being that the Jewish Zealots refused to worship him as a 20 CAESAR'S MESSIAH god. Though he was able to crush their rebellion. Titus could not force the Zealots, even through torture or death, to call him Lord. Josephus noted the staunchness with which the Zealots adhered to their monotheistic faith, stating that the Sicarii "do not value dying and any kind of death, nor indeed do they heed the dying of their re lations, nor can any fear make them call any man Lord." 8 As I noted in the Introduction, to circumvent the Jews' stubbornness, Titus designed a hidden message within the Gospels. This message reveals that the "Jesus" who interacted with the disciples following the crucifixion was not a Jewish Messiah but himself. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
The First Christians and the Flavians 21
(part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) To try to understand how Christianity established itself within the Roman Empire, is to sift through mysteries piled atop the unknown. For example, how did a religion that began as verbal traditions in Hebrew or Aramaic change into one whose surviving scripture is written almost entirely in Greek? According to Albert Schweitzer.The great and still undischarged task which confronts those engaged in the historical study of primitive Christianity is to explain how the teaching of Jesus developed into the early Greek theology.The most historically illogical aspect of Christianity's origin, however, was its Messiah. Jesus had a political perspective that was precisely the opposite of the son of David, who was awaited by the Jews of this era. Josephus records that what most inspired the Jewish rebels was their belief in the Judaic prophesies that foresaw a 22 CAESAR'S MESSIAH world ruler, or Messiah, emerging from Judea-the same prophecies that the New Testament claims predicted a pacifist. But now, what did the most to elevate them in undertaking this war was an ambiguous oracle that was also found in their sacred writings, how, "about that time, one from their country should become governor of the habitable earth." The Jews took this prediction to belong to themselves in particular... 11The Dead Sea Scrolls confirmed that Jews of this sea indeed "took this prediction to belong to themselves" and awaited a Messiah who would be the son of God. Son of God he will be called and son of the Most High they will name him... His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom... he will judge the earth in truth... The Great God... will give people into his hand and all of them will be cast down before him. His sovereignty is everlasting sovereignty. 12 (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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(part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) When one compares the militaristic Messiah described in the Dead Sea Scrolls and other early Judaic literature with the pacifistic Messiah described in the New Testament and Josephus' Testimonium, one aspect of the lost history of Judea seems visible. An intellectual battle was waged over the nature of the Messiah. The New Testament and Josephus stood together on one side of this struggle, claiming that a pacifistic Messiah had appeared who advocated cooperation with Rome. On the other side of this theological divide stood the Jewish Zealots who awaited a militaristic Messiah to lead them against Rome.Among Christianitys oldest surviving records is the Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, dated to 96 C.E. The letter was purportedly written by (Pope) Clement I to a congregation of Christians who had apparently rebelled against the churchs authority. It shows 24 CAESAR'S MESSIAH that even at the onset of the religion the bishop of Rome was able to give orders to the church of Corinth, and that the church of Rome used the Roman army as an example of the kind of discipline and obedience that it expected from other churches and their members. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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(this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 26 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) Titus not only created and administered religions, he was a prophet. While emperor, he received the title of Pontifex Maximus, which made him the high priest of the Roman religion and the official head of the Roman college of priests -- the same title and office that, once Christianity had become the Roman state religion, its
The First Christians and the Flavians 27
popes would assume. As Pontifex Maximus, Titus was responsible for a large collection of prophecies (annales maximi) every year, and officially recorded celestial and other signs, as well as the events that had followed these omens, so that future generations would be able to better understand the divine will. Titus was unusually literate. He claimed to take shorthand faster than any secretary and to be able to "forge any man's signature" and stated that under different circumstances he could have become "the greatest forger in history." 20 Suetonius records that Titus possessed "conspicuous mental gifts," and "made speeches and wrote verses in Latin and Greek" and that his "memory was extraordinary." 21 (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 28 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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(part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) Given this patrician cynicism, it is odd that so many members of the Flavian family were recorded as having been among Christianity's first members. Why was a Judaic cult that advocated meekness and poverty so attractive to a family that practiced neither? The tradition connecting early Christianity and the Flavian family is based on solid evidence but has received little comment from scholars.30 CAESAR'S MESSIAH The best known of the "Christian Flavians" was (Pope) Clement I. He is described in The Catholic Encyclopedia as the first pope about whom "anything definite is known," 29 and was recorded in early church literature as being a member of the Flavian family. Pope Clement was the first pope who had individuals known to history refer to him and who left behind written works. He purportedly wrote the Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, quoted previously. Thus, Clement is of great Significance to the church's history. In fact, while The Catholic Encyclopedia currently lists Clement as the fourth "bishop of Rome," or pope, this was not the assertion of many early church scholars. St. Jerome wrote that in his time "most of the Latins" 30 held that Clement had been the direct successor of Peter. Tertullian also knew of this tradition; he wrote, "The church of Rome records that Clement was ordained by Peter." 31 Origen, Eusebius, and Epiphanius also placed Clement at the very beginning of the Roman church, each of them stating that Clement had been the "fellow laborer" of the Apostle Paul. Scholars have seen that the list of popes given by Irenaeus (circa 125-202) that names Clement as the fourth pope is suspect and it is notable that the Roman Church chose to use it as its official history. This list names "Linus" as the second pope, followed by "Anakletus" and then Clement. The list comes from Irenaeus, who identifies "Linus the Pope" as the Linus mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21. Scholars have speculated that Irenaeus chose Linus simply because he was the last male that Paul mentioned in the epistle, which supposedly was written immediately before Paul's martyrdom. The provenance of Pope Anakletus may be no better. In Titus, the epistle that immediately follows Timothy in the canon, it is stated, "the bishop shall be irreproachable." In Greek, "irreproachable" is anenkletus. 32 Irenaeus may not have known who the popes between Peter and Clement were and therefore had to invent names for them. If this was the case, then after creating "Linus" as Peter's successor, "Irreproachable" as the next bishop of Rome, his imagination may have become strained, because the name he chose for the sixth pope in his list was "Sixus."
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It also seems strange that the Roman church chose to use Irenaeus' list, considering that it originated in the East. The idea that Clement was the second pope is no weaker historically and reflects the papal sequence that was known in Rome. Perhaps early church officials preferred not to use a lists tating that Clement was Peter's direct successor, because of the traditional view that he was a member of the Flavian family. The notion that Pope Clement was a Flavian was recorded in the Acts of Saints Nereus and Achilleus, a fifth- or sixth-century work based on even earlier traditions. This work directly linked the Flavian family to Christianity, a fact that is noted in The Catholic Encyclopedia: Titus Flavius Sabinus, consul in 82, put to death by Domitian [the Emperor Titus' brother], whose sister he had married. Pope Clement is represented as his son tn the Acts of Saints Nereus and Achilleus. 33Titus Flavius Sabinus' brother, Clemens, was also linked to Christianity. The Acts of Saints Nereus and Achilleus states that Clemens was a Christian martyr. Clemens is believed to have married Vespasian's granddaughter and his first Cousin, Flavia Domitilla, who was yet another Christian Flavian. In the case of Flavia Domitilla there is extant evidence linking her to Christianity. The oldest Christian burial site in Rome has inscriptions naming her as its founder: The catacomb of Domitilla is shown by existing inscriptions to have been founded by her. Owing to the purely legendary character of these Acts, we cannot use them as an argument to aid in the controversy as to whether there were two Christians of the name of Domitilla in the family of the Christian Flavians, or only one, the wife of the Consul Flavius Clemens. 34 (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 32 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) Another individual linked to both Christianity and the Flavian family was Bernice, the sister of Agrippa, who is actually described in the New Testament as having known the Apostle Paul. She became Titus' mistress and was living with him at the Flavian court in 75 C.E., the same time Josephus was purportedly writing War of the Jews.Flavius Josephus, an adopted member of the family, also had a connection to the beginnings of Christianity. His works provided the New Testament with its primary independent historical documentation
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and were certainly read by his imperial patrons. In fact, Titus ordered the publication of War of the Jews. In his autobiography, Josephus writes that Titus "was so desirous that the knowledge of these affairs should be taken from these books alone, that he affixed his own signature to them and gave orders for their publication." 37 Perhaps the most unusual connection between Christianity and the Flavians, however, is the fact that Titus Flavius fulfilled all of Jesus' doomsday prophecies. As mentioned above, the parallels between the description of Titus' campaign in War of the Jews and Jesus' prophecies caused early church scholars to believe that Christ had seen into the future. The destruction of the temple, the encircling of Jerusalem with a wall, the towns of Galilee being "brought low," the destruction of what Jesus described as the "wicked generation," etc. had all been prophesied by Jesus and then came to pass during Titus' military campaign through Judea -- a campaign that like Jesus' ministry, began in Galilee and ended in Jerusalem. Thus the Flavians are linked to Christianity by an unusual number of facts and traditions. Early church documents flatly state that the family produced some of the religion's first martyrs, as well as the pope who succeeded Peter. The Flavians created much of the literature that provides documentation for the religion, were responsible for its oldest known cemetery, and housed individuals named in the New Testament within their imperial court. Further, the family was responsible for Jesus' apocalyptic prophecies having "come to pass." (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 34 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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(part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) In spite of these efforts, Rome's normal policy of absorbing the gods of its provinces did not succeed in Judea. Judaism would not permit its God to be just one among many, and Rome was forced to battle one Jewish insurrection after another. Having failed to control Judaism by naming its high priests, the imperial family would next attempt to control the religion by rewriting its Torah.I believe they took this step and created the Gospels to initiate a version of Judaism more acceptable to the Empire, a religion that instead of waging war against its enemies would "turn the other cheek." The theory of a Roman invention of Christianity does not originate with this work. Bruno Bauer, a 19th-century German scholar, believed that Christianity was Rome's attempt to create a mass religion that encouraged slaves to accept their station in life. In our era, Robert Eisenman concluded that the New Testament was the literature of a Judaic messianic movement rewritten with a pro-Roman perspective. This work, however, presents a completely new way of understanding the New Testament. 36 CAESAR'S MESSIAH I will show that the Gospels were created to be understood on two levels. On its surface level they are, of course, a description of the ministry of a miracle-working Messiah who rose from the dead. However, the New Testament was also designed to be understood in another way, which is as a satire of Titus Flavius' military campaign through Judea. The proof of this is simply that Jesus and Titus share parallel experiences at the same locations and in the same sequence. Those parallels are both too exact and too complex to have occurred by chance. That this fact has been overlooked for two millennia rep· resents a blind spot in scholarship as large as it is long. The Gospels were designed to become apparent as satire as soon as they were read in conjunction with War of the Jews. In fact, the four Gospels and War of the Jews were created as a unified piece of literature whose characters and stories interact. Their interaction gives many of Jesus' sayings a comical meaning and also creates a series of puzzles whose solutions reveal the real identities of the New Testament's characters. Understanding the New Testaments comic level reveals, for example, that the Apostles Simon and John were cruel lampoons of Simon and John, the leaders of the Jewish rebellion. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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Copyright © 2005 by Joseph Atwill -- All rights reserved.
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Only limited, "fair use" excerpts reproduced here.
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[ 45 ]
The Son of Mary
To understand the parallels between Jesus' ministry and Titus' campaign it was necessary to make a series of discoveries, each new insight providing the capacity to make the next. This process began when I came across the following passage in War of the Jews and concluded that the parallels between the "son of Mary" described in it and the "son of Mary" in the Gospels were too precise to have been the product of circumstance. While readers can judge this claim for themselves, it should be noted that Josephus wrote during an age in which allegory was regarded as a science. Educated readers were expected to be able to understand another meaning within religious and historical literature. The Apostle Paul, for example, stated that passages from the Hebrew Scriptures were allegories that looked forward to Christ's birth. I believe that in the following passage Josephus is using allegory to reveal something else about Jesus. The passage begins with Josephus speaking in the first person. He describes the difficulty he is having in writing about an exceptionally grisly event caused by the famine that occurred during the Roman siege of Jerusalem. But why do I describe the shameless impudence that the famine brought on men in their eating inanimate things, while I am going to relate a matter of fact, the like to which no history relates? It is horrible to speak of it, and incredible when heard. I had indeed willingly omitted this calamity of ours, that I might not seem to deliver what is so portentous 46 CAESAR'S MESSIAH to posterity. but that I have innumerable witnesses to it in my own age... 47He then describes the event: There was a certain woman that dwelt beyond Jordan, her name was Mary; her father was Eleazar, of the village Bethezob, which signifies the house of Hyssop. She was eminent for her family and her wealth, and had fled away to Jerusalem with the rest of the multitude, and was with them besieged therein at this time. The other effects of this woman had been already seized upon, such I mean as she had brought with her out of Perea, and removed to the city. What she had treasured up besides, as also what food she had contrived to save, had been also carried off by the rapacious guards, who came every day running into her house for that purpose. This put the poor woman in to a very great passion, and by the frequent reproaches and imprecations she cast at these rapacious villains, she had provoked them to anger against her; but none of them, either out of the indignation she had raised against herself, or out of commiseration of her case, would take away her life; and if she found any food, she perceived her labors were for others, and not for herself; and it was now become impossible for her any way to find any more food, while the famine pierced through her very bowels and marrow. when also her passion was fired to a degree beyond the famine itself: nor did she consult with anything but with her passion and the necessity she was in She then attempted a most unnatural thing; and snatching up her son, who was a child sucking at her breast, she said, "O thou miserable infant! for whom shall I preserve thee In this war, this famine, and this sedition? As to the war With the Romans. If they preserve our lives, we must be slaves. This famine also will destroy us, even before that slavery comes upon us. Yet are these seditious rogues more terrible than both the other. Come on: be thou my food, and be thou a fury to these seditious varlets, and a by-word to the world, which is all that is now wanting to complete the calamities of us Jews.
