t mm 1 1 . * Pit LUiH 1 I" It i'frtrrW i ' VmW IP" mm ''m ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. ANCIENT VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT REALMS DISCLOSE THE MOST STARTLING REVELATIONS, PROVING CHRISTIANITY TO BE OF HEATHEN ORIGIN. Truth crushed by Priests shall rise again. SECOND EDITION. PHILADELPHIA; ORIENTAL PUBLISHING CO, 1894. Copyright, 1892, ORIENTAL PUBLISHING COMPANY. Philadelphia. e*7ffi 1$? DKDICATION. One who loved Truth more than the commendation of men, left on record as a legacy to the human race, a sentiment, at once so truly religious, broad and elevating, that we quote his lines in this connection : "The world is my country, To do good my religion." Faixe. With the same broad and philanthropic spirit which inspired the above we dedicate this work to the world. ILLUSTRATIONS. J M. Roberts, Esq., . . Frontispiece Apollonius. The Nazarexe, . . .14 Symbols of the Crucified Lamb and the Crucified Man, . . . 100 Burning of the Condemned Books, . . 401 Prometheus Bound, (Whose Tragedy was the Prototype of tiir Crucifixion of the Christian Jesus,) . . . 515 CONTENTS. PAGE Preface, 3 Introductory, . 11 Apollonius, the Nazarene, The Jesus of the Christians, 14 Apollonius of TYANA,the Nazarene. Born A. D. 2, died A. D. 99 His history and teachings appropriated to formulate Christianity The original gospels of the New Testament brought from India, ........ 17 Damis, the pupil of Apollonius. The Epistles of Timothy written to Damis India the source of Christianity, ... 35 Deva Bodhisatoua, a Buddhist Prophet. The original gospels as understood by the Hindoos Received from spirit sources through Bodhisatoua as a medium, ..... 48 Plotinus. The testimony of Ulphilas, Apollonius, Vespasian, Deva Bodhisatoua and others confirmed The scriptures of Buddhism and their relation to Christianity, ... 57 Pope Gregory VII. His reason for destroying the library of the Palatine Apollo The manuscripts contained therein would prove the non-existence of Jesus Christ, .... 59 Euthalius, a Greek Theologian. The teachings of Apollonius of Tyana mutilated to make good the Christian scheme Eutha- lius substitutes Paul and the Christ idea for Apollonius and Chrishna in these writings The Acts of the Apostles, Pauline and Catholic epistles divided by him into verses, . 61 Potamon, the great Alexandrian Reformer. His attempt to purify the existing religions leads to exile The Eclectic School of Philosophy The teachings of Potamon drawn upon to fabricate Christianity, ...... 64 Vespasian, a Roman Emperor. No such person among the Jews as Jesus of Nazareth The books of the Jews Disease produced by spirits Apollonius a great medium, . . 79 Herodes Agrippa II, King of Judea. The true version of the trial of Paul before Agrippa as given in Acts, ... 82 Pliny the Younger. His letter to Trajan referred to the Esse- nes and not to the Christians The word Christians a forgery, 87 VI CONTENTS. Origen. Christianity and Paganism identical The narratives page relating to the person Jesus Christ derived from the Greek and Egyptian god makers, ....... 89 Flavius Josephus, a Jewish Historian. The reference to Jesus of Nazareth fraudulently interpolated by some Christian copier of his history No such person as Jesus of Nazareth existed in the time of Josephus, ...... 91 Vflavius Philostratus, biographer of Apollonius of Tyana. The non-existence of the Christian religion in his day Apollonius worshiped in Rome as the saviour of men Every effort made by Popes and Emperors to destroy the history of Apollonius, ......... 94 Cosmas Indicopleustes, the great Antiquarian. The symbols or keys of the Christian religion found on the Adulian marble Fraudulent plates being manufactured by excavators to sup- port the Old Testament, 100 Jean Jacques Barthelemy, a French Scholar. The modern Christian religion under the form of symbolic worship writ- ten upon all the temples and tombs of antiquity, . . 10 1 Henry Salt, an eminent English Traveller. All historic religions have their origin in the Sun Blinded by Christianity while on earth, ........ . 104 M. Servillius Nonianus, a Roman Consul. The Christian Jesus none other than the Chrishna of the Hindoos No Christians nor Christianity in the time of Nero, A. D. 45 to 68, . . 108 Ptolemy Philadelphus. The Alexandrian Library Where the principal parts of the creeds and tenets of all religious systems were obtained, ....... 1 09 Pontius Pilate, Procurator of Judea. He knew nothing of the Jesus of the Christians Jesus Onanias a robber, tried before him and crucified by the Roman soldiers This testimony positively corroborated in our own times, . . . . 112 Cyrillus Luchar, a Greek Patriarch. The Alexandrian manu- script The infamy of Christianity Millions of ruined souls in the after-life because of its teachings Christianity not from the Jews but from the Greeks, 114 Quintillian. Denies the existence of Jesus Christ The cross has been the symbol of various religions ever since the days of Rameses II of Egypt, 118 Julius Lucius Florus, a Roman Historian. The spirit of pro- gress buried beneath Christianity Jesus and his so-called apostles not known in Rome A. D. 125, . . . . 1 20 CONTENTS. VII Urban VIII, a Roman Pontiff. Facts in regard to the mingling PAGE of Paganism and Christianity The bronze decorations of St. Peter's at Rome Where obtained, . . . . 122 Aquila, a Cappadocian Philosopher. Neither Jew nor Christian Not the translator of the Greek version of the Old Testament as recorded in history, ....... 123 Symmachus, a Grecian Statesman. The Christian religion a duplication of the Eleusinian mysteries, . . . . 124 Pomponius Mela, a Roman Geographer. No Christians at Antioch A. D. 54 The goddess Diana worshiped, . . 126 Cardinal Stefano Borgia. Christianity cannot stand the blazing light of the original writings of the Latin Fathers if placed in the hands of scholars and free thinkers, . . 128 Caracalla, bishop of Nicomedia. The Council of Nice All works pertaining to the mythological origin of Christianity to be destroyed Bibliomancy, . . . . . . 129 Hegesippus, a Greek Theologian. The attempt to make a new religion out of the old religions The struggle between learned scholars and pagan priests, ..... 131 Ulphilas, a Catholic Bishop. The source of the Codex Argen- teus The Brahminical gospels of Apollonius translated from the Samaritan tongue in the Fourth Century The names changed to suit his Christian employers, .... 133 Abgarus, a Grecian Priest. The famous letter to Jesus Christ a forgery by Christian writers He corresponded with Jesus Malathiel, a Jewish priest Eusebius responsible for the circulation of this falsehood, ...... 135 Gregory, bishop of Constantinople. Destruction of many valua- ble books Jesus interpolated for Apollonius in history Eusebius spent his whole life in mutilating and destroying everything that militated against Christianity, . . . 138 Eusebius of C^esarea. An unwilling witness The power of truth All Epistles and Gospels in reality the creation of Christian priests Justin Martyr the forger of the passage in Josephus in relation to Jesus Christ Eusebius admits copy- ing it Dr. Lardner's arraignment of Eusebius What Gib- bons thinks of Eusebius, . . . . . . . 141 Alciphron, a Greek Writer. The story of the " Wise Men of the East," a theological legend brought from India by the Gymnosophists, . . . ... . . . 150 Sir Thomas Bodley, founder of the Bodleian Library. The Anti-Nicene library Collection of manuscripts against the Council of Nice Missing leaves of the Cambridge manuscript, 152 VIII CONTENTS. Marcion, the Father of Christianity. The Pauline Epistles ap- PAGE propriated by Marcion He changes them The description of Paul inteq:>olated to disguise the identity of their author, Apollonius of Tyana, ........ 154 Lucian, a Greek Satirist. The insignificant measures used to formulate the Christian Gospels The St. Luke of the Gos- pels Apollonius the Apollos of the Greeks The original works of Lucian mutilated Who St. Paul and St. Mark were, 157 COXSTANTINUS Pogonatus. The sixth council of Constantinople A. D. 680 Prometheus of the Greeks adopted to represent Jesus Christ Lamb worship changed to man worship Lamb worship a relic of paganism The edict prohibiting the worship of the lamb on the cross, . . . . 160 Constantine THE Great. Fettered by the truth The Budd- histic gospels mingled with the teachings of Potamon, . 162 Epaphroditus, a Latin Grammarian. Josephus a member of the Ancient Order of the Initiated Why Josephus did not mention Apollonius in his history, . . . . . 163 F. Nigidius Figulus. Connection of astrology with Christianity, 166 Vellius Paterculus. The Signs of the Zodiac the key to all religions, .......... 167 Gregory, bishop of Neo-Csesarea. Apollonius worshiped in the Temple of Apollo Valuable manuscripts destroyed by Eusebius, .......... 169 Ummidius Quadratus, Governor of Syria. The feast of the unleavened bread a blood purifying ceremony The carefully concealed secrets of the Essenes Travels in India, . . 170 C. Cornelius Tacitus, a Roman Historian. The Essenian Brotherhood Spirit manifestations Never heard of the Christian Jesus nor of Christianity, . . . . . 173 Manetho, an Egyptian Priest. The god Osiris of the Egyptians Materialization as understood by the ancients The Sun personified, the revered saviour of all nations, . . . 175 Varro, a Roman Writer. The celebrated literature of the ancients destroyed by the Christian hierarchy His " Key to Ancient Religions " destroyed by order of Constantine the Great, . 