THE CONSPIRACY TO MAKE ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME

O.K., let’s file this one under …

THE CONSPIRACY TO MAKE ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME

Jeff and I rarely talk about religion.

However, last week he brought up the subject in one of those “shock value” moments. 

Sometimes Jeff can’t resist a button push when those secret black helicopters flying by our window give us a moment of peace and quiet.

So, as the church bell tolled atop the Saint Marks Church outside the window, Jeff announced that organized religion is a tool for enslaving the masses and that the Catholic Church has been conspiring to keep us all in a carefully docile flock for thousands of years. 

I'm the son of an Irish Catholic Dad and a Jewish Mom.  But I wasn’t really raised with any sort of organized religious upbringing. I guess my Mom and Dad sort-of cancelled each other out.  So this statement really did not resonate with me at all.  Readers of this blog know that I am far from docile.

I also haven't seen the inside of a synagogue or a church in years, except for the occasional wedding or Bar Mitzvah. 

So, I freely admit my ignorance on the whole subject of organized religion and whether it actually is an institution with the purpose on placing stranglehold on society.

Sure, I know the basics, like creation took six days, and that Abel was not the keeper of his brother.  I also know Moses sailed for weeks in an Arc full of animals, waiting for the rain to stop.

Did they eat the animals? -

But my knowledge of Chapter and Verse is as weak as the walls of Jericho were, and I can probably name more States than I can Apostles.

The only "who-begat-who" that I know are that those sex-charged Sons of God who went after the daughters of men, and bred Alien-Human hybrids that became the slaves that built the Pyramids.

But I know full well that the Catholic Church is a powerful institution and not unlike those closed societies that are Jeff’s favorite bogeymen.

Where The Popes Supposedly Hatch Their Plots -

Here’s how it went down, with Jeff full of fire and brimstone:

Jeff:  The Catholic Church is built on lies.

Me:  I though it was built on Saint Peters Square.  Or is it Saint Peter’s circle?

Jeff:  Go ahead Sam, make fun, but there's not one pieces of truth in anything the Church says and does, and you do pride yourself on truth.  As in “this blog has no greater agenda than…”

Me:  Let’s see... The truth is that the Church is built on a conspiracy of lies?  Didn’t Dan Brown write a novel about that?

Jeff:  Not exactly.  Brown said Jesus was married and had a child.  That’s impossible when no such person ever existed.


Woah...

See what I mean about shock value?

No such person as Jesus?  How can that be?

So I accept the challenge. 

Never mind all the religious mumbo jumbo.  I’m not going to argue or search for miracles or get tangled up in trying to connect Aramaic symbols.

Just the simple question:  Did the man known as Jesus Christ exist?  Or is it possible that he is a fabrication?

Jeff’s conspiracy theory is detailed in the book The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold .  The author theorizes that Jesus Christ and Christianity were created by members of various secret societies and religions to unify the Roman Empire under on State Religion, and that the architects of the faith drew on numerous myths and rituals which existed previously and then constructed them into the Christianity that exists today.

The story of Jesus Crist is not at all original.  There are remarkable similar stories in earlier cultures.  The Egyptian Osiris, The Zoroastrian Mithra, and The Greek Prometheus were all born around December 25th to a godly father and a virginal mother. 

The Greek Dionysus transformed water into wine, rode an ass, fed crowds, suffered, and was mocked. 

The Hindu Krishna’s adoptive human father was a carpenter and was of royal blood.

But these details could have been embellishments around the actual man Jesus, who existed in First Century Palestine, and preached his own sect of Judaism.

Mythology built around iconic leaders is not new.  George Washington has his cherry tree. 

But iconic leaders can also be fabrications.  King Arthur, Camelot, and the round table probably never existed.

Much of what we know about Jesus comes from four accounts, the New Testament Biblical Gospels of Mark, Luke, Matthew and John. 