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As soon as she had said this, she slew her son, and then roasted him, and ate the one half of him, and kept the other half by her concealed. Upon this the seditious came in presently, and smelling the horrid scent of this food, they threatened her that they would cut her throat Immediately if she did not show them what food she had gotten ready. She replied that she had saved a very fine portion of it for them, and withal uncovered what was left to her son. Hereupon they were seized with a horror and amazement of mind, and stood astonished at the sight, when she said to them.I would first note that while the passage may have been based on an actual event, Josephus seems to have invented the dialogue. There are no witnesses to the speech Mary gives before she kills her son. It is, of course, unlikely that a mother would have slain and eaten her son in the presence of others. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 48 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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(part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) If Josephus was lampooning Jesus, what was his purpose? An obvious explanation is that he wrote the passage to amuse a group on whom the joke would not be lost: he would have created it to be enjoyed by the Flavians and their inner circle.This conclusion is especially plausible in light of the fact that there were individuals within the Flavian court who were aware of Christianity around the time Josephus published War of the Jews. Further, there were four colleges in Rome that were responsible for overseeing the religions within the empire. Because religion was an 52 CAESAR'S MESSIAH important tool of the state, these colleges had considerable political power. From Augustus on, the emperor was a member of all four colleges, one of which, the Quindecimvri Sacris Faciundis, was responsible for the regulation of foreign cults in Rome. All the Flavian emperors were members of this college and would have categorized Christianity as a foreign cult during this era. Moreover, the most obvious reason to believe that there were Flavians familiar with Christianity is that so much of the New Testament is related to the family. The Flavians brought about the fulfillment of all of Jesus' doomsday prophecies -- the destruction of the temple, the encircling of Jerusalem with a wall, the towns of Galilee being brought low, and the destruction of what Jesus describes as the "wicked generation." Titus' mistress, Bernice, and Tiberius Alexander, his chief of staff during the siege of Jerusalem, are actually named within the New Testament. A cult whose canon prophesied the accomplishments of the Flavians, named individuals within its inner circle, and actually had converts within the imperial family would certainly have been scrutinized during an era when the regulation of religion was so important that the emperor himself was involved with it. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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(part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) Within the context of a lampoon of Jesus the meaning of the phrase becomes clear. The author is not merely ridiculing Christ. He is stating that Jesus will "complete the calamity" of the Jews by becoming a byword to the world and that the spread of Christianity will "complete" the destruction of the Jews.This interpretation indicates that Christianity was designed to promote anti-Semitism -- a concept that is at least plausible, historically. A cult that produced anti-Semitism would have both helped Rome prevent the messianic Jews from spreading their rebellion and punished them by poisoning their future. The New Testament has numerous passages that seem deliberately intended to cause Christians to hate Jews. Though Christian apologists have attempted to explain away such passages, there are clear examples of this technique throughout the New Testament 54 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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own child ought to be covered with the overthrow of their very country itself, and men ought not to leave such a city upon the habitable earth to be seen by the sun, wherein mothers are thus fed, although such food be fitter for the fathers than for the mothers to eat of, since it is they that continue still in a state of war against us, after they have undergone such miseries as these. And at the same time that he said this, he reflected on the desperate condition these men must be in: nor could he expect that such men could be recovered to sobriety of mind, after they had endured those very sufferings, for the avoiding whereof it only was probable they might have repented. 57Titus' use of the word "repent" here is interesting. "Repent" is, of course, one of the key words of Jesus' ministry and Caesar's usage of it brings the parallels even tighter. Jesus states repeatedly, "Repent, the Kingdom of God is at hand," but exactly what sin does he wish the Jews to repent of? Jesus never gives an answer to this question. However, if my interpretation of the lampoon is correct, the sin of which Jesus wishes the Jews to repent becomes obvious. It is their rebellion against Rome. |
Copyright © 2005 by Joseph Atwill -- All rights reserved.
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[ 58 ]
The Demons of Gadara When I first came across the passage from War of the Jews describing a son of Mary whose flesh was eaten and recognized its linkage to Christianity, I was perplexed. The more I studied the passage the more I was convinced that it had been deliberately created as a lampoon -- but as more than just a lampoon of Jesus. It appeared to be a disclosure of a different origin of Christianity than the one that had been passed down to the modern era. That is, that Christianity had been created to be a "calamity" upon the Jews. I began to analyze War of the Jews to determine if it contained other passages that could be seen as satirical disclosures regarding this different version of Christianity's origin. That was when it became clear to me that there were humorous parallels between the story line of Jesus' ministry and Titus' campaign through Judea, and that among them was their similar experience near the town of Gadara. Each of the Synoptic Gospels tells a story of Jesus coming to Gadara where he meets a man who is possessed by demons (in Matthew., Jesus meets two demon-possessed men, a point I shall return to). In the versions of the story found in Mark and Luke, when Jesus asks the demon his name, the demon replies: My name is Legion: for we are many.I found it interesting that the demon would choose to describe himself and his cohort as a component of an army. Remembering that the location where Jesus asked his disciples to become "fishers
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of men" was used to create a comic linkage to an event that occurred at the same location in War of the Jews, I wondered whether the use of the word "legion" by the demon might be satirically related to an event in War of the Jews that occurred near Gadara. The passage in Mark describing the demoniac of Gadara tells of Jesus' encounter with a man possessed by numerous demons. These demons leave the man at Jesus' bidding and then enter into a herd of swine. Once the swine are possessed by the demons, they rush wildly into the sea and drown. The passage does not reveal what happened to the demons after the swine drown. Note that in the New Testament "unclean spirits" are synonymous with devils and demons. And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. 60 CAESAR'S MESSIAH And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter in to them.In War of the Jews, there is a short chapter that describes the battle at Gadara. The chapter begins with a description of how "John" rose to power as a leader of the rebellion. By this time John was beginning to tyrannize... Now some submitted to him out of their fear of him, and others out of their good-will to him; for he was a shrewd man to entice men to him, both by deluding them and putting cheats upon them. Nay, many there were that thought they should be safer themselves, if the causes of their past insolent actions should now be reduced to one head, and not to a great many.Thus, Josephus described John as a "tyrant" into whose "one head" the "insolent actions" of many had been "reduced." Josephus next describes the Sicarii, the most militant fraction of the Jewish rebellion, who, he states, were able to undertake "greater matters" because of the "sedition and tyranny" that John had created. There was a fortress of very great strength not far from Jerusalem... called Masada. Those that were called Sicarii had taken possession of it formerly, but at this time they overran the neighboring countries, aiming only to procure to themselves necessaries; for the fear they were then in
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prevented their further ravages. But when once they were in formed that the Roman army lay still, and that the Jews were divided between sedition and tyranny, they boldly undertook greater matters... Now as it is in a human body, if the principal part be inflamed, all the members are subject to the same distemper: so, by means of the sedition and disorder that was in the metropolis... had the wicked men that were in the country opportunity to ravage the same. Accordingly, when every one of them had plundered their own villages, they then retired into the desert; yet were these men that now got together, and Joined m the conspiracy by parties, too small for an army, and too many for a gang of thieves...Josephus then describes the beginning of Vespasian's pacification of the Judean countryside. His first assault was on Gadara, a city held by the rebels. These things were told Vespasian by deserters: Accordingly, he marched against Gadara, the metropolis of Perea, which was a place of strength, and entered that city on the fourth day of the month Dystrus [Adar]; for the men of power had sent an embassage to him, without the knowledge of the seditious, to treat about a surrender; which they did out of the desire they had of peace, and for saving their effects, because many of the citizens of Gadara were rich men. This embassy the opposite party knew nothing of, but discovered it as Vespasian was approaching near the city. However, they despaired of keeping possession of the city, as being inferior in number to their enemies who were within the city, and seeing the Romans very near to the city; so they resolved to fly.Josephus then states that after being driven from Gadara the rebels fled to another town, where they conscripted a group of young men into their ranks. This combined group then ran "like the wildest of beasts" attempting to escape. Eventually many were forced to "leap" the river Jordan, where they drowned. So many dying in the river that, it "could not be passed over, by reason of the dead bodies that were in." 62 CAESAR'S MESSIAH But as soon as these fugitives saw the horsemen that pursued them just upon their backs, and before they came to a close fight, they ran together to a certain village, which was called Bethennabris, where finding a great multitude of young men, and arming them, partly by their own consent, partly by force, they rashly and suddenly assaulted Placidus and the troops that were with him. These horsemen at the first onset gave way a little, as contriving to entice them further off the wall; and when they had drawn them into a place fit for their purpose, they made their horses encompass them round, and threw their darts at them. So the horsemen cut off the flight of the fugitives, while the foot terribly destroyed those that fought against them; for those Jews did no more than show their courage, and then were destroyed; for as they fell upon the Romans when they were joined dose together, and, as it were, waited about with their entire armor, they were not able to find any place where the darts could enter, nor were they any way able to break their ranks, while they were themselves run through by the Roman darts, and, like the wildest of wild beasts, rushed upon the point of others' swords: so some of them were destroyed, as cut with their enemies' swords upon their faces, and others were dispersed by the horsemen.
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As I compared Josephus' and the new Testament Gadara stories I recognized that there were similarities between them. For example, the demoniac in the New Testament's story is described as having a "Legion" of demons inside him. The rebel "tyrant," John, is described as having "the past insolent actions [of the many] reduced to [his] one head." Thus, the demoniac of Gadara can be likened to Josephus' description of John. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 64 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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(this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 68 CAESAR'S MESSIAH the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. So shall it be also with this evil generation. 64Jesus' linking of the "evil generation" to demonically possessed men who infected others mirrors my interpretation of the New Testament's Gadara passage, wherein I concluded that the "Sicarii" were demons who infected others with their "wickedness." When Jesus referred to a "wicked generation" he appears to have been referring to the Sicarii, who rebelled against Rome. This proposition is especially clear in light of the fact that to Jews of this era a "generation" was forty years, which was the exact time span between Jesus' resurrection and the final destruction of the Sicarii at Masada. The understanding that a "generation" lasted forty years comes from the Pentateuch. And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the Wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was consumed. 65Many Christians currently hold a different position regarding Jesus' doomsday prophecies, believing that they do not refer to the generation of Jews that lived during his lifetime. Instead, they believe that Jesus was speaking about some unspecified time still in the future. I feel that this "futurist" understanding is incorrect and has the effect of obfuscating Jesus' words, thereby making it difficult to understand the meaning they conveyed in the first century. No real understanding of the New Testament is possible without knowing what Jesus meant when he used the word "generation." The Greek word in the New Testament that has been translated as "generation" is genea. Early in the 20th century some Christian scholars began to posit that Jesus' use of this word was meant to indicate not the "generation" of Jews alive during his lifetime, but rather the entire "race" of Jews, which would not pass away "without all these things having first taken place." It is easy to understand their desire for such a definition. If Jesus is referring to those Jews alive during his lifetime then his "Second Coming" must have occurred in 70 A.D. Such an understanding leaves Christianity in an awkward position. This is because if Jesus'
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"Second Coming" had occurred during the war between the Romans and the Jews, why was it Titus and not Jesus who demolished the temple and destroyed the "wicked generation"? (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 70 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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In fact, Josephus did not believe that demons were "nerve cases" and gave a precise definition as to what they were. He stated that demons were the spirits of the wicked. Demons... are no other than the spirits of the wicked. 71This definition indicates that Josephus saw the Sicarii as "demons" in that he constantly describes the rebels as "wicked." Josephus also links the Sicarii with "demons" in another way. He describes the Sicarii as moving "with a demonical fury." 72 as they went to kill their families at the end of the siege of Masada. Like Jesus, Josephus makes it clear who the "wicked" are. They are the generation of Jews that rebelled against Rome. That neither did any other city ever suffer such miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness than was this, from the beginning of the world. 73Thus, Jesus and Josephus share a narrow understanding and express it with the same vocabulary: that the generation of Jews who lived between 33 C.E. and 73 C.E. were "wicked" because they had been "infected" by a demonic spirit. This shared understanding is suspicious. Jesus could only view the "wickedness" of this generation by looking into the future, and yet he had not only held the same opinion of the generation as Josephus, he used the same words in describing it. Returning to the version of the story of the demoniac of Gadara found in Matthew, where Jesus meets two demons, in War of the Jews we learn there were two "tyrants" or leaders of the Jewish rebellion. John, described above, and a Simon. Since my analysis suggests that the New Testament is satirizing John in the version that describes a single demon of Gedara, it seemed logical to ask whether the version describing two demoniacs was satirizing both leaders of the Jewish rebellion, John and Simon. Experimenting with this premise I noticed that at the conclusion of the siege of Jerusalem in War of the Jews Simon and John both take refuge in subterranean caverns beneath Jerusalem. Eventually they are forced by starvation to come out of these "tombs" and surrender 72 CAESAR'S MESSIAH to the Romans. This event struck me as a parallel to the description of the demon-possessed men "coming out of the tombs" in the New Testament. The passage in War of the Jews that describes these caverns confirms that they are indeed "tombs." The Romans slew some of them, some they carried captives, and others they made a search for under ground, and when they found where they were, they broke up the ground and slew all they met with. There were also found slain there above two thousand persons, partly by their own hands, and partly by one another, but chiefly destroyed by the famine; but then the ill savor of the dead bodies was most offensive to those that lighted upon them, insomuch that some were obliged to get away immediately... 74As I have mentioned, the demon-possessed man at Gadara is described as "cutting himself with stones." 75 Cutting oneself with "stones" is, of course, unusual -- a stone is not a tool someone would normally use to cut with. What is the author of this passage actually referring to? I realized that if the demoniacs of Gadara are intended to satirize the rebel leaders, then there was a comic answer to this question. The phrase in the New Testament where the demoniac is "in the tombs... cutting himself with stones" shares a comic relationship with the passage in War of the Jews that describes the "tombs" that John and Simon take refuge in. The joke comes from the unanswered question in Mark 5:5. This question being, what does one call someone who cuts himself with stones? In a passage in War of the Jews relating to the rebel leader's hiding in the "tombs" we learn the absurdly obvious answer. Someone who cuts himself with stones is, of course, called a "stonecutter." This Simon, during the siege of Jerusalem, was in the upper city; but when the Roman army was gotten within the walls, and were laying the city waste, he then took the most faithful of his friends with him, and among them some that were stonecutters, with those iron tools which belonged to their occupation. 76
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The version of the Gadara encounter in Matthew does not describe the fate of either of its two demon-possessed men. However, if the demoniacs were spoofs of the leaders of the Jewish rebellion, then the version in Mark, which describes only one possessed man, must tell the fate of John. I reached this conclusion because the passage concludes with the statement "Him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him." 77 If the New Testament was lampooning Simon and John, the leaders of the Jewish rebellion, then the individual who was restored to his "right mind" and who went to Decapolis could only have been John. This is because Josephus records that, after being captured, John was given life imprisonment while Simon was taken to Rome and executed. Following this logic, it could only have been John, then, who "began to publish in Decapolis." So my musings raised the question of whether John the Zealot, leader of the Jewish rebellion, had assisted the Romans in creating Christian literature while he was imprisoned in Decapolis. And further, I wondered exactly what literature this individual could have helped the Romans create? The only known Christian literature from this era is the New Testament itself. There was, of course , someone named "John" who wrote a Gospel. While the premise that the Apostle John was a lampoon of the John who was the leader of the rebellion was based at this point in my analysis as much on imagination as evidence, it was consistent with the style of black humor I felt was in play within the passages analyzed previously. Of course, if the Apostle John is a lampoon of the rebel John, then it would follow that the Apostle Simon is also a lampoon of the other rebel leader, Simon. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 74 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) John is shown as a mirror opposite of the "Son of Man," who is eating and drinking and is "the friend of tax gatherers," and who will "upbraid towns" "because they had not repented" -- this description of Jesus having a dear parallel in Titus' activities in Judea. Therefore, if the passage has the satirical meaning I suspected, then the "John" described within the passage is meant to be understood as John, the leader of the rebellion, and Jesus' prophecy is actually envisioning Titus' campaign through Judea.But to what shall I compare the present generation? It is like children sitting in the open places, who call to their playmates. "We have played the flute to you," they say, "and you have not danced: we have sung dirges, and you have not beaten your breasts."
