Christianity: The Ultimate Urban Legend

By Paul John

Christianity: The Ultimate Urban Legend is the 2nd book in a trilogy called appropriately The Misconception Trilogy. It presents a comparison between the Bible texts, writers of the time period as well as documented history of the ancient world. This book covers the time period from Herod the Great's death through the early 2nd century. The author a devoted Christian at one point in his life questions belief shown to be inaccurate though comparisons of the different oral traditions, Gospels and history. This book shows how stories from the early 1st century were distorted and presented inaccurate contradictory accounts in the four Gospels. This book is primarily an analysis and critique of the New Testament writing, errors, strange stories, out of context Biblical references, and poorly done science fiction. As a Protestant originally, the story of Jesus was presented as documented by the Apostles who had witnessed the events. Jesus was shown to be the person who developed the Christian religion. Analysis of the New Testament indicates Jesus and Paul taught two different concepts. The reader is presented with facts and knowledge that stimulate thought provoking questioning of the accepted beliefs. 2000 year-old oral traditions, legends, misconceptions, and misconstrued reality are exposed for your analysis. Intelligent people of today continue to exempt and overlook key contradictions in the story of Jesus. In reality what was it that Jesus actually taught? Did Jesus really believe he was the Messiah of the Jewish people come to usher The Kingdom of God into the world? Or was Jesus the Savior of the world come to die on the cross for you and me in order to redeem us all from our sins? These two ideas are not the same. This book should help you think and analyze the concepts for yourself so you can make your own logical conclusions. If nothing else, it will at least help you understand the misleading contradictory Gospels were in fact developed from oral traditions and are the basis for The Ultimate Urban Legend, Jesus Christ.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Feb 22, 2007
• ISBN: 9781412240390

Paul John

Paul John born in 1950 was raised in the Midwest in a very Christian home. He attended parochial school in the Lutheran Church for 8 years. Additionally he was involved as an altar boy, member of the church choir and attended Sunday School and Vacation Bible School from the age of 5. His mother had been a Lutheran School teacher for a number of years resulting in an intense training in Christianity through adulthood. When married he converted to the Roman Catholic faith. Mr. John has an engineering degree as well as a graduate degree in business from a Jesuit University. He was a design engineer and engineering manager in the computer industry for 20 years. He currently is a businessman in retail trade as well as a writer.

Book preview

CHRISTIANITY:

THE ULTIMATE

URBAN LEGEND

BY PAUL JOHN

EDITED BY PALMER PAGAN

© Copyright 2006 Paul John; edited by Palmer Pagan

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Foundations of Christianity

Chapter 2 Paul-The Founder of Christianity

Chapter 3 The Gospel of Mark

The Gospel of Luke

Chapter 5 The Gospel of John

Chapter 6 The Gospel of Matthew

Why the Gospels are Urban Legends

After the Death of Jesus

Paulinity

The Books of James, 1& 2 Peter, 1-3 John and Jude James

Conclusions

APPENDIX

Bibliography and Notes on Sources

Author’s Final Comments

Suggested Further Reading

Dedicated to Yahshua bar Joseph (Jesus)

An Extraordinary Figure

Foreword

In Book 1 The Genesis of Misconception, I attempted to stimulate thought provoking questions regarding the accepted beliefs of Western religions based on God, Yahweh, or al-Lah. The stories in the Bible were shown to be more of a sieve than a storage container and clearly don’t hold water. If God says the Earth is flat on foundations and assorted other ignorant beliefs then his true nature is revealed. If God hacks his enemies to death or uses others to do so killing every man, woman, and child it shows the evil nature of man, not an all-powerful being. An all-powerful deity with one thought would erase the problem; the existence of the person or the group would just cease to be in this dimension of reality. The dissenter or problem would just never have been or would be set as an extreme example by the Supreme Creator. There is no need for humans to hack one another to pieces for the god; he can do his own murders and eradication. Yahweh or God of Judah was based on legend and myths not reality. So the next question of course is what of the Son of God. Can the myth have a son who died on the cross to save all mankind from the original sin of Adam of legend? The Jews clearly don’t believe that Jesus was their promised Messiah nor do the Moslems believe he was the Son of God. The Jews assign Christ to the category of a false Messiah or prophet, there were many in the 1st century CE. The Moslems consider Christ a prophet of Al-Lah just as they describe Moses and Mohammed. Christians have developed a completely different vision of events involving Christ especially as related to their interpretation of the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible.

The Jews were fairly intelligent people especially the scribes, Sadducees, and the Pharisees. It was their religion that Christ practiced and taught, nothing else. So why does Paul become so emphatic about his version of events even when Peter was in disagreement? Paul was a blasphemer and a heretic and so were the Disciples if they truly proclaimed Christ as the Messiah as far as the Jews were concerned. Christians dismissed all of the Jewish traditions as old and replaced it with Paul’s Paulinity or Christianity. This was the replacement of the old covenant with the people of Judah found during Josiah’s reign by the High Priest Hilkiah. It was called the Book of the Law with the new covenant in Christ. This was clearly not what the Jewish people thought they were looking forward to as a promised Messiah. Since Yahweh had adequately demonstrated his ability to continuously change his mind, this should not have surprised them if it was true. Paul did continue to practice the Law of Moses even under his new traditions but claimed it was not necessary for Gentiles.

