An Alternate Theory of the History of Christianity
Chapter 6: Theories of the History Christianity involving Fraud & Fiction
Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia

""It is, I think, expedient
to set forth to all mankind
the reasons by which I was convinced
that the fabrication of the Christians
is a fiction of men composed by wickedness.

Though it has in it nothing divine,
by making full use of that part of the soul
which loves fable and is childish and foolish,
it has induced men to believe
that the monstrous tale is truth."

--- Emperor (360-363 CE) Flavius Claudius Julianus
"Against the Galileans" remains of the 3 books,
excerpted from Cyril of Alexandria, Contra Julianum (1923)"

Introduction

The following index and notes represents a number of related theories
of history in respect of the origins of christianity which consider
in their formulation the notion of fiction or fraud.

There is a valid distinction between people who believe that Christianity


• started with an historical savior in the 1st century (mainstream HJ)
  
• started with a mythical saviour in the 1st century (mainstream MJ)
  
• started with a fictional construction by a political schemer in the 4th century. (FJ)

  The resource is focussed on the final category, involving fiction and fraud.
  This index is by no means compehensive.

  For a summary schematic and introductory discussion of the theory space
  in which both historical and mythical Jesus theories coexist, see this page.

  PRF Brown
  EDITOR
  MOUNTAIN MAN GRAPHICS

• Emperor Julian's Invectives Against the Galilaeans" (c.362 CE)
  Within forty years of the Council of Nicaea, we have the emperor Julian writing the following:
  ""It is, I think, expedient to set forth to all mankind
  the reasons by which I was convinced
  that the fabrication of the Galilaeans
  is a fiction of men composed by wickedness.

• Jean Hardouin (1646-1729)
  From Bossuet to Newman, Owen Chadwick, Second Edition, Cambridge, 1987 (1957):
  In a work of 1693 he hinted; in a work of 1709 he affirmed; in posthumous works of 1729 and 1733 he shouted—a bewildering but simple thesis. Apart from the scriptures—that is the Latin scriptures—and six classical authors, all the writers of antiquity, profane or ecclesiastical, were forged by a group of writers in the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries. This group of forgers he never defined or discussed, but always referred to them generically as 'the impious crew', 'maudite cabale'.
  Comment: The Referees Report from the Editor of the Journal of Hellenic Studies , October 2007 has made reference to this theory in assessing the "Constantine Fabrication Theory" without regard to the way I use C14 dating citations, which immediately refute Hardouin's theory.

  
  
• Edwin Johnson's "Antiqua Mater: A Study of Christian Origins" (1890)
  Edwin Johnson (1842-1901) was a recognised English historian, who is best known for his radical criticisms of Christian historiography. His above work was published anonymously in 1887, and a second work “The Pauline Epistles: Re-studied and Explained" was published in 1894. Both are available in full on the net. The following quote is from Antiqua Mater, where Johnson is referring to the author of the original "Ecclesiastical History" (period to 325 CE), Eusebius Pamphilus of Caesarea:
  "This unknown monk pretends to be a man of research
  into very scanty records of the past
  ... [...] ...
  He is not a man of research at all,
  except in the sense in which many novelists and romancers
  are men of research for the purposes of their construction.
  This writer is, in fact, simply a theological romancer,
  and only in that sense can he be called an historian at all".

• Joseph Whelas's "Forgery in Christianity (1930)

  This book is available on the net in full. Whelas writes:

  The compelling proofs of duplicitous fraud of priestcraft and Church exposed in this book must convince even the most credulous and devout Believer, that the system of "revealed religion" which he "drew in with his mother's milk" and has in innocent ignorance suffered in his system ever since, is simply a veneered Paganism, unrevealed and untrue; is a huge scheme of priestly imposture to exploit the credulous and to live in power and wealth at his expense.

• Dr. R. W. Bernard's Apollonius of Tyana the Nazarene (1964)
  This publication is online in full at this site. The author outlines the:
  "fraudulent replacement of the original religion of Apollonius
  by the "new" religion of the Church of Rome which took place
  at the Council of Nicea in the year 325 CE.

