Behind The Bible Fraud -
What Was The Church
Trying To Hide?
By Robert Adams
New Dawn Magazine.com
6-21-5

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When I first spoke to a close Christian friend of mine about the publishing of Tony Bushby's The Bible Fraud, her reaction was one that many Christians have expressed, and one that made me aghast. She didn't want the book available because it would "persuade them away from the Bible and the word of God." Further discussions with her and many other Christians around the world about The Bible Fraud all result in the Bible being quoted as the ultimate reference for the apparent "words of God," and therefore the basis for their arguments. The problem lies in that they believe the Bible is infallible.   If we examine the oldest known Bible to date, the "Sinai Bible" housed in the British Museum (I believe that, during his many years of research, Tony had a private viewing of this priceless book), we find a staggering 14,800 differences from today's Bible and yet it still remains the word of God?   As Tony points out, the history of our 'genuine' Bibles is a convoluted one. Firstly we cannot be sure that we have the full version as it was originally intended. In 1415 the Church of Rome took an extraordinary step to destroy all knowledge of two second century Jewish books that it said contained the true name of Jesus Christ. The Antipope Benedict XIII firstly singled out for condemnation a secret Latin treatise called "Mar Yesu" and then issued instructions to destroy all copies of the book of Elxai. The Rabbinic fraternity once held the destroyed manuscripts with great reverence for they were comprehensive original records reporting the life of Rabbi Jesus.   Later, Pope Alexander VI ordered all copies of the Talmud destroyed, with the Spanish Grand Inquisitor Tomas de Torquemada (1420-98) responsible for the elimination of 6,000 volumes at Salamanca alone.   Solomon Romano (1554) also burnt many thousands of Hebrew scrolls and, in 1559, every Hebrew book in the city of Prague was confiscated. The mass destruction of Jewish books included hundreds of copies of the Old Testament and caused the irretrievable loss of many original handwritten documents.   The oldest text of the Old Testament that survived, before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls" was said to be the Bodleian Codex (Oxford), which was dated to circa 1100 AD. In an attempt by the church to remove damaging Rabbinic information about Jesus Christ from the face of the earth, the Inquisition burnt 12,000 volumes of the Talmud.   In 1607, forty-seven men (some records say fifty four) took two years and nine months to re-write the Bible and make it ready for press. It was, by the order of King James, issued with a set of personal 'rules' the translators were to follow. Upon its completion in 1609, it was handed over to the King James for his final approval. However, "It was self evident that James was not competent to check their work and edit it, so he passed the manuscripts onto the greatest genius of all time... Sir Francis Bacon"   The first English language manuscripts of the Bible remained in Bacon's possession for nearly a year. During that time ... "he hammered the various styles of the translators into the unity, rhythm, and music of Shakespearean prose, wrote the prefaces and created the whole scheme of the Authorized Version. At the completion of the editing, King James ordered a 'dedication to the King' to be drawn up and included in the opening pages. He also wanted the phrase 'Appointed to be read in the churches' to appear on the title page.   The King James Bible is considered by many today to be the 'original' Bible and therefore 'genuine' and all later revisions simply counterfeits forged by 'higher critics'. Others think the King James Bible is 'authentic' and 'authorized' and presents the original words of the authors as translated into English from the 'original' Greek texts. However, as Tony points out, the 'original' Greek text was not written until around the mid fourth century and was a revised edition of writings compiled decades earlier in Aramaic and Hebrew. Those earlier documents no longer exist and the Bibles we have today are five linguistic removes from the first bibles written. What was written in the 'original originals' is quite unknown. It is important to remember that the words 'authorized' and 'original', as applied to the Bible do not mean 'genuine', 'authentic' or 'true'.   By the early third century, it became well noted that a problem was occurring . politics! In 251AD, the number of Presbyter's (roving orator or priest) writings had increased dramatically and bitter arguments raged between opposing factions about their conflicting stories. According to Presbyter Albius Theodoret (circa 255), there were "more than two hundred" variant gospels in use in his time. In 313, groups of Presbyters and Biscops (Bishops) violently clashed over the variations in their writings and "altar was set against altar" in competing for an audience and territory.   When Emperor Constantine conquered the East in 324, he sent his Spanish religious advisor, Osius of Cordoba, to Alexandria with letters to several Biscops exhorting them to make peace among their own. But the mission failed and Constantine, probably at the suggestions of Osius, then issued a decree commanding all Presbyters and their subordinates "be mounted on asses, mules and horses belonging to the public and travel to the city of Nicaea" in the Roman province of Bithymia, the country of Asia. The Presbyters were instructed by the Emperor to bring with them the manuscripts from which they orated to the rabble (that's us!) "wrapped and bound in leather".   Constantine saw in this developing system of belief the opportunity to make a combined state religion and protect it by law. The first general church council was thus convened and the year was 325.   On 21 June, the day of the Summer Solstice, (and under those cult conditions) a total of 2048 "presbyters, deacons, sub-deacons, acolytes and exorcists" gathered at Nicaea to decide what Christianity really was, what it would be, what writings were to be used and who was to be it's God.   Ancient church evidence established that a new 'god' was to be approved by the Roman Emperor and an earlier attempt (circa 210) to deify either Judas Khrestus or his twin brother Rabbi Jesus (or somebody else) had been 'declined'. Therefore, as late as 325, the Christian religion did not have an official god.   After a long and bitter debate, a vote was finally taken and it was with a majority show of hands that Judas Khrestus and Rabbi Jesus both became God (161votes for and 157 votes against). The Emperor effectively joined elements of the two individual life stories of the twin brothers into a singular creation. The doctrine of the Celtic / British church of the west was democratically attached to the Presbyters stories of the east.   A deification ceremony was then performed 'Apotheosis'. Thus the deified ones were then called 'saviours' and looked upon as gods. Temples, altars, and images with attributes of divinity were then erected and public holidays proclaimed on their birthdays.   Following the original example set by the deification of Caesar, their funerals were dramatized as the scene of their resurrection and immortality. All these godly attributes passed as a legal right to Emperor Constantine's new deity, Jesus Christ.   The Emperor then instructed Bishop Eusebius to compile a uniform collection of new writings "bound together as one" using the stories from the large collection of Presbyters as his reference source. Eusebius was to arrange for the production of "fifty sumptuous copies ... to be written on parchment in a legible manner, and in a convenient portable form, by professional scribes thoroughly accomplished in the art". This was the first mention of finished copies of a Christian 'New Testament' in the history of mankind.   As one can imagine, to condense the real life of the Jesus Christ, the Church and His teachings with supporting evidence into a short article is very difficult. It is therefore wise for those who wish to have supportable evidence to read and study Tony Bushby's epic work, The Bible Fraud, along with it's detailed blood lines (family trees) and over 869 references. (see www.thebiblefraud.com)   However, attempting to summarize what Tony has written..... in 325 AD, the first Christian council was called at Nicaea to bring the stories of twin brothers, Jesus 'the Rabbi' and Judas Khrestus into one deity that we now know as Jesus Christ. Tony says they were not born of virgin birth but to Nabatean Arab Mariamne Herod (now known as the Virgin Mary) and fathered by Tiberius ben Panthera, a Roman Centurion. The brothers were raised in the Essene community and became Khrists of their faith. Rabbi Jesus later was initiated in Egypt at the highest of levels similar to the 33rd degree of Freemasonry of which many Prime ministers and Presidents around the world today are members. He then later married three wives, one of whom we know as a Mary Magdalene, a Druidic Princess, stole the Torah from the temple and moved to Lud, now London.   Tony believes the reason Jesus stole the Torah was that he said it contained "a very special secret", which he was going to reveal that secret to the world. He was stoned to death and the Torah taken from him before he could.   The elder brother, Judas Khrestus, with his "Khrestian" followers conspired to take the throne of Rome, his royal birthright, and was captured, tried, and was sentenced to be crucified. (The "Khrestians" and the Essenic army, the Nazarenes, would today be likened to terrorists.) At the trial, Judas exercised his royal birthright to have a replacement in Simon of Cyrene (Luke 23:41) and then was sold as a slave to live out his days as a carpenter in India.   Rabbi Jesus spent a considerable amount of time at the Palace of the British in Rome and sometime around 48 AD, he left for Egypt to pursue his greatest esoteric goal. The spiritual knowledge from his secret education in the Essene and Druid movements was soon to be elevated to the highest level possible - initiation into the innermost rite of the Egyptian temples.   