The 1st persecutors of the Christians were the Jews, including Saul or Paul of Tarsus. They believed they were pursuing blasphemers against God. Time passes and Christians become the power in control. Once in power what happens? Christians persecute Jews, blame them for killing Christ, and assorted other evil. As the world changes Mohammed has his vision of events developing Islam as a result and saving his people from murdering one another. Now there are 3 groups to engage in religious conflict. The caliphs waste no time in using Islam as a rallying point with their people invading Palestine, Egypt, and North Africa. The Jews had enough of the Christian vendetta against them so when the Moslems invaded they joined with them to throw off the Byzantine Empire. Now the Christians have a new common foe, the infidel Arabs who defile the Holy Land. The Crusades are a new excuse as well to kill Jews, Moslems, and anyone else. The Greek Church splits from the Papal dominated west with the Emperor now as the leader of the Orthodox Church in Constantinople.

Eventually some equilibrium develops and the Christians turn inward, killing their own for heretical beliefs. The Popes develop Ghettos to protect and isolate the Jewish population in the cities of the west. Spain takes a much harsher course convert, leave, or die for Jews and Moslems in 1492. Date sound familiar? Yes, it was Ferdinand and Isabella Columbus’ benefactors who persecuted both the Jews and the Moslems. In less than 30 years the reformation is started in Germany by Luther beginning a further splintering of Christianity.

Time passes both groups lose ground to the more powerful western democracies until the 20th century when Hitler and his demented pals execute 6 million Jews. Clearly many Christian Germans helped or looked the other way. The Vatican is the 1st to recognize the new government and bears responsibility for part of the results, not that they accept any. Pope Pius XII signed a concordat with Germany when he was Bishop Eugenio Pacelli on July 8, 1933 the 1st treaty Nazi Germany signed with a foreign power. This treaty freed Hitler from fear of Catholic reprisals and even passive resistance by the German Catholic Church. As Pius XII he would be mentioned as sheltering Nazi war criminals that were being sought for justice. Pope John Paul II was in the process of canonizing Pius XII but he died before it was completed. A very strange world we live in isn’t it.

The war ends and brilliantly many Jews go back to Palestine, not without problems. The British had been put over the Middle East as a protector after World War I when the Ottoman Empire found itself on the losing side. Iraq, Syria, Israel, and other countries in Palestine were protectorates of the British until 1947. These areas were divided into countries haphazardly resulting in the wonderful world of today.

Introduction

The term Urban Legend has connotations of myth and gossip. One imagines the stories you have heard such as the collecting of pop-tops from soft drinks and beer cans. You know the story. If he collects enough of the pop-tops, he will be able to pay for his dialysis, get a kidney transplant, a heart transplant, or help pay for his cancer treatment. Some Urban Legends are true some are not true. There has never been a pop-top collecting program for anything like that story it’s not true.

An Urban Legend as defined by Oxford’s dictionary is-an entertaining story or piece of information of uncertain origin that is circulated as true. Sounds like Christianity to me so far. According to the Urban Legends Research Centre in Australia found at www.ulrc.com.au/html An Urban Legend is usually a good/captivating/titillating/engrossing/incredible/worrying story that has a wide audience, is circulated spontaneously, has been told in several forms, and which many have chosen to believe (whether actively or passively) despite the lack of evidence to substantiate the story. This sounds like Christianity described to a T to me. Further they state, An Urban Legend can be based on a true story. In these circumstances, what makes the story an Urban Legend is how its told—i.e. being told in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person (or as having happened to me, to my friend or to my friend’s friend) when in fact the true event took place to someone entirely unknown to the person relating the story. So far so good Christianity continues to fit the mold and description.

The stories of Christianity reported as if it is true or parts are true were reported as true events by writers who described the events as occurring to them, when in fact they did not. We may have assumed wrongly that the writers of the New Testament Books were witness to the events of Christ’s life; which has not been shown to be accurate. One has but to read all four of the Gospels to see the disparity and disagreement. The Church admits authorship of only 2 to being Disciples of Christ, Matthew and John. This is by tradition not by proof. Luke was a companion of Paul and never met Christ. Mark was alleged to be an attendant of Peter and wrote his book in about 70 CE and never met Christ either. Matthew was written sometime after 100 CE and is most likely not the disciple. John was written sometime after 80 CE and most likely before 100 CE allegedly by the disciple. Let’s see 100-30 = 70 years after the death of Christ. John was also about 25 in 30 CE so he would be about 95 in 100 CE. Maybe, hopefully he didn’t kill off too many brain cells from excessive wine consumption nor had any memory loss caused by aging. They didn’t use aluminum cookware so perhaps there is a good chance he didn’t have Alzheimer’s. Perhaps a thorough reading of John may have insight into if it was a disciple or another. The rest of the New Testament with a few exceptions is Paul’s work or his followers. Paul never met Christ either and began his writing years later and has the honor of being the one to first write about Jesus. Largely Christianity appears to be based on the teaching of Paul who was not a disciple. There is however a lot of creativity that was incorporated into the formulation of Christianity in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries CE based on oral tradition. Much is made of oral tradition by most Christian defenders explaining how the story of Jesus was handed down over the years. Tell me how is oral tradition any different than Urban Legend?

