A Faded Piece of Papyrus Refers to Jesus’ Wife

LAURIE GOODSTEIN
September 18, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/us/historian-says-piece-of-papyrus-refers-to-jesus-wife.html

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A historian of early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School has identified a scrap of papyrus that she says was written in Coptic in the fourth century and contains a phrase never seen in any piece of Scripture: “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife ...’ ”

The faded papyrus fragment is smaller than a business card, with eight lines on one side, in black ink legible under a magnifying glass. Just below the line about Jesus having a wife, the papyrus includes a second provocative clause that purportedly says, “she will be able to be my disciple.”

The finding was made public in Rome on Tuesday at the International Congress of Coptic Studies by Karen L. King, a historian who has published several books about new Gospel discoveries and is the first woman to hold the nation’s oldest endowed chair, the Hollis professor of divinity.

The provenance of the papyrus fragment is a mystery, and its owner has asked to remain anonymous. Until Tuesday, Dr. King had shown the fragment to only a small circle of experts in papyrology and Coptic linguistics, who concluded that it is most likely not a forgery. But she and her collaborators say they are eager for more scholars to weigh in and perhaps upend their conclusions.

Even with many questions unsettled, the discovery could reignite the debate over whether Jesus was married, whether Mary Magdalene was his wife and whether he had a female disciple. These debates date to the early centuries of Christianity, scholars say. But they are relevant today, when global Christianity is roiling over the place of women in ministry and the boundaries of marriage.

The discussion is particularly animated in the Roman Catholic Church, where despite calls for change, the Vatican has reiterated the teaching that the priesthood cannot be opened to women and married men because of the model set by Jesus.

Dr. King gave an interview and showed the papyrus fragment, encased in glass, to reporters from The New York Times, The Boston Globe and Harvard Magazine in her garret office in the tower at Harvard Divinity School last Thursday.

She repeatedly cautioned that this fragment should not be taken as proof that Jesus, the historical person, was actually married. The text was probably written centuries after Jesus lived, and all other early, historically reliable Christian literature is silent on the question, she said.

But the discovery is exciting, Dr. King said, because it is the first known statement from antiquity that refers to Jesus speaking of a wife. It provides further evidence that there was an active discussion among early Christians about whether Jesus was celibate or married, and which path his followers should choose.

“This fragment suggests that some early Christians had a tradition that Jesus was married,” she said. “There was, we already know, a controversy in the second century over whether Jesus was married, caught up with a debate about whether Christians should marry and have sex.”

Dr. King first learned about what she calls “The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife” when she received an e-mail in 2010 from a private collector who asked her to translate it. Dr. King, 58, specializes in Coptic literature, and has written books on the Gospel of Judas, the Gospel of Mary of Magdala, Gnosticism and women in antiquity.

The owner, who has a collection of Greek, Coptic and Arabic papyri, is not willing to be identified by name, nationality or location, because, Dr. King said, “He doesn’t want to be hounded by people who want to buy this.”

When, where or how the fragment was discovered is unknown. The collector acquired it in a batch of papyri in 1997 from the previous owner, a German. It came with a handwritten note in German that names a professor of Egyptology in Berlin, now deceased, and cited him calling the fragment “the sole example” of a text in which Jesus claims a wife.

The owner took the fragment to the Divinity School in December 2011 and left it with Dr. King. In March, she carried the fragment in her red handbag to New York to show it to two papyrologists: Roger Bagnall, director of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, at New York University, and AnneMarie Luijendijk, an associate professor of religion at Princeton University.

They examined the scrap under sharp magnification. It was very small — only 4 by 8 centimeters. The lettering was splotchy and uneven, the hand of an amateur, but not unusual for the time period, when many Christians were poor and persecuted.

It was written in Coptic, an Egyptian language that uses Greek characters — and more precisely, in Sahidic Coptic, a dialect from southern Egypt, Dr. Luijendijk said in an interview.

What convinced them it was probably genuine was the fading of the ink on the papyrus fibers, and traces of ink adhered to the bent fibers at the torn edges. The back side is so faint that only five words are visible, one only partly: “my moth[er],” “three,” “forth which.”

“It would be impossible to forge,” said Dr. Luijendijk, who contributed to Dr. King’s paper.

Dr. Bagnall reasoned that a forger would have had to be expert in Coptic grammar, handwriting and ideas. Most forgeries he has seen were nothing more than gibberish. And if it were a forgery intended to cause a sensation or make someone rich, why would it have lain in obscurity for so many years?

“It’s hard to construct a scenario that is at all plausible in which somebody fakes something like this. The world is not really crawling with crooked papyrologists,” Dr. Bagnall said.

The piece is torn into a rough rectangle, so that the document is missing its adjoining text on the left, right, top and bottom — most likely the work of a dealer who divided up a larger piece to maximize his profit, Dr. Bagnall said.

Much of the context, therefore, is missing. But Dr. King was struck by phrases in the fragment like “My mother gave to me life,” and “Mary is worthy of it,” which resemble snippets from the Gospels of Thomas and Mary. Experts believe those were written in the late second century and translated into Coptic. She surmises that this fragment is also copied from a second-century Greek text.

The meaning of the words, “my wife,” is beyond question, Dr. King said. “These words can mean nothing else.” The text beyond “my wife” is cut off.

Dr. King did not have the ink dated using carbon testing. She said it would require scraping off too much, destroying the relic. She still plans to have the ink tested by spectroscopy, which could roughly determine its age by its chemical composition.

Dr. King submitted her paper to The Harvard Theological Review, which asked three scholars to review it. Two questioned its authenticity, but they had seen only low-resolution photographs of the fragment and were unaware that expert papyrologists had seen the actual item and judged it to be genuine, Dr. King said. One of the two questioned the grammar, translation and interpretation.

Ariel Shisha-Halevy, an eminent Coptic linguist at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, was consulted, and said in an e-mail in September, “I believe — on the basis of language and grammar — the text is authentic.”

Major doubts allayed, The Review plans to publish Dr. King’s article in its January issue.

Dr. King said she would push the owner to come forward, in part to avoid stoking conspiracy theories.

The notion that Jesus had a wife was the central conceit of the best seller and movie “The Da Vinci Code.” But Dr. King said she wants nothing to do with the code or its author: “At least, don’t say this proves Dan Brown was right.”

Orgies for Jesus

Daniele Bolelli
December 17, 2011
http://www.disinfo.com/2011/12/orgies-for-jesus

The following is an excerpt from the new Disinformation title 50 Things You're Not Supposed To Know: Religion, authored by Daniele Bolelli.

What if Christian theology dismissed the virgin birth and other miracles as fairy tales? What if your pastor/priest told you to flush the Ten Commandments down the toilet and instead live life to the fullest? What if Sunday service at your local church consisted in a juicy orgy? All of this could have happened had Carpocrates had his way.

Carpo … who? The lead character in our story was the leader of a second century Christian community based in the Greek islands. Back in those days, early Christians couldn’t agree on just about anything. Official Christian doctrine hadn’t been fully established yet, so an extremely wide range of opinions and teachings fell under the label of “Christianity.” The only thing they had in common was that they all thought Jesus was a cool guy. Other than that, everything else was up for debate since they couldn’t even agree on which books should become official scriptures. Some Christians believed their religion was to remain exclusively for Jewish people. Others wanted to open it to all ethnicities. Some believed Jesus and God were one. Others were far from sold about this. Some were strict ascetics. Others enjoyed a very sensual life. Some promoted women as leaders within their groups. Others felt women were good to cook dinner and make babies, but religious leaders? Ha!

In the midst of this very chaotic beginning, Carpocrates emerged as a particularly charismatic preacher, who soon attracted enough of a following as to give birth to his own branch of Christianity. His ideas were just a tad on the wild side. Jesus—Carpocrates argued—was as human as anyone else. He was a visionary whose brilliance and wisdom put him in touch with God, but was not God himself. This didn’t diminish Jesus’s status in Carpocrates’s eyes, since it set him up as a model of behavior that regular human beings could hope to emulate. The whole story of the virgin birth made Carpocrates laugh. In his view, good old Jesus was conceived in the old fashioned way: through sweaty sex. The depth of Jesus’s wisdom was enough for Carpocrates to admire and love him, so he felt no need for any supernatural special effects.

Since this beginning was apparently not controversial enough, Carpocrates promptly taught his followers to reject Mosaic Law as well as the prevailing morality of his times as mere human opinions, not divine commandments. A goodie-goodie morality was according to Carpocrates nothing but a cage built by those who were too scared by life’s intensity. The soul could only achieve freedom and fulfillment by experiencing all of life, without discriminating too much. Only in this way, it would free itself from the cycle of reincarnation …

Oh, yeah, did I forget to mention that? Carpocrates’s followers—like the members of many other early Christian sects—fully believed in reincarnation. And just like several tantric schools found in the history of both Hinduism and Buddhism, they also believed that human beings should explore every emotion without holding back. Sensual pleasure in their eyes was not any less sacred than the most spiritual practices, so good food, sex and every other earthly joy was embraced as a stepping stone toward liberation.

This determination to live life to the fullest went hand in hand with another radical notion. Carp considered differences in wealth and social class as unnatural perversions. Since everyone is born naked and equal in front of God, human attempts to gain status at the expense of others were misguided and ultimately against God’s plan. The cure for the very human tendency toward ego aggrandizing was to discourage the evil of private property. Instead, everything—from material possessions to sexual partners—was to be held in common. Coupled with Carp’s insistence on indulging in sensual pleasures, this idea led his followers to regularly stage sexual orgies as part of their spiritual practices … which makes you wonder: just how different would the world be had mainstream forms of Christianity decided to embrace Carpocrates rather than stern moralists like Saint Paul and Saint Augustine? I think it’s a safe bet that church attendance would be much higher.