It was probable that Rabbi Jesus' earlier initiation into both the Essene and Druid schools played a major part in his acceptance into the Egyptian school. The Druids could claim a very early origin and the essence of their wisdom was also that of the Essenes. In the case of the Essenes, it is possible to show that their movement was specifically established to preserve secret information, for they knew and used the sacred writing of the Initiates. The full meaning of the point being made by Bushby is that in the case of all Secret Schools, the inner and ultimate Mystery was revealed only to a High Initiate.   Those who were initiated into the Ancient mysteries took a solemn oath never to reveal what had passed within the sacred walls. Every year only a comparatively few Egyptian initiations were conducted, and the number of persons who knew their secrets was never at any time large. The initiations always took place with the onset of darkness and the candidate was entranced for periods of varying length, depending upon the level of the degree for which he had entered.   The first initiatory step involved a forty-day procedure that basically involved purification, not only in physical form, but dissolving all tendencies to evil thoughts, purifying the mind as well. It appears that he would have fasted, alternatively on vegetables, juices and very special herbal concoctions.   The New Testament recorded that this happened to Rabbi Jesus who "was led into the desert.... and he fasted forty days and forty nights" (Matt. 4:1-2).   This trial period involved more than just fasting. During the forty days and nights' ordeal, Tony says the candidate was required to study astronomical charts to supplement his skills in astronomy and memorize charts of the heavens. They were also given a particular ritual from which to memorize certain passwords, secret signs and handclasps, skills that are still practiced to this day in Freemasonry.   These initiations were not limited to Egypt. The ancient civilizations inherited these Mysteries from a remote antiquity and they constituted part of a primitive revelation from the gods to the human race. Almost every people of pre-Christian times possessed its institution and tradition of the mysteries. The Romans, the Druids of Britain, the Greeks, the Cretans, the Syrians, the Hindus, the Persians, the Maya and the American Indians, among others, had corresponding temples and rites with a system of graduated illuminations for the initiates.   The modern world knows little of these ancient rites yet they were conducted in a huge variety of buildings the world over.   The 'Towers' that are found throughout the East in Asia were directly connected with the Mystery-initiations. The candidates for initiation were placed in them for three days and three nights, whenever there was no temple with a subterranean crypt close at hand.   In this aspect of the initiatory procedure, Tony points out a direct Gospel parallel with Rabbi Jesus saying, "After three days I shall rise again", for he knew the finishing process he was to undertake would take three days being a symbol of the period of time required to complete a condition of development. The ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic texts speak of an initiate as 'twice-born', and he was permitted to add to his name the words 'he who has renewed his life', so that on some ancient tomb-inscriptions archaeologists still discover these phases descriptive of the spiritual status of the deceased person.   So little did the later Gospel writers understand the initiatory process that they never perceived they were developing a story that included a Rabbi's (and Arch Druid of Britain) experience in an Egyptian Mystery School.   St Austin (c. 380) asserted that it was generally known in church circles that Rabbi Jesus had been initiated in Egypt, and that "he wrote books concerning magic". In the Gospel of Nicodemus, the Jews brought the same accusation before Pontius Pilate, "Did we not tell you he was a magician?" Celsus (c. 178) spoke of the same charge. In the Clementine Recognitions, the accusation was brought against Rabbi Jesus that he did not perform any miracles but practiced magic and carried about with him the figure of a seated skeleton.   Jewish tradition invariably asserted that Rabbi Jesus learned 'magic' in Egypt. Bushby says the kernel of this persistent accusation may perhaps be reduced to the simple historical element that Rabbi Jesus went to Egypt and returned with far wider and more enlightened views than those of his former religious associates.   Now, I'm sure that many of you are having trouble grasping some of the ideas presented in this article and I congratulate you on taking the effort to read this far. We all need to demand our local Church, the Church scholars, theologians and media make an open examination of the evidence compiled in Tony Bushby's The Bible Fraud. It may rattle some core beliefs but what is more important to you . the truth or what sits comfortably because it's what you've known all you life?   I leave you with a quote from one of the conspirators   "How well we know what a profitable superstition this fable of Christ has been for us." Pope Leo X (1513-1521)   Article first published in New Dawn Magazine No 71, March 2002     Comment Alton Raines 6-21-5   While few, even Roman Catholics, would argue that there have indeed been both Popes of questionable, if not evident rancor to the faith and to morals in history, likewise few would argue that there have been upheavals of church politics of every variety imaginable in 1800+ years, some of which has effected church function and even doctrine to this day. An imperfect church hierarchy does not ipso facto mean everything about the Lord Jesus Christ or the Bible is a lie or fabrication!   The foundation stone of Bushby's erratic, nonsensically woven tale of two Jesii is conjecture and wild imagination, at best, having a remarkably embarrassing lack of evidence and/or reference materials for any given statement or postulation. This is typical of the current rash of De-Christers who are dead set on confounding the issues surrounding who Jesus/Y'shua of Nazareth "really" was and locking that element into centuries of both real and unsubstantiated accounts of church malfeasance (some authentic, most invented, almost all irrelevant to the issue of Biblical veracity). Most such disastrous doctrinal defects wound up in 'catechisms', not holy scripture (though sadly, some to this day regard the two as equal)   "How well we know what a profitable superstition this fable of Christ has been for us." Pope Leo X (1513-1521) is a quote tossed around like a hacky-sack, but it cannot be substantiated in the least! Most research finds this quote, or a variation of it, attributed to a Carmelite who converted to protestantism named John Bale (1495-1563), a playwrite, who swore to inflict as much damage upon the Roman church as possible, and in so doing, placed this quote in the mouth of Leo X in his own writings, as represented in 'The Pageant Of The Popes,' pages 179-180 of Vol. 2 (an 1835 reprint in 2 volumes) which was a satirical piece believed to be one of many Bale productions to defame Leo X. It was written even then, regarding this peculiar excerpt, this story "has been repeated by three or four hundred different writers, without any authority whatsoever, except that of the author above referred to."   That quote aside, even if there were a pope that made such a statement, who was secretly a heretic knowing dark secrets, it by no means alters the consistent and substantial course of reasonable historic analysis which has been conducted through the centuries regarding the life, person, passion and truth of Jesus Christ, give or take a few Renaissance influences and peculiar doctrinal stances of various Christians sects down through the years, the core recognition of the essential story of Christ is backed by extant manuscripts (more than 12,000!) which literally stack neck high, whereas for often blindly accepted sources and resources of detractors and enemies of the veracity of scripture, there exists either no or little empirical data by which to authenticate. The means of properly examining both Biblical and Historic truth has been turned completely upside down. Say something enough, repeat it on enough websites, and it becomes part of the fabric of "truth."   One of the key arguments posed by the De-Christers is that the earliest known writings about the life of Christ appear far too late to be accepted as valid or accurate. They are, of course, ignoring a key reality of that time which was the oral tradition, which then far outweighed writing (Plato called writing "third hand from the truth").   Few could own or possess a Septuagint (A Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, the "Bible" of that day) or even a proper Torah (A scroll of parchment containing the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, used in a synagogue during services) in the time of Jesus; this was something only the wealthy acquired, sometimes owning only one book of the collection as every copy was painstakingly reproduced by scribes, by hand, and under the most stringent of conditions and observations, with endless proofing -- one mar or mistake would bring an entire scroll into the fire and the scribe would begin again.   But memorization and reciting of the words was the active means of distribution of the Word of God ((often times set to memory in song. Few of us can remember the full preamble to the Constitution of the United States, but almost any of us can remember verbatim the words to our favorite song), and following the death and resurrection of Christ, the 'Great Commission' of the Lord to the Apostles, to "go into all the world, teaching every creature the gospel (good news), baptizing them.." came to pass, and historical records of these teachings are replete throughout Asia Minor, evidenced by the tens of thousands of churches established upon Jesus Christ as God's only Son and Savior of mankind -- some still standing to this day or uncovered from the ruins of time and war, even as far east as India.   They 'preached' the Gospel. But Bushby would have readers believe that it wasn't until the Counsel of Nicea in 325 AD -- three generations later -- that "Christians" knew who to worship or had formulated any real doctrine whatsoever! He depicts it as a mad shambles of wild myths interwoven by a conspiratorial counsel, when in fact, the counsel was called to settle reasonable disputes of very deep intellectual, theological and rational inquiry (such as the nature of Christ, incarnate, man and God, etc) and to codify a creed and an authorized position. This was a bad thing? Only to those who have already determined that Jesus was a fraud and the Apostles were twelve of the most addle brained lunatics to have ever suffered the tortures of the damned for a myth!   