Awakening to the LIES of the Roman Catholic church

April said: Most people don't understand the pyramid of government either. The head of the snake is the Vatican and the Zionists report into them. The secret societies are these Bohemian Grove sacrificial ceremonies and ALL governments around the world are part of this vast pedo network. Many people are starting to see the light. I am uncertain about many things now. Who wrote the Bible? Many now believe that it was all symbolism and that Jesus was supposed to have been symbolic of the sun. I have no idea. All I know is that almost everything we've been told is a LIE.

Comment on this Facebook discussion.


My replies following...

Yes. Many people are realising that so much of what we understand to be "real" is actually a fiction. You'll find lots of articles on my blog discussing this very thing...

http://apollonius-iesuschristus.blogspot.co.nz/2016/05/a-long-haired-bearded-white-robed-man.html


Apollonius even raised a young woman from her death-bed... Sound familiar? Ref: the supposed Lazarus being raised from the dead. Apollonius was educated as a Pythagorean philosopher... This involved an education in what we now call "quantum physics". Apollonius knew very well what quantum physics is, and how molecules can be directed through thought #ObservationProblem #ScienceOfImagery  and thereby manifest in healing people. 

http://apollonius-iesuschristus.blogspot.co.nz/2016/04/religion-mysticism-maths-and-music.html

Image - The Pythagorean School

Not enough is known about the Pythagorean school. Apollonius (4-97 AD/CE) studied for a year in Sophistry at age 16 (in 20 AD), then chose the rigors of the Pythagorean school. He studied in Pythagoreanism from ages 17-21 and again from 23-28. During the last 5 years, he undertook 5 years of silence, as per the ancient admonition of Pythagoras to do so. That tradition had long been dropped, by the 1st century. Apollonius of Tyana took 18 months off in the middle of his study to settle his father's estate after his passing. Note: Apollonius's brother squandered his half of the inheritance before he returned to the family estate, where Apollonius helped him return to a right mind... Sound familiar? It should #ProdigalSon

http://apollonius-iesuschristus.blogspot.co.nz/2016/04/private-life-education-personal.html


After Apollonius's 5 year of silence, he began his mission as a fully-fledged philosopher, which was an actual job in the Greek tradition... And where did he go to from ages 29-34? To southern Judea - south Palestina (Israel) where he continued in discussion with other sages, he healed people, and he taught them how to live a good life with each other. Peculiarly, Apollonius of Tyana never once came across "Jesus of Nazareth", which is very strange considering they were both (allegedly) teaching great truths in the same very small country at the same time... You can walk the whole of Palestina in around 3 days. And yet Apollonius never met "Jesus".  Funny that!

http://apollonius-iesuschristus.blogspot.co.nz/2016/04/apollonius-in-palestine-in-his-early-30s.html


The notoriety of Apollonius of Tyana was huge... all over the mediterranean world. Apollonius travelled from Spain, Italy and Greece all the way to Iraq (Babylon), from Egypt to Algeria, and on three separate occasions during his 93 years of life, he went down into India (the Indus). There were 16 temples erected in his honour all over the Mediterranean (not to worship him), but for the practice of the "true religion" they called it, which Apollonius is said to have revived. People had seen the light and found the true religion of LOVE. And where are those temples today? Gone. Gone. All of these temples were torn down by Rome, and every mention of Apollonius in scrolls, letters and "books" of the day were burned !! That's how much Rome wanted to eradicate all memory of him. The agenda of "love" did not fit with the Roman war machine, so by 300CE, the Romans had to eliminate this religion and these philosophies of peace. It's very difficult to raise an army when the predominant teaching infiltrating all through the Empire was, "Give to Rome what is Rome's (material gold aka taxes), and give to God what belongs to God..." (which of course is your Essential Nature - the eternal soul-being) "... Love one another..." and "If someone strikes you on the cheek, turn the other cheek also." Yes... very hard for Rome to raise its mercenary armies all over the Empire when this teaching of Apollonius was being spread abroad.

http://apollonius-iesuschristus.blogspot.co.nz/2016/04/did-jesus-christ-ever-live-what-do.html


My personal opinion is this: That the Roman elites took the memory of the man Apollonius of Tyana and what he taught, and created their own books... about a great teacher called "Iesus Christus". The "tell" is actually in the name... It's a Roman name, even though preachers will tell you it's Greek, it's not. I studied in Classical Studies (including Roman Latin) at university for 4 years. "Iesus Christus" is most certainly Roman! Then what did this "Iesus Christus" have to do so that Rome could maintain control of the masses?  The Romans had to meld these stories with the religion of Mithraism, which was the biggest religion of Rome up until the 2nd century AD, and then very strangely, it just peetered out. Strange that... considering that the "saviour story" of Mithras then popped up in the new religion dubbed "Christianity". The other "tell" in this "Christianity" that Rome created is that you need a priest (in the original Roman tradition of that church) so you can "get to" God - just the same as in Mithraism, in the worship of Zeus (consider the phonetics in pronouncing the name "Iesus" >> He-zeus), and in the worship of Amen (Amen-Ra down in Egypt) which was part of the Roman Empire, via Julius Caesar - Cleopatra connections. Do you also see it now...?? In the new "Christianity", you needed a priest to get to God. In Apollonius's teaching, you are filled with the radiance of God throughout every cell of your being - therefore, what is the use of a priest? The other function of the priest was to collect secrets for the Roman elites... through "the confessional" - just like in "The God Father". This I feel (and understand) is how Rome created this religion off the back of Apollonius's popularity and notoriety. Rome usurped the teaching... and continued to keep the people under its thumb.