The Godfather of Christianity

Daniele Bolelli
April 8, 2012
http://www.disinfo.com/2012/04/the-godfather-of-christianity

This is an excerpt from the recent Disinformation title 50 Things You're Not Supposed To Know: Religion, authored by Daniele Bolelli.

The Roman emperor Constantine is one of the great heroes of Christian history. As legend would have it, he singlehandedly put an end to religious persecution and became the first Christian emperor. His impact was nothing short of miraculous, and this is why his name is often adorned with superlatives: he is Constantine “the Great,” or as some branches of Christianity regard him “Saint” Constantine. More than any other figure, he is the true Godfather of Christianity, who helped it turn from a small troubled sect into the dominant religion of the empire.

But the word godfather applies to Constantine in more ways than one. Think Don Vito Corleone kind of Godfather (actually, I like Don Vito Corleone, so more like Michael Corleone). The historical reality is that Constantine was a brutal dictator who used Christianity for his own self-aggrandizing means and probably never even converted (some say he converted on his death bed, while others say he never did).

At the beginning of the 300s, the Roman Empire was a mess: there were too many people following too many religions speaking too many languages. Culturally, politically, religiously and in every other way, hardly anything brought unity to the empire. The confusion was so intense that it was not unusual for multiple people to claim the title of emperor at the same time. Civil wars to settle the squabbles between these contenders were the norm.

Constantine had quickly understood that ruling over such a diverse population, with such divided loyalties, would always be an uphill battle unless he figured out a way to bring them together. Religion seemed to fit the bill: a shared religion would give his citizens a common sense of loyalty and identity.

The old Roman polytheism didn’t seem to serve his purposes since few people still believed in it. Christians instead were very enthusiastic about their faith. Perhaps even more attractive, monotheism preached the need for all to worship a single source of authority—a concept that was music to Constantine’s ears. By tying religion and imperial power together, Constantine would be able to claim that any rebellion against him was a rebellion against God’s right hand man. Saint Paul’s writings about political leaders receiving their authority from God gave Constantine plenty of ammunition for his totalitarian project.

Constantine probably didn’t give a rat’s ass about religion (or if he did, he had a curious way of showing it since—as we will see—his newly found interest for Christianity didn’t dampen his passion for murder). He professed devotion to the Church, but he also regularly offered sacrifices to Apollo, Diana and Hercules, and remained head of the official pagan priesthood throughout his life. What he was looking for was a tool that would allow him to tighten his grip on power.

Accordingly, Constantine tested the waters by putting an end to the persecutions against Christians in 313 CE. The infighting among different Christian sects, however, bothered him. Religious disagreements could lead to conflicts and rebellion, and this would mean more people to kill, more heads to be bashed, and nothing but work, work, work. If Christianity were to serve his purpose, only one official version should be allowed. So, in 325, Constantine invited bishops from all over the empire at the Council of Nicaea, where they could get their act straight and vote once and for all regarding which one would the true Christian doctrine, and which should be eliminated as heresies. Once the bishops were done bickering, Constantine immediately moved to repress any alternate versions of Christianity.

Shortly after thus becoming the champion of the new religion, Constantine demonstrated how much religious piety had touched his soul by having his son executed, and his own wife boiled alive, for he feared they may have been plotting against him. Jesus’s message to “love your enemies” must have not gotten to destination, since Constantine had some of his rivals beheaded, and others hanged after he had promised them clemency if they surrendered.

Constantine played an incredibly important role in legitimizing Christianity, but considering him a saint may be a tad overoptimistic. The man, in fact, was a gangster with a tiny heart and a Godzilla-sized ego.

Christ's disciples' remains 'discovered'

An amateur archaeologist and film maker claims to have identified what could be the remains of some of Christ's 12 disciples in a first century burial chamber buried beneath a block of flats in Jerusalem.
Adrian Blomfield, Jeruslaem
28 Feb 2012
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/9111834/Christs-disciples-remains-discovered.html

A team led by Simcha Jacobovic, a Canadian documentary director, used a robot to photograph a number of limestone burial caskets, found below a block of flats, which may provide an unprecedented glimpse into Christianity's earliest days.

But the potential significance of the discovery is almost certain to be overshadowed by controversy, with Mr Jacobovic using it as new evidence to bolster his widely disputed claims to have identified the bones of Christ and his family at a nearby burial site.

The caskets, known as ossuaries, were inscribed with what some independent experts said could plausibly be the earliest Christian iconography ever documented.

One of the ossuaries carries an etching of a fish with what appears to be a human head in its mouth, perhaps an image of Jonah, the reluctant Old Testament prophet. The story was of major significance to early Christians and is referred to in the Gospels because Jonah spent three days in the belly of the giant fish that swallowed him, just as Christ spent three days in the tomb.

The fish was also seen as a sacred symbol by early Christians; not only did fish feature in a number of Christ's miracles, but many of the disciples were fishermen, while the Greek for fish – ichthys – is held to be an acronym for "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour".

Independent archaeologists say no Jewish tomb from antiquity is known to have carried a picture of a fish, giving further credibility to the theory that the etching is indeed Christian.

A second, adjacent ossuary is engraved with a Greek inscription that appears to refer to resurrection. It could be translated as "Divine Jehovah, raise up, raise up." Some Israeli archaeologists, however, said that some contemporary Jewish communities, including the Pharisees and the Essenes, also believed in resurrection.

The tomb, like others uncovered in Jerusalem, would almost certainly date to before AD 70, the year the city was destroyed by a Roman army. As a result, if the bones are shown to belong to early Christians they may well have been contemporaries of Christ and perhaps even his disciples as the community in Jerusalem was considered to be small at the time.

Further investigation is likely to be tricky, however. Although the chamber was discovered in 1981, excavation has been impossible because of an edict by Jewish religious authorities who hold that it is sacrilegious to interfere with Jewish tombs.

After years of negotiation, Mr Jacobovic, himself an Israeli-born Jew, managed to win approval to lower a robotic arm beneath the tower block to photograph the ossuaries.

According to Mr Jacobovic and his colleague James Tabor, a biblical scholar at the University of North Carolina, the discovery gives greater credence to their controversial claim that a chamber they called "the Garden tomb" nearby housed the remains of Christ.

They have concluded that both tombs, which lie in the Jerusalem district of East Talpiot, are probably located on the rural estate of Joseph of Arimathea, who the Gospels say took charge of Christ's burial.

"These two tombs, both dating to around the time of Jesus, are less than 200 feet apart," they wrote in a report published yesterday. "Any interpretation of one tomb has to be made in the light of the other. As a result, we believe a compelling argument can be made that the Garden tomb is that of Jesus of Nazareth and his family."

Their widely challenged assertions rest on the discovery in 1981 of ossuaries in the Garden tomb that appear to carry names similar to those of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Two others carried the names of "Judah, son of Jesus" and a woman they claimed could have been Mary Madgalene, whom they suggested could have been Christ's wife in a theory given popular appeal in Dan Brown's novel the "Da Vinci Code".

But the Israeli archaeologists who discovered the ossuaries dismissed Mr Jacobovic's conclusions as nonsense, saying such names were common at the time.

Biblical scholars have also pointed out that, as a Galilean, Christ would not have been buried in Jerusalem, particularly not in a tomb that suggested considerable wealth given His humble origins.

Israeli archaeologists, who jokingly refer to Mr Jacobovic as "Indiana Jones", point out that he is a film maker with no academic qualifications beyond a bachelor's degree and say he has "cherry-picked" findings from experts on his team to create the flimsiest of cases.

"His Jesus theory is conjecture built upon deception built upon wilful misinterpretation in order to spin a moneymaking yarn and garner publicity," said one archaeologist who asked not to be identified in order not to link his name to the claims

Konformist Book Club: Piso Christ

http://pisochristthebook.webs.com/

Introduction to the book 'Piso Christ', by Roman Piso

Hello, and welcome to this website. This site is here to help you to familiarize yourself with the book 'Piso Christ'. We will be giving you some background here and other information regarding the book 'Piso Christ'. Our goal is to help everyone gain a working knowledge of the true nature of the history of the time in which Christianity was created and eliminate any doubt that anyone has about the truth about Christianity.

The book 'Piso Christ' was many years in the making and there have been several people who have helped to make it possible. We hope that you will find this website to be a valuable resource and that you will want to share this information with others. Thank you. Our kindest regards, Roman Piso & Jay Gallus

What Piso Christ is About...

Jay Gallus and I realized that we had to get this information out there so that everyone would finally have access to this information. To understand the whole scope of what happened in the creation of Christianity one must first have a good understanding of the people involved in it, the true context of the time and place, what the motivating factors were, and a great deal more. We are used to seeing programs on TV which tell us about astounding feats from ancient times such as inventions and pyramids, incredible mathematic understanding, astronomy and so forth. But on those programs we are told that this was the work of aliens or of some lost civilization, giving the impression that these things were not accomplished by ordinary human beings. To think that is to not know what was really going on in ancient times.