  The author then goes on to explain ...

  The word "new" here is significant. It clearly indicates that at the beginning of the fourth century, Christianity, as created by the Council of Nicea, was indeed a new religion, and was preceded by the religion established by Apollonius three centuries previously, which may be more properly called Essenism, a form of Neo-Pythagoreanism in character, the new doctrines which Apollonius brought from India and introduced among the Essenes, which gave rise to the new sect known as the NAZARENES or THERAPEUTS, whose doctrines were essentially Buddhist in nature.) Since this date humanity has been led astray. It is the purpose of this book to correct this historic error and to bring humanity back to the truth, so that, purged by the recent suffering, mankind once more will return to the true scientific path of natural, healthful and humane living taught by the great Pythagorean philosopher, Apollonius of Tyana, nearly two thousand years ago.

• Hermann Detering's "THE FALSIFIED PAUL - Early Christianity in the Twilight" (1995)
  This book shows that all the Pauline letters are all 2nd-Century fabrications, Catholically redacted from Marcionite gnostic dualist-god original versions.

• PRF. Fernando Conde Torrens' "Simon Opera Magna" (2005) [nb: SPANISH]
  Catalan professor of the University of La Rioja claims that the entire four books of the NT are late fabrications of Eusebius of Cesarea in the IV century. He found proof not outside the texts themselves but inside, where he found hidden signatures and acrostics that supposedly prove his assertion.

  PRF Torrens claims that the emperor Constantine "ordered" the gospels. They were allegedly written by one person, a man called Eusebius of Caesarea, Constantine's loyal servant, who actually signed thousands of manuscrits with the name SIMON ...for a total of 4500 to 5200 signatures...

  Note that the publications appear in Spanish, and no English translations of the work appear to be avalable as at August 2006.

• Joseph Atwill's Caesar's Messiah - The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus (2005)
  According to Atwill, the Gospels are not accounts of the ministry of a historical Jewish Jesus compiled by his followers sixty years after his death. They are texts deliberately created to trick Messianic Jews into worshipping the Roman Emperor 'in disguise'. The essence of Atwill's discovery is that the majority of the key events in the life of Jesus are in fact satirical: each is an elegant literary play on a military battle in which the Jewish armies had been defeated by the Romans. This is an extraordinary claim-but supported by all the necessary evidence.

• Francesco Carotta's Jesus was Caesar - On the Julian Origin of Christianity – an investigative report (2005)
  Julius Caesar, son of Venus and founder of the Roman Empire, was elevated to the status of Imperial God, Divus Julius, after his violent death. The cult that surrounded him dissolved as Christianity surfaced.

  A cult surrounding Jesus Christ, son of God and originator of Christianity, appeared during the second century. Early historians, however, never mentioned Jesus and even now there is no actual proof of his existence.

  On the one hand, an actual historical figure missing his cult, on the other, a cult missing its actual historical figure: intriguing mirror images.

• Jay Raskin's "The Evolution of Christs and Christianities" (2006)
  Jay Raskin presents a number of interesting themes, observation and hypotheses, commencing with his first chapter, entitled "Eusebius the Master Forger. He introduces what he terms, the "Eusebius' Tell, by which the author identifies a writer's quirk, or nuance, in the literature of Eusebius. Raskin analyses the use of this Eusebius' Tell, in the writings of Eusebius, and in the writings of other authors of antiquity, who are - in theory - being quoted by Eusebius.

• R.G. Price's Jesus Myth Spectrum and Jesus Myth - The Case Against Historical Christ

  
  R.G. Price in his online works elaborates an analysis of the field by means of framing a spectrum of historical possibilities that may also be translatable as "a spectrum of belief" surrounding the orthodox "Tetrarchy of Gospels":

  
  .

  

  A Spectrum of Historical Possibilities ...

  (1) The Gospels are inerrant and absolutely historically true. Jesus is the Son of God who was predicted by the Hebrew scriptures, who came to earth in human form, was born of a virgin, preached, and was crucified by Pilate, then rose from the dead and now sits on the right hand of God. The Gospels are historical eyewitness accounts or based on solid eyewitness accounts.