177 Ignatius of Antioch, Patriarch of the Essenes. Apollonius of Tyana investigated the religion of the Essenes The sacred writings of the Essenes blended with those Apollonius received from India, ........ 179 TlTUS LlVIUS, a Roman Historian. The birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as portrayed in the annual passage of the Sun through the constellations of the Zodiac, 181 CONTENTS. IX Q. Veranius. The God of the Britons identical with the God of page the Christians The idea of being saved by a man born of a virgin, established among barbarous people centuries before the Christian era, 183 Porphyry, a so-called Heathen Philosopher. None of the early Christian Fathers, so-called, were Christians in reality The gods of all religions have arisen out of astronomy and astrology, .......... 185 Marcantonio De Dominis, a Heresiarch. The old Roman gods, re-chiselled by the sculptors, are the Apostles of the Christian religion The vestments of the Roman Catholic priesthood copied from the priests of Apollo, . . . 187 Sejanus, the favorite of Tiberius. New light on the story of the crucifixion The obliterated portion of the Alexandrian Codex 189 Aloysius Lilius, an Italian Savant. The connection of the life of the so-called Jesus Christ with the gods of antiquity The doctrines of the Christian Trinity based on the Pagan Trinity, 191 Pompaeius Saturninus. The secret meeting of the Sons of the Sun or the Initiated Ancie.nt Spiritualism, . . . 193 Carra. The inscriptions on the Adulian Marble relate to the life and miracles of Apollonius of Tyana, .... 195 Clement Alexandrinus. His writings mutilated by Eusebius interesting revelations concerning the Christian cross The Council of Alexandria, 197 Hermogenes, the Essenian rival of St. Paul. Astronomy the key to the Book of Revelation To understand the symbolism of Christianity read the stars, ...... 200 Jean Sylvain Bailly. What can be found at Ancient Tyre An important book, ........ 203 Cardinal Cesar Baronius, Librarian of the Vatican. The Hindoo god Chrishna, in reality the Christ of the Christians Sworn to eternal secrecy, ...... 205 Rufus Quintius Curtius. The Jewish legends borrowed from Persian mythologies The breast plate of Josephus, . . 207 M. Atilius Regulus. The Greek and Roman religions copies of the Egyptian religion of Osiris or the sun personified, . 210 Robert II, of France. The Great Infinite has marked out no set of religious rules for men to be governed by The effect of too much religious belief All pictures of Jesus Christ copies of those of Apollonius of Tyana, . . . . 212 Pythagoras, the Samian Sage. The god principal within us In ancient times all sages were mediums The effects of erroneous religious teaching of children almost ineradicable, 214 X CONTENTS. AMMONIUS SACCAS, the pupil of Potamon. The Book of Reve- PAGE lation written under spirit control by Apollonius Christian- ity known under the name of Gnosticism, . . . . 218 Galerius, a Roman Emperor. Why Diocletian issued his famous edict against the Christians, ...... 222 George Deyverdun. The Last Supper taken from the Eleusi- nian Mysteries Gibbons' book, " ^Eneas, The Lawgiver of the Eleusinian Mysteries," destroyed by the clergy, . . 225 Heinrich E. G. Paulus. The Gospel of St. Matthew A remarkable communication, ...... 226 Sigebert Havercamp. The writings of Damis in existence as late as the Eighteenth Century, ...... 230 Charles De Brosses. The worship of the Fetish gods Chris- tianity a mixture of all preceding religions, . . . 332 Christian Thomasius, Jurist and Philosopher. Luther knew that Jesus Christ was a myth but dared not acknowledge it The true cause of Materialism in Germany, . . . 235 Saturninus, the Essenian Philosopher. The founder of Gnos- ticism The story of Jesus of Nazareth, and the Christian Scriptures the mixed systems of Brahmanic, Buddhistic, Jewish, Essenian and Gnostic teachings Apollonius heals by the laying on of hands, ....... 237 Cardinal Robert Bellarmine. Compelled to testify by the disappointed hopes of millions who believed and trusted in Christianity Refers to the portrait of Apollonius All should know who the real Jesus was, ..... 242 HORMISDAS, a Roman Catholic Pontiff. Destruction of the Pauline Epistles Eusebius a scoundrel Jesus Christ wor- shiped in the form of a lamb Romanism is Paganism changed into Christianity, ....... 244 Appian, a Roman Historian. His writings destroyed by the Christians The Hindoo Chrishna changed into the Greek Christos, 246 John Fidknza, St. Bonaventura. The doctrines of Apollonius in the hands of the Maronite Priests on Mt. Lebanon, Syria, 250 Annius of Viterbo, a learned Dominican Friar Startling rev- elations The manuscripts saved from the Alexandrian library The key to the old Egyptian manuscripts found at the entrance of the ancient temple of Apollo at Rome, . 252 Mi/.RAIM, the Chaldaic king of Egypt. The worship of the Egyptians The signs of the Zodiac New facts in history Mizraim the name of a king and not the name of a country as claimed by historians, ....... 256 CONTENTS. XI Euxenus, a Pythagorean Philosopher. The teacher of Apollo- page nius Explains the seven Pythagorean principles as taught in his day, .......... 264 Jean Baptiste Colbert, Prime Minister of France. The in- scription on the marble throne at Adulis, referred to Apollo- lonius of Tyana The Armenians fire worshipers The ancient Egyptian virgin Isis identical with the Christian Virgin Mary, ......... 269 Godfrey Arnold, a German Mystic. The communication of Euthalius confirmed, 272 August Von Schlegel, a German Philologist. The Tamil language more ancient than the Sanscrit The Tamil idea of the Trinity, ......... 274 Bodhishormah, a Buddhist Priest. The books of the New Testament from St. John to Revelations parodied from the versions of Bodhisatoua The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke derived from ancient Gymnosophic religions, . 276 Servius Sulpicus Galba, a Roman Emperor. Who the Jesus of Nazareth was that created such confusion at Jerusalem, A. D. 34-35, 280 Junianus Justinus, a Latin Historian. More works mutilated by Christian writers Hesus Christos changed to Jesus Christ in the days of Eusebius, . . . . . . 285 Plotina Pompeia', wife of the Emperor Trajan. The famous letter of Pliny the Younger to Trajan What the light of truth reveals Ancient copies still in existence fraudulently interpolated in order to manufacture proof of the existence of the Christians at an early period The worship of Apol- lonius at Rome The historical proofs of the existence of Jesus disappear under the light of these communications, . 290 Facilidas. King of Abyssinia. Some interesting testimony in regard to evolution, ........ 294 Father Amiot, a French Jesuit. Christianity cannot stand before unbiased thought and reason All deistical ideas inconsistent with the laws of life and organization of matter, 295 Charles Francis Alter. Interesting philological discoveries The mystic symbols of the school of Ammonius Saccas, . 297 Herennius, a contemporary of Flotinus. The first writing or tablets of man's history were found in Ethiopia Christianity contains all the ceremonies of the ancient pagans combined with a god that never existed Plans for the formation of the highest and noblest system of religion ever known over- thrown by Constantine the Great, ..... 300 XII CONTENTS. AMELIUS, a disciple of riotinus. Why Eclecticism was checked PAGE in its infancy Pagan priests preferred to see their ceremo- nies continued through the Catholic church rather than have them become obsolete, ....... 302 Strabo, Historian and Geographer. " If the records of the past had been allowed to stand there would be no Christianity to-day" Confirmatory proof that the portrait of the Nazarene is a true representation of Apollonius, .... 306 Phraotes, King of Taxila. The visit of Apollonius to India Receives the sacred Testament of The Mountain of Light Circle from Iarchus Light upon the Book of Matthew Millions of spirits would rather cease to exist than that these revelations should come to mankind, . . . . . 311 John Frederick Gronovius, Critic of the Seventeenth Cen- tury. The works of Pliny, Livy and Sallust, very much changed in order to conceal the real origin of Christianity Confirmatory proof in regard to the forgery of Pliny's letter, 315 Abulpharagius, bishop of Guba. Christianity essentially the Sun Worship taught at Babylon by Zoroaster The Jesuits supporting the opposition to the truth as revealed from the spirit world, 317 Minucius Felix, a Montanist Patriarch. Where civilization originated Christianity an outgrowth of Buddhism Sun Worship and Egyptian Osirianism one and the same thing, . 319 Griesbach. Zodiacal interpretation of all religions The five ancient Testaments The incorrect translation of the Greek Testament, 321 Haico, the great Armenian King. The Jewish legend of the Tower of Babel disposed of in an effective manner The Old Testament belonged to the Armenian people and not to the Jews The secret chambers of the Pyramids of Ethiopia, . 324 Montanus, the Phrygian Ecstatic. The teachings of Montan- ism Their books the canons of Buddhism Materialization in ancient times, ........ 330 Akiba, a Jewish Rabbi. Chronological forgeries resorted to in order to make the Jewish religion appear ancient, . . ^^3 LUCIUS APPULEIUS, a Satirist. The difference between the teachings of Apollonius and Potamon The Greek and Egyptian divinities identical with older gods, . . . 