"Attys, who was called the ‘Only Begotten Son’ and ‘Saviour,’ was worshipped by the Phrygians . . . He was represented by them as a man tied to a tree, at the foot of which was a lamb, and, without doubt, also as a man nailed to the tree, or stake, for we find Lactantius making this Apollo of Miletus . . . [saying] that: ‘He was a mortal according to the flesh; wise in miraculous works; but, being arrested by an armed force by command of the Chaldean judges, he suffered a death made bitter with nails and stakes.’"

Prometheus was another of the world’s crucified saviors. He was "an immortal god, a friend of the human race, who does not shrink even from sacrificing himself for their salvation." This Prometheus supposedly said, "I rescued mankind from the heavy blow that was to cast them into Hades. . . . Mankind I helped, but I could not help myself."

Doane writes: "The tragedy of the crucifixion of Prometheus, written by Ęschylus (called The Divine Sufferer), was acted in Athens five hundred years before the Christian Era, and is by many considered to be the most ancient dramatic poem now in existence." "The plot was derived from materials even at that time of an infinitely remote antiquity." "The spectators themselves were unconsciously made a party to the interest of the scene: its hero was their friend, their benefactor, their creator, and their Saviour; his wrongs were incurred in their quarrel¾ his sorrows were endured for their salvation; ‘he was wounded for their transgressions, and bruised for their iniquities; the chastisement of their peace was upon him, and by his stripes they were healed;’ ‘he was oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.’ The majesty of his silence, whilst the ministers of an offended god were nailing him by the hands and feet to Mount Caucasus, could be only equaled by the modesty with which he relates, while hanging with arms extended in the form of a cross, his services to the human race, which had brought on him that horrible crucifixion. ‘None, save myself,’ says he, ‘opposed his (Jove’s) will,’ ‘I dared; and boldly pleading saved them from destruction, saved them from sinking to the realms of night. For this offense I bend beneath these pains, dreadful to suffer, piteous to behold: For mercy to mankind I am not deem’d worthy of mercy; but with ruthless hate in this uncouth appointment am fix’d here a spectacle dishonorable to Jove.’"

This Grecian Prometheus, who really represents but a composite of many Sun-gods and their crucifixion/savior myths, was derived, according to Diodorus, from Egyptian mythology! Of course, from there, as we’ve proven in volume one, he is simply traced back to Nimrod of Babylonia.

Having already related my shock at finding so close a parallel in pagan mythology to the life of Jesus, I can say that my most confusing moment came when I found the story of Nimrod’s crucifixion, which turned out to be the prototype of the dying savior-gods of all subsequent mythology. As I read the crucifixion account of the savior-god from one ancient nation after another, a sinking feeling began to literally come over me. I immediately realized that I had found the death of my own Jesus being celebrated thousands of years before he was born¾ although I was by no means then ready to admit it! This last statement is certainly proven by my defense of Jesus’ crucifixion account in Mystery Babylon the Great.

When at last I faced reality, I did come to see that from the primitive origins in Babylon, the story of the savior-god-man had simply gained a number of refinements as it wound its way through history¾ finally coming to rest in its familiar Gospel form when it settled in first century Roman Christianity.

It is only now that I completely understand why the Catholics, Protestants, and indeed my own church, had repeatedly warned its members not to read certain books. How often had I heard the warning that there was material "out there" designed by Satan solely for the purpose of putting doubts into the minds of Christians. I have to admit that this warning was not only effective in my case, but has proven to be so in the lives of most Christians. Being born into Christianity (or any religion) instills certain fears from the earliest years of life. Losing my eternal life, forgoing salvation, were the threats I had looming over my head every time I questioned any portion of the NT, and in particular the stories of Jesus as the Son of God. But, finally allowing a rational thought process to dispel my fears, I went back to the ancient records and saw there the evidence that no sane person could overlook.

Actually I well remember when I found the first piece of the disturbing evidence during my research for MB. I had pulled a reference book off the shelf of my local library and was soon engaged in reading an account of the death of a savior-god-man by crucifixion. When I got to the point where he was pierced in the side by a spear while hanging on the cross, I immediately put the book down. It was too much for me at that time!

At the risk of being overly repetitious, I want to again comment that this reaction is the real reason that the Catholic Church sought at a very early time to expunge the truth of Christian origins from the world by burning pagan libraries. Within the ashes of those long ago destroyed books was to be found the truth about the doctrines and customs that were but the predecessors of the Christian faith. And the early "fathers" wished them far removed, not only from their consciences, but from the view of the Christian Church. This is not speculation, but is borne out by the several apologies written by these "fathers" to answer the charges of pagans that Christianity was nothing more than a borrower from the ancient Mysteries. In these instances you will often find that every shred of evidence as to what the pagan critics believed and taught has been destroyed. Indeed, we only know of their one-time existence because of the defensive writings of the Christian Church fathers.

Here, I’m once again reminded of the Mormon Religion which bases its entire doctrine on the word of Joseph Smith. In other words, without the faith of millions of people that Smith was telling the truth, there would be no Mormonism in the world. Actually, to help promote his incredible story, Smith offers a list of eye-witnesses to the claims he makes for the Book of Mormon. Now, with these witnesses and the word of the "prophet" Joseph Smith, I ask you, why do the majority of Christians not accept this testimony? Of course the answer is obvious! Yet, aren’t the circumstances of Mormonism the same as those of Christianity?

