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Intentional Mythology Old Time Religion Christianity is the most influential globalized religion in all of history. The story of Jesus is universal, deeply permeating every level of our culture. This is why we must learn of it to find some clues as to why the culture we have today, that evolved with Christianity as its host religion, is failing on such a large scale. Keeping the Story Straight If the “Bible is true” and the “Bible is the Word of God,” then I would place great value in those words. But, there are so many contradictory elements of the four Gospels regarding the life of Christ, it might seem that God would be somewhat confused. Here is a sampling: Matthew and Luke disagree on the locale of the birth in Bethlehem. (Most modern scholars believe that Jesus was born in Nazareth.) According to Matthew, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus fled to Egypt to avoid Herod’s soldiers. (2:13-15) Luke says that Jesus was circumcised, taken to Jerusalem for purification rites before he escaped to Egypt. (2:21-39) Mark says that Mary does not want to tell the disciples what had happened, while the other three says she does. Luke says that after seeing the angels, Mary met with the disciples, while the other three say she first meets Jesus himself. John says that Mary is not permitted to touch Jesus, while the other three say she can. How many times does Jesus Christ appear after resurrection? Matthew says 2; Corinthians I says 6; Mark says 3; Luke says 2; John says 4. John says Jesus carried the cross, but the others say that Simon did. Luke says one of the thieves believes that Jesus is the Christ, but according to the other three, neither thief accepts Jesus. How many people come to the tomb? Matthew says 2 (Magdalene and Mary his mom); Mark says 3 (Magdalene, Mary his mom, and Salome); Luke says more than 4 (both Magdalene, Mary his mom, and other women); John says that only Magdalene came alone. Matthew says that when Jesus was crucified, the dead emerged from the graves of Jerusalem! Yes, they were walking around showing themselves to everyone. This would have to have been an amazing event that could hardly escape the notice of the other gospel writers, or any other historians of the period. Yet not a word was said about this amazing event from any other sources. Only Matthew says there was a great earthquake and an angel rolled back the stone. All the others say it was already moved. The first three (Synoptic) gospels claim Jesus taught for one year before he died, while John says it was three years. While Matthew says Jesus delivered “The Sermon on the Mount” before “the multitudes,” Luke says it was a private talk given only to the disciples. Messianic Expectations The people of the story in the New Testament believed that the Kingdom of God was at hand, meaning that they thought they were living in the last century. The title, “Messiah,” means “inaugurator of the end.” (see Mark 1:15; 9:1; 13:30; Matthew 10:23; 23:29-36; Luke 12:49-50). It would seem that Jesus had died without accomplishing what a Messiah was predicted to do. If a Messianic expectation is only to be fulfilled by a second coming, what was the point of the first? The disciples were under the impression that this coming would be in their own lifetime. Jesus never says he’ll be back a couple thousand years later. In fact, Jesus said that his 12 disciples will “not have gone over all the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.” (Matthew 10:23) “There are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of man coming in his Kingdom.” (Matthew 16:24) It would seem that, perhaps, something may have been lost in the “translation.” Jesus Who? At the time of Jesus, there were many writers who were recording the events of the time, bequeathing us with extensive volumes that could fill a library. Yet Philo never once mentioned Jesus. Must have been on the other side of town. Then there was Josephus, the renowned Jewish historian. Josephus was also a native of Judea and was born in 37 AD, making him a contemporary of the Apostles. Everyone knew who Josephus was. He served as Governor of Galilee, which was the province in which Christ lived and taught. Josephus knew and had traveled throughout every part of Galilee, the very same place where Christ had performed his prodigies just a few years back. In fact, Josephus lived in Cana, which is the very city in which Christ is said to have wrought his first famous and renowned miracle. In his writings, Josephus takes great pains to mention every possible important and non-important event as his work is extensive, comprising twenty books. He dedicates whole pages to petty robbers and cult leaders. The life of a single King took up forty chapters. And yet, Josephus never once mentions Jesus nor even so much as hints of such a personage. (There were two paragraphs which have now been proved to have been forged in the 4th century by Bishop Eusebius.) There is an extensive list of writers living in the same place and time as Christ is said to have lived, and none of them mention anything about him. In fact, the four Gospels we are so familiar with were completely unknown to the early