The Irish Origins of Civilization

Irish Origins Appendices

FORGERY IN CHRISTIANITY

The common people want to be deceived; therefore, let them be deceived - (Roman Adage)

That which is called the Christian religion existed among the ancients, and never did not exist, from the beginnings of the human race until Christ came into the flesh, at which time the true religion, which already existed, began to be called Christianity - Saint Augustine (Retractions)

Accepting it on Faith

Our documentary sources of knowledge about the origins of Christianity and its earliest development are chiefly the New Testament Scriptures, the authenticity of which we must, to a great extent, take for granted -(Catholic Encyclopedia)

The Catholic Encyclopedia concedes that "In all the departments forgery and interpolation as well as ignorance had wrought mischief on a grand scale" - Helen Ellerbe

Gerald Massey's Warning

"I had already warned my readers that they must expect little help from those Egyptologists and Assyriologists who are bibliolaters first and scholars afterwards."

Established History

What actually transpired was that the original Mesopotamian writings were recorded as history. This history was later rewritten to form a base for foreign religious cults—first Judaism and then Christianity. The corrupted dogma of the religions then became established as 'history' and because the contrived dogma (the new approved history) was so different from the original, the early first-hand records were labeled 'mythology' - Laurence Gardner (Genesis of the Grail Kings)

And so it has been for the better part of 2,000 years that the Old Testament was the sole record of the Mesopotamian patriarchal era. There was no way for anyone to know if it was fact or fiction…it was taken on board for history. In the light of these latter day discoveries, we are now far wiser than our parents and forebears, for we now know and have at hand the Sumerian and Akkadian documentation which enabled the Captivity Jews to compile their ancestral story. What we know is that their biblical account was not an accurate transcript of ancient records, but a strategically compiled set of documents which distort the annals of the original scribes in order to establish a new cultural and religious doctrine. This was the doctrine of the One God - Jehovah - a doctrine born out of fear that was contrary to all tradition and historical record in the contemporary and preceding environments - Laurence Gardner (Genesis of the Grail Kings)

Charles Dupuis on Priestcraft

From the Pope, who makes the people reverently kiss his big toe, from the Lamas, who makes them reverence his excrements, down to the last juggler, all the agents of religious imposture have held Man in the most shameful dependence of their power, and have amused him with the most chimerical hopes - Charles Dupuis (The Origin of all Religious Worship)

Priests are the fit instruments for training up men to slavery, and to corrupt the germs of liberty even in the very sources - ibid

Can we not, after so many crimes, place religions in the number of the greatest curses which the world has been afflicted, because they serve at least as a pretext to the priest to commit and to ordain massacres? ibid

Arthur Dewes on Monotheism

We are accustomed to look upon the Jewish religion as strictly monotheistic. In truth, it never was, even in the Mosaic times, until after the return from Exile. And this is clear, in spite of the trouble which the composers of the so-called historic books of the Old Testament have taken to work up the traditions in a monotheistic  sense and to obliterate the traces of the early Jewish polytheism, by transforming the ancient gods into patriarchs, heroes, angels and servants of Jahwe - (The Christ Myth)

Dewes on Forgery

Of the epistles in his name which have been handed down to us, that to the Hebrews is quite certainly not Paul's. But also the two epistles to the Thessalonians, that to the Ephesians, as well as the so-called pastoral epistles (to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon), are considered by the overwhelming majority of theologians to be forgeries; and also the authenticity of the epistles to the Colossians and Philippians is negatived by considerations of great weight - (The Christ Myth)

...a conclusive proof that Paul was really the author of the epistles currentin his name cannot be given - ibid

H. G. Wells on Church Control

Investigations into the beginnings of religion have accumulated steadily throughout the past half century. It is only by great efforts of censorship, by sectarian education of an elaborately protected sort, and the like, that ignorance about them is maintained - (The Fate of Homo Sapiens)

Constantine and the Birth of Christianity

Roman Emperor Constantius married Princess Elaine of Britain. It was his son Constantine I, who was crowned Emperor of Rome in York, England. It was Constantine I who created Roman Catholicism as it is known and tried, unsuccessfully, to become the new Messiah through his assumed royal descent from the family of Jesus – Ralph Ellis (Jesus: Last of the Pharaohs)

As far as the Bible geography is concerned it appears that the main person responsible for its misinterpretation was Constantine the Great, who had definite motives for transferring the arena of Jewish history and that of Christ to another region altogether. He used Christianity as a valuable political asset, selected the East as his Empire, and with the aid of Eusebius, Jerome and others, invented the present Palestine - Comyns Beaumont (Britain: The Key to World History)

The Evidence?

Where are the originals of the extrabiblical texts, such as those from Jewish historian Josephus, to prove they have not been tampered with? Where are the certified autographs to prove that these texts are authentic and that they have not been altered, mutilated and interpolated? - D. M. Murdoch (Christ in Egypt)

The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments of the Druids, were almost identical with those given by God to Moses - Richard Kelley Hoskins (In the Beginning)

Celsus Exposes the Plagiarism

Celsus was an acknowledged expert on Biblical writings and the most important intellectual opponent of Christianity during its early years. He threw the early presbyters into perturbation when he accused them of accepting the worst superstitions of Paganism, and then interpolating passages into various writings without understanding the meaning of what they created. His accusations were so plausible that for a long time no Christian writer ventured to answer the challenge...His books were later burned…it is apparent that even towards the end of the Second Century it was commonly accepted that the orators' manuscripts, now called Gospels, were shallow, manipulated transcripts and had already been altered on many occasions – Tony Bushby (The Bible Fraud)

Jean Le Clerc

...the learned merely guess at the sense of the Old Testament in an infinity of places - (1657-1736. Swiss Protestant theologian)

Valentinus

Much that is written in Pagan books is found also in the books of God's Church - (On Friends)

Saint Augustine Recants

Towards the end of his life…St Augustine confessed that Christianity was 'a religion of threats and bribes unworthy of wise men' – Tony Bushby (The Bible Fraud)

That which is called the Christian religion existed among the ancients, and never did not exist, from the beginnings of the human race until Christ came into the flesh, at which time the true religion, which already existed, began to be called Christianity - (Retractions)

Forger Eusebius

We shall introduce into this history in general only those events which may be useful first to ourselves and afterwards to posterity - (Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 8, Chapter 2) Eusebius...Was Bishop of Caesarea, during 315 to 340 AD. He wrote many books, including the Ecclesiastical History. This is now very hard to come by as it makes the startling revelation that even in those days the available history of the birth of Christ was extremely scant - J. Mendum (Revelations of the Anti-Christ)

Forger St. Jerome

When we translate the Hebrew into Latin, we are sometimes guided by conjecture - Saint Jerome (340-420 AD. Translator of the Vulgate or Latin Bible) How it may be lawful and fitting to use falsehood as a medicine, and for the benefit of those who want to be deceived - (Twelfth Book of Evangelical Preparation) 

Forger John Chrysostom

...Do you see the advantage of deceit?...For great is the value of deceit, provided it be not introduced with a mischievous intention. In fact action of this kind ought not to be called deceit, but rather a kind of good management, cleverness and skill, capable of finding out ways where resources fail, and making up for the defects of the mind...And often it is necessary to deceive, and to do the greatest benefits by means of this device, whereas he who has gone by a straight course has done great mischief to the person whom he has not deceived - (Treatise On The Priesthood, Book 1) 

Schemer Ignatius Loyola

We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides. 

Schemer Martin Luther

What harm would it do, if a man told a good strong lie for the sake of the good and for the Christian church...a lie out of necessity, a useful lie, a helpful lie, such lies would not be against God, he would accept them - (Cited by his secretary, in a letter in Max Lenz, ed., Briefwechsel Landgraf Phillips des Grossmüthigen von Hessen mit Bucer, Vol I)

The Jesus Myth

After years of painstaking research we concluded that the traditional history of Christianity was at best hopelessly inaccurate and at worst a pack of lies...

...The evidence demanded that we think the unthinkable. Christianity was not the cult of a first-century Messiah, but a Jewish adaption of the ancient Pagan Mystery religion. We could find no evidence that there ever had been an historical Jesus, because the gospel story was a Jewish reworking of ancient Pagan myths of a dying and resurrected Son of God.

The name 'Jesus' itself comes from Exodus. In Greek the Hebrew name 'Joshua' becomes 'Jesus.' Today it is normal practice to use 'Joshua' for the hero of Exodus and 'Jesus' for the hero of the gospels, which avoids any comparison of the two. At the time, however, it would have been completely obvious that they shared the same name - Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy (Jesus and the Lost Goddess)

When Was Jesus Born?

