Two radically different interpretations exist concerning the possibility of an historical Jesus of Nazareth: the traditional or Orthodox Christian story and the Mythicist explanation of that traditional story. The traditional viewpoint, held by all Christian denominations, claims that Jesus existed in the flesh, his life and death described accurately in the New Testament. By adhering to the New Testament story, Orthodox Christianity also must accept the scientifically impossible notions of bodily resurrection and miracles which suspend the laws of nature, along with contradictions which arise from comparing the Old Testament to the New Testament. A few questions must be asked concerning this viewpoint:
1. Can any living organism be dead for days and then be brought back to life? Whether we like to believe it or not, dead people, rotting in the grave, do not come back to life. There are no such things as vampires or resurrected human beings.
2. Can any man walk on water? This feat can only be accomplished in winter months. Jesus, like you and me, would have been swimming, not walking.
3. Can any man control the weather? Even the weathermen, with all their modern equipment, cannot accurately predict weather events more than a few days in advance. To control the weather is science fiction at best.
4. Can food be produced out of thin air or can we actually create matter? We can certainly rearrange matter, but this feat is far different than creating matter out of nothing. Jesus, the man, could not produce this miracle.
5. Can water be changed into wine? Without grapes and fermentation, this too would be impossible. In the Middle Ages, scientists tried to change objects into gold, with little luck. This story of Jesus surely cannot be taken literally.
6. Why would God condemn human sacrifice in the Old Testament yet sacrifice his only son in the New Testament? If God condemned humans for sacrificing their sons and daughters, then would not God's sacrifice of his only son be a bit hypocritical?
7. Why would God need a human sacrifice in order to forgive sins if he already had the power to forgive sins? An all-powerful God does not need human or animal sacrifices in order to forgive sins. John the Baptist understood God's forgiving power, preaching that the sinners needed to repent of their sins. With this repentance came forgiveness from God.
8. Why would God replace an Everlasting Covenant? Was it incorrectly termed Everlasting? This cannot be adequately explained by Orthodox Christianity. If God needed a New Covenant, then his Old Covenant must have been severely flawed. That would mean that God would not be perfect.
(...)
Is it possible that the story of "Jesus" evolved during the first century? The Gospels were written several generations after the fateful events in Jerusalem, anywhere from 70 CE to 140 CE. The audience for these Gospels was also quite different from those who witnessed "Jesus" in the flesh: the Gospels were written for Gentile consumption, and their Jesus was meant to identify with Gentile notions concerning God. Therefore, the human sacrifice of Jesus became central to this Gospel, something abhorrent to the Jewish God of the Old Testament.
I have attempted to prove that Jesus of Nazareth was not an historical figure, but rather a combination of the life and deeds of Judas the Galilean mixed together with an anti-Jewish Pauline tilt. Judas the Galilean provided many elements which were incorporated into the Gospel Jesus.
Judas cleansed the Temple, was released in a prisoner release reminiscent of the Barabbas release, was proclaimed Messiah, led a tax revolt against Rome, and he founded a new philosophy. These elements were incorporated into the Gospel Jesus story. Yet the Gospels and Acts did not recognize Judas for his accomplishments. Instead, Jesus was imbued with Judas' history and Judas was purposely downplayed and forgotten as a failure (Acts 5:37). The teachings of Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, were rejected by the Pillar Apostles, yet these teachings became incorporated into the Gospel Jesus' framework. As such, Jesus was pitted against the Jewish nation and all the religious authorities.
While Judas the Galilean was part of the Pharisaic movement, Jesus was constantly hounded by these Pharisees. Certainly, this opposition from the Pharisees did not occur in the lifetime of Judas the Galilean but was part of Paul's experience.
The melding of Judas the Galilean's life with Paul's outlook has left us with the Gospel Jesus, a man (or god) who never made it into the history of Josephus. How could Josephus have missed out on this fabulous story of Jesus, the wonder-worker and great Messiah? Only one explanation makes sense: Jesus of Nazareth never existed! Josephus could not have written about someone who was invented in the latter part of the first century. He could have known nothing about this literary character. So, Jesus of Nazareth was a late first-century invention. But why was he invented? Why did the Gospel writers remove the historical Judas the Galilean in favor of the invented Jesus of Nazareth?