Bushby would have readers believe the entire ordeal was a mad dash to 'concoct' a god. And yet, for more than three hundred years, adherents to the Gospel message as delivered by the Apostles far and wide, had established churches, with minor differences in function, ritual and doctrine, and worshiped and recognized Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of the Living God and Savior of the world. One need only glance through the writings of Paul's epistles (letters) to the churches in the New Testament to see everything was not perfect from church to church; far from it -- and he personally exhausted himself traveling from one established church to another, properly aligning them in the original tenets of the faith.   As he wrote, "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." (1 Cor. 2:1).   The Bible Fraud is just that. A fraud.       Comment Robert Alves robert_alves@yahoo.com 6-21-5   Jeff,   Still love your site man! You definitely post some interesting articles from interesting sorts.   I read the article on your site "Bible Fraud - What was the church trying to hide".   Im not a scholar.....I don't have a PHD in astrophysical whoosiwhatsits. I don't have 20 years to study the original origins of saltwater taffy.   I am a simple man with simple understandings. I have read up on some of the early formation of the church and its doctrines. Since the book ("Bible Fraud")wants to maintain a pure scientific/historical approach to events, I will try my best at some form of rebuttal.   Not for the purpose of rousing an argument, but so that the simple person and those that may be too easily swayed in their christian faith may know that there actually IS ONE single HISTORICAL account of Jesus that still exists and that is failed or at least I failed to see it mentioned.   And before I mention it, I will say....YES, I know that others will argue and try to disprove and claim the account forged. I wish I could disprove my taxes and claim them false but a written record proves them each year.   Back in the 1st century...OOOooh say a good 210-220 years BEFORE the first christian counsel in 325A.D   There was a Jewish scholar by the name of Flavious Josephus. Jospehus was charged with writing/documenting the history of the Jews. He was given access to 1st century writings, scrolls etc (the papers that no longer even exist).   In the year 93A.D, he wrote the extremely lengthy history. Taken is the following paragraphs from Josephus:   "About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease. He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared. " - Jewish Antiquities, 18.3.3 §63   So, here we have a 1st century account of a Jewish historian, who had access to the original writings, scroll, etc. Confirming what was told to us in the Book of Luke...as his writing was probably from the original scrolls.   He was more than a man He performed miracles He was a teacher He was the truth He was the Messiah He was the one foretold of by the prophets thousand of years earlier. He was condemned under Pilate He rose on the 3rd day   Again....Josephus wrote about this in 93AD, 200+ years BEFORE the 325AD Counsel. Have I read Mr. Tony Bushby's "Bible Fraud", nope and I don't plan to, (I haven't read "War and Peace" either but I hear its pretty good).   In this day and age, it still comes down to one thing. Faith.....are you strong enough to step out on that limb and simply believe that Jesus is indeed who He said He was, is...and is yet to come.   In Christ,   Robert     Comment Tim Rivera trivera@sympatico.ca 6-22-5   re. "Behind The Bible Fraud - ..." by Robert Adams, posted at http://www.rense.com/general66/hide.htm   Please forgive the length of what follows, but typically it is a much more difficult (and involved) matter to give rebuttal than it is to make assertions.   Rather than reading the pseudo-scholarly works that are all the rage on this topic (and those related to it - ala "The Da Vinci Code"), the author of this piece would have been better served to have actually read CREDIBLE sources on this topic; namely, reading the polemics/apologies which surrounded the matter discussed at the Council of Nicea (which sadly, is a favourite point of attack for enthusiastic, but terribly ill-informed new-agers and so called "free thinkers"). You'll have to forgive me if this sounds presumptuous, but I can hardly believe someone who is actually familiar with the history of this period (whether a Christian or not; religious or secular in outlook) and has read primary sources on the context in which the Council of Nicea occured, could have written such an incredibly unfortunate article.   Nicea was ultimatly decisive between two points of view, though both were underpinned by similar assumptions; those who confessed that Christ (according to His Divinity) was "homoousion" ("same essence" - orthodox view, and despite what some falsely claim, majorative before Arius's rise in popularity) and the novel, but rationalistically appealing teaching of the Alexandrian Priest Arius, that Christ was "unlike" God, though in some wise pre-existed His appearance on earth (being a demiurge, created by God the Father - a sort of arch-angel to put it plainly.) There would also arise those who for various reasons took a position that has come to be known as "semi-arianism" - the description of Jesus Christ as being "of like" or "similar" essence to God the Father. This was a comprimise position, in that it was sufficiently vague for people to continue using the same basic language while intending different things; thus some of these "semi-arians" were in fact orthodox in their beliefs about Christ, but for comprimise' sake or due to some distaste for the choice of wording used by their more uncomprimising brethren, avoided the language of "one essence" which at the time could also itself sound like a throw back to the heresy of "sabellianism" (which taught that the three Persons of the Trinity were simply "modes" or "masks" portrayed by a singular, unitarian God) which Arians and Orthodox alike regarded as a blasphemy.   I'm going through the trouble of explaining the positions of the "parties" involved in this controversy (which the Council of Nicea sought to sort out, to restore peace to the Church and the Empire) to illustrate the following point - that as much as the above was a cause of furious argument and division, practically everything apart from this was not all that "controversial" at that time. The Orthodox and Arian Christians had the same basic libraries of sacred books (particularly when it came to older materials), and both argued out of the same body of Biblical texts - no one pulled out "secret Gospels" or "secret Epistles" of which the other party was unaware. Indeed, had one entered either an Orthodox or Arian house of worship, it's highly unlikely that they would perceive an immediate difference between the two. Thus the idea that the big bad "Council of Nicea" was assembled to determine what Christianity in it's most basic sense amounts to, is ridiculous. Indeed, for many moderns (for whom "ideas" are not something important enough to get worked up over) much of the debate before, during, and after the Council of Nicea can seem tedious and like hair splitting - which round aboutly, demonstrates that what Christianity in it's basics "was", including it's sacred books (since this was what the "Bible" is - a library, not a single book), was not so controversial by the time 325 A.D. rolled around.   The author also makes another fatal error - the confounding of the Roman Catholic Church with the "Church of Nicea", and anachronistically reading the absurdities and excesses of later "Papism" upon this "Nicean Church". The fact of the matter is, those assembled at Nicea would not have recognized what the local Roman Church became in later centuries - indeed, the Bishops of Rome contemporary to that period would not recognize the "Church of the Crusades" or the pretended "infalliblity" of the 19th century Popes as her own. If you want to see descendents of "Nicene" Christianity, you'd be better off going to Greece, Russia, or Egypt, than looking to later Rome, which by their lights, represents a false, schismatic church, not the "Catholic Church" proper. IOW, for all of the pretense of open mindedness, the author has taken an extremely narrow view of the topic - and in fact, is guilty of buying into the anachronistic propaganda of the Vatican itself (which tries to present itself as the "ancient church", when in reality it's a schism from the Orthodox Church of the East, which to this day has a nominal membership in the hundreds of millions, though is largely unknown to westerners.)   T. Rivera     Comment Marcea Ray 6-22-5   I was surprised to see Robert Adam's article describing, and in support of, the Bible Fraud. I haven't researched the sources of the assertions that the author of the Bible Fraud uses as "proof" for his claims, so I hesitate to offer up an opinion, but from Adam's article, and the responses of Jack Manuelian and Alton Raines, it seems as if the Bible Fraud is yet another outrageous attempt to discredit the Bible and Christianity, but this isn't anything new or unusual, it's been going on for two thousand years now.   I disagree with Alton Raines that Jews don't ever hate Christianity. Some of them do; I personally know two Jews who have an intense hatred of Christianity, but as a Christian, I don't hate them in return.   Jews make up 2 or 3 percent of our population, yet they wield a powerful influence in this country. The top four Hollywood film studios are owned by Jews. There is rarely a film that comes out of Hollywood today (or for a long time now)that ever mentions God, religion, Jesus, or even Moses. I believe that the Jews are intentionally keeping all relgious references out of films.   But in all fairness, it's not only some Jews who are against Christianity. Occultists, Freemasons, New Agers - many of them are also against Christianity. No doubt the Bible Fraud will attract a legion of followers, but people have always been deluded by belief systems that go against God and religion.   