338 Ardii.ua Babekra, miscalled in history King Asoka. Buddhism not an oft shoot of Brahmanism Primitive Buddhism merely amoral philosophy Why the council of Asoka was called Asoka the name of a place, not of a king The CONTENTS. XIII Pentecostal Shower took place at Asoka in India, and not at page Jerusalem as recorded in the New Testament, . . . 341 Rabba Joseph. The writings of Gamaliel tampered with by Christians, .......... 349 Moses Maimondes. The Augian Codex Absolute proof that Apollonius of Tyana was St. Paul , 355 Procopius, the Secretary of Belisarius. Eusebius changes the Hindoo Chrishna into the Jew Jesus Christ Julian the Apostate did not recant upon his death-bed, . . . 358 Eunomius, the great Arian leader. Whence came the name Jesus Christ Why the Council of Nice was convened The attempt of the Emperor Constantine to blend the prevailing heathen religions, ........ 364 Carneades. a Greek Philosopher. Christosism converted into Christianity in the Fourth Century The philosophy of Plato a combination of the doctrines concerning Christos and Prometheus, ......... 376 Sotion, the teacher of Seneca. Diana of the Ephesians sup- posed to be the virgin mother of the sun god Christos in the time of Sotion A fatal mistake, . . . . . 379 Septimus Geta, a Roman Emperor. Rivalry existing between the followers of Christos and the worshipers of Apollo, . 383 Jacor Joseph Von Gorres. The plagiaristic nature of the Scriptures No Hebrew literature until after the Babylonish captivity The ancient Jewish history taken from the wri- tings of Zoroaster, ........ 387 Frederich Gesenius. The Hebrew languages derived from the ancient Chaldean tongue Etymology of the name Moses The scribe Ezra revises the account of Daniel, . 390 St. Chrysosto.m, a Christian Father. All systems of religion amount to misunderstood spirit control The important document contained in the Ambrosian Library, . . . 394 Ananias, a Jewish High-priest. Apollonius and not Christ accused before Felix The only Christ preached in Judea was the Christos of Apollonius, ...... 400 Chari.es Martel, King of France. The worshipers of Jupiter, Hesus and Christos, ........ 409 Radbod, King of Friesland. Similarity between Christosism and Hesusism, ......... 410 Winifred or St. Boniface. Not a Catholic Christian but a priest of Christos The books rejected at the Council of Nice, 411 Lucius of Cyrene, the Secretary of Damis. The Apocalypse written by Apollonius, ....... 420 XIV CONTENTS. Severus, Patriarch of Antioch. The Monophysites The attempt PAGE to make Ilesus Christos a Jew, ...... 424 Agabus. The folly of religion as a means to spirit happiness Mediums used to propagate the Apollonian system of religion, 425 John Biodle, an English Theologian. The persecutions order- ed by the Christian churches responsible for the overthrow of theirpower Persecuted for denying the truth of the Trinity, 427 St. Francis De Sales, a Bishop of Geneva. A defiant spirit All proof in the hands of the Catholic church The priests have hidden their tracks well His challenge accepted, . 429 Silas or Silvanus, a Disciple of Apollonius of Tyana. Inter- esting facts concerning the systems of Apollonius and Chrestus New light on the Scriptures Marcion and Lucian appropriated the theological labors of Apollonius, . . 430 Frumentius, an Abyssinian Bishop. The Ethiopic version of Christosism The founders of Christianity claim the solar Christos of Frumentius to be identical with their Jesus Christ, 439 Chrestus, the rival of Apollonius. The subject of the disputed passage in Suetonius, not Jesus Christ but Chrestus The teachings of Chrestus, ....... 441 Aronamar. The difficulties attending spirit intercourse The Council of Nabopolassar The first Talmud No Targums of the books of Daniel, Ezran and Nehemiah Targums of those books would have shown their Chaldean origin, . 454 St. Declan, an ancient Sun Worshiper. St. Patrick a sun wor- shiper The round towers of Ireland The literature of the Druids destroyed, ........ 457 Leonardi Bruni, Papal Secretary. The forgeries in the secret archives of the Vatican Mutilations by Eusebius The destruction of documents by Popes Celestine and Gregory, . 461 St. Dominic De Guzman. The Catholicism of spirit life The persecution of the Albigenses, ...... 474 Louis the Pious, King of France. The mystic teachings of Dionysius the Areopagite jupiterean-Christosism, . . 475 Celestine III, a Romin Pontiff. Suppressed manuscripts What can be found in the library at Florence, . . . 485 M. CocCElus Nerva, Emperor of Rome. Fifteen other gods besides the Hindoo Saviour Christos worshiped at Rome History of them all based upon an immaculate conception, 487 Innocent III, Pope of Rome An unwilling witness The mu- tilation of the Alexandrian manuscript The missing leaves The psychology of spirits useJ to lead mortals astray, . 490 CONTEXTS. XV Albertus Magnus. Astrology furnishes the key to show who page the real Jesus was A pathetic statement, .... 498 Socrates Scholasticus, an Ecclesiastical Historian. The communion service taken from the Eleusinian mysteries Bacchus the god of wine, Ceres the god of corn Where proof of the truth of these communications can be found, . 5QO GABINUS, Roman Governor of Judea. History of the Jews a mixture of the traditions of the Chaldeans and Armenians Abraham a Chaldean, 53 AriANUS. The teachings of spirits in the Sixteenth Century A pupil of Paracelsus, ....... 55 Marcellinus. The doctrines of the Trinity State policy, not religious impulse caused Constantine to adopt Hesus Christos Relation of Gymnosophism and Eclecticism to Christianity, 507 Lactantius. The doctrine of the Trinity in existence in India 1600 years before the Christian era An important commu- nication showing the identity of Christianity and paganism, 513 Hermas, an Apostolic Father. His suffering in spirit life The Greek myth Prometheus the prototype of the Christian Jesus The honor of the founders of Christianity impeached, . 515 Iamblicus, a Syrian Philosopher. The Sun the central object of the Christian theology The concealed key, . . . 517 Belzoni. Symbols of the Christian religion found on the Tombs of Ancient Thebes, . . . . . . . . 518 Ammonius the Peripatetic, an Alexandrian Philosopher. Religious symbols History of Jesus a re-deification of older gods, . 520 Anastasius, Librarian of the Vatican. No evidence to show that Jesus Christ ever existed The pictures of Jesus taken from those of Apollonius The Christian religion the out- growth of the teachings of the Alexandrian schools, . . 522 Jonathan Ben Uzziel, one of the Writers of the Targums. Moses a creation of Jewish priests The legends and tra- ditions of the Jewish people extend no further than Ezra the Scribe Jewish and Chaldean history identical Every man and woman their own redeemer, . . . . 524 Saadias-Gaon. The Jews had no history as a people anterior to 450 B. C, 526 Arnoi.h, Abbot of Citeaux. The persecutor of the Albigenses Terrible remorse of a spirit, . . . . . . 527 John B\iN"r;RinGE, an English Astronomer. The significance of the astronomical and astrological signs, .... 529 XVI CONTENTS. Charles Hardwick, an English Theologian. Tndia not the page mother of civilization nor the originator of all religions, . 530 Mesrop or Mesror, an Armenian Theologian. The Testament of Apollonius of Tyana The Coptic or Egyptian version of the Scriptures Apollonius worshiped as a god, . . 533 Paulinus, Archbishop of York. I lis mutilation of the Scriptures In spirit life he finds Jesus Christ to be Apollonius of Tyana He copied after Eusebius, ..... 543 St. Germain The original gospels written in the Syriac- Hebraic tongue Copied into the Armenian tongue by Moses Chorensis The Maronite monks of Mount Lebanon have valuable manuscripts in their possession, . . . 545 Montacute. The Druid worship of the God Hesus prevailed as late as the Fourteenth Century, ..... 547 Francis Anthony Flemming, a Roman Catholic Priest. St. Patrick not a Christian but a Druid priest, . . . . 550 Jacob Capo, an Architect. The stones of pagan temples con- verted into Christian churches The statue of Hesus of the Celtic Druids mounted in a church at Florence The statues of Jesus and his twelve Apostles are pagan gods re-carved and modified to suit Christian requirements, . . . 552 J. S. Semler. Dying gods of virgins born, a mythical idea 15000 years old Corroborative evidence to be found in the encyclopaedias of the Chinese and Japanese nations, . . 553 Cardinal Sancta DeCaro. Interesting account of the original gospels When the first bible was printed all marginal notes on manuscript were dropped except those manufactured by the priests The Samaritan copy of Ignatius of Antioch, . 556 Pope Nicholas IV. The difficulty of communicating in the English tongue The opposition of spirits The twelve apos- tles of St. Peter's in Rome copied from the twelve gods transported from Olympus to Rome in the days of the Emperor Hadrian Terrible conflict in spirit life, . . 56* Zoroaster. Startling disclosures The Jewish Book of Daniel contains the actual earthly experiences of Zoroaster Zoroaster, not Daniel thrust into the lion's den His works appropriated by the Jews The Book of Revelation and the Book of Daniel open up the secrets of antiquity when properly interpreted and understood A description of the ancient religions Confounded in history with the elder Zoroaster The disputed question " Who was the Darius mentioned in the Book of Daniel," settled at last Correc- tions made in history, ..... 