It is true that many things were known, discovered, and used in ancient times which would seem to us to have been produced before their time. However, when you realize that in the ancient world, there were basically two sets of people, royals and non-royals, you begin to also understand that royals had vested interests to protect and that they, by necessity, devised methods and means by which to retain their status. One of the first things they learned was that they had to preserve knowledge only for themselves. This is because they realized that knowledge is power. So, while all royals enjoyed the best possible education and learned about all the things which had been known, discovered and invented, by the same token, they were doing what they could to keep that information from the general public or non-royals. But even this was not enough. It was not enough to keep the common people uninformed, but they had to make certain that they could not think and reason properly either. And so, they began a process of dumbing-down the masses to insure that they would be ignorant and superstitious.

For thousands of years, among these royals, psychopaths were born. And from within, with all the knowledge and power that royals controlled, these psychopaths carved out the world as they would have it be. They created religion. And perhaps the greatest psychopath of all, Arrius Calpurnius Piso, designed and created Christianity. He was a very ruthless, mean and vindictive person, but he never let anything get the best of him, he was always on top of everything. He was always several steps ahead of anyone else. The book 'Piso Christ' gives some important information about Arrius Calpurnius Piso and his family, and how it was that they had created Christianity. Arrius Piso played the part of Jesus in the New Testament as a way of mocking the person who he felt was his worst enemy; Jesus, son of Gamaliel I. Jesus, the son of Gamaliel I was a High Priest of the Pharisees. He was going to succeed his father as leader of the Pharisees and in a sense, become a real-life messiah. Not one who worked miracles or who claimed the be the son of God, but one who would help institute a profound change in the world. Arrius Piso feared that Nero would leave the Roman Empire in the hands of Jesus. Arrius Piso managed to kill both Nero and Jesus. He probably killed Gamaliel I also.

As most people who know their first century history already know, Nero was killed in 68 CE. Gamaliel I had died in 63 CE, and his son Jesus was slain in Jerusalem in 63 CE. What would have changed had these men lived and were successful with what they planned to do? We may never know completely, but because of all of my research into this, I have some idea. Firstly, the Pharisees were highly ethical and intelligent. You may say that they were not so much religious as they were humanist. They were perhaps the world's first real and true secular humanists. Yes, they pretended to be religious on the surface, but it is my opinion that they had to create that facade in order to survive in that time and place. The true force and thrust of their thoughts were humanist and ethical, not religious.

So what were the Jews (meaning Pharisees and their allies) fighting for? They were against slavery. And so, that is one thing that they would have changed. They knew that it was not right to use and treat other people as anything less than what they are; human beings. They taught this in their ethical teachings. So, they sought an end to slavery throughout the Roman Empire. They helped the slaves throughout the Roman Empire to escape and revolt. They were against torture and inequality, and sought to put an end to that as well. And finally, another way that they would have changed the world is to do away with kings and other rulers who assumed their positions simply through royal birth. They would have given the world the means to thrive and to learn by giving democratically elected representatives a chance at positions which were formally only held by royals. And, of course, all of the accumulated knowledge, wisdom, inventions and the books containing all of that information would have been available to everyone and not only reserved for royalty. All people would have been able to have the best education possible and know about all the things which were done before, all things which had been invented, devised and used. What a different world it would have been.

But Arrius Piso was a psychopath and did not want this to happen. So, he set about to make a plan which would insure that it would not happen. And a large part of that plan included creating a new religion which would prevent people from thinking outside of the little box that he would trap their minds within. Most people today still do not truly understand just what a psychopath is or what they are capable of doing. Many people only have the idea that they are people like serial killers who usually get tripped up, caught and put in prison. This is far from the truth. There are different levels of psychopaths. Some kill people directly and do it themselves. Others do it in other, different ways, sometimes by having others do it for them. And still others, just destroy lives and kill people slowly over the course of time by torturing them to death; sometimes by using marriage in order to do it. Arrius Piso was a most horrid psychopath. And like many psychopaths, he was a megalomaniac and could not help bragging about the things he did and got away with. That is how we are able to piece together the puzzle (the "mystery of the gospels") that he left us about how and why he created Christianity.

The book 'Piso Christ' covers many of the most important things that people should know about all of this. The reader of Piso Christ will learn a great deal about the Piso family and their relatives. They will read about the power play that was going on at the time and which was the reason that Arrius Piso had to create a new religion as a means of controlling and manipulating the minds of the masses. He devised it to be exactly as he needed it to be for his purpose. For instance, he instituted the use of a confessional so that the leaders of the Church could act as informants and give him and his family information on who, when and where their might be a revolt or counter attack in the war that was going on then. It is a completely awful thing once it is exposed to the light of day. And absolutely essential that each and every human being know about. The complexion of Christianity, once the truth is known, changes to the exact opposite of what believers have thought it to be - the world's greatest horror.

What would a ardent Christian believer think if they were to learn that the very person that they looked upon as their savior was actually a psychopathic murderer who upheld slavery, torture, murder and genocide? And so, by the invention of their religion kept the world from progressing and thriving as it should have? Many would resist the thought. But what if it were simply undeniable? Eventually, even if some believers would never consider this to be the case, many would indeed realize that this is actually the truth. And upon learning the truth, would have to agree, as we do, that the "truth shall make you free." I don't just want people to learn about this, I want them to do their own research. I want them to inform others of it. Again, I think of this as essential information which every person should have and know about. It took me many years of study to reach the level of expertise in all of this to confidently state all that I do in the book Piso Christ. The book Piso Christ is only one book of many that I have written on the subject of ancient history. With the help of people like you, we will finally be able to educate the world to this terrible tragedy and reveal Christianity (and religion in general) for what it really is. Let me both congratulate you and thank you for having read this and for reading the book Piso Christ. Please remember to post links on your site/s to let others know about this and tell friends and family what you have learned about Arrius Piso and Christianity.

Best regards, Roman Piso & Jay Gallus

POSTSCRIPT (by Roman Piso)

Why do I think of Christianity as the horrible thing that I do? Because I can't help but think what a wonderfully beautiful world we could have been born into today had it not been for Arrius Piso and Christianity. The progress that it took the world 2,000 years to achieve would have been attained back then. I think of all of the generations of people whose lives were basically wasted believing whole-heartedly in lies while being kept in complete ignorance of all of this. I think of all of the lives, energy, money and resources wasted. I think of all of the people who read the bible and took it literally, who, like non-thinking zombie-like drones "went forth and multiplied" causing the population explosion that we are experiencing today. I think of all of the non-renewable natural resources which were used up, used unwisely and unnecessarily, simply because there are too many people with too little knowledge and wisdom. I think that it is a fantastically horrible thing that religion and Christianity particularly, has done to the world. It is absolutely essential that people wake up to this now; or we may never be able to undo the damage. Of all the years, lives and contributions lost to humanity because of this, we owe it to ourselves to make certain that a) this is learned and understood by all, and b) that we do our best to make up for all that was lost. Think of all the Popes who took, tortured and destroyed lives, of all the wars fought over the issue of religion, of all the division between human beings caused by it and things resulting from it. The world never had to be this way. It was made this way on purpose, by one single psychopath and those who helped him those many years ago.

I ask that you please share this information with those you know. If you are a member of a club or organization, you can print this out and bring it with you to show those who may likewise be concerned.

Gnosis: The Not-So-Secret History of Jesus

Posted by Jonathan Phillips on November 2, 2011
http://www.disinfo.com/2011/11/gnosis-the-not-so-secret-history-of-jesus/

This article, which discusses the Mystery School origins of Christianity, comes from my new memoir, The Electric Jesus: The Healing Journey of a Contemporary Gnostic through Evolver Editions/North Atlantic Books.

In December 1945, during the tail end of the most devastating war in human history, a peasant named Mohammed Ali of the al-Samman clan stumbled upon an earthenware jar near limestone caves in the deserts of Upper Egypt. He feared an evil djin (genie) resided inside, but hoping for lost riches, he still opened the jar. To his disappointment, twelve ragged leather-bound codices fell onto the ground. He didn’t realize these 1,200 weathered pages contained a priceless treasure with dozens of lost Christian gospels that had been hidden away for 1,600 years. Mohammed carried them home to his mother, who kept warm throughout the night by feeding pages of what we now call The Nag Hammadi Library to her fireplace.

These fifty-two texts, with titles like The Gospel of Thomas, Secret James, The Gospel of Mary, The Origin of the World, The Gospel of Philip, Secret John, and The Sophia of Jesus, showed that first-through-fourth century Christianity was much more varied than previously thought, comprised of diverse sects claiming “secret knowledge” of heavenly realms. Modern scholars now label these texts as “Gnostic,” since they lay out an initiatory process for candidates to overcome the “forgetfulness,” “drunkenness,” “blindness,” and “sleep” of the illusory world in order to access gnosis, direct experience or personal revelation of a divine reality.

The Nag Hammadi Library supported the popular theory that Christianity stemmed from the ancient mystery school traditions of the Mediterranean, which featured “dying and resurrecting godmen.” In Egypt they worshiped Horus; in Greece, Dionysus; in Syria, Adonis; in Asia Minor, Attis; in Persia (and later Rome), Mithras; and in Israel, Jesus (historically the most recent). The similarities among these hierophants were uncanny. Several of them, according to the legends, were born on December 25 around the winter solstice to a virgin in humble surroundings (a cave or a manger) with a star in the Eastern sky. Some grew up to be spiritual masters with twelve disciples (Horus, Mithras, Jesus), performing miracles, giving baptisms and communions. They all died (Dionysus dismembered by Titans, Attis and Adonis eaten by wild boars, and Horus, Mithras, and Jesus crucified) before experiencing a miraculous resurrection.