But the Gospels aren’t recognized as actual eyewitness accounts.  They were likely not even written by the actual Apostles.

The Last Supper -

The first independent historical reference to the Gospels themselves was in 130 A.D.  If Jesus was born in the year zero (or maybe earlier if he were born during the reign of Herod as is noted in the Gospels) and if he left the world at age 30, then the Gospels may have actually been written down almost 100 years later by people who were writing about him from hearsay. 

100 years is three or four generations that would have passed by the time of the writing.  In a time before telephone, that’s a hell of a telephone game. 

No wonder other popular stories were incorporated into the narrative.

There is no doubt that Emperor Constantine existed, or that Alexander the Great really lived, or that Ramses ruled over Egypt.  For each of those world leaders, there are multiple contemporary accounts as well as tangible evidence.  Paintings, writings, reliable eyewitness accounts, exist for each one of them. 

It seems to be the same for almost every other major historical figure, except for the ones in the Bible, and perhaps King Arthur.

Even if the Bible stories were written down at the time of Jesus, which they were not, the Bible simply is not a reliable historical account.

The Bible is not a history book.  No one really argues that Moses was a real person… Or Adam… Or Eve…

For two thousand years, scholars have known that much of what’s written in the Bible is often self-contradictory.  Even if it actually were a collection of contemporary eyewitness accounts, the internal inconsistencies make its use as any sort of historical record questionable. 

There are two conflicting stories of Creation.  There are two very different stories of Noah.  And there are four stories of Jesus, with precious few details.

So what about outside sources?  Are there any non-Biblical eyewitness accounts that make reference to Jesus Christ.  Is there any tangible evidence?

It is important to note at this point that in 70 A.D., the Romans invaded and destroyed most of Israel, slaughtering its inhabitants.

Entire cities, including Jerusalem, were literally burned to the ground.  


Much evidence of Jesus existence could easily have been destroyed.

The Destruction of the Temple -

But there are, actually, some third party references which survive.

First Century Roman documents mention the execution of a man who claimed to be the Messiah of the Jews.  But he was named Yehuda, and this was in 6 A.D.  That’s a miss of 25 years.  So it’s probably not a reference to the Biblical Jesus.

Josephus Flavius, the Jewish historian, mentions a Jesus in Antiquities.  Josephus' birth in 37 A.D. means he was born well after the events in question.  He wrote Antiquities in 93 A.D.  That doesn’t count as an eyewitness account, or a contemporary document.

In the British Museum is a copy of a letter sent by a Syrian named Mara Bar-Serapion to his son Serapion in 73 A.D.  Part of the letter reads:  "What advantage did the Athenians gain from putting Socrates to death?  Famine and plague came upon them as a judgment for their crime.  What advantage did the men of Samos gain from burning Pythagoras?  In a moment their land was covered with sand.  What advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise King?  It was just after that their kingdom was abolished.  God avenged these three wise men: the Athenians died of hunger; the Samians were overwhelmed by the sea; the Jews, ruined and driven from their land, live in complete dispersion.  But Socrates did not die for good; he lived on in the teaching of Plato.  Pythagoras did not die for good; he lived on in the statue of Hera.  Nor did the wise king die for good; He lived on in the teaching which he had given..."

That letter would seem more solid proof.  However, there is no mention of Jesus by name in the document.  

But the circumstances match.  Jews.  King.  Teaching.

So is that evidence of the actual existence of Jesus?

It’s the best outside evidence that I was able to find, but it’s hardly conclusive.

Perhaps the greatest evidence that Jesus did exist is the fact that literally thousands of Christians in the first century A.D., including the twelve Apostles, were willing to give their lives as martyrs.

I can believe that people will die for what they believe to be true. 

I can not believe that anyone would die for what might not be true, or worse, be a lie.

What say you Jeff?

As always, emails, comments, and messages are welcome.

And please don’t shoot me, I am only the messenger, though not of God.

Peace out.