If the Gospels are themselves a great fiction, meaning we don’t have the written words of the apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, then we have essentially and in reality only the word of Paul and a group of later Catholic Church fathers that Jesus was the Son of God. I have said this before and say it again: faith in the word of a man is indeed the key of Christian doctrine.

Some time back I was invited to give a Bible study on the very subject of this book. Although I only skimmed the surface of just a portion of the material presented here, needless to say, it caused some controversy. One man could only answer after the presentation, "what about faith, where does faith come into the picture?" I countered, "does not the New Testament teach us to prove all things, and even more to the point, to go to the ‘Old’ Testament to get our understanding? Isn’t that what is meant when we read that the people of Thessalonica ‘searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so?’" Are we not to use the "Old" Testament to test the New Testament as to whether the words written there are of God or man? And if they be found of man, then isn’t everything we know of God telling us that this is not a book of life? ACCORDING TO THE HOLY SCRIPTURES WOULDN’T SUCH A BOOK, IN FACT, BE A BOOK OF DEATH FOR THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL?

Blind faith is a disastrous state for any human being to be in. Almost on a daily basis I’m reminded of this fact when I see the predominately Mormon citizens of Salt Lake City put their peculiar religion into practice. Outside the sacred writings of their church, they have no other authority for their religion.

Some would say to me, "well, isn’t this actually all we have to go on in the ‘Old’ Testament?" To the contrary! In volume three of this work the continuing history of Israel combined with the prophecies of the "Old" Testament will prove the overwhelming validity of those writings. But acceptance of the New Testament dictates that it is on faith alone that we are to believe that God would allow Satan to set up an apostate religion so close to the truth, that virtually no one could tell them apart. All this was done, we are told, so that Satan could deceive the whole world as an angel of light. Yet, God is not dealing with the whole world, and this is a fundamental of "Old" Testament theology!

The truth of God was revealed to the children of Israel and it would be through these people that salvation would come to the rest of the world. This is a fact of prophecy¾ a theme if you please¾ that is repeated continually in the major and minor prophets and I can only say that it is ridiculous to think that God would go against His Word, rob the Israelites, and give everything over to the Gentiles! If I’ve learned one thing from Christianity it is that God is not mocked! Indeed, as we have seen, and as we progress, we shall continue to see that the New Testament has little in common with the truth of God as revealed by his prophets and servants long before the advent of Christian theology.

As to the crucifixion, we need not dwell on the pagan implications found in the Gospel account. Merely reread the forth chapter of MB for the background. I would like, however, to comment on a few interesting similarities. One is that Jesus, while hanging on the cross, had a spear thrust into his side¾ which, as I have just noted, is also a tenet of several pre-Christian pagan religions!

That this legend does seem to have some basis of fact behind it can be demonstrated by mentioning that crucifixion is one of the worst forms of executions ever devised. Those wishing to show mercy to the victim would sometimes kill them at some point during the ordeal. If such mercy was shown to the so-called "savior-god" Nimrod, then it can simply be attributed to his mother/wife Semiramis. The account, as noted, tells us that Semiramis was kneeling at the foot of Nimrod’s cross, and if anyone, in their mercy, would wish to end his suffering, it would be his mother. When this same legend is repeated in the story of Jesus’ crucifixion, it does, needless to say, cause concern!

The story of the darkness at the time of Jesus’ death is another strange account that certainly has parallels in mythology, notably in the story of Krishna. At his death a black circle surrounded the moon and the sun was darkened at noon-day: fire and ashes rained from the sky, and thousands of spirits were seen skirmishing in the air¾ which brings to mind the resurrection of "saints" in the account of the Gospels!

When Buddha, the "Savior of the World," died, meteors fell and clouds of darkness covered the earth. When Prometheus was crucified on Mount Caucasus, the earth "did quake, thunder roared, lightning flashed, the wild winds rent the vexed air . . ." When the savior-

god Ęsculapius was put to death, "the sun shone dimly from the heavens." When Hercules died "darkness was on the face of the earth." A minor Roman savior-Sun-god called Quirinius had the same distinction at his death: "upon which the sun was eclipsed or darkened." In fact, the same stories may be found in the accounts of Quetzalcoatle, the ancient Mexican savior-god.

Again, the answer as to why the sun was darkened in these accounts simply goes back to the original Sun-god, Nimrod. He, as the son of the supreme god, and the incarnation of the sun, would naturally take away the light, warmth, and life-giving properties of the sun at his death. This is the meaning of the Easter celebration, which we’ve also covered rather extensively in volume one (i.e., the spring is when the sun moves closer to the earth and life comes back). Hence, the Sun-god rises in the spring and restores his light and life-giving properties. Ask yourself, in light of pagan Gentile influence and their custody of the New Testament, if it is just a coincidence that at the hour of Jesus’ death there was darkness over the land, and by his resurrection, he brought life to the world?

I can’t over-emphasize the real danger the acceptance and worship of a false Messiah, who has been deified by Satan’s church, can bring down on the modern-day descendants of Israel. At any rate, these pagan accounts of Jesus’ death move us on to the "crowning" glory of the tradition: the resurrection.