The trick is to always check the sources of any writer's claims, but most people don't take the time to do this. They'll believe anything if it sounds credible, or fits within their own framework of beliefs.   Marcea Ray       Comment Mohamed Imtiaz 6-22-5 Dear Rense,   I am a Muslim and was very interested in reading the article "Behind The Bible Fraud - What Was The Church Trying To Hide? By Robert Adams New Dawn Magazine.com   However, after reaching where he talked about Jesus (peace be with him), I realized that Mr. Robert Adams is trying to deceive your audiences. Our source of guidance is the Quraan. We believed what has been revealed to Jesus (peace be with him) is from Allah. We also have evidences proving the Bible of today is not in its original form and has been altered. What the Muslims cannot tolerate is the blasphemy Mr. Adams is leveling against Allah's Messenger.(paragraph 20-21)   The Holy Quraan says: 1. Jesus (peace be with him) was born from virgin Mary (peace be with her). 2. Jesus (peace be with him) was never married. 3. Jesus (peace be with him) was never a thief. 4. Jesus (peace be with him) was never murdered nor crucified. He is alive and will be sent back to earth near the end of this world. There is an empty spot alongside the grave of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). That's where Jesus (peace be with him) will be buried.   Mr Rense, I would humbly request you to remove all article by Robert Adams from your website so that only truth may be said about Allah's Holy Messenger.   Yours Truly, Mohamed Imtiaz Georgia,USA.     Absolutely not, Mohamed! You may believe in censorship of the ideals, beliefs and faith of others, but we do not. You need to recognize that centuries of censorship and bloodshed to silence others has resulted in nothing but misery and the rule of mad dictators, very often in the name of God. You need to learn to patiently abide with longsuffering the opinions and views of others IN PEACE. Your views, as well as those of Mr. Adams, are welcome and valid and worthy of attention. This is not an Islamic website, anymore than it is a Christian website. ALL viewpoints are welcome. This is how people are properly educated. Now -- peace be with you! - ed     Comment Vencislav Bujic 6-22-5   My comment to Robert Alves:   The so-called "Josephus paragraph" is a forgery, there is excelent web page about paragraph and about other "non-Christian" testimony of Jesus:   http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/josephus-etal.html   Josephus (c37-100 AD)   Flavius Josephus is a highly respected and much-quoted Romano-Jewish historian. The early Christians were zealous readers of his work.   A native of Judea, living in the 1st century AD, Josephus was actually governor of Galilee for a time (prior to the war of 70 AD) ­ the very province in which Jesus allegedly did his wonders. Though not born until 37 AD and therefore not a contemporary witness to any Jesus-character, Josephus at one point even lived in Cana, the very city in which Christ is said to have wrought his first miracle.   Josephus's two major tomes are History of The Jewish War and The Antiquities of the Jews. In these complementary works, the former written in the 70s, the latter in the 90s AD, Josephus mentions every noted personage of Palestine and describes every important event which occurred there during the first seventy years of the Christian era.   At face value, Josephus appears to be the answer to the Christian apologist's dreams.   In a single paragraph (the so-called Testimonium Flavianum ) Josephus confirms every salient aspect of the Christ-myth:   1. Jesus's existence 2. his 'more than human' status 3. his miracle working 4. his teaching 5. his ministry among the Jews and the Gentiles 6. his Messiahship 7. his condemnation by the Jewish priests 8. his sentence by Pilate 9. his death on the cross 10. the devotion of his followers 11. his resurrection on the 3rd day 12. his post-death appearance 13. his fulfillment of divine prophesy 14. the successful continuance of the Christians.   In just 127 words Josephus confirms everything ­ now that is a miracle!   BUT WAIT A MINUTE ... Not a single writer before the 4th century ­ not Justin, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Cyprian, Arnobius, etc. ­ in all their defences against pagan hostility, makes a single reference to Josephus' wondrous words.   The third century Church 'Father' Origen, for example, spent half his life and a quarter of a million words contending against the pagan writer Celsus. Origen drew on all sorts of proofs and witnesses to his arguments in his fierce defence of Christianity. He quotes from Josephus extensively. Yet even he makes no reference to this 'golden paragraph' from Josephus, which would have been the ultimate rebuttal. In fact, Origen actually said that Josephus was "not believing in Jesus as the Christ."   Origen did not quote the 'golden paragraph' because this paragraph had not yet been written.   It was absent from early copies of the works of Josephus and did not appear in Origen's third century version of Josephus, referenced in his Contra Celsum.   Consider, also, the anomalies:   1. How could Josephus claim that Jesus had been the answer to his messianic hopes yet remain an orthodox Jew? The absurdity forces some apologists to make the ridiculous claim that Josephus was a closet Christian!   2. If Josephus really thought Jesus had been 'the Christ' surely he would have added more about him than one paragraph, a casual aside in someone else's (Pilate's) story?   In fact, Josephus relates much more about John the Baptist than about Jesus! He also reports in great detail the antics of other self-proclaimed messiahs, including Judas of Galilee, Theudas the Magician, and the unnamed 'Egyptian Jew' messiah.   It is striking that though Josephus confirms everything the Christians could wish for, he adds nothing not in the gospel narratives, nothing that would have been unknown by Christians already.   3. The passage is out of context. Book 18 starts with the Roman taxation under Cyrenius in 6 AD, talks about various Jewish sects at the time, including the Essenes, and a sect of Judas the Galilean. He discusses Herod's building of various cities, the succession of priests and procurators, and so on.   Chapter 3 starts with a sedition against Pilate who planned to slaughter all the Jews but changed his mind. Pilate then used sacred money to supply water to Jerusalem, and the Jews protested. Pilate sent spies among the Jews with concealed weapons, and there was a great massacre.   Then comes the paragraph about Jesus, and immediately after it, Josephus continues:   'And about the same time another terrible misfortune confounded the Jews ...' Josephus, an orthodox Jew, would not have thought the Christian story to be 'another terrible misfortune.' It is only a Christian who would have considered this to be a Jewish tragedy.   Paragraph 3 can be lifted out of the text with no damage to the chapter. It flows better without it. Outside of this tiny paragraph, in all of Josephus's voluminous works, there is not a single reference to Christianity anywhere.   4. The phrase 'to this day' confirms that this is a later interpolation. There was no 'tribe of Christians' during Josephus's time. Christianity did not get off the ground until the second century.   5. The hyperbolic language is uncharacteristic of the historian:   '... as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him." This is the stuff of Christian propaganda.   REALITY CHECK In fact, the Josephus paragraph about Jesus does not appear until the beginning of the fourth century, at the time of Constantine.   Bishop Eusebius, that great Church propagandist and self-confessed liar-for-god, was the first person known to have quoted this paragraph of Josephus, about the year 340 AD. This was after the Christians had become the custodians of religious correctness.   Whole libraries of antiquity were torched by the Christians. Yet unlike the works of his Jewish contemporaries, the histories of Josephus survived. They survived because the Christian censors had a use for them. They planted evidence on Josephus, turning the leading Jewish historian of his day into a witness for Jesus Christ ! Finding no references to Jesus anywhere in Josephus's genuine work, they interpolated a brief but all-embracing reference based purely on Christian belief.   Do we need to look any further to identify Eusebius himself as the forger?   Sanctioned by the imperial propagandist every Christian commentator for the next thirteen centuries accepted unquestioningly the entire Testimonium Flavianum, along with its declaration that Jesus "was the Messiah."   And even in the twenty first century scholars who should know better trot out a truncated version of the 'golden paragraph' in a scurrilous attempt to keep Josephus 'on message.'     Comment Alton Raines 6-22-5   Further than the oft disputed quote of Josephus, there is other evidence Jesus existed. There is the inscription of Pontius Pilate (http://www.bible-history.com/empires/pilate.html) which tells us the Gospels are accurate in naming him the Governor of Judea when little or no reliable historical data exists for this small time procurator of then obscure little Judea. There is also now the discovery of an ossuary found in Jerusalem bearing the inscription, "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus" written in a cursive form of Aramaic used only between 10 to 70 A.D, and the ossurary itself has been dated to around 63 A.D. -- Josephus records that James was stoned to death as a heretic in A.D. 62. Which is also auxiliary evidence, for if there were no Jesus to begin with ( or some strange confusion over many Jesii existed ) the latter evidence of James as head of the earliest Christian sect in Jerusalem would make little or no sense in the historical annals of Josephus! (duh) (http://www.wordnews.org/archaeology_mag_ points_to_evidence_of_Jesus.2002.htm). There is also this extremely contemporary (to Jesus' time) historical record that just about details the entire Christian story in one swoop, written by Cornelius Tacitus (55-120 AD), writes concerning the Nero's attempt to divert blame directed at him for the burning of Rome: "Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular."   