In The Jesus Mysteries, authors Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy discuss how the Vatican sits atop a destroyed Mithraic Temple. “Where today the gathered faithful revere their Lord Jesus Christ, the ancients worshiped another godman who, like Jesus, had been miraculously born on December 25 before three shepherds. In this ancient sanctuary Pagan congregations once glorified a Pagan redeemer who, like Jesus, was said to have ascended to heaven and to have promised to come again at the end of time to judge the quick and the dead. On the same spot where the Pope celebrates the Catholic mass, Pagan priests also celebrated a symbolic meal of bread and wine in memory of their savor who, just like Jesus had declared: ‘He who will not eat of my body and drink of my blood, so that he will be made one with me and I with him, the same shall not know salvation.”1

Freke and Gandy argue adamantly that there never was a historical Jesus who walked the sands of Israel, but rather he is a composite of the earlier godmen. But perhaps that’s too hard of a line to draw, since mythical figures are often based on real people — think of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, for example.

According to Freke and Gandy, a number of the Mystery school godmen were called the “Son of God,” and some the “Sun of God.” The word “horizon” comes from “Horus-Sun,” meaning sunrise. As the Egyptian God of daytime, Horus battled his jackal-headed enemy Set (“Sun-Set”), the bringer of night, in a cosmic battle of light and dark. Jesus played a similar role as Horus being “the light of the world” surrounded by twelve disciples who represented the twelve months of the year, and the twelve signs of the zodiac. The sun enters each zodiac sign at thirty degrees (30 x 12 = 360); thus, these “Suns of God” embarked on their ministry at the age of thirty. The classic zodiac cross bisects the twelve astrological signs within a circle. The sun hangs “crucified” in the center as it passes through the precession of the equinoxes, something the mystery schools followed closely as each new sign marked the next world age.

Given the astrological significance of the cross, wisdom traditions often depicted the crucifixion in their writing and art. A notorious second-to-third century European talisman reveals a human figure that looks like Jesus on the cross (with a crescent moon and seven stars above him), but the inscription reads “Orpheus becomes a Bacchoi.” Orpheus was a prophet in the Dionysian mysteries and Bacchio refers to an enlightened disciple who had undergone the final stages of initiation. Around the same time as the talisman had been crafted, a Roman graffiti artist sketched on a pillar the image of a crucified donkey, which symbolized the initiates’ death to their animalistic nature and ascension to the higher Self. The first portrayal of Jesus on a cross wouldn’t appear until 200 years later.

Rather than rejoicing in their similarities, “literalist” Christian leaders — those who had not experienced the secret gnosis (direct knowledge) of the highest mysteries — created dams and divisions between the diverse spiritual streams that originally flowed from the same mystical source. As Freke and Gandy explain, the parallels between Mithras and Jesus threatened the emerging “Literalist Church.” Roman bishops such as Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Irenaeus made the ridiculous claim that the devil had engaged in “diabolical mimicry,” “plagiarizing by anticipation” the story of Jesus before it had actually happened in order to mislead the weak-minded.

The Golden Bough’s James Frazier noted a similar contention between Attis, the mystery god from Asia Minor, and Jesus. “In point of fact it appears from the testimony of an anonymous Christian, who wrote in the fourth century of our era, that Christians and pagans alike were struck by the remarkable coincidence between the death and resurrection of their respective deities, and that the coincidence formed a theme of bitter controversy between the adherents of the rival religions, the pagans contending that the resurrection of Christ was a spurious imitation of the resurrection of Attis, and the Christians asserting with equal warmth that the resurrection of Attis was a diabolical counterfeit of Christ.”2

Literalist Christians refused to accept that the rites of the mystery schools form the central narrative of The New Testament. But the similarities are too plentiful to ignore. Jesus encounters a baptism (spiritual cleansing), a eucharist (communion), an anointing (“Christ” means “the anointed one”) and the death and resurrection ritual. These mystical rites provided a rare alchemical education, unifying spiritual energies (pneuma, as the early Christians called it) for candidates. In the words of The Gospel of Philip, one of the so-called Gnostic texts, “The Lord did everything in a mystery, a baptism and a chrism, and a eucharist and a redemption and a bridal chamber. […] he said, ‘I came to make the things below like the things above, and the things outside like the things inside. I came to unite them in the place.”

The word “mystery” appears twenty-seven times in The New Testament with Paul telling fellow Christians, “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of God.” Jesus speaks of clandestine teachings for those in the inner circles when he says to his disciples, “You have been given the secret of God’s imperial rule; but to those outside everything is presented in parables.” (Mathew 4:11)

As an energy healer, I found myself especially drawn to how early Christians utilized pneuma for personal transformation. Jesus baptizes with “fire and spirit,” heals with “power,” and transmits wisdom to his disciples through the “bubbling spring” drawn from a higher source. The purpose of these schools was to create Pneumatics, people full of spiritual energy. In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus announces to his disciples, “Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him.”

Even common Christian terms revealed clues to this ancient transformational process. I studied the original Greek word for “sin,” Harmatia, which turned out to be an archery term meaning “missing the mark.” It lacked the guilt and shame pastors used to control their flocks and simply indicated when seekers strayed from their path and needed to get back on course. Similarly, the Hebrew word Satan (“adversary”) highlighted the ego/personality attachment the soul needed to overcome in order to reach higher states of consciousness.

Repent (metanoia) meant to “change one’s mind” or “have a shift in consciousness,” which can occur when absorbing higher frequencies from someone closely connected to source-energy, like Jesus. Most surprisingly, Christ was not our Lord and “savior” but rather our “soter,” meaning “healer,” “bestower of health,” or “one who makes whole.” Staying connected to universal spirit, Jesus travels through the rift of separation consciousness to heal us and bring us back to our celestial home. “I am the one who comes from what is whole” (Gospel of Thomas). When we finally release our attachments to the material realm, we become “redeemed” (apolytrosis), meaning “released.”

Of course, I couldn’t help wonder what happened to the original meanings of these words, as well as the numerous Gnostic churches that had proliferated in the Middle East. When the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and its Second Temple in 70 AD, after the Jewish revolt, they left one-third of the population dead, and the Christian mysteries fractured into pieces. Members joined the mass exodus out of the country. Those who hadn’t been exposed to the inner mysteries started up literalist churches. The remaining Gnostics called these rigid sects “imitation churches” as they did not teach the secret gnosis of “the Christ within.”

According to the Apocalypse of Peter, literalist church fathers were “waterless canals” bereft of consciousness-expanding pneuma who arrogantly claimed to be the sole gatekeepers of heaven. “Some who do not understand mystery speak of things which they do not understand, but they will boast that the mystery of truth is theirs alone.” These “empty” churches sprouted up across the Roman Empire. In a sad touch of historical irony, their leaders, like the infamous Irenaeus, the Bishop of Lyon, became heretic hunters attacking those who still carried the inner teachings of their religion. “We were hated and persecuted, not only by those who are ignorant, but also by those who think they are advancing the name of Christ, since they were unknowingly empty, not knowing who they are.” (The Second Treatise of the Great Seth).

As the number of Christians multiplied in Roman lands, power-hungry Constantine switched the state religion to co-opt this growing movement, uniting Rome under “one God, one religion,” and incidentally, one emperor. In 325 he oversaw the Council of Nicaea, where church fathers reduced the vast library of Christian written knowledge to a few documents that we now call The New Testament.

In 391 Emperor Theodosius passed an edict to close all “pagan” temples and burn their books. Christian hordes set out on murderous rampages across the empire smashing all traces of the mystery traditions from which their own religion had blossomed. They killed off the last of the Gnostic circles, including their libraries, churches, scrolls, and most importantly, the flame of gnosis that had been carefully passed down throughout the ages. By 410 AD, the Roman Empire had nearly torn itself apart and the Visigoths strolled in to finish the job. Only 85 years after the Council of Nicaea, the Dark Ages had begun.

While poring over the lost Gnostic texts of The Nag Hammadi Library, I was surprised how many of them focused on reframing the Garden of Eden story. These tales, like The Secret Book of John, explained the human origin story quite differently than Genesis. They described a complicated cosmology that began with a single being (or parent), who was ineffable, eternal, immeasurable light, and created an image or reflection of itself, Barbelo, which in turn begot a multitude of heavenly planes (aeons) that were part of a wider divine realm (the pleroma).

Christ was not just a man but a distinct aeon or larger divine being in the pleroma. Those who fully realized the mysteries became one with “Christ,” carrying this high vibrational force inside themselves. Bedazzled by the cosmic palace, Sophia, the aeon of wisdom, created her own world without consent from the über-parent or her male counterpart. This experiment went awry and Sophia separated from the pleroma, creating a sinister Frankenstein ruler called the Demiurge (craftsman or maker), who manufactured our “counterfeit” material world.

This was The Old Testament God, who Gnostics called Yaldabaoth, Samael (God of the blind), and Saklas (a fool), as he believed himself to be the only god in the universe, ignorant of the pleroma and the omnipresent light of the parent. Breathing life into Adam (and unknowingly the divine spirit of Sophia), the Demiurge ruled over humans with his demonic bully-friends, the archons. The angelic realms of the pleroma embarked on a rescue mission for both Sophia and Adam and Eve. Like an undercover agent, Jesus snuck behind enemy lines into the Garden, inviting the first humans to eat of the Tree of Knowledge (“the Epinoia of pure light”) to “awaken them out of the depth of sleep” and their “fallen state.”