Matthew lists twenty-eight generations from David to Jesus, while Luke tabulates forty-three. According to John Jesus visited Jerusalem at least four times, but the Synoptics (Mark, Luke and Matthew) assure is that he journeyed to that city only once. As to the length of Jesus' ministry the Synoptics say one year, but John says at least 3 years. From the Synoptical account, we gather that the savior carried out his work chiefly in Galilee. But John informs us that Judea was the principle theater of the ministry of Christ – John G. Jackson (Pagan Origins of the Jesus Myth)

Man Called Jesus

Josephus mentions nineteen "historical" men with the name of Jesus

Besides Jesus the brother of James, there were three high priests named Jesus in the short space of 65 years, from AD 4 to 69 - J. P. Mendum (Revelations of the Anti-Christ)

There was no commoner name among the Jews. In the Septuagint, the name Joshua is always rendered Jesus - ibid

Jesus Not of the Seed of David

…of Jesus was not the carnal son of Joseph, but was the incarnate son of Yahweh by the Holy Ghost and the yet Virgin Mary, he could not, by any possibility of human descent be a blood descendant of David, whose line and generation ended with Joseph, if Joseph was not the carnal son of Jesus. So in no sense could Jesus be a direct descendant and "Son of David" and so could not fill the first essential requirement of the Promised Messiah – Joseph Wheless

...our investigation has revealed the picture to be very different. Jesus was not the son of God, and neither was he of the Jewish religion - Burton Mack

Mark and John are silent about the nativity, and the earliest and most intelligent Christian sect, the Gnostics, maintained that Christ was never born - J. P. Mendum (Revelations of the Anti-Christ)

Jewish Master Forgers

Historical myths were the Jews' specialty. The Exodus initiation allegory, which also appears to have no basis in actual history, is written in the form of a pseudo-historical narrative. When Jewish Gnostics developed their new myth of Jesus the Jewish dying and resurrecting Godman, it was inevitable they would eventually also set this allegory in a historical context. As with the Exodus myth, the creators of the Jesus story mixed together mythical figures, such as Jesus and Mary, with a handful of historical figures which were also used to play symbolic roles in the initiation allegory. Unlike Exodus, the new Jesus myth could not be set in archaic times, because it was portrayed as a revelation of a new Messiah. It was set, therefore, in the recent past and incorporated figures who were important to Jewish Gnostics, such as the much revered John the Baptist and the much hated Pontius Pilate, the Roman ruler of Judea -Freke and Gandy (Jesus and the Lost Goddess)

Peter

There was never any recorded form of ordination from a supernatural Jesus Christ or Simon of Petra (Simon Peter) to the presbyters. They appointed themselves and continually restructured their own writings to further appeal to the rabble without understanding the meaning of what they were compiling - Tony Bushby (The Bible Fraud) …most of the stories written about him are now admitted to be as fictitious the romance of Robinson Crusoe - J. Mendum (Revelations of the Anti-Christ)

Forgery in Mark

It is now conceded by Biblical scholars that the last twelve verses of the Gospel of Mark, which tell of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, were not written by Mark but were added by a later hand - James Wheless

But the most remarkable point in this connection is the absolute silence of the Gospel of Mark on the subject of the Resurrection and Ascension--that is, of the original Gospel, for it is now allowed on all hands that the twelve verses Mark xvi. 9 to the end, are a later insertion. Considering the nature of this event, astounding indeed, if physically true, and unique in the history of the world, it is strange that this Gospel--the earliest written of the four Gospels, and nearest in time to the actual evidence-makes no mention of it. The next Gospel in point of time--that of Matthew--mentions the matter rather briefly and timidly, and reports the story that the body had been stolen from the sepulcher. Luke enlarges considerably and gives a whole long chapter to the resurrection and ascension; while the Fourth Gospel, written fully twenty years later still--say about A. D. 120--gives two chapters and a great variety of details! – Edward Carpenter (Pagan and Christian Creeds)

Mark's gospel is found with four different endings among the ancient manuscripts, but only two have any possible (although flimsy) claim to authenticity - R. A. Anderson (Church of God or Temples of Satan)

Revelation & Sibylline Oracles

Church records stated that an Egyptian presbyter 'wrote over' the original Sybil's document to create the fabricated version now in the New Testament. The forged document was renamed 'Apocalypse' and to imply an apostolic origin from 'divine revelation' it was re-titled 'Revelation' by Emperor Justinian at the second church council of Constantinople in 553, the same council that officially removed all references to reincarnation from the New Testament - Tony Bushby (The Bible Fraud)

The claim set up by Christians that the Bible is a revelation of God, is nowhere supported by its own allegations, except in the very last book of the canon…Now of all the books in the Bible the Revelation is the least intelligible. It is literally a Revelation which reveals nothing - J. P. Mendum (Revelations of the Anti-Christ)

Early Copies of the Bible

Early Copies of some individual books of the Old Testament, in Hebrew and dating from the sixth century AD, were discovered stored in the Cairo synagogue during the late nineteenth century. The earliest complete Hebrew manuscript still in existence, the Aleppo Codex, dates from the first half of the tenth century AD, more than a thousand years after the last books of the Old Testament were written and perhaps two thousand years after the earliest. The standard Hebrew Bible today is based on a manuscript dating from AD 1088 that is now in the St Petersburg Library - Ralph Ellis Jesus: Last of the Pharaohs)

Moses

The Assyrian prince Sargon also, being pursued by his uncle, is said to have been abandoned on the Euphrates in a basket made of reeds, to have been found by a water-carrier, and to have been brought up by him – a story the Jews have interwoven into the account of the life of their fabulous Moses - Arthur Dewes (The Christ Myth)

...the so-called Five Books of Moses are the literary product of an age much later than the one in which Moses is supposed to have lived - ibid

Moses the Hypocrite

Moses was twice married, and each time married foreign and idolatrous wives, which is quite inconsistent with his prohibiting the Israelites from doing the same thing - A. D. Thompson (On Mankind)

"Moses" by Hilikiah

At the time of which we are now speaking, the disorder and impiety were not perhaps so great, but still the temple was in a state of degradation, and the law of Moses, which had been so little thought of during the preceding reigns, was not in its place by the side of the ark. It became necessary to restore the law, and Hilkiah the priest determined to take advantage of this state of things - ibid

Collecting all the writings usually attributed to Moses, which were generally forgotten by the Jews, and surrounding himself with all the foreign documents which were of a nature to facilitate his object, he succeeded in compiling the Pentateuch. He also made use of Egyptian and Chaldean traditions, such as the story of Jacob and Joseph, and placed at the head of the work a Genesis - ibid

When the book was ready, the king, Shaphan the scribe, Achbor the priest, Jeremiah the prophet, Huldah the prophetess, and two or three others, began to act as had been agreed upon between them, with the view of saving the nation - ibid

• Note: We see from this that the so-called story of Moses, like so many other accounts in the scriptures, was largely composed of elements from pagan sources. Even before the Captivity among Babylonians and Persians, the customs and traditions of early Jews and Israelites were massively infused with those of the Canaanites, Egyptians, Phoenicians and other neighboring peoples. The scriptures admit that even after the building of the great Temple, King Solomon raised altars to foreign deities and incorporated many pagan traditions in temple worship - Mtsar

Hinduism

...the Canon of the New Testament, is nothing more or less than a copy of the mythological histories of the Hindoo Savior Krishna, and the Buddhist savior Buddha, with a mixture of mythology borrowed from the Persians and other nations - T. W. Doane (Bible Myths and Their Parallels in Other Religions)

Book of Ezekiel

Differs in so many points from Mosaic texts, that the rabbis were disinclined to include it in the Old Testament. Its accounts do not agree with those in the books of Jeremiah or Exodus.

