The Real History of Christianity (Part 2)

The Bible is only a selection of works. It has been subjected to drastic editing and revision. One omission from the Gospel of Mark, which gives a different account of raising Lazarus from the dead, depicts him as calling out from the tomb, never having been dead in the first place. After which, the passage reads:


And going out from the tomb they came into the house of the youth, for he was rich. . . and in the evening the youth comes to him, wearing a linen cloth over his naked body. And he remained with him that night. (Holy Blood, Holy Grail 321)

Clement freely acknowledge the existence of the secret Gospel of Mark. In a letter to one of his underlings, a man identified only as Theodore, Clement writes in regard to people who criticize Church writings:”Even though they should say something true, one who loves the truth should not, even so, agree with them” (Holy Blood, Holy Grail 319)

On no subject has the world been more blinded or deceived than that of the church's portrayal of the character and integrity of the presbyters. “In the early days, the New Testament was oral. During that time, the presbyters were beggared entertainers of the public, and nothing more" (The Bible Fraud 165). For the first 300 years, the church had no organization and the clergy had no special title. They were called presbyters. The word originally meant 'old man' and when it was simplified into Old English it was changed to 'preost' which today is 'priest'.

The three presbyters credited with the founding of the church were Irenaeus (115-202), Clement of Alexandria (160-215) and Tertullian (160-210). In The Canon of the Bible, Professor Samuel Davidson said of all of them:


The three presbyters of whom we are speaking had neither the ability nor inclination to examine the genesis of the documents. . . No analysis of their authenticity and genuineness was seriously attempted. . . The ends which they had in view, the polemic motives, their uncritical inconsistent assertions, their want of sure data, detract from their testimony. . . The very arguments they use to establish certain conclusions show weakness of perception. (The Bible Fraud 166)

The presbyters could not agree about which stories or writings should be publicly spoken. The scandals of their debates were embarrassing to the later church and many records of these deliberations were suppressed. One of them, Eusebius (260-339) is on record saying 'It is an act of virtue to deceive and lie, when by such means the interests of the church might be promoted'.

One of the most vocal critics was Celsus, who wrote a book called 'True Discourse' which was destroyed by the Fifth Century Church. He wrote:

“They openly declared that none but the ignorant were fit to hear their discourses and that one of their rules was ‘let no man who is learned come among us’. They never appeared in the circles of the wiser and better sort, but always took care to intrude around themselves among the ignorant and uncultured, rambling around to play tricks at fairs and markets.” (The Bible Fraud 170).

Toward the end of his life, St. Augustine confessed that Christianity was ‘a religion of threats and bribes unworthy of wise men’. Ironically he is called ‘Doctor of the Church’.