The Real History of Christianity (Part 3)

St. Jerome, a transvestite who was taught to read and write Hebrew by an old monk, was paid a large sum of money in A.D. 382 by Pope Damasus to reword and restructure the Bible, which later became the Vulgate Bible. He was commissioned for this task despite being accused of heresy for preferring to read Pagan literature.

The presbyters had strange beliefs. They believed in the Phoenix, and Clement said that he saw it. Origen not only believed in the Phoenix, but he insisted that the sun, moon, and stars were living creatures who were rational because they moved across the sky. He argued that because stars could only be seen at night, the air was populated by demons. St. Justin Martyr believed in demons and said that they were the offspring of angels who had sex with the daughters of men. He went on record saying that the insane were possessed by the souls of the wicked who had died in sin, and claimed that this possession was proof of the immortality of the soul. Theophilius claimed that the pain of childbirth and the fact that snakes slither on their bellies is proof of the story of Eden. Tertullian believed that the hyena changed sex, and that the stag renewed its youth by eating poisonous snakes. He also taught that volcanoes were the openings of hell. They also thought that the Garden of Eden was not on earth.

The presbyters of the Second, Third, and Fourth centuries developed the Christian texts. The earliest version of the Gospel of Mark had no mention of Mary or the virgin birth, or any of the prophesies about a Messiah. It did not have the term “Son of God”, and it did not contain the family tree which links Jesus to King David. In it, Lazarus was alive when Jesus came to him in the tomb. It also did not contain any story about any resurrection.

Rabbi Ebion authored the Gospel of the Hebrews (Essenes). The presbyters had a copy that they falsified and later named the Gospel of Matthew. Rabbi Ebion’s document was the original Hebrew language version of the Matthew Gospel, and there are some alarming differences. Most notably, it did not contain the first two chapters that are read today. It likewise has no story of any resurrection, no family geneology of jesus, not any Old Testament references to Jesus fulfilling prophesies. The Catholic Encyclopedia now states that the first two chapters of the Gospel of Matthew were added in the Third Century. The earliest form of the Gospel of John, like that of Luke and the others, do not have the story of the virgin birth. In A.D. 374, St. Epiphanius listed 118 passages where the later Gospels differed from earlier manuscripts.

Many of the earliest texts that were written that were originally included in what would become the New Testament were later removed and suppressed, like the Gospel of Peter. It was said to have contained heresy.

Emperor Constantine ordered all presbyters to attend a council in Nicaea in 325, and they were to bring with them their manuscripts. The council, over which he presided, was to decide what Christianity was, and which writings were to be used. It was at this council that it was decided to preach that Jesus was divine, not just a man. This was a bitter debate. Arius from Alexandria, and his followers, argued against the notion. Nicholas, whom the Santa Claus myth is based on, was so enraged at Arius that he punched him. Arius was later poisoned. The whole affair became so violent that Constantine called on the army to restore order. After a process of elimination whereby surviving representatives were permitted to vote, Jesus became a god by a vote of 161 against 157.

Constantine instructed Eusebius to compile a uniform collection of writings from the collection of presbyters’ manuscripts, with the instruction “make them to astound!” This was the first Christian New Testament. Constantine decrees that these were to be considered the “words of God”. Constantine proclaimed Jesus to be the “Prince of Peace” although that title was originally bestowed on Augustus. The New Testament was also to be bound with the Old Testament to give the appearance of combining the two religions. Constantine then ordered that anyone possessing the earlier manuscripts should be beheaded instantly. E also sent Joseph of Tiberias to Jerusalem to construct a small temple over the site of a cave that was to he referred to as the birthplace of Jesus. He offered bribes for influential people to accept the new creed.

Constantine issued edicts forbidding other sects to hold meetings, and many were put to death. After the council of Nicaea, various records were forged to establish that Jesus was a historical personage. One such fabrication was inserted into the writings of Josephus (which has long since been exposed). No such passages were found in any copy of the works of Josephus prior to Eusebius.

It should be noted that Constantine drowned his wife in boiling water and killed his son, which is hardly the way that Christians like to depict him.