The Anointed One

There is no doubt that we have before us in the Vedic Agni Cult the original source of all the stories of the birth of the Fire-Gods and Sun-Gods. These gods usually enter life in darkness and confinement. Thus the Cretan Zeus was born in a cavern, Mithras, Dionysus and Hermes in a gloomy grotto, Horus in the "stable" of the holy cow – Jesus too was born at dead of night in a lowly "stable" at Bethlehem - Arthur Dewes (The Christ Myth)

The Gospels

It has long been known to scholars, for example, that the entire passion narrative in the gospels has been created from motifs taken from Psalms 22, 23, 38, and 39 and from the depiction of the 'suffering servant' in the Book of Isaiah - Freke and Gandy (Jesus and the Lost Goddess)

Those initiated into the sacred mysteries knew the Gospel stories were false, but considered it necessary to keep up the imposition for the purposes of propagandism. But while this transition of faith was going on, some of the more conscientious teachers began to tell the people that the Jesus Christ they were worshiping was not a historical personage. This was regarded by the conservative priests as a dangerous disclosure, and so John denounces the innovators as liars and Anti-Christs, knowing that he himself and his fellow priests were the pious liars and that the Anti-Christs were telling the truth…Error prevailed, and the mythical Christ became the historical Jesus - J. P. Mendum (Revelations of the Anti-Christ)

Church experts admit to no evidence of the existence of the Gospels for at least a century after the time it is said Jesus Christ was born in a manger. The most ancient literature fails to show any trace of acquaintance with, nor the use of, the Gospels we know today. It is not possible to find in any writings compiled between the beginning of the First Century and the middle of the Second Century, any reference to Jesus Christ or the Gospels - Tony Bushby (The Bible Fraud)

Everything supernatural the presbyters wrote about their developing god could be traced to earlier religious beliefs - ibid

The Emperor then instructed Bishop Eusebius to compile a uniform collection of new writings 'bound together as one'…Eusebius was to arrange for the production of 'fifty sumptuous copies…to be written on parchment in a legible manner, and in a convenient portable form, by professional scribes thoroughly accomplished in their art'…'Make them to astonish,' said Emperor Constantine…This was the first mention of finished copies of a Christian New Testament in the history of mankind...With his instruction now fulfilled, Emperor Constantine decreed that the new writings be thereafter called the 'words of God' and be attached…to copies of the Hebrew Old Testament. Emperor Vespasian, in the First Century, had proclaimed the entire Jewish territory the personal property of the Roman Emperors, and his decision was officially ratified by the Senate. In effect, all later Emperors were in control of the Jewish religion…Emperor Constantine effectively attempted to amalgamate the earlier Jewish religion with his new cult. By legal inheritance, he was also the messiah. After Eusebius had finished drawing upon the large array of presbyter's texts, Constantine then ordered them destroyed by fire and 'any man found concealing one should be stricken off from his shoulders (beheaded) - ibid

The Word of "God"

Even though the TNIV (The New International Version) uses "he" to described the first-created entity whom God makes everything manifest, and John's Gospel identifies whom God makes everything perfect, and John's Gospel identifies this being with Jesus, it seems the Word was originally feminine, like Hokmah. The phrase "the Word was with God" is a bad translation, the Greek meaning literally "the Word went towards God," but even that fails to convey all its implications – Picknettt and Prince (The Masks of Christ)

The Trinity

Among the most amazing and important events of the Ptolemaic period was the establishment of the cult of the Egyptian Osiris trinity as the official religion of a state ruled by Macedonian Greeks with the result that the cult of Isis spread throughout the Mediterranean world becoming the most popular religion of the age. The cult of Isis, Osiris, and Horus was transmitted to Rome where, by the time of Christ, it had become the most popular religious faith of Romans, especially Roman soldiers - R. A. Gabriel (Jesus the Egyptian)

Cult of Isis

Long before St. Paul spread the good news to the Christians, the priests and lay followers of Isis had spread their gospel to the people of the Mediterranean basin - ibid

Cult of Mithras

As Christian Literalism grew in power it adopted more of the trappings of the Pagan Literalism it replaced. Its ritual processions were identical to those of the Pagan cults. Although Jesus had specifically said, 'Call no man "father",' Christian Literalists adopted the Mithraic practice of calling priests 'father.' In imitation of the Mithraic bishops, Christian bishops wore a 'mithra' or 'mitre' and carried a shepherd's staff. Eventually the Bishop of Rome took up the title Pontifex Maximus, the ancient name for the Pagan high priest, a title still held by the Pope today -Freke and  Gandy (Jesus and the Lost Gospels)

Many Mansions

"In my father's house are many mansions." This concept comes from the Egyptian Book of the Dead directly.<

"Come to me all you who are heavy laden, and I will refresh you." This comes, word for word, from a saying inscribed above the portal of the Temple of Dendera. It it attributed to Isis, the great mother goddess.

Born Again

The most common Hebrew word for "priest" – kohen, familiar as well-known Jewish surname, comes from a Sumerian title meaning literally, "guardian of semen." Pouring the sacred juices over the heads of these dignitaries was intended to represent them as "gods" - replicas of the divine phallus. So we anoint our Sovereign at the coronation ceremony. In our churches the ritual procession through the nave to the altar, headed by the fertility symbol of the cross and the anointed Bishop, preserves the ancient idea of the fertility god entering his house. In the phallic mushroom - the "man-child" born of the "virgin" womb – we have the reality behind the Christ figure of the New Testament story. By imitating the mushroom by eating it and sucking its juice (or "blood"), the Christian was taking unto himself the panoply of his god, as were the priests in the sanctuary. As the priests "served" the god in the temple - the symbolic womb of divine creation - so the Christians and their cultic associates worshiped their god and mystically involved themselves in the creative process. In the language of the mystery cults they sought to be "born again," when – purged afresh of past sin - they could apprehend the god in drug-induced ecstasy – John Allegro (Christ and the Sacred Mushroom)

The Resurrection

...there is very little evidence for sustained Jewish development of the concept of the resurrection, and certainly very little regarding a physical or bodily resurrection. The same cannot be said for what is found in Greek and Roman religion. In fact, there is a shockingly strong tradition of contemplation of the soul's destiny in the afterlife, along with examples of bodily resurrection - Stanley E. Porter (Hearing the Old Testament in the New Testament)

The resurrection verses in today's Bibles are now universally acknowledged as flagrant forgeries and are now known to have been added to the earliest story some time later, perhaps as late as the Fourth Century or even into the early decades of the Fifth Century…More importantly, none of the early presbyters including Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Ammonius Saccas, Origen, and Eusebius, showed any knowledge of these verses…The oldest Gospel accounts of Jesus Christ's life ended with Mary Magdalene arriving at the tomb and finding the stone rolled back from the entrance and Jesus gone - Tony Bushby (The Bible Fraud)

The Book of the Dead promised resurrection to all mankind, as a reward for righteous living, long before Judaism and Christianity embraced the concept - Dr. Ogden Goelet (Egyptian Book of the Dead)

The most natural interpretation of what they say, and do not say, about the earthly Jesus, is that it was not a contemporary that now appeared to them as raised to Heaven, but rather, as seems definitely to be the case in Paul and in 1 Clement, a figure of the distant past. We therefore now have an explanation of the remarkable lack of information about the historical, earthly Jesus, not only in Paul, but in all the earliest Christian texts outside the Gospels and Acts. Jesus' death, burial and rising are 'according to the scriptures' and there is no indication that they were looked upon as recent events at the time when the apostles had seen Jesus in Heaven -Alvar Ellegard (One Hundred Years Before Christ)

At no place does any of them {the Apostles} assert or imply that he had seen Jesus in the flesh, or that their visions occurred in connection with the death and the resurrection - ibid

The Virgin Mary

In 692 AD, the Council of Trullo declared that Mary was the 'ever-virgin.' This declaration contradicts several scriptures, such as Matt 1:25 and 12:46, Mark 3:31 and 6:3, Like 8:19, and John 2:12 - James Wheless

The Name "Mary"

The name Mary can be rendered Mer, Mery, Meri, Myrrh (as in the tree), or even Merry. It meant "beloved one" and "good one." One of Akhenaton's six daughters was known as Meritaten. This name means "Beloved of Aten." The rendering Mer, apparently refers to the sea. The name Miriam may mean "Beloved of Amen." The name would therefore be of Egyptian origins. Some researchers, such as Laurence Gardner, have surmised that the Biblical Mary was based on Queen Nefertiti, while the Biblical Miriam was based on Akhenaton's second wife Queen Kiya. (SeeGenesis of the Grail Kings, by Gardner, and the works of Ralph Ellis, for more on this.)