It doesn't seem to matter to the skeptical nay-sayers that the New Testament scriptures remain the most attested historical documents in all of antiquity, outweighed by none, with more than 12,000 extant manuscripts which jibe letter for letter and with dot and tittle in perfect order and place. These same people however will run with a complete acceptance for a myth or legend for which exists but one far removed copy of the time (if they are lucky) with no externally corroborating artifacts or evidences, and build a whole new paradigm around it. I think it reveals the innate prejudice against holy scripture, which comes not from healthy skepticism, but from a sinful nature squirming in torment under the light of divine truth.     Comment Horst 6-23-5   Dear jeff and all interested readers at Rense.com,   there is no doubt that the Bible has been rewritten many times during history. Nevertheless when reading the gospels one can find some things Jesus reportedly said, the significance of which obviously escaped the censors. I have a 'concordant' translation of the bible. This is a sometimes quite difficult to read text with many references to the 'original' greek version. I wish to cite two sentences of great wisdom i found in this book, which have become the basis of my faith:   Once an apostle asked him 'are you truly the son of God?' and he answered 'we all are the children of God.' (there are many places where he himself denied -expressedly or implied - being more than just human)   Close to the end of his time on earth he said the most important thing of all 'I shall destroy the temple and build a new one INSIDE YOUR HEARTS' (!!!)   If you have God in your heart you don't need any church - if you don't have Him in your heart you will not find Him anywhere! Having Him within you obviously you can talk to Him whenever you wish - and more often than not HE WILL ANSWER if you only listen. I believe a forest or a mountain are the best places to worship Him. Nature is His house - churches have been built by humans!   peace and love Horst     Comment Matt Vooro 6-24-5   Dear Jeff   I enclose my comments with respect to some of the points raised by this article .   THE BIBLE   It is the purpose of any great religious institution to guide its followers to discover the God presence within themselves by connecting with their own Spiritual Soul and then through their Soul, contact the Creator Spirit. The dogma, ritual and magnificent buildings can be helpful only if they support this primary purpose. One can conclude from the words of the great teachers whose teachings are the foundations of some of the mainstream religions of today, that it was not their intention to start yet another religion. It was their intention to point the way during a time when we had forgotten our true nature and had lost our spiritual identity. They were the 'way showers' and they asked not to be defied personally but for us to honor the God Force only. Even Paul's main objective was to organize and record the teachings of Jesus and not to start yet another religion. Subsequent to the passing of these great spiritual teachers, their spoken words were partly written down and often misquoted and modified. Ultimately the dogma and ritual became the new religion and the purpose of the original teaching became again lost. Today the words of the ancient writers and teachers are interpreted literally rather than through the meaning behind the words and the symbolism that they represent.   The bible is a collection of ancient writings going back thousands of years. To some degree it describes the history of man. It provides in allegory, prophecy, law, epistle, parables and poetry, the belief system of the Christian faith. The specific books included in the bible were cherry picked out of many similar books. Once Christianity became a state religion, various changes and deletions were made in 325 AD during the first Council of Nicea. These changes continued well into the 12th Century. Entire books were rejected including books that included topics like reincarnation and the multi-dimensional nature of man, his soul and his spirit. All topics, which were in conflict with the official state views, were simply rejected whether they were true or not. The fact that we are all sons and daughters of the Holy Spirit and that we can all achieve Christ Consciousness as Jesus had done, did not fit the state controlled belief system even though this was the real message of Jesus. From that time on the teachings changed from people teaching themselves to worshipping the man Jesus who would forgive them their sins. Whereas the original Christians were told that they were responsible for everything that they did, suddenly they were told that Jesus came to die for their sins.   During the first three hundred years of its history Christianity was a relatively minor religious movement and was often persecuted. The political transformation of Christianity began with the West Roman Empire and the conversion of its ruler Constantine 1 the Great to Christianity. It was he who convened the Council of Nicea, which created the Nicene Creed, which made the belief in Jesus as the cornerstone of the new state belief system. Constantine was the first to Romanize Christianity and with it set up an oppressive regime to control the masses with serfdom and feudalism. At the end of the 4th Century, the East Roman Emperor made Christianity the official state religion. This was made official in 380 AD by the Edict of Theodosius. Christianity really received its big boost from this official Roman act rather than through any massive popularity of its teachings. Constantine also ordered the burning of what remained of the Alexandrian Library. A campaign of genocide followed to speed up the process of conversion. By the 6th century death penalty came into effect for heresy and paganism. What followed were the dark ages of religion throughout Europe and the middle East as the teachings of the bible were flaunted by the ruling religious leaders to keep them in power over the people. Access to the bible was limited to the very select until the printing process became a reality. Even then the church restricted the interpretation and use of the bible. The coronation of Charlemagne by a pope in 800 AD was the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire and led to yet further conflicts between state and the spiritual powers, which continue to this day.   Today, the bible can be read at many levels including the outer or literal meaning and the inner or real meaning. The recent revelations about the apparent secret code within the Hebrew version of the Old Testament have offered new credence to this belief. Some have even suggested that there are at least seven levels of understanding of the bible depending on your spiritual evolvement.   It is sad to watch how some religious institutions that only teach the letter of the law or the literal meaning of the words. The great teachers of their time spoke in vocabulary and symbolism that could be more easily understood by the people of their time. For example, bad spirits were often portrayed as the cause of illness. Overcoming the bad spirits was the key to self -healing. Today we need no longer use these same symbols, as we now understand some medicine and science. We now know that constant negative states of mind and emotions can make us very ill. The bible also taught that God created heaven and earth in only six days. Today with modern science we know that this was a symbolic way of telling about periods of time that were too vast for the people of that era to comprehend. The bible taught that ' the meek shall inherit the earth', meaning that we create our own reality by our strongest beliefs and strongest fears. Those who believe and act in violent ways will ultimately perish by their violent ways. Constantly planning new wars and new weapons whether for defense or offense will attract to us the very object of our mental focus. When we kill others we really kill ourselves. Those who believe in peaceful ways will find themselves not touched by war and violence to the same degree and will eventually survive both in body and spirit. The Bible also taught us that, Thou shall not kill. Yet many churches including some mainstream Christian faiths openly support pre-emptive wars of choice [like Iraq] and capital punishment. A few are acting more like state religions, wanting to control every aspect of their follower's life, telling them how to vote rather than guiding the people to discover God within themselves. Another disturbing thing that has been happening is that even though the bible teaches that we are made in the image of God, we seem to have remade God in our own flawed image. Accordingly if we accept the bible books literally, God seems to judge us, acts vindictive, angry, vengeful, blesses wars and regularly practices ethnic cleansing to support the ancient Hebrew race. There is a true Creator but we still need to discover who these other ancient lesser gods were.   So how should we read the bible? One of the most meaningful ways is to read the words of Jesus only. Did Jesus ever teach anyone to fear God, or that we are all born in sin or to take an eye for an eye or to justify the killing of others pre-emptively?   Jesus stated ---'-thou shalt love the Lord thou God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this; Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these'.   Some of our religious institutions are literally holding their followers in a time warp that is several thousand years old. They not only ignore modern science and medicine but also new spiritual understanding and revelations. When did our church last teach us anything new about the magnificence of our multi-dimensional soul or spirit? Have they ever explained during their service what a soul really is and how to communicate with our soul? Christ Consciousness is something that every individual can achieve and not only Jesus. One does not need a middleman to communicate with ones own God presence within, our Soul. This was Jesus' real message. Churches can help but ultimately we need to find this Spirit within ourselves.   Some Bible critics claim that biblical story of Jesus is a collection of old myths which were resurrected around the story of Jesus during the Roman Empire to help stop the various religious wars in the various parts of the their empire. These critics point to many similar myths associated with Horus of Egypt, Mithra of Persia, Krishna of India, Promethus of Greece and many others. Many of today's sacred holidays were already pagan days of worship before the time of Jesus. Perhaps all great past teachers struggled under similar circumstances in order to get their message across.   