The Gnostic’s description of archons immediately intrigued an activist side in me. These devilish autocrats seemed representative of the oppressive empires that dominated Western history books. Today’s Halliburtons and Bechtels, Neo-cons and Exxons, seemed to follow a long shadowy lineage of hierarchical powers profiting from human suffering while expanding their empires. Maybe the Gnostics understood that we needed mystical agents of transformation smuggling in celestial light to liberate lost souls on the planet.

And the Christ story seemed to be the perfect place to help free us from worldly bondage. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that millions of people living today have been wounded or mislead by literalist Christianity, robbed of their own divine spark. For more than a millennia, the Judeo-Christian tradition has supplied the underlying operating platform for our whole society — our languages, laws, mores, work ethic, sexuality, even our way of perceiving time (with the Gregorian calendar) — shaping our worldview, whether we realize it or not.

Integrating this tradition could prove a powerful tool in coming to terms with ourselves, and our history. And that doesn’t necessarily mean plodding through obscure Gnostic texts, making sense of strange Demiurge names. The mysteries lay right there in The New Testament for those with “eyes to see” and “ears to hear.” But we need an upgrade of the Protestant Revolution, one that incorporates the gnosis of Christ-consciousness. Imagine already established churches, the ones on your block, enhancing their services with meditation, prayer, breathwork, energy healing, body movement, possibly even late night dancing, and among the more radicalized churches, the ingesting of psychoactive sacraments in a safe and protected space. Why build entirely new systems for connecting us to pneuma when the institutions have already been created, whether Methodist, Lutheran, or Baptist? But these “waterless” religions would have to give up their addiction to dominating worshipers, address the evolution of the spirit, and infuse the essence of the mysteries into their hollow edifices.

Many of the popular Eastern disciplines of today have us turning away from the world around us, meditating on our navel. But Christ wasn’t only a yogi; he was a mystical activist, carrying his message to those who most needed it. In this time of great transition, our ailing planet needs spiritual warriors, ones capable of standing up to the Western materialist machine, so we can create sustainable societies that care for their citizens, harmonize with the cycles of nature, and receive and honor the vast healing light that quietly connects us all.

1. Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy, The Jesus Mysteries (New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999), 1.

2. Sir James George Frazier, The Golden Bough (New York: Macmillan, 1992), chapter 37.

***

The Electric Jesus
The Healing Journey of a Contemporary Gnostic
Written by Jonathan Talat Phillips, Introduction by Graham Hancock
Price: $16.99
ISBN: 978-1-58394-343-4 (1-58394-343-9)
eBook, , 240 pages
Body, Mind & Spirit - Spirituality - General; Biography & Autobiography - Personal Memoirs; Religion - Gnosticism
EVOLVER EDITIONS
http://www.northatlanticbooks.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781583943434

Also available as a trade paperback.

When Jonathan Talat Phillips experiences a devastating loss as a countercultural media activist, he unwittingly starts on a mystical journey marked by underground ayahuasca ceremonies, kundalini awakenings, prankster spirit guides, extraterrestrial encounters at the Burning Man festival, and miraculous energy healings that reshape his skeptical worldview. Along the way, he chronicles the rise of an international movement that is trailblazing visionary ways to address our current planetary crisis through raised consciousness.

To better understand his spiritual journey, Jonathan delves into his own Christian background, discovering the lost rites of the mystery schools. Uncovering secret “electric” meanings behind biblical symbols like the serpent, dove, and tree of life, he reveals how early Christians utilized a radical initiation process for harnessing divine energy in order to achieve gnosis, direct knowledge or experience of the divine. Jonathan suggests that these mystical symbols, which appear in spiritual traditions across the globe, offer a profound energetic roadmap and alchemical message for personal transformation, as well as a potential evolutionary shift for our world.

About the Imprint:

EVOLVER EDITIONS promotes a new counterculture that recognizes humanity's visionary potential and takes tangible, pragmatic steps to realize it. EVOLVER EDITIONS explores the dynamics of personal, collective, and global change from a wide range of perspectives. EVOLVER EDITIONS is an imprint of North Atlantic Books and is produced in collaboration with Evolver, LLC.

Author Biography:

Jonathan Talat Phillips grew up in Idaho Springs, Colorado. He graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder and has lived in England, Argentina, the Czech Republic, and Spain. Phillips worked for The September 11th Fund, served as a columnist for Music for America, and spearheaded the activist media group Greene Dragon, where he appeared in international media such as CNN, MSNBC, ABC, Time, and on the cover of New York Magazine. He is one of the co-founders of Evolver.net and Reality Sandwich, and coordinates the Evolver Spores program with 40+ regional chapters hosting monthly events. Phillips is an initiate of the International Sufi Order, founder of the NYC Gnostics, and creator of “The Ayahuasca Monologues: Tales of the Spirit Vine.” He is a Reiki Master and certified in Chi Healing and Bioenergetic Therapy from the Connecticut Healing Institute. He has a private healing practice in New York City and does Skype and phone sessions for those outside of the city: www.TalatHealing.com.

Reviews/Endorsements:

“A modern Odyssey of awakening, Jonathan Talat Phillips's journey into Gnosticism deeply resonates with the eccentric moment. The Electric Jesus, a spiritual autobiography, reveals a life lived in the light of transformation, searching for the mystic core of a planetary civilization.” —Alex Grey, co-founder of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, author of The Mission of Art

"A fresh, vigorous, and often startling account of a man's introduction to higher planes of reality. If you've ever wondered what the new consciousness movement is about, read this book and find out." —Richard Smoley, author of Inner Christianity and The Dice Game of Shiva: How Consciousness Creates the Universe

“Entertaining, celebratory, burning, reflective, and electric—but definitely not for the faint of heart or hard of head. With tales of sex, drugs, elves and Jesus, this memoir romps through the hinterlands of body and soul.” —Sharon Gannon, co-founder of Jivamukti Yoga and co-author of The Art of Yoga.

"Every cultural scene needs good personal narratives. Jonathan Talat Phillips' Electric Jesus raises a proud flag for the post-modern Burning Man and techno psychonautic era. However, Phillips also seeks for more than just a flashy escape hatch from the burdens of a materialistic or pop-cultural corporate worldview. The Electric Jesus is about the quest for true Gnosis as much as it is about the crazy costumes we wear along the way. This book is sure to be one of those that defines the psychedelic resurgence that has been recently constellated by Reality Sandwich and the Evolver Social Movement." —Adam Elenbaas, author of Fishers of Men: The Gospel of an Ayahuasca Vision Quest

"Jonathan Talat Phillips discovers Gnosis, transforms himself, goes off the deep end, and somehow stays grounded in the material world. I enjoyed reading The Electric Jesus, a lively and well told story.” —Jeremy Narby, author of The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge

"A moving tale of a journey into places most of us don't even know exist." —Gary Lachman, author of Politics and the Occult: The Left, the Right, and the Radically Unseen; bassist for Blondie

“In this vividly written and deeply personal memoir, Jonathan Talat Phillips, cofounder of the Evolver Social Movement, travels through the key stops on the current countercultural railroad—Burning Man, ayahuasca sessions, kundalini awakenings, MDMA—and winds up in unexpected places, thoroughly off the tracks, seeking planetary transformation on a new scale—a classic heroic journey, bringing out of his own darkest places a gift not for himself but for his people. —Stephan Beyer, author of Singing to the Plants: A Guide to Mestizo Shamanism in the Upper Amazon

Dead Sea Scrolls get googled

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/8075162/Dead-Sea-Scrolls-get-googled.html
Dead Sea Scrolls get googled
The Dead Sea Scrolls, among the world's most important and tightly restricted archaeological treasures, are about to get Googled.
20 Oct 2010

The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the late 1940s in caves in the Judaean Desert and are considered one of the greatest finds of the last century Photo: EPA The technology giant and Israel announced that they are teaming up to give researchers and the public the first comprehensive and searchable database of the scrolls – a 2,000-year-old collection of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek documents that shed light on Judaism during biblical times and the origins of Christianity. For years, experts have complained that access to the scrolls has been too limited.

Once the images are up, anyone will be able to peruse exact copies of the original scrolls as well as an English translation of the text on their computer – for free. Officials said the collection, expected to be available within months, will feature sections that have been made more legible thanks to hi-tech infrared technology.

"We are putting together the past and the future in order to enable all of us to share it," said Pnina Shor, an official with Israel's Antiquities Authority.

The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the late 1940s in caves in the Judaean Desert and are considered one of the greatest finds of the last century.

After the initial discovery, tens of thousands of fragments were found in 11 caves nearby. Some 30,000 of these have been photographed by the antiquities authority, along with the earlier finds. Together, they make up more than 900 manuscripts.

For decades, access to 500 scrolls was limited to a small group of scholar-editors with exclusive authorisation from Israel to assemble the jigsaw puzzle of fragments, and to translate and publish them. That changed in the early 1990s when much of the previously unpublished text was brought out in book form.

But even now, access for researchers is largely restricted at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, where the originals are preserved in a dark, temperature-controlled room.

Miss Shor said scholars must receive permission to view the scrolls from the authority, which receives about one request a month. Most are given access, but because no more than two people are allowed into the viewing room at once, scheduling conflicts arise. Researchers are permitted three hours with only the section they have requested to view placed behind glass.

Putting the scroll online will give scholars unlimited time with the pieces of parchment and may lead to new hypotheses, Shor said.

"This is the ultimate puzzle that people can now rearrange and come up with new interpretations," she said.

