Christ Conspiracy_ The Greatest Story Ever Sold - Acharya S [47]
If, then, you are willing to listen to me (for I have already considered you a friend), first be circumcised, then observe what ordinances have been enacted with respect to the Sabbath, and the feasts, and the new moons of God; and, in a word, do all things which have been written in the law: and then perhaps you shall obtain mercy from God. But Christ-if He has indeed been bom, and exists anywhere-is unknown, and does not even know Himself, and has no power until Elias come to anoint Him, and make Him manifest to all. And you, having accepted a groundless report, invent a Christ for yourselves, and for his sake are inconsiderately perishing.
Trypho's argument reveals not only that the Jews did not accept Christ as a historical person but also Christ's true nature, as his "anointer," Elias, is not only a title for John the Baptist but also Helios, the sun. To such accusations, Justin attempts to respond in a chapter titled, "The Christians Have Not Believed Groundless Stories," but he offers no proof at all, merely groundless protestations.
As to the origins of Christianity, Massey spells it out:
Christianity began as Gnosticism, refaced with falsehoods concerning a series of facts alleged to have been historical, but which are demonstrably mythical. By which I do not mean mythical as exaggerations or perversions of historic truth, but belonging to the pre-extant Mythos. . . It is obvious that the Roman Church remained Gnostic at the beginning of the second century, and for some time afterwards. Marcion, the great Gnostic, did not separate from it until about the year 136 A.D. Tatian did not break with it until long after that. In each case the cause of quarrel was the same. They left the Church that was setting up the fraud of Historic Christianity. They left it as Gnostic Christians, who were anathematized as heretics, because they rejected the Christ made flesh and the new foundations of religion in a spurious Jewish history.47
Thus, we can see that the veracity of the gospel story and the historicity of its main character have been called into question since the tale was released upon an unsuspecting public.
1. Jackson, 1.
2. Doane, 409.
3. Doane, 411-12.
4. Wheless, FC, 32.
5. Doane, 231.
6. Wheless, FC, 152.
7. Massey, GHC, 12.
8. Pagels, AES, 60.
9. Doresse, 133-5.
10. Doresse, 2.
11. Pagels, GG, 67.
12. Higgins, 11, 129.
13. Waite, 251.
14. Massey, GHC, 25-26.
15. Massey, HJMC, 193-7.
16. Massey, GHC, 21.
17. Jackson, 119.
18. Pagels, GG, 102-3.
19. Pagels, AES, 63.
20. Massey, GHC, 25.
21. Massey, HJMC, 177.
22. Doresse, 305.
23. Doane, 512.
24. Graves, WSCS, 101.
25. Massey, GHC, 24-5.
26. Wheless, FC, 133.
27. Waite, 212.
28. Massey, GHC, 18.
29. Notovich, 6.
30. Doane, 272.
31. Doane, 411.
32. Doresse, 62.
33. Bowersock, 3.
34. Bowersock, 9-12.
35. Bowersock, 124.
36. Bowersock, 60ff.
37. Doane, 411.
38. Higgins, 1, 663.
39. Doane, 275.
40. Massey, HJMC, 180.
41. Pagels, AES, 32.
42. Larson, 298.
43. Larson, 298.
44. Pagels, GG, 76.
45. Doane, 411-12.
46. Doane, 412.
47. Massey, GHC, 12-13.
Physical Evidence
It has been demonstrated that there is no reliable textual evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ and that, in fact, his existence and the historicity of the gospel tale were denied from the earliest times by Pagans and Christians ("heretics") alike. What about the physical remains? What does archaeology tell us about the historicity of the Christian story? In order to determine the evidence, we must look to architecture, monuments, coins, medals, inscriptions, pottery, statues, frescoes and mosaics, among other things. Unfortunately, much of the evidence has been completely destroyed, mostly due to "religious" fervor; however, there remains enough to reveal the conspiracy and fraud.
Jesus's Physical Appearance
There is no physical description of Jesus in the New Testament, other than that which resembles the sun, such as at his transfiguration at Matthew 17:2: "And he was transfigured