Why is Christianity "true"?
A Healy GanipGanop
haven't seen it here in the short time I've been lurking, but here goes:
Hypothetically, if I were a person who WAS NOT RAISED WITH ANY RELIGOUS
INSTRUCTION WHATSOEVER, and I was to choose among the plethora of
religions from around the world, how would I know which one to pick?
Libertarius
===>Try a coin toss.
Stephen Simpson
A Healy GanipGanop <AHG...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:37F55D...@aol.com...
> I'm sure this is the umpteenth time for this kind of question. But I
> haven't seen it here in the short time I've been lurking, but here goes:
>
> Hypothetically, if I were a person who WAS NOT RAISED WITH ANY RELIGOUS
> INSTRUCTION WHATSOEVER, and I was to choose among the plethora of
> religions from around the world, how would I know which one to pick?
Perhaps I can give you a better response than 'coin toss', like the other
message.
There are some unique things about Christianity.
1) Christianity is not a religion, such that we are trying to achieve
something or to be good or to earn favour of God. It is a relationship.
Between you (God's creation) and Himself. This relationship is given by
Jesus Christ, who stands between us and the righteousness of God. A bridge
so to speak. We are saved through Jesus Chist. Perpaps the best
illustration is to use the word VIA. We are saved via (his work on the
Cross) and faith in Him transports us to a position of right standing before
God.)
2) Christianity gives you forgiveness from Guilt. Some world views say
guilt and sin are an illusion and do not free you up from the consiquences
of sin. Others give you codes of ethics to follow to attain a perfect state.
3) Christianity allows you to approach the creator of all the universe and
the one who will judge all the living and the dead, my father.
4) Christianity will free you from the void caused by pains and meaningless
in life.
5) Christianity can set you free from that which binds you whether it be
bordom or drugs. (Though, due to the nature of sinful man and God's choice
to allow his creatures to be free, justice is not always assured in this
life). However, whatever circumstances you find yourself in will be used by
God to create godliness in you and glory for himself. Through all things
you can find joy.
Just a start...
Comments?
Stephen
A Healy GanipGanop
>
> A Healy GanipGanop <AHG...@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:37F55D...@aol.com...
> > I'm sure this is the umpteenth time for this kind of question. But I
> > haven't seen it here in the short time I've been lurking, but here goes:
> >
> > Hypothetically, if I were a person who WAS NOT RAISED WITH ANY RELIGOUS
> > INSTRUCTION WHATSOEVER, and I was to choose among the plethora of
> > religions from around the world, how would I know which one to pick?
>
> Perhaps I can give you a better response than 'coin toss', like the other
> message.
>
> There are some unique things about Christianity.
>
> 1) Christianity is not a religion, such that we are trying to achieve
> something or to be good or to earn favour of God. It is a relationship.
> Between you (God's creation) and Himself. This relationship is given by
> Jesus Christ, who stands between us and the righteousness of God. A bridge
> so to speak. We are saved through Jesus Chist. Perpaps the best
> illustration is to use the word VIA. We are saved via (his work on the
> Cross) and faith in Him transports us to a position of right standing before
> God.)
>
Not a religion! When did apologists come up with that cop-out?
> 2) Christianity gives you forgiveness from Guilt. Some world views say
> guilt and sin are an illusion and do not free you up from the consiquences
> of sin. Others give you codes of ethics to follow to attain a perfect state.
>
Er, I don't have guilt. Maybe those world views are right then. THAT'S
MY POINT!
> 3) Christianity allows you to approach the creator of all the universe and
> the one who will judge all the living and the dead, my father.
>
So. Why is that somehow better or more right that some ancient Mayan?
> 4) Christianity will free you from the void caused by pains and meaningless
> in life.
>
I have two youngins. That's the meaning of life. Nothing more, nothing
less.
> 5) Christianity can set you free from that which binds you whether it be
> bordom or drugs. (Though, due to the nature of sinful man and God's choice
> to allow his creatures to be free, justice is not always assured in this
> life).
I detect this is the basis for excusing the existance of NATURAL 'evils'
such as E. Coli.
However, whatever circumstances you find yourself in will be used by
> God to create godliness in you and glory for himself. Through all things
> you can find joy.
>
When I hold my children, I have joy beyond all comprehension. Fantasy is
no substitute.
> Just a start...
>
> Comments?
>
> Stephen
All you did was state what Christianity is to you. You did NOT answer
how it was better then the others. Even if all what you said is unique
to Christianity (which it isn't), that's doesn't make it right.
Bob Huey
> guilt and sin are an illusion and do not free you up from the consiquences
> of sin. Others give you codes of ethics to follow to attain a perfect
state.
Wow, does that say a lot.
Freedome from guilt. But does not thwart the sin.
Probably encourages sin, but offering the carrot of forgiveness.
How many people on death row have found Christ?
Most.
They have also thwarted responsibilty for their actions.
There are way too many theists in prison to validate xians claims.
> 3) Christianity allows you to approach the creator of all the universe and
> the one who will judge all the living and the dead, my father.
ahhhhhhhh choo.
I mean, men.
If god were approachable, you would have to stand in line behind me.
Xianity allows the fantasy of a supreme being to manifest itself in the
creative mind of a human being.
> 4) Christianity will free you from the void caused by pains and
meaningless
> in life.
Life is tough. It is a game of survival. And creativity. And progress. And
fullfillment. And wonderment. I don't need god for this.
> 5) Christianity can set you free from that which binds you whether it be
> bordom or drugs. (Though, due to the nature of sinful man and God's choice
> to allow his creatures to be free, justice is not always assured in this
> life). However, whatever circumstances you find yourself in will be used
by
> God to create godliness in you and glory for himself. Through all things
> you can find joy.
I don't need god to free me from adultry. I do not commit that offense. I am
a moral atheist.
Thanks but save that hook for your corrupt TV evans.
> Just a start...
> Stephen
Swallow a lie and the whole fantasy slides down your throat. Yummy.
The truth does not taste so good; sorry.
perplexxed
A Healy GanipGanop gallantly wrote in message ...
> I'm sure this is the umpteenth time for this kind of question. But I
> haven't seen it here in the short time I've been lurking, but here goes:
>
> Hypothetically, if I were a person who WAS NOT RAISED WITH ANY RELIGOUS
> INSTRUCTION WHATSOEVER, and I was to choose among the plethora of
> religions from around the world, how would I know which one to pick?
If you feel you MUST adopt some form of religious belief, make it a unique
one, not something as corrupt and twisted as Christianity.
Investigating something like the Wiccan ideals might be a good start....
And, no, I'm not a Wiccan.
It's just to point out that you don't have to choose from the mainstream,
choose something that works for you. After all, religious belief is and
should be an intensely personal thing.
AfriqueArt
It's sad to see the results of such effective brainwashing. Please read about
all religions and how man has created them to try to deal with questions that
cannot and will not be answered by us.
Use your brain. If you want to claim that god created you, use your brain to
figure out that you actually created god.
"Religions are all alike -- founded on fables and mythologies." Thomas
Jefferson
There was a time when religious leaders ruled. It was called the dark ages.
The last time we mixed politics and religion, people were burned at the stake.
Chris Brown
>I'm sure this is the umpteenth time for this kind of question. But I
>haven't seen it here in the short time I've been lurking, but here goes:
>
>Hypothetically, if I were a person who WAS NOT RAISED WITH ANY RELIGOUS
>INSTRUCTION WHATSOEVER, and I was to choose among the plethora of
>religions from around the world, how would I know which one to pick?
Dice?
Chris Brown
>There are some unique things about Christianity.
>
>1) Christianity is not a religion, such that we are trying to achieve
>something or to be good or to earn favour of God. It is a relationship.
>Between you (God's creation) and Himself.
I think several hundred milliom Muslims might take issue with that point.
Kerry
engine.
Among other searches that can be done to refute that christianity is "true",
try searching for
information about the "Council of Nicea", and then try "inquisitions" and read
of the methods
employed by this mind, body, & wealth controller to maintain ignorance, fear &
slavery.
Read further, if you dare, on "Apollonius of Tyana", who by comparison with
the Nicean fiction
of jesus, was a *real* human who was revered by all, from the lowest, to the
emperors of rome, and
was the most likely cause of the slaughtering of followers of his ideas by
rome in the centuries that
followed, until Constantine took over and made the pagan slaughter cults of
rome into what is now called christianity.
Or if you want to see a twentieth century attempt at what christianity has
done in the past visit
http:www.xenu.net and see how the very same methods of control are
employed to control
all facets of their believers lives, including banning everything that does
not concur with the
lies that bind the adherents. Even the word xenu is blocked by their net
nanny software for
example, to prevent an accidental discovery of their own fiction, being
dissected.
Of course you could also search for "skeptics" who look a little further than
most to find
what really is going on behind the propaganda of religion promoters.
Read books by Richard Dawkins, such as "the Blind Watchmaker" and "Unweaving
the Rainbow"
or to save a lot of my time giving any further suggestions go to this link and
you'll have enough
material to read that'll keep you busy all winter.
http://www.california.com/~rpcman/MO.HTM
Kerry
Libertarius wrote:
dgillesp
>
> I'm sure this is the umpteenth time for this kind of question. But I
> haven't seen it here in the short time I've been lurking, but here goes:
>
> Hypothetically, if I were a person who WAS NOT RAISED WITH ANY RELIGOUS
> INSTRUCTION WHATSOEVER, and I was to choose among the plethora of
> religions from around the world, how would I know which one to pick?
You probably have some vague notion as to which of the world's
religions is the least objectionable from your point of view.
Since we all have to start someplace, start there, but don't
close your mind to the others, or limit your study/experience.
And don't exclude the one you probably know the most about
already.
Continue your pursuit until the Truth picks you.
Denny
PseudoDragon
>
> A Healy GanipGanop <AHG...@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:37F55D...@aol.com...
> > haven't seen it here in the short time I've been lurking, but here goes:
> >
> > Hypothetically, if I were a person who WAS NOT RAISED WITH ANY RELIGOUS
> > INSTRUCTION WHATSOEVER, and I was to choose among the plethora of
> > religions from around the world, how would I know which one to pick?
>
> message.
>
>
> 1) Christianity is not a religion, such that we are trying to achieve
> something or to be good or to earn favour of God. It is a relationship.
> Jesus Christ, who stands between us and the righteousness of God. A bridge
> so to speak. We are saved through Jesus Chist. Perpaps the best
> illustration is to use the word VIA. We are saved via (his work on the
> Cross) and faith in Him transports us to a position of right standing before
> God.)
Actually, Buddhism isn't a religion either. Not really. It's a 'way of
life.' So neener neener neener. Hell, they're even one up on the
Christians. Buddhists don't even have a god to worship.
>
> 2) Christianity gives you forgiveness from Guilt. Some world views say
> guilt and sin are an illusion and do not free you up from the consiquences
> of sin. Others give you codes of ethics to follow to attain a perfect state.
Ah, yes. First, create a name for why all humans are inherently flawed,
even if it is not readily apaprently that they're flawed (more than
usual) at all. Call it 'sin' and blame humans for it. Then set yourself
up as the only institution capable of pardoning that 'sin.' Sounds like
a winner to me.
>
> 3) Christianity allows you to approach the creator of all the universe and
> the one who will judge all the living and the dead, my father.
So do all the other religions. Myself, I think several of the Hindu
deities are more personable. Remember...the Christian god used to be an
angry, smiting god. Give me that warm, fuzzy, good-fortune Ganesha any
day.
>
> 4) Christianity will free you from the void caused by pains and meaningless
> in life.
Which void would that be? You don't even need a religion to give
yourself meaning. People do that just fine all by themselves.
>
> 5) Christianity can set you free from that which binds you whether it be
> bordom or drugs. (Though, due to the nature of sinful man and God's choice
> to allow his creatures to be free, justice is not always assured in this
> life). However, whatever circumstances you find yourself in will be used by
> God to create godliness in you and glory for himself. Through all things
> you can find joy.
Bored? Get a hobby...like drugs or something. Bored of drugs? Try
macrame or Tae-bo or recreational aquatics. Plenty of things out there
to assuage boredom and set you free from drugs if that's your wish. And
justice, well....that might be one of the things that the monotheistic
religions tend to provide that the real world doesn't always: a sense of
justice. Makes you feel good to know that assholes will get theirs after
they die, even if they lived the good life until that point, doesn't it?
Can't say as I'd go get a religion just for that, though...maybe I'd
campaign for social justice reform. Possibly that's just me, though.
PseudoDragon
>
> I'm sure this is the umpteenth time for this kind of question. But I
> haven't seen it here in the short time I've been lurking, but here goes:
>
> Hypothetically, if I were a person who WAS NOT RAISED WITH ANY RELIGOUS
> INSTRUCTION WHATSOEVER, and I was to choose among the plethora of
> religions from around the world, how would I know which one to pick?
Shop around and try things on. Most people don't really have the luxury
of choosing their religion...the society and culture they grow up in
picks it for them. As a result, you get a bunch of people who are all
convinced their religion is the right one, based mostly on tradition and
indoctrination. But if you get the opportunity, and decide you want a
religion, look around for yourself...don't take the word of people who
actually practice it. Chances are good they didn't make any sort of
rational choice to get involved, and that can only bode ill for a person
looking to find the objective 'best of the bunch,' as it were.
Bartelby
wrote:
>A Healy GanipGanop wrote:
>>
>> I'm sure this is the umpteenth time for this kind of question. But I
>> haven't seen it here in the short time I've been lurking, but here goes:
>>
>> Hypothetically, if I were a person who WAS NOT RAISED WITH ANY RELIGOUS
>> INSTRUCTION WHATSOEVER, and I was to choose among the plethora of
>> religions from around the world, how would I know which one to pick?
>
>You probably have some vague notion as to which of the world's
>religions is the least objectionable from your point of view.
>Since we all have to start someplace, start there, but don't
>close your mind to the others, or limit your study/experience.
>And don't exclude the one you probably know the most about
>already.
>
>Continue your pursuit until the Truth picks you.
>
>Denny
argh! The open minded chrsitan! that strange creature. did you
find out what cinote means? Will you tell me what has 18 legs
and 4 teats?
Chrisitanity is like a God numbers kit. Without the guts
to face the blank page, one who prefers a result everyone won't
think totally sucks to the adventure and rich experience of their
own creative process. Thhhpt!
STEVEN BOTTS
PseudoDragon <tem...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:37F6519B...@yahoo.com...
>
> Shop around and try things on. Most people don't really have the luxury
> of choosing their religion...the society and culture they grow up in
> picks it for them. As a result, you get a bunch of people who are all
> convinced their religion is the right one, based mostly on tradition and
> indoctrination. But if you get the opportunity, and decide you want a
> religion, look around for yourself...don't take the word of people who
> actually practice it. Chances are good they didn't make any sort of
> rational choice to get involved, and that can only bode ill for a person
> looking to find the objective 'best of the bunch,' as it were.
I agree. I would like to add that there is nothing wrong with changing from
one religion to another when you outgrow the one you are involved with.
Speaking for myself, I was raised as a Southern Baptist, but always felt
that. what I was expected to believe just didn't make any sense. I left that
church and stayed away from all churches for about 25 years or so. I then
felt the need for some kind of spiritual community, so I joined a New Age
church. I found that their beliefs, while more positive and accepting, were
also somewhat dogmatic and not open to question.
I am now a Unitarian Universalist, having joined because a sceptical
attitude is
welcome.
Steve
hap...@my-deja.com
PseudoDragon <tem...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Stephen Simpson wrote:
> >
> > > 4) Christianity will free you from the void caused by pains and
meaningless
> > in life.
>
> Which void would that be? You don't even need a religion to give
> yourself meaning. People do that just fine all by themselves.
>
there is a God out there and a purpose for them living on earth.
Drugs, alcohol...etc.. are often turned to in order to get away from
things or just to have fun. Yet, that only gives a person temporary
satisfaction....God will fill that hole....and give you that
satisfaction forever. A person doesn't need drugs or whatever to fill
a need....what they do need though...is a purpose for living. And God
will tell you that purpose if you just try to listen and give Him a
chance.
> > 5) Christianity can set you free from that which binds you whether
it be
> > bordom or drugs. (Though, due to the nature of sinful man and God's
choice
> > to allow his creatures to be free, justice is not always assured in
this
> > life). However, whatever circumstances you find yourself in will be
used by
> > God to create godliness in you and glory for himself. Through all
things
> > you can find joy.
>
> Bored? Get a hobby...like drugs or something. Bored of drugs? Try
> macrame or Tae-bo or recreational aquatics. Plenty of things out there
> to assuage boredom and set you free from drugs if that's your wish.
And
> justice, well....that might be one of the things that the monotheistic
> religions tend to provide that the real world doesn't always: a sense
of
> justice. Makes you feel good to know that assholes will get theirs
after
> they die, even if they lived the good life until that point, doesn't
it?
> Can't say as I'd go get a religion just for that, though...maybe I'd
> campaign for social justice reform. Possibly that's just me, though.
>
questions but may-be we aren't suppose to know all the answers. It all
starts with faith. If God all of a sudden showed up to someone and
answered all their questions...then there wouldn't have to be such a
thing called faith...would there? But God really wants to know who
His faithful followers are. Well...you don't really have to try to
look for a religion....the truth will come and find you!!! One
day...hopefully you'll see...or understand what I'm trying to say.
> > Just a start...
> >
> > Comments?
> >
> > Stephen
>
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
hap...@my-deja.com
PseudoDragon
>
> In article <37F6501C...@yahoo.com>,
> PseudoDragon <tem...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Stephen Simpson wrote:
> > >
> > > > 4) Christianity will free you from the void caused by pains and
> meaningless
> > > in life.
> >
> > Which void would that be? You don't even need a religion to give
> > yourself meaning. People do that just fine all by themselves.
> >
> > >People are not fine all by themselves. People need to know that
> there is a God out there and a purpose for them living on earth.
> Drugs, alcohol...etc.. are often turned to in order to get away from
> things or just to have fun. Yet, that only gives a person temporary
> satisfaction....God will fill that hole....and give you that
> satisfaction forever. A person doesn't need drugs or whatever to fill
> a need....what they do need though...is a purpose for living. And God
> will tell you that purpose if you just try to listen and give Him a
> chance.
Really? Can't say as I feel that my life is particularly meaningless,
and looky here! Damn! I'm an atheist! Guess I don't need external
validation from an aloof deity in order for me to think I'm doing okay.
My point, to clarify, was that not all people need that validation of
existence that religion sometimes brings. Some people do fine providing
that meaning all on their own. You want to think I'm livign an empty,
pointless existence just because I don't believe in your deity? Fine.
You just keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better.
Actually, that wasn't a comment on the potential boredom factor of
Christianity; it was a response on how a person might relieve boredom
outside of a religion. They're called hobbies. As for the rest of your
post, I'm not even certain where it came from. I think you've missed the
point of my responses to the original post, which was to offer criticism
of the 'things only Christianity can give.' I stand by my opinion. That
religion doesn't offer anything much different than any other religion,
in the long and short runs. It just claims it does....like all the
others.
aw...@my-deja.com
A Healy GanipGanop <AHG...@aol.com> wrote:
> I'm sure this is the umpteenth time for this kind of question. But I
> haven't seen it here in the short time I've been lurking, but here goes:
>
> Hypothetically, if I were a person who WAS NOT RAISED WITH ANY RELIGOUS
> INSTRUCTION WHATSOEVER, and I was to choose among the plethora of
> religions from around the world, how would I know which one to pick?
I have a question for you Healy GanipGanop. Are you asking this question to
actually get an answer because YOU would like to know or are you trying to
get people into a discussion? If you don't mind me asking, what do you
believe? awhal
Bob Huey
> satisfaction forever.
Even I am not going to touch that one. Sorry.
Chris Brown
>In article <37F6501C...@yahoo.com>,
> PseudoDragon <tem...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Stephen Simpson wrote:
>> >
>> > > 4) Christianity will free you from the void caused by pains and
>meaningless
>> > in life.
>>
>> Which void would that be? You don't even need a religion to give
>> yourself meaning. People do that just fine all by themselves.
>>
>People are not fine all by themselves. People need to know that
>there is a God out there and a purpose for them living on earth.
I don't. Aren't your assumptions about my worldview somewhat presumptious?
>Drugs, alcohol...etc.. are often turned to in order to get away from
>things or just to have fun. Yet, that only gives a person temporary
>satisfaction....God will fill that hole....and give you that
>satisfaction forever. A person doesn't need drugs or whatever to fill
>a need....what they do need though...is a purpose for living.
I'm programmed to want to live, that's all. One day I won't (live, that is).
That's not a prospect I particularly relish, but there's precisely nothing I
can do about it. In the meantime, I'll just get on with things, and I can
manage quite hapilly without the religion thing. Tried it once - I was very
deeply unhappy then as compared to now. What wpould have been tragic is if I'd
spent much longer than I did being made miserable by religion and not even
realising that things didn't have to be like that.
> Living for God is never a bore. Yes, there are many unanswered
>questions but may-be we aren't suppose to know all the answers. It all
>starts with faith. If God all of a sudden showed up to someone and
>answered all their questions...then there wouldn't have to be such a
>thing called faith...would there? But God really wants to know who
>His faithful followers are. Well...you don't really have to try to
>look for a religion....the truth will come and find you!!! One
>day...hopefully you'll see...or understand what I'm trying to say.
I understand what you're trying to say - I've been exposed to your side of the
fence. For once I'm quite satisfied that the grass really is greener on *my*
side of the fence though.
Chris Brown
>>God will fill that hole....and give you that
>> satisfaction forever.
>
Now now, no need to be so prudish.
A Healy GanipGanop
I am an atheist. I am one because that's what the facts are. Unlike many
people, I let the facts dictate what I should think and feel. Whereas
the rest got it bass ackwards. They let their feelings dictate what they
think about the facts. This is an important epistimological distinction.
