offa

Josephus knew about Jesus and there is an event that can
tie the stories together. There is a lot of evidence that
needs to be examined in order to build the case.

Josephus writes,
Moreover, when I was a child, and about fourteen years
of age, I was commended by all for the love I had to
learning; on which account the high priests and principle
men of the city came then frequently to me together,

In the above verse Josephus qualifies himself as a child.
In order to become an Essene child one has to celebrate his
bar mitzvah at 12 years of age. When an Essene writes about
his age you must add 11 years in order to derive his birthdate.

Josephus writes,
and when I was about sixteen years old, I had a mind
to make trial of the several sects that were among us.
These sects are three:

In the above verse Josephus is actually 27 years old and the
date he is talking about is A.D. 53. If you subtract 27 from
53 you will get Josephus' birth year and that year is A.D. 26.
Go ahead, use your search engines and your biblical resources
and all the scholars will give you a later date for Josephus'
birth.

Jesus was crucified on Friday, March 20, AD 33 and Josephus
is not yet a child but he is 7 years old. (Jesus is 40)

JOH 19:23
Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus,
took his garments, and made four parts, to every
soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was
without seam, woven from the top throughout.
JOH 19:24 They said therefore among themselves, Let us not
rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that
the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They
parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they
did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.

Offa;
The coat in the above verse is not an ordinary coat. It
is the garment worn by the high priests of old and was
stored in the tower of Antonia at Qumran.

ANT 18-091 although at this time they
were laid up in the tower of Antonia, the citadel so called,


The soldiers in the above verse were not ordinary
soldiers. This was one man and his name was Herod Agrippa.
The Essenes had a method of writing used to delude the
fundamental reader and one of the tricks was to use plurals
in place of singulars and vice-versa. Herod Agrippa took
this sacred robe (one that Jesus managed to confiscate to
the chagrin of Caiaphas and Jonathan Annas).

Remember, this is A.D. 33 and Herod Agrippa is soon to
depart from Judea to Rome. The way that Agrippa is going
to pay for this excursion will be from bribe monies paid
to him about the disappearance of Jesus' body. Jesus
survived the crucifixion and walked out of the burial
cave. Agrippa knows this because he was there and this was
a part of the hush money, "tell them that the body was
stolen." Pilate will also receive hush money and Jesus
had sworn "it is finished" regarding his mission as a
revolutionary against Rome.

Offa;
I have in my possession a book by Daniel R. Swartz and
this book is called Agrippa I, ISBN 3-16-145341-7
and he does a detailed study of Agrippa. On page 51 Swartz
is deducing exactly what transpired in Agrippa'a life between
his departing Judea in about A.D. 33 and his imprisonment
in A.D. 36. Swartz is unaware of Agrippa's presence at the
crucifixion but he is using Pomponius Flaccus' death in A.D.
33/34 as a bookmark. Swartz is saying that Agrippa left
Judea in A.D. 33 without his wife and children because
she (Cypros) was unable to make the trip because she was
pregnant or had just delivered. Swartz goes on to say that
Agrippa made contacts in Rome (involving money of course) and
returned to Judea to retrieve his family.

Offa; The following are my deductions. "It is on this occasion
that Agrippa runs into trouble because he apparently had borrowed
monies from Simon Peter without the intent to repay and there was
also a tax problem. Agrippa is arrested in Caesaria and held
captive on a boat. He manages to have the ropes that hold the
boat to the pier cut and makes a daring escape to Alexandria to
meet up with Alexander the Alabarch. Agrippa is accompanied
by the Apostle named John Mark (Eutychus).

Here is what Barbara Thiering writes about Eutychus,
Eutychus - The name of John Mark, used in this position as a freedman of
Agrippa I, and his chariot driver. The name was used at the time of
John Mark's reconciliation with western Christians in AD 58, when he was
re-admitted, stripped of his titles.
Jesus and the Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls, p.388.

Offa (writing my own stuff); The reason that Eutychus is accompanying
Agrippa is because he is on a mission to retrieve the sacred garments.
Josephus tells the rest of the story about this failed theft, see

Antiquities, book 18
Now, Eutychus, who was Agrippa's freedman, and drove
his chariot, heard these words, and at that time said
nothing of them;
(169) but when
Agrippa accused him of stealing some garments of his (which was
certainly true), he ran away from him; but when he was caught ...

Offa; What happens is that Eutychus is imprisoned and gets an audience
with Tiberius Caesar and tells Tiberius the words he heard and these
words were about treason regarding Caius Caligula taking the government.
The end result is Eutychus being set free and Agrippa being imprisoned.
As fortune would have it, Caligula becomes emperor and Agrippa becomes
the last king of the Jews.

Here is what happens on Friday, April 10, A.D. 44 (According to Thiering,
I just threw in her date for historical purposes).

ACT 12:21 And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in
royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.
ACT 12:22And the people gave a shout, saying, It
is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
ACT 12:23And immediately the angel of the Lord
smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was
eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

The verses above are about the assassination of king Agrippa. The
royal apparel are the sacred garments originally stored
at the Tower of Antonia.

Here is how Josephus opens book 20 of Antiquities;
Upon the death of king Agrippa, which we have related
in the foregoing book, Claudius Caesar sent Cassius Longinus as
successor to Marcus ...

This is a few lines later

(6) He also at this time sent for the high priests and principle
citizens of Jerusalem, and this at the command of the emperor, and
admonished them that they should lay up the long garment and the
sacred vestment, which is customary for nobody but the high priest
to wear, in the tower of Antonia ...


Offa; what Josephus is telling us is that he knows that king Herod
Agrippa possessed the sacred garment and Josephus knew how
Agrippa obtained them.

Josephus knew the Essene language and he understood the miracles
and need not be impressed. Pilate was at the crucifixion and he
was paid a bribe and it would suit him better if his upper command
was unaware of his accepting bribes. It would suit the Christians
better if Pilate became converted, after all, he was there and
was not impressed by the earthquake, lightning, and dead bodies
rolling around ... not to mention the 6 extra hours of darkness.

thanks, offa

Bill

This doesn't have anything to do with the Piso theory, now does it? As far as I know, no reputable scholar believes that there is any real substance to the Piso claims.

== Bill

offa

Is Piso the person who claims Josephus wrote the gospels? He used to post on one of these infidel boards trying to sell his theory and my reply to him was a rebuttal.
And, Bill, I have a really hard time finding a reputable scholar that is not buried in dogma.
I do not have time to write volumes and try to stay brief. I left off sources for my reasoning. I have always claimed that the gospels were written before 50 b.c.e. I have always claimed that Jesus survived the crucifixion and that his feet were not pierced.

thanks, offa