Scholars already can access the text of the scrolls in 39 volumes along with photographs of the originals, but critics say the books are expensive and cumbersome. Miss Shor said the new pictures – photographed using cutting-edge technology – are clearer than the originals.

The refined images were shot with a hi-tech infrared camera NASA uses for space imaging. It helped uncover sections of the scrolls that have faded over the centuries and became indecipherable.

If the images uploaded prove to be of better quality than the original, scholars may rely on these instead of travelling to Jerusalem to see the scrolls themselves, said Rachel Elior, a professor of Jewish thought at Jerusalem's Hebrew University.

"The more accessible the fragments are the better. Any new line, any new letter, any better reading is a great happiness for scholars in this field," she said.

The new partnership is part of a drive by Google to have historical artefacts catalogued online, along with any other information.

"There are artefacts in boxes, in museum basements. We ask ourselves how much this stuff is available on the internet. The answer is not a lot, and not enough," said Yossi Matias, an official from Google-Israel.

Aztec Christianity?

http://freethoughtnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19278#p19278

Acharya
Aztec Christianity?
Sun Mar 21, 2010 4:18 pm

Hmmm... Amalgamating Christianity with other religions?! You don't say - sounds like some crazy conspiracy to me!

"A bilingual description of the Aztecs, in Spanish and the local Nahuatl language, the Florentine Codex reflects the Spaniards' effort to understand the Aztecs, the better to proselytize them. Although missionaries were expected to eradicate all traces of native religion and history, Sahagún set out to document every aspect of Aztec culture by interviewing the elders and persuading them to record their memories and make drawings in their pictograms.

"The idea, Lyons says, was to learn enough about Mexico's indigenous people to synthesize Christianity with Aztec beliefs..."


The Aztecs, through old-world eyes
A Getty Villa exhibit explores how Europeans looked to ancient Rome to understand the Mexican empire.

A 1,200-pound stone head of an Aztec moon goddess has moved into the Getty Villa. So have life-size statues of a warrior adorned with eagle feathers, a duck-billed wind god and a demon known as the Lord of Death.

Made between 1440 and 1521 and on loan from Mexico City's National Museum of Anthropology and the Templo Mayor Museum, the massive artworks are among 64 sculptures, paintings and works on paper in "The Aztec Pantheon and the Art of Empire." Opening Wednesday, it's the most surprising exhibition yet to appear at Southern California's bastion of classical Greek and Roman antiquities....

In "Aztec Pantheon," with an eye on its Mexican American audience, the Getty is celebrating the bicentennial of Mexican independence by exploring how Europeans came to understand the Aztecs -- in terms of the Roman Empire....

A group of monumental sculptures will be the visual power center of "Aztec Pantheon." Compelling in artistry and imaginative expression as well as size, they have been plucked from places of honor in Mexico's leading museums.

There's an ancient fertility goddess made of wood and shell, a terra-cotta model of an Aztec temple and a statue of a priest wearing a human skin, also fashioned of terra cotta. Visitors will also find an elaborately carved funerary urn and a 3 1/2 -foot-tall incense burner bristling with agricultural cult images, including the goddess Chicomecoatl, who was compared to the Roman goddess Ceres....

But the linchpin of the exhibition is a relatively modest illustrated book that usually resides in the Medici Library in Florence, Italy. "Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España," better known as the Florentine Codex, is a sort of bible of a disappearing culture created in 1575-77 by Bernardino de Sahagún...

A bilingual description of the Aztecs, in Spanish and the local Nahuatl language, the Florentine Codex reflects the Spaniards' effort to understand the Aztecs, the better to proselytize them. Although missionaries were expected to eradicate all traces of native religion and history, Sahagún set out to document every aspect of Aztec culture by interviewing the elders and persuading them to record their memories and make drawings in their pictograms.

The idea, Lyons says, was to learn enough about Mexico's indigenous people to synthesize Christianity with Aztec beliefs. While the relatively open attitude prevailed, Sahagún's students helped create a text that accompanies more than 2,400 images.

The book was sent to Spain during the Inquisition, when works written in indigenous languages were banned, and later given to the Medici Library. Largely forgotten until the early 19th century, it is available only to specialists and is seldom on public view. "It is an incredible thrill to be able to borrow this iconic work," Lyons says. "This will be the first time it has returned to the New World."

The book has been bound in three volumes. The Getty has borrowed the first volume, which will be open to watercolor illustrations of Aztec deities, some of whom are equated to their Roman counterparts. Huitzilopochtli is likened to Hercules, Tlaculteutl to Venus. Reproductions of other pages also will be displayed....

If Europeans based their knowledge on some of the exhibited prints, they must have had a fanciful, even bizarre, view of Mexico's civilization. One engraving transforms the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli into a winged Satan with a feather headdress and a hairy animal's legs. An encyclopedia of world faiths portrays human sacrifice at Tenochtitlan's Great Temple, with one victim being slain on a platform atop skull-covered walls and another rolling down a steep staircase.

The Getty also has contributed a few Roman bronze objects "to spark ideas," Lyons says. "We don't want people to think there's a relationship or an influence across thousands of miles and 1,500 years." The point is to compare similar forms and subjects through the ages.

Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times

So, why don't we "want people to think there's a relationship or an influence across thousands of miles and 1,500 years?" Is it absolutely impossible that Romans or other groups could have come to the "New World" thousands of years ago? Is that such a disturbing thought that they had to make this disclaimer? Why?

"The point is to compare similar forms and subjects through the ages."

Indeed, and these similarities of forms and subjects at times come from the common observation of natural phenomena such as the sun's movements and the moon's phases, while at other times this development is clearly because of different cultures sharing ideas.
_________________
http://www.truthbeknown.com/
http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/
http://www.freethoughtnation.com/

Dead Sea Scrolls prove Bible unoriginal

http://freethoughtnation.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=280:dead-sea-scrolls-prove-bible-unoriginal

Dead Sea Scrolls prove Bible unoriginal
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Acharya S

"They speak of a Teacher of Righteousness and a pierced messiah, of cleansing through water and a battle of light against darkness.

"But anyone looking to the Dead Sea Scrolls in search of proof, say, that Jesus of Nazareth was the messiah presaged by the prophets, or that John the Baptist lived among the scroll's authors, will be disappointed."

News items are circulating about how "hints" and "insights" contained in the famous Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in caves near the ancient site of Qumran can be found in the Bible. In other words, certain ideas in the scrolls also appear in the New Testament, meaning, of course, that the impression of Christianity as a "divine revelation" appearing whole cloth miraculously from the very finger of God is clearly erroneous.

Few scholars today claim that any of the Dead Sea Scrolls ("DSS") date to the time after Christianity was allegedly founded by a "historical" Jesus in the first century of the common era. Indeed, it is agreed that most of the scrolls pre-date the turn of the era and that none of them show any knowledge of Jesus Christ or Christianity.

In my book The Christ Conspiracy, I demonstrate that Christianity is an amalgam of the many religions, sects, cults and brotherhood traditions of the Mediterranean and beyond. One of the major influences on Christianity is that of Jews, obviously, including those mentioned in the New Testament, i.e., the Pharisees and Sadducees. Ancient Jewish historian Josephus also mentions the sect of the Essenes, who are traditionally associated with Qumran, in a "by default" argument. However, scholar Solomon Schecter - who discovered a scroll at Cairo that was later found at Qumran - points to a heretical sect of Sadducees or Zadokites, as they are called in both the Bible and DSS. In The Christ Conspiracy, I discuss this Zadokite origin of the DSS and this group's obvious influence on the New Testament.

What this rumination all means, of course, is that Christianity is, as I contend in my books, largely unoriginal, representing not fresh and new "divine revelation" but, again, the amalgamation of not only the ideas of the Zadokite authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls but also influences from the Essenes, Jews, Samaritans and many others.

Hints of the Scrolls in Bible

To understand how the Dead Sea Scrolls influenced early Christianity, just turn to the New Testament.

Take, for example, the Great Isaiah Scroll, a facsimile of which is on display as part of the Milwaukee Public Museum's Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. Written around 125 B.C. and the only scroll to emerge virtually intact from the caves at Qumran, its messianic message is quoted in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, John and Luke, the earliest of which wasn't written until around A.D. 65.

The scrolls' so-called "Son of God" text reads much like the story of the Annunciation in the Gospel of Luke. And the Scrolls' "Blessing of the Wise" echoes the beatitudes of Matthew's Sermon on the Mount....

This early dating of the gospels, it should be noted, is based only on the a priori assumption that the story they relate is at least partially true in recounting a "historical" Jesus who truly walked the earth at the time he is claimed in the gospels themselves. There is no external evidence whatsoever for the existence of any canonical gospel at this early a date. In fact, the canonical gospels as we have them do not show up clearly in the historical record until the end of the second century.

Moreover, the Sermon on the Mount - supposedly the original monologue straight out of the mouth of the Son of God Himself - can be shown to be a series of Old Testament scriptures strung together, along with, apparently, such texts from Qumran. No "historical" founder was necessary at all to speak these words, as they are a rehash of extant sayings. (Even in this patent literary device the gospels cannot agree, as Luke 6:17-49 depicts the Sermon as having taken place on a plain.)

It is easy to see why the Catholic Church would blanche upon the discovery of these scrolls, as it could be - and has been - argued that these texts erode the very foundation of Christianity. It appears that this news, however, when released slowly has little affect on the mind-numbing programming that accompanies Christian faith.