http://apollonius-iesuschristus.blogspot.co.nz/2016/04/the-apollonius-jesus-question.html


So who was it who wrote the New Testament? ... some clues here >>

http://apollonius-iesuschristus.blogspot.co.nz/2016/04/who-wrote-epistles-in-new-testament.html


That's right... The Sun God. Why do you think Christian prayers are punctuated at the end with "Amen"? aka Amun Ra, Amon Ra, Amen Ra.

http://co-creatingournewearth.blogspot.co.nz/2016/03/who-is-jesus-sun-of-god-who-takes-away.html


... And oh yes... We can go deeper down the rabbit hole after this... all the way to pedophilia, to grown adult males and Roman soldiers rutting each other in secret, and ritual child sexual sodomy and sacrifice. We see the highly fashionable and desirable Roman catamite - the Roman child sex slave. Note: It was socially unacceptable for grown men of marriageable age (around 30 years) to have sex with each other. It was considered perfectly fine to torture a child with your penis however.

Image - Idealized. Zeus and Ganymede.

Related:
http://co-creatingournewearth.blogspot.co.nz/2015/04/take-me-to-church-hozier-satanic-baby.html
http://co-creatingournewearth.blogspot.co.nz/2014/07/a-short-history-of-wars-magick-and-money.html
http://co-creatingournewearth.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/history-of-priesthood-in-books.html


The following studies are not for the faint-hearted. Most of the 26 links on this link are written by me. I had to go down many rabbit holes to join all of these dots together. Please go slow... May your eyes see also the trick that has been done #MagicTrick #Illusion #BabylonianMagicians

http://co-creatingournewearth.blogspot.co.nz/2015/08/are-you-ready-to-wake-up-to-black.html

Image

How Rome ruled the world long after the Roman Empire failed.

Image from Wikipedia

The Jesus story is fake. The wise young philosopher who lived in southern Palestina from c.33-38 CE was a man called "Apollonius of Tyana" (c.4-97 CE). He studied in Greek philosophy and the mystic arts (quantum physics) from the ages of 16-28. After that, he went and lived with other ascetics like himself in south Palestine. He taught the people and did miraculous healings for the people - young, old, rich and poor, men and women alike. His teaching was the beginning of true altruism - he taught people how to live with each other and how to relate to their Maker. He was aged around 29-34 years old when he lived in Palestine... and nope - He never bumped into "Iesus Christus". That's because "Iesus Christus" is a composite figure made up by the Roman elite families.

Check it out... The Roman elites decided to incorporate Rome's favourite "saviour and sacrifice" religion, Mithraism (Persian Mithra was a sun God) into a story interwoven with the life of the very famous Apollonius. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithra. One of the evidences that it was Rome who intentionally did this, follows. In the creation of their "true church", the Roman Catholic (meaning 'general') Church, they set up a hierarchical priesthood. This has the stamp of Rome all over it, being that Rome was a heavily hierarchical and patriarchal society. In the top echelon of priests are the "cardinals". The cardinals could only be from the elite houses of Rome - the Patricians. If you were a very good priest all of your life and low-born, you could never become a Cardinal. The selection of a Pope, the "priest of priests" who somehow metamorphosed into God "Himself" after his inauguration, could only be taken from the College of Cardinals. Are we seeing the picture here. All popes ever after selected were Roman elites... the elite families of Rome had set up their church so the elite families would continue to rule the world, long after the Roman Empire had fallen. Dirty tricksters!

Apollonius had 16 temples built in his honour by 200 CE, all over the Mediterranean world. They didn't worship Apollonius - but they recognised him as the one who taught people the "true religion" that connects people to their maker in very simple ways - through the heart. The Romans didn't like this at all... how could they? Rome's m.o. was "rape, pillage, conquer". You can't raise an army from the general population who is given over to the idea of "turn the other cheek" or who govern their lives by teachings such as, "he who lives by the sword, dies by the sword", and "give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's" - ie: your heart, mind and soul - a life of being in service to others. The Roman army was not about service to others, only service to self. The mercenaries of Rome put out their hands for the gold of Rome. To such men, money IS god.

