By Tony Bushby | From NEXUS Magazine (https://www.nexusmagazine.com) | June-July 2007
https://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/doc_view/11-the-forged-origins-of-the-new-testament (https://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/doc_view/11-the-forged-origins-of-the-new-testament)
Excerpts
... the Gospel of Mark in the Sinai Bible carries the "first"story of Jesus Christ in history, one completely different to whatis in modern Bibles. It starts with Jesus "at about the age of thirty" (Mark 1:9), and doesn't know of Mary, a virgin birth or mass murders of baby boys by Herod. Words describing JesusChrist as "the son of God" do not appear in the opening narrativeas they do in today's editions (Mark 1:1), and the modern-dayfamily tree tracing a "messianic bloodline" back to King David isnon-existent in all ancient Bibles, as are the now-called"messianic prophecies" (51 in total). The Sinai Bible carries a conflicting version of events surrounding the "raising of Lazarus",and reveals an extraordinary omission that later became the central doctrine of the Christian faith: the resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ and his ascension into Heaven. Nosupernatural appearance of a resurrected Jesus Christ is recordedin any ancient Gospels of Mark, but a description of over 500words now appears in modern Bibles (Mark 16:9-20).
Despite a multitude of long-drawn-out self-justifications by Church apologists, there is no unanimity of Christian opinion regarding the non-existence of "resurrection" appearances in ancient Gospel accounts of the story. Not only are those narratives missing in the Sinai Bible, but they are absent in the Alexandrian Bible, the Vatican Bible, the Bezae Bible and an ancient Latin manuscript of Mark, code-named "K" by analysts.They are also lacking in the oldest Armenian version of the New Testament, in sixth-century manuscripts of the Ethiopic version and ninth-century Anglo-Saxon Bibles.
The Church claims that "the resurrection is the fundamental argument for our Christian belief" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farleyed., vol. xii, p. 792), yet no supernatural appearance of a resurrected Jesus Christ is recorded in any of the earliest Gospels of Mark available.
... narratives from the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharata), appear verbatim in the Gospels today (e.g., Matt. 1:25, 2:11, 8:1-4,9:1-8, 9:18-26), and why passages from the Phenomenon of the Greek statesman Aratus of Sicyon (271–213 BC) are in the New Testament. Extracts from the Hymn to Zeus, written by Greek philosopherCleanthes (c. 331–232 BC), are also found in the Gospels, as are 207 words from the Thaisof Menander (c. 343–291), one of the"seven wise men" of Greece. Quotes from the semi-legendary Greek poet Epimenides (7th or 6th century BC) are applied to the lips of Jesus Christ, and seven passages from the curious Ode of Jupiter (c. 150 BC; author unknown) are reprinted in the New Testament.
Professor Bordeaux's Vatican findings ... reveal the allegory of Jesus Christ derived from the fable of Mithra, the divine son of God (Ahura Mazda)and messiah of the first kings of the Persian Empire around 400BC. His birth in a grotto was attended by magi who followed astar from the East. They brought "gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh" (as in Matt. 2:11) and the newborn baby was adored by shepherds. He came into the world wearing the Mithraic cap,which popes imitated in various designs until well into the 15th century. Mithra, one of a trinity, stood on a rock, the emblem of the foundation of his religion, and was anointed with honey. After a last supper with Helios and 11 other companions, Mithra was crucified on a cross, bound in linen, placed in a rock tomb and rose on the third day or around 25 March (the full moon at the spring equinox, a time now called Easter after the Babylonian goddess Ishtar). The fiery destruction of the universe was a major doctrine of Mithraism—a time in which Mithra promised to return in person to Earth and save deserving souls. Devotees of Mithra partook in a sacred communion banquet of bread and wine, a ceremony that paralleled the Christian Eucharist and preceded it by more than four centuries.
"It is amazing that history has not embalmed for us even one certain or definite saying or circumstance in the lifeof the Saviour of mankind ... there is no statement in all history that says anyone saw Jesus or talked with him. Nothing in history is more astonishing than the silenceof contemporary writers about events relayed in the four Gospels."(The Life of Christ, Frederic W. Farrar, Cassell, London, 1874)
"We must frankly admit that we have no source of information with respect to the life of Jesus Christ other than ecclesiastic writings assembled during the fourth century." (Codex Sinaiticus, Dr Constantin von Tischendorf, British Library, London)
There is an explanation for those hundreds of years of silence: the construct of Christianity did not begin until after the first quarter of the fourth century, and that is why Pope Leo X (d. 1521) called Christ a "fable" (Cardinal Bembo: His Letters...,op. cit.).
About the Author:
Tony Bushby
c/- NEXUS Magazine, PO Box 30,Mapleton Qld 4560, Australia, fax +61 (0)75442 9381.
"The Criminal History of the Papacy", was published in NEXUS 14/01–03. Tony is the author of several books: The Bible Fraud (2001; reviewed in NEXUS 8/ 06 with extracts in NEXUS 9/01–03), The Secret in the Bible( 2003 ;reviewed 11/02; extract, "Ancient Cities under the Sands of Giza", in 11/03); The Crucifixion of Truth(2005; reviewed 12/02)and The Twin Deception(2007; reviewed 14/03). These books are available from NEXUS offices and from Joshua Books, http://www.joshuabooks.com (http://www.joshuabooks.com).