The bottom line is that the existence of the Old Testament and the intertestamental literature such as the Dead Sea Scrolls shows how Christianity is a cut-and-paste job - a fact I also reveal in The Christ Conspiracy, in a chapter called "The Making of a Myth," which contains a discussion of some of the texts obviously used in the creation of the new faith. These influential texts evidently included some of the original Dead Sea Scrolls, serving not as "prophecy," "prefiguring" or "presaging" but as blueprints of pre-existing, older concepts cobbled together in the New Testament.

FeedBack: The Christmas Hoax

gregchaos
Saturday, January 02, 2010

Achara S has done a great job of exposing the takeover of the solar birthday. The underlying information is that countless pre-Christian cultures saw the Sun as a living being, an intuitive understanding that Christianity wiped from our culture. Yes, there was hijacking of dates and legends, but the interesting question is: Were the ancients right - is the Sun a living being?

What brings life to our bodies is energy. Stars make their own energy fields as they release the light of life to the likes of us. Everything from an atom upwards has an energy field. Dive deeper at:

http://www.sunofgod.net

Barely Scratching the Surface of the Jesus Story?

Thanks to Rense.com for the following...

http://www.ears-to-hear.com

What if We're Barely Scratching the Surface of the Jesus Story?

There just aren't enough answers. There are too many holes in the story. There are too many stories that don't speak of a God of love. Jesus doesn't make sense.

Is this you? Do you have more questions than answers? Are you struggling to believe?

Or are you a believer who can't make the ends meet?

Ears to Hear is the book that is finally telling the whole story. From perfect Adam, to fallen Adam, to perfect Jesus, and the end of time. Pastor's son, Matt Cooper, takes you on the journey of a lifetime in this masterpiece new book, which explains everything - even the impossible and irrational things like the Lake of Fire, Hell, and Demons. This book was born in years of struggle between Christianity and deep depression because of this immovable faith, and written after the author found a way out of this "rock and a hard place".

This book encompasses all the hidden nuggets of truth, even the not-so-hidden ones found in some well-known verses of the Bible, and explains with great passion the undying love of God for humanity. What began as a quest for the truth behind it all, ended with finding out that nothing was as it seemed.

This philosophical epic is no book to fall asleep to! Its easy-breezy style brings reason and logic to the Christian tradition in easy-to-understand language which makes the concepts accessible to people from every walk of life.

Ears to Hear is the book that is opening eyes and CHANGING LIVES!

All the Answers You Need:

How can hell be created by a God who claims to be love?

Was there more than one "Fall" of Adam?

What gender is your spirit? How old is your spirit?

Was Eve meant to be?

Is "the devil" really so obsessed with my life?

What does the Bible say about what demons actually are?

Is "sin" what we think it is?

What is the purpose of human life?

What is baptism really all about?

How is the "lake of fire" an expression of God's love?

What is the truth about "the beast" and the "anti-Christ"?

Is lawlessness actually part of God's plan for the world?

Why is there so much talk about money in churches?

Is the church relying on a new form of "illiteracy" to accomplish its purposes?

What does it mean when it says "many are called but few are chosen"?

Are we really saved when we say the "sinner's prayer"?

Is salvation actually conditional?

Is prayer necessary?

And hundreds of other things they never told you....

What Readers are Saying

"I read the entire book last night, and couldn't stop crying."
Janice M.

"Simple and profound. I haven't read anything like this before!"
Stephen G.

"Finally, it all makes sense!"
John V.

For a Limited Time...

Hurry!

Ears to Hear is being offered for a limited time as an Ebook! As soon as it hits bookstores, we will no longer be able to offer it on the internet and at such a discount!

Uproar over challenge to Dead Sea Scrolls

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5927336.ece

March 18, 2009
Scholars in uproar over challenge to Dead Sea Scrolls
James Hider in Jerusalem

For more than 60 years scholars have believed that the Dead Sea Scrolls were the work of an ascetic Jewish sect called the Essenes, who lived in the 1st century in the mountains and recorded their religious observances on parchments.

Now a new theory challenging the broadly accepted history is sending shockwaves through the archaeological community, even leading to the arrest of one prominent scrolls scholar’s son in the United States.

Rachel Elior, a professor of Jewish philosophy at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, claims in a forthcoming study that not only were the 930 scrolls written by Jewish priests living in Jerusalem but that the Essenes as a sect did not exist.

In her new book Memory and Oblivion, Professor Elior says that the scrolls were written by the Sadducees, a class of Jewish priests dating back to the time of King Solomon.

The scrolls were found by a shepherd in a cave at Qumran, on the edge of the Dead Sea, in 1947. One of the most important archaeological finds of the century, their significance was enhanced by the discovery of an untouched version of the Hebrew Bible dating back to 300BC.

Some scholars believe that the obscure sect may have had an impact on early Christianity, positing that John the Baptist or even Jesus may have spent time with them. Professor Elior argues, however, that an analysis of the scrolls shows that the authors were recording the routines and practises of the cohanim, or priests, descended from Zadok, the first high priest in Jerusalem after the conquest of the city by the Israelites hundreds of years before.

She believes they were taken to Qumran some time during the 2nd century BC after the Sadducees turned their backs on the Temple of Jerusalem, which they said had been defiled by the conquest of the Seleucid Greeks, the descendants of one of the generals of Alexander the Great, in 175BC.

“I believe any serious scholar truly can’t but admit that the law reflected in the scrolls is a Sadducee law,” she said, pointing out that there were no corroborating historical records, either in Jewish or early Christian literature, to indicate that a large sect of celibate men lived in the area over a long period of time.

“The Essenes are only a literary invention of a Utopian society that lived a most benevolent and chaste life,” she told The Times.

The confusion arose from scholars using other, later texts as their sources, she said, noting that the Jewish-Roman scholar Josephus mentioned them, but that he was writing hundreds of years later.

The professor also noted that when the texts were unearthed in 1947, the area around Jerusalem was caught up in the war that created the Jewish state, and that early hurried assessment of their origin set scholars on the wrong track for decades. The theory has stirred controversy in academic circles, with established scrolls experts vehemently rejecting the new interpretation.

“Almost seventy scholars accept the statement that one of the Essenes’ groups lived in Qumran, and some say we’re all morons and only they understand,” Hanan Eshel, a professor at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv, told the Haaretz newspaper.

The debate has even led to the arrest of the son of one proponent of the theory that the Essenes did not write the ancient scriptures. Raphael Golb, the son of Norman Golb, a professor at Chicago University, was arrested in New York this month for allegedly creating online aliases and conducting a campaign of harassment against academic opponents of his father’s theories.

Father and son claimed that members of mainstream academia were trying to silence the professor. The younger Mr Golb reportedly accused his father’s critics of being anti-Semites trying to deny the link between the scrolls and established Jewish institutions.

Monastic mystery

— The Essenes are believed to have been a religious sect in Palestine from about the 2nd century BC to the end of the 1st century AD

— The New Testament makes no mention of them, and accounts by Pliny the Elder, Philo of Alexandria and Josephus differ in significant details

— Pliny, in his day, fixed their number at 4,000. They are thought to have moved to the desert in opposition to the powers in Jerusalem and lived in secluded monastic communities

— It is believed that they considered themselves to be a chosen elect and that messianic figures would appear to them and usher in a new age, and that they spent their days engaged in manual work or study of Scripture

— After a year’s probation, converts received emblems but were banned from common meals for two years

— Those who qualified then swore piety to God, justice towards men, hatred of falsehood and faithful observance of the tenets

Source: www.britannica.com

The Companion Guide to ZEITGEIST, Part 1

http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/zeitgeist.html

Stellar House Publishing presents
The Companion Guide to ZEITGEIST, Part 1

This 49-page ebook contains a scientific investigation of some of the facts from Part 1 of the ZEITGEIST movie, dealing with the comparisons of ancient religions and Christianity.

In this instantly downloadable and printable PDF file are answers to the following questions:

Who are the Egyptian gods Horus and Set?
Why does the battle between Horus and Set sound like that of Jesus and Satan?
Was the baby Horus really born on December 25th, just like Jesus is traditionally supposed to have been? This ebook contains 11 pages of research on this important subject.

Was Horus's mother truly a virgin called Isis-Mery? A 10-page discussion of the virginal status of Horus's mother, including citations of ancient texts in their original languages, with translations.

Thank you! Your kind support will allow the author to finish her book Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection.

Excerpts and Endorsements

Introduction

...the many Egyptian myths and rituals, including numerous gods and goddess, prayers and hymns, were not obscure and ignored but were known to millions of people over a long period of time, with the result that these concepts were highly revered and on the forefront of worshippers' minds. These hallowed Egyptian motifs included the sacredness of the cross, the virgin mother who gave birth to the divine son, a godman who taught on Earth and who was murdered, buried and resurrected, etc. Again, these concepts were widely known and in the minds of millions by the time the Christian mythos and ritual appeared in the same areas of the Mediterranean. Therefore, noting the obvious parallels between the Egyptian religion and Christianity, it would seem not only disingenuous but also dishonest to suggest that Christianity represents a "unique, divine revelation" to a small group of people in the tiny area of Palestine/Judea. Instead of thus denying the clear connection between the two religions as brought up in ZEITGEIST, we will explore it here, using as many relevant and quality sources as is possible. (p. 2)

"The Companion Guide to Zeitgeist, Part 1, by Acharya S is an absolute must for anyone who wishes to fully understand the significance of the movie."