Apollonius absolutely challenged "the establishment". His influence extended for 300 years and longer... right to this day. Just look around you at the number of churches that exist who teach this man's words of Love. By 300 Common Era (CE), all record of Apollonius was removed from the literature, and any copies of his biography were burned. Of course, they (the Roman elites) didn't find all the references to Apollonius. Mention of his name still exists in various letters and historic excerpts. And the 16 temples of the "true religion"? All of the temples built in honour of Apollonius to the "true religion" of heart, were all torn down, stone from stone by Rome - which has no heart. This religion was then morphed into "the Church of Rome", out of which all other Christian demon-in-nations have sprung. The citadels of Rome are full of witchery and child blood sacrifice and cannibalism of the baby flesh... of satanism and sodomy of the innocents to this day. All of these things are coming out into the open now #Pizzagate  #Pedogate  All memory of Apollonius was completely rubbed out... almost...

Thanks to some very brave people who were conservators at the Great Library of Alexandria in Egypt c.250 CE, a copy of "The Life of Apollonius" by Philostratus (finished c.230 CE) was smuggled out of the library before the Aurelian inferno was ordered AD 270–275. Four main arsons are known to be done against the library between 48 BCE and 642 CE - three of these were committed by Rome. At least two of these Roman arsons would have been done to hide the true human histories. The smuggling out of "The Life of Apollonius" would have been done at great personal risk to those brave souls who undertook that dangerous plan. It is them we need to thank. The copy was then "vanished" into the Arabian desert as it was then called, which is a region of north Saudi Arabia today. It's this copy, re-copied over the centuries, that tells us the true story of this man of love - Apollonius of Tyana - The great Pythagorean teacher and healer who lived in Palestina, Roman Judea from c.33-38 CE.

Philostratus' "The Life of Apollonius"
http://www.livius.org/sources/about/philostratus-life-of-apollonius/

Related article
http://apollonius-iesuschristus.blogspot.co.nz/2016/05/a-long-haired-bearded-white-robed-man.html

Episode 2 - Apollonius of Tyana

Published on Feb 21, 2016
A short film about this mysterious Greek philosopher and holy man.

Life. 1.4 Apollonius was a "Thracian" native, born in the city of Tyana

"Life of Apollonius of Tyana" by Philostratus

Book 1

1.4   Apollonius was born to a wealthy founding native Tyanian family

"Apollonius' home, then, was Tyana, a Greek city amidst a population of Cappadocians. His father was of the same name [Apollonius] and the family descended from the first settlers [northern Greek Thracians?]. It excelled in wealth the surrounding families, though the district is a rich one."
- Philostratus in translation

Could this be translated
"The district is a rich one and the surrounding families excelled in wealth." ??

Image source

Caption: "In greek 'Tyana', in Latin 'Tyana'. Ancient city in Asia Minor, Cappadocia, at the center of today's Turkish Kemerhisar [district], 25 km SSW of Nigde. Existing [Surviving the] Hittite invasion, under the first Hittite king Labarna (c.1680-50 BC) it became a great religious center. Later it belonged to the Phrygians and Persians. It became a Roman colony in sec. II [100-200 CE?] and bishopric [ie: a district under a bishop's control; a diocese] in the first half of the next century [200-250 CE?] then passed to the Arabs [sic] (sec. VIII-IX) [800-900 CE?]. It was finally abandoned around Mille [1000 CE? after which it was absorbed into the Ottoman Empire 1259-1924 CE]. It is believed that there [in that place] was born Apollonius of Tyana, a philosopher neopitagorico [by neo-Pythagorean -  translated from the Turkish] [in the first ??] century AD."

Source:  http://www.summagallicana.it/lessico/t/Tiana.htm
Translated from the Italian using https://translate.google.co.nz

Image source

Image source
Byzantine Empire 330-1453 CE

Source "Ancient map of Thrace"

Source  Modern day map showing how ancient Thrace would have covered southern Bulgaria, north eastern Greece, and far western Turkey beyond Istanbul/Constantinople/Byzantium.

Tyana - from the "Summa Gallicana"

Tyana (or Tyanna) was an ancient city of Anatolia, in modern south-central [eastern] Turkey. It was the capital of a Hittite kingdom in the 2nd millennium BC, and had a long history as a Greek city state... Tyana was a queen in Anatolia.

Tyana is probably the city referred to in Hittite archives as Tuwanuwa [and the region as 'Kizzuwatna' ? See the second map above]. In Greek legend the city was first called Thoana, because Thoas, a Thracian king, was its founder (Arrian, Periplus Ponti Euxini, vi); it was in Cappadocia, at the foot of Taurus Mountains and near the Cilician Gates (Strabo, XII, 537; XIII, 587). Xenophon mentions it in his book Anabasis, under the name of Dana, as a large and prosperous city. The surrounding plain was known after it as "Tyanitis" [and in later times, the Konya Plain whereupon is also found the ancient the city of Çatalhöyük which flourished from c.7500-6500 BCE.]