Because i think with my mind and not my emotions, it's not always easy
for me put myself in the thiests position as to why they think the way
they do. After reading some replies from my questions I can see clearly
the thiests has a blatant disregard for the facts. They totally ignore
or deny those which run against how they wish the universe to be. In
other instances they fabricate entirely new 'facts' to support their
fanciful world view. My 6yr old daughter has better reasonong skills
than any thiest from what I've seen. It's actually quite scary that so
many can be so wrong.
hap...@my-deja.com
Chris Brown <cpb...@netcomuk.co.no_uce_pleaseuk> wrote:
> On Mon, 04 Oct 1999, hap...@my-deja.com wrote:
> >In article <37F6501C...@yahoo.com>,
> > PseudoDragon <tem...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >> Stephen Simpson wrote:
> >> >
> >> > > 4) Christianity will free you from the void caused by pains and
> >meaningless
> >> > in life.
> >>
> >> Which void would that be? You don't even need a religion to give
> >> yourself meaning. People do that just fine all by themselves.
> >>
> >People are not fine all by themselves. People need to know that
> >there is a God out there and a purpose for them living on earth.
>
> I don't. Aren't your assumptions about my worldview somewhat
presumptious?
aren't doing all that well and want to find a purpose. Those people
are the ones that feel something is missing in their lives and what
ever their doing daily isn't helping as well.
> >Drugs, alcohol...etc.. are often turned to in order to get away from
> >things or just to have fun. Yet, that only gives a person temporary
> >satisfaction....God will fill that hole....and give you that
> >satisfaction forever. A person doesn't need drugs or whatever to
fill
> >a need....what they do need though...is a purpose for living.
>
> I'm programmed to want to live, that's all. One day I won't (live,
that is).
> That's not a prospect I particularly relish, but there's precisely
nothing I
> can do about it. In the meantime, I'll just get on with things, and I
can
> manage quite hapilly without the religion thing. Tried it once - I
was very
> deeply unhappy then as compared to now. What wpould have been tragic
is if I'd
> spent much longer than I did being made miserable by religion and not
even
> realising that things didn't have to be like that.
>
>>Obviously no one would want to be in a religion which will make a
person miserable. I'm glad I'm not in one. I would tell anyone to get
out of a religion if they are unhappy. I was in one
before....actually, it just never taught me anything. But why are you
unhappy though? Was it because the way you were living contradicted
the Bible? Or was it too difficult to change your lifestyle? It could
me many reasons....Well, for me, my lifestyle was very difficult to
change. I gave up a lot on God...but I thought about it...He has done
so much for me...I can't betray Him. It even says in the Bible that
there will be tests(trials and tribulation)..and I just got to keep
faithful....however difficult it becomes(because I know that with
God..it'll all just pass). I have learned and am still learning a great
deal of His teachings and to go against His teachings which I know deep
down are true would just be....absurd.
> > Living for God is never a bore. Yes, there are many unanswered
> >questions but may-be we aren't suppose to know all the answers. It
all
> >starts with faith. If God all of a sudden showed up to someone and
> >answered all their questions...then there wouldn't have to be such a
> >thing called faith...would there? But God really wants to know who
> >His faithful followers are. Well...you don't really have to try to
> >look for a religion....the truth will come and find you!!! One
> >day...hopefully you'll see...or understand what I'm trying to say.
>
> I understand what you're trying to say - I've been exposed to your
side of the
> fence. For once I'm quite satisfied that the grass really is greener
on *my*
> side of the fence though.
>
> Well, I am really glad that you are satisfied with the way you are
living. If you really think that your life doesn't need any
alteration ....then don't change it because if you're already
happy....why would you change it? But as for me, I'm glad that I found
God because I really needed Him in my life. And I just want to tell
people how awesome my God is.
hap...@my-deja.com
PseudoDragon <tem...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> hap...@my-deja.com wrote:
> >
> > In article <37F6501C...@yahoo.com>,
> > PseudoDragon <tem...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > > Stephen Simpson wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > 4) Christianity will free you from the void caused by pains
and
> > meaningless
> > > > in life.
> > >
> > > Which void would that be? You don't even need a religion to give
> > > yourself meaning. People do that just fine all by themselves.
> > >
> > > >People are not fine all by themselves. People need to know that
> > there is a God out there and a purpose for them living on earth.
> > things or just to have fun. Yet, that only gives a person temporary
> > satisfaction....God will fill that hole....and give you that
> > satisfaction forever. A person doesn't need drugs or whatever to
fill
God
> > will tell you that purpose if you just try to listen and give Him a
> > chance.
>
> Really? Can't say as I feel that my life is particularly meaningless,
> and looky here! Damn! I'm an atheist! Guess I don't need external
> validation from an aloof deity in order for me to think I'm doing
okay.
> My point, to clarify, was that not all people need that validation of
> existence that religion sometimes brings. Some people do fine
providing
> that meaning all on their own. You want to think I'm livign an empty,
> pointless existence just because I don't believe in your deity? Fine.
> You just keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better.
>
life they are living and can provide that meaning all on their own,
then they should keep it that way. Why should a person want to change
their ways if they are happy? I did not say that you are living an
empty and pointless life because I can not judge that. The only thing
I am trying to say is that there are people that can't find a purpose
for their existance and are seeking some answers...and for them....I
just wanted to tell them that there is an awesome God out there that
will answer those questions if they just open the doors.
> > questions but may-be we aren't suppose to know all the answers. It
all
> > starts with faith. If God all of a sudden showed up to someone and
> > answered all their questions...then there wouldn't have to be such a
> > thing called faith...would there? But God really wants to know who
> > His faithful followers are. Well...you don't really have to try to
> > look for a religion....the truth will come and find you!!! One
> > day...hopefully you'll see...or understand what I'm trying to say.
>
> Actually, that wasn't a comment on the potential boredom factor of
> Christianity; it was a response on how a person might relieve boredom
> outside of a religion. They're called hobbies. As for the rest of your
> post, I'm not even certain where it came from. I think you've missed
the
> point of my responses to the original post, which was to offer
criticism
> of the 'things only Christianity can give.' I stand by my opinion.
That
> religion doesn't offer anything much different than any other
religion,
> in the long and short runs. It just claims it does....like all the
> others.
>
before and God did absolutely nothing for you. I would understand if
you picked up that Bible once before and really tried searching for
answers...with an open mind and heart and God just totally did
nothing. But if you haven't even tried....what do you have to lose
anyway? Well, if you feel that it has nothing to offer you...then...go
on living the way you are. But as for me...salvation is a lot to offer.
> > > > Comments?
> > > >
> > > > Stephen
Bob Huey
<hap...@my-deja.com> wrote in
>and I just got to keep
> faithful....however difficult it becomes(because I know that with
> God..it'll all just pass).
Same thing for atheists. You die. It passes.
> If God all of a sudden showed up to someone and
> > >answered all their questions...then there wouldn't have to be such a
> > >thing called faith...would there?
No, it would be called fact, as opposed to myth.
Keep praying, and pass the yams, please.
Bartelby
<clea...@aircleanse.com.au> wrote:
"Since I came to this Abbey, I have done nothing but fill my
belly and shag my wick. Now you have given me the strength to
remember what I what once beleeved in with all my
heart.....Yesss, that't right, and I'd butcher you people, if I
had half the chance!!"
Penitenziagite, Kerry
Too bad heresy is no longer a crime, otherwise you'd have job
>> A Healy GanipGanop wrote:
>>
>> > I'm sure this is the umpteenth time for this kind of question. But I
>> > haven't seen it here in the short time I've been lurking, but here goes:
>> >
>> > Hypothetically, if I were a person who WAS NOT RAISED WITH ANY RELIGOUS
>> > INSTRUCTION WHATSOEVER, and I was to choose among the plethora of
>> > religions from around the world, how would I know which one to pick?
>>
Bob Huey
Part 1:
The Historical Apollonius Versus the Mythical Jesus
By: Dr. R. W. Bernard, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
In the year 325 A.D. was perpetrated one of the most collosal frauds and
deceptions in the annals of history. This was the date of the Council of
Nicea, whose task it was to create a new religion that would be acceptable
to Emperor Constantine, who, at the time, was engaged in the bloody
persecution of those communists and pacifists of ancient times who were
known as early Christians. What made Constantine, in the midst of his
inhuman massacre of these defenseless and despised people, suddenly take
over their religion and become its staunchest protagonist, is one of the
enigmas of history which has never before been elucidated. On this point,
Reville, a Catholic apologist; writes:
"The acknowledged triumph of Christianity during the reign of Constantine
has always been considered one of the unaccountable revolutions and one of
those historical surprises which, unconnected as they seem to be with any
phenomena of the past might almost seem miraculous. One longs to find out by
what process the human mind passes so rapidly from a contemptuous and utter
denial of the teachings of Christianity to an interest and avowed sympathy
for the doctrines of the new creed...It was in the fourth century,
immediately after the most violent persecutions, that Christianity, though
embraced and professed by a minority only, succeeded in attaining to a
commanding position in matters both social and political."
Aware that the old religion of Rome was in a state of advanced decay and was
daily losing its hold on the people, while the persecuted cult of the
Essenes, or early Christians, in spite of all the efforts to suppress it
through the most bloody and inhuman means, continued to thrive and win the
increasing respect of the masses, the Church Fathers, themselves previously
pagans whose hands were stained with the blood of those from whom they stole
their religion, saw that by adopting Christianity (in a revised form) they
could take advantage of the popular prestige created by the martyrdom of the
early Christian saints, and at the same time win the support of Constantine,
who, in being converted to the Christian faith, could cover up his own past
crimes, gain increased public favor and extend and consolidate his empire.
In order to make the previously despised cult of the Essenes, or early
Christians, acceptable to Constantine, emperor of Rome - the Church Fathers
had to remove from its teachings certain doctrines which they knew were
objectionable to him. Chief among these was the prohibition against the use
of meats and wines, which was a cardinal doctrine of early Essene
Christianity. It was for this reason that the churchmen at Nicea found it
necessary to remove from the Gospels these objectionable doctrines, for they
knew that Constantine loved the red meats and flowing wines of his midnight
revels too much to be willing to accept a religion which required from its
adherents complete abstinence from these indulgences, as early Essene
Christianity did. To accomplish this, certain "correctors" were appointed,
whose task it was to rewrite the Gospels, omitting all that pertained to
vegetarianism and abstinence from alcohol. The Church Fathers had an
additional reason to do this - for they themselves had no desire to make
such a radical change in their own living habits.
That the original Gospels were rewritten and altered at the Council of Nicea
is indicated by 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."
Commenting on this statement, Rev. G. J. Ouseley, in his "Gospel of the Holy
Twelve," writes:
"What these `correctores' did was to cut out of the Gospels with minute
care, certain teachings of our Lord which they did not propose to follow --
namely, those against the eating of flesh and taking of strong drink -- and
everything which might serve as an argument against Flesh eating, such as
the accounts of our Lord's interference on several occasions, to same
animals from ill-treatment."
There is evidence to indicate that not only were the original doctrines of
early Essene Christianity radically changed at the Council of Nicea and
replaced by others entirely different, but that the MAN whose life was an
embodiment of the original doctrines was likewise replaced by another man
who exemplified the new doctrines. The name of the second man, who was not a
vegetarian and who did not prohibit the killing of animals, was Jesus
Christ, who was put in the place of Apollonius of Tyana, the historical
world teacher of the first century.
The first act of the Church Fathers, after they created their new religion
and its messiah, neither of which existed previously, was to burn all books
they could lay their hands on, especially those written during the first few
centuries, which made no mention of Jesus and which referred to Apollonius
as the spiritual leader of the first century, realizing as they did that
such books, if they were not destroyed, constituted a dangerous menace to
the survival of their deception. It was for this reason that the churchmen
took such great pains to burn the ancient libraries, including the famous
Alexandrian Library with its 400,000 volumes, which was burnt to the ground
by edict of Theodosius, when a Christian mob destroyed the Serapeum where
the scrolls and manuscripts were kept.
However, the churchmen failed to their purpose, for prior to its burning
which they foresaw, the librarians of the Alexandrian Library had secretly
removed from it some of the most precious volumes, which they carried
eastward for safety.
Among the works which were thus saved from the flames of the Alexandrian
Library, the one which has created the most widespread and long-continued
discussion was the "Life of Apollonius of Tyana," written by Flavius
Philostratus at the beginning of the third century A.D. As if by irony fate,
this book - which of all books burnt in the Alexandrian Library, was one of
the most dangerous - was preserved down through the centuries, resisting all
attempts to destroy it. The reason why this book was so much dreaded by the
churchmen was because, while it made no mention whatsoever of the existence
of Jesus or of Christianity, it presented Apollonius of Tyana as the
universally acclaimed world teacher of the first century, reverenced from
one end of the Roman Empire to the other, by everyone, from the lowest slave
to the Emperor himself.
No book ever written has aroused by heated argument over a longer period of
time than this biography by Philostratus. From the early centuries of our
era, when Hercules and Eusebius first started it, until the days of Blount,
Voltaire and the Deists, the controversy raged unabated. For Philostratus,
in his book described a character, born in the very year of the birth of
Christ, who, in every respect, was the equal, if not the superior, of the
Christian messiah.
W. B. Wallace, writing on "The Apollonius of Philostratus," calls
Philostratus's biography a "pagan counterblast to the gospel of Galilee,
representing a Greek saviour as an alternative to the Semitic one."
(Westminster Review, July-Dec. 1902). Furthermore, the main events of the
lives of both men were so closely parallel that the reader cannot help but
conclude that if Jesus is not a fictitious imitation of Apollonius, then
Apollonius must be an imitation of him, since it would be highly improbable
for two such similar men to have been born the same year and to have such
similar biographies.
F. A. Campbell, in his `Apollonius of Tyana,' writes:
"The birth of Apollonius is assigned to the year 4 B.C. But as everybody
knows, the current computation of the beginning of the Christian era is
incorrect, and the first year of our Lord ought to be dated four or five
years earlier. If the Apollonian and Christian nativities both belong to the
same year, the coincidence is entitled the more attention than it has
received."
"Thankful Tyana, like ungrateful Nazareth, had nursed a prophet of blameless
life, of miraculous power, of super-abundant loving-kindness, and of heroic
virtue. Both Apollonius of Tyana and Jesus of Nazareth were born in the same
lustrum, if not the same year. Both Tyana's babe and Bethlehem's were said
to have sprung from a divine Father and a human mother, and both of these
holy ones drew their first breath amid gracious portents and supernatural
singings. Nor were these the only parallels in the memoirs of the Tyanean
and the Nazarene.
"Orthodox Christians had been accustomed to affirm boldly the finality of
Mary's son; but, like a bolt from the blue, here was Philostratus opposing
himself to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and offering an alternative
Messiah."
Also it is strange that, though they were both supposed to be the greatest
men of their age, they did not know of each other's existence. And since
there is absolutely authentic historical evidence of the existence of
Apollonius, but not a shred of genuine proof of the existence of Jesus, we
must conclude that if one of these figures is fictitious and an imitation of
the other, it is Jesus who is the fiction and Apollonius the historical
personage. Concerning the existence, or rather, the non-existence, of Jesus,
Tschendorf writes:
"Author after author, volume after volume, of the life of Christ may appear
until the archives of the universe are filled, and yet all we have of the
life of Jesus is to be found in Matthew's gospel. Not a single person
specially associated with Jesus impinges history."
In Taylor's "Diegesis," [1829, Oaknam, England] we read:
"We have investigated the claims of every document possessing a plausible
claim to be investigated which history has preserved of the transactions of
the First century and not so much as a single passage, purporting to have
been written at any time within the first hundred years, can be produced to
show the existence of such a man as Jesus Christ or of such a set of men as
could be accounted to be his disciples."
Commenting on this statement by Taylor, J. M. Roberts, in his "Antiquity
Unveiled," [1892; Oriental Publishing Co., Philadelphia] writes:
"On the other hand we have abundant proof that Jesus Christ is founded on
the known life of Apollonius of Tyana, the earthly existence of whom has
never been questioned, to which is added passages from the lives of various
personage, and teachings concerning the mythical gods of other lands. The
Prometheus of the Greeks was the character which suggested the crucifixion
(also the crucifixion of Chrishna in Christosite traditions.) The Eleusinian
mysteries suggested the "Last Supper" and these together with doctrines of
ancient sun worship were gathered and represented to be a history of the
events connected with the life of the Christian Jesus. (Prometheus on the
crag, suffering for the good of mankind, suggests Jesus on the cross,
changing Prometheus for Jesus and the Sythian crag for the cross.)
"In the first chapter of Matthew the geneology of Jesus is given as the
twenty-eighth generation from David down through Joseph to Christ. In the
third chapter of Luke the same geneology is given as being the forty-third
generation from Christ through Joseph to David. This is a very remarkable
oversight on the part of the translators, for if there was anything they
could agree on, it is in regard to the descent of Christ.
"All the Christians that ever lived or ever will live will find their ideal
Jesus but a phantom -- a myth. They can chase it as a child would a
butterfly through a meadow on a summer's afternoon, and it will elude their
grasp. The Christian Jesus is nothing more than the Chrishna of the Hindus."
No contemporary writers who lived at the time when Jesus is supposed to have
lived make mention of him; though forged allusions to Jesus occur in the
books of Livy and Josephus. In his "History of the Jews," written in the
First century, at a time when Jesus would have enjoyed his greatest
popularity among the Jews if he had existed, though pages and pages are
devoted to persons of no importance whatever and who would have been
forgotten forever had not Josephus mentioned them, there is not a single
mention of Jesus in the original edition. On this point, Dr. Edmond B.
Szekely, in his "Origin of Christianity, writes:
"There is not a word, or better, there is no longer a word in the works of
Flavius Josephus about the Messiah, the Christ crucified by Pontius Pilate,
except for a crude interpolation, quite obviously false...The silence of
Josephus is not due to disdain or studied neutrality."
In an eighth century Slavonic edition of Josephus's book, such an
interpolation occurs, referring to a certain Jesus, son of Joseph, and which
covers only a passing paragraph, the brevity of which clearly reveals its
fraudulent origin, for, if Jesus were mentioned at all, much more space
would have been devoted to him. And coincident with such interpolations of
early authors, occurred the censorship of all books making reference to
Apollonius, whose name was omitted or abbreviated. (Thus, in the original
Pauline Epistles, which, we have reason to believe, originally had
Apollonius as their central figure and were written by him, his name is
abbreviated to "Apollos" and "Pol" (Paul.)
That Apollos (conceded by no less an authority than the Encyclopedia
Britannica to be an abbreviation of Apollonius) was the real author of the
Epistle to the Hebrews, falsely attributed to Paul, was the opinion of
Martin Luther and other eminent scholars.
And if Apollonius wrote some of the so-called Pauline Epistles, there is a
possibility that he may have written others, AND, IN FACT, ALL).
Plutarch, the eminent biographer, who lived between 46 and 120 A. D. would
certainly have made mention of Jesus if he had existed, since he wrote when
Jesus's fame would have been at its height. Yet in the voluminous works of
Plutarch, not a single reference to any such man as Jesus can be found.
Although Plutarch's miscellaneous writings make mention of or allude with
unerring certainty to nearly every religious and ethical opinion of his
time, he is absolutely silent on the subject of Christianity and concerning
the existence of Jesus. Though he knew the utmost detail of the lives of
great men who lived centuries ago, we could hardly believe that Plutarch
could have been entirely unaware of the existence of such a great man as
Jesus who lived only a few years previously. This is all the more surprising
because the provinces of Bithynia and Pontus, where Plutarch lived, were
only a few day's journey from Boetia, where, if we may believe Christian
writers, the proselytes of Christianity were swarming at the time.
But while Plutarch belonged to a different race and was born after his
alleged crucifixion, Philo, a Jew, who lived at exactly the same time in the
first part of the first century, and who visited the Essenes and wrote about
them, should, and above all others, have made mention of Jesus, who, if he
had lived, would undoubtedly have been the leader of this sect. Yet not one
word is found in Philo's writings concerning the existence of Jesus, any
more than is there one word in the original edition of the "History of the
Jews" of Josephus. Nor did any other writer in the first century mention
Jesus. They did not because he did not yet exist. He was first born three
centuries later, created by the churchmen at Nicea, in their effort to find
an alternative messiah, more pleasing to Constantine and the Romans, to be
put in the place of Apollonius.
That the early Christians themselves, and not only the Pagans, were ignorant
of the existence of any such man as Jesus, has been clearly proven by the
catacomb researches of Eisler, a student of early Christian archaeology. In
his work, "Orpheus the Fisher," Eisler shows that no representations can be
found among the catacomb inscriptions that depict Jesus, the cross or the
crucifixion. Instead, a Greek figure is represented as the leader of the
sect, a vegetarian and friend of animals, depicted either under the fig - of
Orpheus playing his lyre and surrounded by friendly animals, or as the Good
Shepherd (Hermes) carrying a lamb around his neck. These representations
obviously refer to Apollonius whose cardinal teachings consisted of
vegetarianism and the abolition of animal sacrifices. Eisler's findings were
further verified by Lundy, who, in his "Monumental Christianity," a work on
early Christian archaeology, likewise reports the entire absence of any
reference in the catacomb inscriptions to Jesus or a crucified saviour, in
whose place is found the familiar Greek figures of Orpheus and the Good
Shepherd, who are represented as friends of animals.
The closest original that can be found of the Jesus of the New Testament is
a rabbi named Jehoshua Ben Pandira, who lived about a century B. C. In his
"Life of Jehoshua," Dr. Franz Hartman states that this illegitimate child of
a Jewish maiden, Stada, and a Roman soldier, Pandira, who is mentioned in
the Talmud, was the original Jesus. He was referred to as a rabbi of not
very great importance, who studied the mysteries in Egypt, and who was put
to death by stoning after an attempted crucifixion.
Seeking a substitute for Apollonius, the Church fathers seized upon
Jehoshua, and changing his name to that of the Druid sun god, HESUS, and
shifting the date of his birth forward a century, he was transformed into
Jesus. On this subject, Manly Hall writes: "It is very possible that the
early Church Fathers, seeking desperately for a concrete human being on
which to hang the fabric of their faith, picked Jehoshua Ben Pandira as the
nearest parallel to be found among the Jewish rabbins. Armed with this small
fragment of history, they proceeded to correlate the two; building in a
little here; and removing same contradictory fragment there, until, lo, and
behold, the 'King of Kings' is a Nazarene, in spite of the popular opinion
that nothing good can come out of Nazareth.