"Well-referenced, with numerous quotations from renowned Egyptologists and classical scholars, Acharya's penetrating research clearly lays out the very ancient pre-Christian basis of modern Christianity. Those who espouse Christianity beware! After digesting the evidence, you will never again view your religion in the same light."

Robert M. Schoch, Ph.D.
Division of Natural Science
College of General Studies at Boston University
Author, Pyramid Quest, Voyages of the Pyramid Builders and Voices of the Rocks

In order to understand the many important correspondences between the Egyptian and Christian religions and how they have been framed in media like ZEITGEIST, as well as in my books such as The Christ Conspiracy and Suns of God, we need to remember that these common motifs in the Egyptian religion are not necessarily found in story form, as they are in the gospel tale, which itself, we contend, is a patchwork of motifs, myths, sayings and rituals found in pre-Christian religion. It also needs to be kept in mind that the information concerning these previous myths, rituals and symbols was not written down in one neat, ancient encyclopedia but is found widespread around the Mediterranean and elsewhere. Many of the elements of the tale, however, could have been found within the walls of the massive Library of Alexandria, where undoubtedly much of the most serious work in creating Christianity, the gospel story and the character of Jesus Christ was committed.

Indeed, it is my contention and that of others deemed "Jesus mythicists" that the creators of the gospel tale picked various themes and motifs from pre-Christian religions and myths, including and especially the Egyptian, and wove them together, using also the Jewish scriptures, to produce a unique version of the "mythos and ritual." In other words, the creators of the Christ myth did not simply take an already formed story, scratch out the name of Osiris or Horus and replace it with Jesus. They chose their motifs carefully, out of the most popular religious symbols, myths and rituals, making sure they fit to some degree with the Jewish "messianic scriptures," as they are termed, and created a new story that hundreds of millions since have been led to believe really and truly took place in history. Over the centuries, those who have clearly seen this development have asserted that this history is a fallacy imposed upon long pre-existing myths and rituals that have been reworked to result in the gospel story. In other words, we are convinced that "Jesus Christ" is a fictional character created out of older myths, rituals and symbols. (p. 8)

"This work helps lift the veil of suppression in regard to the truth behind the Christian religion and its Egyptian origins."

"Our appreciation should now evolve to the understanding of the mythical developments of the ancient world and their metaphoric foundations; not with the establishment dogma, which exists as a perversion of the original knowledge and poetry."

Peter Joseph
Creator, "Zeitgeist, The Movie"

Horus, Sun of God

"In Osiris the Christian Egyptians found the prototype of Christ, and in the pictures and statues of Isis suckling her son Horus, they perceived the prototype of the Virgin Mary and her Child. Never did Christianity find elsewhere in the world a people whose minds were so thoroughly well prepared to receive its doctrines as the Egyptians."

Dr. E.A. Wallis Budge, Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life (48) (p. 9)

Concerning Horus, Dr. James P. Allen remarks:

Horus was the power of kingship. To the Egyptians this was as much a force of nature as those embodied in the other gods. It was manifest in two natural phenomena: the sun, the most powerful force in nature; and the pharaoh, the most powerful force in human society. Horus's role as the king of nature is probably the origin of his name: hrw seems to mean "the one above" or "the one far off"... This is apparently a reference to the sun, which is "above" and "far off" in the sky, like the falcon with which Horus is regularly associated...

Thus, Horus symbolizes the power aspect of the sun, and the falcon is likewise a solar symbol by virtue of how high it flies. (pp. 12-13)

Horus versus Set

"The Christian Trinity ousted the old triads of gods, Osiris and Horus were represented by our Lord Jesus Christ, Isis by the Virgin Mary, Set the god of evil by Diabolus [Satan]…and the various Companies of the Gods by the Archangels, and so on."

Dr. E.A. Wallis Budge, Egyptian Tales and Romances (12) (p. 17)

As does Satan with Jesus (Rev. 12:1-5), Set attempts to kill Horus. Set is the "god of the desert" who battles Horus, while Jesus is tempted in the desert by Satan. (p. 23)

"The Zeitgeist Part 1 ebook is a tough work for anyone to come along and try to dispute."

"In forums, several people have expressed the idea that Christianity isn't a mimic of the Egyptian religion at all.

"I don't think that they could read through the Companion Guide and still hold such an uninformed opinion. That's the opinion of people who have had somewhere between little to no contact whatsoever with the Egyptian religion.

"Anyone who reads through the entirety of the Zeitgeist Companion Guide will be armed with a powerful tool of debate towards addressing all modern Judeo-Christian-Islamic religious fundamentalism.

"As far as I'm concerned this is the way to the future. Religious fundamentalism will become exposed for its fallacies beyond any reasonable doubt and we will start to see a new 'world view' come into fruition.

"It's just a matter of time and positive thinking."

"Tat Tvam Asi"
TBK Nation

Born on December 25th

Prior to its celebration as the birthday of Jesus Christ, the 25th of December/winter solstice was claimed as the birthday for a number of other gods and godmen, including the Perso-Roman god Mithra and the Greek god Dionysus. So too, apparently, do we find this annual celebration in Egypt concerning the sun god, which represents the "birth" of the "new sun" after the "old sun" "dies" around December 21st (in the northern hemisphere), lying in his "tomb" or "cave" for three days and on December 25th being "born again."...

Concerning this cycle in Egypt, in "Isis and Osiris" (ch. 65), Plutarch remarked that Horus-or "Harpocrates," his Greek name-was "born about the winter solstice, unfinished and infant-like..." (p. 25)

...so common was the claim that Christians worshipped the sun that Church fathers such as Tertullian (c. 155-230) and Augustine (354-430) were compelled to write refutations of it. In Ad Nationes (I, 13), Tertullian writes:

The Charge of Worshipping the Sun Met by a Retort.

…Others, with greater regard to good manners, it must be confessed, suppose that the sun is the god of the Christians, because it is a well-known fact that we pray towards the east, or because we make Sunday a day of festivity. What then? Do you do less than this? Do not many among you, with an affectation of sometimes worshipping the heavenly bodies likewise, move your lips in the direction of the sunrise? (p. 33)

Horus and the Virgin Isis-Mery

The assertion that Horus's mother was a virgin can also be found in the Book of the Dead, chapter 66, in which the deceased identifies himself as Horus and says: "I know that I have been conceived by Sechit and that I am born of Neith."...

...in this ancient text we possess an identification of the mother of Horus as the goddess Neith, who is by all accounts a virgin mother from thousands of years prior to the Christian era. In fact, some scholarship provides for estimates of the pre-historic Neith's worship dating back some 7,000 years. (p. 38)

Once more Budge says, "When the Egyptians embraced Christianity they saw nothing strange in identifying [Isis] with the Virgin Mary, and her son Horus with the Babe Christ."

Of this apparent development and transparent usurpation of the Egyptian religion by Christians, Budge concludes:

It has often been said and written that the cult of Isis and Horus and the worship of Mary the Virgin and the Child are one and the same thing...

With all these facts in mind, the insistence that Christianity sprang up in a vacuum as a unique and new "divine revelation" appears completely ludicrous and unsustainable. (p. 44)

"A must-read for those who seek the Truth!"

"Acharya S has written an incredible expose regarding the origins of the Judeo-Christian doctrines, which have been shrouded in mystique and kept humanity at odds for at least two millennia.

"Apparently 'plagiarized' from Egyptian mythology, the paradigms of Western culture have been skewed by religious dogma, preventing the average person from understanding why we worship the way we do.

"Acharya S clearly illustrates how necessary it is to eliminate the preconceived notions of our spiritual heritage, and to keep an open mind when coming to terms with the forced indoctrination of those who wish to keep us ignorant and under their control.

"The Companion Guide to ZEITGEIST, Part 1 - 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' - is essential to fully comprehend the conclusions that Acharya S puts forth from her exhaustive and thorough research."

Dr. Cindy Gale
Chiropractor/Natural Healer
drcindyg@aol.com

Conclusion

In light of these facts--carefully hidden from the masses--it is egregious to insist that the Egyptian and Christian religions are entirely unrelated, as do apologists today and in the past with such disingenuousness. In reality, it is obvious from comments by ancient and modern writers alike that various of the correspondences between the Egyptian and Christian religions constituted what are known as "the mysteries," such as the perpetual virginity of the goddess and the birth of her son at the winter solstice, hinted at in a number of places and brought to light here. If we were to explore the numerous other parallels between the Christian and Egyptian religions using the same "forensic" methodology, we would find much of the same veracity behind them as well. As mysteries, these characteristics were not necessarily spelled out overtly in texts or inscriptions-although, as we have seen, they are certainly strongly indicated in a number of places. Other correlations, however, have been right before our eyes, covered over in delusion and mendacity, to be exposed here and now through great struggle and the passage of thousands of years. We are, in fact, privileged to exist at a time when these mysteries are at last revealed, and humanity can progress to a greater level of enlightenment. (p. 48)

While this book is scholarly, citing data from the earliest sources with over 200 footnotes, it is also easily readable for those who are interested in this subject. A link to an extensive bibliography is also provided.

Thank you! Your kind support will allow the author to finish her book Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection.

(Note: This short ebook does not contain material on the other aspects of the Horus myth discussed in ZEITGEIST--these subjects will be addressed in my forthcoming book Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection.)

Coming soon from Stellar House Publishing:

Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection

Note: Despite the false claims, ZEITGEIST has not been refuted. My book Christ in Egypt will demonstrate through primary and highly credentialed sources that all of the Horus-Jesus connections in ZEITGEIST are factual.

Thank you.