It comes as no surprise to discover in the records of Akhenaton the names of two princesses called Mery-taten (Beloved of Aten), one being his daughter and the other his granddaughter. The Mery epithet was also applied to Queen Nefertiti herself, the elder half-sister and wife of Akhenaten - Laurence Gardner (Genesis of the Grail Kings)

Eve

The figure of Eve is based upon much older mythology and may be traced back to the ancient Mother Goddess or World Mother and the serpent cults of the pre-biblical period. Closer examination of the name 'Eve' revealed her serpent origins, for the Hebrew for Eve is havvah, meaning 'mother of all things,' but also 'serpent.' Likewise, the Arabic words for 'snake,' 'life,' and 'teaching,' are closely related to the word or name 'Eve' –Gardiner and Osborn (The Serpent Grail)

The Sun Cross

The sacred symbols of the Hittites also, including the True Cross or the Sun-Cross, or the Red Cross of St. George of Cappadocia and England and the St. Andrew Cross, are identical with those Sun crosses of the Sumerians, Trojans and Ancient Britons - L. A. Waddell (Makers of Civilization)

Of the several varieties of cross still in vogue, as national and ecclesiastical emblems…there is not amongst them the existence of which may not be traced to the remotest antiquity. They were the common property of the Eastern nations - Bishop Coleno (The Pentateuch and Book of Joshua Critically Examined)

The attention of the writer having been called to the fact that all Indo-Germanic nations have worshiped crucified Saviours, an investigation of the subject was made. Overwhelming proof was obtained that the sun-myths of the ancient Aryans were the origin of the religions in all of the countries which were peopled by the Aryans. The Saviours worshiped in these lands are personifications of the Sun, the chief god of the Aryans.That Pagan nations worshiped a crucified man, was admitted by the Fathers of the early Christian Church. The holy Father Minucius Felix, in his Octavius, written as late as A. D. 211, indignantly resents the supposition that the sign of the cross should be considered as exclusively a Christian symbol ; and represents his advocate of the Christian argument as retorting on an infidel opponent thus: "As for the adoration of crosses, which you object to against us, I must tell you that we neither adore crosses nor desire them. You it is, ye Pagans, who worship wooden gods, who are the most likely people to adore wooden crosses, as being parts of the same substance with your deities – Charles Morris (Aryan Sun Myths)

Tertullian, a Christian Father of the second and third centuries, writing to the Pagans, says: "The origin of your gods is derived from figures molded on a cross. All those rows of images on your standards are the appendages of crosses; those hangings on your standards and banners are the robes of crosses" – ibid

By the Sixth Synod of Constantinople (Canon 82), it was ordained that instead of the ancient symbol which had been the lamb, the figure of a man nailed to a cross should be represented. All this was confirmed by Pope Adrian I. (See Dupuis's Origin of Religious Belief and Godfrey Higgins'sAnacalypsis) - ibid

The Serpent Cup

The intertwined serpents decorating this bowl…are moreover found on prehistoric monuments of Ancient Britain and Scandinavia, and became latterly conventionalized into the "rope-pattern decoration" so common on the ancient pre-Christian Sun-Crosses, monoliths and funeral monuments of the British Isles - L. A. Waddell (Makers of Civilization)

Jehovah Nissi

Of all the gods, Osiris alone had a place of birth and a place of burial. His birthplace was mount Sinai, called by the Egyptians Mount Nissa. Hence, according to Diodorus Siculus, was derived the god's Greek name Dionysus, which is the same as the Hebrew Jehovah-Nissi.

This name Moses gave to the Almighty when he set up an altar to Him at the foot of the holy mountain, a spot sacred alike with Jews and Egyptians (see Exodus 17:15) – Samuel Sharpe (Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christianity)

The Christ-Serpent

The words Christ, cross, and serpent, are etymologically related. The wordChrist is Egyptian. It is also close to the Greek word ceras (or cerastes) that means "serpent."

...in making the mummy the Egyptians were also making the typical Christ, which is the anointed. The word karas, kares or karis in Egyptian signifies embalment, to embalm, to anoint, to make the mummy. Kreas, creas, or chros, in Greek denotes the human body, a person or carcass, more expressly the flesh of it; cras, Gaelic and Irish, the body; Latin, corpus, for a dead body; these are all preceded by the word karas orkarast, in Egyptian…Each body that had been embalmed was KARAST, so to say, and made into a type of immortality in the likeness of Osiris…or Horus, the prototypal Christ – Gerald Massey (Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World)

The word krs denotes the embalmment of the mummy, and the krst, as the mummy, was made in the process of preparation by purifying, anointing, and embalming. To karas the dead body was to embalm it, to bandage it, to make the mummy. The mummy was the Osirian Corpus Christi, prepared for burial as the laid-out dead, the karast by name. When raised to its feet, it was the risen mummy, or sahu…Hence the name of the Christ, Christos in Greek, Chrestus in Latin, for the anointed, was derived…from the Egyptian word krst…Not only is the risen mummy or sahu called the karast, Osiris as lord of the bier is the Neb-karast equivalent to the later Christ the Lord…Thus the Egyptian karast was the pre-Christian Christ, and the pictures in the Roman Catacombs preserve the proof. The passing of the karast into the Christ is depicted in the gnostic iconography. It is in the form of a child bound up in the swathings of a diminutive Egyptian mummy, with the halo and cross of the four quarters round its head, which show its solar origin – ibid

The Cross

In the solar mythology, the sun god is regularly "crucified" as he crosses over the equinoxes and when he wanes towards the end of the year - D. M. Murdock (Christ in Egypt)

In all private religious associations and secret cults of later antiquity the members made use of a secret sign of recognition or union. This they carried about in the form, in some cases, of wooden, bronze, or silver amulets hung around the neck or concealed beneath the clothes, in others woven in their garments, or tattooed upon the forehead, neck, breast, hands, etc,. Among these signs was the cross, and it was usually described under the name "Tau" after the letter of the old Phoenician alphabet - Arthur Dewes (The Christ Myth)

...the non-Christians possessed cross=like sacred objects and revered their idols of gods in the shape of a cross or in cruciform. In fact, Tertullian is very insistent on this point, stating of the Pagans, "your religion is all cross" and "your gods in their origin have proceeded from this hated cross" - D. M. Murdock (Christ in Egypt)

Osiris and Horus were crucified as 'saviors' and 'redeemers;' the sufferings, death, and resurrection of Osiris forming the great mystery of the Egyptian religion. Prometheus, of Greece, was with chains nailed to the rocks of Mount Caucasus, 'with arms extended,' as a savior; and the tragedy of the crucifixion was acted in Athens 500 years before the Christian era - William W. Hardwicke (The Evolution of Man)

A number of Egyptian goddesses are likewise depicted in cruciform, with arms and wings outstretched, found in tombs and commonly on coffins - D. M. Murdock (Christ in Egypt)

...regarding the cross and the image of a god in cruciform - or the crucifix - William Williamson states: "The cross...is a symbol of the highest antiquity, but the representation of a figure with the hands and feet pierced with nails belongs to a later period. The most ancient delineation of the cruciform attitude is the figure of the god in the vault of heaven, with outstretched arms, blessing the universe - ibid

The ritual lamentation of the divine sisters, Isis and Nephthys, for Osiris...is found in the temple remains of the island of Philae expressly connected with the representation of Osiris in the form of a crucifix, the God's head standing on top of a four-barred Nilometer, faced by the mourning female figures - John M. Robertson (Christianity and Mythology)

Osiris has been found in this attitude. Also Vishnu as Witoba is presented as the crucified in what has been termed the crucifixion in space; the crucifixion without a cross, in which the god himself is the cross in a male form - Gerald Massey

We have evidence from the pyramid of Medum (Meidoun) that from 6,000 to 7,000 years ago the dead in Egypt were buried in a faith which was founded on the mystery of the cross, and rationally founded too, because that cross was a figure of the fourfold foundation on which heaven itself was built - Gerald Massey

Two Thieves & the Cross

And in the zodiac of Denderah, just where Horus is on the cross, or at the crossing of the venal equinox, these two thieves, Sut-Anup and Aan, are depicted one on either side of the luni-solar god. These two mythical originals have, I think, been continued and humanized as the two thieves in the Gospel version of the crucifixion - Gerald Massey

Horus on the cross surrounded by two thieves would appear to be the most logical interpretation of this composite figure in the zodiac of Denderah, a clearly astrotheological monument predating the common era by a century or more - D. M. Murdock (Christ in Egypt)

The True Savior

Upon mounting the throne of Egypt Ptolemy assumed the surname of Soter or Saviour. All the Ptolemies took this title - Alexander Del Mar (Middle Ages Revisited)

Jesus and Esus

Both in Spain and Gaul, Caesar must have heard of Hesus, the Messiah, whose effigy stood at every crossroad, whose crosses were worn upon the breast of every warrior, and whose second coming, which had long been predicted by the Druid astrologers, coincided very closely with the period of his own invasion of those countries - Alexander Del Mar

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

Fish Symbolism

Lucifer…is another alchemical reference. In Old French, luce means 'fish,' as does the Latin word locus – Gardiner and Osborn (The Serpent Grail)

John the Baptist

...was known as the Great Nazar, and El Khidr "the Green Man" –  Gardiner and Osborn (The Serpent Grail)

Quran identifies this servant of Allah with El-Khadr, "the Green One", "the teacher and counsellor of pious men, wise in divine knowledge, the immortal"...El-Khadr has been exalted to divine status in Sufic circles - B. E. Colless (Divine Education)

Bishop Irenaeus

The first publisher of the Gospels (Ad 190). In these books Jesus was fifty when he died. This indicates that that Crucifixion under Pilate was a fiction - J. P. Mendum (Revelations of the Anti-Christ)

Persecutions

Gibbon doubts whether Nero persecuted Christians at all; and conjectures that Tacitus may have confounded them with a pernicious sect of Jews called Galileans, who were determined rebels, and were punished by Nero - J. P. Mendum

The story of Nero's fiddling, arose in from a book called "Annals" of Tacitus, which was of forged by Poggio Bracciolini, who died in 1459. He was the apostolic secretary to seven Popes - ibid

Book of Ecclesiastes

The author of the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament is in the book's very title called "The Preacher." In ancient Egyptian religious books which dramatized the forms and stages of the divinization of man, there was a character always called "The Speaker."