"This Further explains why Helena, the mother of Constantine, within three
hundred years after the death of Jesus, was unable to find in all of Jewry
any man who had even heard of him. According to the story, she finally came
upon one aged man who claimed to have heard that Jesus had lived. He took
her to an old Roman execution field where the excavation revealed a number
of crosses. When the whole matter had been settled to every one's
satisfaction, Constantine, to show his extreme veneration, had one of the
passion nails pounded into a bit for his horse.
"The most perplexing and comparatively unsolved mystery with which the
Christian theologian is faced is the almost complete lack of historical
evidence concerning the life of Christ. If we accept a few palpable
forgeries, our knowledge of the life of Christ is based principally upon the
accounts given in the Gospels... The gravest doubts exist as to the
authorship of the gospels of the New Testament. The Encyclopedia Brittannica
acknowledges not only these doubts, but admits that there is no proof of any
kind that the Gospels were written by the men whose names have been affixed
to them in more recent time."
In 1894, there appeared a remarkable book written by J. M. Roberts entitled
"Antiquity Unveiled," in which evidence was presented to prove that no such
man as Jesus of Nazareth ever lived, but the name was adopted by the framers
of Christianity to cover the identity of Apollonius of Tyana whose teachings
and mode of life they purloined and made use of as a model upon which to
construct their system." He adds: "The world has the uncontrovertible
testimony that Christianity is of spurious origin and the most consummate
piece of plagiarism in human history."
In sharp contrast with the scarcity, or rather the absence of information
regarding Jesus, is the abundance of reliable historical data available
concerning Apollonius of Tyana, who, during the first century, enjoyed
universal fame from one end of the Roman empire to the other, being honored
by all. More than seventeen temples were dedicated to him in various parts
of the empire. Nearly a dozen Roman Emperors held him in awe and reverence.
(The Roman emperors; Vespasian, Titus and Nerva, were all, prior to their
elevation to the throne, friends and admirers of Apollonius, while Nero and
Domitian regarded the philosopher with dismay.) The Emperor Septimus Severus
(A.D. 193-211 erected a statue to him in his gallery of deities in the
Pantheon, while his son, Emperor Caracella, honored his memory with a chapel
or monument.
Lampridus, who lived in the third century, further informs us that the
Emperor Alexander Severus (A. D. 222-235) placed a statue of Apollonius in
his labarium side by side with one of Orpheus.
It was the wife of Septimus Severus, the empress Julia Domna who
commissioned the philosopher, Philostratus, a member of a circle of writers
who collected around her, to write the life of Apollonius of Tyana, based on
manuscripts in her possession, chiefly the memoirs of Apollonius's disciple
and traveling companion, Damis, in addition to records preserved in
different cities where Apollonius was held in esteem -- from temples whose
long-disused rite he restored, from traditions, from epistles of Apollonius
addressed to kings and sophists and from his letters -- of which the Emperor
Hadrian had made a collection which he deposited in his palace at Antium.
(Julia Domna, known as the philosopher-empress because she was surrounded by
men of letters and philosophers and dispensed enlightened patronage to
thought and learning, was the daughter of Bassiamus, priest of the sun at
Emesa in Syria. Philostratus was a member of a group of famous writers and
thinkers who gathered around her. She was a woman of high intelligence and
remarkable purity of character, living in seclusion and devoting her time to
literature and philosophy in her extensive library. As in the case of
Sappho, a woman of egually exemplary morality, she was falsely defamed by
the scribes of the same churchmen who were later responsible for the brutal
murder of Hypatia. These three greatest women of antiquity, together with
Joan of Arc, the greatest woman of modern times, were all victims of a
criminally jealous male clerical fraternity.
Another biography of Apollonius was written by Soterichur of Oasis during
the reign of Diocletian, but is non-existent, having been destroyed by the
Christians together with other ancient writings referring to him. Still
another biography was written by Moeragenes, which was likewise lost.
Though written in the early part of the third century A.D., Philostratus's
biography of Apollonius of Tyana was not permitted to be publish.ed in
Europe until the year 1501, when Aldus printed the first Latin edition to
appear in Europe. This was followed by an Italian and French translation,
but it was not until 1680 that the first English translation was made by
Blount, an English Deist.
Blount's notes on the book raised such an outcry that, in 1693, the book was
condemned by the church and its further publication forbidden. (Concerning
the effects of Blount's translation; Campbell, in his "Apollonius of Tyana,"
writes: "Fierce passions were let loose. Sermons, pamphlets and volumes
descended upon the presumptious Blount like fireballs and hailstones and his
adversaries did not rest until the authorities had forbidden him to print
the remaining six books of his translation.")
In his notes, Blount pointed out that, "we must either admit the truth of
the miracles of Apollonius as well as those of Jesus, or, if the former were
untrue, there would be no better ground to believe in the latter." A century
later Blount's notes were translated into French by the Encyclopedists.
However, a century before Blount - Voltaire, Le Grand d'Aussy, Castillon and
other French Deists wrote to the same effect, considering Apollonius as a
far more authentic historical figure than Jesus, and fully his equal in
every respect and as worthy of performing miracles if such were possible.
(Francis Bacon also spoke of Apollonius in the highest terms. In Burton's
"Anatomy of Melancholy" - which some have attributed to Bacon's authorship -
appeared a quotation from Philostratus's biography of Apollonius to which
Keats later referred in a footnote in his "Lamia.")
Blount, however, had translated only the first two books of Philostratus's
work (there were eight in all, the remaining six remaining unpublished); and
it was not until 1809 that the first complete English version was made by
Edward Herwick. (In his preface of his work entitled "The First Two Books of
Philostratus Concerning the Life of Apollonius to which Tyaneus, written
originally in Greek, and now published in English," Blount, in
self-protection, and obviously expressing opinions the opposite of what he
really believed, humbly described his book as "no more than a bare narrative
of the life of a philosopher, not of a new Messiah, or any ways in
opposition to the old; no, Philostratus does not anywhere so much as mention
the name of Christ. And if one Heathen Writer (Heirocles) did make an ill
sue of this history, by comparing Apollonius with Christ, what is that to
Philostratus, who never meant nor designed it so, as I can anywhere find?
However Eusebius hath already confuted Hierocles, which confutation I had
intended to have annexed to Philostratus as an antidote."
"The whole translation I have already finished, and had proceeded thus far
as you see in my illustration, when I found the alarm was given in all parts
what a Dangerous Hook was coming out; such a book as would unmask all
practical atheists, which (they being the greater number of men, might
therefore prove of pernicious consequence to the public. Above all, the
Popish Clergy thought themselves chiefly concerned herein, who are so
zealously revengeful and malicious, that I feared it is might fare with me
as it did with poor Esop, (who notwithstanding he had broken jests upon
several great kings and potentates without being punished for the same, yet
only speaking against the priests of Delphos cost him his life.)
"Wherefore, if the Clergy would have Apollonius esteemed a Rogue and a
Juggler, that being risen from the dead, he is one of the principal
fomenters of this Popish Plot; or that there never was any such man as
Apollonius, with all my heart, what they please. For I had much rather have
him decried in his reputation than that some grave Cardinal, with his long
beard, and his excommunicative 'Ha', should have me burnt for a heretic.")
Herwick's volume became so rare that in 1907, two London book dealers of
world-wide reputation searched and even advertised in vain for a copy. This
indicates how well the ecclesiastical suppression of this dreaded book had
succeeded. And while today scarcely a person can be found, even among the
most educated, who even heard the name of Apollonius of Tyana, much less
knew anything about him, according to Campbell, "There was a day when the
name of Philostratus and Apollonius of Tyana was on every educated
Englishman's tongue," even though sectarian prejudice against Apollonius
characterizes every writer prior to the nineteenth century. The popularity
of Apollonius in ancient times stands in sharp contrast to his almost
complete oblivion today.
That Apollonius, a mere man, should rival Jesus, a god, in so many important
respects, in the eyes of the churchmen constituted an important reason to
suppress Philostratus's book, since it tended to belittle the dignity of
their savior. That Philostratus composed his "Life of Apollonius of Tyana"
as a pagan counterblast to the Christian gospels is an opinion which has
been held by reputable scholars both before and after Blount's day. (This
opinion, which has been widely held by Christian writers, is evidently
false, since Christianity as we know it did not exist at the time when
Philostratus wrote, for he makes no mention of Jesus or of Christianity. In
spite of this fact, the book has always been held with the greatest
suspicion; and, even after the Renaissance, when it was introduced into
Europe, Aldus hesitated for a time before he gave the right to publish it,
at last resolving to do so, but adding to the text a reply by Eusebius to
Hierocles' criticism of Christianity, in which he opposed the Apollonian to
the Christian miracles, thereby, as he expressed it, giving "the antidote
with the poison.")
Thus, the Bishop of Avranches, writing in the seventeenth century, expressed
this view as follows: "Philostratus seems to have made it his chief aim to
deprecate both the Christian faith and Christian doctrine, both of which
were progressing wonderfully at that time, by the exhibition on the opposite
side of that shallow representation of a miraculous science, holiness and
virtue. He invented a character in imitation of Christ, and introduced
almost all the incidents in the life of Jesus Christ into the history of
Apollonius, in order that the pagans might have no cause to envy the
Christians by doing which he inadvertently enhanced the glory of Christ, for
by falsely attributing to another the real character of the Savior, he gave
to the latter the praise which is His just due, and indirectly held Him up
as the admiration and praise of others."
Tredwell, in his "Sketch of the Life of Apollonius of Tyana," writes:
"From the time that disputes began concerning the Christian religion,
Christians have charged Philostratus with having appropriated the events and
miracles contained in Matthew's gospel to adorn his life of Apollonius of
Tyana, and the pagans have made countercharges of plagiarism against the
writer of this gospel. Upon the earlier accounts of Apollonius these charges
have been held to be of sufficient importance to meet with efforts of
refutation from eminent Christians; even as late as our day, Rev. Albert
Reville did not think it beneath his dignity nor his great learning, to
attempt in 1866 a refutation of `this great and monstrous infidel slander.'
He attempted to show in a little book bearing the title of `Apollonius the
Pagan Christ of the Third Century' (meaning the first century) that
Philostratus had borrowed leading facts from the Gospel of Matthew.
Miraculous phenomena were related almost identical with that record by
Matthew in his gospel of Jesus Christ. And while Jesus is said to have been
casting out devils in Galilee, Apollonius was, according to a tradition
quite as trustworthy, rendering mankind a similar service in Greece. Such
was the opinion of Catholic writers on the subject; and, according to Daniel
Huet, this statement by the Bishop of Avranches `ever since that time has
had great weight with all thoughtful minds.'"
*******
Bob Huey
Part 2:
Similarities Between Apollonius and Jesus
By: Dr. R. W. Bernard, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
Let us now consider some of the essential points of similarity between the
biographies of Apollonius and Jesus. Before his birth, the coming of
Apollonius was preceded by an Annunciation, his coming being announced to
his mother by an Archangel. He was born in the same mysterious manner in the
same year when Jesus is supposed to have been born (the year 4 B.C.) Like
the latter, in his childhood he displayed wonderful precocity in religious
matters; then he went through a period of preparation; then came a period of
public and positive activity; then a passion; then a kind of resurrection;
and finally an ascension.
The messengers of Apollo sang at his birth as the angels did at that of
Jesus. He also was exposed to the attacks of enemies, though always engaged
in doing good. He similarly went from place to place carrying out the work
of reform, being accompanied by his favorite disciples, amongst whom
disaffection, discouragement and even treachery made their appearance. And
when the hour of danger was at hand, in spite of the prudent advice of
friends, and the abandonment of his disciples, he went straight to Rome,
where Domitian, the cruel emperor, was seeking to kill him, just as Jesus
went up to Jerusalem and to certain death. And before this event, he had
been a victim of Domitian's no less cruel predecessor, Nero, as Jesus had
been exposed to the machinations of Herod Antipus. Like Jesus, he is accused
of working miracles of mercy by the aid of magic and unlawful arts, whereas
he only succeeded in working them because he was a friend of the gods and
worthy to be esteemed as such. Like Jesus on the road to Damascus, he fills
an avowed enemy with wondering dismay by an apparition several years after
his resurrection and ascension.
Another remarkable resemblance between Apollonius and Jesus was the great
number of cases of evil spirits that were driven out at his bidding. He
speaks to them, as it was said of Jesus, with authority. The young man of
Athens, who was possessed, through whom the devil uttered cries of fear and
rage, and who could not face the look of Apollonius, reminds us of the
Gospel narrative of the demoniac of Gadera. Neither was cured until some
outward visible circumstance had taken place that gave the people reason to
believe that the devil had really gone out. In the one case a herd of swine
rushed down into the lake, and in the other a statue falls, overthrown by
the violence of the evil spirit as it rushes out of the young man.
There is also mentioned in the biography of Apollonius another case of
possession singularly like the one of the epileptic child in the three first
gospels. In Rome, Apollonius restored a young girl to life under
circumstances which immediately remind us of the return to life of the
daughter of Jairus. It may be further remarked that both stories are so
recorded that a careful critic might ask himself with respect to each
whether the young girl who was brought to life again had really been dead
after all. The lame, the blind and the halt came in crowds to be healed by
the laying on of hands by Iarchus, the chief of the Brahman sages of the
Himalayan heights whom Apollonius visited and under whom he studied and
derived his knowledge and power.
His miraculous appearance to his friends - Damis and Demetrius - who thought
at first that he was a spirit, remind us at once, in the way this was
related, of the resurrection of Jesus after his death.
The following inspiring description of the Christ-like figure of Apollonius
is given by Campbell in his book, "Apollonius of Tyana:" "A strange
distinctive figure, clad in white linen and not in garments wrought of
skins; with feet unsandled and with locks unshorn; austere, reserved, and of
meagre mien; with-eyes cast upon the ground as was his manner, Apollonius of
Tyana drew to him with something of a saint's attraction all simple folk,
and yet won as intimates the Emperors of Rome.
"Through his love for all life and swift appreciation of the beauty of the
human form, he drew high to the sufferings of the body and became acquainted
with the sufferings of the soul. He sought to heal, or at least to soothe,
some of the distresses, physical and spiritual, of poor humanity; and to
such a singular degree of skillfulness did he attain in the healing arts of
his day, that even the sacred oracles of Agaea and of Delphi pronounced him
more than mortal, referred the distempered body and the smitten soul to him,
for relief, knowing that from his very presence proceeded a peculiar virtue,
a benign influence an almost theurigic power.
"By years of silence and contemplation, by extensive travel and by a
continuous spiritual and worldly experience, he deepened to no minute
measure, an originally, powerful. and intense personality, and so it was
that at length he became the admiration not only of all countries through
which he passed, but of the whole Roman and Hellenic world. Cities sent
envoys and embassies to him decreeing him public favors; monarchs bestowed
special dignities upon him, counting him worthy to be their counsellor;
incense was burnt before his altars; and after his death divine honours were
paid to his images, which had been erected, with great enthusiasm, in all
the temples of the gods. Nor did his fame evanesce. All down the ages his
name has carried in it something of a hurricane; for speculative critics of
both early and later days have thought to find in the life of this
exceptional character a parallel to the life of Christ, and to ground an
argument thereon, against the supernal claims of the Son of Man. Hence for
centuries even the name of Apollonius wag odious to Christians; for it
seemed the very Gospel of the Son of Man was at stake; and Christian
apologists, on their part, in self-defense, were not lacking to attack
fiercely their adversaries' champion, and to denounce him as little better
than an imposter, a sorcerer and a magician; on this account they have
generally failed to understand the man. They have lacked, at least in their
combative approach to him, that sweet affection for signal worth, that
gracious patience for nobleness, which is absolutely essential to comprehend
a new or startling character or mode of life."
Another writer gives the following description of Apollonius:
"He had a Zeus-like head, long beard and hair descending to his shoulders,
bound with a deep fillet. Damis describes Apollonius as ever mild, gentle
and modest, and in this manner, more like an Indian than a Greek, though,
when witnessing some special enormity, he would burst out indignantly
against it. His mood was often pensive, and when not speaking he would
remain for long with eyes cast down, plunged in deep thought. Though always
stern with himself, he readily made excuses for others. As an instance of
this, the following may be cited: During Nero's reign, when, on his way to
Rome, Apollonius was warned that he and his followers would be in danger, of
thirty-four companions who set out with him, only eight remained staunch
enough to brave the threatened peril; while praising the courage of those
few who remained with him, he refused to blame as cowards the many who had
fled."
From Phliostratus's biography, we gather the following facts about the life
and character of Apollonius of Tyana. He was born in the year 4 B.C. At the
age of twelve he was sent to Tarsus in Cilcia, the alleged birthplace and
home of "St. Paul." There he studied every system of philosophy, and
perfected himself in rhetoric and general literature. He took up residence
in the temple of Aescalupius, famed for its marvelous cures, and was
initiated by its priests into their mysteries, after which he performed
cures that astonished not only the people but those masters of the art of
healing. He then finally decided to adopt the philosophy of Pythagoras, and
rigorously observed the trying discipline instituted by the Samian sage. He
abstained from animal food, wine and women -- and lived upon fruits and
herbs, dressed only in white linen garments of the plainest construction,
went barefooted and with uncovered head, and wore his hair and beard uncut.
He was especially distinguished for his beauty, his genial bearing, his
uniform love and kindness, and his imperturbable equanimity of temper.
In these respects he was the personal embodiment of the imaginary traits of
the Christian Jesus, and was no doubt the original of the pictures of the
so-called Nazarene, now so venerated by the uninformed professors of the
Christian religion. (Almost every picture that in modern times is recognized
as a likeness of Jesus really have their origins in a portrait of Apollonius
of Tyana painted in the reign of Vespasian.)
Determined to devote himself to the pursuit of knowledge and the teaching of
philosophy, he gave away his large patrimony to his poor relatives and went
to Antioch, then a center of learning but little less noted than Athens or
Alexandria. There he began his great mission by teaching philosophy to a
number of disciples and to the people. He then entered the temple of Apollo
Daphne at Antioch and learned the mysteries of its priests. Later he
traveled to India in search of wisdom and visited the Gymnosophist
philosophers of Egypt. He then returned to Greece to restore the Mysteries
and to teach the doctrines of Chrishna and Buddha, which he learned at the
feet of his Himalayan teacher, Iarchus. (These Teachings, embodying the
Buddhist gospels that Apollonius carried westward, became the origin of the
Christian religion).
As a a social and political reformer, he traveled from one end of the Roman
Empire to the other, inciting revolt against the cruel tyrants - Nero and
Domitian, for which he was arrested by both and thrown into jail. After his
arrest by Domitian he was acquitted and "disappeared." After having
completed his labors for humanity which lasted a century, it is believed he
went to India to rejoin his teachers in the Himalayas. When and where he
died is unknown.
Ells gives the following account of the life of Apollonius:
"He was born in Tyana, A Greek City of Asia Minor, three years before the
birth of Christ, and he lived about a hundred years, until the reign of
Nerva. As with Moses, no man knoweth his grave unto this day. Devoted to
philosophy from his boyhood, he studied it after the unequalled method of
those days, by listening to lectures and to disputations of rival thinkers
in every market-place and from the steps of every temple. He chose as his
own the philosophy of Pythagoras, and enthusiastically practised its
austerities, maintaining absolute silence for five years as a mental
discipline, avoiding all relations with women, giving away his patrimony,
and wearing only linen [cotton] garments.
"In the phraseology of today he was a vegetarian and a total abstainer. He
claimed that by this mode of life his senses were made abnormally acute, so
that he had a premonition of future events and became aware of the minds of
men and of distant happenings; and he successfully set up that defense when
he was tried for `sorcery' before the emperor. He prayed to the Sun three
times a day, offering incense but never sacrificing victims. He believed in
the immortality of the soul, in metempsychosis [reincarnation], and in a
supreme diety - the Creator of the Universe. Indeed it may be argued that in
the deities whom he worshipped he saw merely phases and agencies of this
Supreme Deity, for in referring to the gods collectively he is frequently
quoted by Philostratus as using indiscriminately the words `gods' or `god,'
and the Indian sage Iarchus, with his evident approval, likens the Universe
to a ship of which the Creator is the Master and the subordinate `gods' are
petty officers [cf. the Christian idea of orders of `angels' who assist in
the smooth running of creation, and the Hindu idea of a trinity of `gods' -
Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva - representing the creative, preserving and
destructive energies that are operating continually within the creation,
each having their correlative functions or energy centers (chakras) within
the human body - which in itself is but a microcosm or reflection of the
macrocosmic universe.]
"All his life long his advice and help were constantly sought by cities,
temples and rulers everywhere, and were freely given without reward. He
journeyed over the known world from the Atlantic ocean to the Ganges river,
and south to the cataracts of the Nile, acquiring and imparting wisdom. In
middle age, when his travels were not half completed, he told his disciples
that he had already seen more of the earth's surface than any other man had
ever done. During his long and laborious life he wrought many wonders, and
many men regarded him as an incarnate divinity. The kings of Persia and of
India vied with each other to do him honor. After his death the Emperor
Hadrian built a temple and endowed a priesthood for his worship of Tyana.
The emperor Aurelian vowed to do the like, calling him the most godlike,
holy and venerable of mankind, endowed with more than mortal powers, and
declaring: "If I live, I will publish at least a summary of his wonderful
deeds, not because they need anything my words can give, but to make them
familiar to all lips, as they are marvelous."
"Another emperor, Alexander Severus, with questionable taste, set the image
of Apollonius in his private chapel or solarium, among his tutelary deities,
in company with Orpheus, Abraham and Christ (Though this reference has been
quoted by many writers, it appears very improbable that early Roman
emperors, prior to Constantine, who was the first to accept Christianity,
had statues of Abraham or Christ in their chapels. This statement is
obviously a Christian interpolation. [forgery] The statue of Orpheus is the
only one we can believe to have existed side by side with that of
Apollonius. As Eisler has shown, even in the Catacombs of the early
Christians there was no representation of Jesus, while Orpheus is
represented as the central object of Worship. It is probable that Orpheus
was considered as the founder of the religion of which Apollonius was the
apostle.)
