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
LOCA
TION: Thecoe and Herodian
LOCATION: Thecoa
LOCATION: Rome
CHAPTER 9 Until All Is Fulfilled
CHAPTER 10 The Authors of the New Testament
CHAPTER 11 The Puzzle of Decius Mundus
CHAPTER 12 The Father and the Son of God
CHAPTER 13 Josephus’ Use of the Book of Daniel
CHAPTER 14 Building Jesus
CHAPTER 15 The Apostles and the Maccabees
CHAPTER 16 The Samaritan Woman and Other Parallels
Conclusion
APPENDIX
A Timeline of Jesus’ and Titus’ Lives
Endnotes
Selected Bibliography
Author’s Statement
Caesar's Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus:Flavian Signature Edition Page 47