Others have difficulty in accepting some sections of the bible that:   1] Teach its believers to fear God rather than love god 2] Teach that God requires animal and blood sacrifice 3] Tell that God waged ethnic cleansing by supporting a certain race only which was the so called "chosen people ' 4] Tell that God openly waged and supported war and killing 5] Portrayed God as angry, jealous, emotional and revengeful 6] Placed women lower than men     Some critics feel that these sections were the actual teachings of that time but the God referred to in these sections were gods spelled with a small 'g' or other powerful entities who pretended to be God. The people of that time did not know any different and referred to all these as God. Perhaps various cosmic races interacted with man during those times.   Perhaps parts of the real story of Christ's life on earth are somewhat different from the story told in the Bible. Perhaps the complete and true story is yet to be revealed. Perhaps Christianity is not yet ready for the truth. Sometime the myth becomes stronger than the truth and the people refuse to accept the truth even when they are shown it.   Despite all these controversial issues about the real bible story, it remains as one of the greatest classic spiritual books and an important religious guide. However, It is best for us all to read as many other spiritual and faith based books as possible so as to get a more balanced and more complete view of spiritual teachings. Eastern faiths can teach us more about our soul and reincarnation. Our Native spirit teachings can tell us more about man's relationship to nature and Mother Earth. No single book, author or faith has a monopoly on all spiritual truths. There are new spiritual truths coming out today that that will form the bibles of the future. The Spirit of Christ did not leave us with the ascension of Christ nearly 2000 years ago but is among us even today.   Matt Vooro     Comment Alton Raines 6-24-5   I've never understood why some people have a hard time reconciling the God of the Old Covenant and the God of the New, as though they were different. Jesus repeatedly pointed to the Torah and prophets as valid and literal. He never distanced himself from it in any respect. The real difference was announced on his first day of his ministry, when he entered the synagogue and took up the scroll of Isaiah and read:   "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the favorable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:18)   No big mystery. The favorable year of the Lord had begun with Him. A New Covenant was in the making. The Old Covenant served its purpose, and Jesus often spoke about the passing of the old and the coming of the new, saying "You do not put new wine into an old wineskin, lest it burst" -- Jesus declared that he was the very God of the Old Testament record. When Jesus said "Believe on me," he was not asking people to believe he was Jesus of Nazareth, or even just The Messiah, but that he was the very Lord-God of scripture in human flesh. He is the Lord which met with Moses on Sinai. He is the Lord which met Gideon and guided him. He is the 'active' WORD/LOGOS who not only created the world itself (John 1:1-5) but was the plural agent we see in Genesis when God says, "Let US make man in our image, in our likeness, that he might be like ourselves." The Father and the Son. Jesus explains this to the people reminding them that David said "The Lord said unto my Lord," showing them that God the Father was distinct from "The Lord" - adonai - which is Christ, both pre-incarnate and incarnate, and now post-resurrection, eternally deified man, the Second Adam of a New Creation. Jesus says boldly, "No man at any time has seen God (The Father) or known his form, but the Son," -- Even Adam never saw The Father. He saw his creator, Christ, the pre-incarnate LORD.   The 'God' of the Old Testament, which some see as vengeful, wrathful, cruel and warlike is this same divine being, The Christ, The LORD. It was his finger which carved the tables of the law in stone. It was his finger than spelled out MENE MENE TEKEL PEREZ at the feast of Babylon summing up the demise of the evil kingdom. It was his power which parted the Red Sea and it was his Spirit that was the Skekinah glory which appeared between the two cherubim of the Ark of Covenant, and his voice which spoke. And that first Covenant was 'the ministry of death,' for by the law came the knowledge of sin and death. But at the incarnation, the favorable year of the Lord began and remains to this day -- all power has been given to the Son and in His name salvation and blessing is made manifest. For He made himself a sacrifice for sins, once for all, the perfect sacrifice -- ending the obligatory blood sacrifice of animals and nailing to the cross the many decrees of the law of Moses which are a hinderance to those who would receive Christ by grace through faith (for they were added because of transgressions). The same God of righteous wrath and fury, Jesus Christ The Lord, is returning to this earth to execute judgment upon the whole inhabited planet, and to bring salvation and righteous judgement to the earth and the resurrection of dead.   Jesus did indeed teach us to fear God! "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna fire." (Matthew 10:28). And Mary said, "His mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation." (Luke 1:50) Jesus said the scriptures (then, the Torah and prophets) spoke of him and declared him, for he was the same Lord God.   "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he says, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." (Hebrews 8:12)   Comment Matt Vooro 6-25-5   Reference to one of the reader's recent comments that claimed that Jesus taught us to fear God based on what Jesus actually said. My version of the Bible states [King James Version]" And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell [Matt. 10:28]   There is an entity in charge of hell and I do not think Jesus was referring to his Father. This a good example how some well meaning people quote and interpret words literally and miss totally the intent and spirit of Jesus's teaching.   Aristotle said it well when he said "No one loves the man whom he fears "Heinrich Himmler on the other hand said "Many may not love us, but all shall fear us" There are many fear based systems that the current world is trying to eliminate. The same cruel and fear based systems existed during the time of Jesus. Jesus's whole message was that we are to care for another .   Matt Vooro     Comment Alton Raines 6-25-5   Matt -- The fear of God as expressed in scripture is not sadistic fear, but awestruck fear and recognition of God's sovereign power and holiness contrasted to our sinfulness. It is written, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever." Psalm 111:10. And "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7 And "But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would (have) none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD..." Proverbs 1:25.   It is also written, "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the forward mouth, do I hate." Proverbs 8:13 And "The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil." Proverbs 19:23   Even the thief on the Cross had this understanding, rebuking his fellow thief who was also dying, saying, "Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?" Luke 23:40 In Matthew 23 we see Jesus warning and condemning the Pharasees, who had no fear of God and who abused their positions of authority -- how can anyone read this passage and not see the elementary teaching of the fear of God?   "For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Hebrews 10:30 The totality of Jesus' ministry shows he taught 'the fear of God,' he quoted the Proverbs and Psalms continually and authorized the words of the scriptures -- we cannot pick and choose which we accept and which we reject. All who encountered God, even in the presence of angels, were said to be "filled with fear and trembling." Only a fool has no fear of God.   "Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off." Romans 11:20 "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." Revelation 14:6 Also, the context of both passages of the Gospels where Jesus speaks of fearing "him" who can destroy both body and soul in "hell" clearly is contrasting God, who is all powerful, and Satan who is not. I know of no "entity" mentioned in scripture who is in "charge" of "hell" other than God himself. Only God has the power to destroy a soul in hell. Satan himself is consigned to that very same destruction. Aristotle was speaking of fallible human beings and the tyranny of men. God is neither. I love God. I fear God. And that is what Jesus was saying -- don't fear man, or Satan, who can only destroy the body, but fear God, who has the power to consign you to destruction both body AND soul in hell (Gehenna, in this passage -- an Aramaic term which references the burning trash heap outside of Jerusalem which was often used as a picture of the final hell, or 'lake of fire,' in the valley of the sons of Hennom, where in times past there was the practice of ritual human sacrifice in fire to the pagan god Molech).     Comment Matt Vooro 6-26-5   Thurman Fleet , the author of Rays of the Dawn, The laws of Body, Mind and Soul said it well when he said " Fear is the antithesis of love . It is based upon a lack of confidence and apprehension of danger," He also said "Fear is our greatest enemy with all of the evils of doubt, uncertainty and appred, which will burn and cause him harm to the body if not properly handled. Much later, the emotion of fear was used as negative control tool by negative beings to control and manipulate others. Today only totalitarian societies, terrorists and dictators teach their followers with fear and use it to control the people.   