In addition An Urban Legend ordinarily has a developed storyline. This means that it is usually transmitted in a form that sounds like a story—a series of incredible events that took place, somewhere, to someone. This seems to perfectly describe all four Gospels and parts of Acts. So how can I say that Christianity is the Ultimate Urban Legend? Well it has all the parts to be one. It happened to someone else allegedly, people all tell of it though they never witnessed it. They have no proof just the writings of ancients who also never met Christ either (at least 3 out of 4 didn’t, we’ll work on the 4th later in the book) but knew someone who did. The story of Christ and his life deserve the title The Ultimate Urban Legend regardless whether it’s true or not. What other story has had the attention of so many billions of people over thousands of years? Just how did this start in the 1st place when Christ told his followers to only teach the Jews and not the Gentiles?

Being an open minded individual who claims to be clueless puts me in a position to observe what facts have been found and analyze the data. In Book 1, I went into great detail of why I am clueless as well as how I got to that point after years in parochial schools in a very religious home. If you haven’t read Book 1 you really should to understand how the Jewish religion and God developed. This book will try to analyze what facts have actually survived 2000 years as well as analyze the basis that formed Christianity. Stories are not necessarily facts and neither are the Gospels which were all written 40 to 100 years after the suggested events even by the Church’s own traditions.

Consider that Robin of Locksley or Robin Hood is also an Urban Legend. The events of Robin Hood’s life are alleged to be somewhere around 1200-1400 CE most likely after the Norman invasion in 1066. However no one knows for sure if he was real or was just a legend. The stories of Robin Hood were originally sung by minstrels and were not written until later times. Each minstrel had his own version that he developed from the stories. There are countless possibilities for a real Robin Hood such as Robert Hood who may have been Robyn Hood. He lived in Wakefield 10 miles from Yorkshire in 1316-1324, who may or may not be the Robin Hood of legend. There are many other candidates. England did have writing available as well as a means to store or preserve it, but it didn’t happen until years later leaving doubt as to it being based on true events.

In Judea 2000 years ago there was indeed writing available as well as the means to preserve the information but no one does until at least 50 years after the events. The writing of Josephus the Jewish historian has survived from the 1st century CE as well as other stories from both Greece and Rome. The story of Jesus would appear to have been more important than Robin Hood but the 1st written knowledge is from Paul. Paul a man who previously was arresting the followers of Jesus as blasphemers (the Jewish version of heretics) against God now becomes its most zealous champion. Paul is a man who supposedly never met Christ leaves the 1st written record. Why? Those who observed it do not write down the most important message ever to the world? Why not? We eventually learn of Christ from a man who was previously out to eradicate the movement. When a criminal gets relocated into the witness protection program after he testifies against his former buddies he generally doesn’t become a FBI agent. Probably you should wonder at his motivation after the conversion to being a good citizen. Would you think an ex-mobster from the Mob’s narcotic operation should be the director of a hospital’s pharmacy? Doesn’t sound like a good plan does it? So we have an ex-witch-hunter Paul now as the chief architect of Christianity. Perhaps his motivations and intentions should be examined and questioned. Exactly what did he promote suddenly after his conversion that caused so much friction with the Disciples? Apparently Peter had no use for Paul and Paul had issues with the Disciples. This is fairly clear in the New Testament writings. Previously I have made statements calling Christianity Paulinity because his developments and teachings survive and those of the Disciples do not. In 70 CE the Romans flattened Jerusalem because of rebellion. In this war all the churches established by the Disciples are destroyed along with many records. Most of the Province of Judea was devastated as well. That isn’t the end; in 132 CE the Romans under Hadrian found a new colony in Jerusalem causing another rebellion from 132-135 CE. Since the Disciples didn’t take the teachings of Christ to the Gentiles, excepting possibly Peter, which may or may not be true their work and churches were lost to history. It is said by tradition that Peter established the Church in Rome and died there as a martyr along with Paul. Mark is said to have written his Gospel during the period they were both imprisoned. Paul on the other hand established churches all over Asia Minor as well as in Greece and his teachings survive. Paul’s teaching survived to develop the Christianity of today even though he had never met Christ nor was he a follower during Jesus’ ministry. Paul’s argument was he met Christ on the road to Damascus when he was on his way to persecute Jesus’ followers. Paul claimed to receive all of his knowledge and teaching direct from the risen Christ. As I reported in my last book Paul was reportedly an epileptic given to seizures. We’ll analyze his claims among others.

