Pious Forgeries We have already demonstrated that the gospels themselves were forgeries. For a document to be called a forgery requires nothing more than having false attributions which clearly includes the gospels. These documents by anonymous authors were attributed to Matthew, Mark, John and Luke even though it is clear that had these individuals actually existed, they would have been long dead by the time that the gospels were actually written. These attributions' were first made by, the Bishop of Lyon, Iranaeus c 185 CE. Even though Justin Martyr, c 150 CE, quotes extensively from this same material he knows nothing about these attributions. History knows nothing more about an Apostle Paul than it knows about a crucified savior named Jesus Christ. We have already demonstrated that there was no such person as the Apostle Paul, therefore the Pauline Epistles also fall into the category of forgeries. This category of forged scriptures also includes the admitted forged 2Peter and the Epistle of Jude, and in all probability 1Peter. Christian Dietary Law - Early Christians were vegetarians as was the real founder of the religion Apollonius. First century archaelogical excavations of the catacombs clearly indicate that there was no reference to a crucified savior with the founder of Christianity being depicted as a person who loved animals and abstained from both wine and meat. According to the fifth century Bishop of Hippo, St. Augustine, "those Christians who "abstain both from flesh and from wine" are "without number".—St. Augustine, "On the Morals of the Catholic Church 33." Even the author of the Vulgate St. Jerome was a vegetarian. Therefore the question is, Why were the followers of a wine drinking, meat eating religious icon like Jesus vegetarians? I think the answer is simple. These people were not following a religious icon by the name of Jesus Christ, but one by the name of Apollonius. So, how can we have Paul, an individual created by the Church who supposedly lived during the first century, making statements like: "One man hath faith to eat all things: but he that is weak eateth herbs."—Romans 14 Vs. 1-2 "But him that is weak in faith receive ye, yet not to doubtful disputations. "One man hath the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils, Through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving: "For it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer."—1 Timothy 4 Vs. 1-5 "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day: —Colossians 2:16 After the Nicene council, certain "correctors" were appointed whose task it was to rewrite the scriptures, omitting all that pertained to vegetarianism and abstinence from alcohol. This is indicated in the following statement by Archdeacon Wilberforce, who writes: "Some are not aware that, after the Council of Nicea, A.D. 325, the manuscripts of the New Testament were considerably tampered with. Prof. Nestle, in his `Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the Greek Testament,' tells us that certain scholars, called `correctores,' were appointed by the ecclesiastical authorities, and actually commissioned to correct the text of the Scripture in the interest of what was considered orthodoxy." Christianity on Marriage - Christians are led to believe that their religion is a continuation of Judaism, but it is perfectly clear from Jewish texts that the Jews were polygamists. So, why would you have Jesus supporting the Roman view on marriage by stating: "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."—Mark 10:9. This is clearly another case of 'Pious Forgery' as the gospels tell us of no instance that Jesus had anything to do with the Roman aurthorities or Roman law. Yet, we have Jesus supporting the Roman and not Jewish view of marriage. Perhaps there was no individual more committed to lying than the earliest Church Father of the Catholic Church Eusebius. "We shall introduce into this history in general only those events which may be useful first to ourselves and afterwards to posterity."—Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 8, chapter 2. However, Eusebius was not alone when it came to deceiving the faithful. His successor St. Jerome who was a true believer and spent the early portion of his life hiding from the devil states: "How it may be Lawful and Fitting to use Falsehood as a Medicine, and for the Benefit of those who Want to be Deceived." These deceptions along with book burnings may go unnoticed by Christians today, but they are clearly referenced in the following quote: "Every trace of the old philosophy and literature of the ancient world has vanished from the face of the earth."—John Chrystostom Eusebius and Jerome were not the only ones who relished deceit. "Not all true things are the truth, nor should that truth which merely seems true according to human opinions be preferred to the true truth, that according to the faith."—Clement (quoted by M. Smith, Clement of Alexandria, p446) "Do you see the advantage of deceit? ... For great is the value of deceit, provided it be not introduced with a mischievous intention. In fact action of this kind ought not to be called deceit, but rather a kind of good management, cleverness and skill, capable of finding out ways where resources fail, and making up for the defects of the mind ... And often it is necessary to deceive, and to do the greatest benefits by means of this device, whereas he who has gone by a straight course has done great mischief to the person whom he has not deceived."