Christ Conspiracy_ The Greatest Story Ever Sold - Acharya S [106]
Like so many other biblical characters, Paul is also fictitious. In fact, it has been claimed that "historical" details later added to the gospel version of the mythos were taken from the life of Apollonius the Nazarene. In this theory, Apollonius was also called "Apollos," or "Paulus" in Latin. Many elements of Paul's life agree with those of Apollonius, including the route of his journeys, which is almost identical to that of Apollonius according to Philostratus's account of his life. The fact that Paul was from a predominantly Greek town, Tarsus, and resembled a Greek more than anything else lends credence to this claim, as, according to Philostratus, the Greek Apollonius spent part of his youth in Tarsus. Like those of Paul, Apollonius's journeys originated in Antioch. Apollonius is also recorded as having traveled to India with his faithful disciple Damis (Demas) and visited the Brahmans. While on this journey, Philostratus reports, Apollonius "acquired from the Arabians a knowledge of the language of animals," an interesting story considering that Paul alleges in Galatians that he made a three-year visit to Arabia, during which time legend holds he learned various mysteries. Paul's purported visit to "Arabia," or the east, also corresponds with the claim that Apollonius went to the east, where he gathered various books, including those containing the story of Krishna.
Apollonius returned home from India, as Waite relates, "by going south to the sea, thence by vessel, up the Euphrates to Babylon, then, by way of Antioch, to Cyprus and Paphos."32 The latter journey is exactly as was said of Paul. Apollonius then went to Ephesus, where the people flocked to him and where he did miracles, as he did afterwards in Athens, the same route taken by Paul, although purportedly in the opposite direction. Like Paul, Apollonius next went to Corinth, where he had a disciple named Lycian, or Luke. After traveling around Greece, he then proceeded to Rome, where he was accused of treason, after which went to Spain and Africa, returning to Italy and Sicily.
After traveling to Alexandria and down into Nubia, to an ancient Gymnosophic/Buddhist/Brahmanical community, Apollonius re-turned to Italy, Greece and on to the Hellespont, where he challenged wandering Egyptians and Chaldeans who were defrauding the people in a typical priestly manner. In passing through this area, Apollonius no doubt stopped at Samothrace, the island home of the exalted mysteries and one of the potent seats of the pre-Christian lasios/Jesus cult, a journey also taken by Paul. Like Paul, Apollonius was summoned to Rome and put in prison, from which he escaped. Many other miracles were attributed to him, including an appearance in his hometown of Tyana after his death.
It was said that the Samaritan Apollonius was not fond of Judea and that he preached mostly to the Gentiles, just as was said of Paul, who according to the biblical tale preached to the Gentiles for 17 years before preaching to the Jews. It should be noted that many of these "Gentiles" were in fact Samaritans, who constituted the other 10 tribes of Israel, by their account.
Furthermore, as noted, a number of the "historical" details in the New Testament were taken from Josephus's histories, including elements of the life of Paul:
Both Josephus and Paul made a disastrous sea voyage on their way to Rome. Both crews swam to safety after their ship was abandoned to the storm, which drove them into the Adria. Both crews boarded a second ship which took them to Rome, their destination. The purpose of the sea voyage, in both stories, was to deliver the priestly prisoners (Paul in the New Testament and an unnamed priest in Josephus) in bonds, to Rome to be tried before Caesar. In both stories