This very history we owe to the reverence paid to his memory by the empress
Julia Domna, the wife of Septimius Severus, who commissioned Philostratus to
write it and supplied him with most of the materials. For two hundred years
after his death, Apollonius was generally acclaimed as more divine than
human, until in the reign of Diocletian a Roman pro-consul Hierocles
attempted to sweep back the rising tide of Christianity by publishing his
"Candid Words to Christians," in which he drew unfavorable comparison of
Christ with Apollonius. The nascent church easily confuted his attack, but
could not forget nor forgive it; and not content with its victory over its
assailant, it stigmatized the long-dead philosopher as a charlatan inspired
and aided by the devil.
The chorus of destruction has been very persistent. As late as the time of
Charles II, when one Charles Blount tried to publish in England a
translation of Philostratus' biography, he complains in his preface that the
clergy would only let him print the first two of its eight books, and that
the Catholic priesthood was especially active in its opposition. (Eells,
C.P., "Life and Times of Apollonius of Tyana.")
Since ancient times, the controversy raged between the followers of
Apollonius and those of Jesus as to who was the more highly moral type. The
partisans of Apollonius argued that he, being a man, offered humanity a more
useful moral example than Jesus, a god, who could only be worshipped, but
not imitated, and in comparison with whom Apollonius was as virtuous in
every respect, and in some ways more so. They pointed out in particular,
that a man who, from his sixteenth year, resolved to live only on fruits and
herbs and to remain forever chaste -- which resolution he strictly followed
throughout his long life of over a century -- was certainly a higher and
more moral type than one who sat and ate among publicans the viands offered
him and who drank wine at wedding feasts.
Already at the beginning of the fourth century A.D., Hierocles wrote a
treatise in which he maintained that Apollonius was a much higher type than
the Jesus of the Gospels. Hot controversies ensued on the subject; and the
Catholic opponents of Apollonius invented the most ridiculous lies to
belittle his character. Thus Arnobius and the fathers of the church, just
after its formation at the beginning of the fourth century, maliciously
attributed the reputed miracles of Apollonius to magic, while putting up a
fictitious imitation of him in the form of the messiah of their new
religion. Even as late as the fifteenth century, we find Pico della
Mirandola, and as late as the sixteenth century, Jean Bodin and Baronius,
still denouncing Apollonius as an evil magician who had a pact with Satan.
However, even the enemies of Apollonius had to admit that his life was
exemplary, for here was a man who, from a tender age, resolved to abstain
from meat, from wine and from association with women, who let his hair grow
long and did not permit a blade to touch his chin, and who also as a
Pythagorean naturist, went around bare footed or wore sandals made from
bark, not from leather, dressing only in white linen robe and considering it
an impurity to wear clothing made from the wool of sheep.
Spending his time in a temple, his silence was extraordinary, yet his
knowledge of languages was universal. From one end of the Roman Empire to
the other he traveled as a teacher and healer, to whom the sick flocked
wherever he went. He was also a social reformer and revolutionist, who
fearlessly opposed tyrants, inciting uprisings against them, and organizing
his followers into communistic communities.
It thus appears that Apollonius was a much higher moral, as well as
intellectual type than the humble carpenter of Galilee. Such considerations
have led Reville, a Catholic writer, in his book on Apollonius of Tyana, to
admit, "Jesus was only the offering of an obscure people; his doctrine was
but the refinement of a paltry local tradition; his life, of which little is
known the great majority of his contemporaries, was extremely short. He soon
fell victim to the attacks of two or three priests, a petty king, and a
prosecutor, and a few remarkable progidies alone distinguished him from a
crowd of other existences which had nothing whatever to do with the
destinies of humanity.
"Apollonius, on the contrary, a Greek by birth, had stored his vast
intellect with the religious doctrines of the whole world, from India to
Spain; his life extended. over a century. Like a luminous meteor he
traversed the universe, in constant intercourse with kings and the powerful
ones of the earth, who venerate and fear him, and if he ever meets with
opposition, he triumphs over it majestically, always stronger than his
tyrants, never subject to humiliation, never brought into contact with
public executioners.
Tredwell, in his "Sketch of the Life of Apollonius of Tyana," writes as
follows:
"That Apollonius was a great and good man can hardly be questioned; the
tribute paid him by Titus, Vespasian and Aurelius is a guarantee. Even among
those of the present day most willing to detract from his character many are
forced to admit that a certain pure and true morality pervades the whole of
his system of teaching. There is a well- established theory in it, that
virtue and true piety is the only foundation of happiness.
"Apollonius was chaste and temperate; he was actuated by a noble desire to
know and the still nobler desire to communicate his knowledge to mankind. He
was ingenious, learned and original in his language. No man ever lived who
utterly rejected all vulgar artifice for producing effect upon men; no
majestical pomp of words characterised his teachings. And he was ready at
all times and in all places to impart good instruction; and from all
testimony of him no man was more emphatically an apostle of peace. It is
difficult, indeed, to overcome the common-sense conclusion that Apollonius,
whom Philostratus has placed before us, is a real man, a corporeity, and not
a spirit; he walks the earth, eats, drinks and sleeps like other men, loves
and hates as experience teaches us is natural for man. He is an observer of
natural phenomena, compares and speculates, adores nature, birds, animals,
trees, flowers and is not destitute of humor, although of great gravity and
dignity. Everywhere in nature and art, with the Brahmans of India, he found
something to admire."
Towards the end of the third century, just previous to the formation of the
church, the struggle between the Pythagorean supporters of Apollonius and
his opponents, who later organized the Roman Catholic Church at Nicea,
reached its last and bitter stages . At this time there were temples and
shrines all over Asia Minor dedicated to Apollonius and his work, but there
were none to Jesus, for he was unknown since he did not exist.
In the place of the august Apollonius, whose fame was world wide during the
first three centuries, and who was revered in all centers of learning as the
wisest of men, his opponents endeavored to set up an uneducated youth of
only local significance, who was known only to a few illiterate fishermen in
his vicinity, and whose short period of activity (3 years) and his short
life (33 years) precluded his achieving what Apollonius with his century of
incessant activity had accomplished. While Jesus spent his life in Galilee
among the common people, Apollonius traveled from one end of the world to
the other, studying the wisdom of the greatest minds that could be found --
the Brahmans of the Himalayas, the Gymnosophist philosophers of Egypt, and
Druids of Gaul, etc.
According to Tredwell, Apollonius travelled more extensively than any man of
his age. "That he was a man of no mean account," Tredwell adds, "is evident
from his letters addressed to kings, rulers, philosophers societies and the
first men of his time, still extant, reserved in the works of Philostratus
and Cujacius. He traveled among the Magi and was everywhere the more honored
on account of his modesty and virtues; giving always wise and prudent
counsel, and rarely disputing with anyone. The prayer which he was
accustomed to offer up to the gods is admirable. "O, ye immortal gods, grant
us whatever you shall judge it fit and proper to bestow, and of which we may
not be undeserving."
For many centuries after his passing, a halo of sanctity was thrown around
his head, and he was worshipped as a god in many parts of the world. The
Tyanaeans elevated him to the position of a demigod, and the Roman emperors
approved his apotheosis. But in the course of time, the deification of
Apollonius showed the same fate as that decreed the Roman emperors; and his
chapel became as deserted at that which the Athenians erected in honor to
Socrates.
It was claimed for Apollonius by his followers that he was the son of a god
(Proteus), a claim which he repudiated. Nevertheless it was believed by
people that Apollonius was of divine parentage and that messengers of Apollo
sang at his birth. Ammonianus Marcellinus ranked Apollonius among the most
eminent men, and claimed that he prophesied by supernatural aid of a genius,
as did Socrates and Numa.
The miracles said to have been performed in India by the Hindu savior,
Chrishna, during his mission being almost identical with those attributed to
Apollonius, were all well known and discussed in Alexandria at this time;
and although Apollonius never encouraged the propagation of his divine
nature, yet he never emphatically repudiated it, knowing that but little
respect attached to the person or teachings of any philosophy with the
vulgar multitudes unless founded on evidence of divine inspiration, the
demonstrations of which were in the form of "miracles," and he appears to
have allowed the vulgar populace to believe this. Thus arose the belief that
he was the son of God, and was a second Chrishna, or a Christ.
Out of respect to Apollonius, his native birthplace of Tyana was regarded as
a sacred city and was exempted from the jurisdiction of governors sent from
Rome. Gibbon, in his history of Rome, states that a superstitious reverence
of the countrymen of Apolloniua caused the emperor Claudius Aurelian (A. D.
273) to treat with lenity the conquered city of Tyana.* (*That in spite of
his eminence as a historian of Rome, Gibbon was ignorant of the true
significance of Apollonius, is indicated by the following statement of his:
"We are at a loss to discover whether Apollonius was a sage, an impostor or
a fanatic." In view of such ignorance by an outstanding authority on Roman
history, we can well imagine how the general public were uninformed on the
subject at the time that Gibbon wrote, as it still is.)
Vopiscus writes that as the forces of Aurelian were marching against Tyana,
the citizens having shut the gates against him, incensed the emperor so that
he declared that he would not leave a dog alive in the city; but the spirit
of Apollonius appeared to him in his tent, threatened him into a better
mind, and for Apollonius's sake, he spared the inhabitants. Later he
dedicated a temple in his honor, as the emperor Marcus Aurelius also did.
The emperor Hadrian, with reverent pomp, deposited Apollonius's writings in
his splendid palace at Antium, whither pilgrims flocked daily in crowds to
see them.
Apollonius's reputation as a saint was so well established during the early
centuries that even after the advent of Christianity, many Christian
writers, including Cassiodorus, spoke highly in his praise. Lactantius says
that a statue of Apollonius was erected at Ephesus. Statues were erected to
him in the temples and divine honors were paid him by the Emperors
Caracella, Alexander Severus and Aurelain, while magical virtues were
attributed to his name. Newman claims that Apollonius was everywhere hailed
as a god, and when he entered a city made converts as soon as seen. This was
the case in Olympia, where the crowds paid more attention to him than to the
games, almost worshipping him.
At Ephesus, he was worshipped under the title of Hercules, the warder- off
of evil. Reville says that "after his death, the city of Tyana paid him
divine honours; and the universal respect in which he was held by the whole
of the Pagan world testified to the deep impression which the life of this
supernatural being had let indelibly fixed in their minds, an impression
which caused one of his contemporaries to exclaim, "we had a god living
among us."*
(*Newman, a Catholic apologist, first seeking to discredit Apollonius and
then admitting his greatness, writes: "Apollonius is represented as making
converts as soon as seen. It was not then his display of marvels, but his
Pythagorean dress and mysterious deportment, which arrested attention, and
made him thought superior to other men, because he was different from them.
Like Lucian's Alexander, he was skilled in medicine, professed to be favored
by Aesculapius, pretended to foreknowledge; was in collusion with the
heathen priests, and was supported by the Oracles; and being more strict in
conduct than Paphlagonian, he established a more lasting celebrity.")
After Apollonius's passing, for centuries he received from emperors honors
equal to those which they claimed for themselves, and he was universally
deified and worshipped as a demi-god. Philostratus writes that "the country
people say he was a son of Zeus, but he claims to be the son of Apollo, as
his name indicates. Apollonius has been called the "true friend of the
gods." Pierre Bayle, in "Dictionaire Historique et Critique" (1696), remarks
that Apollonius was worshipped in the beginning of the fourth century under
the name of Hercules, and refers for his authority to Vopiscus, Eusebius and
Marcellinus. Albert Reville says, "The universal respect in which he was
held by the whole pagan world testified to the deep impression which the
life of this supernatural being had indelibly fixed in their minds."
Philostratus speaks of a temple in Tyana dedicated to his memory and founded
at the imperial expense, "for the emperors had judged him not unworthy of
like honors with themselves." It was from the priests of this temple, who
had gathered as much information as they could about Apollonius, that
Philostratus got much of the material for his biography.
Concerning Apollonius's universal renown during the first century, W.B.
Wallace writes: "His noble countenance, his winning presence, his pure
doctrine, his unsullied life, his ardent advocacy of the immortality of the
soul, as well as his miracles - led men to believe, wherever he went, that
he was more than mortal. He consorted and corresponded with the mighty ones
of the earth. (J.A. Froude writes: According to Philostratus he was a
heathen saviour, who claimed a commission from heaven to teach a pure and
reformed religion, and in attestation of his authority went about healing
the sick, curing the blind, raising the dead men to life, casting out
demons, stilling tempests, and prophesying future events - which came
afterwards to pass.
"He was born four gears before the Christian era in Tyana, a city of
Cappadocia. His parents sent him to be educated at Tarsus, in Cilicia, a
place of considerable wealth and repute, and he must have been about the
beginning of his studies when St. Paul as a little boy was first running
about the streets. On the death of his father, he divided his property among
the poor, and after five years retirement he traveled as far as India in
search of knowledge. Here he discoursed with the learned Brahmans, and came
home with enlightened ideas. He began his career as a teacher in the Roman
Empire. He preached his new religion and performed miracles to induce people
to believe in him. He was spiritual advisor of Vespasian. By Domitian he was
charged with having pretended being a god himself. He was arraigned,
convicted and was about to suffer, when he vanished out of the hands of the
Roman police and reappeared at Ephesus... Apollonius of Tyana, among many
others, was looked upon as an emanation of the divine nature. --(J. A.
Froude, in "Nineteenth Century," Sept. 1879.)
Tigellinius, the brutal favorite of Nero, cowered before him, Vespasian was
encouraged by him to aim at the Imperial diadem. His disciples were
numerous.* (*On this point, Mead, in his "Apollonius of Tyana," writes: "He
attracted to himself many followers and disciples. It would have been
interesting if Philostratus had told us more about these 'Apollonians,' as
they were called, and whether they constituted a distinct school, or whether
they were grouped together in communities on the Pythagorean model, or
whether they were simply independent students attracted to the most
commanding personality of the times in the domain of philosophy.")
Indicating the high reverence in which Apollonius was held in his day,
Justin Martyr, in his work written in the second quarter of the first
century, made the following statement:
"Question 24: If God is the maker and master of creation, how do the
consecrated objects of Apollonius have power in the (various) orders of
creation? For, as we see, they check the fury of the waves and the power of
the winds and the inroads of vermin and attacks of wild beasts."
The followers of Apollonius, who were called Apollonians, continued to
worship him until the fourth century. Many of them wore the same dress as
himself and adopted his Pythagorean vegetarian mode of living.* (*However,
Apollonius never imposed his mode of life on others, even on his personal
disciples, whom he gave utmost freedom. Thus, he tells Damis that he has no
wish to prohibit him from eating flesh and drinking wine, though he demands
the right to refrain himself and of defending his conduct if called to do
so. This is an indication that Damis, who was the source of Philostratus's
information concerning the life and teachings of Apollonius, was not a
member of the inner circle of discipline, and therefore was not in a
position to communicate as much about his master as he otherwise would have
been able to do.
In the Pauline Epistles, which, in their original form, were undoubtedly
written by Apollonius, Damis is referred to as "Demas,"** a companion of the
apostle (Paul, or Pol, representing Apollonius, who also appears in the
epistles as "Apollos," who is said to have preached a similar doctrine and
in a similar manner as Paul.***)
[** Colossians Chapter 4: Verse 14; 2nd Timothy, Chapter 4: Verse 10;
Philemon: Verse 24.]
[*** I Corinthians, Chapter 3: Verses 4 - 6; also Verse 22; I Corinthians,
Chapter 4: Verse 6; Titus, Chapter 3: Verse 13.]
Admitting that he was not permitted to enter the inner circle of his teacher
and master, Damis refers to his manuscript on the "Life, Journeyings and
sayings of Apollonius of Tyana," which later came into the possession of
Julia Domna, who obtained it from a relative of Damis, and which constituted
the basis of Philostratus's biography, as "the crumbs of the feast of the
gods." Repeated mention is made of their accompanying Apollonius on his
travels, sometimes as many as ten of them at the same time, but none of them
were allowed to address each other until they had fulfilled the vow of
silence. The most distinguished of his followers were Musonius, who was
considered the greatest philosopher of the time after Apollonius, and who
was the special victim of Nero's cruelty, and Demetrius, `who loved
Apollonius' as his master.
These names are well known to history; of names otherwise unknown are the
Egyptian Dioscorides, who was left behind owing to weak health on the long
journey to Ethiopia; Menippus, whom he had freed from an obsession;
Phaedimus and Nilus, who joined him from the Gymnosophists; and of course
Damis, who would have us think that he was always with him from the time of
their first meeting at Ninus.
There is reason to think that the followers of Apollonius were Essenes or
Therapeuts, of which sects he was undoubtedly the leader. According to
Reville, "Apollonius and his followers, like Pythagoras and his disciples,
constituted a regular order of Pagan monks."
Lecky, in his well known book, "History of European Morals," states that
Apollonius "obtained a measure of success second only to that of Christ.*
(*Renan called Apollonius "a sort of Christ of paganism." Reville calls him
a Greek or Pagan Christ, "a universal priest, a philosopher who is so holy
as entitled to divine honors," and "a god in human form". "He advocated a
morality and virtue far in advance of the religious sentiments of his age."
Again he writes: "Apollonius of Tyana, at the close of the Flavian period,
endeavored, with noble purpose, to unite moral training with religious
practice; the oracles, which had long ceased, were partially restored."*
(*According to Phillimore, Apollonius founded a church and a community,
composed of his disciples - who were undoubtedly the branch of Essenes known
as Nazarenes or Therapeuts. Phillimore says, "Apollonius may be said to have
founded a 'church;' but there was nothing commercial in the institution; he
was not salaried by his admiring disciples."
It appears that Apollonius was himself an object of worship -- because of
his sanctity, wisdom, beauty, etc. - wherever he went. "His magic powers,
which seem to have been considerable, procured for local piety his
recognition as an object of cultus in his Cappadocian birth-place," writes
Phillimore. There is evidence that Apollonius's "church," whose adherents
were known as "Apolloniei" survived for some centuries after his death, and
constituted the origin of what, after the Council of Nicea, was later
transformed into he Christian Church.)
G.R.S. Mead, a student of early Christian and Gnostic movements, writes
along similar lines as follows: "Apollonius of Tyana was the most famous
philosopher of the Graeco-Roman world of the first century, and devoted the
major part of his long life to the purification of the many cults of the
Empire and to the instruction of the ministers and priests of its religions.
With the exception of Christ no more interesting personage appears upon the
stage of western history in these early years."
Appuleis classes Apollonius with Moses and Zoroaster, and other famous
prophets and magi of antiquity. Arnobius, the teacher of Lactantius, at the
end of the third century, also classes him among the great prophets, side by
side with Zoroaster. But while the previous universal high opinion of
Apollonius was lost after the formation of the Church, the Church fathers
were not all of the same mind concerning him, for on the one hand we find
John Chrysostom bitterly denouncing Apollonius as a deceiver and evil-doer,
Jerome asserts that the philosopher found everywhere something to learn and
something whereby he could become a better man. Also in the next century,
St. Augustine, while ridiculing the attempts that were made at comparison
with Jesus, admits that the character of Apollonius was exemplary in virtue.
Vopiscus, a writer who lived at the end of the third century, is very
enthusiastic about Apollonius, whom he called "a sage of the most widespread
renown and authority, an ancient philosopher and a true friend of the gods,
indeed, a manifestation of Deity." Vopiscus resolved to write a life of
Apollonius in Latin, so that, he says, "his deeds and words may be on the
tongues of all, for as yet the only accounts are in Greek. For who among
men," he adds, "was more holy, more worthy of reverence, more venerable and
more god-like than he?" He it was who gave life to the dead. He it was who
did and said so many things beyond the power of men.
Vopiscus did not fulfill his intention, but Soterichus, an Egyptian epic
poet of the last decade of the third century, Nichomachus, and Tascius
Victorianus all wrote lives of Apollonius, which were lost after the
formation of the Church, having been destroyed by the Christians.
During the fifth century, we find Volusian, a pro-consul of Africa,
descended from an old Roman family, still worshipping Apollonius of Tyana as
a supernatural being. Lactantius refers to a statue erected to him at
Ephesus. Sidonius Apolinaris, who wrote his biography in the last half of
the fifth century, speaks of him as the favorite of monarchs and the
admiration of the countries he traversed. This same writer sent a copy of
Philostratus's "Life of Apollonius of Tyana" to his friend, Leo, the
chancellor of a Frankish king at Toulouse, with this message:
"Throw aside your endless labors and steal a respite from the burdens and
bustle of the Court, so that you may really study this long-expected volume
as it deserves. When once absorbed in it, you will wander with our Tyanean
over Caucasus and Indus, to Brahmans of India and the naked philosophers of
Nubia. It describes the life of very much such a man as you are, with due
respect to your Catholic faith. Courted by sovereigns, but never courting
them; eager For knowledge; aloof from money-getting; fasting at feasts;
linen-clad among wearers of purple; rebuking luxury; self-contained;
plain-spoken; shock-headed in the midst of perfumed kings, who themselves
were reeking with myrrh and malo-bathrum and polished with pumice-stone;
taking from the flocks nothing to eat or to wear; and notwithstanding all
these peculiarities not distrusted but honored wherever he went throughout
the world, and although royal treasures were placed at his disposal,
accepted from them merely those gifts to his friends which it suited him
better to bestow than to receive. In short, if we measure and weigh
realities, no philosopher's biography equal to this has ever appeared in the
times of our ancestors; so far as I know; and I am certain that in my times
it finds a worthy reader in you."