  (2) The Gospels are generally true but somewhat exaggerated accounts of a real Jesus who had a following of people who thought he was the Son of God. He wasn't born of a virgin and didn't walk on water or perform miracles or rise from the dead, but the Gospels reflect his true teachings and the basic events of his life, and he was crucified by Pilate. The Gospels come from eye witness accounts mixed with a little legend.

  (3) The Gospels are generally true but somewhat exaggerated accounts of a real Jesus who was influential in the region. He may or may not have really been crucified by Pilate. He was later mythologized and elevated in status. The Gospels come from eye witness accounts mixed with legend.

  (4) The Gospels are mostly fabricated stories inspired by a real Jesus. The Gospels come almost entirely from legends and scriptures, but are still loosely based on the actions of a real Jesus whom we don't know very much about.

  (5) The Gospels are mostly fabricated stories inspired by a real person or persons from a spectrum of time, perhaps from events as far back as 200 years before the supposed life of Jesus. Over time stories were put together that cobbled various political events and persons into a single "Jesus Christ" figure. The events and teachings in the Gospels are mythologized, but based on real-life events that took place over time and were done by a person or various people. The Gospels come almost entirely from legends and scriptures, but are still based on the actions of some real people, without which the story of Jesus would never have come into existence.

  (6) The Gospels are completely fabricated stories based on scripture, legends, and the mystical beliefs of existing Jewish cults. There is no human figure at the center of the Gospel stories at all. The Gospels were generally written in the same manner that most scholars claim, during the late 1st century to early 2nd century, but there is no person at the core of them, whether all of the writers themselves knew it or not.

  (7) The Gospels are completely fabricated stories based on pagan myths about figures such as Dionysus and Mithras. The Gospels were written by directly mixing Jewish and non-Jewish religions and beliefs into stories that borrow from both traditions. The meaning of the Gospels has been largely lost and generally has little to do with Judaism.

  (8) Pious Forgery

  "The Gospels are completely fabricated stories that were intentionally crafted to deceive people, and there is no historical person at their core. The Gospels were really written anywhere from the 2nd century to the 4th century and much of early Christian history has been fabricated. The writers of the Gospels knew that there was no Jesus and the whole crafting of the religion was part of a political tool by Roman Emperors or others of a similar kind.

  The above introduction by R.G. Price to the "lowest of the low" theories concerning the historical Jesus will serve as introduction to a theory which names the fabricator as the "Lord God Caeasar and 'Pontifex Maximus' Constantine, and his Editor-In-Chief and Historical Romancer Researcher Eusebius of Caesarea.

  
  

Mountain Man's "Constantine Fabricated Christianity in the 4th century --- for Gold and Absolute Power" (2005)

The new and strange ROMAN religion is created out of the whole cloth by Constantine in the fourth century, as a means to control, regulate and administer his newly acquired Eastern empire with effect from the Council of Nicaea. It's implementation was planned for at least 10 years, for the time Constantine became supreme, and could deal personally with any form of controversy which might arise as a result.

The entire Graeco-Roman priesthood - the "Sacred College of the Pontifices" - could rightfully have consider themselves utterly redundant. Constantine did not want any other authority in the empire other than his own. He therefore supported a Jewish "Holy Writ: so that he could rightfully make the entire Graeco-Roman priesthood redundant. They would not need their temples and shrines and they would not longer use them for any business. They would not need the temple gold and silver and bronze and treasure and art and statues -- and so Constantine ordered his army to plunder the temples.

Constantine was a gangster. He had no regard for the Greek civilisation. He was only interested in two things. GOLD, so that he could continue to pay the army, particulalry the barbarian chieftans who lead it, and ABSOLUTE POWER which ended up corrupting him just like the Twelve Caesars presented by Suetonius.




"Where you have a concentration of power in a few hands,
all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control
. History has proven that. All power corrupts;
Absolute power corrupts absolutely" --- [Lord Acton]

Index | Author's of Antiquity | Mountain Man Graphics