Caesar's Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus:Flavian Signature Edition (66 page)

160. Josephus,
Wars
II, xvii, 425

161. Josephus,
Wars
Preface, XII, 30

162. Josephus,
Wars
V, vii – footnote to vs. 272, “THE SON COMETH”

163. 2 Cor 7:6-7

164. Brian Jones,
The Emperor Titus
, St. Martin’s Press, 1984, p 152

165. Josephus,
Wars
V, I, 45-46

166. Josephus,
Wars
VII, x, 419

167. St. Augustine,
The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers
III,VII

168. Josephus,
Ant.
X, xi, 276-277

169. Josephus,
Wars
I, i, 31-32

170. Brian Jones,
The Emperor Titus
, St. Martin’s Press, 1984, p 45

171. Suetonius,
Vesp.
5

172. Daniel 9:24

173. Daniel 9:25

174. Daniel 9:26

175. Daniel 9:27

176. Josephus,
Wars
VI, ii, 93-102

177. Eusebius,
Ecclesiastical History
III, v

178. Matthew 24:15

179. Daniel 12:11

180. Josephus,
Wars
VI, ii, 93-94

181. Josephus,
Ant.
X, xi, 276-280

182. Josephus,
Ant.
X, x, 210

183. 4 Kings, 4:1–37, 42–44

184. Eusebius,
Ecclesiastical History
I, iv

185. Exodus 32:28; & II Cor. 3:16–18

186. Acts 2:41

187. Josephus,
Wars
VII

188. Josephus,
Wars
VII, ix, 395-396, 400-401

189. Joshua 5:6

190. Judges 13:1

191. Daniel 9:2

192. John 5:1

193. Josephus,
Wars
V, xiii, 567-572

194. Daniel 9:27

195. Josephus,
Wars
II, viii, 118;
Ant.
XVIII, I, 4

196. Josephus,
Wars
VII, viii, 331-333, 358-359, 387-388

197. Josephus,
Wars
VII, ix, 401

198. Josephus,
Ant.
II, xiv, 311 (Exodus 11–12)

199. John 1:29

200. Eusebius,
Ecclesiastical History,
vii. The Predictions of Christ.

201. Luke 2:1–4

202. Luke 2:7, 2:16, 2:24

203. Luke 3:10–14

204. Luke 4:18

205. Luke 12:13–21, 14:1–14

206. Acts 2:44–45, 4:32–35

207. Luke 16:14

208. See B. Qama 27 a or Gittim I, 6

209. Joseph Klausner,
Jesus of Nazareth
, p 183

210. B. Qama IV 5

211. Niddad 17a

212. Lev. R 9, Yeb II, 5

213. Joseph Klausner,
Jesus of Nazareth
, p 185

214. 4Q2469

215. Josephus,
Wars
V, x, 442-443

216. Josephus,
Ant.
XII, vi, 265-267

217. Sanh 9:4

218. Josephus,
Wars
II, xx, 566-568

219. Eusebius,
Ecclesiastical History
III, xxxii; I–VI

220. Josephus,
Ant.
XX, v, 102

221. Damascus Document, XIV

222. Community Rule, VIII

223. Damascus Document, VI

224. Community Rule, VIII

225. Robert Eisenman,
James the Brother of Jesus
, p 967

226. Robert Eisenman,
James the Brother of Jesus
, p 181

227. Josephus,
Wars
II, xvii, 409

228. Josephus,
Wars
VI, iv, 227-228

229. Josephus,
Wars
II, xvii, 447

230. Josephus,
Wars
VII, viii, 252-253

231. Josephus,
Wars
VII, ix, 398-399

232. Josephus,
Wars
I, i, 36

233. Matthew 13:55

234. Fergus Millar,
The Roman Near East
, Harvard University Press, 1993,   p 372

235. Josephus,
Wars
VI, i, 59, 63-64

236. Josephus,
Wars
VI, i, 68

237. Josephus,
Wars
VI, i, 72-74

238. Josephus,
Wars
VI, i, 75-78

239. Josephus,
Wars
VI, i, 92

240. Josephus,
Wars
VI, ii, 138-141, 147-148

241. Josephus,
Wars
VI, iv, 227-228

242. Josephus,
Wars
VI, ii, 114

243. Josephus,
Wars
VI, ii, 138-140

244. Ben Sira 48:10–11

245. 4 Kings 1:8 & 1 Kings 19:13

246. 4 Kings 2:4–15

247. Malachi 3:19

248. Matthew 3:10,12

249. Malachi 3:2

250. Josephus,
Wars
VI, viii, 404

251. John 4:7–21

252. Josephus,
Wars
III, vii, 307, 309, 312-313

253. Josephus,
Ant.
XVII, ii, 41-45

Selected Bibliography
 

Aland, Kurt, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger, and Allen Wikgren, eds.
The Greek New Testament
. 2nd ed. United Bible Societies, 1968.

