Monday, September 10, 2012

Was Paul of the Bible an Agent of Rome?

Paul grew up in Greece around the pagan mystery cults, but when he reached adulthood Paul moved to Jerusalem.  The Paul of history was a much different man than Christians have made him out to be.  The historians of Paul's day described him as a ruthless Roman assassin, a persecutor of the followers of the way, and a close member of Herod's family. Paul's training wasn't in Judaism it was in paganism, and this shows through very clearly in Paul's thirteen New Testament letters.  Many of Paul's verses were copied directly from pagan writings that existed hundreds of years before Paul was even born, Paul just changed the words of these pagan writings to fit his new audience.  Paul knew that his new gospel would spread very quickly amongst the pagans, because they were already familiar with these writings.  Paul laid the foundation for his twisted doctrine.
Paul and the Roman government controlled people by giving them what they wanted to hear.  But in the end 'physical' Rome was blown straight to hell never to rise again, and as for 'Paul' more and more people are being freed from his false teachings every single day.  From James The Just and Simon Peter holding a trial against Paul at the church of the Ephesus 2000 years ago (Rev 2:2), to Thomas Jefferson ripping Paul's books out of his Bible, more and more people are beginning to see the truth about this conman that pretended to be an angel of light.



The cohort is called out - no fewer than six hundred men -and Paul, in the nick of time, is rescued, presumably to prevent civil upheaval on an even greater scale. Why else would the cohort bother to save the life of one heterodox Jew who'd incurred the wrath of his fellows? The sheer scale of the tumult attests to the kind of currency, influence and power the so-called 'early Church' must have exercised in Jerusalem at the time - among Jews!

Clearly, we are dealing with a movement within Judaism itself, which commands loyalty from much of the city's populace.

Having rescued him from the incensed mob, the Romans arrest Paul - who, before he is marched off to prison, asks permission to make a self-exonerating speech. Inexplicably, the Romans acquiesce to his request, even though the speech serves only to further inflame the mob. Paul is then carried off for torture and interrogation. As was asked previously, interrogation about what? Why torture and interrogate a man who has offended his co-religionists on fine points of orthodoxy and ritual observance?

There is only one explanation for the Romans taking such an interest - that Paul is suspected of being privy to information of a political and/or military nature.

The only serious political and/or military adversaries confronting the Romans were the adherents of the nationalistic movement - the 'Zealots' of popular tradition. And Paul, the evangelist of the 'early Church', was under threat from those 'zealous for the Law' – forty or more of them in number - who were plotting to kill him, vowing not to eat or drink until they had done so.

Saved from this fate by his hitherto unmentioned nephew, he is bundled, under escort, out of Jerusalem to Caesarea, where he invokes his right as a Roman citizen to make a personal appeal to the emperor. While in Caesarea, he hobnobs in congenial and intimate fashion with the Roman procurator, Antonius Felix. Eisenman has emphasized that he is also intimate with the procurator's brother-in-law, Herod Agrippa II, and with the king's sister - later the mistress of Titus, the Roman commander who will destroy Jerusalem and eventually become emperor.3

These are not the only suspicious elements looming in the background of Paul's biography. From the very beginning, his apparent wealth, his Roman citizenship and his easy familiarity with the presiding establishment have differentiated him from his fellows and from other members of the 'early Church'. Obviously, he has influential connections with the ruling elite.

How else could so young a man have become the high priest's hatchet man?

In his letter to the Romans (16:11), moreover, he speaks of a companion strikingly named 'Herodion' - a name obviously associated with the reigning dynasty, and most unlikely for a fellow evangelist. And Acts 13:1 refers to one of Paul's companions in Antioch as 'Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch'.

Here, again, there is evidence of high-level aristocratic affiliation.4

Startling though the suggestion may be, it does seem at least possible that Paul was some species of Roman 'agent'. Eisenman was led to this conclusion by the scrolls themselves, then found the references in the New Testament to support it. And indeed, if one combines and superimposes the materials found at Qumran with those in Acts, together with obscure references in Paul's letters, such a conclusion becomes a distinct possibility. But there is another possibility as well, possibly no less startling.

Those last muddled and enigmatic events in Jerusalem, the nick-of-time intervention of the Romans, Paul's heavily escorted departure from the city, his sojourn in luxury at Caesarea, his mysterious and utter disappearance from the stage of history - these things find a curious echo in our own era. One is reminded of beneficiaries of the 'Witness Protection Program' in the States. One is also reminded of the so-called 'supergrass phenomenon' in Northern Ireland. In both cases, a member of an illicit organization - dedicated to organized crime or to paramilitary terrorism - is 'turned' by the authorities.
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/scrolls_deadsea/deadsea_scrollsdeception/scrollsdeception16.htm

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