[My observation is that large portions of the Konya Plain have become subject to desertification. I feel there are three possibilities for this - (1) the ongoing ravages of war over many centuries (including the Crusades), impacting the region; (2) the removal of native trees and plants from the mid-19th century onwards (as all over the world) in an attempt to mechanise farming; (3) a change in environmental conditions due to the natural cycling of Earth through Ice Ages and warmer periods. We are currently in a naturally occurring "warming" period. We now take note of this plain as being a fairly fragile environment. My belief is that it was a flourishing, abundant, fertile floodplain (fed by the Taurus Mountains) in times gone past. What else could account for the plain being such a heavily populated area from 8000-5500 BCE? There must have been a way to sustain human life - ie: through food production.]

Image - Konya Plain, eastern modern day Turkey

[Tyana] was in a strategic position on the road to Syria via the Cilician Gates. It is the reputed birth-place of the celebrated philosopher (and reputed magician) [sic] Apollonius of Tyana in the first century. Under Roman Emperor Caracalla the city became "Antoniana colonia Tyana". After having sided with Queen Zenobia of Palmyra it was captured by Aurelian [Lucius Domitius Aurelianus Augustus, ie: not Marcus Aurelius] in 272, who would not allow his soldiers to sack it, allegedly because Apollonius appeared to him [posthumously], pleading for its safety.

In 371, Emperor Valens created a second province of Cappadocia, Cappadocia Secunda, of which Tyana became the metropolis. The ruins of Tyana are at modern Kemerhisar, three miles south of Nigde (in the former Ottoman province of Konya); there are remains of a Roman aqueduct and of cave cemeteries and sepulchral grottoes.

Source:  http://www.summagallicana.it/lessico/t/Tiana.htm

Original Philostratus quotes sourced on Livius:

http://www.livius.org/sources/content/philostratus-life-of-apollonius/philostratus-life-of-apollonius-1.1-5/#1.1

A long haired, bearded, white robed man who calmed the seas: Apollonius

Image source


I believe his name was actually "Apollonius of Tyana". He lived at the same time as the Roman-created Iesus Christus and worked many miracles during his life. He studied in Anatolia (Turkey) in Pythagoreanism, then went to India for a long time where he embraced the Vedic truths as well. That's why there's a 'mythology' about "Jesus being in India", because who they're really talking about is this "Apollonius of Tyana" who was an actual documented man. Jesus cannot be found. Nothing in Archaeology or written documentation of the time, has ever put a 'Jesus of Nazareth' on the map in Judea (Roman Palestine) in the years 4-37AD. However, Apollonius the man, was living in Palestine from around 33-38 AD, after he'd finished 10 years training in the Pythagorean school. The final 5 years of Apollonius's training was spent in silence, in accord with the teaching of Pythagoras (570-495 BCE). After his silence, he began "his mission". The 5 years of silence was the 'final rite of passage' before he could present himself to the world as a Pythagorean sophist (philosopher). Interesting man. But yes!! Apollonius who did miracles, raised the dead and calmed the seas was living in Roman Judea from 33-38 AD !!

So was he in fact, the 'character' that the Roman elite families used to develop their stories in the New Testament, and upon which the whole of Christendom through "Roman Catholocism" is based ??

I wouldn't put it past them   :-/


Please note:  While there appears to be no living manifestation of Jesus Christ in the early first century, I do think there is a "Spirit" of "Jesus" that lives on. I think this name might telegraph to a much earlier time in history where there was a "supreme man" with this name who walked the earth. I am often aware of the presence of this "Jesus" figure, he has appeared to me in dreams, meditations and visions. He saved me from child abuse, he saved me from death - literally, on a number of occasions (i've had an extreme life). When I asked God to help me be healed in 1977 when I was in a Christian church (ie: in a Jesus-following church), I was healed. I have dispelled a demon breathing right in my left ear in 1975 by repeating the name, "Jesus". It took around 30 minutes, but slowly, it left. I have also audibly heard angels singing. It was amazing. These things do happen, and do exist.

So... From my life experiences, I can testify that there is most certainly a very close, friendly and personal presence who absolutely does help us when we call. These days, we call that presence "Jesus".  However... The existence of that actual man Jesus Christ from Roman Judea... He never existed.

That Roman Imperial story that was undoubtedly re-written many times through the centuries in order to make it sound more believable was devised purely to keep the "masses" under their control. That is the Roman Imperial way. We have not left the Empire.

The "good news" is that nothing... no nothing (not even the Roman Empire) can ever stultify, diminish, or negate the power of that presence with us whenever we ask or think of "him" (or "That", since it is genderless). It is all-embracing, all-compassionate, all-wise, full of patience, is kind, and is absolutely not in the business of controlling our earthly experience. That is where the two forks of the river part...

Rome is all about control. It's version of who and what "God" is, is all about control. The real Presence within all that is (in this very breath I am taking right now), is without favorites, offers no judgement, and allows us to have whatever experience we have come here to have. This is how "non-interventionist" this Presence is.