Other references to Apollonius were derived from a certain Machus, the
unusual color of whose robes won him the name of Porphyry, who wrote a
celebrated treatise against Christianity which was destroyed by the Emperor,
but his life of Pythagoras and his school, written in the last years of the
third century and the first years of the fourth, is still in existence, as
is also a similar work by Iamblichus written at the same time; and both
refer to Apollonius's biography of Pythagoras, the first thirty sections of
which constituted the course of their information.
Tredwell says that there was a vast amount of literature produced during the
Apollonian period, "more probable than was ever produced during a like
period by the like number of persons. All we know about it is, that it once
existed and was destroyed during the subsequent ages. It was obviously burnt
by the Christians."
Apollonius was a man of extensive learning and the author of many books, all
of which have been destroyed by the Christians.* (*Apollonius was the author
of the following books:
(1) "The Mystic Rites or Concerning Sacrifices." This treatise as mentioned
by Philostratus, who tells us that it sets down the proper method of
sacrifice to every god, the proper hours of prayer and offering. It was in
wide circulation, and Philostratus had come across copies of it in the
libraries and cities, and in the libraries of philosophers. Several
fragments have been preserved and have been found in the writings of
Eusebius. Noack tells us that scholarship is convinced of the genuineness of
this book, which was widely circulated and held in the highest respect. It
is said that its rules were engraved on brazen pillars at Byzantium, which
were melted down by the Christians.
(2) Four books entitled "The Oracles or Concerning Divination." According to
Philostratus, the Full title was "Divination of the Stars," and he says that
it was based on what Apollonius learned in India; but the kind of divination
Apollonius wrote about was not the ordinary astrology, but something which
Philostratus considers superior to ordinary human art in such matters. He
had, however, never heard of anyone possessing a copy of this rare book.
(3) "The Life of Pythagoras." Porphyry refers to this book, and Iamblicus
quotes a long passage from it.
(4) "The Will of Apollonius." This was written in the Ionic dialect, and
contained a summary of his doctrines.
(5) "A Hymn to Memory." (Eudocia speaks of many other works, all of which,
including the ones above described, were destroyed by the churchmen.) He was
familiar with Plato, Pythagoras, Livy and Horace, as indicated by his
frequent quotations from them; but his favorite author was Homer, and his
philosophy was the dialectic stoicism of Zeno. He was the author of four
books on Judicial Astrology and a treatise on Sacrifice, referred to by
Eusebius and Suidas.
The Emperor Hadrian had a book he had written which he kept with his letters
in his palace at Antium. According to Tredwell, it seems probably that
Apollonius was the author of a voluminous literature, much of which
Philostratus must have had before him in a diary of Damis. Marcus Aurelius
(A.D. 130) learned stoic philosophy from Apollonius's writings. "From
Apollonius," said Aurelius, "I have learned freedom of will and
understanding, steadiness of purpose, and to look to nothing else, not even
for a moment, except to reason."
*******
Bob Huey
Apollonius the Nazarene
Part 3:
The Controversy Between Adherents of Apollonius and Jesus
By: Dr. R. W. Bernard, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
Let us briefly review the history of the controversy between the adherents
of Apollonius and those of Jesus, each of whom claimed that the miracles of
their messiah were greater than those of the other.*
(*On this subject, Mead writes: "The development of the
Jesus-Apollonius-miracle controversy into the Jesus-against-Apollonius and
even Christ-against- Anti-Christ battle, fought out with relays of lusty
champions on the one side against a feeble protest at best on the other, is
a painful spectacle to contemplate. How sadly must Jesus and Apollonius have
looked upon, and still look upon, this bitter and useless strife over their
saintly persons? Why should posterity set their memories one against the
other? Did they oppose one another in life? Did even their biographers do so
after their deaths? Why then could not the controversy have ceased with
Eusebius? The answer to these questions is clear to the reader of this
book.")
It started in the early part of the fourth century with the publication of
Hierocles' "Lover of Truth," which was refuted by Eusebius in a work
entitled, "The Treatise of Eusebius, the Son of Pamphilis, Against the Life
of Apollonius of Tyana" Written by Philostratus, Occasioned by the Parallel
Drawn by Hierocles between him and Christ." Hierocles' book was an attack on
Christianity, charging the Christians of CREATING Jesus as a plagiarism of
Apollonius, a charge that STILL HOLDS GOOD, since it has NEVER BEEN REFUTED.
On this subject, Roberts writes:
"All through the third century there is repeated mention of this
(Apollonius's teachings). But it was not until Hierocles in the beginning of
the fourth century boldly charged upon the Christian priesthood their
plagiarism of the teachings and works of Apollonius, that the latter found
it necessary to set every means at work that could in any way help to
conceal the great truth that Hierocles proclaimed with such portentious
force. It was true that no one knows exactly what it was that Hierocles
wrote, for Eusebius, who took upon himself the task of destroying the
testimony of Hierocles, took precious good care to destroy the work of his
formidable opponent, and give his OWN VERSION of the matter instead. The
reply of Eusebius to Hierocles has come down to us. Why has not Hierocles'
arraignments of the Christian priesthood also come down to us? Let that
priesthood answer."* (* J. M. Roberts -"Antiquity Unveiled.")
In refutation of Hierocles' claims, Eusebius tried to show that Apollonius
was a poor imitation of the Christian messiah. On the other hand, Hierocles,
insofar as this can be gathered from Eusebius's refutation -- made the
following statements:
"You proclaim Jesus a god on account of a few progidies recorded by their
evangelists, yet we have writers of more education than yours and with more
care for truth, who relate solid judgement, do not make him a god on account
of them, only regard him as a man found pleasing to the gods."
This is practically all that Eusebius tells us about the contents of the
work of Hierocles under the title of "Philalethes." Everything else, in the
book, he asserts, has been urged by others and has been already replied to.
The parallel between Apollonius and Christ is all that is new. Eusebius
examines each of Philostratus' eight books in succession, pointing out the
inconsistencies and incredibilities of the narrative. "I have no objection,"
he says, "to placing Apollonius as high as any one likes among philosophers.
But when, under the cover of Pythagoreanism, Philostratus makes him go
beyond the bounds of philosophy and makes him a saint, he is really made to
be an ass in lion skin, a juggling quack instead of a philosopher. There are
limits set to human powers which no man, like Apollonius, can transgress,
but a higher being (Jesus) can condescend to the conditions of human
nature."
In short, Eusebius mocks Apollonius's miracles as untrue and impossible and
tries to point out the inconsistencies of the biography, concluding that if
the miracles of Apollonius really took place they were performed by the aid
of a demon.
"Lastly," says Eusebius; arriving at the culmination of his argument,
"Philostratus, having thrown doubt on the place and manner of his departure
from life, will have it that Apollonius went to heaven bodily, accompanied
by an expected song of maiden voices."
Eusebius ends by saying that if any should think fit to place Apollonius
among philosophers, he does not object; if only they will clear him of the
false ornaments affixed to him by the writing under examination; the real
effect of such additions being to culminate the man himself under the guise
of raising him to divinity. In conclusion let us hear Eusebius's own words:
"I need not say with what admiring approval he [Hierocles] attributes his
[Apollonius] theumaturgic feats not to the tricks of wizardry, but to a
divine and mysterious wisdom; and he believes they were truly what he
supposes them to have been, though he advances no proof of his contention.
Listen then to his very words: `In their anxiety to exalt Jesus, they run up
and down printing of how he made the blind to see and worked certain other
miracles of the kind.' Then after an interval he adds as follows: `Let us
note how much better and more sensible is the view which we take of such
matters, and explain the conception which we entertain of men gifted with
remarkable powers.' And thereupon after passing headlessly by Aristeas,
continues thus: `But in the time of our own ancestors, during the reign of
Nero, there flourished Apollonius of Tyana who from mere boyhood when he
became the priest of Aegae of Cicilia, of Ascalepius, the lover of mankind,
worked any number of miracles, of which I will omit the greater number and
only mention a few.'
"Then he begins at the beginning and enumerates the wonders worked by
Apollonius, after which he continues in the following words: `What then is
my reason for mentioning these facts? It is in order that you may be able to
contrast our own accurate and well-established judgment on each point with
the easy credulity of the Christians. For whereas we reckon him who wrought
such feats not a god, but only a man pleasing to the gods, they on the
strength of a few miracles proclaim their Jesus a god.'
"To this he adds after a little more the following remark: `And this point
is also worth noticing, that whereas the tales of Jesus have been vamped up
by Peter and Paul and a few others of the kind -- men who were liars and
devoid of education and wizards -- the history of Apollonius was written by
Maximus of Aegae, and by Damis the philosopher, who lived constantly with
him, and by Philostratus of Athens, men of the highest education, who out of
respect for the truth and their love of mankind, determined to give the
publicity they deserved to the actions of a man at once noble and a friend
of the gods."
These are the very words used by Hierocles in his treatise against us which
he has entitled "Lover of Truth."*
(*Hierocles was inspired to write his book by Porphyry, who had written
fifteen books against Christianity as well as many works in defense of
Apollonius's neo- Pythagorean philosophy, including four books in defense of
vegetarianism entitled "Four Books on Abstinence from Animal Food."
Hierocles' work was written in 303 A.D., a year before Porphyry died.)
Hierocles was further answered by Lactantius; and it soon became necessary
for every Catholic saint or doctor of the fourth and fifth centuries to have
an opinion about Apollonius of Tyana. Eusebius admitted, however, that
Apollonius was a great philosopher; and Lactantius and Arnobius, while not
denying his miracles, attribute them to "magic." St. Jerome also regarded
him as a magician. In a work written after the death of Philostratus by an
unknown writer, which was formerly attributed to Justin Martyr, the miracles
of Apollonius were further ascribed to magic.
St. Augustine, in arguing with the heathen, paid Apollonius a rather mild
compliment by allowing that he was "purer than Jove." The learned Bishop
Sidonius Apollonaris praised the Greek philosopher and translated his life
into Latin. On the other hand, St. John Chrysostom branded the work of
Philostratus as false and Apollonius as a "deceiver;" and his view gradually
became the general one of Christian writers. The Church Father, Isidorus of
Pelusium, who died in 450 A.D. bluntly denied that there was any truth in
the assertion that Apollonius "consecrated many spots in the world for the
safety of the inhabitants."
Among the ancient writers who make mention of Apollonius is Origen, who
refers to the memoirs of Maeragenes; who speaks of him as a philosopher and
magician. Later, Ammianus Marcellinus, the last subject of Rome who composed
a profane history in the Latin language, and the friend of Julian the
Philosopher, Emperor, refers to Apollonius as "that most renowned
philosopher." and thought that, "like Pythagoras and Socrates, he was a
privileged mortal who lived assisted by a familiar genius." A few years
later, Eunapius, the pupil of Chrysanius, one of the teachers of Julian,
writing in the last years of the fourth century says that, "Apollonius was
more than a philosopher; he was a middle term, as it were, between gods and
men."
Eunapius states furthermore that Apollonius was not only an adherent of the
Pythagorean philosophy, but "he fully exemplified the more divine and
practical side of it." He believes that Philostratus should have called his
biography "The Sojourning of a God Among Men."
Even in the sixth century, after the downfall of philosophy with the rise of
the Church, we find Cassiodorus, who spent the last years of his life in a
monastery, speaking of Apollonius as the "renowned philosopher." In the
eighth century, among the Byzantine writers, we find the monk, George
Syncellus, referring to him as "the most remarkable of all the illustrious
people who appeared under the Roman Empire." At about the same time,
Tzetzos, a critic and grammarian, called Apollonius "all-wise and
fore-knower of all things."
Towards the end of the middle ages, the cult of Apollonius still survived in
the east, though forgotten in the west, as indicated by the Statement of
Nicetus concerning the melting-down of certain bronze doors at Byzantium,
which were said to have been inscribed with the "Book of Rites," one of the
lost works of Apollonius. This was done to put an end to non-christian
beliefs and usages which had gathered around them.
In the eleventh century, opinion [regarding Apollonius of Tyana] was
divided; and while on the other hand, we find the monk Xiphillinus, in a
note to his abridgement of the history of Dion Cassius, calls Apollonius "a
clever juggler and magician," Cidrenus in the same century bestows on
Apollonius the not uncomplimentary title of "an adept with efficacy of his
power over the elements" in Byzantium.
Even as late as 1832, Bauer attempted to show that not only were there
resemblances between the "Life of Apollonius of Tyana" and the Gospels, but
that Philostratus deliberately modeled his hero on the type set forth by the
Evangelists. He was followed in this view by Zeller, the celebrated Greek
historian.
Typical of latter nineteenth century views on the subject is that of
Cardinal Newman, a Catholic apologist, who, admitting the identity of
Apollonius and the Gospel messiah, considers the former an imitation of the
latter, in spite of the fact that he preceded him by three centuries (For
the Jesus of the Gospels was evidently born in the year 325 A.D., at the
Council of Nicea, rather than when the star appeared over Bethlehem).
To support his view, Newman mentions certain typical examples, such as
Apollonius's bringing to life a dead girl in Rome, which he considers as "an
attempt, and an elaborate, pretentious attempt, to outdo certain narratives
in the Gospels (Mark v. 29, Luke vii. John xi: 41-43, Acts iii: 4-6). This
incident, is described by Philostratus.
Presenting further evidence that Philostratus's biography of Apollonius is
in many ways a replica of the life of Jesus, Cardinal Newman writes: The
favour in which Apollonius from a child was held by gods and men; his
conversations when a youth in the Temple of Aesculapius; his determination,
in spite of danger to go up to Rome; the cowardice of his disciples in
deserting him; the charge brought against him of disaffection to Caesar; the
Minister's acknowledging, on his private examination, that he was more than
man; the ignominious treatment of him by Domitian on his second appearance
at Rome; his imprisonment with criminals; his vanishing from Court and
sudden reappearance to his mourning disciples at Puteoli--these, with other
particulars of a similar cast, evidence a history modelled after the
narrative of the Evangelists. Expressions, moreover, and descriptions occur,
clearly imitated "from the sacred volume."
Reville, another Catholic apologist, thinks as does Newman that "the
biography of Apollonius is in great measure an imitation of the Gospel
narrative.'* (*Reville bases his argument on the similarity of the
characters of Apollonius and Pythagoras (which is natural in view of
Apollonius following Pythagoras as his example); and he seeks to prove that
Apollonius, rather than Jesus, is a fictitious creation, rather than an
historical character. Reville writes: "It is hard to say whether the
Pythagoras of the Alexandrians is not an Apollonius of an earlier date by
some centuries, or whether the Apollonius of Julia Domna, besides his
resemblance to Christ, is not a Pythagoras endowed with a second youth. The
real truth of the matter will probably be found to lie between the two
suggestions."
Godfrey Higgins considers Christ as an imitation of Pythagoras, who likewise
started life immaculately and was killed by his enemies while seeking to
serve mankind. The truth is that both Pythagoras and Apollonius were
historical while Jesus is mythical.) This would imply that Philostratus's
"Apollonius" had no real existence and was modeled on the life of Jesus.
In refutation of that claim, that Apollonius had no historical existence and
is an imitation of Jesus, is the existence of a "Lease from the Estate of
Apollonius," which is among the Zenon papyri acquired by Columbia University
in 1926. It is a Greek manuscript written on parchment which refers to a
gift of cultivated land bestowed by King Ptolemy, son of Ptolemy Soter, to
Apollonius of Tyana; which was signed by Damis. The land produced barley and
wheat, which yielded its owners a regular income.
The lease was a legal document which stipulated the revenue that Apollonius
was to receive from the crops which the land produced, and to it the names
of a number of witness were affixed. In view of such clear evidence of the
historical existence of Apollonius, in sharp contract with the lack of such
evidence concerning the Christian Son of God, the question as to whether
Apollonius or Jesus - in the historical original of which the other is an
imitation - finds the ready solution in the mind of every unbiased person.
Apollonius spoke in parables just as Jesus did. Concerning this point,
Roberts, in his "Antiquity Unveiled," writes: "If the identity of style and
sentiment is possible then the learned Apollonius was the original author of
the teachings attributed to Jesus Christ; an identity that all the altering,
eliminating and interpolating by the Christian hierarchy have not been able
to destroy or even imperfectly conceal."
This similarity in the expressions of the two men made Cudworth, a Christian
apologist, in his "Intellectual System," write: "It is highly improbable, if
not unquestionable, that Apollonius of Tyana shortly after the publication
of the gospel to the world, was a person made choice of by the policy and
assisted by the powers of the kingdom of darkness, for doing something
extraordinary, merely out of design to derogate from the miracles of our
Saviour Jesus Christ, and to enable paganism the better to bear up against
the attacks of Christianity."
Huet another apologist, says further on the same subject, "He (Philostratus)
aimed and thinks it to have been his principal design to obstruct the
progress of the Christian religion by drawing the character of a man of
great knowledge, sanctity and miraculous power. Therefore he forced
Apollonius after the example of Christ and accommodated many things in the
history of our Lord to Apollonius.
Thus the learned and pious Christian, Huet, was forced to admit the common
identity of Apollonius and Jesus -- the first described by Philostratus
according to the memoirs of Damis, written in the first century, and the
other described by no one knows whom or when, but certainly not until
several centuries later.*
(*Commenting on the opinion of Huet, and confirming his identification of
Apollonius and Jesus, Parker, Archdeacon of Canterbury, in 1681, remarked:
"I know that Huet is of the opinion, that all the substantial miracles (of
Apollonius) are stolen out of the Acts of the Apostles, and for the most
part, in the words and phrases of St. Luke. And this he had endeavored to
make good by a great variety of parallel instances and thinks it a manifest
discovery both of the vanity of Philostratus and the imposture of
Apollonius, where he is only adorned with borrowed feathers but a great
accession to the credit of our Saviour that when his enemies would form the
idea of a divine man, they were forced to steal his best feathers from his
picture. So that, he says, it was no wonder that Hierocles should so
confidently compare the miracles of Apollonius to those of Jesus when those
of Jesus were with so little disguise clapped upon Apollonius.")
As Christian writers have been forced to admit the identity of the
respective narratives, concerning Apollonius and Jesus, the only question to
be settled is, who was the original author of the so-called Christian
teachings? There is sufficient evidence available to prove that Apollonius
of Tyana was that author, and NOT Jesus of Nazareth nor Paul of Tarsus, as
is wrongly claimed by Christian writers.
Now, there was another important reason for the suppression of
Philostratus's book, besides the fact that it presented a dangerous rival to
the Christian messiah. This was the fact that, though based on the notes of
a contemporary of Jesus, and describing his travels from one end of the then
known world to the other, throughout the work there is not a single mention
of the existence of Jesus or Christianity, indicating that neither Damis,
who wrote the original notes in the early part of the first century, or
Philostratus, who compiled the notes two centuries later, were aware that
either existed. Philostratus's biography was written about a century prior
to the formation of the Church at the beginning of the fourth century, prior
to the formation of the church (325 A.D.) and Catholics have taken special
pains to destroy all books written at this time, lest the fact become known
that none of them make mention of Jesus or of Christianity.
It was to destroy such books that the Alexandrian and other ancient
libraries were burnt following the formation of the Church at the beginning
of the fourth century prior to which Christianity (as we know and understand
it) did not exist and Jesus was unknown.
The argument that there is almost complete silence in Philostratus's
biography concerning the existence of Jesus and his disciples has been the
one most frequently advanced by Catholics to each other, in order that there
be maintained great vigilance in the suppression of this book. In such
discussions, this was what was said: "There is most complete silence as
regards to Jesus and his disciples. They are never mentioned; the existence
of the Christian Church is ignored; and yet the book contains attacks on all
kinds of religious and moral errors; hence, it is argued, any similarity
which may exist between the life of Christ and that of the pagan reformer is
either accidental, or formed." On this subject, Tredwell remarks that
Christian writers "declare that Philostratus wrote up a character in
imitation of Christ, and in opposition to the Christian religion, when the
best evidence in the world exists (his entire silence) that he never heard
of Christ or Christians. However, if Philostratus did create a character in
imitation of Christ, how much more worthy of our imitation in practice and
precept is the counterfeit!"
Had there been such persons living as Jesus Christ, his apostles and their
Christian followers during the time that Apollonius lived and labored
throughout the then civilized world, Damis, who accompanied him during much
of that time, and who recorded every thing worthy of special note, would
have made some mention of such people, either favorably on unfavorably. That
he did not do so is, of itself, sufficient proof that neither Jesus Christ,
his apostles nor the Christian religion had any existence either before or
during that period, which was the only time in which they could have lived,
if they really did.
Dr. Lardner, in his "Credibility of the Gospel Story," therefore writes: "It
is manifest, therefore, that Philostratus compared Apollonius and
Pythagoras; but I do not see that he endeavored to make him a rival of Jesus
Christ. Philostratus had never once mentioned our Saviour, or the
Christians, his followers; neither in this long work, nor in the `Lives of
the Sophists;' if this be his as some learned men of the best judgment
suppose, is there any hint that Apollonius anywhere in his wide travels, met
with any followers of Jesus? There is not so much as an obscure or general
description of any men met with by him, whom any can suspect to be
Christians of any denomination, either Catholics or heretics. Whereas I
think if Philostratus had written with a mind adverse to Jesus, he would
have laid hold of some occasion to describe and disparage his followers, as
enemies of the gods, and condemners of the mysteries and different from all
other men."
Nevertheless it was this very absence of mention of Jesus and the Christians
in Philostratus's book which was considered by the Catholic Church as
sufficient reason to prohibit its publication for over a thousand years,
lest it be suspected that no Christians existed at the time when the book
was written and that Jesus never lived.
Dr. Lardner observes that just as there was no mention of Jesus or
Christianity by Philostratus, so we find a similar silence about Apollonius
in the works of early Christian writers, though they mention philosophers of
much less renown, as Justin, Tatian, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian ,
etc. Of all these we have some remains; they lived in the first two
centuries and the beginning of the third. This silence on the part of these
authors regarding Apollonius can be accounted for on the basis of only one
theory - that it was necessary to utterly ignore Apollonius and his
philosophical and religious teachings in order that the Christian religion
might gain a foothold and usurp the field he had grandly occupied.