5^5 TRIBUTE TO J. M. ROBERTS, ESQ. Oh, faithful soldier of the .Light, Whose buckler is an honest soul ! The sword of Truth in lustre bright Gleams in thy hand. Btill onward roll The waves of battle. Yet the shafts of Hate Are vain ; before the radiant shield That guards thee still. Thy glorious fate Will be to conquer - not to yield One inch of ground to adverse force But, marching on to triumph high, O'er Error prostrate -left with no resource Whil'st thou can banded hosts defy, Knowing that Right shall yet succeed, And thou, oh soldier staunch and true, Shalt reap reward for every deed And word of faith. For such thy due. And in thy spirit home shall shine Thy record fair, inscribed by angel hands, Who to thee bring influx of light divine. January 14th, i88j. FORESTER GORDON. The above lines were inscribed to one whose lamp of mortal life went out while he battled for the truth. None were more valiant or fearless in its defense. He could suffer, but never yield to wrong, for his soul was cast in the mold from which martyrs are born. He fell on the field of battle, full armored and face to the foe, leaving others to grasp Truth's standard, close up the ranks and press on to victory. MEMOIR OF JONATHAN M. ROBERTS. ESQ. It is only natural that the readers of this volume should desire to know something of the life and characteristics of the individual whose intellectual labors contributed so much to its value. That earnestness and sincerity were marked elements of his character, no one could doubt who heard him speak or read the lines from his pen. To illustrate, we quote the follow- ing from one of his editorials: "Dear friends and patrons, it is true that we have not known what rest or recreation was, during the daily and nightly vigils which we have been forced to keep, but what of that? Who is there that is worthy to serve Truth who is not willing to forget self in the grander purpose of contributing to the common good of mankind?" His was a life full of usefulness, and his good deeds were many. When his great soul had outgrown its mortal surroundings and the measure of his earthly life was tilled, he passed on to other fields of labor in the spheres beyond, leaving this world better for his having lived in it. Jonathan M. Roberts, Esq., was born in Montgomery Co., Penna., December, 1821, and was a man of fine education as well as marked ability. He studied law and practiced it for some years, from which he retired previous to his taking up the editorial pen. Prior to the war, he was an active Abolitionist, andbeingaman of strong temperament and positive convictions, he became one of the leaders of that party. Subsequently he became an active Republican, and spoke effectively during several campaigns. About 1873 he was convinced of the truth of Spiritualism through receiving communications from his father, who, when in earth life, was prominent in National affiiirs, and a member of the U. S. Senate. In 1878 Mr. Rol>erts started Mind and Matter, a weekly journal, devoted to fhe interests of Spiritualism and as its able editor gained a well earned reputation as a journalist and writer. He was a great student in ancient religious history, and made extensive researches therein, prompted by the revelations received from many ancient and modern spirits. Thus amidst his untiring labors for the good of others, he passed to spirit life February 28, 1888, at his home in Burlington, N. J., in the07th year of his age. COMPILER'S PREFACE. IN submitting to the reader Antiquity Unveiled it is with a feeling of assurance that its contents will answer this all important and oft repeated question Is Christianity as known and taught in the western world, a divinely inspired religion, or an offspring of still more ancient religions? Every unprejudiced student knows, that notwithstanding the many claims made by Christian writers as to the origin of Christianity, it still remains simply a formidable religious system whose source is buried in the debris of remote antiquity. The revelations contained in Antiquity Unveiled are des- tined to unearth and solve all the great mysteries surrounding the origin of the Christian religion, for the unlearned and student alike. It appears from the testimony set forth in the following pages that fragments of teachings, forms and dogmas were gathered from various religious systems that were extant previous to the so-called Christian era and gradually moulded into what is known and taught as Christianity, the formu- lators of this system employing every means to disguise its pagan origin. This work contains a series of messages from occult sources bearing upon Oriental religious, and their relation to Christianity, with comments thereon by the late J. M. Roberts, Esq. The following is a brief account of the man- ner in which these messages were received. On March 26th, 1880, Mr. Roberts, then editor of Mind and Matter, received a communication through the medium from Potamon the founder of Eclecticism, which was the beginning of the series. This was followed by others upon the same subject until the entire series was finished in 1886. All were published in a weekly journal as received. They contain in a small space a vast amount of knowledge pertaining to the religious history of mankind which before this unfoldment, was unknown to the world. It is these revelations of such great import to every individual that we place before our readers. 4 PREFACE. The object of publishing these important and startling revelations is not only because they are of universal interest, but to preserve them to the world as well as meet the popular demand of progressive minds in every clime. The corroborative evidence embraced therein demonstrates con- clusively that Apollonius of Tyana was the Jesus of Naza- reth, the so-called Saviour of the Christian Scriptures. This great teacher now returns to earth, and inspires a medium through whom he explains the mysteries which have sur- rounded the origin of so-called Christianity. These facts being so highly important, it seem9 imperative that they should be widely disseminated ; therefore we have concluded to issue them in a volume entitled Antiquity Unveiled. The work would have been published by Mr. Roberts in book form, had he remained in earth life a few years longer and received the encouragement and support he was entitled to in view of the great work he was called upon to fulfill for the enlightenment of mankind. We can not hope to compile the work so completely and ably as Mr. Roberts would have done, he being fully prepared with all tbe details, as well as possessing marked ability and wonderful adaptation for such a task. The only thing which now seems possible in view of the demise of Mr. Roberts, is to insert the the communications in the order they were re- ceived as far as practical,* and as much of his comments as the size of the volume will admit. These will rest upon their merits as bearing upon the religious history of the world. The work will at least be suggestive of thought, and cause many minds to look below the surface of the present religious teachings. A considerable number of publications have been brought to the attention of the reading world heretofore by able authors and scholars upon the subject of ancient religions. These works, however, have been based upon what history of past ages has not been destroyed and is now accessible, and such researches as could be made at a time so remote from the age in which these religions had their origin. Other works have been published within the last twelve * Many of these spirit witnesses could not deliver their testimony in the order arranged by the spirit yuides of the medium, for the reason that conditions were unfavorable. PREFACE. g years, whose authors have had the opportunity to draw facts and data from these communications and comments, which have been in print since 1880, and therefore accessible as sources of information upon the subject since that date. While it is gratifying to know that other writers have seen their value and importance, it is only just to the authors of these spirit messages, as well as to Mr. Roberts, in view of his exhaustive labors in this field of research, that we accord them due credit by placing on record the time when they were first received and published. This work differs from all others preceding it from the fact that it is dependent upon history only so far as to identify the individuals giving the communications, and to bring to notice collateral facts bearing upon their testimony.* Instead of the conflicting statements of history, we have the cor- roborative testimony from spirit life of those who were con- spicuous in the ancient history of our world. Some of these distinguished individuals were the leading lights in the propagation of the ancient religions from which the teach- ings of Christianity were borrowed. Others of their number lived at and subsequent to the date of the Christian era, and testify definitely as to the part they acted in the origination and promotion of Christianity, as formulated from ancient religions. Many of these witnesses now return and contradict tbe assertions of Christian writers, viz : that they taught and up- held Christianity while on earth. Others testify that they have learned in spirit life the fallacy of the teachings of Christianity. Still others testify, as they did in earth life, that they knew the teachings of Christianity were not in accord with truth, but were composed of fragments gathered from the decayed religions of the past, and moulded by skillful minds into the shape best suited for their purpose ; after which all traces of their ancient origin were destroyed as far as possible, that they might appear as a direct inspiration from God. Hence we cannot expect to find the root of the Christian religion at the comparatively recent date o'f eighteen hundred years ago, but back through the dim vista of the Oriental ages. Many of these spirit witnesses it appears, fearing for their lives, withheld the truth while on *It is clearly proven in these pages that history has been so mutilated by eliminations, forgery and interpolation in the interests of Christianity, as to render it unreliable and misleading in the extreme. 