Why then would there be all of this suffering on earth if this presence were not "non-interventionist"? That is how gracious this Presence and Intelligence is... that the Open Hand who gives us life allows us to walk whichever path we choose (for our ill or for our prosperity), and doesn't intervene - until we are ready for an intervention. When we earnestly call, this Presence makes itself felt.

This is my experience, and this is what I have found from assiduous study - the two sides of one coin.  All of this comes from a Classical Studies degree with Latin (Roman Classical language) and 14 years of assiduous study in the Bible and absolute devotion to church activities and teaching. ie: I was never in church to objectively study "the guinea pigs".

Please test these things against your own life. There is a Presence. And...

The Roman story is fake!

Thank you all

- love Bronny NZ

Life. 1.3 Introducing Damis

Map c.1000 CE

Source


"Life of Apollonius of Tyana" by Philostratus

Book 1

1.3 We are introduced to Damis, Apollonius' travelling companion and scribe.

While Damis was likely to be an actual person, some of the content he wrote on his travels doesn't seem to "add up". Therefore, what Philostratus cites as being "Damis", may not be entirely accurate, Philostratus says. We could infer that Damis' own words may have been "added to" or otherwise "embellished" by some scribes who came after him, to defame the name of Apollonius - possibly agents of Rome. Here's some of the points Philostratus makes about Damis:

• Damis was in no means stupid.
• He came from the ancient city of Ninevah (see map above), which by all accounts is far inland, in the region known in those times (1 CE) as the "Hindu Kush" region. The old city today is located in northern Iraq, just west of Mosul by the look of it.
• Damis followed Apollonius as he was a student of 'wisdom' (Sophia, hence: PhiloSophia)
• Damis "records [Apollonius'] opinions and discourses and all his prophecies."
• It was one of Damis' kinsmen who informed Julia Domna, wife of [Emperor] Septimius Severus that this previously unknown documentation of Apollonius' life, existed.

Philostratus says: "Now I belonged to the circle of the empress, for she was a devoted admirer of all rhetorical exercises; and she commanded me to recast and edit these essays, at the same time paying more attention to the style and diction of them; for the man of Nineveh [Damis] had told his story clearly enough, yet somewhat awkwardly."

As well as the record kept by Damis, Philostratus also references these primary sources:

• the book of Maximus of Aegae, which comprised all the life of Apollonius in Aegae
• a will composed by Apollonius

Philostratus states very clearly: "We must not pay attention anyhow to Moeragenes, who composed four books about Apollonius, and yet was ignorant of many circumstances of his life."

Philostratus: "That then I combined these scattered sources together and took trouble over my composition, I have said; but let my work, I pray, redound to the honor of the man who is the subject of my compilation, and also be of use to those who love learning. For assuredly, they will here learn things of which as yet they were ignorant."


And I must add here:  We in these modern times, thank YOU Philostratus, for your diligence to your task. I am sure we look forward to a scholarly work, and one that might astound us at times. But to yourself and Julia Domna, to you both, humanity is very much indebted. And a heartfelt thank you also to those men and women who risked life and limb to smuggle Philostratus' biography of Apollonius out of the library of Alexandria in the common era (CE), before it was burned. Thank you - from BronnyNZ and the world. Much love belongs to you all. I acknowledge you here.

Note from another source: The Great Library of Alexandria

"Apollonius of Tyana's biography was recorded in a work by Philostratus, the Life of Apollonius, which was written some time after the death of Julia Domna (the wife of [Emperor] Septimius Severus) in AD 217."

Original source on Livius:
http://www.livius.org/sources/content/philostratus-life-of-apollonius/philostratus-life-of-apollonius-1.1-5/#1.1

Life. 1.1-2 Pythagoras. Apollonius is no wizard. Sources.

Image   Musa reading a volumen (scroll)


"Life of Apollonius of Tyana" by Philostratus

Book 1

1.1  This is an introduction to Pythagoras.

Apollonius in his younger years, from age 16 to 28 or thereabouts, did his training as a philosopher at the school in Aegae. It is said that Apollonius had a natural interest in and affinity for, the Pythagorean teaching.

Pythagoras' religious predelictions:

• Pythagoras did not wear apparel made from dead animal products
• He abstained from all flesh and from offering animals in sacrifice.
• He would offer honey-cake and frankincense and the hymn of praise - these were the offerings made to the Gods by this man.

It was said that Pythagoras had a direct communication with the Gods, and from that source he learned about things in the natural world, eg: of a physics nature, or mathematics, of sound, pattern, shape and measurement.

"Pythagoras said that Apollo had come to him acknowledging that he was the god in person."

The followers of Pythagoras accepted as law any decisions communicated by him... As part of their training, followers would impose a ritual silence on themselves.


1.2  Philostratus explains that Apollonius is not a wizard.

"For quite akin to theirs was the ideal which Apollonius pursued, and more divinely than Pythagoras he wooed wisdom and soared above tyrants."

"He practiced true wisdom as a sage, and sanely."

"He had interviews with the wizards of Babylon and with the Brahmans of India, and with the nude ascetics of Egypt."