Aland, Kurt, and Barbara Aland.
The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism
. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995.

Brandon, S.G.F.
Jesus and the Zealots
. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1967.

Eisenman, Robert.
James the Brother of Jesus
, Penguin Books, 1997.

Eisenman, Robert, and Michael Wise.
Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered
. Penguin Books, 1992.

Josephus, Flavius.
The Works of Josephus
. Hendricks Publishers, 1987.

Klausner, Joseph.
Jesus of Nazareth: His Life, Times, and Teaching
. Bradford and Dickens, 1925.

Millar, Fergus.
The Roman Near East
. Harvard University Press, 1993.

The New Testament, Authorized King James Version.

Tcherikover, Victor.
Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews
. Atheneum, 1970.

Wise, Michael, Martin Abegg, Jr., and Edward Cook.
Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation
. HarperSanFrancisco, 1996.

Author’s Statement

Although I discovered a revolutionary way to understand the Christian Gospels, my study of them began in a manner so classical as to perhaps be more a part of the Middle Ages than the twentieth century. I spent my youth in Japan where I attended the only English-speaking school in the country, St. Mary's Military Academy. The school was run by Jesuits so removed from the events of the modern world that they did not even consider shutting it down during World War II, and taught a curriculum that had not changed since the eighteenth century.  The majority of every one of my school days was spent studying Greek, Latin and the Bible, which for some reason I found fascinating.

Following college - where I did not study religion - I began working with one of the most renowned programmers in the world, David Ferguson. David had been granted the first two patents ever issued in computer software. I worked with David in a series of companies including Ferguson Tool Company and ASNA, of which we were the founders. After selling my interests in our companies to investors, I was able return to my earlier interest - the origins of Christianity.

Though I had drifted away from the Catholic faith, my study of Christianity never stopped. Over the course of my life I had read hundreds of books relating to the historical Jesus and early Christianity, but none of them left me feeling that I really knew anything about how the religion began or its founder.

The fact I found the most perplexing was, that at the exact time the followers of Jesus were purportedly organizing themselves into a religion that urged its members to “turn the other cheek,” another Judean sect was waging a religious war against the Romans. This group looked to a Messiah, but one who would lead them militarily. It seemed implausible to me that two diametrically opposite forms of messianic Judaism could have emerged from Judea at the same time. So I began to study the Dead Sea Scrolls.  I was hoping to learn something of Christian origins in the 2,000-year-old documents found at Qumran. To assist in my understanding of them, I also began studying the history of the era.

It was then I came across the key that led to my discoveries. While reading Josephus'
Wars of the Jews
, and his account of Titus' destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., I noticed curious parallels to stories in the Gospels.  At first I could make no sense of the parallels between Titus' campaign and Jesus' ministry. So I tried to look at the Gospels with fresh eyes, as if I had never seen them before, giving up any preconceived notions about what they meant.

This perspective resulted in the discoveries presented in this book. A Roman imperial family, the Flavians, had created Christianity, and, even more incredibly, they had placed a literary satire within the Gospels and
Wars of the Jews
to inform posterity of this fact.

My books include
Caesar’s Messiah
, Ulysses Press 2006, the best selling work of religious history in the US in 2007, and its German translation
Das Messias Ratsel
, Ulstein 2008, achieving #1 Best Seller status.  The German Magazine
Focus
published a cover article of my work:  #52 December 25, 2008.  The revised
Caesar’s Messiah – Flavian Signature Edition
was released in 2011. My upcoming book
The Single Strand
will be published by Ulstein.

I live with my wife of 25 years in California and we have two children.  I am an avid chess player and proud to state that I have more than 100 victories over Grandmasters and International Masters.

If you’d like to contact Joseph Atwill, please visit the website at
www.caesarsmessiah.com
.

Table of Contents

Title page

Introduction - A Historical Overview

CHAPTER 1 The First Christians and the Flavians

CHAPTER 2 Fishers of Men: Men Who Were Caught Like Fish

CHAPTER 3 The Myth for the World

CHAPTER 4 The Demons of Gadara

CHAPTER 5 The Flavian Signature

CHAPTER 6 Eleazar - Lazarus: The Real Christ

CHAPTER 7 The Puzzle of the Empty Tomb

CHAPTER 8 The New Root and Branch

LOCATION: Thecoe and Herodian

LOCATION: Thecoa

LOCATION: Rome

CHAPTER 9 Until All Is Fulfilled

CHAPTER 10 The Authors of the New Testament