6 PREFACE. earth, but return and divulge it now. A few of them, only, were unwilling witnesses, who finally yielded to the force of truth and rendered their testimony. We know of none more competent to testify upon these vital questions than those who were the religious teachers at the periods before mentioned. Some of our readers may discredit the source of these commu- nications, but this does not dispose of the subject-matter. The testimony remains, backed up not only by the truth which underlies it, but by the collateral facts of history. Therefore whatever the source, this mass of evidence must be met, if at all, on the basis of that logic and reason to which the subject is entitled. Others without due consideration, or the ability to comprehend the great and interesting questions involved, may consider the work a fiction. If so regarded, it must be admitted that it is a fiction of such ponderous proportions as to be unequalled in the field of romance. On the other hand, if it bears the scrutiny of the reasonable mind and proves to be gen- erally true it must then be conceded that the pages of this volume chronicle the most wonderful and startling revelations given to the world in any century of its history. Though Mr. Roberts was a well-read man of great intelligence, he had heard of but very few of the authors of thes3 spirit com- munications until they introduced themselves to him through the medium. He was, therefore, greatly surprised at receiving such startling historical disclosures, and found it necessary to continually refer to encyclopaedias, biographical dictionaries, etc., in order to establish their identity, and obtain as much evidence as possible of the correctness of their statements. This required the labor and research of years. Many of the his- torical sketches of these spirits had to be translated from other languages into English, and in cases where there were no historical records extant, their statements had to be tested by the light of collateral evidence. In these revelations are pointed out many instances where historical records have been so mutilated by Christian writers and others in the interests of Christianity that they are entirely unreliable as true historical records. Reference is given in connection with each com- munication where historical evidence may be found, that the critical reader may search for himself. From the fact that translation was necessary in so many instances, the idea is pre- cluded, which some might entertain, that the medium could PREFACE. 7 have originated these communications. Even if he had been a great scholar and equal to the task of translation, there remains to be accounted for the many corrections made, the missing links furnished, as well as the masterly manner in which some of these ancient scholars expose the mutilations of history and settle questions that have caused much controversy among historical writers. No scholar living on earth at the present day, however learned, unaided by spirit intelligence, could thus have laid bare the facts in this connection, and certainly not one who, as an individual, was a marked illustration of how the ignorant and unlettered are chosen by the "powers that be" to confound the wise. The spirit messages are given verbatim as received, but the biographical references are inserted in a few instances only, as it would make the volume too large. For a similar reason the comments of Mr. Roberts are only partially included. Enough of the latter, however, are given, to show the reader how deeply he entered into this vast subject, and also give him some idea of the labor required to consummate this work. At many of these sittings other individuals, in company with Mr. Roberts, were present, hence there is no lack of evidence that the communications were received through the medium and carefully recorded. During the time these interviews were in progress, many questions were put to the spirits which were suggested by their statements. These were answered with a promptness and facility which proved their ability to elucidate any point bearing upon the subject under consideration. If the medium had been simply a pretender, instead of a passive instrument under spirit control, these questions would have remained unanswered. Some readers of this work, not knowing the essential facts connected with its history, and moved by their prejudices, born of a false education, may attempt to make it appear that the contents were produced through collusion between Mr. Roberts and the medium regardless of their misleading effects. No greater mistake could be made. From the evidence herein set forth, it appears that too much collusion has already been practiced by the Church authorities in the past for the good of mankind, the evil of which seems now in a fair way to be cor- rected by witnesses from whose testimony there can be no appeal. In regard to Mr. Roberts, no shadow of suspicion could reflect upon him as to collusion in this matter, for he was 8 PREFACE. known to be a man of the highest integrity, whose record would bear examination even by his opponents. His ability scholarly attainments, intelligence and earnestness, evinced in his exhaustive labors upon this subject to discover the truth, are apparent throughout the entire work. Those who are unfamiliar with this mode of spirit intercourse, will scarcely comprehend the difficulties to be surmounted before these spirits were able to accomplish their self-imposed task. It seems marvelous to those who understand the laws governing these manifestations, that these spirits should be able to return and deliver so coherently this vast array of evidence, while controlling a physical organism so unlike their own ethereal organism. The consistency with which these individuals who lived on earth, not only in the remote ages of antiquity, but down through the centuries, present their testimony, every vital part in coherence with the other, is among the most remarkable events in the history of our world. In this instance the difficulties were largely aug- mented by the presence of a great opposing force from the spirit side, composed of those who from the very inception of the Christian religion have been engaged in promulgating its teachings, borrowed from heathen mythology and galvanized with the name aud sentimentalism of Christianity. These spirit enemies of truth evidently knew that the result of these revelations reaching the world meant annihilation of the power they had gained, therefore every obstacle they could control was placed in the way to prevent their transmission.* These witnesses were mostly the learned men of their time, embracing rulers, prophets and historians. They step to the front in the Nineteenth Century to reflect light on history's pages, by pointing out the criminal errors caused by interpolation and elimination, thus showing how the records of the past have been mutilated and the truth misrepresented *This condition of affairs, in relation to opposing spirits in the interests of Christianity, may seem very strange to those who have not had experience in that direction, but the truth of it has been demonstrated to an extent which renders doubt impossible It must be self-evident to our readers that the millions of defenders of Christianity, who have passed to spirit life, would not permit an attempt to be made to elucidate the falsity of their religious teachings without making a most strenuous effort to prevent it. We refer more especially to the leaders in the cause of Christianity, whose power over the people it affects. PREFACE. 