Because of this, some called Apollonius a "wizard" and have maligned his good name.

Philostratus points out that previous philosophers had visited the wizards in Babylon, "and uttered many supernatural truths, yet never stooped to the black art", and even Plato "mingled with his own discourses much of what he heard from the prophets and priests there; and though, like a painter, he laid his own colors on to their rough sketches, yet he never passed for a wizard, although envied above all mankind for his wisdom."

And the same is true to Apollonius, says Philostratus 

Apollonius in fact, did forsee and knew many things before they happened.

Even Anaxagoras protests Philostratus, predicted "that day would be turned into night, and stones would be discharged from heaven round Aegospotami," but were attributed to Anaxagoras' wisdom.

Apollonius made predictions correctly also, but some say "that he achieved these results by art of wizardry."

Philostratus then writes:  "It seems to me then that I ought not to condone or acquiesce in the general ignorance, but write a true account of the man, detailing the exact times at which he said or did this or that, as also the habits and temper of wisdom, by means of which he succeeded in being considered a supernatural and divine being."

[That's interesting! So people at the time thought Apollonius was a God incarnate ??]

Philostratus says: "And I have gathered my information partly from the many cities where he was loved, and partly from the temples whose long-neglected and decayed rites he restored, and partly from the accounts left of him by others and partly from his own letters. For he addressed these to kings, sophists, philosophers, to men of Elis, of Delphi, to Indians, and Ethiopians; and in his letters he dealt with the subjects of the gods, of customs, of moral principles, of laws, and in all these departments he corrected the errors into which men had fallen. But the more precise details which I have collected are as follows."

Original source on Livius:

http://www.livius.org/sources/content/philostratus-life-of-apollonius/philostratus-life-of-apollonius-1.1-5/#1.1

Did "Jesus Christ" ever live? What do the scholars say?

In our study of Apollonius of Tyana, it becomes necessary to look to the academicians to see if their findings point to the existence of an actual "Jesus Christ".

As has been a theme right from the start regarding Apollonius of Tyana, the suppression of information and the hobbling of academics who seek to bring their counter-findings to the fore about the non-existence of "Jesus", has been huge.

As a journalist, this raises some very big questions for me:

• Who is trying to hide all of this information, right from the first century CE to the present? - and more importantly -
• WHY?

The following content is drawn from this article on Wikipedia:  

"The Christ Myth Theory"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_myth_theory

Image  

Who was the Historical Jesus? Did Jesus really exist? 

- An Introduction to Christ Myth Theory 

http://www.holyblasphemy.net/

Wikipedia: "The Christ Myth Theory"

The Christ myth theory is the hypothesis that Jesus never existed, or, if he did, had virtually nothing to do with the founding of Christianity and the accounts in the gospels.

Note: 

(1)  there are no non-Christian references to Jesus dating back to the first century.* 

(2)  Jesus originated from pagan or mythical roots.

[* People argue that Josephus documented Jesus Christ on two occasions in his histories. Arguments against this are: (a) these references could have been added later by Roman scribes under order of a Roman Pope, (b) it is acknowledged by many that Josephus was a puppet of the Roman establishment.]

18th century French academics: Volney and Dupuis argued that Christianity was an amalgamation of various ancient mythologies and that Jesus was a totally mythical character.

19th century German Bruno Bauer, who taught at the University of Bonn, took Strauss' arguments further and became the first author to systematically argue that Jesus did not exist:

1. The gospels were written many decades or even a century after Jesus' estimated year of death, by individuals who likely never met Jesus, and then were edited or forged over the centuries by unknown scribes with their own agendas.
2. There are no surviving historic records about Jesus of Nazareth from any non-Jewish author until the second century, and Jesus left no writings or other archaeological evidence.
3. Certain gospel stories are similar to those of dying-and-rising gods, demigods (sons of gods), solar deities, saviors or other divine men such as Horus, Mithra/Mithras, Prometheus, Dionysus, Osiris, Buddha, and Krishna, as well as Christ-like historical figures like Apollonius of Tyana.

in 1877 in Christ and the Caesars [Bauer] suggested that Christianity was a synthesis of the Stoicism of Seneca the Younger and of the Jewish theology of Philo as developed by pro-Roman Jews such as Josephus.

19th century English academic Godfrey Higgins claims, "the mythos of the Hindus, the mythos of the Jews and the mythos of the Greeks are all at bottom the same; and ... are contrivances under the appearance of histories to perpetuate doctrines,"and that Christian editors “either from roguery or folly, corrupted them all.” (1836)

20th century academics found sources for Christian ideas in Greek and Oriental mystery cults, rather than Judaism. Joseph Klausner wrote that biblical scholars "tried their hardest to find in the historic Jesus something which is not Judaism; but in his actual history they have found nothing of this whatever, since this history is reduced almost to zero.

