Domitian and the Seven Seals of Revelation and Paul

The following is an explanation of the "first seal" by author Joseph Atwill. Source link at the bottom of page to Atwill's original post.


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"the first seal of Revelation (Rev 6, 2) describes a rider on a white horse that is ‘given a crown’. Suetonius links to this by simply describing Domitian as riding a white horse in the passage where he is first called ‘Caesar’. (Domitian 2) 

Once a reader recognizes these obvious linkages between the ‘first seal’ of Revelation and Suetonius’ history, however, a subtle connection to the passage that contains the ‘first seal’ of the Pauline letters becomes apparent. However to recognize this a reader must first recognize the Pauline letters contain seven ‘seals’ and question if they might have some relationship to the seven seals of Revelation. Only then will the message that Domitian has left for posterity will become comprehensible. 

In the sentence that leads to his ‘white horse’ paragraph, Suetonius noted that Vespasian had made the comment that since Domitian had made so many appointments during the time he was ‘Caesar’ – the period after Vitellius was deposed but before Vespasian arrived to claim the throne - that he was surprised that Domitian had “not named my heir while he was at it”. 

Vespasian’s comment concerning his ‘heir’ is Suetonius’ subtle typological point. The “succession” that Vespasian referred to certainly included the title given to him by Suetonius and the other Roman historians of the era; that of the ‘Christ’. 

Suetonius recorded that on his deathbed Vespasian stated “I must be becoming a god” (Suetonius, Vespasian, 23). The historian also recorded that: “There had spread over all the Orient an old and established belief, that it was fated for men coming from Judea to rule the world. This prediction, referring to the emperor of Rome - as afterwards appeared from the event- the people of Judea took to themselves.” (Suetonius, Vespasian 4) Suetonius did not record these concepts by accident.  In fact, they form the real basis of the ‘succession’ that Domitian claimed with Revelation and the Pauline literature; with these works he usurped his brother Titus, and became Vespasian’s “heir” to the title of the ‘Christ’. 

The authors of Revelation and the Pauline literature used a building block approach to their works. In this system a reader must first recognize obvious parallels between one of the seven seals of Revelation and a passage in Suetonius. In this case, that a rider on a white horse is given a crown.  A reader must then use this understanding to see the more subtle connections between these linked passages and the passage that describe the first ‘seal’ in Paul’s letters.  

Thus, Suetonius’  passage containing Vespasian’s comic remark about Domitian’s naming himself as his ‘heir’ is obviously linked by its ‘rider on a white horse who is given a crown’ to the first seal of Revelation, which presents the same concept. The next step is recognizing that the Pauline literature also has seven ‘seals’. Once a reader has understood this he or she is able to take the first step in comprehending the complex Pauline literature – compare the linked ‘first seal’ passages in Suetonius and Revelation with the first ‘seal’ passage in the Pauline literature. 

So let us go through the process. In Romans 4:11 Paul describes the first of his seven seals and in the passage he describes how a Gentile can become the ‘heir to the world’. 


“And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which [he had while still] uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,” 

Though scholars have focused on trying to determine the meaning of Paul’s distinction in Romans 4 between ‘faith” and ‘works’, the real point to Paul’s argument is that the ‘uncircumcised’ can also be ‘righteous’ and that therefore a non-Jew (an uncircumcised Gentile) can become - as Paul specifically claimed - “heir to the world” (Rom 4:13). In other words, Paul is stating that it was not with Abraham’s ‘seed’ God established his covenant with, but the righteousness of Abraham’s ‘faith’. 

What Paul is actually referring to in the passage that contains his first ‘seal’ is that a Gentile can replace Abraham and establish a ‘covenant’ with God. Notice that Paul’s point mirrors the position of the Imperial Cult and the Roman historians who saw Caesar as being able to replace a Jew as the Christ. Thus the ‘heir to the world’ that Paul describes is the same one that Vespasian mentioned when he stated that he was surprised that Domitian had not named his heir. 

While the above connections of the ‘heir’ and the ‘first seal’ in these passages may seem trivial; the connection between the ‘seven seals’ of Revelation and the seven seals of Paul will become more solid as we move through them. What I am asking of the reader at this point is to understand the nature of the relationship. Revelation and the Pauline letters each have seven ‘seals’, though on their surface the passages that depict the seven seals do not seem related on their surface each set of ‘seals’ was linked to Suetonius’ history of Domitian and this three way linkage was designed to produce a meaning not apparent on the surface narration; that Domitian was the final ‘Christ’. 

For clarification, the following diagram shows how the ‘first seal’ of Revelation is bridged to the ‘first seal’ of the Pauline literature by the concepts they share with the same passage in Suetonius:

Revelation; first seal, rider on white horse given a crown,
Suetonius; rider on white horse given a crown, heir to god  
Paul; first seal, heir to god."






Joseph Atwill, author of Caesar's Messiah.


To read the entire post from Atwill, go to... 


http://110559.aceboard.net/110559-971-4638-0-.htm

Titus and Jesus Christ

Titus and Jesus Christ are two characters who do not appear to share very much. However, what we do have is two narratives written at approximately the same time. The first is the Jewish War by Josephus and the second is the ministry of Jesus as recorded in the four gospels.

Jesus: Plot lines:

1) He begins his ministry by the Lake of Galilee where he called his disciples to be 'fishers of men'. 

2) Then at Gadara he sends a legion of devils out of a demon-possessed man and into pigs. "the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea". 

3) Jesus, the son of Mary, offers his flesh to be eaten.

4) In Gethsemane a naked man escapes and Jesus is captured.