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For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, "He has a demon."My analysis of the New Testament story of the demons of Gadara suggests that the "subterranean caverns" the Jewish rebels fled into at the end of the Siege of Jerusalem were satirized as "tombs" within the New Testament. The following passage from the Gospel of John appeared to me to be using this theme. However, notice that if this interpretation is correct, then in the passage Jesus is actually comparing himself to Titus, in that Titus is the individual sent by "god," that is, his father Vespasian, to hand out "life," or "judgment," to the Jews hidden in "tombs," that is, the caverns beneath Jerusalem. I shall return to this point below. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 76 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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coming the New Testament predicts will bring destruction to Jerusalem, is Titus. I then realized the larger implications of what I had discovered. The reader will recall the parallel beginnings to the "ministries" of Titus and Jesus; that is, both were "followed" by "fishers of men." The conclusions of Titus' and Jesus' stints in Judea are also conceptually parallel. When I looked at the relative placements of the Gadara and the "son of Mary whose flesh was eaten" parallels, I found that those too occurred in the same sequence. Thus, the New Testament satires of events from War of the Jews were not haphazardly sequenced, as I had originally assumed, but were put in the same sequence as the events they satirized. In other words, the entire outline of Jesus' ministry, as recorded within the New Testament, was designed to prophecy Titus' campaign through Judea. For clarification, I present the following table of parallels in sequence shown thus far:
TABLE OF PARALLELS IN SEQUENCE
80 CAESAR'S MESSIAH The New Testament passages concerning "fishing for men," a "legion" of demons coming out of one man to infect many, a human Passover lamb, and a conclusion where Simon is condemned and John spared can be seen as satirizing very few works of literature. It is, therefore, quite implausible that the New Testament describes, by chance, so many episodes that can be seen as satirizing the events in a single book. Moreover, while it is possible to argue that each New Testament episode that appears to satirize an event in War of the Jews does so accidentally, if that were the case then these accidents would occur in a random sequence and at random locations. It was not required that Jesus use the expression "fishers of men" while standing on the beach at Gennesareth, any more than it was required that he meet the demoniac at Gadara. Nor was it necessary for him to offer his flesh at Jerusalem, or to condemn Simon but spare John at the conclusion of his ministry. The fact that these four events occur in the New Testament in the same sequence and at the same location as their parallel events in War of the Jews strongly supports the contention that one work was created with the other in mind. Two four-sided dice, for example, will each land with the same side up four times in a row only once in two hundred and fifty-six throws. Therefore, the parallel sequences, concepts, and locations make the authors' intent clear. In the same way that they show the first savior of Israel, Moses, to have been the "type" of Jesus. the second savior of Israel, through their parallel infancy experiences, they also "prove" that Titus is the last and greatest "savior" because Jesus' ministry is the "type" of Titus' campaign through Judea. Finally, the parallel sequences of Jesus' and Titus' "ministries" must be considered in the context of their historical overlaps. As I noted above, Jesus predicted that a "Son of God" would come to Judea before the generation that crucified him had passed away, then encircle Jerusalem with a wall and destroy the temple. Titus is the only individual in history who can be seen as having fulfilled these prophecies. Such a combination of historical singularities could not occur by chance. This is self-evident. Therefore, the only plausible explanation
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for the similar story lines is that these parts of Jesus' ministry were deliberately created to parallel Titus' campaign through Judea/ History has shown, of course, that the comic aspect of the parallels between the two "Sons of God" are not easy to see. Within the Flavian court, however, where "foreign cults in Rome" were carefully scrutinized and knowledge of Titus' exploits was common, those responsible for overseeing the Empire's religions would have recognized the satirical parallels between Jesus and Titus and seen them as humorous. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 82 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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(part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) The comic logic that links the New Testament to War of the Jews also makes clear the basis for the epithet of the Apostle John, which is "the disciple whom Jesus loved." John was the "loved disciple" because he was the captive leader whom Titus spared. Further, the real meaning of Jesus' criticism of his disciples -- for example, his describing the Apostles "Simon" and "John" as having demons -- is now also apparent. Having maliciously satirized the leaders of the messianic movement as Jesus' Apostles, the Roman authors of the New Testament then "record" Jesus lecturing his Apostles on their wickedness. *In the Gospel of Luke there is a passage that warns Simon of his being possessed by "Satan" and reiterates the concept that Simon is going to prison and to death "with" Jesus. It also repeats the theme of the demoniac of Gadara (Simon), who returns to his true self after Satan has been repelled. It is another example of Jesus making statements that seem metaphoric but have literal and comic meaning when read in conjunction with War of the Jews. "Simon" did indeed go with his “master" to prison and death, his "master" being Titus. Though in the past the following passage has mystified scholars, its meaning is now clear. "Simon, Simon, I tell you that Satan has obtained permission to have all of you to sift as wheat is sifted.__________ * Transcriber's note: The term "malicious" is commonly taken to mean: "evil, evil-minded, hateful, injurious, nasty, venomous, vicious, virulent, wicked, and wounding," as well as "petty and spiteful." If the writers of the New Testament texts "maliciously satirized" those persons named as Jesus' closest followers, the implication is that the same "hateful" purpose is directed at the pious readers of those purportedly fictional texts. An "evil-minded" intent toward fictional apostles would thus result in an "evil-minded" assault upon the supposedly deluded, real-life readers of the fictional text. If this was indeed some New Testament writers' hoped for results, they would be doubly wicked, and wounding," -- being "maliciously" aimed at innocent, unknowing converts to the "Roman" evil-doers' own, fabricated religion. 84 CAESAR'S MESSIAH Continuing this comic theme in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus actually calls the Apostle Simon "Satan." His strange remark about the founder of his church is rendered coherent when one understands that Jesus is referring, in the Roman context, to the rebel Simon. The reader will note that the mysteriousness of many of Jesus' sayings disappears when they are understood within the context I suggest. In the passage, Jesus repeals the command to Simon that he gives at the conclusion of the Gospel of John above. That is, to "follow me" with a cross to your doom. And Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid, Lord! This shalt never happen to you." (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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(this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 90 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) We are also able to understand the plight of John, the leader who was imprisoned by the Romans and was satirized as the Apostle John and the demoniac of Gadara. Both Josephus and the authors of the New Testament often made reference to the fact that they wrote the truth. I believe that they were sincere in this claim but
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required the reader to understand the code that they wrote the truth in. Therefore, I believe that John, after coming out of the "tombs," and coming to his "right mind," did cooperate with the Romans and "publish" Christian literature at Decapolis. The ending of the Gospel of John specifically identifies the "John" whom Jesus spared as its author. Understanding that the Apostle "John" and the demoniac of Gadara were both lampoons of John, along with Simon a leader of the Jewish rebellion, enabled me to see the real meaning of the following statement concerning the demoniac of Gadara: And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel. 85The passage indicates that John, a leader of the rebellion, was taken to Decapolis, where he provided the Romans with details of the messianic movement that were used in creating the New Testament. John was used by the Romans to help create the literature that poisoned the future of his own people. The Romans then "recorded" their use of John, anticipating that those in the future who would learn the truth regarding Christianity's origin would appreciate such irony. This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things, and who has written these things: and we know that his testimony is true. 86This "conversion" by the rebel leader John to Christianity, also explains the two Simons' different surnames. The Simon who is condemned at the end of the New Testament is called "Simon bar Jonas," while the Simon who is condemned at the conclusion of Titus' campaign is named "Simon bar Gioras." Jonas is simply the Hebrew for John -- once again the name-switching technique -- indicating that Simon was the son of John. Gioras, means "the convert" in Hebrew, thus, the rebel Simon's full name was "Simon the son of the convert," a satirical synonym for "Simon, the son of John" because John had become a "convert" to the new religion. The fact that John was Simon's father also fulfills another "innocuous" prophecy found within the New Testament: 92 CAESAR'S MESSIAH From now on, five in one household will be divided: three against two, and two against three. They will be divided, father against son, son against father. 87 (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) |
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[ 93 ]
Eleazar Lazarus: The Real Christ When I first discovered the parallels between the "ministries" of Titus Flavius and Jesus it was apparent to me that they were designed to create a hidden satire that indicated the true "Son of Man" foreseen by Jesus was Titus. This is especially clear at the ending of the Gospel of John, when Jesus predicts that Simon will suffer a martyr’s death and that John will be spared. The only individual in history who can be seen as having fulfilled those prophecies is Titus. At that point in my analysis I saw Jesus and Titus as completely separate individuals, their only connection being that Jesus had satirically predicted Titus' "coming." However, I was also beginning to suspect that there was nothing inadvertent within the New Testament, that every word of it was somehow part of a comic system. This suspicion stemmed from the discovery that many of its seemingly innocuous details were comically related to events described in War of the Jews, for example, the prediction in the New Testament that Mary will have her heart "pierced through." But if the New Testament and the War of the Jews were a unified comic system then it was clear there were some parts I did not understand. Particularly perplexing to me was Jesus telling his disciples that unless they "eat the flesh" of the "Son of Man" they would "have no life in [them]." 89 If Titus was the "Son of Man" Jesus foresaw, why did he also tell his disciples that they would eat the Son of Man’s flesh? -- obviously not a prediction about the future Roman emperor. I therefore began a study to determine if the character the New Testament calls Jesus might be comically related to War of the Jews 94 CAESAR'S MESSIAH in a way I did not yet understand. I began analyzing every detail in the two works to determine if there were connections between Jesus' ministry and Josephus' history that I had not yet noticed. I was guided in this search by the fact that the parallels and puzzles I had discovered were all designed to reveal a hidden identity. The question I was trying to answer was an old one: Who is Jesus? The mystery of Jesus' identity begins with his very name. "Jesus Christ," or, as Paul calls him, "Christ Jesus," was certainly not the real name of the founder of Christianity. Christ is the Greek word for "Messiah" and Jesus is a Greek homophone (ee-ay-sooce) for the Hebrew word Yeshua, which can mean either "God saves" or, as in the case of Jesus, "Savior." The proposition that Jesus' name was to be understood as "Savior" cannot be disputed because it is confirmed by no less a source than an "angel of the Lord." But while he [Joseph] thought about these things Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying...The word the angel used to indicate that Jesus would save his people was soteria, 90 a derivative of soter, 91 the Greek word for "savior." However, the angel who named the child Jesus also began the confusion over the identity of the "Savior Messiah." Immediately follOWing his instruction to call the child "Jesus," the angel notes that the child that the "virgin will conceive," is to be called by another name. All of this happened to fulfill the Lord's message through his prophet: "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and he will be called Immanuel [meaning, God is with us]."