Manna From Heaven

Apparently the Hebrew manna represents the Egyptian tahen which was given to the manes for food in the wilderness of Amenta…Wafers made of tahen were also eaten sacramentally as food of heaven in the Osirian Eucharist – Gerald Massey

Ladder to Heaven

From the Pyramid Texts we learn that at a time when man believed that it was necessary to have a ladder to ascend into heaven from the Earth, Horus was regarded as the god of the ladder…Sometimes Ra held one side (of the ladder) whilst Horus held the other, and sometimes the supporters were Horus and Set, but even so the deceased seem to have had difficulty in ascending it, for we read that Horus had to give him a push upwards with his two fingers – E. A. Wallis Budge

Judas

Sut, the treacherous opponent of Horus (Osiris in the later Mythos), was the Egyptian Judas.

Adonai/Jehovah

Adon is the Hebrew equivalent of the Egyptian Aten as a title of Iu, the son of Atum-Ra, or of Atum who was "the duplicate of Aten" in the person of the father - Gerald Massey

Pole Star

What the sun is at the center of the solar system, the pole-star had been at the center of the stellar universe in the most ancient astronomy – Gerald Massey

Council of Carthage

When the criteria for Gospel selection were determined at the Council of Carthage in AD 397, it was first stipulated that the authorized New Testament Gospels must be written in the names of the original twelve apostles. Matthew was, of course, an apostle, as was John, but neither Luke nor Mark were named in the original twelve. Thomas, on the other hand, was one of the original apostles and yet the Gospel in his name was excluded - Laurence Gardner (Genesis of the Grail Kings)

The Secret Keepers

…the opening verses of Genesis were composed in the sixth century B.C., roughly 1,400 years after the time of Abraham, 2,000 years after Noah and 3,500 years after the Mesopotamian flood. But from where would such ancient genealogical records have been obtained? Who would have recorded and maintained the patriarchal lineage through so many centuries? - Laurence Gardner 

Gods of East & West

Enough exists to show that the Nordic Gods were the same as the gods of the Levant. The gardens, halls, warfare, altars, sacrifices, marriage and family life were the same - (Priesthood of the Illes)

The Old Testament

Of the works of the Old Testament neither the Psalms, nor the proverbs, nor the so-called Preacher, nor the Book of Wisdom, can be connected with the historical kings David or Solomon, whose names they bear, and the prophet Daniel is just such a fictitious personality as the Enoch and the Ezra of the Apocalypses known under their names - Arthur Dewes (The Christ Myth)

...the so-called Five Books of Moses are the literary product of an age much later than the one in which Moses is supposed to have lived - ibid

Early Copies of some individual books of the Old Testament, in Hebrew and dating from the sixth century AD, were discovered stored in the Cairo synagogue during the late nineteenth century. The earliest complete Hebrew manuscript still in existence, the Aleppo Codex, dates from the first half of the tenth century AD, more than a thousand years after the last books of the Old Testament were written and perhaps two thousand years after the earliest. The standard Hebrew Bible today is based on a manuscript dating from AD 1088 that is now in the St Petersburg Library - Ralph Ellis (Jesus: Last of the Pharaohs)

Creation of the Old Testament

In a letter by an unknown author about 100 BC, Ptolemy II, the King of Egypt (285-247 BC), ordered a Greek translation of the Bible. The High Priest of Jerusalem sent seventy-two elders to Alexandria, six scholars from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, together with an official copy of the Pentateuch. They worked for seventy-two days to produce the final copy of the Pentateuch in Greek. Later, the other books of the Old Testament were also translated into Greek by other scholars and the whole work became known as the Septuagint, which means "The Seventy." The Greek text was adopted as the Bible of the early Church, but was abandoned in favor of the Hebrew Masoretic text – Moustafa Gadalla (Historical Deception)

Our standard translations of the Old Testament are based on the Masoretic Hebrew text, which came into existence in the ninth or tenth centuries AD. This text was originated in the second century AD after a council had been assembled at Jamnia, a small town near Jaffa, in AD 70. At Jamnia the council agreed to the form and content of the Old Testament – ibid

...tradition has it that Ptolemy I Soter also commissioned seventy-two erudite Jewish scholars to translate the Old Testament into Greek, a version now known as the Septuagint, which was to serve as the basis for future Latin translations - (Talisman)

Nero: Alleged Persecutor of Christians

Gibbon doubts whether Nero persecuted Christians at all; and conjectures that Tacitus may have confounded them with a pernicious sect of Jews called Galileans, who were determined rebels, and were punished by Nero - J. Mendum 

The story of Nero's fiddling, arose in from a book called "Annals" of Tacitus, which was of forged by Poggio Bracciolini, who died in 1459. He was the apostolic secretary to seven Popes - ibid

Suetonius, in his "Life of Claudius" relates that: "He (Claudius) drove the Jews, who at the instigation of Christas were constantly rioting, out of Rome." This is said to have taken place about fifteen years after the crucifixion of Jesus. So Christas could hardly have been Jesus Christ – John G. Jackson (Pagan Origins of the Jesus Myth)

Concocted Histories

Cornelius Tacitus, the Roman historian, in his celebrated Annals, refers to the burning of Rome in 64 AD, and the Neroian persecution of the Christians. He describes them as a "vast multitude" and says that the cult was founded by Christus, who was punished as a criminal by the Prosecutor Pontius Pilate. Eusebius made a list of Jewish and Pagan references to Christianity, but Tacitus is not mentioned by him. In fact, the passage in question was not quoted by any Christian writer before the fifteenth century – John G. Jackson

The Kaaba

The Caabah of the Arabs was before the time of Mohamet, a temple dedicated to the Moon. The black stone which the Musulmans kiss with so much devotion to this day, is...an ancient statue of Saturnus. The walls of the great mosque of Kufah, built on the foundation of an ancient Pyrea or temple of fire, are filled with figures of planet artistically engraved -Charles Dupuis (The Origin of all Religious Worship)

Baal & Dionysus

The larger cluster of themes in biblical narratives, the Baal epic and the myth of Dionysus have roots in the ancient Mesopotamian traditions attached to the Sumerian goddess Inanna and the Babylonian Ishtar with their lovers Dumuzi and Tammuz...Some of the most stable elements in the myth involve themes of a human who becomes divine in a process involving death and resurrection. The central figure descends into the realm of the dead for three days before awakening to a new life...The resurrection of the dead from the grave imitates the resurrection of the goddess and her lover - Professor Thomas L. Thompson (The Messiah Myth)

...close to the Herew language of biblical tradition is the millennium earlier Ugaritic poem of Baal from the ancient city of Ugarit in the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries BCE. Almost every element of the story of Baal's battle with Mot finds reiteration somewhere in the Bible and almost all of the elements in the myth of Dionysus echo this story - ibid

Marcion's Mutilation of NT

The other option, including a radical break with Israel, was elected by Marcion and many Christian Gnostics. By excluding the Jewish Bible from his canon of scriptures, Marcion eliminated the issue of whether Christianity or Judaism stood as rightful heir to the promises of Israel. But as Marcion soon realized, relinquishing the Jewish Bible was not enough. The synoptic gospels and Pauline letters (especially Galatians and Romans) were riddled with quotations from and allusions to the Old Testament. Without these references, the gospels and letters would be literally and theologically incomprehensible. Yet for Marcion to have kept them as they stood would have left him with a blatant self-contradiction. True to his intellectual rigor, he systematically removed those passages which posited a continuity with Israel and justified this action with the claim that the gospels and letters had been corrupted by numerous interpolations interpolations from the hands of Judaizing Christians - John G.. Gager (The Origins of Anti-Semitism)

Marcion argued that the copies of Paul's letters in circulation toward the middle of the second century no longer represented the original texts. They had been tampered with by Judaizing Christians who had inserted positive references to the Old Testament and its God. In accordance with this assertion, Marcion "restored" the letters to their original purity by removing all positive references to the Old Testament - ibid

For Marcion, Paul was simply "the apostle." The letters of Paul, purged of their "Judaizing" accretions, were the heart of Marcion's New Testament - ibid

Marcion simply cut loose all connections between Christianity and Judaism - no Old Testament, no Israel, no God of the law and creation. Christianity was radically new - ibid

• Note: So here it is in a nutshell. How can any Christian state that the New Testament is an authentic one-to-one iteration of the Word of God? How is it possible when seminarians know and confirm thatone man massively and systematically edited the gospels, epistles and all the rest of it? He wasn't the only one to have done so, of course, and although his mutilated version was finally rejected, we see that heavy bias shaped the compilation of the document.Marcion's comprehensive and egregious scrubbing of "Jewish" elements from the text demonstrates to believers that their New Testament isn't by any means an authentic record of God' word. For unbiased people it removes any and all credibility from the New Testament, which was without doubt compiled by Paul, Marcion and others for purely propagandist reasons.