9 for selfish ends. In doing this they have fearlessly laid bare the parts where personal ambition has prompted changes for- eign to the truth and misleading to mankind. The light they bring includes not only what they acquired on earth, but also the clearer knowledge gained in spirit life. Now, in view of the many opposing factions in the religious world, each claiming to be right, many minds have doubtless questioned why this testimony as to the truth concerning the great religious questions which so agitate the human mind has been deferred so long? Why, if the lines of communication were open between the two worlds, the philosophers, teachers and learned men of old, who are in touch with these matters of such vast importance have not returned ere this to dissi- pate the fearful delusions which envelop humanity? To close readers of the history of man's spiritual unfoldment, it must be evident that these revelations were brought to the attention of the world as soon as the state of man's growth enabled him to comprehend and embrace them. That the great and good in the spirit realms have been struggling for centuries through adverse conditions to consummate this great task, no unprejudiced reader can doubt. That they have failed many times in the past is equally true, consequently all efforts in that direction had to be abandoned from time to time until man had progressed to a condition which rendered success possible. Destiny, it appears, awarded that period to the latter part of the Nineteenth Century. We need not apologize to our readers for the length of the preface. On a subject of such vast importance, with so many points to be considered, even the space we have taken does not afford scoDe to embrace them all. PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. WHEN public attention was first called to Antiquity Unveiled, we were uncertain whether the people had reached a point in human progress where they could accept its revelations. Bitter opposition was expected from those who were in sympathy with the Christian religion, as well as from many others who had not the courage to probe deeply for truth on heathen or Christian ground. But we were not prepared for such an eager demand for the book from people of all classes. Even from far ofF India, a call was received for a large number of copies, a sequel to the interest manifested by Eastern scholars who attended the Parliament of Religions. On every hand was manifested a desire for more light upon the religious questions which cause so much agitation in the church as well as beyond its pale. The light that dissipated the darkness surrounding the real origin and pro- mulgation of the world's leading religions, was found radiating from the pages of Antiquity Unveiled, where was also found the solution of the many vexed questions that have baffled the scholar as well as the unlearned, for many centuries. Recently new and important information bearing upon the remarkable claims of this work, has come to hand from the land of the Orient, which should not be overlooked, and to which we shall refer later. The World's Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893, was the opportunity of tl*e Nineteenth Century for the study of comparative religions. This important event was in PREFACE. 11 the line of evolution and has done much to establish the truth as to the origin, promulgation and ethical status of the religions of the world. It made it possible for scholars from all quarters of the globe to participate in this unprecedented religious assembly and throw light upon the various religions, and especially upon the Christian religion as viewed from their standpoint. The testimony of some of these scholars has done much to support the claims of Antiquity Unveiled. The real purpose of this great religious gathering was to convince the world of the originality and superiority of the Christian religion, but it resulted in bringing to the Western world through the scholars from the East, the knowledge that Christianity is simply the offspring of religions more ancient than itself. HOW SCHOLARS SUSTAIN THE CLAIMS OF "ANTIQUITY UNVEILED." The following is a quotation from a paper read at the Parlia- ment of Religions, by Prof. Goodspeed, entitled, What THE DEAD RELIGIONS HAVE BEQUEATHED TO THE LIVING: " Formerly it was customary to find little that was original in any religion. All was borrowed. The tendency to-day is reactionary, and the originality of great systems is greatly exaggerated. * * * Many a shrine of Christianity is a transformation of a local altar of heathendom. There is no more important and no more intricate work lying in the sphere of comparative religions than an analysis of existing faiths with a view to the recovery of the bequests of preceding systems. While much has been done the errors and extravagances of scholars in many instances should teach caution. We must pass over a large portion of this great field. Attention should be called to the wide range of materials in the realm of Christianity alone. To her treasury, bequests of usage and ritual have come from all the dead past. From Teutonic and Celtic faiths, from the Cultus of Rome, and the worship and the thought of Greece, contributions can still be pointed out in the complex structure." Rabbi Schindler, of Boston, the eminent Biblical scholar in writing of Antiquity Unveiled, says: "I have read the book with a great deal of pleasure, but it would be impossible for me to express my thoughts concerning it in a few lines. There is so much to be said about it, that it would take many pages to express it, and to do this I have not 12 PREFACE. the time. However, permit me to touch upon a few points. The purpose for which the book seems to have been written, has long ceased to be a pressing want, because all who even super- ficially have read history, know that the Christian religion has developed from Jewish and Pagan sources, and that the supposed author of it was a myth. It is well known that there is no contemporary evidence in regard to him, that if he has lived he was not known at all, and has not been a great ideal of a man which Unitarians wish to make of him. That people do not speak out what they think, and do not conform at once with their better knowledge is due to their unwilling- ness to pose as martyrs. They let things go as they please and keep their opinions to themselves." The foregoing is an extract from a brief review of the work by this very able writer. Hesry Frank, a leading liberal writer and scholar, August 26, 1893, writes: "Antiquity Unveiled is one of the most interesting books it ever fell to my lot to enjoy. I therefore, take the first opportunity to express the effect which the remarkable book is having on me, as I suppose you would like to know. In the first place let me say that the treatise itself is the most absorbing of anything on the subject, I have yet come across, not even excepting the writings of Max Muller. Mr. Roberts has certainly given us in a comparatively small space, a most surprising quantity of information, and I would at once recommend it as a handy compendium on the general subject of the origin of all religions. Thus far, I refer only to the actual historical citations with which this work abounds." Q. W. Brown, M. D. Author of "Researches in Oriental History," writes : " Having travelled over the entire historical ground with diligent care, I find the positions taken in your book mainly true." When the attention of Laksiimi Narain, of Lahore, India, who took part in the Parliament of Religions, was called to Antiquity Unveiled he said that the scholars of India knew that the teachings contained in the gospels originally came from India, but was surprised that the fact was known and published in this country. He was deeply interested in the work, taking a copy to India with him. He said he would bring it before the religious societies that he represented in his native land, and he believed its influence and the information contained therein, would do much to break the PREFACE. 13 effect of the teachings of Christian missionaries, who were misleading the uneducated classes. Virchand A. Gandhi, of Bombay, India, one of the chief exponents of the Jain religion at the Parliament of Religions. in speaking of India, his native land, said, " I, like my friend, Mr. Mozoomdar and others, come to you from India, the MOTHER OF RELIGIONS. " Mohammed Alexander Webb in speaking of the effects of the Christian religion in India, said : "Christianity makes no progress in India among the intelligent classes because the intelligent Hindoo is conversant with the principles of all religions, while the Christian only knows his own imperfectly, consequently none of the people listen to the Christian mis- sionaries, but the ignorant classes." Maharajah of Kapurthala, the head of the Sikh branch of Hindoo religion, while on his late visit to this country, in a reported interview as to Christianity, said : "No high class Hindoo will accept Christianity since there is nothing to commend it to him for acceptance. If he is an educated man, he knows how pure a system of ethics is contained in his own religion and is satisfied with that. If antiquity is to be reverenced, then his own philosophy is far superior to that offered by Christian missionaries. He can compare weigh judge examine test and finally he is forced to conclude that divested of its external covering the Christian religion owes its origin to the great philosophies of his native land." Willard J. Hull, of Buffalo, N. Y., in writing of Antiq- uity Unveiled, says : " Probably no book ever compiled con- taining an array of testimony calculated to prove a given charge, has been so astounding in its affirmations or produced a more profound consideration than the work before me. It is indeed, a momentous undertaking to charge and prove the spurious origin of a religious system claiming prescience and exclusi veness. Yet this is the burden of Antiquity Unveiled. Scholars in all the past ages who have been disinterested and unprejudiced in their researches in the occult mysteries of the effete systems of the East, have maintained that the claims of Christianity, so far as they relate to originality, either in moral precept, doctrinary points, or the so-called miraculous concep- tion of a god, are wholly without warrant, drawn from these older systems, and were incorporated into Christianity for the 14 PREFACE. purposes of power and emolument in the hands of a despotic priesthood." "Antiquity Unveiled is a compilation of communications from ancient spirits with explanatory remarks and suggestions by the late Jonathan M. Roberts. These communications were given through the organism of an entranced medium. They all testify 