Besides, the fragmentary remains of the works of the first three centuries
that have reached us, have had to pass through the hands of Eusebius, Pope
Sylvester I, and their coadjutors and successors, who, from the beginning of
the fourth century downward to the time when the art of printing ended it,
were so assiduously engaged in interpolating, mutilating and destroying
every trace of evidence within their reach that showed the real origin and
nature of the Christian religion and its true founder. It should have struck
the attention of Dr. Lardner, with vastly greater force, that just as in
Philostratus's lengthy biography of Apollonius there is no mention of Jesus,
so in the entire New Testament there is not a single mention of Apollonius,
if we except in a few verses of lst Corinthians, where it says, "for while
one saith, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal? Who, then, is Paul, and who
Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every
man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." [First
Corinthians, Chapter 3, Verses 3-6; King James Version].
In a very ancient manuscript of this Epistle, found in a monastery in France
by a Huegenot soldier, called the CODEX BEZAE, the name is spelled not
Apollos but APOLLONIUS. As has already been indicated, the Encyclopedia
Britannica admits that the name, Apollos, as it appears in the Pauline
Epistles, is an abbreviation of Apollonius.**
**But even this positive clue to the identity of Apollonius with the St.
Paul of the Christians was attempted to be obliterated by substituting
"Apollos" for Apollonius, as it originally stood. This studied avoidance of
all mention of Apollonius in the Christian Scriptures is positive proof that
his recognition, in any way, by the authors of Christianity, would be fatal
to their scheme of deception and fraud. We Wonder they had not the cunning
to obliterate that one reference to the preaching and teaching of
Apollonius, and the admission that his teaching was in perfect accord with
the teachings attributed to St. Paul.
It is an old saying that liars should have good memories. This was never
more apparent than in the oversight of not eliminating that telltale
confession from the lst Epistle to the Corinthians. [King James Version].
There it stands and there it will stand, thanks to the art of printing to
confound those Christian enemies of truth and make clear the fraud they are
upholding.
Reversing the true state of affairs, involving as it did the replacement of
Apollonius by Jesus in the beginning of the fourth century A.D., Dr.
Johannese Hempel writes: "In the fourth century we observe the replacement
by the heathens of Jesus by a man who was put in his place. First Celsus and
Porphyry, and later Hierocles put Apollonius in place of Christ and opposed
the new religion.
Reversing the true state of affairs, involving as it did the replacement of
Apollonius by Jesus in the beginning of the fourth century A.D., Dr.
Johannese Hempel writes: "In the fourth century we observe the replacement
by the heathens of Jesus by a man who was put in his place. First Celsus and
Porphyry, and later Hierocles put Apollonius in place of Christ and opposed
the NEW religion."
(**In the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica under the heading
of Apollos, we read: APOLLOS (contracted from Apollonius) - an Alexandrian
Jew who after Paul's visit to Corinth worked there in a similar way (Italics
ours). He was with Paul at a later date in Ephesus. In Cor. 1. 10-12 we read
of four parties in the Corinthian church, of which two attached themselves
to Paul and Apollos respectively, using their names, though the 'division'
could hardly be due to conflicting doctrines. From Acts xviii. 24-288 we
learn that he spoke and taught with power and success., He may have
captivated his hearers by teaching "wisdom" as P.W. Schmiedel suggests, in
the allegorical style of Philo, and he was evidently a man of unusual
magnetic force...Since Apollos was a Christian and 'taught exactly' he could
hardly have been acquainted only with John's baptism or have required to be
taught christianity more thoroughly by Aquila and Priscilla. Martin Luther
regarded Apollos [=Apollonius] as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews
and many scholars since have shared his view.")
Concerning the identity of Apollonius and Paul ["Pol", an abbreviation of
Apollonius), not only were they both in Tarsus at the same time as boys,
but, as Newman points out, Apollonius was at Ephesus and Rome at EXACTLY the
same time that Paul was (yet, strangely, Apollonius's biographer makes no
mention of him, though Paul's biographer speaks of "Apollos" having been at
Ephesus with him). Also it is significant that "Paul" is a fictitious name.
There is more reason to identify the character of Apollonius with Paul than
"Saul," who led a dissipated life, while Apollonius - even in youth, lived
chastely.
Concerning the identity of Apollonius, with Paul, Reville writes:
"Apollonius is not only like Jesus Christ, but he combines in his own person
many of the characteristics of the Apostles. Like Paul he travels up and
down the world from east to west, and like him, too, he is the victim of
Nero's jealousy. Like John, according to a tradition which prevailed even in
his time, he is persecuted by Domitian." And there is reason to believe that
he was also the author of the Apocalypse (St. John the Revelator).
The replacement of the vegetarian and pacifistic doctrine of Apollonius, who
taught harmlessness to all living beings, animal as well as human (as was
previously taught by gotama Buddha), by the non-vegetarian and
non-pacifistic religion of Jesus and his bride, the Church Militant, has
plunged the world into centuries of unceasing wars and bloodshed, which have
continued to increase with the growth of Christianity. On this point,
Tredwell writes; "Think not that I come to send peace on earth," said Jesus.
"I come not to send peace but a sword....
Never did a man utter words so brimful of truth -- melancholy as it is.
Never was a prediction whose disastrous fulfillment has unfortunately lasted
without intermission from time time of its promulgation to the present. From
the very establishment of the religion of Jesus, the sword has remained
unsheathed in its service, and more victims have been sacrificed to its
manes than to all other causes combined. Lest he should be misunuderstood
concerning his mission Jesus reiterates that he came to send fire on earth,
and strife to make divided households, fathers against sons, mothers against
daughters, and that under the new regime, "a man's foes shall be those of
his own household! Bolingbroke says, "The scene of Christianity has always
been a scene of dissension, of hatred, of persecution and of blood." Erasmus
said the church was born in blood; grew in blood; succeeded in blood, and
will end in blood."
Tredwell pointed out that Christianity forced its way forward by mass
executions and at the point of the sword. It was in this way that the
"Church Militant" was born and was enabled to develop as a world power. Born
in bloodshed (the brutal murder of Hypatia by Christian "monks" soon after
the Council of Nicea, by order of Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, who was
subsequently "sainted," and the ensuing massacres of the Manicheans), it
grew by bloodshed (the deaths of tens of millions of true followers of
Christ, who refused to accept the false hypocritical teachings of the
church, over three million women having been put to death in Europe only a
few centuries ago as witches), it shall die in bloodshed (the aftermath of
the recent world carnage which is fruit of sixteen centuries of false
Christian teachings of peace, carried on with an olive branch in one hand
and a sword in the other).
All this resulted from the fraudulent replacement of the original religion
of Apollonius by the "new" religion of the Church of Rome which took place
at the Council of Nicea in the year 325 B.C.*
(*The word "new" here is significant. It clearly indicates that at the
beginning of the fourth century, Christianity, as created by the Council of
Nicea, was indeed a new religion, and was preceded by the religion
established by Apollonius three centuries previously, which may be more
properly called Essenism, a form of Neo-Pythagoreanism in character, the new
doctrines which Apollonius brought from India and introduced among the
Essenes, which gave rise to the new sect known as the NAZARENES or
THERAPEUTS, whose doctrines were essentially Buddhist in nature.)
Since this date humanity has been led astray. It is the purpose of this book
to correct this historic error and to bring humanity back to the truth, so
that, purged by the recent suffering, mankind once more will return to the
true scientific path of natural, healthful and humane living taught by the
great Pythagorean philosopher, Apollonius of Tyana, nearly two thousand
years ago.
*******
Bob Huey
Part 4:
Events in the life of Apollonius of Tyana
Birth and Youth of Apollonius
as recorded in "The Life of Apollonius of Tyana" by his biographer,
Philostratus
By: Dr. R. W. Bernard, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
When the three magi of Chaldea were approaching Bethlehem, according to
legend on the night when the famous star was supposed to have appeared on
the eastern horizon, a child was born in the little town of Tyana, in
Cappadocia, who was destined to alter the course of human history for two
thousand years -- even though, as the Delphic Oracle predicted, after his
passing, his name was calumniated, and a fictitious substitute put in his
place.
The country people said that he was the son of Zeus; others called him a son
of Apollo; while still others considered him as an incarnation of Proteus,
the God of Wisdom, who, prior to his birth, appeared to his mother and told
her that she would bear a child who would be an incarnation of himself.
Apollonius was born in the year 4 B.C., the acknowledged year of the birth
of Christ. His birth, like his conception, was miraculous. Just before his
nativity, his mother was walking in a meadow, where she lay down on the
grass and went to sleep. Some wild swans, at the end of a long flight
approached her and by their cries and the beating of their wings, awakened
her so suddenly that her child was born before its time. The swans,
apparently, had foreseen and marked by their presence the fact that on that
day was to be born a being whose soul would be as white as their own plumage
and who, like them, would be a glorious wanderer.
Apollonius was born with three gifts, the gift of intelligence, the gift of
beauty and the gift of wealth. His father was one of the richest men of the
province, so that his childhood was spent in luxury. The renown of his
intelligence and beauty grew so great that the phrase, "Whither goest thou?
To see the stripling?" became proverbial in Cappadocia.
When he was fourteen years of age, his father sent him to Tarsus to complete
his education, which was previously conducted at home by private tutors.
Tarsus was a town of pleasure as well as study and life there was soft and
luxurious for a rich young man. On the banks of the Cydnus, along avenues
bordered by orange trees, students of philosophy gathered to discuss the
theories of Pythagoras and Plato with young women in colored tunics slashed
to the hip, wearing Egyptian high triangular combs in their hair. The
climate was hot, morals free and love easy, but the youthful Apollonius was
not carried away, manifesting at this young age the same inviolate chastity
which he continued to preserve throughout his long life of over a century,
in spite of the fact that he was one of the handsomest men of his age.
As early as his fourteenth year, Apollonius recognized the existence of two
divergent paths, one leading to a life of pleasure and love, and the other
to philosophy and wisdom; and he chose the latter.*
(*Shirley says that Apollonius "chose the path of sanctity at a time of life
when others chose the primrose path of dalliance...The world holds no record
of a long life lived more nobly, of a more undaunted courage in confronting
the tyrant, of a more unflinching tenacity of purpose, of a more
single-minded devotion to a high ideal." While himself living an ascetic
life, ApoIIonius sought to make Venus the goddess of pure love, free from
carnal lust, rather than to destroy her statue altogether, as the later
Christians did.)
He then decided to lead the Pythagorean life. When his teacher of
Pythagorean philosophy, Euxenes, asked him how he would begin his new mode
of life, he replied, "As doctors purge their patients." "Hence," says Mead,
in his biography, "he refused to touch anything that had animal life in it,
on the ground that it densified the mind and rendered it impure. He
considered that the only pure form of food was what the earth produced --
fruits and vegetables.* He also abstained from wine, for though it was made
from fruit, it rendered turbid the ether in the soul, and destroyed the
composure of the mind."
(*Concerning Apollonius as a vegetarian, Phillimore, in his "In Honor of
Apollonius of Tyana," writes: "A man called Apollonius was born at Tyana at
some date known, probably in the reign of Tiberius. The persecutions which
made it dangerous for Seneca at Rome to continue his experiment in
vegetarianism did not extend to Cilicia, and Apollonius addicted himself to
Neo-Pythagoreanism (vegetarianism.) From the ordinary humanistic training of
a sophist, he seems to have passed into the ascetic discipline of a sect
which, originally Oriental, and afterwards reaching its highest success
among the decadent colonial aristocracies of South Italy, was now again
coming into vogue as the Roman empire began to orientalize. Indian
theosophy, a natural science chiefly drawn from Stoic authorities,
antiquarian ritualism in certain Greek cults, a great copiousness of moral
sentiment, the asceticism which usually appear at the times when the white
corpuscles predominate in the body politic of any civilization --
vegetarianism, teetotalism, etc., -- such appear to have been the main
ingredients in Apollonius's religion.")
Finding the morals of Tarsus distasteful, Apollonius resolved to take up
quarters at Aegae, which possessed a temple of Aesculapius, the priests of
which were philosophers of the Pythagorean school. So famous were they for
their power as healers that people came to their temple from all over
Greece, from Syria and even from Alexandria to consult them. The priests of
this healing temple of Aegae cured disease by vegetarian diet, hydrotherapy,
fasting and magnetic healing ("laying on of hands," which art, Apollonius
acquired from them). They were heirs of an ancient oral therapeutic
tradition which came from the Orphic mysteries, the secret of which was
jealously guarded by the disciple who received it. By these priests,
Apollonius was initiated; and it was not long before he excelled his
masters.
Concerning Apollonius's life in the temple of Aegae, Stobart writes:
"Marvelous cures are attributed to Apollonius, for like his great master,
Pythagoras, he considered healing the most important of the divine arts;
and, in addition, under his guidance, the temple became also a centre for
philosophy and for the science of religion. His aim was to purify the temple
worship and to reform the ancient Greek religion from within, by revising,
along Pythagorean lines, the understanding of the spiritual truths which
were at the base of the esoteric mysteries."*
(*The school of Pythagoras formed at that time a secret order which had
several stages of initiation, the members of which recognized each other by
certain signs and symbols, in order that the doctrine remain unintelligible
to the profane. Music, geometry and astronomy were studied, but not as they
are now but rather as discipline to prepare the mind for the awakening of
super-sensory spiritual facilities of perception. The aim of the Pythagorean
teaching was physical, mental and spiritual regeneration, which Pythagoras
founded on a vegetarian diet and continence. The members of the Pythagorean
Order so carefully guarded their secret doctrines that the Pythagorean
Timycha cut out her tongue rather than reveal to Dionysus the Elder the
reason for the prohibition of beans in the rules of the community.)
Apollonius took up his residence in the temple of Aesculapius at Aegae in
the company of the priests, manifesting an amazing eagerness to acquire
their secret knowledge, and had an astonishing gift for healing and
clairvoyance. And, following Pythagorean custom, he let his hair grow long,
abstained from the flesh of animals and from wine; walked barefooted or with
bark sandals, and clad only in white linen garments, giving up all that was
made from leather, wool or any other animal material.
At this time being then sixteen years of age, he resolved to forever abstain
from marriage and sexual relations, which resolution he kept unbroken during
his long lifetime of over a century, thus surpassing Pythagoras, Socrates,
Buddha and Confucius, for while they married, Apollonius preserved a degree
of virginity known only to vestal virgins and Pythian priestesses. This
immaculate chastity Apollonius attributed to his very careful Pythagorean
low-protein vegetarian diet and his avoidance of alcohol and other
excitants, according to the teaching of Pythagoras, who prohibited even
vegetable proteins such as beans, for this reason.
Concerning the life of Apollonius at this age, W. B. Wallace writes:
"Hence forth Apollonius adjured all the pleasures of sense. A vegetarian and
a total abstainer in the modern meaning of the latter term, the devoted monk
of philosophy adopted and practiced more rigidly than any hermit of the
Thebaid, the triple rule of poverty, chastity and obedience."* This native
of a warm and luxuriant clime, whose people were wholly given to indolent
gossip and sybaritic enjoyments of all kinds, was clad in a simple robe of
white byssus, after the fashion of Empedocles, whom he so much resembled in
many ways, slept upon the ground, went bare-footed like Socrates, and --
hardest trial of all to a talkative Asiatic Greek -- observed the
Pythagorean silence for five years."
(*Concerning the young Apollonius's resolution to lead a Pythagorean life,
his biographer, Philostratus, writes: "Naught would he wear that came from a
dead beast, nor touch a morsel of a thing that once had life, nor offer it
in sacrifice; nor for him to stain with blood the altars; but honey-cakes
and incense, and the service of his song went upward from the man unto the
Gods [higher-dimensional spiritual intelligences] for well he knew that they
would take such gifts far rather than the oxen in their hundreds with the
knife. For, he in sooth, held converse with the Gods and learned from them
how they were pleased with men and how displeased, and thence as well he
drew his nature-lore. As for the rest, he said, they guessed at the divine,
and held opinions on the Gods which proved each other false; but unto him
Apollo's self did come, confessed without disguise, and there did come as
well, though unconfessed, Athena and the Muses, and other Gods [spiritual
rulers or Lords of inner spiritual planes, viz. astral, mental, and causal
planes] whose forms and names mankind did not yet know."
"Thus passed the `lehr-jare' of Apollonius, and thus in the very heydey of
his youth was the flesh subdued to the spirit. It is certain that none but a
lofty soul, favoured with a vision of the Supreme rarely vouchsafed to man,
could have voluntarily embraced a life of hardness such as this. And yet the
man never allowed asceticism to degenerate into misanthropy. A perennial
fount of joy seemed to bubble within his soul. He had a smiling countenance
and a sparkling eye; in mien and aspect he was striking, dignified, godlike;
his nature was kindly and sympathetic; he liked the society of his fellows
and the encounter of mind and mind; he was a past master in the art of
repartee and a cunning fabricator of `bon-mots', of which Philostratus has
preserved several examples."
At Aegae, Apollonius took up the study of Pythagorean philosophy, which was
the system that appealed to him most, under a teacher named Euxenes; who,
however, proved disappointing, since he repeated parrot-like, the doctrines
of Pythagoras without putting them into practice in his own life, for he was
a materialist at heart. So Apollonius, in disillusionment, left him; however
rewarding his teacher by buying for him a villa surrounded by a garden
outside Aegae, and giving him the money required for his servants, his
suppers and his poor friends.
Apollonius then imposed on himself a five years' silence, which was
considered necessary in order to achieve final Pythagorean initiation. By
that time he had become famous, making many prophecies that came true; and
while he was in the midst of this period of silence, he quelled a rebellion
by his presence alone, without speaking a word. This tumult was caused by a
famine at Aspendus in Pamphylia, where the people were going to burn the
prefect, though he had taken refuge by a statue of the Emperor. (And at that
time, which was the reign of Tiberius, the Emperor's statues were more
terrible and more inviolable than those of the Olympian Zeus.) The prefect,
on being questioned by signs, protested his innocence, and accused certain
powerful citizens, who were refusing to sell corn and keeping it back to
export at a profit. To them Apollonius addressed a note threatening
"explusion from Earth, who is the mother of all, for she is just, but whom
they, being unjust, have made the mother of themselves alone." In fear of
this threat they yielded and filled the market-place with corn.
*******
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----
Bob Huey
Part 5:
Events in the life of Apollonius of Tyana
as recorded in "The Life of Apollonius of Tyana" by his biographer,
Philostratus
By: Dr. R. W. Bernard, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
Apollonius's attention was then drawn to India, the fountain-head of Wisdom.
Five centuries previously, Pythagoras had brought some of the Himalayan
wisdom to Greece. But its memory had almost vanished. The world was in need
of a new emissary of the eastern masters. Apollonius believed that he was
called to perform such a mission; and so he set out, accompanied only by his
friend and disciple, Damis, on the long and perilous trip to the Himalayas,
following the same route formerly traversed by Pythagoras when he traveled
to India on a similar mission five hundred years before.
This was revealed to Apollonius at a half-abandoned temple of Daphnaean
Apollo some distance from Antioch, where a peasant-priest brought him the
temple treasure, which had been preserved by tradition, handed down from
father to son. This consisted of some sheets of copper on which were figures
and diagrams. The priest had zealously preserved them till that moment;
awaiting the arrival of the man worthy to receive this gift.
While engaged in his early morning devotions in the light of the rising sun,
the priest gave Apollonius the copper sheets, which, as a Pythagorean, he
was able to decipher as a record of his Master's journey to India, including
the deserts and high mountains to be crossed before he reached the river in
which elephants disport themselves. He also saw before him a description of
the exact spot which he had to reach (in trans-Himalayan Tibet), and of the
monastery among the thousands of monasteries in the Far East where, five
centuries previously, Pythagoras had studied at the feet of the same Masters
who were soon to become his teachers.
For Apollonius was to become their new western emissary, as Pythagoras had
been five centuries previously.*
(*Apollonius was to be the last western emissary of the Masters of the Far
East for many centuries. After him the door was shut. The Neo-Pythagorean,
Plotinus, two centuries later, tried in vain to follow in his steps and
reach India together with the armies of the Emperor Gordianus, but was
compelled to turn back. It was not until a few centuries ago that the
Masters found their next great emissary in Conte St. Germain (Francis
Bacon), who, like Apollonius, retired to the Himalayas after his passing
from the eyes of the world.)
Reaching the little town of Mespila, which had once been Ninevah, Apollonius
met his future traveling companion and disciple, Damis, who immediately was
attached to him and remained with him as his follower tbroughout his life.
Apollonius accepted him as his guide to take him to Babylon, since Damis
said he knew the way there perfectly, and boasted, too, of knowing the
languages spoken in the countries through which they would have to pass: To
this Apollonius smiled and replied that he himself knew all languages spoken
by men and understood their silence as well.
(Damis was later to realize that he also possessed knowledge of the language
of birds, and could read the great characters, against the blue of the sky,
formed by the trajectory of their flight. It is claimed that it was from the
Arabian philosophers that Apollonius learned to understand the speech of
animals.)
Apollonius's chief public work was that of religious reform, involving the
abolition of animal sacrifices, which he replaced by bloodless offerings
that involved the death of no living being. The following incident is cited
concerning his teachings of kindness to animals, which constituted the basis
of his opposition to animal sacrifices and his advocacy of vegetarianism,
When he reached Babylon, after refusing to do obeisance to the golden image
of the king, the latter, who knew him already by repute, called him and,
about to sacrifice a white horse to the sun, he asked Apollonius to
accompany him. Apollonius refused, replying, "You, O King, sacrifice in your
own manner, and give me leave to sacrifice in mine." Then, having thrown
frankincense on the flame, and uttered a prayer to the god, he departed, so
as to have no share in an offering of blood. When the king invited him to
join him in hunting the animals of his park, he expressed disapproval of the
pleasure taken in hunting and killing of wild animals kept for sport.
After they had spent some time with the magi of Babylon and conversed with
them, the two travelers, Apollonius and Damis, climbed mountains whose
summits were veiled in the clouds. Unaffected by the gradual unfolding of
their snowy immensities, Apollonius said "When the soul is without blemish
it can rise far above the highest mountains." (into the higher spiritual
planes). They crossed the Indus and came across kings clothed in white who
despised ostentation. One evening, on a lonely river bank, they came on a
brass stele inscribed with the words; "Here Alexander halted."