Despite any words in the Old Testament section of the Bible to the contrary, I sincerely believe that neither our true Creator nor the Christ Spirit has ever asked mankind to fear God. It makes no sense. The Creator only asks us to love him and revere the God Force in all things by honoring and respecting all life forms not just human. You do not need to fear what you already revere and love. Yet today there are still pockets of belief who believe otherwise and they are entitled to their beliefs. This is the basis of our democratic society, which allows each of us to have our unique opinion about life and religion. I respect that differing opinion. even though I choose to disagree. One needs to read the bible with a sense of inner spirit, some common sense and modern understanding and not just quote words literally, out of time and context. We have evolved a little both spiritually and mentally even though we periodically take a few backward steps.   I conclude my comments on this topic. Good discussion topic ,Jeff.   Matt Vooro     Comment By John Bannister CEO Joshua Books 6-27-5 Have we been told lies of monumental proportions?   As the CEO of Joshua Books, publishers for Tony Bushby's "The Bible Fraud", "The Secret in the Bible" and "The Crucifixion of Truth", I felt it was time that I weighed in to the current debate on the Rense site started by the Robert Adams, article "Behind the Bible Fraud What was the Church Trying to Hide?" (See also "The Endless War Between Christ-Haters and Christ-Lovers" by Jack Manuelian)   I am grateful for all the opinions expressed and that goes for the brickbats as well as the bouquets. After all, we knew that Tony's trilogy would have to lead to controversy as these books challenge so many of our core beliefs. In my opinion, they not only challenge them but also prove most of them to be downright wrong.  If Tony is only half right about the fraud and deception that he exposes, we have been told lies of monumental proportions, lies that have bought so much misery and pain to our planet.   Recently I was at an Expo promoting our books when a young Christian lady in her mid-twenties approached me and she asked to buy a copy of "The Bible Fraud". She explained to me that she doubted if reading the book would change her beliefs but she did want to see both sides of the story before making up her mind as to where she stood. What a common sense approach!   The reason that I tell this story here is that this young woman was at least prepared to read the book before taking a position. I am amazed that the vast majority of those who criticize and/or condemn Tony's three books have never even read them!!   Allow me to share with you a few facts about the author Tony Bushby.  Firstly, he has spent at least 20 years in full time research on the subject matter of his books and he is constantly travelling to different parts of the globe in search of new Truths.   Some years ago, a written introduction by an Australian Prime Minister opened doors overseas for him with the trustees of a large European museum subsequently allowing him exclusive access to rare biblical manuscripts in their archival library.   To quote Tony  "during that time, I had some extraordinary experiences in being introduced to wonderful, old archival libraries and some extraordinary material that is not freely available to the public in fact at one stage, I actually lived in an old archival library for ten weeks and slept on a mattress on the floor."   He chooses to live a reclusive almost cloistered life, somewhat like Howard Hughes, and even I, as his publisher and representative, never have a permanent address to contact him. I know that Tony fears for his life simply because he has had the courage to expose the "Sacred Cows" of this world. I will never forget a rare dinner conversation we had on one of the few occasions each year that we get together. I asked Tony how he can do all the research and uncover so much material by himself. He said it is as thought he is guided to the information he needs to write in his books.   I know of one centre in London that has checked over 100 reference points in "The Secret in the Bible" and they could not find one flaw.   When I look at the praise for a fiction work like "The Da Vinci Code" (and a damn good read it is), I simply cannot understand why factual works such as "The Bible Fraud", "The Secret in the Bible" and "The Crucifixion of Truth" have not also sold in the millions. Having said that, I have witnessed the reluctance of some booksellers to stock these titles in case they might upset the establishment. Our so-called free press has often declined to review these books much for the same reason.   Finally, I wish to say that I believe our role as publishers and distributors of challenging books is to present to the reader a point of view which he or she has the right to know about. After all, this is fact not fiction and this is exactly what Jeff does with Rense.com   Any thinking man or woman needs to read Tony Bushby's works before accepting without question those so-called Truths that can lead us to a life of fear and dependence.   Can these books change history? I believe they can.   http://www.joshuabooks.com http://www.joshuabooks.com/bushby/index.htm     Comment By Kieth Norman 6-28-5   Jeff -   Robert Adams is FINALLY Jewish..God bless him and all who sails in him..... and I thought this fellow Welshman was dead and buried a long time ago...Did I not attend his Christian funeral ???   "I told Pearl that I wanted to become a Jew. "I had decided to stop being not-a-Christian and to become not-a-Jew," Adams says. "I am a Jewish non-believer. I believe they call it "conversion to practical sayanism"..Just there to help no matter the crime..Bring 'em on...but don't forget the $$$. http://news.surfwax.com/religion/files/Calvinist.html   Bobby, as he is known in religious circles, a 69+ year old English teacher of fire and brimstone Welsh Calvinists Stock has converted to Judaism..Yep, he happen to visit Israel sometime ago and Lord behold...bingo, he is finally in the $$$$$..something that Bob has strive for...for generations...   Excellent Welsh accented english speaker, reminiscent of the old politicals... Lloyd George, Aneriun Bevan and the politician that most US congressmen love to plagiarized ...Neil Kinnock.   However(always one of these)...Numerous and unequivocal historical facts seemed to have nonchalantly been rejected by Bob Adams without the slightest inclination in reading what is known as TRUTH.   It is quite evident that Bob cannot understand his native tongue(Welsh).. His liability in not having access to the many Old Briton(Old Welsh) transcripts and parchments spilling out of the Jesus College Oxford achives unfortunately keeps him in the 'un-layered' critic" category..He is no historian even in the wildest imagination.   The Britons at that time spoke an older form of Welsh(Cymru)..not Old English(Germanian)..yet it can be understood by any 3rd year modern day Welsh college student..It is most likely that Robert was "swayed" when Bushby induced a 'seniors moment' and posited that Jesus "LIVE IN" and was "KING OF BRITAIN"[Prydain-aka Wales]and was, paraphrasing, actually "The KING of the Silures[now Glamorgan] and FATHER of Caradoc[Caractacus]" ...the Welsh King of the Silures at that time.   This is how they, Bushby and his cohorts would provide spin on a simple passage from Tacitus, who they most certainly researched and who probably became an annoying yet dead thorn in their side Tacitus Annals(12.36)..."His fame had spread thence, and travelled to the neighbouring islands and provinces, and was actually celebrated in Italy. All were eager to see the great man, who for so many years had defied our power. Even at Rome the name of Caractacus was no obscure one; and the emperor, while he exalted his own glory, enhanced the renown of the vanquished. The people were summoned as to a grand spectacle; the praetorian cohorts were drawn up under arms in the plain in front of their camp; then came a procession of the royal vassals, and the ornaments and neck-chains and the spoils which the king had won in wars with other tribes, were displayed. Next were to be seen his brothers, his wife and daughter; last of all, Caractacus himself. All the rest stooped in their fear to abject supplication; not so the king, who neither by humble look nor speech sought compassion. "   It is called in the British Royal Horse Artillery ...R.B.F.F.E (Range Before Fire For Effect)   Firstly extract "...the emperor, while he exalted his own glory, enhanced the renown of the vanquished.."   Just remember that ACCORDING TO Bushby ,Tiberius is Emperor when Caradoc is Judas-ed by the Queen of the Brigantines (a Brit Tribe)..We must not forget that Bushby also says that "KING Jesus" was the FATHER of Caradoc[ Caractacus]and that Tiberius was JESUS' father....So Caradoc would be Tiberius's grandson and hence the extract and the acceptance of THAT PART of Tacitus's passage..It fits into a sub-script that one of the other comedy writers was probably writing.   Bushby in his book offered the tentative quote that Caradoc was captured "about 37AD" ...Tiberius's life ended in 37AD..Tiberius died quietly in a villa at Misenum on 16 March A.D. 37...Just this hesitation and simple Bushby ignorance indicates what Bushby is trying to express/lie, that ALL OF THE ROMAN HISTORICAL BOOKS(not just the religious books) written are wrong.   Tacitus and his contemporaries were very much in agreement in WHO was on first base,WHAT was on second and WHY was coming up to bat..They know who was/is ruling them......But Bushby not forgetting our Bobby Adams, wants to Bushingnistickly(try to lie)tell students and children that the Romans were a bunch of codswallop...There are a hundred and more instances where Bushby applies this rule of relationship corruption so that the few good research academics we have would have much difficulty in sketching out any genetic "family tree"..For it is very difficult to disapprove anything THAT HAS NO REFERENCE BASE...and they know it.   Caractucas(Caradoc) was captured by Caesar Claudius in 51 AD..14 years after Tiberius kicked the bucket..and ALL the Roman Historians at that time agree...Caradoc's daughter married into the Claudius Dynasty(see below)..It is interesting in that Bushby and Adams uses the name 'Caradoc' which is the Welsh of the Latinised 'Caractucas' which Tacitus uses....Very Very interesting.   Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus aka CAESAR CLAUDIUS aka Claudius, met a mysterious death in 54AD..Do you think that Bushby and his motley crew of vagabonds may have got the "Tiber's" mixed up..Only Caesar Caligula separated them..Suddenly then there evolves TWO TIBERIUS'S which is consistent with the general sickness of this book(sic...really sic) Do you remember the TWO CHRISTS..the twins of father Tiberius..One a Marlon Brando type character and the other reminiscent of Ghandi...DOUBLE EXPOSURE should have been the name of this Book.   