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. Apollonius is a historical character : a man of rare endowments, nobility of mind and singleness iff purpose. He and others assert that the teachings he/pre- scribed were given to him in great part by the spirits of theolder masters, and that what is known as Christianity is a mixture of Brahmanic, Buddhistic, Jewish, Essenian and Gnostic teachings. The affirmations made in the book at once place the upholders of Christianity on the defensive and they must meet them or their claims fall to the ground. The internal evidence of the different testimonies carries with it the fact of genuineness. The various identities are complete, showing the absurdity of attributing the work to a single mind. That such an idea should be entertained and used for the purpose of destroying the force of the book would be much more diffi- cult to maintain than the assumption that the communications are genuine and emanated from the personages they purport to come from. In Antiquity Unveii,ed the world has the uncontrovertible testimony that Christianity is of spurious origin and the most consummate piece of plagiarism in human history is laid bare to the eyes of men. The book now enters upon its second edition. It has created a stir in studious minds, as was prophesied when it first appeared, and it is well, too, that one whose life was devoted to the promulgation of the Spiritual philosophy with a persistence few men ever manifested, should have reared his monument in a work of this character. Mr. Roberts was a painstaking, cautious man, and well equipped by nature and training to cope with the great undertaking he espoused. I believe that the greatest uses of An i iqi'ITY Unveiled are as yet in the inchoative state. As men become broadened in thought, the truths of the book will become more acceptable and lasting." the reception accorded to "Antiqujty Unveiled" by the Press. The Banner of Light, Boston, Mass. 11 The historical data given are in themselves a marvel." The Truth Seeker, New York. "The book is bristling with points, deals with a wide range of subjects, and quotes extensively from well known authors. It shows where the early Christians found the myths and rites which they adopted and relabeled, and which the Western world now knows as Christianity." Trotn the Kansas City Journal, April 24th, i8gj. " This is one of the most remarkable books that lias ever found its way to our literary table, and can hardly be described without a repetition of its own history. ."The contents are remarkable to the last degree, and any one reading them and comparing the messages with the com- ments can see that no one intellect could have been the author of all. All through the comments can be seen and felt the intellectual methods and idioms of the one mind that did the the work, but of the one hundred and sixty papers from other assumed authors, no two of them are alike in any respect, a fact that will puzzle critics more than anything else about the book. "There can only be one of two positions, which we shall not pretend to decide upon in any way either that the whole book is an ingenuous and exceedingly learned and able inven- tion, or has a basis for its contents and argument. Its claims at once raise the question that is now so rife over all the world, of the credibility of occult methods and testimony. No scholar can read this book without intense interest, for its contents contain within themselves intrinsically so much that is plausible, and so thoroughly scholarly and circumstantial in statement that the frank minded are perplexed as to which category to assign it. It is the strangest book in claims, in contents, and in the fascinating interest of its story that can be found in occult literature. From the Alcyone, Springfield, Mass. " Antiquity Unveiled. The conclusion arrived at in this book is that the Jesus of the Christians is a mythical character, chiefly based upon the life and deeds of Apollonius of Tyana. The statement, if true, is overwhelming. There is a fascinating interest in reading the multiplied testimony of Apollonius, Damis, Plotinus, Potamon, Josephus and others. In the work will be found much to show that Christianity, like all other religious systems, sprang from some other religions existing before it. Christianity is not a sudden burst of revelation upon the world. It is an evolution and grew out of other decaying religious systems." From the Boston Investigator. " A very remarkable book has just been issued by the Oriental Publishing Co., Philadelphia, entitled Antiquity Unveiled. The testimony presented is enormous and of the most startling nature. It appears from this book that for centuries, com- mencing with the Christian era, there was established a regular system for the destruction of all the literature that did not conform to certain standards of thought, and that which was not destroyed was hidden and remained hidden until recent years. From unexpected sources a mass of information has been obtained in regard to Apollonius of Tyana that places that ancient in the very foremost ranks of the world's teachers. The real facts in relation to the origin of the Essenes and other societies are given, as are also the motives for the destruction by fireof the Alexandrian and other great libraries. Antiquity Unveiled gives proof that many men whose memories have been cherished with veneration for centuries were nothing less than forgers and cheats, whose highest ambition was to destroy historical evidence, and found new systems of thought upon lies, plagiarisms and interpolations. That mankind has been cheated out of much that was real and valuable in ancient literature by unscrupulous zealots, all intelligent men have known, but it will be a complete surprise to many to learn the enormous extent of the vandalism and to learn the names of the vandals. Had Antiquity Unveiled been published a century or two ago, it would have been burned and its author also. But in this age it will survive and open the eyes of many and cause them to shun evil and deception and aim to be noble and above all truthful." [Jury.] From the Aloslem World, New York City. " In some respects Antiquity Unveiled is one of the most remarkable works of the present century. Whatever may have been the the real inspiration of the work, the evidence it presents is directly in the line of Mr. Lillie's greatest work, the author of which certainly cannot bo charged with a belief in or sympathy with the theories of Modern Spiritualism. It is also strictly in harmony with the conclusions of many learned, thoughtful men, who have given Church Christianity thorough and unprejudiced study in the litfht of the latest historical discoveries and translation of the philosophical books of the East. In short, the convictions reached by Mr. Lillie, Baron Harden Hickey and others, through what are considered the legitimate channels of scientific research, are fully corroborated by the author of Antiquity Unveiled, who can hardly be accused of borrowing his ideas from the authors referred to. This is a singular fact in itself, and while it cannot be taken as conclusive evidence of the correctness of the Spiritualistic theories, it gives the work a claim to careful consideration which it might not otherwise possess." RPOUUOfilHS. Apollonius of Tyana, the Jesus of Nazareth, St. Paul and John the Revelator, of the Christian Scriptures, Returns to Earth as a Spirit, and Explains the Myste- ries that have Concealed the Theological Deception of the Christian Hierarchy. Before entering upon this all absorbing subject, it is simply proper by way of explanation to inform the reader that previous to the date given below, Mr. Roberts had been having regular weekly sittings with the medium through whom these com- munications were received, but in reference to the sitting on May 25th, 1881, Mr. Roberts records in his notes the following : " Having been informed who would next manifest through the medium, the time having arrived, I felt a thrill of astonishment and delight of the greatest intensity, and the very air of the humble apartment in which we sat seemed filled with a mighty spiritual power, as the name of Apollonius of Tyana was announced, and we were greeted for the first time by the great Cappadocian sage and philosopher, as well as the greatest teacher and benefactor that ever drew to himself the love, admiration and reverence of the civilized world, Apollonius, the Spirit Anointed Christ of the Orient.'' His communica- tion was as follows : " Let our salutation be, the survival of truth and its conquest of Superstition. I was born, according to the Christian calen- dar, on the 16th day of February, A. D. 2, of wealthy parents ; was educated, until my 26th year, in general philosophy and literature, when I served for six years under Euxenes, of Heracleia, learning the Pythagorian philosophy. After ac- quiring all T could learn from the teachings of that philosopher, I went to Antioch, and from there to Jerusalem. On account 1H ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. of some wonderful physical manifestations of spirit power taking place through my then young mediumship, which persons living in Jerusalem had hoard of, my entrance to that city was hailed, as it has been alleged the entrance of Jesus of Nazareth was hailed, with hosannas and songs of praise to one who came in the name of the Lord. And now, mark particu- larly what I say ; this took plaee when I was thirty-three years of age. I want you to pay