From
The Masks of Christ
by Picknett and Prince

Drawing a Blank

Incredibly, having studied the origins of the Gospels for over two centuries, historians and other experts have been unable to agree on when they were written – or even by whom.

Slow Hand Lukes

It was not until the Council of Trent in 1545 that the Roman Catholic Church decreed that no more alterations or additions could be made to the Bible. (Even so, the editing process continues…)

Plagiarizing the Pagans

Paul also introduced an important change to Jesus' title of Christ (Christos). The Gospels tell us that his immediate followers called him "the Christ" (ho Christos), showing they regarded him as the prophesized Messiah. Paul dropped the definite article, calling Jesus simply Christos, turning it into a name – Jesus Christ – probably to emphasize his uniqueness and distance him further from the Jewish interpretation of his mission…Many authorities argue that…Paul was influenced by the pagan mystery cults of Rome, and that he freely borrowed concepts from them.

Paltry Evidence

There are not even any archaeological remains to compensate for the relative lack of written records. Unsurprisingly, modern Israel is a magnet for Christian tourism. What devotee of Christ would not want to walk in his footsteps by the Sea of Galilee or retrace the terrible journey through Jerusalem to Golgotha, the Place of the Skull, where he died on the cross? Yet of the many individual sites on the Christian tourist map – such as the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem – in all cases the link is merely traditional. Sadly…there is no hard evidence that any of these particular places was actually associated with Jesus. Every one of them is dubious, and most are provably bogus.

From what little we know of the Jerusalem group (almost entirely from the unreliable Acts, with a  few scraps from Paul's Epistles), its members lived communally, pooling property and money. They saw themselves as a sect within Judaism, not a breakaway movement, observing the Jewish Law and worshipping at the Jerusalem Temple. Even so, the Jewish authorities looked upon these dissidents with suspicion, at times taking draconian action and even executing the group's leaders – which was where Paul came in. Exactly why they disliked the Jerusalem Christians is unclear.

Paul's Invention

Far from seeking out those who had known Jesus to absorb their memories, as would today's hagiographers, Paul went out of his way to avoid all eyewitnesses, also evincing no interest in stories and writings being circulated by Jesus' companions

Problem of Mark

Mark is also conspicuous for certain highly significant omissions – such as the virgin birth and, in the earliest manuscripts, Jesus' post-resurrection appearances. When Mark was grouped together with the other three Gospels, these lacunae were relatively inconsequential. But when it was realized that Mark came first, serious questions had to be asked about why these episodes, so fundamental to Christian belief, were not there and why they only appeared in the Gospels that came after his.

Mark contains very few direct sayings of Jesus, whereas the "non-Mark" material in the other two synoptic Gospels is almost entirely made up of sayings and teachings.

Four Antagonistic Sects of Christians

So there were four categories of missionary proselytizing the Empire: the Jewish version, Paul and those following his "revealed" form, others who also added a Hellenistic twist, and John the Baptist's followers. It was a busy, chaotic, and heady mix, all inspired by those events that had taken place a few in a short few years in a far-flung corner of the Empire.

Blatant Contradictions

The Gospels disagree on whether Jesus' parents were married at the time of his birth (as in Matthew) or merely betrothed (as in Luke). Although the agree he was born in Bethlehem, in Luke it is because his parents lived there, in Matthew because they were visiting for a census; John, ever the outsider, reports the claim that Jesus doesn't come from Bethlehem at all and fails to challenge it. The accounts of events surrounding what is, for Christians, the most important aspect of Jesus' life and meaning, his resurrection, are among the most contradictory.

Seed of David or Son of God?

Matthew and Luke's tracing of Jesus' Davidic descent to Joseph leads to a major contradiction with their assertion that Jesus was literally the son of God. Both insist on his divine conception but then blithely undermine their own claim by providing evidence of his very moral descent. These writers were clearly desperate to have it both ways. To be the Messiah, Jesus had to have been descended from David, but to be the Christian Christ he had to be the Son of God (Paul, in one of his few pieces of information about the earthly Jesus, wrote that he was descended from David "according to the flesh," and said nothing about a miraculous conception or birth.)…Mainstream Christianity, however, has simply ignored the discrepancy – maintaining that both accounts of Jesus' ancestry are true, even though they are blatantly irreconcilable.

While there are reasons for Matthew and Luke to have invented Jesus' descent from David, it is considerably harder to imagine any reasons Mark and John chose to ignore or suppress it. On that basis one must conclude that the claim of Davidic descent was false.

Crucifixion Facts

Crucifixion was a Roman penalty specifically reserved for rebels against Rome's authority, and it punished political, not religious, transgressions.

Herod the Great 

…a distinguished Idumean general named Herod – "the Great" – was appointed king of the Jews; he ruled from 37 to 4 BCE. Despite frequent claims to the contrary, Herod was Jewish by religion (but only because the Hasmoneans had forcibly converted the Idumeans to Judaism a couple of generations earlier)…Pliny the Elder described Herod's Jerusalem as the most famous of the great cities of the East.

The Word of "God"

Even though the TNIV (The New International Version) uses "he" to describe the first-created entity whom God makes everything manifest, and John's Gospel identifies whom God makes everything perfect, and John's Gospel identifies this being with Jesus, it seems the Word was originally feminine, like Hokmah. The phrase "the Word was with God" is a bad translation, the Greek meaning literally "the Word went towards God," but even that fails to convey all its implications – Picknettt and Prince (The Masks of Christ)

. . .

From
Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind
Who Changed the Bible and Why
by Bart Ehrman

Misquoting Jesus is a reader-friendly study into the origin and composition of the New Testament. Ehrman investigates how the Gospels, works of Paul, and story of Jesus came to be written down. He shows how the New Testament evolved and how it suffered innumerable changes through the years. He covers the few original manuscripts such as the Codex Sinaiticus, and introduces us to the scribes, collators, and bible scholars responsible for the discovery, compilation, and publication of early versions of the New Testament. Ehrman also provides his readers with the facts on how many of the best loved stories and passages in the Gospels were interpolated at late dates by unknown scribes. He clearly outlines the reasons why key passages were altered, deleted, or misinterpreted - Michael Tsarion

The popular perception of the Bible as a divinely perfect book receives scant support from Ehrman, who sees in Holy Writ ample evidence of human fallibility and ecclesiastical politics. Though himself schooled in evangelical literalism, Ehrman has come to regard his earlier faith in the inerrant inspiration of the Bible as misguided, given that the original texts have disappeared and that the extant texts available do not agree with one another. Most of the textual discrepancies, Ehrman acknowledges, matter little, but some do profoundly affect religious doctrine. To assess how ignorant or theologically manipulative scribes may have changed the biblical text, modern scholars have developed procedures for comparing diverging texts. And in language accessible to nonspecialists, Ehrman explains these procedures and their results. He further explains why textual criticism has frequently sparked intense controversy, especially among scripture-alone Protestants. In discounting not only the authenticity of existing manuscripts but also the inspiration of the original writers, Ehrman will deeply divide his readers. Although he addresses a popular audience, he undercuts the very religious attitudes that have made the Bible a popular book. Still, this is a useful overview for biblical history collections - Bryce Christensen (Amazon Review)

Error-Ridden Copies

The more I studied the manuscript tradition of the New Testament, the more I realized just how radically the text had been altered over the years at the hands of scribes, who were not only conserving scripture but also changing it - Bart Ehrman

As we learned...in one of the first courses in the curriculum, we don't actually have the original writings of the New Testament. What we have are copies of these writings, made years later - in most cases, many years later. Moreover, none of these copies are completely accurate, since the scribes who produced them inadvertently and/or intentionally changed them in places. All scribes did this. So rather than actually having the inspired words of the autographs (i.e., the originals) of the Bible, what we have are the error-ridden of the autographs.

Not only do we not have the originals, we don't have the first copies of the originals.