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The confusion over the identity of Jesus is also apparent during his trial, when the New Testament introduces another "Jesus," Jesus Barabbas. This Jesus, like many of the messianic aspirants described by Josephus, is said to have started an insurrection. But they all cried out together, "Away with this man, and release to us Jesus Barabbas" --Jesus also contributes to the confusion regarding the identity of the "Savior Messiah" by referring to the individual he foresees bringing destruction of Judea not as himself but as the "Son of Man." Therefore you also must be ready; for it is at a time when you do not expect Him that the Son of Man will come.The New Testament describes more than one person as "Jesus," and refers to Jesus by a number of different names. I began to wonder if the New Testament was somehow indicating that there could be more than one Messiah, or "Christ" -- in other words, that the New Testament was calling more than one character "Jesus." The very name "Jesus" contributes to this idea. That the "savior" of humankind was so named at birth is obviously problematic. Eusebius, for example, suggests that the name Jesus might have been allegorical. In other words, as was the case with Christ, Jesus may have been so named after it became clear that he was, indeed, the Savior. Eusebius was only pointing out the obvious. "Savior Messiah" was not merely a name during this era but also a title, one that anyone who saw himself as having been sent by God to "save" Judea 96 CAESAR'S MESSIAH might claim. From the perspective of Titus, the true "son of god" of Judea could not have been any of the Jewish messianic aspirants who waged war against Rome. It could only have been himself. Josephus records that the struggle over who was the true Savior Messiah of Judea was the real cause of the war between the Romans and the Jews: But what more than all else incited them to the war was an ambiguous oracle also found in their sacred writings, that "At about that time, one from their country would become ruler of the habitable world: This they took to mean one at their own people, and many of the wise men were misled in their interpretation. This oracle, however, in reality signified the government of Vespasian, who was proclaimed emperor while in Judea. 92Josephus could not have stated that the Flavian Caesars saw themselves as the Messiahs, or "Christs," foreseen by the prophecies of Judaism's world ruler any more clearly. But this proposition suggests questions. How could Titus have taken the title the "Christ" away from the messianic leaders that he struggled with? How could Titus have made the rebellious Jews call him "Christ?" I discovered how Titus achieved this during my efforts to determine if Jesus, like his Apostles, had a secret identity. I uncovered a series or puzzles within the New Testament and War of the Jews that reveal that not only was Titus Flavius the "Son of Man" predicted by Jesus, but that he was, in fact, the "Jesus" who interacted with the disciples in the final passage or the Gospels -- in John 21. Put simply, the puzzles reveal that Titus is the "Jesus" Christianity has unknowingly worshiped. These puzzles also reveal that the name of the Jewish savior Titus captured on the Mount of Olives and stole the title of "Christ" from was Eleazar, and that he was satirized as the "Lazarus" within the New Testament. The puzzles were also designed to change the story line of the New Testament from the one that has been a comfort to mankind into perhaps the most vicious tale ever written. To begin to show how these accomplish all this, it is first necessary to explain how the New Testament interacts with
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War of the Jews to disclose the name of the Jewish savior Titus captured on the Mount of Olives and executed. This individual's name was Eleazar, which means "whom God aids" in Hebrew and is translated as "Lazarus" in Greek. The fact that the New Testament records that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead makes the notion that Lazarus might have been the name of the "Christ" that Titus executed especially hard to accept. To come to this understanding the reader must both recognize a number of parallels between Jesus and Eleazar and solve a series of puzzles. Only then can the reader learn the Jewish Messiah's real name. I recognize that the parallels may seem disjointed and difficult to comprehend at first, but I ask the reader to bear with this. If the comic connections between the New Testament and War of the Jews were meant to be seen easily they would not have remained hidden for 2,000 years. In this case the satirical connections between Jesus and Eleazar have been hidden by placing the key parallels to Jesus into a number of different characters named Eleazar or Lazarus. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 98 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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The authors of the Gospels were very aware of the typology in Hebraic literature and were, in effect, showing that they were able to produce a more perfect, more complex form of it. Moreover, there was a profound irony in the authors' requiring the Gospels and War of the Jews to be read in the manner of Judaic literature in order to learn that they had created a false Judaism. The insight that Josephus was using typological parallels occurred when I noticed that Josephus' tale regarding the capture of the unnamed "certain young man" on the Mount of Olives is parallel to another passage within War of the Jews, the passage above, in which Eleazar is whipped and escapes crucifixion. Josephus identified the two stories as being parallel by having each passage tell the same story, their only differences being in location and that the "certain young man" is unnamed in the Mount of Olives version. For clarification, I present the following list of the parallels between the two passages: In each, the Jews attack the siege wall. In each case the Romans foresee the attack. In each, a Jew is literally carried away by a single Roman in a manner that is physically impossible. In each, the man who is carried away is in his armor. Within the works of Josephus there are thousands of passages. These are the only two that share these parallel characteristics. Josephus thus notified the "intelligent reader," that is, the reader with a good memory, that the two stories are parallel. Further, there is a simple point of logic that the authors require the reader to apprehend, this being that since the passages are parallel, the unnamed "certain young man" who is carried away in one must have the same name as the "certain young man" named Eleazar who has the same experience in the other. The passages are also the start of a comic theme that Josephus and the New Testament develop regarding the Messiah who was captured on the Mount of Olives. This theme, which I refer to as the "root and branch," begins with the last sentence in the passage 106 CAESAR'S MESSIAH above from War of the Jews. Notice that the translator (William Whiston) places brackets around the words that he uses to describe the punishment of the unnamed "certain young man" captured on the Mount of Olives "(with death)." (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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(this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 108 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) Once again, only readers alert enough to combine elements from different versions of the same story can understand the joke. Notice that this technique is consistent throughout. To understand the joke in Luke regarding Gethsemane the reader must recall another Gospel's version of the same story. Likewise, the parallels between the two tales from War of the Jews above, which described a "certain young man" being carried off, can only be grasped by the reader whose memory is sufficient to recall the first story while reading the second. The authors of the New Testament and Josephus created
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what might be called history's first intelligence test. The consequence for failing it is belief in a false god. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 110 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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and intercepted his horse; and standing directly opposite to those that still ran along the road, hindered them from joining those that had declined out of it. They intercepted Titus also, with a few others. Now it was here impossible for him to go forward, because all the places had trenches dug in them from the wall, to preserve the gardens round about, and were full of gardens obliquely situated, and of many hedges; and to return back to his own men, he saw it was also impossible, by reason of the multitude of the enemies that lay between them; many of whom did not so much as know that the king was in any danger, but supposed him still among them. So he perceived that his preservation must be wholly owing to his own courage, and turned his horse about, and cried out aloud to those that were about him to follow him, and ran with violence into the midst of his enemies, in order to force his way through them to his own men. And hence I may principally learn, that both the success of wars, and the dangers that kings are in, are under the providence of God; for while such a number of darts were thrown at Titus, when he had neither his head-piece on, nor his breastplate (for, as I told you, he went out not to fight, but to view the city), none of them touched his body, but went aside without hurting him; as if all of them missed him on purpose, and only made a noise as they passed by him.Thus, the New Testament and War of the Jews each placed their king in the same garden for his encounter with a band of armed men. In the New Testament, Jesus starts at the Mount of Olives, which is just outside Jerusalem's eastern edge, and walks northward to Gethsemane, from where the New Testament states that he "went a little farther." 105 In other words, to the northeastern corner of the city. Josephus describes Titus as traveling from the tower of Psephinus, which marked the city's northwestern corner, toward the monument of Queen Helena, along Jerusalem's northern border from west to east. Notice that in his version of a garden assault, Josephus makes the reader aware that Titus was, figuratively speaking, "naked," that is, he was wearing no armor, to create a satirical parallel to the "naked young man" who escapes from the garden in the New Testament. 112 CAESAR'S MESSIAH As was the case in the puzzle regarding the capture of Eleazar, the unnamed "naked young man" in the New Testament must have the same name as the named individual within the parallel story in War of the Jews. Hence, the "certain young man" who escapes naked from his pursuers in the garden in the New Testament can be seen as a prototype of Titus, the "naked" young man who escapes from his pursuers in the same garden in War of the Jews. Thus, the New Testament and Josephus each describe two assaults that occur in gardens near the Mount of Olives. Notice the conceptual symmetry -- each pair of Mount of Olives assaults contains a "naked" individual who escapes and another individual who is captured. The point of these parallel Mount of Olives assaults is
Jerusalem During New Testament Times 30 B.C.E. - 70 C.E.
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to separate the identities of the two "kings," Jesus and Titus -- in other words, to separate the "king" who lives from the one who is crucified. This parallel is critically important in that it begins the process by which the New Testament's story of Jesus operates as a forerunner of the stories of both "Sons of God" described in War of the Jews -- Eleazar and Titus. Titus is actually described by Josephus in the passage as a king when, in fact, at that moment he is only the son of the emperor. And hence we may principally learn, that both the success of wars, and the dangers that kings are in, are under the providence of God.This reference to Titus as a king has caught the attention of scholars, who have wondered why Josephus would have made such an obvious error. Josephus, of course, has not forgotten Titus' title. Rather, he is making a comment as to which "king," attacked in a garden outside Jerusalem, enjoys God's favor -- Jesus, the king of the Jews or Titus, the king of the Romans. War of the Jews and the New Testament are working together to state that since the king of the Romans escaped from his attackers in the garden and the king of the Jews did not, this demonstrates which king was "under the providence of God." It is strange that Josephus' phrase in the passage above, "the dangers that kings are in," has not received more attention from scholars, because he is clearly referring to an event that occurs in the same garden where Jesus, the king of the Jews, is captured, and his use of the plural plainly indicates he is talking about more than one king. It is, at the least, an extraordinary coincidence that Josephus chose this moment and location to make an editorial comment regarding which king was under the "providence of God." Josephus seems to be making a point as to the relative value of faith in the divine and faith in one's self, which was perhaps the same thing to the Flavians, since they saw themselves as gods. This is made clear by the different responses Jesus and Titus have to the same situation. Both are kings who are cut off from their allies and assaulted by armed men in a garden outside Jerusalem's northeastern corner. Jesus, that is, Eleazar, meekly accepts God's will. Titus' 114 CAESAR'S MESSIAH reaction, however, was the same as the naked young man in the New Testament who recognizes that his "preservation must be wholly owing to his own courage" and thus is able to escape his pursuers. Josephus may be providing a glimpse into the true "religious" belief of the Flavian emperors, which is, rely on one's self and not on the "providence" of gods. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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(this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 118 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) It is not just his obvious prophecies, such as that the temple would be razed, that came to pass during Titus' campaign -- virtually all of Jesus' ministry is a prophetical forerunner of some event from that campaign. Examples of this technique include a son of Mary whose flesh is eaten; Mary being told she will be "pierced through;" Jesus telling his disciples they will become "fishers of men;" the demoniacs of Gadara asking Jesus, "Have you come here to torment us before the time?"; Simon being called the "rock" upon which the new church will be built; Mary's fine portion that shall not be taken away from her; a naked young man who escapes his pursuers in the garden of Gethsemane; the list of signs Jesus states will occur before the temple is razed; as well as a Simon who is condemned and a John who is spared.The fact that so many seemingly innocuous but unusual New Testament statements regarding the future "come to pass" within War of the Jews is perhaps the simplest proof that the two works were
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designed to be read interactively. Josephus' recording of the fulfillment of so many of these "hidden" New Testament prophecies could not have occurred by chance. If I were permitted to ask critics of my thesis one question, it would be this: What is the probability that the satirical "fulfillment" of not one but two unique New Testament prophecies -- Mary being "pierced through the heart" and her "fine portion not being taken away" -- would exist within a passage that also contains an accidental satire of the New Testament's Passover lamb? A skillfully designed, interactive relationship between the two works is also shown by the fact that the prophetic statements in the New Testament occur in the same order as their "fulfillment" does in War of the Jews. Clearly, the purpose of this comic theme is to confirm that since his "ministry" has fulfilled every prophecy predicted by the Gospels, Titus is the Son of Man foreseen by Jesus. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 120 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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(part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) Eleazar, like Simon and John, had his identity stolen by the Romans. He was the historical "Christ" who had been captured on the Mount of Olives and "rose" from the dead. As he was only human, however, Eleazar could not return to life.Note the impact this analysis has on the historicity of "Jesus Christ." Was the New Testament character of Jesus based on a real 124 CAESAR'S MESSIAH individual? Since the Apostles Simon and John were based on historical characters, it is therefore possible that Jesus was as well. I am certain, however, that even if the New Testament character of "Jesus" were based on a historical individual, virtually nothing he said and none of the events from his ministry are recorded in the New Testament. The authors of the New Testament created their character's dialogue and ministry in order to create a "true" prophet, one who had "accurately" prophesied events from Titus' triumphant campaign. Jesus did not, for example, envision his disciples becoming "fishers of men" or "eating his flesh." Nor did he see his contemporaries as a "wicked generation" or advocate that they "turn the other cheek." Like his "Apostles" Simon and John, the real "Savior Messiah" would have been completely in accordance with the messianic movement that fought against Rome. He would have been a militaristic Zealot. At the time the New Testament was being created, the events of 30 C.E. were 50 years past and of little or no importance to its authors. Their focus was solely on Titus' triumph in the recently completed war against the Jews. The "Savior" they created was a Roman fantasy, a literary figure they used to "prophetically" chasten the "wicked generation" and to set up their satire regarding the Messiah that Titus had "pruned" -- Eleazar. If there had been a messianic leader named Jesus who ran afoul of the Roman authorities around 30 C.E., all that is visible of him in the New Testament is his name. If Eleazar was the Messiah captured on the Mount of Olives, who was the individual who was mistaken for Jesus following his "resurrection"? In the next chapter I will show the method by which the New Testament and War of the Jews reveal the identity of the true "Jesus" of Christianity, the "gardener." |