Judas the Galilean's movement (the Fourth Philosophy or Jewish Christianity) spread throughout the Roman world but was centered in Judea and Galilee. The Fourth Philosophy had preached revolution against Rome which led to expulsions from Rome and eventually to the Jewish war against Rome. By 73 CE, this movement had been smashed, the remnants no longer influential throughout the Empire. This vacuum gave the Gentile Christian movement (founded by Paul) a chance to reinvent itself. Unfortunately, the Gentile Church had to explain its relationship to a Jewish Messiah figure. This crucified Messiah had to be explained in terms of Paul's philosophy as opposed to the Jewish political truths. Thus, the crucified Messiah had to become a redeemer to the whole world, not just to the Jews. The Gospel writers had their work cut out for them. They had to incorporate much of Judas the Galilean's original story, yet somehow divorce him from Jewish political concerns. The greatest sleight-of-hand concerned the coming of John the Baptist. The Slavonic Josephus reported that John came baptizing in 6 CE, right before Judas the Galilean's tax revolt. This makes historical sense as Josephus wrote extensively about Judas and his movement. To distance the Gospel Jesus from Judas the Galilean, the Gospel of Luke moved John the Baptist's arrival to 28-29 CE, a good generation later that the actual events. This, in turn, shifted all other events in the traditional timeline by a generation. Thus, nothing in the Gospels and Acts can be reconciled to Josephus' history. However, much can be reconciled if we ignore this bogus date of 28-29 CE for John. The following revised timeline will help summarize all the findings within this book.
THE THREE MESSIAH TIMELINE
THE FIRST MESSIAH - JUDAS THE GALILEAN
36-25 BCE Judas was born in Gamala, near Galilee.
25 The Star of Bethlehem was reported by the Slavonic Josephus.
35-24 James the Just, the brother of Jesus (Judas) was born.
25 An assassination attempt on Herod the Great failed.
4 Matthias and Judas led the Golden Eagle Temple Cleansing.
4 Herod burned Matthias but imprisoned Judas.
4 Herod the Great died.
4 Judas was released by Archelaus to the Jewish crowd - Barabbas story.
4-3 Judas raided the armory at Sepphoris.
4-2 Judas was proclaimed Messiah in Galilee.
4 - 73 CE The Dead Sea Scrolls were appropriated by the Fourth Philosophy.
6 CE John the Baptist introduced Judas right before the Census revolt.
6 Judas the Galilean led a nationwide tax revolt against Rome.
6-15 Annas named High Priest.
18-37 Caiaphas named High Priest.
18-37 Pilate named Procurator.
19 Judas the Galilean (Jesus) was arrested on the Mount of Olives.
19 An unnamed Jew (Paul) swindled Jewish converts in Rome.
21 Per the Memoranda, Jesus was crucified under Pilate.
21-36 John the Baptists led the movement, with James as his second.
22 Saul, a Herodian, converted to Jewish Christianity.
22-25 Paul studied with the Pharisees for three years.
25 Paul made his first post-conversion trip to Jerusalem.
35-36 John the Baptist was beheaded by Herod Antipas.
36-62 James became the leader with Cephas as his second.
38-39 The Council of Jerusalem dealt with the Gentile issue and factions.
38-39 Paul attended the Council, seventeen years after his conversion.
40-41 Caligula ordered the desecration of the Temple.
41 Caligula was assassinated. Agrippa I may have been involved.
41 Claudius became Emperor with the help and counsel of Agrippa I.
41 Claudius and Agrippa I expelled the Jewish Christians from Rome.
4i-44 Agrippa I was seen as a Messiah figure.
43 Agrippa I interrogated Simon for excluding him from the Temple.
43 James and Simon, the sons of Judas the Galilean, were imprisoned.
44 Agrippa I was assassinated by the Fourth Philosophy or by Claudius.
THE SECOND MESSIAH - CHRIST JESUS
39-44 Paul taught his new gospel of grace and wrote Romans and 1 Cor.
39_44 Paul's gospel meshed with Agrippa's goal of converting Gentile kings.
39-44 Paul became known as the "Liar", due to his teachings.
44 King Izates converted to Judaism, choosing Eleazar over Ananias.
44 Paul and Cephas also argued about the Law. Cephas won.
44 Paul was removed from the movement, prompting Barnabas' defection.
44 Paul wrote Galatians and 2 Corinthians.
44-67 Paul now became known as the "Enemy".
44-48 A famine spread throughout Israel.
44-48 Paul came to Jerusalem with famine relief, and kept the money.
44-48 The "Enemy" attacked James at the Temple.
44-46 Theudas was beheaded.
46-48 James and Simon, the sons of Judas the Galilean, were crucified.
62 James the Just was stoned to death, the original "Stephen" story.
62 After the stoning, Saul persecuted the movement.
62 By now, Saul was also known as the "Traitor".
64 The Jewish Christians were persecuted by Nero after the Great Fire.
66 Menahem, Judas the Galilean's son, cleansed the Temple as Messiah.
66 Menahem was stoned by his adversaries.
66 Saul met with Agrippa II to petition for an army to fight the insurgents.
66-70 War with Rome ended in defeat for the Jews.
67 Saul met with Nero to focus blame for the war on someone else.
70 The Temple was destroyed by Titus.
73 Eleazar, grandson of Judas the Galilean, led the Sicarii in mass suicide.
THE THIRD MESSIAH - JESUS OF NAZARETH
75 Josephus wrote the War.
85-95 The Jewish portion of Revelation was penned.
93 Josephus wrote Antiquities.
100 The Gospel of Mark made its debut.
120-140 Luke, Matthew and Acts were written.