The books we call the New Testament were not gathered together into one canon and considered scripture, finally and ultimately, until hundreds of years after the books themselves had first been produced.

Given these problems, how can we hope to get back to anything like the original text, the text that an author actually wrote? It is an enormous problem. In fact, it is such an enormous problem that a number of textual critics have started to claim that we may as well suspend any discussion of the "original" text, because it is inaccessible to us.

The New Testament Today

...we know of about ten thousand manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate, not to mention the manuscripts of other versions, such as the Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, Old Georgian, Church Slavonic, and the like...In addition, we have the writings of church fathers such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen and Athanasius among the Greeks and Tertullian, Jerome, and Augustine among the Latins - all of them quoting the texts of the New Testament in places, making it possible to reconstruct what their manuscripts (now lost, for the most part) must have looked like.

With this abundance of evidence, what can we say about the total number of variants known today? Scholars differ significantly in their estimates - some say there are 200,000 variants known, some say 300,000, some say 400,000 or more! We do not know for sure because, despite impressive developments in computer technology, no one has yet been able to count them all...There are more variations among our manuscripts than there are words in the New Testament.

Earlier and Later Texts

It would be a grave mistake, though, to think that because later manuscripts agree so extensively with one another, they are therefore our superior witnesses to the "original" text of the New Testament. For one must always ask: where did these medieval scribes get the texts they copied in so professional a manner? They got them from earlier texts, which were copies of yet earlier texts, which were themselves copies of still earlier texts. Therefore, the texts that are closest in form to the originals are, perhaps unexpectedly, the more variable and amateurish copies of earlier times, not the more standardized professional copies of later times.

Latin Translations Before Jerome's Vulgate

The copying practices I have been summarizing principally involve the eastern part of the Roman Empire, where Greek was, and continues to be, the principal language. It was not long, however, before Christians in non-Greek-speaking regions wanted the Christian sacred texts in their own languages. Latin, or course, was the language of much of the western part of the Empire...Problems emerged very soon, however, with the Latin translations of scripture, because there were so many of them and these translations differed so broadly from one another.

The Word of God (John 1)

Other passages of the Gospels also do not cohere completely with the rest. Even in the opening verses 1:1-18, which form a kind of prologue to the Gospel, appear to be different to the rest. This highly celebrated poem speaks of the "Word" of God, who existed with God from the beginning and was himself God, and who "became flesh" in Jesus Christ. The passage is written in a highly poetic style not found in the rest of the Gospel; moreover, while its central themes are repeated in the rest of the narrative, some of its most important vocabulary is not. Thus, Jesus is portrayed throughout the narrative as the one who came from above, but never is he called the Word elsewhere in the Gospel. Is it possible that this opening passage came from a different source than the rest of the account, and that it was added as an appropriate beginning by the author after an earlier edition of the book had already been published?

Woman Taken in Adultery

The story of Jesus and the woman taken in adultery is arguably the best-known story about Jesus in the Bible; it certainly has been a favorite in Hollywood versions of his life. It even makes it into Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ"...Despite its popularity, the account is found in only one passage of the New Testament, in John 7:53-8:12, and it appears not to have been original even there...Despite the brilliance of the story...there is one enormous problem that it poses. As it turns out, it was not originally in the Gospel of John. In fact, it was not originally part of any of the Gospels. It was added by later scribes.

Mark's Account of the Last Days of Jesus

In Mark's account, we are told that Jesus us crucified and then buried by Joseph of Arimathea on the day before the Sabbath (15:42-47). On the day after Sabbath, Mary Magdalene and two other women come back to the tomb in order properly to anoint the body...When they arrive, they find that the stone has been rolled away. Entering the tomb, they see a young man in a white robe, who tells them, "Do not be startled! You are seeking Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has been raised and is not here - see the place where they had him?" He then instructs the women to tell the disciples that Jesus is preceding them into Galilee and that they will see him there...

Then come the last twelve verses of Mark in many modern English translations, verses that continue the story. Jesus himself is said to appear to Mary Magdalene, who goes and tells the disciples; but they do not believe her...He then appears to two others...and finally to the eleven disciples...who are gathered together at table. Jesus upbraids them for failing to believe, and then commissions them to go forth and proclaim his gospel "to the whole creation." Those who believe and are baptized "will be saved," but those who do not "will be condemned"...Jesus is taken up into heaven, and seated at the right hand of God. And the disciples go forth into the world proclaiming the gospel, their words being confirmed by the signs that accompany them...It is a terrific passage, mysterious, moving, and powerful. It is one of the passages used by Pentecostal Christians to show that Jesus's followers will be able to speak in unknown "tongues,"...but there is one problem. Once again, this passage was not originally in the Gospel of Mark. It was added by a later scribe.

Paul

Scholars have long suspected that some of the letters found in the New Testament under Paul's name were in fact written by his later followers, pseudonymously. If this suspicion is correct, it would provide even more evidence of the importance of letters in the early Christian movement: in order to gets one's views heard, one would write a letter in the apostle's name, on the assumption that this would carry a good deal of authority

What survives today, then, is not the original copy of the letter, not one of the first copies that Paul himself had made, nor any of the copies that were produced in any of the towns of Galatia to which the letter was sent, nor any of the copies of those copies...In short, it is a very complicated business talking about the "original" text of Galatians. We don't have it.

Marcion

At the same time that Justin was writing in the mid second century, another prominent Christian was also active in Rome, the philosopher-teacher Marcion, later declared a heretic. Marcion is an intriguing figure in many ways. He had come to Rome from Asia Minor, having already made a fortune in what was evidently a shipbuilding business. Upon arriving in Rome, he made an enormous donation to the Roman church, probably, in part, to get in its good favor. For five years he stayed in Rome, spending much of his time teaching his understanding of the Christian faith and working out its details in several writings...Marcion was the first Christian that we know of who produced an actual "canon" of scripture - that is, a collection of books that, he argued, constituted the sacred texts of the faith.

Athanasius

Many Christians today may think that the canon of the New Testament simply appeared on the scene one day, after the death of Jesus, but nothing could be farther from the truth. As it turns out, we are able to pinpoint the first time that any Christian on record listed the twenty-seven books of our New Testament as the books of the New Testament - neither more nor fewer. Surprising as it may seem, this Christian was writing in the second half of the fourth century, nearly three hundred years after the books of the New Testament had themselves been written. The author was the powerful bishop of Alexandria named Athanasius.

Scriptuo Continua

This kind of continuous writing is called scriptuo continua, and it obviously could make it difficult at times to read, let alone understand, a text. The words godisnowhere could mean quite different things to a theist (God is now here) and an atheist (God is nowhere)...

Origen

The third century church father Origen...once registered the following complaint about the copies of the Gospels at his disposal:

The difference among the manuscripts have become great, either through the negligence of some copyists or through the perverse audacity of others; they either neglect to check over what they have transcribed, or, in the process of checking, they make additions and deletions as they please.

Celsus

Origen was not the only one to notice the problem. His pagan opponent Celsus had, as well, some seventy years earlier. In his attack on Christianity and its literature, Celsus had maligned the Christian copyists for their transgressive copying practices:

Some believers, as though from a drinking bout, go so far as to oppose themselves and alter the original text of the gospel three or four or several times over, and they change its character to enable them to deny difficulties in face of criticism.

The Reason for the Season
by Tédd St. Rain

Just how Christian is Christmas? As is the case with many other holidays, Christmas can trace it origins back to ancient Pagan traditions. Although it was named after the Cristes Maesse, or Mass of Christ, and is thus primarily associated with Jesus and Christianity, its origin predates their existence by thousands of years.

Similar solstice celebrations have taken place throughout recorded history. Ancient people celebrated the victory of light over darkness from Asia to Africa and from Europe to the Americas. The festival of Christmas is actually an amalgam of Babylonian, Christian, Greek, Jewish, Mithraic, Pagan, Roman, and Zoroastrian religious traditions. In fact, the celebration of nearly all the solar saviors has historically occurred at this time; including the worship of Adonis, Apollo, Attis, Baal, Baldur, Dionysus, Frey, Jesus, Mithras, Osiris, Tammuz, amongst others.

As with nearly everything else in our modern society, the origin of Christmas has its foundations in Babylon with an ancient festival known as Sacaea. It represented the Twelve Days of Chaos, when the new year would rule over the old, summer over winter, good over evil, and order over chaos. The festival itself was only five days and was based on a king-sacrifice concept; whereas, a slave was clothed as the head of each household and a clown would take the part of the king. There was also a human scapegoat who would be given all indulgences until the end of the festival, when he was sacrificed. It is also associated with the Hebrew celebration of Purim, which follows the Fast of Esther, representing the deliverance from an imperiled slaughter in Persia.