In 1900, Scottish MP John Mackinnon Robertson argued that Jesus never existed but was an invention by a first-century messianic cult. In Robertson's view, religious groups invent new gods to fit the needs of the society of the time. Robertson argued that a solar deity symbolized by the lamb and the ram had been worshiped by an Israelite cult of Joshua for long and that this cult had then invented a new messianic figure, Jesus of Nazareth. Robertson argued that a possible source for the Christian myth may have been the Talmudic story of the executed Jesus Pandera which dates to 100 BCE.

In 1927, British philosopher Bertrand Russell stated in his lecture Why I Am Not a Christian that "historically it is quite doubtful that Jesus existed, and if he did we do not know anything about him..."

The British archaeologist and philologist John M. Allegro later argued in 1970 that Christianity began as a shamanistic cult.

Mark Hall writes that Allegro suggested the Dead Sea Scrolls all but proved that a historical Jesus never existed.

English professor of German George Albert Wells had a profound impact on the Christ myth theory; according to New Testament scholar Graham Stanton, Wells presented the most thoroughgoing and sophisticated arguments for the Christ myth theory in his books The Jesus of the Early Christians (1971), Did Jesus Exist? (1975), The Historical Evidence for Jesus (1982), The Jesus Legend (1996), The Jesus Myth (1999), Can We Trust the New Testament? (2004), and Cutting Jesus Down to Size (2009). British theologian Kenneth Grayston advised Christians to acknowledge the difficulties raised by Wells.

Wells presented his key arguments in his initial trilogy (1971, 1975, 1982), based on the views of New Testament scholars who acknowledge that the gospels are sources written decades after Jesus's death by people who had no personal knowledge of him. In addition, Wells writes, the texts are exclusively Christian and theologically motivated, and therefore a rational person should believe the gospels only if they are independently confirmed. Wells also argues that Paul and the other epistle writers—the earliest Christian writers—do not provide any support for the idea that Jesus lived early in the 1st century. There is no information in them about Jesus's parents, place of birth, teachings, trial, nor crucifixion.[90] For Wells, the Jesus of the early Christians was a pure myth, derived from mystical speculations stemming from the Jewish Wisdom tradition, while the Gospels were subsequent works of historical fiction.

Wells: The story of the execution of Jesus under Pilate is not an historical account.

21st century Richard Carrier notes, "The hypothesis that Jesus never really existed has started to gain more credibility in the expert community. Some now agree historicity agnosticism is warranted, including Arthur Droge (professor of early Christianity at UCSD), Kurt Noll (associate professor of religion at Brandon University), and Thomas Thompson (professor of theology, emeritus, at the University of Copenhagen). Others are even more certain historicity is doubtful, including Thomas Brodie (director emeritus of the Dominican Biblical Centre at the University of Limerick, Ireland), Robert Price (who has two Ph.D.’s from Drew University, in theology and New Testament studies)," and more recently Hector Avalos professor of Religious Studies and Raphael Lataster doctoral candidate of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney.

Canadian author Tom Harpur dedicated his 2004 book The Pagan Christ to Kuhn, calling him "a man of immense learning and even greater courage" and “one of the single greatest geniuses of the twentieth century.” Harpur suggests Kuhn has not received the attention he deserves since many of his works were self-published.[109]

Presenting the case that the gospels re-work ancient pagan myths, Harpur builds on Alvin Boyd Kuhn when listing similarities among the stories of Jesus, Horus, Mithras, Buddha and others. According to Harpur, in the second or third centuries, the early church created the fictional impression of a literal and historic Jesus and then used forgery and violence to cover up the evidence. Having come to see the scriptures as symbolic allegory of a cosmic truth rather than as inconsistent history, Harpur concludes he has a greater internal connection with the spirit of Christ.


Thomas L. Thompson, Professor emeritus at the University of Copenhagen is the author of a number of books critical of the historicity of the Old Testament. Thompson claims that his PhD dissertation at University of Tübingen on the quest for the historical Abraham was rejected by his examiner Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) since it went against Catholic theology.[112] He was invited to finish his degree at Temple University in Philadelphia where he received his PhD summa cum laude. In his book The Messiah Myth: The Near Eastern Roots of Jesus and David, Thompson argues that the biblical accounts of both King David and Jesus of Nazareth are mythical in nature and based on Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Babylonian, and Greek and Roman literature. For example, he argues that the resurrection of Jesus is taken directly from the story of the dying and rising god, Dionysus.

In 2012, the Irish Dominican priest and theologian Thomas L. Brodie, holding a PhD from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome and a co-founder and former director of the Dominican Biblical Institute in Limerick, published "Beyond the Quest for the Historical Jesus: Memoir of a Discovery". In this book, Brodie, who previously had published academic works on the Hebrew prophets, argued that the gospels are essentially a rewriting of the stories of Elijah and Elisha when viewed as a unified account in the Books of Kings. This view lead Brodie to the conclusion that Jesus is mythical... Brodie then views the Elijah–Elisha story as the underlying model for the gospel narratives.