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The Puzzle of the Empty Tomb The four Gospels each give a different time for the first visit to Jesus' tomb, though they all agree that a character named Mary Magdalene is the first visitor. The four Gospels also contradict one another about whether Mary Magdalene is alone when she first comes to the tomb, and about how many individuals are either inside or outside the tomb when she arrives. Since I had already realized that there was nothing inadvertent in the Gospels, I wondered about the purpose of these contradictions. My efforts to answer this question led me to discover another, more logical, way to understand the New Testament stories of Jesus' resurrection than any I had heard of previously: that the four different versions create one story that should be read intertextually. This reading reveals that Jesus does not rise from the dead. Rather, Mary Magdalene simply mistakes Lazarus' empty tomb for the tomb of Jesus. This misunderstanding then sets off a comedy of errors during which the disciples mistake one another for angels and thereby delude themselves into believing that their Messiah has risen from the dead. This combined story also completes the joke I discussed in the previous chapter -- that since the real Messiah, Lazarus, has been eaten, his tomb is therefore empty. To understand this combined story is quite simple, requiring only that the reader think logically. The four Gospels' depictions of who visits Jesus' empty tomb, and when, are as follows: 126 CAESAR'S MESSIAH MATTHEW In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.MARK And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
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But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.LUKE Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. 128 CAESAR'S MESSIAH While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.JOHN The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
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Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,My analysis revealed that these four versions were intended to be read as a single story. This combined story is divided into two halves. One half consists of the visits to the tomb described in the Gospel of John. The other consists of the visits to the tomb described in the other three Gospels. In the combined story the individuals described in the Gospel of John meet the individuals described in the other three Gospels and, in their emotional state, the different groups mistake one another for angels. This comedy of errors causes the visitors to the empty tomb to mistakenly believe that their Messiah has risen from the dead. To see how the four versions combine into one continuous story, it is first necessary to recognize that the New Testament places the contradictory versions in one temporal stream of events, and that each version enters this shared stream of events at a different point. 130 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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I believe that the authors of the New Testament were aware of this principle and use it here as a way of communicating to the educated reader that the combined story is the correct interpretation of the story of Jesus' resurrection. The truth is communicated using a mathematical rather than a verbal language, so that it could not be seen by the ignorant. If Titus had designed the New Testament to satirically disclose that he was "Jesus," he would have wished there to be some way to confirm that its satirical dimension was correct. With their crude system of numbers the Romans could not do any higher math; however, they were great gamblers and knew odds well. So the authors made sure that the odds that the combined story was accidentally created were both able to be calculated and too small for an intelligent person to take seriously. To clarify how the odds on the combined story can be calculated, I have edited the four Gospels' versions of the first visit to Jesus' tomb into the comic combined version, in which all the elements in the four stories fit together without contradiction. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.So the author of John has created a moment when there is a single man outside the tomb. In Matthew there is also such a moment, which occurs second in the temporal sequence, when the sun is said to be "dawning." 138 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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(this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 144 CAESAR'S MESSIAH description would then not match the one in John, which states that one disciple arrived first. Therefore, the probability that the author of Matthew accidentally records that the first visitors encounter only one angel and not, as found within the other Gospels, zero or two, is one chance in three. And that probability becomes an element in a "chain of multiplication" for the entire sequence of events. The following are the statements of fact that four distinct authors would have to accidentally record to produce the perfect sequence of events between the Gospel of John and the other three Gospels. I have included the lowest odds of each event being recorded by a particular author -- for example, events four and five below, where the author of John mentions that the disciple looked into the empty tomb but did not go into it. It can be argued that the odds of this irrelevant detail even being mentioned at this point are far higher than one chance in two. Nevertheless, I give only the binary possibility, that is, the author could either record that the disciple did or did not look in. 2) Mary must encounter no angels during her first visit to the tomb in the Gospel of John. One chance in three. 3) The other disciple must reach the tomb first, not Peter. One chance in two. 4) The other disciple must not go in. One chance in two. 5) The disciple must look in. One chance in two. 6) Simon Peter, not Peter or the other disciple, must be the one who arrives second at the tomb. One chance in three. 7) He must go in alone. One chance in two. 8) The other disciple must go into the tomb after Simon Peter. One chance in two. 9) The sun must indicate that "Mary" comes to the tomb second in the version given in the Gospel of Matthew. One chance in four. 10) The group described in Matthew must encounter one angel. One chance in three. 11) The angel in Matthew must be outside the tomb. One chance in two.
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13) The group from Matthew must encounter one angel. One chance in three. 14) The group from Matthew must encounter the angel inside the tomb. One chance in two. 15) The sun must indicate that "Mary" comes to the tomb last in the version given in the Gospel of Luke. One chance in four. 16) The group described in Luke must discover the angels inside the tomb. One chance in two. 17) This group must encounter two angels. One chance in three. 18) The angel must request that "Peter" not "Simon Peter," be told. One chance in two. 19) The "Mary" who stands outside weeping in John must encounter two "angels," because the plural is used in Luke to describe "those" who go to the tomb. One chance in two. 20) The angels Mary sees must be inside the tomb, because those who go to the tomb in Luke are described as not seeing Jesus. One chance in two. 21) Mary must encounter Jesus outside the tomb. One chance in two. Thus, the chain of multiplication to determine the probability that four distinct authors could record these exact facts by chance would be: 4 X 3 X 2 X 2 X 2 X 3 X 2 X 2 X 4 X 3 X 2 X 4 X 3 X 2 X 4 X 2 X 3 X 2 which equals one chance in 254,803,968. This demonstrates that four distinct authors did not create the combined story by chance and that it was, therefore, intentionally created. This proof is just as conclusive as, for example, the DNA probabilities that are used in our day and age to match the blood left at a crime scene with that of a suspect. In fact, DNA probabilities are determined using an approach similar to the one above. My theory is also solid in the sense that it is so easily disprovable. In other words, specialists in probability can easily demonstrate any errors in my premises or conclusion. In fact, any curious reader can simply retrace my steps and come to an independent judgment. 146 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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something wrong with Jesus' cellmate having a name so similar to his own. This concern was evidently shared by later church officials because all the earliest extant copies of the New Testament (Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Vaticanus) refer to this character only as Barabbas. However, based on modern scholarship, both the New English Bible and the Scholar's Version 116 have decided to give Jesus Barabbas as the name of this character in their translations. In such a translation, the purpose of the character named Jesus Barabbas becomes clear. The New Testament is flatly stating that there was more than one "Jesus." Notice the humor in Pilate's statement below, "I will therefore chastise him and release him." The joke being that it is impossible to know which "Jesus" Pilate is referring to as "him." Notice also that, just as they were at the empty tomb, the Jews are characterized as being highly emotional. The humor derives from the idea that in such a state they cannot tell one "Jesus" from the other. But they all cried out together, "Away with this man, and release to us Jesus Barabbas" --In each of the Gospels, following the "resurrection," the disciples are described as encountering a character named Jesus. However, the dead cannot come back to life. The authors of the Gospels are simply continuing the joke that starts with the disciples mistaking 150 CAESAR'S MESSIAH one another for angels in the empty tomb of Lazarus. Each Gospel comically reveals that the individual the disciples believe to be the resurrected Messiah is different from the one who was crucified, by repeatedly stating that they could not recognize the "resurrected" Jesus. The related passages follow. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him, but some doubted.In John 20:15 below, Mary Magdalene is also unable to recognize Jesus and confuses him with a "gardener." This passage is a part of the "root and branch" element of humor, which centers around Titus "pruning" the Jewish Messiah Eleazar, who was "carried away" on the Mount of Olives. This episode is the prophetic and comic climax of the New Testament. It is the moment that "foresees" Titus switching himself for the Jewish Messiah -- which actually occurs in John 21. That is when, following his killing of "Jesus," Titus begins to be the "Jesus" of Christianity. A reader who is able to understand the following "prophecy" regarding Titus has essentially solved the central puzzle of the New Testament and War of the Jews.
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(this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 152 CAESAR'S MESSIAH with a soul that in a manner rejoiced under them. But what was most of all astonishing to the beholders was the courage of the children; for not one of these children was so far overcome by these torments, as to name Caesar for their lord. So far does the strength of the courage [of the soul] prevail over the weakness of the body. 117The switching of Titus with Jesus occurs in John 21. The chapter begins with Jesus coming to the Sea of Galilee in the morning, where he "showed" himself to his disciples. The disciples are described as being unable to recognize Jesus from the small boat in which they have spent the night. Jesus instructs them to "cast the net" after which they haul in a "multitude of fish." Being informed that it is "the Lord," Simon swims ashore, where he and the disciples eat "bread" and "fish" with Jesus, who then prophesies that Simon will be put to death but that John will be spared. After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself:
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But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish.This story of the disciples catching "fish" shares a number of parallels with the passage in War of the Jews that describes the Romans catching Jews like fish on the Sea of Galilee, which I have discussed previously. In that passage Josephus describes a band of rebels led by a Jesus, the son of Shaphat. This Jesus leads a sally against the Romans. In response, Vespasian orders Titus to take a force and counterattack Jesus and his band. Before the battle, Titus delivers the speech in which he describes the coming battle as "my onset." He then attacks the Jews with his troops and routs them. Some of the Jews, however, escape to their boats on the Sea of Galilee (Josephus describes these boats as "small,") where they spend the night. The next morning, Titus orders his soldiers to construct boats to attack the Jews. In the ensuing sea battle, the Romans catch Jews like fish. Following the battle Josephus describes the dead bodies of the Jews giving off a terrible stink. 118 The following diagram is presented for clarification of the parallels between Josephus' "sea battle" passage and John 21: 154 CAESAR'S MESSIAH 2. Both passages describe a "catching" that occurs the following morning. 3. Each passage occurs on the Sea of Galilee (Tiberias). 4. Jesus and Titus share the previously noted collection of parallels in John 21 involving the condemning of "Simon" and the sparing of "John." (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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(part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) War of the Jews are designed to be interactive. And, again, their interaction creates a story different from the benign one that appears on the surface. John 21 interacts with Josephus' "catching" passage to create a satire indicating that the confused followers of Jesus mistake Titus for the Lord. The "Jesus" they follow, "Jesus, the son of Shaphat, the principal head of a band of robbers," is not on the beach because Titus has killed him. Josephus records his death in the passage, stating that: "Titus had slain the authors of this revolt," clearly indicating Jesus. > Therefore the "Jesus" that the disciples follow no longer exists and they mistake Titus for their Lord -- "Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus." Thus deluded, the disciples then do Titus' bidding, helping the Romans capture the Jewish rebels swimming in the Sea of Tiberias by "casting their net." The satire is a perfect synopsis of the real intent of Christianity, which is to "convert" the followers of the Jewish Messiah into followers of Caesar without their knowing it.Having achieved his goal, Titus, the "Lord," then sits down with his new "disciples" for a breakfast of "bread" and "fish." The words "bread" and "fish" are, as I have shown, both used as synonyms for human flesh in the New Testament. Notice the author's witticism. The disciples don't ask his name -- which would give away the fact that his name is Titus -- but "know" that he is the "Lord." Jesus said to them, "Come and eat breakfast." Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, "Who are You?" -- Knowing that it was the Lord.The interaction between the New Testament and War of the Jews identifies the "fish" that Titus served to his new disciples in John 21 as the "putrefied" bodies of the "fish" killed by the Romans during 156 CAESAR'S MESSIAH the battle mentioned above. This putrid smell of the "fish" on the beach parallels the stench recorded in the other passages of cannibalism -- the tomb of Lazarus in the New Testament and Mary's son in War of the Jews. And a terrible stink, and a very sad sight there was on the following days over that country; for as for the shores, they were full of shipwrecks, and of dead bodies all swelled; and as the dead bodies were inflamed by the sun, and putrefied, they corrupted the air.And the "bread" that the disciples eat is also identified in the New Testament. It is the flesh of the Messiah who was "raised from the dead." Notice how clear an example the following passage is of Jesus' seemingly symbolic statements taking on a comic meaning when read literally. "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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I would note that the analysis above has implications for the sacrament of Communion. It suggests that the Romans deliberately created the ritual as a cruel joke on Christians. In any event, the humor that the Romans created regarding the cannibalism of the messianic Jews evidently springs from the irony they saw in a people with such strict dietary laws eating rancid human flesh. The irony of the Jews, a people too fastidious to eat pork, eating human flesh would have been widely understood within the patrician class when War of the Jews was written. The satirist Juvenal, for example, referred to it without providing any context. Some, whose lot it has been to have Sabbath fearing fathers,The two "Jesuses" who are on the beach when the Romans catch Jews in the Sea of Galilee, Titus and Jesus the Son of Shaphat, are simply the final Jesuses within another comic turn. All the Jesuses encountered after the resurrection are different individuals. As they have done with the various "Mary Magdalenes" the authors include seemingly irrelevant details in each Gospel that make it logically impossible for any of the four Jesuses encountered after the "resurrection" to have been the same individual. In Matthew, the Jesus encountered by his disciples does not ascend to Heaven, instead saying to his followers, "I am with you always." In Mark, however, Jesus is described as ascending to heaven, just as he is in the Gospel of Luke. Though these two ascension stories appear identical, in fact they take place at different locations. The authors reveal this in an earlier passage in Mark (Mark 14:28). This passage indicates that Jesus will meet with his disciples in Galilee, obviously some days following his resurrection, whereas the ascension in Luke occurs just outside Jerusalem on the same day as the resurrection. Finally, the Jesus in John meets with a different number of disciples following the resurrection, a different number of times, and at a location different from the ones in the other three Gospels. 158 CAESAR'S MESSIAH The authors of the Gospels designed their creation to be perfectly logical. Whenever two events seem to contradict each another, the reader needs to recognize that he or she is reading incorrectly. That is to say, that he or she is making an incorrect assumption. In this case, the incorrect assumption is that all the Jesuses in the Gospels are the same individual. Simply changing that assumption makes the Gospels become "true" -- that is, without contradiction. However, who do the disciples encounter at the conclusions of Matthew, Mark, and Luke if not the Jesus who was crucified? Just as the authors have identified whose empty tomb Mary Magdalene discovers -- with its stone "rolled away" -- before she comes across it in the dark, the authors have already given the reader this information. The Jesuses depicted at the conclusion of the Synoptics are the three Jesuses whom Pilate has previously released, Jesus Barabbas. As the New Testament's final comic stroke, each Gospel concludes with a different individual as its Jesus. Of course, the final Jesus is the one described in John 21, the very end of the Gospels. That Jesus is Titus, the "true" Son of God whom Christianity worships. I suspect that the herd of Jesuses roaming about at the conclusions of the four Gospels are a joke reflecting the fact that there were numerous individuals claiming to be the Messiah during this era, a fact that is recorded in both the New Testament and War of the Jews. The authors of the New Testament are perhaps comically making the point that, since there are already so many "Messiahs," or "Christs," there is no reason why Titus could not be one as well. Finally, a question I found interesting is whether the authors intended to put forth the "combined version" of the visit to the empty tomb and the revelation that Jesus did not rise from the dead as a philosophical statement advocating reason over religious mysticism. The reader must resolve those logical contradictions; if he or she fails, the punishment is belief in a false god. It is possible that the authors of the Gospels created them as a sort of educational tool disguised as a narrative about Jesus. The authors may have wished their readers to work through the various contradictions in logic in order to develop their reasoning ability and thus be able to think their way out of religious superstition. They may have wished the Gospels to be seen by posterity as their contribution to the development of reason. |
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The New Root and Branch Having shown the methods that the Romans used to satirically communicate the real history of their struggle with the messianic Jews, I can now present the most complex of their works. The reader will recognize that I have already touched on many of the passages that make up this satire. These separate elements were designed to be linked together to create a larger intertextual story. I refer to this satire as the "new root and branch." It is a vast literary device coursing through the Gospels and three of Josephus' books. Because it extends over several different books, it is hard to discover, but this literary device is not unusual in Hebrew literature. It is, for instance, similar to the way in which the Abraham saga is continued in the Book of Samuel and the Book of Kings. Through a series of distinct passages, one character becomes associated with another character by means of parallel acts or locations, and by means of similar language. The purpose of this particular satire is to document that the "root" and "branch" of the Judaic messianic lineage has been destroyed and that a Roman lineage has been "grafted on" in its place. This satirical system actually begins in the Book of Malachi, the final book of the Old Testament. Malachi means "my messenger" in Hebrew and was used as an epithet for the prophet Elijah. This is because in Judaic literature it was predicted that the Messiah would be preceded by the appearance of Elijah, who would act as the messenger of his coming. But I shall send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 160 CAESAR'S MESSIAH This final passage in the Book of Malachi predicts a coming disaster for the "wicked," one that will leave them destroyed by fire and with neither "root" nor "branch." For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up, says the Lord of Hosts, [and] will leave them neither root nor branch.Josephus clearly records that the first part of this prophesy concerning the "wicked" being "burned up," came to pass during the war with the Romans. He also records that the second part of the prophesy -- that they would be left with neither "root" nor "branch" -- was also fulfilled during Titus' campaign, though not so overtly. To understand that the "wicked," that is, the messianic rebels, were to be left with no "root" or "branch," the reader needs to comprehend perhaps the most complex literary satire ever written. As noted above, "root" and "branch" were Judaic metaphors used to denote the messianic lineage. For example, the Genesis Florilegium states: ...until the Messiah of Righteousness, the Branch of David comes, because to him and his seed was given the Covenant of the Kingdom of his people... 120This root and branch messianic imagery found in the Dead Sea Scrolls is a continuation of its use by the prophet Isaiah concerning the coming Messiah, as the following translation from another fragment of the Scrolls shows: ...Isaiah the Prophet... the thickets of the forest will be felled with an axe and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one. A staff shall rise from the root of Jesse, {and} a planting from his roots will bear fruit... the Branch of David. 121The authors of the New Testament continue the messianic root and branch metaphor, though with a totally different perspective. Within the New Testament, the root and branch imagery is presented in the context of their being transformed into a different lineage --
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the lineage of the new Messiah. The "branches" are described as either being "pruned" or being "grafted onto." Jesus predicts -- echoing the Book of Malachi -- that those "branches" that do not "abide" in the new Judaism he brings will be "burned." If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire.Josephus builds on the root and branch imagery in the New Testament by establishing a series of related parallels. As we have seen so often, these parallels contain puzzles that reveal the names of unnamed characters. And in every case the name of the unnamed character is Eleazar. My interpretation of the parallels involving Eleazar is that they indicate that Eleazar was the name of the individual that the messianic rebels looked to as the "root" foreseen by Judaic prophesy. Judging from the satire, this individual may actually have existed and have been the spiritual leader of the rebellion. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 162 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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of the prophecy of Malachi -- which foresees that the wicked will be left with no "branch" or "root" -- and the conclusion of the satire that began in the New Testament concerning the "root." Further, the passage concludes the comic theme regarding the inability of demons to pass through water, which began in the demons of Gadara passage above and ends here with the demonic spirit knocking over the basin full of water as it leaves the prisoners. These prisoners were the 2,000 rebels who were captured at Gadara. Being demonically possessed, they could not pass through water and therefore did not drown. As the demon leaves them, it concludes the joke by knocking over the water basin. The passage is also Josephus' last depiction of the "domesticated" Christ that the Romans create and it provides us with their vision of his future. He is at Rome, working for the imperial family by calming the rebellious, just as he has been for the last 2,000 years. |
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Until All Is Fulfilled I have shown that elements of Jesus' ministry, when viewed as a whole, can be seen as a prophetic outline of Titus' military campaign through Judea. In fact, the New Testament and War of the Jews create a number of other " prophecies and fulfillments" that can be seen as part of this comic system. Many of Jesus' eschatological, or doomsday, prophecies are presented in Matthew 21 through 25. I will begin the analysis of the relationship between the New Testament doomsday prophecies and Titus' campaign by first citing a passage from War of the Jews. The passage contains a number of parallels with the New Testament that are historically famous, as well as one of the two lampoons of the New Testament's Jesus that are arranged like bookends around Josephus' description of the destruction of the temple. The other of these two "bookend" lampoons is the passage describing the son of Mary whose flesh was eaten, which I have discussed previously. Because Jesus used the "temple" as a self-designation, and compared his destruction to the destruction of a temple, juxtaposing these two lampoons with the destruction of the temple is audacious. The two lampoons of Jesus literally "touch" the chapter that describes the temple's destruction. In the Whiston translation of War of the Jews, which I cite throughout this work, there are only eleven pages of text between the "Son of Mary whose flesh was eaten" passage and the passage that contains the character that I refer to below as the "lunatic Jesus." This lunatic Jesus, who is a clear lampoon of the New Testament's Jesus, was himself recorded by Josephus as one of the "signs" that preceded the destruction of the temple.
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The signs recorded by Josephus as having preceded the destruction of Jerusalem caused many early church scholars to believe that the signs Jesus foresaw in Matthew 23 and 24 had come to pass. The parallels that exist between Jesus' and Josephus' lists of signs have been known since the beginning of Christianity. As Hippolytus wrote (circa 200 C.E.), What then? Are not these things come to pass? Are not the things announced by thee fulfilled? Is not their country, Judea, desolate? Is not the holy place burned with fire? Are not their walls cast down? Are not their cities destroyed? Their land, do not strangers devour it? Do not the Romans rule the country?The parallels between the two lists of signs do seem too exact to have occurred by chance. I disagree, however, with Hippolytus' belief that they were the result of supernatural causes. I would point out that whenever two documents have similarities too exact to have been caused by chance, parsimony requires that the first theory to explore is that the two works have emanated from the same source. This is the simplest theory and should be maintained until another explanation is shown to be more plausible. In any event, the following passages from War of the Jews and the New Testament are the example, par excellence, of the relationship that so many church scholars have noted between these two works. What Jesus predicts, Josephus records as having come to pass. THE GREAT DISTRESS THE JEWS WERE IN UPON THE CONFLAGRATION OF THE HOLY HOUSE. CONCERNING A FALSE PROPHET, AND THE SIGNS THAT PRECEDED THIS DESTRUCTION. While the holy house was on fire, every thing was plundered that came to hand, and ten thousand of those that were caught were slain; nor was there a commiseration of any age, or any reverence of gravity, but children, and old men, and profane persons, and priests were all slain in the same manner; so that this war went round all sorts of men, and brought them to destruction, and as well those that made supplication for their lives, as those 176 CAESAR'S MESSIAH that defended themselves by fighting. The flame was also carried a long way, and made an echo, together with the groans of those that were slain; and because this hill was high, and the works at the temple were very great, one would have thought the whole city had been on fire. Nor can one imagine any thing either greater or more terrible than this noise; for there was at once a shout of the Roman legions, who were marching all together, and a sad clamor of the seditious, who were now surrounded with fire and sword. The people also that were left above were beaten back upon the enemy, and under a great consternation, and made sad moans at the calamity they were under; the multitude also that was in the city joined in this outcry with those that were upon the hill. And besides, many of those that were worn away by the famine, and their mouths almost closed, when they saw the fire of the holy house, they exerted their utmost strength, and brake out into groans and outcries again: Pera (17) did also return the echo, as well as the mountains round about [the city,] and augmented the force of the entire noise. Yet was the misery itself more terrible than this disorder; for one would have thought that the hill itself, on which the temple stood, was seething hot, as full of fire on every part of it, that the blood was larger in quantity than the fire, and those that were slain more in number than those that slew them; for the ground did no where appear visible, for the dead bodies that lay on it; but the soldiers went over heaps of those bodies, as they ran upon such as fled from them. And now it was that the multitude of the robbers were thrust out [of the inner court of the temple by the Romans,] and had much ado to get into the outward court, and from thence into the city, while the remainder of the populace fled into the cloister of that outer court. As for the priests, some of them plucked up from the holy house the spikes (18) that were upon it, with their bases, which were made of lead, and shot them at the Romans instead of darts. But then as they gained nothing by so doing, and as the fire burst out upon them, they retired to the wall that was eight cubits broad, and there they tarried; yet did two of these of eminence
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among them, who might have saved themselves by going over to the Romans, or have borne up with courage, and taken their fortune with the others, throw themselves into the fire, and were burnt together with the holy house; their names were Meirus the son of Belgas, and Joseph the son of Daleus. 178 CAESAR'S MESSIAH makes him believe that he shall be delivered from those miseries which oppress him, then it is that the patient is full of hopes of such his deliverance.