Coming into the land of elephants, (India), nomads offered Apollonius date
wine, which he refused, though he did not forbid Damis to take it, just as
he did not refuse him to eat flesh, not wishing to impose his will on his
disciple; however, he himself abstained from both.
Coming to the court of Phroates, King of Taxila, Apollonius was hospitably
received by this vegetarian emperor who led a Pythagorean life except for
his mild use of wine. When he tried to argue with Apollonius concerning the
benefits of the moderate use of wine, saying that it promotes restful sleep,
Apollonius, defended his water-drinking, saying it preserves the soul
untroubled and makes true divination (clairvoyance) through dreams possible,
with which wine interferes.
Following the course of the Ganges, they climbed more hills and mountains
(the Himalayas), and when they were eighteen days' march from the Ganges,
they saw in the middle of a plateau (Tibet) high in the mountains, the home
of the wise men, which had the same elevation as the Acropolis at Athens. A
strange fog hovered over the place, and on the rocks surrounding it were the
imprints of men who appeared to have fallen in an attempt to scale the
heights, for an almost perpendicular ascent was necessary at this point.
Then a young Indian approached the travelers, and coming over to Apollonius,
speaking in perfect Greek, he told him to halt and follow him upwards,
saying the Masters were expecting their arrival and had commanded him to go
to receive the visitors. Apollonius and Damis were then led by their guide
towards the community of Brahman sages dwelling on the Himalayan heights,
whose chief was IARCHUS, a great Buddhist religious reformer. Philostratus
described these sages as "Brahmans who dwell on the earth, and yet are not
on the earth; in places fortified, and yet without walls; and who possess
nothing and yet all things.*
(*From de Beauvoir Preiaulaux, in his "The Indian Travels of Apollonius of
Tyana," we gather the following facts about these Brahmans , whom he
describes as a race superior to the rest of mankind. He writes: "The
Brahman's education began even in his mother's womb. During the period of
gestation she was soothed by song and chants in praise of continence, which
in proportion as they won her pleased attention, beneficially influenced her
future offspring. After the child's birth, and as it grew in years, it was
passed from one preceptor to another, until it was old enough to become an
auditor of the philosophers. These lived frugally, abstained from animal
food and women, and in a grove outside the city spent their days in earnest
discourse, communicating their knowledge to all who chose to listen. But in
their presence, the novice was not permitted to speak, or spit, under the
penalty of one day's banishment from their society. At the age of
thirty-seven, his student life ceased.
"The mountain Brahmans subsist on fruit and cow's curd with herbs. The
others live on the fruit trees which are found in plenty near the river and
which afford an almost constant succession of fresh fruits, and, should
these fail, on the self-sown wild rice that grows there. To eat any other
food, or even touch animal food, they held to be the height of impiety and
uncleanliness. Each man has his own cabin, and lives as much as he can by
himself, and spends the day and the greater part of the night in hymns and
prayers to the gods....")
(According to Damis, the Brahmans used the earth as a couch, but first
strewed it with choice grasses. They walked, too, in the air; Damis saw
them. He saw too, the fire which they drew from the sun's rays, while they
worshipped the solar orb. Among their other miraculous powers were the
capacity to cover themselves with clouds at will, and to get what they
wanted at a moment's notice [yogic practices which yield `siddhis' or
supernatural powers -- utilizing undiscovered laws of nature]. Damis
describes these marvelous men as being strict vegetarians, who lived
exclusively on fruits and vegetables.
They were attired in a sleeveless one-piece linen dress; wearing no material
of animal origin. They wore their hair long, which custom they explained on
the basis of the physiological and psychological benefits which they
considered the hair to impart to the brain. Just as the skin absorbs and
transmits solar energy to the body as a whole, so they believed that the
hair performs a similar function in relation to the brain, for which reason
they exposed their long hair to the sun as often as possible, hoping thus to
absorb as much as possible of the ultraviolet solar rays so powerful at the
high altitude where they dwelt.)
And so saying he told Apollonius who his father was, his mother, all that
happened to him at Aegae, and how Damis joined him, and what they had said
and done on the journey; and he related this so distinctly and fluently,
that he might have been a companion of their route. Apollonius, greatly
astonished, asked him how he knew all this.
"In this knowledge," he answered, "You are not wholly wanting, and where you
are deficient, we will instruct you, for methink it not well to keep secret
what is worthy of being known especially from you, Apollonius -- a man of
most excellent memory. And memory, you must know, is of the gods the one we
most honor.
"But how do you know my nature?" asked Apollonius.
"We," he answered, "see into the very soul, tracing out its qualities by a
thousand signs. But as midday is at hand, let us to our devotions in which
you also may, if you will take part."*
[*The Indian yogic science is not based on outer "sun" worship. The yogi
meditates on the inner "sun" or inner spiritual light which can be seen by
the "third eye" between and behind the two eyebrows, which reveals itself
when the attention is held steadily fixed at this inner centre (ajna chakra)
within the astral body. The outer sun, symbolic of the inner spiritual
splendour within, is only an outer symbol of devotion to the inner spiritual
light (Naad, Word or Logos)].
Apollonius then asked Iarchus what opinion the Brahmans held of themselves,
and was told that they held themselves to be "gods" [advanced spiritual
beings] because they were good men, who knew all things because they first
knew themselves." Iarchus then told Apollonius his former lives, stating
that in his [former] incarnation he was an Egyptian sailor.
The Brahmans then undressed and took a bath, after which they put garlands
on their heads around their long hair, and proceeded to the temple, intent
on their hymns. There (quoting Damis's account), standing round in a circle,
with Iarchus as their leader, they beat the ground with their staves, till
bellying like a wave, it sent them up into the air about two cubits; and
they then sang a hymn, very like the paeon of Sophocles sung at Athens to
Aesculapius. They then descended to earth."* (*According to Philostratus,
the Brahmans levitate at will in the air "not for the sake of vain glory,
but to be nearer their Sun God," to whom they pray.)
When Apollonius asked the Brahmans whether, since they knew everything,
whether they knew themselves, they replied in Socratic fashion, We know
everything just because we begin by knowing ourselves, for no one of us
would be admitted to this philosophy unless he first knew himself." When
Apollonius inquired of Iarchus whether the cosmos was composed of Four
elements, the latter replied that it was made not of four but of five, the
fifth being the ether. There is, said the Indian sage, "the ether, which we
must regard as the stuff of which gods are made, for just as mortal
creatures inhale the air, so do immortal and divine natures inhale the
ether."
On an occasion when he was praising Apollonius for his devotion to mystic
lore, Iarchus said, "My great friend Apollonius, those who take pleasure in
divination [clairvoyance--a byproduct of the awakening of dormant latent
spiritual powers in the average man] are rendered divine thereby and
contribute to the salvation of mankind."
The word "salvation" embraced for Iarchus both spiritual and physical
health, for he declared that among the many blessings which the art of
divination conferred upon mankind, the gift of healing was the most
important, and to this art of divination he emphatically attributed "the
credit of discovering simples which healed the bites of venomous creatures,
and in particular of using the virus itself as a cure for many diseases. For
I do not think" he added, "that men without the forecasts of a prophetic
wisdom, would ever have ventured to mingle with medicines that save life,
those deadly of poisons."
Thus we see Iarchus instructing his student, Apollonius of Tyana, in the
science of medicine, as he instructed him in astrology and other sciences.
Reville, in his "Apollonius of Tyana, the Pagan Christ of the Third
Century," writes as follows concerning the Brahmans: "They worshipped fire,
which they boasted had been brought down directly from the.sun...With his
own eyes, Damis saw these sages rise up into the air to the height of two
cubits, without any extraneous support and without any trickery whatsoever.
The wise men do not live in houses, and when it rains they summon a cloud
and shelter under it. They wear their hair long, have white mitres on their
heads, and are clothed in linen garments, woven from a peculiar kind of flax
which is only lawful for themselves to gather. Their prodigious wisdom
overwhelmed even Apollonius, who was not frequently astonished. They are in
possession of absolute science; they know at once the past history of every
one they see; they can answer all questions. When asked, "Who are you?" they
answer, We are `god.' Why? Because we are virtuous." [See "The Life and
Teachings of the Masters of the Far East" by Baird T. Spalding, in 5
volumes, for a detailed account of the advanced spiritual sciences practised
by the Himalayan yogic adepts of India and Tibet].
The Brahmans were furnished with everything they needed as a spontaneous
gift of the earth, partaking of fresh vegetables and fruits in season which
were brought to them by their countrymen dwelling below them. During his
repast with the Brahman sages and their king, Apollonius and Damis were
amazed to observe that the food was brought to their tables by self-moving
tripods, while automata served as cup-bearers; these mechanical robot
waiters making the use of human servants unnecessary.*
[*Atlantean technology is known to be secretly stored in underground caverns
beneath the Potala at Lhasa, and in the many other caves that network
underneath the sedimentary structures of the Himalayan mountains. Here we a
have a demonstration of some of the lost technology being displayed, two
thousand years before our supposedly advanced technological age].
Apollonius observed his teacher, Iarchus, perform miracles identical with
those purported to have been performed by the New Testament messiah, such
as, driving evil spirits out of a woman who was possessed, curing a cripple,
restoring sight to a blind man and restoring a man with paralyzed hands to
health. He had a high degree of clairvoyance, could see at any distance,
beheld both past and future, and could tell the past lives of those he met.
Reville notes that Apollonius studied astrology and the science of
divination under Iarchus, for these sessions were secret and to them Damis
was not admitted, nor would Apollonius reveal to him the esoteric knowledge
then imparted to him by his Himalayan teacher. [Advanced astrology can
reveal the dates and times of previous incarnations of an individual; it is
an exact science when properly understood and applied. The popular version
commonly available today is but an enfeebled version of the true astrology,
which reveals the inner outworkings of the karmic wheel, which balances all
causes with corresponding effects.]
During his stay among the Brahman sages, Apollonius was instructed by his
Master in the basic doctrines of reformed Buddhism, of which movement
Iarchus was the recognized leader, who had fled to his far-off Himalayan
retreat to escape persecution by the established Brahman priesthood of
India. Apollonius carried westward the Buddhist teachings which he received
from Iarchus in the form of certain Buddhist gospels, otherwise known as the
DIEGESIS or the ORIGINAL GOSPEL, which he translated and rewrote, adapting
it to the language and psychology of his native land.
Among the ESSENES he found the first converts to this new doctrine, the
gospel of Chrishna; and those who followed these teachings (the Essenian
Therapeuts, who were otherwise known as NAZARENES) subsequently became known
as the first Christians. On his departure Iarchus gave Apollonius Seven
rings named after the seven planets, one of which was to be worn on one day
of the week; these seven rings would, he said, impart health and long life.
Before parting, Iarchus prophesied that Apollonius would, even during his
life, attain the honors of a divinity.
Thus for several months Apollonius lived among men who were `gods' in human
form, and from them he learned spiritual wisdom which he was destined to
later bring back to the west as the basis of a new religion (Christianity)
of which he was to be the founder. It was from Iarchus that he received the
mission that was to send him wandering all his life among the temples of the
Mediterranean countries, for the purpose of restoring the ancient mysteries
to their former purity.
When he left his Brahman master, Apollonius had certain assurance that he
would thereafter be in constant telepathic communication with him and
receive his guidance and instruction wherever he may be--which later
actually was the case.*
(*On this subject, Magre, speaking of the Inner Voice on which Apollonius
always relied for guidance, writes: "We shall never know to what order the
spirit-guide of Apollonius belonged; whether the being who advised him took
on a form as chaste as himself and as beautiful as the statue of the gods
which he liked to contemplate, or whether the voice came from a distant
Master who wished to see his pupil carry out the mission with which he
entrusted him.
"I shall continue to speak to you as though you were present," Apollonius
had said as he left his Indian Masters.
"Was it their words that he heard at a distance? Did he by divine
inspiration receive the influx of their wise thoughts? The man to whom he
gave the name of Iarchus must have brought the consolation of distant
support to the untiring traveler, the wandering mystic.")
*******
Bob Huey
Part 6:
Events in the life of Apollonius of Tyana
as recorded in "The Life of Apollonius of Tyana" by his biographer,
Philostratus
By: Dr. R. W. Bernard, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
Thus Apollonius departed from his master and teacher. And is it not possible
that just as the name of Apollonius, in the New Testament, was changed to
that of Jesus, so Iarchus became his "Father," while the Brahmans dwelling
on the heights of the Himalayas became "angels in heaven"? As a farewell
gift, the Brahman sages, on the threshold of their valley of mediation, gave
Apollonius and Damis camels on which to cross India westward to the Red Sea,
where they continued their journey by water.
Apollonius returned to Greece from India to accomplish the same mission that
Pythagoras had done before him, namely, to carry westward the Wisdom of the
East, for which his predecessor won only persecution, ending in the burning
of the Pythagorean meeting-house in which Pythagoras and his disciples were
assembled.*
(*Indicating that on his departure from the Brahmans, Apollonius considered
himself as their emissary to accomplish in Greece what their last student,
Pythagoras, had done five centuries previously, Mrs. St. Clair Stoddard
writes, "Thus he conceived it to be his mission to restore to the Greeks
something of the ancient wisdom of Pythagoras. And at the conclusion of
these travels he was indeed abundantly endowed with occult (spiritual)
wisdom which powerfully enforced his own supernormal gifts and on returning
to Greece he was regarded as a divine person."
That Apollonius considered himself as continuing the work that Pythagoras
had initiated five centuries previously is indicated by his statement to the
spirit of Achilles, in which he referred to Pythagoras as "my spiritual
ancestor.")
On his way home, Apollonius sent the following letter to Iarchus:
"Iarchus and the other sages, from Apollonius, greetings: I came to you by
land; with your aid I return by sea, and might have returned even by air --
such is the wisdom you have imparted to me."*
(* de Beauvoir Priaulaux, in his "The Indian Travels of Apollonius of
Tyana," written in 1873, comments as follows on this statement: "Easy and
pleasant as this mode of travel [air] is thought to be, Apollonius had
recourse to it but once -- on that memorable occasion when about midday he
disappeared before the tribunal of Domitian, and the same evening met Damis
at Ciachaerchia.")
"Even among the Greeks I shall not forget these things, and shall still hold
commerce with you -- or I have indeed vainly drunk of the cup of Tantalus.
Farewell, ye best philosophers."
According to another translation, Apollonius's letter read as follows:
"I came to you by land and ye have given me the sea, rather, by sharing with
me your wisdom, ye have given me power to travel through heaven. These
things will I bring back to the mind of the Greeks, and I will hold converse
with you as though ye were present, if it be that I have not drunk of the
cup of Tantalus in vain."*
(*From Iarchus, his master, Apollonius received the "cup of Tantalus,"
symbolizing the wisdom which it was his mission to bring back to Greece as
Pythagoras had done before him. Tantalus is fabled to have stolen the cup of
nectar from the gods; this was the "amrita," the ocean of immortality and
wisdom of the Hindus.)
Mead in his "Apollonius of Tyana," makes the following comment on this
quotation: "It is evident from these cryptic sentences that the 'sea' and
the 'cup of Tantalus' are identical with the 'wisdom' which had been
imparted to Apollonius -- a wisdom which he was to bring back once more to
the memory of the Greeks. He thus clearly states that he returned from India
with a distinct mission and with the means to accomplish it, for not only
had he drunk of the ocean of wisdom in that he has learnt the Brahma Vidya*
from their lips, but he has also learnt how to converse with them though his
body be in Greece and their bodies in India." [*Brahma Vidya: the knowledge
of Brahman or God, the universal spiritual Consciousness which creates,
sustains and permeates the entire cosmos].
*******
Bob Huey
Part 7:
Events in the life of Apollonius of Tyana
as recorded in "The Life of Apollonius of Tyana" by his biographer,
Philostratus
By: Dr. R. W. Bernard, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
On returning to Greece, Apollonius traveled around from city to city,
visiting the temples, where he restored the ancient mysteries by reeducating
the priests. According to Mead, Apollonius's "one idea seems to have been to
spread abroad among the religious brotherhoods and institutions of the
Empire some portion of the Wisdom which he brought back from India."
His work was to unify diverse creeds by revealing their common origin and
nature, and thus to promote the Brotherhood of Mankind. His first work was
to abolish the barbarous custom of animal sacrifices and to replace this by
offerings of frankincense and flowers. His object was to turn the minds of
priests and laymen from the EXTERNAL FORMS of religion, from rituals and
sacrifices, to the INNER MEANING, and to replace idolatry by MYSTIC
COMMUNION [meditation] with the God who dwells WITHIN.
For this purpose he went to all the holy places, in Syria, Egypt, Greece and
Spain; he even reached the rock of Gades, which later was to become Cadiz,
[near southern tip of Spain, near Gibraltar] which was, according to Pliny,
the last part of the continent that escaped the catastrophe of ATLANTIS. His
travels also brought him as far as Gaul. However his chief work of religious
reform was in Greece.
When Apollonius came to Ephesus, the citizens left their work and followed
him, paying homage and applause. The first discourse of Apollonius given at
Ephesus was from the porch of the temple of Diana, after the manner of the
Stoics, exhorting them to spend their time in study and philosophy
(spirituality) and to abandon their dissipations and cruel sports. He also
preached on "Community of Goods" (`communism') illustrating his discourse
with the parable of the sparrows.*
*While discoursing one day in one of the covered walks of Ephesus, on mutual
aid and the advantages of `communism,' it chanced that a number of sparrows
were sitting on a tree nearby in perfect silence. Suddenly another sparrow
flew up and began chirping, as though it wanted to tell the others
something. Whereupon the little fellows all set to chirping also, and flew
away from the newcomer. Apollonius's superstitious audience were greatly
struck by this conduct of the sparrows, and thought it was an augury of some
important matter. But the philosopher continued his sermon, pointing out
that the sparrow had invited it's friends to a banquet. Thereupon a boy
slipped down a lane nearby and spilt some corn he was carrying in a bowl;
then he picked up most of it and went away. The little sparrow, chancing on
the scattered grains, immediately flew off to invite his friends to the
feast. Most of the crowd then went off at a run to see if it were true; and
when they came back shouting and all excited with wonderment, Apollonius
spoke as follows:
"Ye see what care the sparrows take of one another, and how happy they are
to share with all their goods. And yet we men do not approve; nay, if we see
a man sharing his goods with other men, we call it wastefulness,
extravagance and such names, and dub the men to whom he gives a share,
fawners and parasites. What then is left to us except to shut us up at home
like fattening birds, and gorge out bellies in the dark until we burst with
fat?"
While delivering another lecture in Ephesus, Apollonius displayed his
unusual clairvoyant power by observing an event occurring far away. In the
midst of his discourse he beheld the murder of Domitian in Rome; and
suddenly stopping his discourse, he cried out, "Keep up your spirits, O
Ephesians, for this day the tyrant is killed. Then he told the astonished
people what he had seen, namely that Domitian had been attacked by Stephanus
and wounded; afterwards, as Philostratus tells us, "his bodyguards, hearing
the noise, and concluding that all is not well, rushed into the closet and f
inding the tyrant fainting, put an end to his life."
Philostratus describes this incident as follows:
"At first he sank his voice as though in some apprehension; he however,
continued his exposition but haltingly, and with far less force than usual,
as a man who had some other subject in his mind than that on which he is
speaking; finally he ceased speaking altogether as though he could not find
his words. Then staring fixedly on the ground, he started forward three or
four paces, crying out: `Strike the tyrant, strike!' And this, not like a
man who sees an image in a mirror, but as one with an actual scene before
his eyes, as though he were himself taking part in it."*
[*It must be understood that Domitian, a degenerate tyrant, was responsible
for the most terrible atrocities committed against spiritual/philosophical
personages, and was determined to stamp out by persecution all of the higher
spiritual knowledge, which Apollonius wished to spread. It is in this
context of the greater spiritual good of the whole human race that
Apollonius was relieved at the news of the tyrant's death. On an individual
level he would undoubtedly have the same compassion for him as a soul, as to
any other man.]
Turning to his astonished audience, he told them what he had seen. But
though they hoped it were true, they refused to believe it, and thought that
Apollonius had taken leave on his senses. But the philosopher gently
answered:
"You, on your part, are right to suspend your rejoicings till the news is
brought you in the usual fashion; as for me, I go to return thanks to the
Gods for what I have myself seen."
While at Ephesus, Apollonius predicted that the city would be afflicted with
a plague; and later, when visiting Smyrna, emissaries came to him from
Ephesus, begging him to rescue the people from this terrible scourge. "When
he heard this," writes Philostratus, he said, `I think the journey is not to
be delayed; and no sooner had he uttered the words, than he was at Ephesus."
It was to this occurrence that Aelian referred as among the charges on which
Apollonius was to be arraigned at his trial before Domitian in Rome, for
when he appeared among the unhappy plague-stricken Ephesians, he reassured
them, promising that he would put a stop to the plague, which promise he
fulfilled. It is said that Apollonius stayed the plague in Ephesus by
destroying a `demon' in the guise of an old beggar-man.
As the result of his presence and labor in behalf of the people, the city of
Ephesus, which was so notorious for its frivolity, was brought back by the
teaching of Apollonius to the cultivation of philosophy and the practice of
virtue. On this subject, Lecky, in his "History of European Morals," writes:
"Apollonius was admired at Ephesus; the `devils' themselves contributed to
his popularity by their oracles, which they gave out in his favor. It is
claimed that he reclaimed the city from idleness, from a love of dancing,
and from other fooleries to which it was addicted and that he endeavored to
bring the inhabitants to be friendly to one another. He labored, in like
manner in the other cities of Ionia to reform the manners of the people, and
to establish unity amongst them."
In visiting the temples, advising with the priests and lecturing to the
people, Apollonius spent his time in Ephesus. He also traveled to other
cities of Ionia, adjacent to Ephesus, where he addressed the people.