130-150 Recognitions of Clement was written
140 The Gospel of John was written.
In their book, 'The Jesus Mysteries', Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy summarized the intersection of the Pagan mystery religions with the Gospel Jesus. These authors represent the Mythicist viewpoint, which denies the historicity of the Gospel Jesus. Not all Mythicists believe the same things. Some believe that Jesus was a myth but that Paul existed. Others believe that both Jesus and Paul were inventions. I, too, am a Mythicist of sorts. I believe that historical people were used as the frameworks for both Jesus and Paul. The Gospels twisted Judas the Galilean into Jesus while Acts shaped Saul, the Herodian, into Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles.
It may be beneficial to list some of Freke's and Gandy's arguments.
1. Son of God - This title given to Jesus was also given to many of the Pagan redeemers. For example, Dionysus was the "Son of Zeus."
2. Virgin Birth - Like Attis, Adonis, Dionysus, and Hercules, Jesus was born to a human virgin mother and fathered by a God. It should be noted that this virgin birth was not included in the writings of Paul or in Mark, the earliest Gospel. As the real Jesus (Judas the Galilean) became less recognizable, due to the passage of time, such additions to the "record" made Jesus more like the competing mystery gods.
3. The Nativity - Both Jesus and Mithra were born in caves and the births were witnessed by shepherds. Mithra's birth date was celebrated on December 25th.
4. The Lord's Supper - Just as the later Gentile Christians partook in the body and blood of Christ, so too did the followers of Mithra venerate their God. This mimicry of the Pagan religions can be attributed to Paul. Paul's interpretation of the Last Supper was dependent on his revelations from the Risen Christ. Surely, Paul incorporated the rites of Mithra into his Gentile Christian community's celebration of the Lord's Supper. This identification with the body and blood of Jesus would not have been part of the original Jewish religion.
5. The Death and Resurrection - Like many of the Pagan redeemers, Jesus was put to death and then resurrected. The Gentile Christian Church was taught by Paul to identify with this death and resurrection, in the same way that the Pagan religions identified with their resurrected deities. However, the Jewish resurrected Messiah would return to conquer Rome, a task the human Messiah failed to accomplish.
6. The Lamb of God - Jesus had become a sacrifice for the sins of the world similar to other Pagan redeemers. However, John the Baptist actually preached that sins were forgiven through the practice of righteousness.
This list is but a barebones treatment of the subject. To fully grasp the extent of the mimicry of Pagan rituals and teaching, please read The Jesus Mysteries. The authors summed up their position concerning the historical Jesus as follows: The first possibility we considered was that the true biography of Jesus had been overlaid with Pagan mythology at a later date. This is a common idea often advanced to account for those aspects of the Jesus story that seem obviously mythical, such as the virgin birth. But we have found so many resemblances between the myths of Osiris-Dionysus and the supposed biography of Jesus that this theory seemed inadequate. If all the elements of the Jesus story that had been prefigured by Pagan myths were later accretions, what would be left of the ''real" Jesus? If this theory is true then the Jesus we know is a myth and the historical man has been completely eclipsed. Freke and Gandy came to the conclusion that the Gospel Jesus was so imbued with the Pagan mystery religions that the actual man, if he really existed, would have been totally "eclipsed". In short, could the Gospel Jesus have really existed? After all, this Gospel Jesus was not part of Josephus" Jewish history. In the authors' opinion, any historical person could no longer even be recognized after the extreme Gospel makeover. My hypothesis concerning Judas the Galilean fits in quite well with this opinion by Freke and Gandy. The Gospel Jesus has not been associated with Judas the Galilean for the following two reasons. First, the timeframe was distorted, placing the Gospel Jesus in a later period, where no corroboration from Josephus can be found. And second, the Gospel Jesus was changed so much by his identification with the Pagan redeemers that it is hard to image any person actually being the historical Jesus. Even though it may be hard to see the revolutionary Judas the Galilean as the Gospel Jesus, we must look first to our historical sources. Josephus never wrote about the Gospel Jesus, because the Gospel Jesus was not part of Jewish history. He never existed. However, Judas the Galilean's life can be seen as a framework for this Gospel Jesus. Judas had a history, one well chronicled by Josephus. The Pauline gospel was then woven throughout this framework, giving us a man who no longer represented the revolutionary Jews. And the later identification with the Pagan religions, through the virgin birth, the water into wine episode, and the death and resurrection, helped create a character so unlike any human being. It is understandable that Freke and Gandy do not recognize Judas the Galilean as the Gospel Jesus.
The Gospel writers did their job well. They have hidden the historical Jesus for two thousand years. In Judas the Galilean's stead, the Gospel Jesus was brought forth, a composite which has helped shape the Western world, for good or for evil.
By Daniel T. Unterbrink in the book 'The Three Messiahs- The Historical Judas the Galilean, The Revelatory Christ Jesus, and The Mythical Jesus of Nazareth', iUniverse, Bloomington U.S.A, 2010, p.15-24 and 1226-1245. Adapted and edited to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.
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