Tacitus even had something to say about the Christians Tacitus(Annals 15..44) on the burning of Rome by Nero himself...(pre Bush 43 commissions and gone astray Downing Street memos of course) "Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular..."   This is the very SAME Tiberius that Bushby says is JESUS' REAL FATHER..A real father/son relationship..eh..(stop laughing out there)..   Do you get the impression that maybe Tacitus was doing a NY Times/Washington Post evasive stunt...Not liking the Christians and covering up the reports that were festering in the courtyards of the Senate..His son had over 150 scribes,so there would be a lot to distribute and read..There were no "Judith Millers" walking the prostituted corridors of power then..At least I don't think so.   At this point,one can envisage Publius Cornelius Tacitus (circa AD 41-10?), a premier Roman historian in that first century and son-in-law to Agricola the( Legatus Augusti Pro-Praetore)Procurator and Governor of Britain from AD77 to 84, turning over in his grave and looking for his reliable pen and parchment..or a keyboard with high speed connection.   Tacitus..(Annuls...12.33) "The army then marched against the Silures, a naturally fierce people and now full of confidence in the might of Caractacus, who by many an indecisive and many a successful battle had raised himself far above all the other generals of the Britons. Inferior in military strength, but deriving an advantage...et al"..   ...In the same book ,Tacitus outlines the 'shock and awe' that Romans and particularly the Senate showed when Caradoc [Caractacus] enters their city..but no throwing of flowers apparently.   Indeed Caradoc was a Christian and every Welsh Historian(and many English) knows that Caradoc(Caractucas) had spent 20 years in the Briton Druidic teaching schools(as did many Roman future leaders and scholars) and became King after HIS FATHER .. "BRAN"..It is quite obvious that Adams and Bushby have never been to the Oxbridge (Oxford/Cambridge) University Libraries.   As previously indicated,Caractucas(Caradoc) was captured (a Welsh Judas) by Caesar Claudius in 51 AD and with his family taken to Rome for trial...Caractacus(Caradoc) defense before the Senate apparently was so brilliantly "Churchillian" that the Roman leaders praised him and accepted and treated them (in ROME)as Royalty...   Yet Adams and Bushby gives capture quote "about 37AD"..Now why would they do that in tentative fashion,knowing that their book life span is approximately 3 to 9 months before the REAL Historians 'crucify' their attempts at basic Religious History...That is sufficient time to become a millionaire I suppose...again,Tiberius died quietly in a villa at Misenum on 16 March A.D. 37   Please Note!... This current Rense article By Robert Adams was first released in March 2002. with New Dawn Magazine   In Timothy 2 ( 4.1) Paul the apostle greets four people, three of whom are Linus, Claudia and Putens......Linus and Claudia(Gladys in Welsh) are Caradoc's son and daughter and Putens is a Roman Senator/Soldier(a USA oxymoron no doubt) and Claudia's husband....When you read Bushby's corrupted version, the same linkages are similiar but he changes all the names and his date-ology goes out of the window..What Bushby and Adams may not know is that Puten and Claudia's palatial home is still standing today ...The Royal Court of Caractacus..."Palatium Britannicum".....I have been inside it....   When Paul arrived in Rome he was quite astonished to find that Christianity was flourishing around the Royal Court of Caractacus..   What Bushby and Adams undoubtedly realise, is that to get attention one MUST create CONFLICT..The years that Bushby has spent splicing things together can occupy the mindset of a capable (say) Archeologist for several months...Bushby most certainly understands that he has cut across more than 40 other fields of scientific and historical sciences with a cheap blunt chainsaw..areas that he is totally incompetent in and moreover, would know not where to start..So what is the AGENDA of Bushby and Adams...is it $$$..maybe..   I think it is more related to the warring religious politics of our time...Think on that, please....I believe that the messengers and not the message is the signifying aspect of this discussion...Possibly this may be one instant where one does not totally follow the money trail??...Money is cheap and it hides itself when POWER is being sought.   I honestly believe that Bushby was only one of at least 10 comedy script writers that were summoned together to compose(for ABC Aust.) an Australianised serial script based on Monty Python's BBC writings of the 60' and 70's...Possibly a modified "Life Of Brian" and as a bonus "The Dead Sea Parrot Scrolls"....Adams is just a semi false flag and will sacrifice himself should they ask...When you read the book(don't buy it) ,that is the very first impression one gets.. It is a " Python skit"   One should be aware that Adams in his review of the book submits none of Bushby's referencing to any of his statements..You have to buy the book What was his cut you may ask 5%..7%...9% ???   Adams comments "The Rabbinic fraternity once held the destroyed manuscripts with great reverence for they were comprehensive original records reporting the life of Rabbi Jesus"...What is this I see...Rabbi Fraternity...Great Reverence...Life of Rabbi Jesus "??..Yet today's Talmud is full of hate and retribution and nasty things that go bump in the night when the Rabbis just think of Jesus..What went wrong then??.   Of course...we should have realised that the Rabbis were a little steamed after all those nasty Popes burnt their frequently up-dated and amendable Torah Bibles.."The Talmud" ..and changed their biblical scripting style to that of pornographic posturing.   Bushby's genealogical researched family trees are an assault to the human intelligence..It is at this point that one can see the agenda..Upset and annoy(lie to) not just the Clergy but also ALL the Historians,Archeologists(including Acharya) Paleontologists,Anthropologists....et al....Do a "Rumsfeld"...Shock and awe and all those lies..It has a proven track record.   I have no use for many of these same Academics that have lied(a Bushism) and stolen the Culture,Religion and Historicity of the Welsh-Cymru (Britons) and Scots(Picts and the Irish Scooti Tribes) and most certainly will not put up with another modernised charlatan grasping greedily for the almighty Dollar..albeit Australian..The further we compose and print religious historical books from ground zero..0 AD..the bigger the lie(modified Bushism)..Today's events should verify that observation.   Tony Bushby is indeed a mysterious individual(unless this Godless book was written by THEE other Godless couple"Tony and Bush)....   Using Goggle just to assimilate a word association relationship in all articles and writings on the Net ..we get   1..."Tony Bushby"..1380 hits (99% relating to this particular book) 2..."Tony Bushby" Jew...37 hits 3..."who is Tony Bushby......4 hits   From these results one could conclude that indeed Tony Bushby is not very well known and the Publisher "Pacific Blue Group Inc." is maximizing the exposure of this book but little or NOTHING is known about Bushby even on the distributors website Joshua Books...Publishing a religious book about Judaism and Christianity, one would think that the term "JEW" would throw out thousands of references..Not so..only 37 hits..Think about that.   Adams throws as a last salvo for Bushby .."How well we know what a profitable superstition this fable of Christ has been for us." Pope Leo X (1513-1521) "   The referencing to this statement is at the most extremely weak and absolutely deniable....John Bale (1495-1563),...initiated the quote as pointed out by an apologist 92 years later The apologist, J.P.Holding, found it in a piece of fiction written by John Bale...J.P.Holding searched whatever was available, but alas could not find anything to verify the quotation.. It is not in the writings of Pope Leo X......So Bobby and Tony eats a lot of crow here...However they have already upset a lot of folks...Moreover, Bushby would put Bush to shame.   Mel .G and the New Testament apostles keeps on warning the people of the different guises that these 'satanic' sayanims will emulate so as to corrupt,smear and destroy that which is good in people.   This book is at least 3 years old..and they still push it under those noses that think Christianity ,however corrupted by the Clergy, is far better than anything else brought forward in the last 2000 years...Christianity is under constant attack and it still survives...There must be truth there..It is for the believer to weed out the planted lies and myths before Bushby,Adams and their ilk corrupts the children with satanic verses of everything evil and wrong.   For those who "really understands" the Bibles go to http://www.wisechurch.com/erroradamsfive.html and 'feel' what it is like to be on the end of the wrath of a Pastor by the name of "Wise" who challenges Robert Adams to a religious duel....Adams has yet to reply.   Wish I had the space to perform a complete rebuttal of this Godless creation of a book..However,sharing is the Christian(personally-up to 157AD) thing to do...Thou shalt not covert thy neighbours space...for I am confident that many more members of the Rense Site will reply to Adams and Bushby's abominated annals..and for that we should be grateful.   Peace   Kieth Norman (WelshBrit) Canada   P.S. - I am a Research Sci-Engineer..a layman and Christian(up to 157AD) and not an historian...But I have no trouble in identifying other laymen.       Comment From Jerry Kirkegaard 6-28-5   Hello Jeff -   This will be very short and to the point. I have not read Adams book and do not plan to. I have read the Bible. One thing I know is you have to have a OPEN MIND and question every thing. Regarding these comments one thing is for sure people today do not have a clue of todays World or much less the ancient World Just because they read it some where it does not mean it is factual or fiction.   All you need is faith God or what ever name you wish to worship him by   Respectfully   Jerry

 

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