Everywhere he was received with demonstrations of joy and reverence. The
people flocked to hear him, and many were benefited by his preaching and
healing. The priests and oracles of Colphon and Didymus had already declared
in his favor, and all persons who stood in need of assistance were commanded
by the oracle to repair to Apollonius, such being the will of Apollo and the
Fates. Embassies were sent from all the principal cities of Ionia offering
him rights of hospitality. Smyrma sent ambassadors, who, when questioned for
a reason of the invitation, replied, "I will come; our curiosity is mutual."
Arriving in Smyrna, the Ionians who were engaged in their Panon festival
came out to meet him. He found the people given up to idle disputings, and
much divided in their opinions upon all subjects which tended for the public
welfare and the good government of the city. He exhorted them in their
disputes to rather vie with each other in giving the best advice or in
discharging most faithfully the duties of citizens, in beautifying their
city with works of art and graceful buildings.
Apollonius delivered many discourses at Smyrna, always confining himself to
such topics as were most useful to his hearers. He was the guest of Theron
the elder, a stoic and an astronomer.
Entering Athens, Apollonius was recognized and acknowledged by the people as
he approached and passed through the crowd, amid greetings and acclamations
of joy, regardless of the sacredness of the occasion. When he entered the
temple and applied for initiation into the mysteries, Apollonius was refused
by the hierophant on the ground that he was an `enchanter.' In reply
Apollonius named the successor to the office of the hierophant who, he
foresaw, would initiate him at some future date, which prediction was
subsequently fulfilled.
While delivering a lecture in Athens, Apollonius's discourse was interrupted
by a youth, who gave way to inane laughter, whom he found to be under
demoniacal possession. Apollonius stopped his talk and commanded the demon
[rebellious astral spirit - usually earthbound] to go out of the youth, and
to give a sign of his departure. This soon occurred to the astonishment of
the audience. The youth afterwards followed a philosophical mode of life.
Hearing of the frivolities with which the Athenians were now accustomed to
celebrate the Dionysia, Apollonius rebuked them by reminding them of the
exploits of their ancestors and of their legendary connection with Boreas
the most masculine of the winds. [appealing to their higher spiritual
nature, in other words]. Another abuse which he arrested at Athens was the
introduction of the gladiatorial exhibitions.
*******
Bob Huey
Part 8:
Events in the life of Apollonius of Tyana
as recorded in "The Life of Apollonius of Tyana" by his biographer,
Philostratus
By: Dr. R. W. Bernard, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
We now come to Apollonius's visit to the "Gymnosophists" of upper Egygt,
whom Damis calls the "naked Egyptian philosophers," though according to
Mead,* the word "naked" probably meant "lightly clad." That they might have
been originally Buddhist missionaries who traveled westward is indicated by
a statement by one of the younger members of the community who left it to
follow Apollonius. He related that he came to join the community from the
enthusiastic account of his father who told him that these "Ethiopians" were
from India; and so he had joined them instead of making the long and
perilous trip to the Indus in search of wisdom. If this is true, these
Gymnosophists must have originally been Buddhist missionaries who traveled
westward and settled in Egypt, recruiting members from the Egyptians, Arabs,
and Ethiopians, and so in the course of time forgot their origin. This
explains the great similarity of Gymnosophical, Essenian and Therapeut
doctrines to Buddhist ones, aside from the direct importation of Buddhist
teachings by Pythagoras and Apollonius.*
(*According to Mead, the Gymnosophists, were really a sect of advanced
Essenes, or Therapeuts, as described by Philo in his "On the Contemplative
Life," the description that Philo gives of the Therapeut community he
visited on the shore of Lake Mareoris near Alexandria corresponding almost
exactly with Damis's description of the Gymnosophist community in Upper
Egypt. Both show the following unmistakable signs of Buddhist influence and
origin.
(1) In both cases the members gave away all their worldly possessions before
joining the community.
(2) There was a novitiate period and an initiation into the order,
(3) Abstinence from meats and wines was compulsory,
(4) Both practiced the healing art,
(5) Both made community of property the rule,
(6) Both took oaths of chastity and poverty;
(7) Both adopted and raised the children of strangers and orphans.
Indeed, the Gymnosophical community that Apollonius visited could very well
have been one of the Therapeut communities described by Philo and which he
visited at about the same period.* [*See the books by Arthur Lillie
("Buddhism in Christianity" and "India in Primitive Christianity") for
details on the contribution of travelling Buddhist monks to Palestine,
Egypt, Syria and Asia Minor, to the formation of the early
Essene/Therapeut/Nazarite communities in these areas, which later became the
base upon which Christianity was raised. A large number of the volumes in
the Library of Alexandria were likewise of Buddhist origin.
According to Mead, this Gymnosophical community was originally of Buddhist
origin, having been established by Buddhist monks. The origin of the Essene
and Therapeut doctrines has been traced by some of the Buddhist missionaries
sent out in the middle of the third century B.C. by ASHOKA, Buddhist Emperor
of India, who traveled to Syria, Egypt, Macedonia and those parts of Asia
Minor where the Essene communities were later known to exist. While it is
possible that these communities may have existed previously and have been of
Orphic and Pythagorean origin, it is probable that these Buddhist
missionaries found in them a responsive audience.
Mead writes, "Just as some would ascribe the constitution of the Essene and
Therapeut communities to Pythagorean influence, so others would ascribe
their origin to Buddhist propaganda; and not only would they trace this
influence to the Essene tenets and practices, but they even refer to the
general teachings of the Christ to a Buddhist source in a Jewish
monotheistic setting. Not only so but some would have it that two centuries
before the direct general contact of Greece with India, brought about by the
conquests of Alexander - INDIA, through Pythagoras, strongly and lastingly
influenced all subsequent Greek thought.")
On the borderland between Egypt and Ethiopia, Apollonius praised an Egyptian
youth, Timasio, for his continence, regarding him as of more merit than
Hippolytis, because, while living chastely, he nevertheless does not speak
or think of the divinity of Aphrodite [reproductive energies] otherwise than
with respect.
Asked by the Gymnosophical philosophers to explain his Wisdom, Apollonius
humbly replied that Pythagoras was the inventor of it, though he derived it
from the Brahmans. This Wisdom, he added, had spoken to him in his youth,
and had said:
"For sense, young sir, I have no charms; my cup is filled with toils unto
the brim. Would anyone embrace my way of life, he must resolve to banish
from his board all food that once bore life, to lose the memory of wine, and
thus no more to wisdom's cup befoul -- the cup that doth consist of wine --
untainted souls. Nor shall wool warm him, nor aught that's made from an
beast. I give my servants shoes of bast; and they sleep as they can. And if
I find them overcome with love's delights, [lust] I've ready to pits down
into which that justice which doth follow hard on wisdom's foot doth drag
and thrust them; indeed, so stern am I to those who choose my way, that e'en
upon their tongues I bind a chain.
"An innate sense a fitness and of right, and ne'er to feel that anyone's lot
is better than thine own; tyrants to strike with fear instead of being a
fearsome slave to tyranny; to have the Gods more greatly bless their scanty
gifts than those who pour before them blood of bulls. If thou are pure, I'll
give thee how to know what things will be as well, and fill thy eyes so full
of Light, that thou may'st recognize the Gods the heroes know, and prove and
try the shadowy forms that feign the shapes of men."
In thus addressing the Gymnosophists, Apollonius spoke to philosophers who
lived just as he did, for these Egyptian sages ate no foods of animal
origin, and were strict vegetarians as were the Brahman sages of the
Himalayas, the wise men of the east, whom he had formerly visited.
A very interesting Socratic dialogue took place between Thespesion, the
abbot of the Gymnosophist community and Apollonius on the comparative merits
of the Greek and Egyptian ways of representing the gods. Inquiring of
Apollonius whether Phidias and Praxiteles went up to heaven and took
impression of the forms of the gods and then reproduced them in matter,
Apollonius replied that imagination is the vision of higher realities or
divine archetypes of things, and that each man has his higher Self - his
angel of god-like beauty, which, like the gods, inhabits a heavenly world.
The Greek sculptors, he concluded, succeeded in reproducing these higher
realities, which Pythagoras and Plato considered to be the true beings of
things. Said Apollonius, "Imagination is a workman wiser far than imitation;
for imitation only makes what it has seen, whereas imagination makes what it
has never seen, conceiving it with reference to the thing it really is.
Imagination is one of the most potent faculties, for it enables us to reach
nearer to realities."
Thereupon, Thespesion stated that the Egyptians on the other hand, dare not
give any precise form to the gods; and so they represent them only in
symbols to which an occult meaning is attached. Thus arose the
representation of the gods by different animal forms.
To this Apollonius replied that the danger is that the common people might
worship these symbols and get unbeautiful ideas of the gods. The best thing
would be to have the worshipper conform and fashion for himself an image of
the object of his worship WITHOUT an external representation or idol.*
(*Concerning this dialogue, Mead comments as follows: "Apollonius, a priest
of a universal religion, might have pointed out the good side and the bad
side of both Greek and Egyptian religious art, and certainly taught the
higher way of symbol-less worship, but he would not champion one popular
cult against another." (Mead: "Apollonius of Tyana)
On his return from Egypt, Apollonius signified his approval of the conduct
of Titus after he had taken Jerusalem, in refusing to accept a crown from
the neighboring nations. Titus, who was then associated with his father in
the government, invited Apollonius to Argos, and consulted him as to his
future behavior as a ruler. Apollonius said that he would send him to his
companion, Demetrius the Cynic, as a counsellor, which Titus, though the
name, Cynic, was at first disagreeable to him, assented to with good grace.
At another time he consulted with Apollonius privately on his destiny.
Though they had the best intellect of the Roman Empire from which to choose,
the Emperor Vespasian and his son Titus preferred to consult Apollonius for
advice concerning the management of their empire. In his last letter to
Titus, Vespasian confesses that they were what they were solely owing to the
good advice of Apollonius.*
(*Apollonius was wiser than most men because he derived his wisdom from a
higher source, from the gods; this was expressed in one word by Apollonius
in his answer to the Consul Telesinus, who asked him, "And what is your
wisdom?" "An inspiration," replied the sage.)
On one occasion, Vespasian traveled from Rome to Egypt to ask Apollonius's
advice on political matters. He found the sage seated in a temple.
Approaching him, and apologizing for his intrusion, the emperor, an ardent
admirer of the philosopher, said, "You have the amplest insight into the
will of the gods and l do not wish to trouble the gods against their will."
On this occasion, Apollonius gave his august visitor a fine example of his
prophetic and clairvoyant powers. He said, "O Zeus, this man who stands
before thee is destined to raise afresh unto thee the temple which the hands
of malefactors have set on fire." At that moment the temple in Rome was in
flames, a fact which was verified by Vespasian later.
*******
Bob Huey
Part 9:
Events in the life of Apollonius of Tyana
as recorded in "The Life of Apollonius of Tyana" by his biographer,
Philostratus
By: Dr. R. W. Bernard, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
During the reign of Nero, the philosophic cloak was proceeded against in the
law-courts as the guise of diviners. Not to mention other cases, Musonius, a
man second only to Apollonius, was imprisoned on account of his philosophy
and came near to losing his life. Before Apollonius and his company reached
the gates of Rome, a certain Philolaus of Citium tried to deter them from
proceeding. To Apollonius this seemed a divinely ordained test to separate
the stronger disciples from the weaker (whom, however, he did not blame); so
that, out of thirty-four, only eight remained with him, the rest making
various excuses for their flight at once from Nero and from philosophy.
Entering Rome, Apollonius publicly denounced the reigning tyranny, as one so
grievous that under it men were not permitted to be wise. His discourses
being all public, no accusations were made against him for a time. He spoke
to men of standing in the same manner as to the common people. A public
protest against luxury, delivered on a feast-day in a gymnasium which the
Emperor was opening in person, led to his expulsion from Rome by Nero's
minister Tegellinus, who henceforth kept a close watch on Apollonius.
His opportunity came at last when there was an epidemic of colds and the
temples were full of people making supplicants for the Emperor, because he
had a sore throat and the "divine voice" was hoarse. Apollonius, bursting
with indignation at the folly of the multitudes remained quiet, but tried to
calm a disciple by telling him to pardon the gods if they delight in
buffoons."
This saying reported to Tigellinius, he had him arrested. Bringing him to
trial, however, he found himself baffled, and in fear of his superhuman
powers, let him go. Philostratus tells us that at his trial, "an informer,
well instructed, came forward, who had been the ruin of many. He held in his
hand a scroll wherein was written the accusation, which he flourished about
him like a sword before the eyes of Apollonius, boasting that he had given
it a sharp edge, and that now his hour had come. Upon this Tegellinus
enfolded the scroll, when, lo, and behold, neither letter nor character was
to be seen...All these things appeared, in the eyes of Tigellinus, divine,
and above human power, and to show he did not wish to contend with a god, he
bid him go where he pleased as he was too strong to be subject to
authority."
When Domitian ascended the throne and began to show the same morbid vanity
and cruelty which had characterized Nero, we find Apollonius traveling up
and down the Empire, spreading seeds of discontent and rebellion against the
crowned monster. To Domitian, he fearlessly said, "I am Apollo's subject not
thine."*
(* How much different from the more compromising Christian messiah, who
proved much more acceptable to Constantine's and his court, preaching as he
did to "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's," doctrine which was
the opposite of that preached by the revolutionary Apollonius, an enemy to
tyranny. This makes it clear why the Romans refused to accept Christianity
so long as Apollonius was its head, and why immediately after his
replacement by Jesus (at the Council of Nicea in the year 335 A.D.), a
previously persecuted `communist' cult of the poor and oppressed was
elevated to become the imperial religion of the Roman emperors.)
Apollonius did not try to start a revolution (against tyranny) only in one
place, but throughout the Empire. Wherever he went, revolutions arose. He
went into Gaul, and there with Vindex, he raised the standard of revolt.*
(*There can be no doubt that Apollonius was behind Vindex's revolt in Gaul,
in concert with the governor of Baetica. After his expulsion from Rome,
Apollonius went to Spain to aid in the forthcoming revolt against Nero. This
is conjectured by Damis from the three days' secret interview that
Apollonius had with the Governor of the Province of Baetica, who came to
Cadiz especially to see him, and whose last words to Apollonius were,
"Farewell, and remember Vindex.")
In Chios and Rhodes he succeeded in bringing about political reforms. Later
with Domitian, a second Nero, no less cruel than his predecessor, and even
exceeding him, if that were possible, we find the ever active and fearless
Apollonius going up and down from one end of the Roman Empire to the other,
sowing everywhere the seeds of discontent and rebellion against the tyrant
of Rome. Still later we find him fostering a conspiracy against Domitian in
favor of the virtuous Nerva.
Discovering the plot against him, Domitian ordered Apollonius to be
arrested, but even this did not deter him. When Vespasian was emperor,
Apollonius supported and counselled him so long as he worthily tried to
follow out his instructions, but when he deprived th&127 Greek cities of
their privileges, he immediately rebuked the Emperor to his face. "You have
enslaved Greece," he wrote him. "You have reduced a free people to slavery."
When under Domitian, Apollonius became an object of suspicion to the Emperor
for criticizing his acts as he did the follies of Nero, instead of keeping
away from Rome, he determined to brave the tyrant to his face. Crossing from
Egypt to Greece and taking ship at Corinth, he sailed by way of Sicily to
Puteoli and thence to the Tiber mouth, and so to Rome where he was tried and
acquitted.
Apollonius always considered wisdom his sovereign mistress and defended
liberty even under Domitian. He entertained no fears of his own life, for,
although many philosophers were going into involuntary exile during
Domitian's reign, Apollonius determined to remain and take up arms for the
good of Rome against Domitian, as he had done against Nero, although well
knowing that Domitian would condemn him to destruction. To the pleading of
hid disciple, Demetrius, not to enter Rome at the risk of his life after
Domitian threatened to imprison and put to death any philosopher that
remained in the city or attempted to enter it, Apollonius replied:
"I have raised the standard of liberty, and at the moment she is on trial --
shall I desert her? If so, of what friendship am I worthy after having thus
betrayed my friends into the hands of the executioner?...My life is not
necessary; to go to Rome my conscience tells me is. I shall therefore be
true to myself and shall face the tyrant...I go to Rome! For, as Phrasea
Paetus used to say, I had rather be killed today than go into voluntary
exile tomorrow."
Some of the sayings of Apollonius against Domitian, the successor of Nero to
the throne of Rome, who surpassed even his predecessor in cruelty, having
been recorded; we are told that he fell under suspicion through his
correspondence with Nerva and his associates Ofitus and Rufus. When
proceedings against them were begun, Apollonius addressed the following
words to the statue of Domitian: "Fool! How little you know of the Fates
[Law of Karma] and Necessity! He who is destined to reign after you, should
you kill him, will come to life again."
This was brought to Domitian's ears by means of Euphrates. Foreknowing that
the Emperor had decided on his arrest, Apollonius anticipated the summons by
setting out with Damis for Italy. At Puteoli, he met Demetrius, who told him
that he has been accused of "sacrificing a boy to get divinations for the
conspirators;" and that the further charges against him were his strange
dress and the worship that was said to have been paid him by certain people.
Demetrius tried to dissuade his master from staying to brave the anger of a
tyrant unmoved by the most just defense, but Apollonius replied that he
intended to remain and answer the charges against him, for to flee from a
legal trial would, he believed, have the appearance of self-condemnation.
And whither could he flee? It must be beyond the limits of the Roman Empire.
Should he then seek refuge with men who knew him already, to whom he would
have to acknowledge that he has left his friends to be destroyed by an
accusation which he has not dared to face himself?
Before the tribunal, Aelian, Domitian's prefect, accused Apollonius of being
worshipped by men and thinking himself worthy of equal honors with the gods.
Apollonius was thrown into prison, where he spent his time exhorting the
prisoners to courage and raising their spirits. Brought before Domitian, he
bravely defended Nerva, Rufus and Orfitus, whom Domitian, had imprisoned as
conspirators. Domitian insisted that he should defend himself alone from the
charges, and not the others who were condemned. Apollonius, rather than
defend himself, declared them innocent and protested against the injustice
of assuming their guilt before the trial.
Domitian replied, telling him that as regards his own defense, he could take
what course he liked; and thereupon he ordered his beard and hair cut, and
put him into fetters such as are reserved for the worst criminals. (A letter
attributed to Apollonius in which he supplicatingly entreats the Emperor to
release him from his bonds, Philostratus pronounced as spurious.)
Being uneasy about his master's fate in Domitian's prison, Damis was
reassured by Apollonius who said, "There is no one who will put us to
death."
"But when, sir," asked Damis, "will you be set at liberty."
"Tomorrow," answered he, "if it depended on the judge, and this instant if
it depended on myself."
And without a word more, he drew his leg out of the fetters, and said to
Damis, "You will see the liberty I enjoy, and therefore I request you will
keep up your spirit." He then put his leg back into the fetters.
While in prison, Domitian sent a Saracusan, who was his "eye and tongue," to
Apollonius, telling him that he could gain his release if he gave
information about the supposed conspiracy against the Emperor, but he had to
leave without result. Apollonius then sent Damis to Puteoli, to expect
with.Demetrius his appearance there, after he had made his defense.
Among the charges that Domitian made against Apollonius were the following:
Charge lst: With wearing garments which differ from those of other men,
thereby attracting crowds of boisterous people to the detriment of the good
order of the city. Of wearing the hair long and of living not in accord with
good society.
Charge 2nd: With allowing and encouraging men to call him a god.
Brought before the tribunal, Apollonius disregarded the monarch, and did not
even glance at him. The accuser therefore cried out to him to look towards
the god of all men," whereupon Apollonius raised his eyes to the ceiling,
thus indicating, according to Philostratus, that he was looking to Zeus.
After his triumphant defense, which he made spontaneously, since he was not
permitted to read the long defense he had previously prepared, Domitian
acquitted him, asking him, however, to remain so that he could converse with
him in private. Apollonius thanked him, but added the stern reproof:
"Through the wretches who surround you, cities and islands are filled with
exiles, the continent with groans, the armies with cowardice, and the senate
with suspicion." Then he suddenly disappeared from among them; and in the
afternoon of the same day, he appeared to Damis and Demetrius at Puteoli, as
he had promised, at a time when they despaired to ever see him again. [i.e.,
He disappeared from in front of the Emperor Domitian at Rome, and
rematerialized 150 miles away in Puteoli.]
After he had slept, to rest from the recent strenuous events in Rome,
Apollonius told his disciples that he was leaving for Greece. Demetrius was
afraid that he would not be sufficiently hidden there, but Apollonius
replied that if all the earth belonged to the tyrant, they that die in the
open day had a better part than they that live in concealment. To those in
Greece who asked him how he escaped, he merely said that his defense had
been successful. Hence, when many coming from Italy related what had really
happened, he was almost worshipped, being regarded as divine, especially
because he had in no way boasted of the marvelous mode of his escape.
*******
Chris Brown
>Well, I am really glad that you are satisfied with the way you are
>living. If you really think that your life doesn't need any
>alteration ....then don't change it because if you're already
>happy....why would you change it?
Well that *is* a turn up for the books. I may disagree with your worldview, but
the attitude you display there is something I wholeheartedly agree with, and
it's refreshing to see it from the "other side", ads it were, on alt.atheism.
Good for you.
Comic Freak
<snippt>
So what!
--
With great power there comes great responsibility.
(Spiderman)
Bartelby
you tell us what exactly it is about? So we know what the hell
we're getting into. Did you type this all up yourself? Did you
know that the vibrator was invented by medical doctors for
bringing women to orgasm in a clinical seeting for "theraputic"
purposes?
Bob Huey
This subject was referenced in a very previous thread.
It was so fascinating that I posted it.
That's all.
Enjoy, or skip.
It's not quite a salad bar (sorry CS), but a nice buffet.
Bartelby <p...@outrageous.net> wrote in message
news:37fab000...@news.outrageous.net...
The Worm Ouroboros
>That other header( why is christianity" true') is a very irritating
> misstatement.
HA !
The Worm Ouroboros