—Chrysostom, Treatise On The Priesthood, Book 1. This was just the beginning of the deception. The 5th and 6th centuries would prove to be the 'Golden Age' of Christian forgery. This was a time when the Catholic Church was locked in a fierce battle for adherents with other 'Mystery Religions.' This led the Manichean bishop Faustus to state: "Many things have been inserted by our ancestors in the speeches of our Lord which, though put forth under his name, agree not with his faith; especially since – as already it has been often proved – these things were written not by Christ, nor [by] his apostles, but a long while after their assumption, by I know not what sort of half Jews, not even agreeing with themselves, who made up their tale out of reports and opinions merely, and yet, fathering the whole upon the names of the apostles of the Lord or on those who were supposed to follow the apostles, they maliciously pretended that they had written their lies and conceits according to them." If this were all of the deceptions it would be quite astounding, but the fraud continued right through the Middle Ages and up to this very day. The Donation of Constantine – 'Without doubt a forgery...' Catholic Encyclopedia A two-part document purporting to be from the first Christian emperor to Pope Sylvester I (314-35). In the 'Confessio' Constantine thanks Sylvester for his Christian instruction and baptism (and consequent cure of leprosy!) In his 'Donatio' Constantine confers on the pope and his successors primacy over all other bishops, including the eastern patriarchs, senatorial privileges for the clergy, imperial palaces and regalia, Rome itself and the western empire!! In truth, this monstrous 8th century forgery (peppered with anachronisms) was almost certainly written by the future Pope Paul I (757-67) while his equally ambitious brother Stephen II (752-57) sat on the papal throne. The False Decretals (aka Pseudo-Isidorian Forgeries) – A riot of more than a hundred fake letters and decrees attributed to pontiffs from 1st century Clement (88-97) to 7th century Gregory I (590-604). Now attributed either to 'Isodore Mercator', a supposed 9th century master forger and papal aide, or to a group of Gallic forgers trading on the name and reputation of Isodore of Seville. Like the Donation, the Decretals conferred rights and privileges on the papacy. A similar collection, the 'Dionysiana', was named for a 6th century monk 'Dennis the Little' (Dionysius Exiguus), inventor of the BC -AD dating system. Dionysius provided the papacy with Latin translation of the canons the Eastern Church. This ripe collection included fifty canons from the very Apostles themselves. 'Thundering Legion' Decree of Marcus Aurelius – In this fabricated letter from the emperor to the Senate, Marcus is said to have forbidden persecution of Christians because, in a battle with the Quadi in 174, prayers from Christian soldiers brought on a thunderstorm which rescued the Romans from thirst and dispersed the barbarian opponents. The emperor is said to have accorded the Twelfth Legion the suffix fulminata or fulminea, that is, 'thundering.' Tertullian (c.160 - c.230), north African theologian, made up this nonsense; the twelfth legion had had the suffix legio fulminata from the time of Augustus. The stoic Marcus Aurelius had nothing but contempt for the Christians. 'Letters' of Emperor Antoninus Pius to the Greeks – More fakery, this time from the pen of 4th century Bishop Eusebius (Ecclesiastic History, IV, 13). He has the pious 2nd century pagan forbid 'tumults against the Christians.' The Clementines – These fancies, twenty books of 'curious religious romance' (Catholic Encyclopedia), masquerade as the work of 1st century pontiff Clement I. Written in the 4th century, their purpose was to bolster Rome's claim to be the primary see: here we have the 'Epistle of Clement to James' which originated the notion that St. Peter was the first Bishop of Rome. You can also add to this the infamous 'Acts of Peter,' which we dismantled in the section 'Peter, the First Pope.' and formed the basis for some of the early events covered in both the 'Clementines' and 'Recognitions'. Correspondence between Seneca and Paul - a 4th century invention of 1st century letters. They alluded to fires in Rome and to the persecution of Jews and Christians. Acts of Paul and Thecla – "Love for Paul" was the justification for this particular compendium of fable. None other than Tertullian condemned his rival's handiwork. "If those who read the writing that falsely bears the name of Paul adduce the example of Thecla to maintain the right of women to teach and to baptize, let them know that the presbyter in Asia who produced this document, as if he could of himself add anything to the prestige of Paul, was removed from his office after he had been convicted and had confessed that he did it out of love for Paul."—Tertullian, De batismo, 17. 'Testimonium Flavianum' - The infamous 'passing reference' to Jesus Christ supposedly written by the 1st century Jewish historian Josephus (he adopted the family name of the imperial house). We know in graphic detail the course of the first Jewish War because – remarkably – the history recorded by Josephus somehow survived. Whereas whole libraries of antiquity were torched by the Christians, curiously, this testimony of a Jew made it through the centuries. A subsequent work by Josephus, The Antiquity of the Jews, which iterated and extended his story of the 'chosen people' also survived. The survival of these two overlapping works was no coincidence because they rather too well 'confirm' from a 'non-Christian source' the existence of the godman. In short, sometime in the 4th century, while most else of ancient scholarship was being thrown into bonfires, a Christian scribe – probably Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea– 'rescued' the histories of Josephus and 'doctored' them to provide convenient 'proof' that Christ had been flesh-and-blood and was neither a fiction (as pagan critics maintained) nor solely a spiritual being, as gnostics reasoned. Table of Contents