As in my last book I have no one else to blame for my interpretation of scriptures, referenced works of others, ancient history or texts. I am solely to blame for my own lack of understanding, as I am definitely not inspired by God only by a sense of life and nothing more.

The development of Christianity takes a very positive turn when the soon to be Emperor Constantine adopts it as the official religion of the Roman Empire. Strangely attributes of the Emperor’s former religion of Mithra are also found in Christianity. The Church develops more from the time of Constantine and the next 50 years then in the previous 300 years. Issues of substance are not addressed and resolved until the Council of Nicea in 324 CE. Not all the issues are resolved even then. Constantine used Christianity as part of his solidification of the empire. This proved to be a very effective policy.

Over the years the Empire crumbles and the Pope or the Bishop of Rome becomes very powerful. This again was not at first it developed. The Bishop of Rome did not have an enabling charter from Peter saying Linus is my beneficiary and his legacy shall be that he shall be the right hand of Christ on Earth. If there was such a document we would have read it by now. The Pope develops control over the Emperor by the tradition of crowning him. A split develops between Rome and Constantinople starting with Charlemagne being declared the Holy Roman Emperor in 742. The split becomes permanent in 1054 after the Greek and Latin Churches dispute the nature of Christ and the split becomes formal. The split between the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church continues today. Perhaps the crusade ordered against the Byzantine Empire by Innocent III in 1096 didn’t help their relationship either? In 1202 CE long-term damage is created between the two groups when the Crusaders pillaged Constantinople again. The Church orders crusades for many reasons not just to force the infidel Arab Moslems from the Holy Land during the middle Ages. After the Crusades the Church pursued heretics among their own developing the Inquisition. The office of Inquisitor still exists today in the Vatican.

Martin Luther in 1519 attempted unsuccessfully to instigate reform in the Church. He was not successful but instead separated from the Church. This is the start of the Reformation which is joined by others including John Calvin. Christianity splintered into several groups that today is dozens. The Church of England or the Anglican Church started in 1533 by Henry the 8th mostly so he could get a divorce. The Protestants splinter into even more groups over small and large differences. One of the most diverse groups is the Mormon Church founded by Joseph Smith in 1830. Joseph Smith as mentioned in Book 1 had previously been convicted in New York in 1826 for being a con man. The fact that people in 19th century America believed his story about the discovery of the gold plates and the Angel Moroni shows what P.T. Barnum said is true.

None of this would make any difference today except for the Church using its power to perpetuate control, mayhem and destruction in its own interest. There was no such thing as religious freedom or freedom from religion. The Catholic Church used its power over the masses to intimidate, threaten and control kings, countries and dominate the Western World. The Crusades were used as such a means not just to pursue a goal of reclaiming the Holy Land but more for the control of Western Leaders. This continued for 100’s of years. The western democracies today generally are not affected by such pronouncements by the Pope as before the Reformation. Today the Islamic World has replaced the Christians as a group controlled for religious purposes. It will hopefully fare no better than Christianity did in its attempt to perpetuate control over the masses for its version of righteousness. Christianity in the name of God and Christ has committed more heinous crimes, destruction and murder than any single belief or ideology other than Nazism and Hitler. Christianity is supposedly bringing hope and salvation to the world through Christ instead brought death and destruction. Anyone would have a hard time envisioning the concepts of Christianity with the knowledge of bloody Popes hacking heretics or fellow Christians to pieces such as Julius II (1503-1513) more a soldier than a typical pope. Ordering Crusades against fellow Christians or eradicating divergent groups such as the Cathars shows the mercy of the Lamb of God in what way? Forcing others to believe your distorted ideology by convert or die in a fiery bonfire just does not do anything towards credibility. I’d have burned in a fiery death because I would have stood on principle. It is said you would never know what a Christian believes by their actions. The history of Christianity shows this is true. The Church more than likely would like to forget that part of its past but we don’t always get our prayers answered now do we? Maybe they long for success where no one could question their authority without being silenced (shades of 1984). We after all see the Church as it has adapted, but that does not mean that below the surface there isn’t pent up pressure building urgently to rise like the phoenix to do battle again, hopefully not.

Chapter 1 The Foundations of Christianity

The earliest written Christian documents are not the Gospels; they are the writing of St Paul. In his writing Paul does not refer to any of what we call the Gospels. They don’t exist when he wrote his epistles or letters to the churches. Paul was the real power behind the development of Christianity, not the Disciples of Christ. He was the one who built a network of churches and brought the message to the pagan infidels or Gentiles of the world.