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them. Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the one and twentieth day of the month Artemisius [Iyar], a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared: I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities. Moreover, at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner [court of the] temple, as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that, in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, "Let us remove hence."At this point in the passage Josephus begins his description of the character I refer to as the lunatic Jesus. But, what is still more terrible, there was one Jesus, the son of Ananus, a plebeian and a husbandman, who, four years before the war began, and at a time when the city was in very great peace and prosperity, came to that feast whereon it is our custom for every one to make tabernacles to God in the temple, began on a sudden to cry aloud, "A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against this whole people!" This was his cry, as he went about by day and by night, in all the lanes of the city. However, certain of the most eminent among the populace had great indignation at this dire cry of his, and took up the man, and gave him a great number of severe stripes; yet did not he either say any thing for himself, or any thing peculiar to those that chastised him, but still went on with the same words which he cried before. Hereupon our rulers, supposing, as the case proved to be, that this was a sort of divine fury in the man, brought him to the Roman procurator, where he was whipped till his bones were laid bare; yet he did not make any supplication for himself, nor shed any 180 CAESAR'S MESSIAH tears, but turning his voice to the most lamentable tone possible, at every stroke of the whip his answer was, "Woe, woe to Jerusalem!" And when Albinus (for he was then our procurator) asked him, Who he was? and whence he came? and why he uttered such words? he made no manner of reply to what he said, but still did not leave off his melancholy ditty, till Albinus took him to be a madman, and dismissed him. Now, during all the time that passed before the war began, this man did not go near any of the citizens, nor was seen by them while he said so; but he every day uttered these lamentable words, as if it were his premeditated vow, "Woe, woe to Jerusalem!" Nor did he give ill words to any of those that beat him every day, nor good words to those that gave him food; but this was his reply to all men, and indeed no other than a melancholy presage of what was to come. This cry of his was loudest at the festivals; and he continued this ditty for seven years and five months, without growing hoarse, or being tired therewith, until the very time that he saw his presage in earnest fulfilled in our siege, when it ceased; for as he was going round upon the wall, he cried out with his utmost force, "Woe, woe to the city again, and to the people, and to the holy house!" And just as he added at the last, "Woe, woe to myself also!" there came a stone out of one of the engines, and smote him, and killed him immediately; and as he was uttering the very same presages he gave up the ghost.
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one from their country should become governor of the habitable earth." The Jews took this prediction to belong to themselves in particular, and many of the wise men were thereby deceived in their determination. Now this oracle certainly denoted the government of Vespasian, who was appointed emperor in Judea. However, it is not possible for men to avoid fate, although they see it beforehand. But these men interpreted some of these signals according to their own pleasure, and some of them they utterly despised, until their madness was demonstrated, both by the taking of their city and their own destruction. 128In Matthew 23 and 24 Jesus expresses what has been called his eschatological, or doomsday, vision. In fact, the entire passage appears to be nothing other than a "prophecy" of events and details that have occurred during Titus' destruction of Jerusalem, all of which can be found in Josephus' passage above, which describes that event. The related New Testament passages follow with the discussion points in boldface type. The passage contains, as Jesus himself describes them, the signs that will indicate that the "Son of Man" has come to destroy Jerusalem. Jesus had left the Temple and was going on His way, when His disciples came and called His attention to the Temple buildings."You see all these?" He replied; "in solemn truth I tell you that there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be pulled down." 182 CAESAR'S MESSIAH "That time they will deliver you up to punishment and will put you to death; and you will be objects of hatred to all the nations because you are called by my name.
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"For just as the lightning flashes in the east and is seen to the very west, so will be the Coming of the Son of Man. 184 CAESAR'S MESSIAH "Therefore, you also must be ready; for it is at a time when you do not expect Him that the Son of Man will come." 129I have divided my analysis of the passages above into several parts. I shall first focus upon the parallels between Josephus' lunatic Jesus and the New Testament's Jesus. There are numerous parallels between the eschatological Jesus of Matthew 23 and 24 and the tragicomic Jesus described in the passage from Josephus, whom I refer to as the lunatic Jesus. I believe that Josephus intentionally creates a lampoon of the New Testament's Jesus by having the lunatic Jesus share his words, phrases, ideas, and experiences -- and, obviously, by means of their shared name. They are parallel in one other important way. Each gives a list of "signs" that foretell Jerusalem's impending doom. These lists include a number of identical phrases and concepts. For example, the Jesus of the New Testament states: For just as the lightning flashes in the east and is seen to the very west, so will be the Coming of the Son of Man.The lunatic Jesus also speaks of "east" and "west," "the four winds," and "bridesmaids," and "bridegrooms." Notice that the language is used in the same sequence in both works: ...began on a sudden to cry aloud, "A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against this whole people!"The lunatic Jesus clearly predicts the destruction of the temple when he says "a voice against the holy house." The New Testament Jesus makes the same prediction.
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His disciples came and called His attention to the Temple buildings.The New Testament Jesus uses the word "woe" seven times during his speech in Matthew 23. The Jesus in Josephus' passage, above, who seemingly lampoons the New Testament Jesus, also constantly repeats the word "woe." Woe to you, blind guides...And from the passage in Josephus: Woe, woe to the city again, and to the people, and to the holy house!Both Jesuses are using the word "woe" to describe the disasters that will come to the inhabitants of Jerusalem when the "Son" returns. The New Testament Jesus foresees this disaster occurring with the return of a "Son of God," while Josephus' lunatic Jesus also foresees this occurring with coming of a "son of god," this one being Titus. (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 186 CAESAR'S MESSIAH (this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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(this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions) 190 CAESAR'S MESSIAH In the following passage, Josephus records that this sign "came to pass": And now the Romans, judging that it was in vain to spare what was round about the holy house, that they set that cloister on fire; by which means it came to pass that some of these were destroyed by throwing themselves down headlong, and some were burnt in the cloisters themselves. Nor did any one of them escape with his life. A false prophet was the occasion of these people's destruction, who had made a public proclamation in the city that very day, that God commanded them to get upon the temple, and that there they should receive miraculous signs of their deliverance.Jesus states: But of this be assured, that if the master of the house had known the hour at which the robber was coming, he would have kept awake, and not have allowed his house to be broken into.Throughout War of the Jews, Josephus uses the word "robber" to describe the Jewish rebels: And now it was that the multitude of the robbers were thrust out [of the inner court of the temple by the Romans,] and had much ado to get into the outward court, and from thence into the city, while the remainder of the populace fled into the cloister of that outer court...Jesus literally dates the "close of the age" that he is prophesying: I tell you in solemn truth that the present generation will certainly not pass away without all these things having first taken place.Jews in the first century held that a generation lasted 40 years. Therefore the generation that Jesus is referring to can only be the
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one that, 40 years later, rebelled from Rome. Thus, all of Jesus' prophecies were foreseeing events from the coming war. The following quote underscores this idea. ...Wherever the dead body is, there will the eagles flock together...Since the eagle was the symbol of the Roman army, the idea behind this passage also seems clear. Numerous scholars have understood the passage to indicate that Jesus is foreseeing the Roman army gathering about the corpses amidst the destroyed temple. As Albert Barnes wrote in his Commentary on Matthew in 1832: This verse is connected with the preceding by the word "for," implying that this is a reason for what is said there -- that the Son of Man would certainly come to destroy the city, and that he would come suddenly. The meaning is that he would come, by means of the Roman armies, as certainly, as suddenly, and as unexpectedly as whole flocks of vultures and eagles, though unseen before, see their prey at a great distance and suddenly gather in multitudes around it ...So keen is their vision as aptly to represent the Roman armies, though at an immense distance, spying, as it were, Jerusalem, a putrid carcass, and hastening in multitudes to destroy it.The New Testament makes it clear that Jesus has seen into the future and is telling the Jews what they must do to avoid "tribulation." For there will rise up false Christs and false prophets, displaying wonderful signs and prodigies, so as to deceive, were it possible, even God's own People...Josephus, in a pattern that should be familiar to the reader by now, states: Now if any one consider these things, he will find that God takes care of mankind, and by all ways possible foreshows to our race what is for their preservation; but that men perish 192 CAESAR'S MESSIAH by those miseries which they madly and voluntarily bring upon themselves...As with all of Jesus' prophecies, his list of signs operates on two levels. On their surface they would have demonstrated to early uneducated Christian converts the divinity of Jesus. Potential converts would have been shown the prophecies of Christ in the New Testament and then the realization of each prophecy in War of the Jews -- the official prophet corroborated by the official history. This would have both "proven" the divinity of Christ, because he had been able to see into future, and simultaneously justified the Romans' destruction of Jerusalem, because it "proved" that it had been foreseen by God. On their comic level, however, the two lists of signs are obviously clues to the real identity of the Son of Man -- Titus Flavius. I note another parallel between Jesus' eschatological prophecies and War of the Jews that is related to this theme. Jesus in Matthew 24 states ...for then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world and assuredly never will be again.Josephus records that this too came to pass. ...the misfortunes of all men, from the beginning of the world, if they be compared to these of the Jews, are not so considerable as they were. 131There is another parallel between the signs in Matthew 23 and the signs in Josephus. I will analyze it separately because of its unique comic nature. This parallel has long puzzled scholars. The confusion has been due to its not being understood both as a joke and as another of the parallels between Jesus' ministry and Titus' campaign, that which were created to give their two stories the same broad outline. In the Gospels, Jesus states You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
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Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,In War of the Jews Josephus writes: And now these zealots and Idumeans were quite weary of barely killing men, so they had the impudence of setting up fictitious tribunals and judicatures for that purpose; and as they intended to have Zacharias the son of Baruch, one of the most eminent of the citizens, slain, so what provoked them against him was, that hatred of wickedness and love of liberty which were so eminent in him...As I have pointed out, Matthew 24 is a continuation of the same speech Jesus begins in Matthew 23. Jesus leaves the interior of the temple, where the dialogue of Matthew 23 occurs, and then continues this speech (Matthew 24) outside the temple. Therefore, the parallel between Zacharias, son of Barachiah, and Zacharias, son of Baruch, both slain in the temple, should be understood to be in the 194 CAESAR'S MESSIAH same stream of prophecy Jesus gives in Matthew 24, because it is from the same speech. In light of the numerous parallels in Matthew 24 and War of the Jews, we are on solid footing when we understand this to be another example of Jesus "seeing" something in the future that Josephus documents. There is a problem with accepting that the parallel belongs in the same set as Jesus' famous eschatological prophecies, however. The character that Jesus refers to appeared not in his future but in his past. The prophet "Zachari'ah the son of Barachi'ah" is a character from the Old Testament, so how can Jesus be foreseeing him in the future? Further, how could Josephus then record that Jesus was right, that Zacharias' death occurred in 70 C.E., along with the other prophecies envisioned by Jesus in Matthew 23 and 24? I include Whiston's fascinating comment regarding the passage from Josephus. He was aware of the parallel between the Zacharias in Josephus and the Zachari'ah in the New Testament and was troubled by its implications. Some commentators are ready to suppose that this "Zacharias, the son of Baruch," here most unjustly slain by the Jews in the temple, was the very same person with "Zacharias, the son of Barachias," whom our Savior says the Jews "slew between the temple and the altar," Matthew 23:35. This is a somewhat strange exposition; since Zechariah the prophet was really "the son of Barachiah," and "grandson of Iddo," Zechariah 1:1; and how he died, we have no other account than that before us in St. Matthew: while this "Zacharias" was "the son of Baruch." Since the slaughter was past when our Savior spake these words, the Jews had then already slain him; whereas this slaughter of "Zacharias, the son of Baruch," in Josephus, was then about thirty-four years future. And since the slaughter was "between the temple and the altar," in the court of the priests, one of the most sacred and remote parts of the whole temple; while this was, in Josephus' own words, in the middle of the temple, and much the most probably in the court of Israel only (for we have had no intimation that the zealots had at this time profaned the court of the priests. See B. V. ch. 1. sect. 2). Nor do I believe that our
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Josephus, who always insists on the peculiar sacredness of the inmost court, and of the holy house that was in it, would have omitted so material an aggravation of this barbarous murder, as perpetrated in a place so very holy, had that been the true place of it. 133Thus, Whiston attempts to explain away the troubling parallel by arguing that the slaying of Zacharias in Josephus could not be the incident that Jesus prophesied because 2) Barachiah and Baruch are different words. 3) The "middle of the temple" is not "between the temple and the altar" Whiston's first point is irrelevant. His second ignores the many slight changes in spelling between the same words in Josephus and the New Testament. For example, a type of fish from the Sea of Galilee is spelled "Coracin" in Josephus and "Chora'zin" in the New Testament. His third point, regarding the possible differences in the location of the slayings, is contradictory of his acceptance of the other parallels between the same passages in the New Testament and Josephus as evidence of Christ's divinity. Further, it is obvious that Jesus' prophecy regarding, "Zechari'ah the son of Barachi'ah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar," 134 would have been understood by an uneducated first-century convert to Christianity as having come to pass by the passage in Josephus that states, "so two of the boldest of them fell upon Zacharias (the son of Baruch) in the middle of the temple, and slew him." Josephus and the New Testament consistently avoid verbatim parallels by one degree. In the chapter ahead on the Book of Daniel, Jesus speaks of the "abomination of desolation," while Josephus refers to the "end of the daily sacrifice." In fact, both expressions refer the same thing. Someone to whom the two works would be read would then make the connection between the "different" terms and thereby come to the conclusion that Jesus had been able to see into the future. By means of this name-switching technique, the authors of the New Testament and Josephus playfully hide the fact 196 CAESAR'S MESSIAH from the uneducated masses for which Christianity was invented that the same source created both works. As I have shown above, Simon becomes Peter, John becomes "the disciple Jesus loved," etc. The two passages above regarding Zacharias use this technique. Jesus uses the expression "between the sanctuary and the altar," while Josephus uses the expression "middle of the temple." Jesus speaks of "Zechari'ah the son of Barachi'ah." Josephus refers to "Zacharias the son of Baruch." Different words again express the same concept. Since Jesus' eschatological prophecies all came to pass in the same chapter from War of the Jews, is it not more logical to presume that the Zacharias stories are another example of this set of fulfilled prophecies? (part of this page not reproduced, due to copyright restrictions)
