"He [Satan] is a liar and the father of it." -John 8:44(So, if you bow down to a lie, any lie, you bow down to Satan.)
Authors Statement (from pages 411-412of Caesar's Messiahby Joseph Atwill )
I spent my youth in Japan where I attended the only English-speaking school in the country, St. Marys Military Academy.The school was run by Jesuits so removed from the events of the modern world that they did not even consider shutting it down during World War II, and taught a curriculum that had not changed since the eighteenth century.The majority of every one of my school days was spent studying Greek, Latin and the Bible, which for some reason I found fascinating.
Though I had drifted away from the Catholic faith, my study of Christianity never stopped.Over the course of my life I had read hundreds of books relating to the historical Jesus and early Christianity but none of them left me feeling that I really knew anything about how the religion began or its founder.
The fact that I found the most perplexing was, that at the exact time the followers of Jesus were purportedly organizing themselves into a religion that urged its members to turn the other cheek, another Judean sect was waging a religious was against the Romans.This group looked to a Messiah, but one who would lead them militarily.It seemed implausible to me that two diametrically opposite forms of messianic Judaism could have emerged from Judea at the same time.So I began to study the Dead Sea Scrolls.I was hoping to learn something of Christian origins in the 2,000-year-old documents found at Qumran.To assist in my understanding of them, I also began studying the history of the era.
It was then I came across the key that led to my discoveries.While reading Josephus Wars of the Jews, and his account of Titus destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., I noticed curious parallels to stories in the Gospels.At first I could make no sense of the parallels between Titus campaign and Jesus ministry.So I tried to look at the Gospels with fresh eyes, as if I had never seen them before, giving up preconceived notions of what they meant.[Joseph Atwill's website is caesarsmessiah.com]
The Historical Origins of Christianity part one
Selected passages are from Joseph Atwills Caesars Messiah(2011) -reposted here without the author's permission:
In the popular mind, and in the minds of most scholars, the origin of Christianity is clear:The religion began as a movement of the lower-class followers of a radical Jewish teacher during the first century C.E.at the exact time when the followers of Jesus were purportedly organizing themselves into a religion that urged its members to turn the other cheek and to give to Caesar what is Caesars, another Judean sect was waging a religious war against the Romans.This sect, the Sicarii, also believed in the coming of a Messiah, but not one who advocated peace.They sought a Messiah who would lead them militarily.It seemed implausible that two dramatically opposite forms of messianic Judaism would have emerged from Judea at the same time. (from page 9)
The Flavian dynasty lasted from 69 to 96 C.E., the period when most scholars believe the Gospels were written.It consisted of three Caesars: Vespasian and his two sons, Titus and Domitian.Flavius Josephus, the adopted member of the family who wrote Wars of the Jews, was their official historian.The satire they created is difficult to see.If it were otherwise, it would not have remained unnoticed for two millennia. (page 10)
One of the individuals involved with the creation of the Gospels was the first-century historian Flavius Josephus, who, as he related it, led a fabulous life.He was born in 37 C.E. into the royal family of Judea, the Maccabees.Like Jesus, Josephus was a child prodigy who astounded his elders with his knowledge of Judaic law.Josephus also claimed to have been a member of each of the Jewish sects of his era, the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Essenes.
When the Jewish rebellion against Rome broke out, in 66 C.E., though he had no described military back ground and believed the cause hopeless, Josephus was given command of the revolutionary army of Galilee.Taken captive, he was brought before the Roman general Vespasian, to whom he presented himself as a prophet.At this point, God, rather conveniently, spoke to Josephus and informed him that his favor had switched from the Jews to the Romans.Josephus then claimed that Judaisms messianic prophecies foresaw not a Jewish Messiah, but Vespasian, whom Josephus predicted would become the lord of all mankind.
After this came to pass, so to speak, and Vespasian was proclaimed emperor, he rewarded Josephus clairvoyance by adopting him.Thus, the Jewish rebel Josephus bar Matthias became Flavius Josephus, the son of Caesar.He became an ardent supporter of Romes conquest of Judea, and when Vespasian returned to Rome to be crowned emperor, Josephus stayed behind to assist the new emperors son Titus with the siege of Jerusalem.
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