The Emperor Constantine, in 313 CE, established December 25th as the date of Jesus’ birth. December 25th had been celebrated as the birth of Mithra for hundreds of years and officially since 270 CE when decreed by the Emperor Aurelian. Mithras was a religion based on a Persian god who was worshipped by many in the Roman Legions. Mithra had many similarities to Christ, which creates an interesting question, why? Mithra dates to 1400 BCE in Persian and Sanskrit literature. The cult of Mithra began in the Roman Empire in the 1st century CE. He was believed to have been born of a virgin in a stable. Shepherds brought gifts to the newly born infant. He was shown with a halo or nimbus around or over his head. The worship of Mithra occurred on Sunday. There was allegedly a last supper with his followers before he returned to his father. The cult taught he did not die but ascended into heaven from where he would return at the end of time for final judgment. The cult also practiced baptism, had a leader called a papa who ruled from the Vatican Hill in Rome. The followers celebrated a service with chanting, bells, incense, holy water, and a sacrament of bread and wine, all similar to the catholic mass. Constantine had been a follower of Mithra until he allegedly adopted Christianity at the Milvian Bridge battle.

In the Gospel of Matthew 1:1-17 is a detailed genealogy of Joseph back to David, and even all the way to Abraham. I have no clue why a relationship should be developed for Joseph as a descendent of David, I thought the Holy Ghost was the one who impregnated Mary with Jesus, not Joseph, Matt 1:18. Why show this relationship between David and Joseph if he isn’t the father? Then comes one of the worst errors in all of Christian beliefs in Matt 1:22-23 where Isaiah is incorrectly cited as a prophecy of Jesus being born of a virgin. Isaiah 7:14 is incorrectly translated to say behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. The Hebrew Bible uses the words a young woman where the actual Hebrew words meant young woman and not born of a virgin as misconstrued here. Hebrew truly does have a word for virgin; it’s used many places especially in the Book of the Law detailing punishment if they aren’t when then should be and other threats. The error is obvious as the Hebrew words for of a virgin were clearly not used in Isaiah 7:14. See JPS 1917 Edition of a Hebrew Bible in English to see the misconception yourself. The other Isaiah fulfillment scriptures that are generally read around Advent or

Christmas still have nothing to do with Christ and all are out of context. Isaiah 9:6-7 has to do with Damascus and Rezin as well as Assyria and really has more to do with Hezekiah as the future of Judah than anything else. Isaiah is concerned with his time then and now not 700 years in the future. This means that the entire Blessed Virgin Mary cult is based on an error, hmm. What next you ask? In part 1 the foundations of God were shown to be based on El, Yahweh, Ba’al, and other creative mythology from the 5th-10th centuries BCE. If Yahweh is a myth, the Son of God is the son of a myth, as well as being the prophet of a myth in Islam. Really that means this book is completely unnecessary because a myth cannot have a son in reality. This would still be in the realm of Fantasy and SciFi. Logically I agree that I shouldn’t have to write a book about the son of a myth. Any reasonable logical person should have no trouble understanding that if the foundations of Judaism and God are flawed by myth and consequently are not true, then it follows logically that Christianity and Islam are also not true. When however has Christianity or Islam ever been shown to be either reasonable or logical?

Since the dedicated religious devotees completely accept Christ on faith, they will also believe more than likely that I proved nothing in showing the errors, fantasy, hallucinations, and visions written for another space-time dimension. They will not get how it relates to Christianity because they don’t want it to relate. It is called ignoring reality which is very dangerous behavior. Keeping that in mind, it is no problem at all to show the creativity and other aspects that have gone into the beliefs of Paulinity, I mean Christianity, which they accept while wearing blinders and rose colored welding helmets. The real truth is simple here as well. In the first place, where did Christ ever say that he was the Son of God? He never told anyone to write about the events, episodes, and stories he told. He specifically told his Disciples to not teach the Gentiles or other non-Jewish races. His message was for the Jews only. Many times he said that many would still be alive when he returned from his father. I don’t think they still are alive do you? St Paul developed his version of events into the Paulinity most Christians believe today in the west.

The development of Yahweh as God using every possible exaggeration, misinformation, pretty fables, heroic endeavors, and sorrowful tragedies in a war torn part of the ancient world was bad enough. The Pauline doctrines of Christianity bend reality in new ways even the creative scribes and priests of Judah had never tried. The attempted play on words in Matthew to show Jesus fulfilled Isaiah wasn’t the only creative misquote and erroneous connection to show prophecy fulfillment by Christ. There are so many errors and misapplied referrals to Old Testament scripture that one can truly appreciate why Jews and Moslems discredit Christianity. It is unbelievable that any reasonable Biblical scholar wouldn’t notice them. The Jewish people have refused to accept Christ as their Messiah with good reason. It is because he wasn’t what was promised in the Hebrew Bible. Another glaring fantasy fulfillment is the reference in Matt 2:23. It says that Joseph and family located in Nazareth so that scripture would be fulfilled because the Messiah would be called a Nazorean. There isn’t a place in the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible where the Messiah is a Nazorean. It’s NOT TRUE, its not there.