Christian Fathers. Take Justin Martyr as an example. He wrote in the middle of the second century and was one of the most eminent Fathers of Jesus and the Christian movement of his time. He wrote of the divinity of Christ. One would think he would prefer to quote from the Gospels to support his position. And yet, quotes books from the Old Testament nearly 300 times. He quotes from the Apocryphal books around 100 times. But Justin Martyr not only never quotes or mentions any of the four Gospels, he never even mentions the writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. Few Christians are aware that the name “Jesus Christ” was not formally adopted until after the first Council of Nicaea. Furthermore, it is quite interesting that there is no cross in early Christian art before the middle of the 5th century. In fact, the first clear crucifix does not appear until late in the late 7th century. They pictured him as a shepherd, or symbolized him as a fish. Were they unaware of the crucifixion? Historical Fact or Intentional Mythology? So, what is going on here? Are we missing part of the story? Mythology in natural human tribal structure has a great purpose, which is detailed in Cultural Vision. We know that mythology (and most particularly “Living Mythology”) evolves naturally. What I call “Intentional Mythology” is really an agenda to manipulate. Which is the case here? And if the story of Jesus Christ comes from Intentional Mythology, what does that mean for us here today? I think we can all agree that without the resurrection, there is no Christianity. The whole system is based upon the myth that Christ paid for sins by suffering, dying, and being resurrected. If these events are fictional, maybe there is other aspects of the institution that are designed not to find a life eternal, but to create control and power here on Earth. Lucius Calpurnius Piso While this is not exactly a household name, it certainly should be. Lucius created the fictional characters of the New Testament: Jesus, his parents, Mary Magdalene, the apostles and disciples, Paul, John the Baptist, and tied them together with a slew of real people (King Herod, Pilot, etc) in a specific point in time and place in history. He used ancient stories and the writings and characteristics of various Pagan gods to create the story line of his birth, life, death, and resurrection. Lucius was married to the great granddaughter of Herod the Great. He produced his ‘Ur Marcus’ in 60 AD, which was the forerunner of the Gospel of Mark. His son, Arius, went on to rewrite it, and also wrote Matthew and with the help of the Roman writer Pliny the Younger, wrote Luke. Arius’s son, Justus, then wrote John in 105. Julius Calpurnius Piso (one of his sons) who wrote The Revelation near the end of the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. The Piso family descended from Philip II of Macedon (359-336 BCE). King Philip was the father of two sons - Alexander the Great and Lagos (the Rabbit). The Piso line descends from Lagos down through the many Ptolemys (kings of Egypt) to include Cleopatra. In their day they were well known, as many great writers mentioned them. They were members of the closed society of Zoroastrianism, and priests of the temple at Zela in the homeland of Pontus on the southern coast of the Black Sea. The Piso family was betrayed by Julius Caesar in many ways. This is important to know, because much of the early history of Christianity is based on revenge taken by the Piso family against Julius Caesar. The major form taken by that revenge was to replace Caesar as head of the Roman state religion. The Pisos had many reasons to hate Julius Caesar. He had made war against their homeland. He had betrayed his wife Calpurnia, who was a Piso, with another Piso relative: Cleopatra. He had conspired with the Jewish People against Alexandria, which was another Piso stronghold. He had written the Pisos out of his will. In addition to all this, he was a Populist and was against the Royals, who suspected that if he were to become dictator he might even abolish slavery. The Piso family were Royals. Sixty percent of the people in the Roman Empire were slaves. So, in 66 CE, Arius Piso waged war against Jerusalem and defeated the Jewish People. He tore down the temple there with the help of a Piso relative named Titus in 70 CE, just as Caesar had torn down the temple at Zela. To commemorate his victory and to create a religion to keep the slaves humble, he and his family authored the New Testament, cleverly inventing a Jesus Christ (with the same initials as Julius Caesar oddly enough) who would replace Caesar as the head of what was to become the new state religion of Rome: Christianity. The Foundation of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam At the base of all these religions is the God of Moses. All the great religions go back to this same deity, which was perhaps the scariest version of God there is. So before we move forward, let’s take one look back to get more clues to what makes us tick as a culture. If we are to dig deep into the foundation, we need to take a look in the basement. NEXT PAGE: BIBLICAL VIOLENCE, HATE, AND IMMORALITY
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