5) Simon denies him three times.

6) He is crucified with two other men and only he "survives". He is taken down from the cross by a man called Joseph of Arimathea.

7) When Jesus returns he tells Simon of his fate (his death) and tells John he will be spared.

Jewish War/Titus: Plot lines:

1) At the Lake of Galilee a Roman battle took place in which Titus attacked a band of Jewish rebels led by a man named Jesus. The rebels fell into the water where the Romans cut of hands and heads, pulling them out like fish, (fishing for men).

2) Josephus then tells of the Roman campaign against Gadara. Josephus describes the faults of all the rebels being concentrated in the one head of rebel leader John. Then, rushing about "like the wildest of wild beasts," the 2000 rebels rushed over the cliff and drowned.

3) Josephus then tells the story of Mary, a woman in Jerusalem, who eats the flesh of her own son.

4) Josephus describes how Titus Flavius went out without his armour (metaphorically naked to a soldier) in the Garden of Gethsemane, he was nearly caught and had to flee.

5) Simon the zealot denies Titus three times.

6) Josephus tells a story of finding three crucified men, he is allowed to free them, but only one survives. Josephus' name is Joseph Bar Matthias or Joseph b(Ar matthia)s.

7) Titus has the rebel leader Simon killed in Rome and spares John.

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Same names, locations, similar events and the main points in both works have a matching sequence. That is what's commonly known as a satire. The Romans loved satires. The intelligence, invention and memory retention of these people have been sorely underestimated and misunderstood for far too long.

The ministry of Jesus is based on the Jewish War. This means that Simon, Mary, John, Jesus, etc are all fictional characters.

I will write more when I can. This is merely an outline of how certain parts of the gospel stories where developed.

Saul/Paul and Josephus

The lives of Paul of Tarsus and Flavius Josephus are remarkably linked. Similarities, parallels, coincidences, call them what you like, but the more there is the stranger it seems.

Chronology:

AD 53 - Age 16 Josephus goes on a "spiritual journey". Many scholars give this as the possible date when Paul writes the first of the undisputed epistles.

AD 56 - Josephus returns age 19 then skips about 7 years of his life story. During the same time Paul goes to prison.

AD 62 - Both embark on a voyage, both are shipwrecked and both end up in Rome at the same time.

So what does that mean? It means that from the time of the first epistle we can place Paul in the shoes of Josephus. The life of Josephus was used as a template to construct Paul. This is why Paul's writings appear contemporary to this time.

A selection of other similarities between these two characters:

Jews raised in Jerusalem with Roman citizenship. Educated as a Pharisee. Acted against revolutionaries, persecuting and imprisoning. Had a vision of a man telling him the error of his ways then turned to the side of the Jesus/Romans. After the vision a disciple/high priest called Ananias/Ananus was eventually persuaded “he” was their ally. Accused of/wrote of an Egyptian False Prophet. Stoned/Attacked by opponents. Jews wished him dead but he was saved by Romans. Felix/Florus accused of asking for a bride from him. Saul talked with Agrippa and Berenice securing favourable treatment – Josephus gave account of petitions that Berenice, made to Florus, begging to spare the jews. Both of them wrote many letters to communities around Europe promoting and recommending books/texts and vouching their authenticity/truthfulness. They where both "published" by someone named Epaphroditus.

I could go on with quotes from each men and show that their writings are riddled with the same kind of parallels, but that's old ground, this isn't. This, for me, removes Paul of Tarsus from reality and places him in the realm of fiction.

I am sure you can pick holes here and there, but it's clear to me that they got their ideas for Paul from Josephus. This understanding obliterates the traditional dating of the Pauline Epistles. They are a fictional theological work that only seem contemporary to those dates because of the man they are based on... Josephus.

Deaths: Jesus Christ and Julius Caesar

Jesus Christ on the cross is one of the most well known images the world over. Julius Caesar is the most famous Roman Emperor in history. There are similarities between both characters, especially regarding the circumstances of their deaths.

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At the funeral of Julius Caesar they rose aloft a wax effigy of him. His arms outstretched and his body bloodied. The image is very similar to Jesus on the cross.

Caesar was stabbed to death and then after his death "he was crucified". Jesus was crucified to death and then after death he is pierced by a spear (stabbed). A Roman solider called Cassius Longinus plotted to murder Caesar and, according to Gospel of Nicodemus, the Roman solider that pierced Jesus was also named Cassius Longinus.

Also the spear that Longinus used he received from his grandfather. His grandfather received it from Julius Caesar as a gift for his outstanding military service in the conquest of Gaul.

Caesar was killed on the 15th of March (Ides of March). Jesus is killed on the 15th of Nissan, which corresponds to March on the Hebrew calendar. The Longinus of the Jesus saga was elevated to Sainthood by the Catholic Church, his feast day is the 15th of March, the anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar.

The cult of Divus Julius preached that Julius Caesar was immaculately conceived, being the son of a virgin and begotten by the Father of all Gods, Jupiter.

Anno Domini (birth of Christ) was placed 100 years after the birth of Julius Caesar, who was born in 100 BC.

The following are also attributed to Jesus Christ: Pieta-face, crown of thorns, long hair, beard, clothing, crosier, aureole, variations of the cross, the Resurrection, the Ascension, etc. These have previously occured on coins with Ceasar's likeness and are still evident on those minted by Antony and Octavian Augustus.

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I find these connections interesting. If one is based on the other then Jesus is the fiction. This also points towards Roman authorship. Worshipping Jesus whilst unknowingly worshipping to Caesar.