If you recall the discussion in the foreword, Mathew was written most likely about 95-100 CE by a very old man if it was indeed the disciple. This Gospel is the newest of the four by the Church’s tradition, though it is attributed to a disciple who would be in an old folk’s home today. The foundation of Christianity clearly does not start here. So where does it begin? Is the writing of the converted blasphemer hunter Paul really the beginning? It appears so.

In the 1st century Palestine especially Judea was in a constant state of disruption and rebellion. Many times the Romans would need to put down rebellion or suppress insurrection by self-proclaimed Messiahs of the Jews. According to a Christian website, www.thetruthministry.com the following all are predictions of the Messiah:

Messiah was to be born at Bethlehem: Micah 5:1.

Messiah would be from the tribe of Judah: Genesis 49:10.

Messiah would present himself by riding on an ass: Zechariah 9:9.

Messiah would be tortured to death: Psalm 22.

Messiah would arrive before the destruction of the Second Temple: Daniel 9:24-27.

Messiah’s life would match a particular description, including suffering, silence at his arrest and trial, death and burial in a rich man’s tomb, and resurrection: Isaiah 52:13-53:12.

Micah 5:1 has nothing to do with a Messiah, but verse 2 suggests a ruler will come out of Bethlehem who in verse 5 shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall come into our land. In verse 6 they shall lay waste to the land of Assyria with the sword and deliver us from the Assyrian. Well this was far before the 1st century CE, actually in the time of Micah 739-687 BCE, so I don’t think so. It didn’t happen of course either as Assyria was defeated by Babylon not Jesus Christ unless of course Nebuchadrezzar was the Messiah. In the 1st century CE Assyria no longer exists, as a country so how is the Messiah to lay waste to a non-existent land?

Reaching really hard in Genesis 49:10, is the claim that the Messiah will come from the tribe of Judah. This is from the alleged ancestor of antiquity Jacob’s prophecy concerning his sons also the later tribes. Remember from book 1 the oldest known parts of the Bible, Judges 5 also known as the song of Deborah which has disparity with the twelve tribes of Israel that have developed in tradition. So what is real and what is not? Genesis 49:10 says the scepter shall not depart from Judah or a lawgiver between his feet. There have been many rulers over Israel/Judah/Judea/modern Israel and I don’t think they were all of the tribe of Judah. As in the time period after the last king of Judah was removed by Babylon until the present day. So the scepter departed from Judah when Zedekiah was removed and hasn’t returned. Unless Shiloh came by appointed governors of the Babylonians following their invasion and which isn’t likely the case.

In Zechariah 9:9 there is indeed the claim of the future king riding into Jerusalem on an ass. This was written around 518-538 BCE when Persia was in control of the area. Those who wanted to return to Judea or Yehud as the Persians called it were allowed to do so. This claim is part of a dream for a free independent nation it would seem. Greece is mentioned as a possible nation of people in verse 13, though it was many independent city-states who had yet to unite to fight Persia at this time. This is suspicious especially the statement they were the sword of a mighty man. The Greeks especially Athens would fight Persia and in the end defeat them under Alexander, a Macedonian in 332 BCE. Clearly showing lack of knowledge and inspiration from God is the statement again that his dominion goes to the nonexistent ends of the Earth in verse 10. Our planet has no ends, it is a sphere, which these ancient people did not know, nor did their Supreme Being.

The over quoted Psalm 22 used by Christians as proof of Jesus’ suffering, does not in fact say a future Messiah will be tortured. This is alleged to be the writing of the mythical, or not, King David. He is writing about his feelings, not the future Messiah. He of course believes in mythical unicorns in verse 21 and in the ends of the world in verse 27. Clearly David was whining to his God about being rejected and having things not go his way. It is unknown when this was written and is supposed to be the writing of King David-you pick when. It was perhaps when his son was trying to overthrow him as king. It is too much of a stretch to use this as any proof that the Messiah would be tortured, try again. It is likely that those who wrote the Passion of Christ read Psalm 22 (in the Gospels not the movie) but how they found a prophecy in David’s whining or even a correlative factor leading them to connect it takes the form of delusion or fantasy.

The arrival of the Messiah as alleged to be foretold in Daniel 9:24-27 means that one has to accept the fantasy stories of Daniel. These have been shown to be based in either another reality or just poor fiction. This quote is from the second part of Daniel. This was no doubt written during the time of the Maccabees and is not a Daniel writing in the time of the captivity. Is he speaking of his current situation where they are going to be free from the Greek rulers or something else? If you chose to attribute this to the completely erroneous Daniel of the 1st part of the Book of Daniel, he has been shown to have had no clue as to who conquered Babylon, when, who was ruling, who was the king of Persia, and what happened in Judah. Daniel through chapter 8 was shown to be hot air and poor fiction, see my comments in book one. Any attempt to use the Book of Daniel is a use of misinformation and distortion. Check it out yourself, Daniel is an inaccurate book and does not agree with the rest of the Bible, such as Isaiah or 1 & 2 Kings.

Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12 is part of what is called 2nd Isaiah, chapters 40-66, and was most likely not the writing of the prophet or person Isaiah. It has suggestions to a date after Persia has invaded Judah as in Isaiah 45:1-7 where Cyrus is named. He is called the anointed one who will subdue nations. This dates this part of Isaiah to the late 6th century BCE, not the late eighth almost 200 years later. Nearly all of this part of Isaiah is the Lord talking through the writer. Many statements are made specifically regarding how the people would be freed from captivity. In chapter 49 Israel is named the Lord’s servant in verse 3 Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Isaiah 50 details the suffering of the Lord’s servant as well as Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12, which is namely Israel, not Jesus. Read all of Isaiah 45 to 55 and not out of context looking for parallels to future scripture. The details of the Passion will be discussed as we digest the Gospels and not haphazard with no quoting out of context Old Testament scripture such as this suggestion by a Christian Website. Nearly all Christians use this quote as proof that Jesus was prophesied to die along with great details of the events. Isaiah did in fact already exist in the 1st century CE when the Passion story was verbalized or developed. But as to the events being correlated through Isaiah as proof, first we have to decide what is real in the 1st century CE and what is Urban Legend or myth. Inspiration may indeed have come from ancient scripture, but that still doesn’t make it true. 1st Century Palestine

Tacitus says during the reign of Tiberius (14-37 CE) the area of Judea/Palestine was relatively calm. The Jews were anticipating the long awaited Messiah to establish his kingdom and free them from Roman domination. Christianity had its roots in this Jewish desire for an independent kingdom free from the domination of Rome. As the 1st century progressed increased opposition to the Roman rule would result in many rebellions. Individuals claiming Messianic status led many of these rebellions claiming to be the long awaited king sent by Yahweh to redeem his people. The 1st century Jewish author Josephus discusses many of these hopefuls.

When Herod died (4 BCE) there were many revolts and rebellions. One of the first was Simon of Perea, a former servant of Herod. According to Josephus in Jewish Wars Book 2.4.2 he put a diadem on his own head then went about with robbers and burned the Royal Palace at Jericho He took many spoils as well. The captain of the king’s party, Gratus along with a complement of Trachonite archers met Simon’s group in battle and destroyed them. Gratus also cut to pieces Simon himself as he was fleeing. Others of the seditious rebellion from Perea burned the royal palace at Betharamptha near the Jordan. Soon after this revolt another occurs and Varus, Ceasar’s appointed president of Syria brings two Roman Legions as well as 1500-armed men of Berytus and Aretas the Arabian to quell it. Various towns were razed, attacked, or brought back to Roman control including Sepphoris that was burned.

The inhabitants were made slaves and all valuables were seized. The other villages and towns which were rebellious were also seized and plundered as well.

Varus marches on Jerusalem where the people claim they were not part of the rebellion. He crucified over 2000 as a result of their rebellion. They are left to a slow death over days suffering the cruel death of crucifixion. After they died, their bodies were left to rot just outside the city as a reminder to the fate of those who would defy Rome through rebellion. The Romans destroyed whole villages and towns all throughout Galilee in 4 BCE in their brutal suppression of the revolts. (See Constantine’s Sword p 83) According to Josephus, not only was Sepphoris also destroyed as were Aras, Saampho and many small villages. The Romans led by Varus executed all even if they were suspected of collusion or were sympathetic to the rebellion. Where in the Gospels or The New Testament is any of this? It’s not. Instead Matthew has a story unsupported by history or others of Herod slaughtering all the children two years old and under in Bethlehem and the cities of the coasts. Herod was a very cruel and evil king; see Josephus’ account of him for proof, but nowhere else is this brutal murderous event documented. The first Gospel, Mark has nothing of this, neither does Luke or John. Matthew was written somewhere around 100 CE supposedly by the Disciple, a very old man. Josephus had no problem discussing the murderous acts of Herod, why not this one?

A revolt was led by a shepherd called Athronges, which resulted in a long guerrilla war against the Romans. The end result of the rebellion is the demise of the rebels. Acts, attributed to Luke in 5:36 has a discussion quoted of the Jewish leaders speaking of these Messiah claims suggesting caution in dealing with the followers of Jesus and Peter. Previous popular uprisings under Theudas and Judas the Galilean are referenced. Judas rebelled in about 4 BCE as reported by Josephus, while Theudas did so in 45 CE. Josephus details the revolt by Judas in the Antiquities of the Jews 17.10.5-10. Book 17 is devoted to documenting these rebellions. A Samaritan made a claim during Pilate’s procuratorship that he could lead his followers to the holy vessels of Moses, Ant book 18.4.1. Pilate killed them all. Pilate was recalled to Rome after this event as he had finally gone too far even for the Romans. The Samaritan is said to have survived but is never heard from again.

