Christ Conspiracy_ The Greatest Story Ever Sold - Acharya S [226]
The editor of the Sinaiticus epistle notes in reference to this Jesus/Joshua confusion: "Joshua, who led the Israelites into the Promised Land, is a well-known type of Jesus. In Hebrew the two names are the same."36 Also, references in the Barnabas epistle to "God's Son" are to Adam, not Jesus, but this fact is conveniently overlooked, with the excuse that Adam is also a "type of Jesus."
As stated, the Epistle of Barnabas serves as an illustration of the recurrent sacred king drama or "Passion" that preceded the Christian Era, complete with reenactment of the "blood upon us" ritual using scarlet wool on "wood," or branches that were then "sprinkled" on the faithful, a ritual also reflected in the canonical Letter to the Hebrews, as well as at Numbers 19:2-10. The Epistle of Barnabas, then, represented the Joshua cult, not the "historical" Jesus Christ, and served as instructions into the ages-old mysteries. As an initiate into those mysteries, Barnabas also admits that "IE," the designation of Apollo, is the same as "Jesus."
Barnabas further demonstrates his affiliation with the northern kingdom of Israel/Ephraim/Samaria when he mentions the story of Jacob's blessing of Joseph's son Ephraim, raising him above Manasseh. Says Barnabas, "So you can see who is meant by His decree that `this People shall have the primacy, and inherit the Covenant.'
The Shepherd of Hernias
An even earlier example of how "Christian" texts originally had nothing to do with "Jesus" or "Christ" is the noncanonical book "The Shepherd of Hermas," which was considered by Irenaeus and Origin to be divinely inspired and which was widely read in churches. As such, the book was included in the New Testament until the fourth century and deemed "apocryphal" thereafter.
Although the book is attributed to the "Hermas" who purportedly flourished around 140 CE, it is certainly an older writing and was asserted by Origen, Eusebius and Jerome to be the product of the "Hermas" referred to in the Pauline Epistle to the Romans. The Encyclopedia Biblica places the book to around 40 CE, and Fox to 90 CE. In any case, the book contains numerous Masonic and astrological references, indicating it was possibly a Hermetic writing of the tradition of Hermes Trismegistus. This lengthy text speaks many times of "God," "the Lord," "the Holy Spirit" and "the Holy Church," as well a number of times about "the devil," "salvation," and "sin," but, in several dozen pages, makes no reference whatsoever to "Jesus" or "Jesus Christ," names no apostle, and makes only one reference to Christians, an evident interpolation. Only twice, at the very end, is the word "Christ" used, also apparent interpolations. The book even refers to the "Son of God," who was the "rock" and "gate"Masonic terms-but mentions no name. In fact, there are few if any references to a "historical" life of Jesus and no quotes from either the Old or New Testaments. In comparison, the later Epistles of Ignatius, for example, make reference in nearly every other sentence to "our Lord Jesus Christ." How Hermas escaped massive Christian interpolation can only be explained by the fact that it was so well known and publicly read in churches. Other prominent Masonic symbols in the Shepherd are the tower and vineyard, emblem of Carmel.
Why Place the Christian Myth at this Time
We have already seen reasons why the gospel tale was placed at the time alleged, including that it was a period of tremendous unrest and that the advent had to take place before Jerusalem's destruction, as asserted by Eusebius. In dating the gospel tale, in fact, Eusebius insists upon what should have been known, had it occurred:
Herod, as I have said, was the first foreigner to be entrusted by the Roman senate and the Emperor Augustus with the Jewish nation. It was without question in his time that the advent of Christ occurred . .. 37
This insistence is odd, because the gospel story was supposedly written down long before the fourth century, when Eusebius wrote, and the date of Christ's advent should not have been a factor that needed