About four thousand years ago, ancient Egyptians celebrated the rebirth of the sun at this time of year. They set the length of the festival at 12 days, to reflect the 12 divisions in their sun calendar. They decorated with greenery, using palms with 12 shoots as a symbol of the completed year, since a palm was thought to put forth a shoot each month. Christianity correlates the 12 days of Christmas as the time it took the wise men to arrive in Bethlehem.

In what is today Scotland, in the first millennium B.C.E., the ancient Druids celebrated the Winter Solstice with a vast celebration that marked the death of the old season and the rebirth of the new. Eventually the Persian and Egyptian, Persian, and European customs merged in ancient Rome, in a festival to the ancient god Saturn.

In one of its early Christian forms Christmas was known as Saturnalia, named after the Roman god of seed and sowing, Saturn. Like many other Pagan traditions it marked the changing of the seasons, this particular one marking the eve of the shortest day of the year and the return of the coming spring. The solstice marks the entry of the Sun into the Zodiac sign of Capricorn which is ruled by the planet Saturn.

As the most popular holy-day of the Roman year, it was a time of great merriment, with decorative greenery, gift exchanges, burning Yule logs, the abandonment of social customs, children could head the family, people cross-dressed, transvestitism was common, wars were postponed, grudges forgotten, quarrels disbanded, and businesses, courts, and schools were closed. The week-long Saturnalia festival was celebrated from December 17 to December 23. In the cycle of the ages, the period of Saturn was a time of plenty and equality, and thus Saturnalia was a momentary relapse to a happier time. There is no doubt, even today, that overindulgence, even by Roman standards, held a large place in the festival. It was probably this debauchery that lost favor with the church when Christmas was temporarily abolished by seventeenth century English Puritans.

For a week during Saturnalia, servants were granted their freedom, reportedly being allowed to eat meals, drink alcohol, and speak freely with their masters. In an ironic twist, the masters were even said to serve their servants. The idea may have been that slaves would become more compliant if relieved from their cradle to grave existence, if only for a brief time each year.

In the 4th Century, Constantine moved Christ's birthday to December 25, thus merging the traditional festivals of Dies Natalis Sol Invictus (Day of the Birth of the Undefeated Sun) and Saturnalia into Christmas to celebrate the birth of Christ. Even the timing of Saturnalia varied throughout the history of Rome. It began as feast days for Saturn, the god of Agriculture (earlier merged with the Greek Cronos) on December 17 and Ops, the Goddess of Plenty, mother of the Earth (and partner to Saturn and Consus) on December 19. With the advent of the Julian calendar, Saturnalia was held on December 17-18 and Opalia on December 19-20. During later times it was extended to a week from December 17-23. It was also associated with Dies Juvenalis (from Juventas, Goddess of Young Manhood who's related to the Greek Hebe of Youthful Beauty), the Coming of Age for Young Men in mid-December; Consualia (named after Consus, the God of Harvested Grain), the end of sowing season festival on December 15; the Feast of Sol Invicta, set in 274 C.E. on December 25; Brumalia, Winter Solstice of the pre-Julian calendar on December 25; Janus Day (from the God of Beginnings and Gates) and the Beginning of Calendar Year set in 153 B.C.E. and again in 45 B.C.E. on January 1; and Compitalia, the blessing of the fields festival on January 3-5.

It would seem that the holiday functioned as a safety valve for society, a time when people were allowed to blow off steam within the setting of an annual festival. In many respects the analogy of today's holiday season or annual office party to this ancient festival is uncanny. Many of the religious artifacts and rituals that have become associated with Christmas also have a narrative worth mentioning.

Saint Nicholas was said to have been born in Asia Minor in 326 C.E. and has been known for millennia as the patron saint of children. It is claimed that he was fond of giving them surprise gifts. St. Nick's festival was on December 6, but the practice of gift giving followed the Paganistic tradition and was later moved to Christmas. The custom of descending the chimney originates from his being a mystical person who must never touch the ground, thus leaving a pathway to the open sky. Part of the 'Father Christmas' story may date back to the Norse god Odin/Woden who would also give to the poor, and who used to ride across the sky on his sleigh pulled by reindeer. Another Norse deity, Freya, for twelve days after the winter solstice, was said to drive a chariot pulled by stags while giving out presents to the good. Eventually these different traditions were joined into a single entity that we know as Santa Claus.

Santa Claus himself was a Dutch corruption of 'San Nicolaas' when settlers brought the holiday with them to America. In 1822, Clement C. Moore was the first to describe him in modern detail in a poem as a present to his children. Up until that time he took on various descriptions including a skinny elf or Cernunnos dressed in green. In 1931, the Coca Cola company commissioned an artist to draw a jolly old Santa in red and white as their corporate logo. It is probably no coincidence that a powerful red and white hallucinogenic mushroom from northern Europe is the favorite food of reindeer. It was even used in pre-Christian sacraments and was said to emerge from the bits of spittle and blood that fell from the mouth of Odin/Woden's horse as he flew on the Winter Solstice. In the Norse tradition, the reindeer also represented an ancient horned god.

The Christmas Tree was introduced to European culture as the fir of Odin/Woden or the pine of Attis. The pine tree under which the god Attis had been killed was made into a shrine by devotees and was decorated with gold and silver bells and ornaments, hanged with streamers, and consecrated with gifts. Candles or lights on the tree symbolized the Sun, Moon, stars, and the souls of those departed. Christianity adopted the gifts as those of the three Magi and the lights as the symbol of Christ as the Light of the World.

Wreaths were common before the appearance of the Christmas tree. These Kissing Boughs were bound together in a globe or wreath, hung from the ceiling, and adorned with apples, ribbons, and presents.

Gift Giving is reminiscient of the earlier Norse traditions associated with the Christmas tree and the devotional gifts to the gods. Of course, these customs were also a large part of the Roman Saturnalia festival.

Christmas Carols were once banned in Cromwellian England where they were thought of as wanton licentious behavior. Fortunately, they were brought back at the Restoration and with the 19th-Century renaissance of music became seasonal hymns at churches worldwide. Of course, nearly all of the traditional carols are of Pagan origin.

Holly was associated with the old Pagan Holly King, and with the god Saturn, and not a crown of thorns, as many Christians have been taught to believe. Nor did the berries represent the blood of Christ. One long standing tradition asserts that holly was the wood of the cross, hence the magical power of Hollywood.

Mistletoe is an ancient Druid fertility symbol and, rest assured, was analogous with more than just kissing. Decorative greenery also expressed the Celtic belief that life had not died out in winter.

The Yule in northern Europe was named after the Norse god of winter, Ullr. This dates to an old Scandinavian custom, where an oak or pine log was kept burning for 12 days before the midwinter celebration. It was festooned with evergreens (mostly ivy) and bright ribbons as it was brought home ritualistically. Tradition dictated that a piece of the Yule Log was saved to light the following year's log. The ashes of the Yule fire were sometimes strewn in the fields and gardens to promote fertility and the rejuvenative power of fire. In Greece, the season was celebrated by their 12-day festival with alcohol and merrymaking which was oversaw by the god of wine and revelry, Dionysus.

As mentioned above, Christmas was never a celebration of Christ's birth until the middle of the 4th Century when the Church fixed it's date. Instead, it became a way of twisting Pagan beliefs to Christianity's benefit, converting more disciples for the new religion on the block. Old customs die hard, however, and it is still practiced today in its ancient traditional form in many cultures and Wiccan groups around the world.

SOURCES:

The Aquarian Dictionary of Festivals (1990) by J.C. Cooper
Calendar of the Roman Republic (1967) by A. K. Michels
Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic (1981) by H. H. Scullard
Macrobius: The Saturnalia (1969) translated by Percival Vaughan Davies
The Pagan Book of Days (1992) by Nigel Pennick
The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic (1899) by W. Warde Fowler
Sacred and Legendary Art (1891) by Anna Jameson
Saturnalia: Winter Solstice in Pagan Rome (1993) by Selena Fox.

Relevant Books & Sites

Critical Examination of the Life of St. Paul
Revelations of the Antichrist
The Dark Side of Christian History
A History of Terror in the Name of God
God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (Christopher Hitchens)
Jesus Never Existed
Jesus Critically Examined
Christianism   
Christianity's Debt to Stoicism

ADDITIONAL LINKS

Is It God's Word?
Jesus in comparative mythology
Solar deity
A Short History of the Bible
The Roman Cult of Mithras
Origin of Revelation and the '666'
Astrological Signs
Israelites
The Ensign Message
Heresies & Schisms in the Early Church
From Those Wonderful Folks Who Brought You The Inquisition!

Irish Origins Appendices