In early 2013, it was reported that the Dominican order had forced Brodie to resign his teaching job and banned him from writing and lecturing while under investigation for disputed teaching. The Dominican order disputed the story and stated that Brodie had already performed three terms as director at the institute and was not intending to serve a fourth, but that the book would be reviewed by a committee of scholars within the Irish Dominicans. The institute's website indicates the investigation is ongoing. The Dominican Biblical Institute closed in 2015. [Really? Very suspicious. Supression of the truth?]

Gerard Norton said: "Brodie's core conviction' [is] that neither Jesus nor Paul of Tarsus were historical.


Canadian writer Earl Doherty wrote in 2009 that the Christ myth theory is "the theory that no historical Jesus worthy of the name existed... [Doherty]: Jesus originated as a myth derived from Middle Platonism with some influence from Jewish mysticism, and that belief in a historical Jesus emerged only among Christian communities in the 2nd century.

Doherty suggests that the early Christian writers describe a Christian movement grounded in Platonic philosophy and Hellenistic Judaism, reaching the worship of a monotheistic Jewish god and what he calls a "logos-type Son". Doherty further argues that Theophilus of Antioch (c. 163–182), Athenagoras of Athens (c. 133–190), Tatian the Assyrian (c. 120–180), and Marcus Minucius Felix (writing around 150–270) offer no indication that they believed in a historical figure crucified and resurrected, and that the name Jesus does not appear in any of them.


American New Testament scholar and former Baptist pastor Robert McNair Price [said] the Christian image of Christ is a theological construct into which traces of Jesus of Nazareth have been woven... Price believes that Christianity is a historicized synthesis of mainly Egyptian, Jewish, and Greek mythologies.

Price writes that everyone who espouses the Christ myth theory bases their arguments on three key points:

1. There is no mention of a miracle-working Jesus in secular sources.
2. The epistles, written earlier than the gospels, provide no evidence of a recent historical Jesus
3. The Jesus narrative is paralleled in Middle Eastern myths about dying and rising gods; Price names Baal, Osiris, Attis, Adonis, and Dumuzi/Tammuz as examples, all of which, he writes, survived into the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

Price argues that if critical methodology is applied with ruthless consistency, one is left in complete agnosticism regarding Jesus's historicity: "There might have been a historical Jesus, but unless someone discovers his diary or his skeleton, we'll never know."[124] Price argues that "the varying dates are the residue of various attempts to anchor an originally mythic or legendary Jesus in more or less recent history."

Jesus simply wears too many hats in the Gospels—exorcist, healer, king, prophet, sage, rabbi, demigod, and so on. The Jesus Christ of the New Testament is a composite figure (...) The historical Jesus (if there was one) might well have been a messianic king, or a progressive Pharisee, or a Galilean shaman, or a magus, or a Hellenistic sage... Price cautiously asserts that "a genuine historical figure" may ultimately lie at the root of the Christian religion. That figure would have eventually been made into God through apotheosis [ "to deify" - the glorification of a subject to divine level].

Price also states "I am not trying to say that there was a single origin of the Christian savior Jesus Christ... there may indeed have been such a myth [or actual historic personage], and that if so, it eventually flowed together with other [saviour] images, some one of which may have been based on a historical [individual]."

+ + +

Christ myth theory proponents claim that the age, authorship, and authenticity of the Gospels can not be verified, thus the Gospels can not bear witness to the historicity of Jesus.

There remains a strong consensus in historical-critical biblical scholarship that a historical Jesus did live in the geographical area and the time period noted in the bible.

[The opposite point of view in academia is rigorously defended]:

According to New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman, most people who study the historical period of Jesus believe that he did exist, and do not write in support of the Christ myth theory. Ehrman also notes that these views would prevent one from getting employment in a religious studies department:

"These views are so extreme and so unconvincing to 99.99 percent of the real experts that anyone holding them is as likely to get a teaching job in an established department of religion as a six-day creationist is likely to land on in a bona fide department of biology."

[Red flags right there! ie: Tell everbody you believe Jesus existed, or you lose your job!]


Maurice Casey, theologian and scholar of New Testament and early Christianity, stated that the belief among professors that Jesus existed is generally completely certain. According to Casey, the view that Jesus did not exist is "the view of extremists" and "demonstrably false", and that "professional scholars generally regard it as having been settled in serious scholarship long ago".

[In spite of the fact that archaology can't find "Jesus"!]


Documentaries 

Since 2005, several English-language documentaries have focused, at least in part, on the Christ myth theory:

• The God Who Wasn't There directed by Brian Flemming and featuring Richard Carrier and Robert M. Price (2005)
• The Pagan Christ produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and featuring Tom Harpur (2007)
• Zeitgeist: The Movie directed by Peter Joseph (2007)
• The Hidden Story of Jesus produced by Channel 4 and featuring Robert Beckford (2007)
• Religulous directed by Larry Charles and featuring Bill Maher (2008)
• Caesar's Messiah by Joseph Atwill (2013)

Additionally: 

There is an extensive bibliography available on this Wiki link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_myth_theory

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