Amazon Prime’s “Bible Conspiracies” revealed how a man known as Apollonius may have been the true face behind the tales of the Bible. Apollonius, who was also a Greek religious preacher, was born roughly in the same year as Jesus in Central Anatolia, which is now part of Turkey. The 2016 series revealed: “There is, in fact, a man who can be found in text outside of the Bible after the church failed to eradicate him from history. “His name is Apollonius and he was born in the 3rd or 4th year BC in Tyana in Cappadocia, Anatolia. “He became a disciple of Pythagoras renouncing flesh, wine and women. “He wore no shoes and let his hair and beard grow long. “He soon became a reformer and fixed his abode in the Temple of Aesculapius.” The series went on to explain how Apollonius became famous, building a religious following as he preached and performed miracles. The documentary continued: “Eventually Apollonius became a wise sage himself and his own notoriety grew. Aurelian (Roman Emperor) vowed to erect temples and statues to his honour. “Was there ever anything among men more holy? “He reportedly restored life to the dead and spoke of things beyond the human reach “And, unlike Jesus, there is evidence to prove that Apollonius actually existed.” Apollonius matches the same description as Jesus
Comparative studies between Jesus and Apollonius have been around for centuries and yes, is still in debate until this very day by some. To Apollonius credit we do have Philostratus (a commissioned scribe) who wrote his biography which gives a little credulence to the works of the “holy” man but one does wonder as to the credibility of the author for there is little that can give the stamp of fact to everything he wrote. Note: The pathway of Jesus was known and followed by His apostolic court and all of them wrote of Him. If one stretched the truth then all of them did which makes the whole scenario the grandest scheme of fraud that history has or will ever know. We do know that the philosopher was a student of Pythagoreanism and followed in those same footsteps and concepts but so did many other great philosophers such as Aristotle. The idea that one should abstain from meat, wine and sex wasn’t by any means a new concept and had been in practice by religious men and women for a couple of thousand years prior to even the Essenes or John the Baptist. One question I do have is, like Epictetus, was Apollonius a polytheist and referred to Zeus as God since after all, he was Greek. He said he was sent by God but does not the Pope or nearly every minister of any type of theistic religion not state the same thing? Another question that might be proposed is, “were Krishna and Buddha” also holy men and lived virtually the same way as Apollonius? And lastly for now, “did Apollonius fulfill all of the prophesies including the type of death that Jesus fulfilled?” I’m not here to debate the subject because I obviously have my own beliefs. I’m merely opening up an opportunity for reasonably studied dialog.
If anything is true in the New Testament, then I don't believe Jesus could have been Greek. While I believe Jesus was not the poor, wandering preacher depicted by many since he could read Greek and Hebrew, and could speak Aramaic. He was referred to as "Master" by Simon when he called the fishermen from their nets, even though they didn't know who he was (apparently). It seems to me that Jesus was from a wealthy family, probably from the Jewish priestly or royal lines, who forswore his lifestyle in a manner similar to Buddha, and sought to educate and better the lives of the poor and ill. I have some of the same questions about Apollonius that @Bobby Cole has in the post above, and I doubt he was conversant in Hebrew and Aramaic, although that is possible. Just as the Gnostics sought to undermine Christianity, the Apollonius theory is along those same lines.
Ah, I do so love the study on ancient gnostism. Not to bring the topic into a whole other direction, it has been noted on numerous occasions that Paul was a gnostic to a large degree but to that and in witness to the works of God and the Christ, Paul wrote to the Colossians recognizing that yes, they had knowledge (gnosis) but he wished them to have epi-gnosis (full knowledge) as he did. (Second chapter of Colossians around the 2nd and 3rd verse I believe) The reason I bring that up is that Paul practically copied the trek of Apollonius even to an area that he said the Holy Spirit forbade him to go, namely Asia (Turkey). His basic mission was to bring the Gospel of Jesus the Christ as the direction to gain full knowledge rather than that of simple spirituality.
Well if Jesus was Greek then all the Jewish people God made a Covenant with had to be Greek too...since God sent His Son to die on the Cross to bring salvation to His Covenant people...plus if Jesus was Greek then He won't be returning to save his people in Israel either. He will be going to the Greek Islands instead. The New Testament says there have been and will be many who claim (or others will claim him to be) to be Jesus....but weren't and will not be. I think Apollonius belongs in this group. He may never have claimed to be God's Son but if others are claiming he is...then he'd fit in that category to me. The Book of Matthew explains Jesus' royal bloodline @Don Alaska and Jesus chose to be without the worldly riches and taught that heavenly treasures were worth more than the riches on earth. Jesus could have lived in a Palace and had all the wealth in the World if he chose to but he didn't come to earth to gather riches...He came to gather God's people and offer them salvation and eternal life by the shedding of his blood on the Cross. That's a priceless gift that all the wealth in the world couldn't buy.
I also read that Jesus was a short, stocky, dark, swarthy man, unlike the tall, light-complected, heavenly, long-haired figure we've seen all our lives in Paintings and Sculptures, which don't show any Jewish characteristics at all. Hal
Jesus wan not a disciple of anyone, but had 12 disciples. Also, there is proof of Jesus' existence, through the eyewitness account written by his disciples in the New Testament
In Jewish culture, when a man marries a woman, he has to come forth with his lineage papers. Since they have lost paperwork thru the world wars and such, it isn't as serious a thing as it once was. If the Bible is referring to the church as Jesus' Bride, then He has to come forth with his lineage documents. Both the Old and New Testaments give this lineage. It is VERY important. Therefore, the Old Testament, is actually HIS story, not just a bunch of stories through out history that are unrelated. We call the Bible - The Word, and Jesus is - The Word. Any other conspiracy thoughts are not correct. They take away from who He IS. They confuse the truth......on purpose.
It’s apparent that you’re attempting to get a rise out of someone but alas, what you wrote may in fact, be true. Throughout the centuries I am very, very sure that many Joshua’s (Yeshua’s) were and are being born all over the world so why not Palermo? All you wrote was “Jesus” for which name many people share. My goodness, there are even a couple of ball players from Cuba by that name. Maybe one of your bankers was called Jesus or Joshua? There’s even a book in the Old Testament called, “Joshua”. But, the man who was born in Bethlehem to Mary and Joseph the carpenter, narrows things down a bit. And to be sure, the man whom the Apostles referred to as the Christ, narrows things even further.
Though many may not like it, I have often referred to the Bible as the chronology and genealogy of Jesus the Christ.
Well, it is. You probably know this, but the Greek word translated Christ, is from the Jewish for the word Messiah. So, Jesus the Messiah.