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The Authors of the New Testament Josephus concludes War of the Jews with a series of passages that, I believe, lampoon the Apostle Paul as well as create a puzzle that identifies the inventors of Christianity. It struck me as logical for the authors to have concluded their work with a passage that identifies them -- quite in keeping with the spirit of malicious playfulness that runs through their entire composition. I present the first of these passages below. This passage describes a group of Sicarii who escape into Egypt. Once there, they find themselves rebuked by "Jews of reputation" who inform the Romans of their presence in Egypt. The Sicarii are captured and then tortured in an attempt to make them "confess that Caesar was their lord," which they refuse to do. Their children also refuse to "name Caesar for their lord," in spite of their also being tortured. Thus, the passage clearly presents an unsolved problem for Titus: how to make the rebellious Jews call him, "Lord." When Masada was thus taken, the general left a garrison in the fortress to keep it, and he himself went away to Cesarea; for there were now no enemies left in the country, but it was all overthrown by so long a war. Yet did this war afford disturbances and dangerous disorders even in places very far remote from Judea; for still it came to pass that many Jews were slain at Alexandria in Egypt; for as many of the Sicarii as were able to fly thither, out of the seditious wars in Judea, were not content to have saved themselves, but must needs be undertaking to make new disturbances, and persuaded many of those that entertained them to 206 CAESAR'S MESSIAH assert their liberty, to esteem the Romans to be no better than themselves, and to look upon God as their only Lord and Master. But when part of the Jews of reputation opposed them, they slew some of them, and with the others they were very pressing in their exhortations to revolt from the Romans; but when the principal men of the senate saw what madness they were come to, they thought it no longer safe for themselves to overlook them. So they got all the Jews together to an assembly, and accused the madness of the Sicarii, and demonstrated that they had been the authors of all the evils that had come upon them. They said also that "these men, now they were run away from Judea, having no sure hope of escaping, because as soon as ever they shall be known, they will be soon destroyed by the Romans, they come hither and fill us full of those calamities which belong to them, while we have not been partakers with them in any of their sins." Accordingly, they exhorted the multitude to have a care, lest they should be brought to destruction by their means, and to make their apology to the Romans for what had been done, by delivering these men up to them; who being thus apprized of the greatness of the danger they were in, complied with what was proposed, and ran with great violence upon the Sicarii, and seized upon them; and indeed six hundred of them were caught immediately: but as to all those that fled into Egypt and to the Egyptian Thebes, it was not long ere they were caught also, and brought back, whose courage, or whether we ought to call it madness, or hardiness in their opinions, every body was amazed at. For when all sorts of torments and vexations of their bodies that could be devised were made use of to them, they could not get any one of them to comply so far as to confess, or seem to confess, that Caesar was their lord; but they preserved their own opinion, in spite of all the distress they were brought to, as if they received these torments and the fire itself with bodies insensible of pain, and with a soul that in a manner rejoiced under them. But what was most of all astonishing to the beholders was the courage of the children; for not one of these children was so far overcome by these torments, as to name Caesar for
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their lord. So far does the strength of the courage [of the soul] prevail over the weakness of the body.The most basic "joke" of Christianity is that by replacing the Jewish "God" and "Son of God" with a "son of god" and a "god" who were in fact Roman emperors, it was possible to have the followers of their new religion "name Caesar for their lord" without their knowing it. The passage above explains why Titus invented Christianity. Even torture could not bring the Sicarii to call him "Lord." Therefore, they had to be fooled into doing it. Continuing with the passage: Now Lupus did then govern Alexandria, who presently sent Caesar word of this commotion; who having in suspicion the restless temper of the Jews for innovation, and being afraid lest they should get together again, and persuade some others to join with them, gave orders to Lupus to demolish that Jewish temple which was in the region called Onion, and was in Egypt, which was built and had its denomination from the occasion following: Onias, the son of Simon, one of the Jewish high priests, fled from Antiochus the king of Syria, when he made war with the Jews, and came to Alexandria; and as Ptolemy received him very kindly, on account of hatred to Antiochus, he assured him, that if he would comply with his proposal, he would bring all the Jews to his assistance; and when the king agreed to do it so far as he was able, he desired him to give him leave to build a temple some where in Egypt, and to worship God according to the customs of his own country; for that the Jews would then be so much readier to fight against Antiochus, who had laid waste the temple at Jerusalem, and that they would then come to him with greater good-will; and that, by granting them liberty of conscience, very many of them would come over to him. 141The passage continues with a description of the "Jewish temple, which was in the region called Onion, and was in Egypt." Josephus, in a digression, nonchalantly points out that the temple is the one envisioned 600 years previously by the prophet Isaiah. This is 208 CAESAR'S MESSIAH another example of Josephus' manipulating Jewish prophecy to coincide with Titus' campaign. So Ptolemy complied with his proposals, and gave him a place one hundred and eighty furlongs distant from Memphis. That Nomos was called the Nomos of Hello polls, where Onias built a fortress and a temple, not like to that at Jerusalem, but such as resembled a tower. He built it of large stones to the height of sixty cubits; he made the structure of the altar in imitation of that in our own country, and in like manner adorned with gifts, excepting the make of the candlestick, for he did not make a candlestick, but had a [single] lamp hammered out of a piece of gold, which illuminated the place with its rays, and which he hung by a chain of gold; but the entire temple was encompassed with a wall of burnt brick, though it had gates of stone. The king also gave him a large country for a revenue in money, that both the priests might have a plentiful provision made for them, and that God might have great abundance of what things were necessary for his worship. Yet did not Onias do this out of a sober disposition, but he had a mind to contend with the Jews at Jerusalem, and could not forget the indignation he had for being banished thence. Accordingly, he thought that by building this temple he should draw away a great number from them to himself. There had been also a certain ancient prediction made by [a prophet] whose name was Isaiah, about six hundred years before that this temple should be built by a man that was a Jew in Egypt. And this is the history of the building of that temple.The prophecy that Josephus is referring to is contained in Isaiah 19:18-25. Josephus is clearly intending that the "intelligent reader" understand that the events he described in the passage demonstrate that Isaiah's prophecy had "come to pass." In the passage above, Josephus describes a "city of destruction in the land of Egypt," this being Alexandria, paralleling Isaiah's prophecy. Josephus, again paralleling Isaiah, describes the temple as being "pillar" shaped. Further, the political conditions of the region at the time can clearly be seen as those that were envisioned by Isaiah's prophecy, in that there
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was a "highway out of Egypt to Assyria." Which is to say that Israel was now a "highway" between Assyria and Egypt, in that it had become a geographical link within the Roman Empire. This idea is especially clear when one considers that the three Roman legions that participated in the destruction of Jerusalem were the XV Apollinaris Legion from Alexandria (Egypt) and the V Macedonica and X Fretensis Legions from Syria. So Josephus seems correct in his assertion that Isaiah's prophecy has "come to pass," with the events that he describes in the passage. The reader will notice, however, that Isaiah's prophecy is also messianic. It states that the Lord shall send a "savior" who shall "smite" and "heal." The passage also states that the "Lord" shall "be known to Egypt," and that Israel shall be the "Lord's inheritance." There cannot be any doubt about who Josephus indicates is the "savior" that Isaiah's prophecy refers to. In fact, at this point in history, the only individual who could have been the savior foreseen by Isaiah's prophecy is Titus. Only Titus could claim that he had Israel as an "inheritance" at this time. Caesar (Titus) gave order that all Judea should be exposed for sale; for he did not found any city there but reserved the whole country for himself. 142Therefore, Josephus is disclosing that Titus is the Savior, or the Messiah, by his unspoken contention that Isaiah's prophecy has come to pass. The prophecy of Isaiah that Josephus uses to identify Titus as the Savior is as follows. In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction. 210 CAESAR'S MESSIAH And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it.The "highway out of Egypt" that Josephus is alluding to by conjuring up Isaiah's vision is a "fulfillment" of another New Testament prophecy, the "highway for the Lord." This highway is foreseen by John the Baptist, who quotes another passage from Isaiah: The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for the Lord.Though John the Baptist's statement regarding making a "highway for the Lord" has always been seen as envisioning Jesus, the passage from Isaiah that John is quoting from indicates that the "highway" will exist only after the "warfare has ended." Therefore, the "Lord" John is predicting could only be Titus. "Comfort, O comfort My people," says your God. "Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has received of the Lord's hand Double for all her sins."
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Josephus' narration then moves on and, in a sequence parallel to one in the New Testament, introduces a Paul, "Paulinus," at the same point that the New Testament introduces its Paul. This Paul, like his counterpart in the New Testament, has an impact on Judaism. Josephus states that he made the Jewish temple "entirely inaccessible." I regard the passage describing "Paulinus" as an obvious spoof on the Apostle Paul. And now Lupus, the governor of Alexandria, upon the receipt of Caesar's letter, came to the temple, and carried out of it some of the donations dedicated thereto, and shut up the temple itself. And as Lupus died a little afterward, Paulinus succeeded him. This man left none of those donations there, and threatened the priests severely if they did not bring them all out; nor did he permit any who were desirous of worshipping God there so much as to come near the whole sacred place; but when he had shut up the gates, he made it entirely inaccessible, insomuch that there remained no longer the least footsteps of any Divine worship that had been in that place. Now the duration of the time from the building of this temple till it was shut up again was three hundred and forty-three years.
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And now did the madness of the Sicarii, like a disease, reach as far as the cities of Cyrene; for one Jonathan, a vile person, and by trade a weaver, came thither and prevailed with no small number of the poorer sort to give ear to him; he also led them into the desert, upon promising them that he would show them signs and apparitions. And as for the other Jews of Cyrene, he concealed his knavery from them, and put tricks upon them; but those of the greatest dignity among them informed Catullus, the governor of the Libyan Pentapolis, of his march into the desert, and of the preparations he had made for it. So he sent out after him both horsemen and footmen, and easily overcame them, because they were unarmed men; of these many were slain in the fight, but some were taken alive, and brought to Catullus. As for Jonathan, the head of this plot, he fled away at that time; but upon a great and very diligent search, which was made all the country over for him, he was at last taken. And when he was brought to Catullus, he devised a way whereby he both escaped punishment himself, and afforded an occasion to Catullus of doing much mischief; for he falsely accused the richest men among the Jews, and said that they had put him upon what he did. 214 CAESAR'S MESSIAH further, and persuaded Jonathan, and certain others that were caught with him, to bring an accusation of attempts for innovation against the Jews that were of the best character both at Alexandria and at Rome. One of these, against whom this treacherous accusation was laid, was Josephus, the writer of these books. However, this plot, thus contrived by Catullus, did not succeed according to his hopes; for though he came himself to Rome, and brought Jonathan and his companions along with him in bonds, and thought he should have had no further inquisition made as to those lies that were forged under his government, or by his means; yet did Vespasian suspect the matter and made an inquiry how far it was true. And when he understood that the accusation laid against the Jews was an unjust one, he cleared them of the crimes charged upon them, and this on account of Titus's concern about the matter, and brought a deserved punishment upon Jonathan; for he was first tormented, and then burnt alive.The passage creates a puzzle that uses the name-switching technique found in the Decius Mundus puzzle cited earlier to identify the creators of Christianity. They are the individuals who were falsely accused by Catullus -- Josephus, Bernice, and Alexander. The
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inventors of Christianity have signed their work, so to speak, in the correct place -- at the end of their story. I believe that the "Bernice" and the "Alexander" in the passage are easily identified as Titus' mistress Bernice, and either Marcus Alexander, who actually was Bernice's husband but who died before the Jewish war, or his brother Tiberius Alexander, Titus' Jewish chief of staff during the siege of Jerusalem. These individuals had both the technical knowledge of Judaism and the ethical perspective required to create Christianity. The New Testament, continuing its parallels with War of the Jews, mentions in Acts both an Alexander, 144 believed by most scholars to actually be Tiberius Alexander, and a Bernice. To recognize that a puzzle exists the reader must, once again, recognize parallels -- in this case, that Catullus and Judas, the identifier of Jesus, share a number of attributes. The most obvious parallel between the two is that Catullus dies in the same improbable manner -- unknown to medical science -- as Judas. That is, "his very entrails... fell out of his body." This is an exact parallel to the death of Judas. And falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. 145 The description of Judas' bowels gushing out does not occur in the Gospels but in Acts. The event is in the New Testament at this point to maintain its parallel with the events in to War of the Jews. The parallel "gut spillers" create another prophecy in Jesus' ministry that is fulfilled in Titus' campaign. Judas and Catullus are also parallels in that both of their accusations involve a messianic individual, and neither is true. Josephus, Bernice, and Alexander certainly did not initiate a religion, or "innovation," led by a Messiah-like member of the Sicarii. They would have established just the opposite kind of "innovation." Jesus is, of course, famous for having been innocent. He was certainly not the type of Sicarii military leader that Pontius Pilate would have needed to crucify. In fact, Jesus was the exact opposite of such an individual. The technique establishing that there is a puzzle needing to be solved is the same one used throughout the New Testament and War of the Jews -- that is, parallels. |