Josephus writes that an Egyptian Jew made himself a prophet gathering over 30,000 followers and led them into the wilderness. He had intentions of invasion of Judea and Jerusalem and an establishment of his own kingship. The Romans under Governor Festus (52-60 CE) eliminated this threat with their normal technique namely killing nearly all of his followers. He apparently also escaped and was never heard from again. Jewish Wars 2.261-262 and 2.258-259. Another prophet or Messiah in 62 CE was Jesus the son of Ananias. The Romans arrested him for inciting riots and making the claim he was the promised Messiah of scriptures. Fortunately for this Jesus, the Romans concluded he was insane and released him.

In approximately 4 BCE Coponius was made the procurator or governor over most of Palestine. During his administration a man called Judas the Galilean begins a major revolt. This is from Josephus in Jewish Wars 2.8 where he says that he was of a sect of Judaism different than the Pharisees, Sadducees, and even the Essenes. He was supposedly said to be a teacher who taught that paying taxes to mortal men was wrong. This put him clearly on the wrong side of the Romans. The Messiah genes must have been handed down, much like the stupidity gene the kings had in the 7th and 6th century BCE. Judah. Judas’ grandson, Menahem in about 66 CE began a revolt. According to Josephus in Jewish Wars 6.312-313 many people interpreted scripture about this time to show that one of them from Judea would become the ruler of the world. Menahem began his rebellion by breaking into Herod the Great’s arsenal in Masada arming his group of rebels. They headed for Jerusalem and the Temple. Menahem entered the Temple in stolen royal clothes and was killed by the followers of Eleazear the son of the current high priest Ananias, Jewish Wars 2.444.

A very large rebellion was led by Simon bar Giora with over 40,000 followers. They were made promises of freedom and other incentives, as many were slaves. They fortified Nair, Hebron, and seized Jerusalem dislodging another Messiah wanna be John of Gioschala. In 70 CE they surrendered to the Romans when Jerusalem was taken. Simon was taken to Rome where he was executed.

In history reported by Bishop Eusebius, who had his own agenda clearly, in his Ecclesiastical History 4.2.1-5 a Messiah called Lukuas or Andreas proclaimed that he was the king of Judea. He gathered many followers leading them in rebellion against Rome. They destroyed many Roman or pagan temples in their uprising. They were supposed to have slain over 220,000 Roman citizens according to Dio Cassius in Roman History 68.32.1-3. The people of the empire took retribution mainly on the Jews in Alexandria where they were virtually wiped out.

One of the most well known revolts was in 132-135 CE during Hadrian’s reign as Caesar. This rebellion was in retaliation for the construction of Aelia Capitolina on Mount Moriah by Hadrian. This new city was replacing Jerusalem that had been razed to the ground by Titus. It is said that the root cause of the rebellion led by Kosiba was the ban of circumcision of the young imposed by Hadrian. The Romans would eventually systematically eliminate the Jews from Judea, and rebuild it as part of the empire. Simon bar Kosiba led this revolt making the claim he was the ‘Star’ that was prophesied in the Torah in Numbers 24:17-19. This rebellion was very widely supported by the Jewish people including many priests and rabbis who were said to support the claim he was the long awaited Messiah and King. Major war with Rome clearly was in the picture. The entire region became rebellious with many other people of other lands joining the revolt. The Jewish Christians however refused to join the revolt as reported by the Christian writer Justin Martyr. Simon apparently convinced of his own Messiah status ordered the Christians to renounce

Jesus as the Messiah and accept himself. They didn’t do so and many were to receive harsh retribution. This event could be the point where the Jews become the ‘bad guys’ in Christian tradition.

The Christians were clearly not the only group to develop animosity towards the Jews; the Romans did so to the extreme. In order to suppress the rebels the governor Tineius Rufus moved against the Jews in large force killing thousands without mercy. He killed women and children alike without mercy. It appears the rebels controlled much of Judea, but not Jerusalem. Rebel coins have been found everywhere but in Jerusalem from that period. Simon’s rebellion appeared to be very successful to the point Hadrian called his best generals to suppress it, Julius Severus of Britain, Publicius Marcellus of Syria, and Haterius Nepos of Arabia. The rebels fought in small attacks and not in open conflict with the far superior Roman Legions. This proved so successful that whole Legions seem to have been swallowed as canon fodder. It appears the Romans had to institute a draft to conscript young boys for the Legions. The Romans developed new techniques to finally overcome the rebels by using small powerful forces and to starve and burn them out. Somewhat like Viet Nam but without the napalm or the corrupt South Viet Nam gov’t. In the end over 580,000 were killed in battle plus many thousands more from starvation and disease. Over 50 major outposts of Judea were destroyed as well as 985 towns and villages according to Dio Cassius in Roman History 69.13.2-3. The Romans were reported to have committed many atrocities including burning children alive in Torah scrolls and leaving the dead rebel bodies for years unburied. These rebellions all together claimed over 600,000 from 66-73 CE and nearly 850,000 from 132-136 CE according to Tacitus the historian and Josephus the Jewish writer. The Jewish people would never again be the same following the wars clearly leaving a permanent mark in their minds.

After the war Hadrian attempted to eliminate Judaism from the Empire. Prisoners were sold in Gaza and Hebron for the cost of a horse.