the closest attention to what I shall here set forth. You will, by examining Josephus's work, ' War of the Jews,' see, that concerning the siege of Jerusalem a certain prophecy was given, or words were spoken, as is alleged, by Jesus of Nazareth, which were fulfilled. You will find what I refer to, in Matthew, 23d chapter and 35th verse, where the so-called Jesus is made to have asserted that that generation were guilty of all the blood that had been shed from Abel to Zacharias, the son of Baroch, slain between the temple and the altar exactly thirty-four years after the alleged death of Jesus. And you will find this prophecy then fulfilled, while Jesus is made to have said that it was fulfilled in his time ; and here you have an example of the unauthenticity of the Christian Gospels. All this I learned at the very time at which Flavius Josephus wrote the history of the ' War of the Jews,' for I was employed and used by the Emperor Vespasian as his oracle, when in the same state as this medium is, who now sits before you. " Never, during my mortal life, did I desire to be worshipped after death never did I, as a mortal man, teach such a doc- trine. But I was deified after my death. Nine epistles were made a present to me by Phraotes ot Taxila, India, or rather between Babylon and India, who was a satrap, in those days. Those epistles contained all that is embraced in the present epistles claimed to have been written by St. Paul. And from what I have learned, as a spirit, I conclude that I am both the Jesus and St. Pawl of the Christian scriptures. Flattering enough to my vanity, but the ruin of my happiness. It is my duty, here, to confess all I can bring to recollection, in order that spiritual darkness may disperse and the light of truth shine in. "There is one thing that I desire particularly to speak of, and that is the ultimate of spirit power on earth. All Material- ists claim that it is impossible to restore that which is dead to life. Upon this point, upon my own knowledge, I assert that if you have developed your mortal body to ih:it extent, not into what is called moral purity, but into a holy, trusting love, with a heart that heats for humanity, if such a person can come in contact with a fresh, young body from which the spirit has been APOLLONIUS. 19 driven out before it could accomplish its mission, take that body by the hand, and with mighty will arrest that spirit, he can force it back to the body it once inhabited and make it fulfill its mission. Three things are necessary to do this first, a perfectly healthy organism. That does not imply a strong, powerful one it means an organism in which the spirit is greater than the body the excess of spirit producing this result." [Here the controlling spirit caused the form of the medium to rise, and extending his arms at full length to the right and left said :] " The spirit addressing you is not confined to the limits of the form you see before you. It not only fills the physical organism you see, but extends far around it as well. In the time when I lived in the mortal form the old was dying out and the new being born. By this I mean that super- stition, gods and all such ideas were on the wane, and man was seeking, as he is to-day, for something more practical and beneficial. " It was not through any qualities that I possessed different from, or superior to, those of any other man, that I accom- plished what I did, but through the spiritual power within and with me. This fact I want to have especially marked. The highest sensitive mortals living in any age or generation, and who are living the nearest in accord with nature's divine law of truth, will bring forth a child who may be the so-called Saviour of that generation. Those men and women who utter the highest and most beneficial truths to their fellow-mortals are the Saviours of their time. " Further, I have this to say, I retired voluntarily, for I was neither ostracised nor banished for anything I had done, said or written, to the same island to which, as is alleged, the St. John of Revelations went, in the years 69 and 70 A. D. I there wrote what occurred through me in a trance state, not knowing what I wrote, an almost identical story with that attributed to the so-called St. John the Revelator. That story was nothing more than an attempt of the spirit world to give the truth of the spirit life, through a mortal organism, in a day and generation that was not ripe to receive it. That is, the medium chosen for the expression of the teachings of spirits was too much imbued with the mysticism of Judea and neighboring countries to be well suited for that purpose. "What is known to you moderns as the anti-Nicene Library, contained documents, some of which are still extant, that fully warrant you in challenging the translators of to-day as to the correctness of their production. Let them examine, if they dare, the manuscripts referred to and they will find what is now being published erroneous in many particulars. They 20 ANTIQUITY UNVEIL.ED. have followed too much what their ancestors translated, without havirg translated for themselves. "Now and here, I declare that the Christian Gospels were all preached hy me preached at Jerusalem preached at Ephesus preached at Athens preached at Philippi preached at Koine preached at Antioch preached at Alexandria preached at Babylon. In all those countries I preached, and by manipulations, and certain qualities developed in me, I healed the sick, restored the sight of the blind, and, in the way herein set forth, even raised the dead. I will try to make this raising of the dead plainer. If a child, a youth, or a maiden, whose body is fresh, full of vigor and perfection, and whose spirit has become detached from it, in that case I hold that one whose power is great and whose will is indomitable, while that body is yet warm, can cause the spirit to return and continue to inhabit that organism. In this way I know the dead can l>e restored to life. When I lived on earth all the philosophers who taught men to expect redemption, according to more ancient authorities, taught that such redemption was to happen at that time. From what I have been able to learn as a spirit, I was the person who was designed by spirits to fulfil that mission. I claim no pre-eminence over any one. I only say that my mortal body contained more spirit than the average of men, or even the most highly developed among them, at the time I existed in mortal flesh. "My history, as it has come down to you moderns, written by one Damis, and by others afterwards, in regard to the main incidents of my life, is correct, but in regard to the glamour, romance and mystery of the narrative, it has no relation to me whatever. The latter was the work of my disciples and follow- ers after my death, and was promulgated by them. " One thing more and I am through with my communication. It is this. Almost every picture that in modern times, is recognized as the likeness of Jesus, is the identical portrait of Apollonius of Tyana, painted in the reign of Vespasian. That emperor consulted me. I was the oracle in his camp. I was the means of saving the life of Flavius Joseph us." [We here asked him how it came that Josephus had made no mention of that fact in his "Jewish War V" He replied.] "The Jewish hierarchy of that day had a horror and dislike of even their lust friends who were not of their faith, and Josephus being a Pharisee of the straightest sect was even more than usually prejudiced against a Gentile like myself. Hy this I do not mean that the Pharisees were had people, but that they were so devoted to their religion as to be bitterly bigoted and preju- diced against those who differed from them. APOLLONIUS. 21 " It is my opinion, from all I can learn as a spirit, that all the Christian Gospels are borrowed from, and in fact that their origin was, the books that I brought from India, obtained in part from Phraotes, who was King of Taxila. I think those books were used by the Platonists, Eclectics and Gnostics of Alexandria, about one hundred and fifty years after. I died in the year A. D. 99, at Ephesus, and was 97 or 98 years of age, although some have enlarged the period of my earthly life to 150 years. The originals of the four gospels I obtained through one Hiram Ermandi, of Taxila, who took me forward into Farther India. They were written in characters not unlike those used by the Chinese, on thin, tough paper. They treated of the four stages of the life of Buddha. The first to his incar- nation and birth, the second to his childhood and youth, the third to his mature life, and the fourth to his old age and death. These books I obtained at Singapore, at the extreme point of India, on the strait between India and Sumatra." [We here mentioned to him the fact that one week before we had received a communication from a spirit purporting to be Ulphilas, the Christian bishop of the Goths, who said he had translated from Samaritan manuscripts the epistles and gospels to which he, Apollonius, had referred into the Gothic tongue ; and that the manuscripts that he translated were the writings of himself, after the originals he obtained at Singapore, India. To which he replied.] " One Hegesippus made copies from my translations and modified versions of the originals in the Samaritan tongue and Ulphilas copied from the manuscripts of Hegesippus. I wrote in the Hebraic-Samaritan tongue, which was the language of my country." Here the control of the medium became wholly exhausted. Bidding us a hasty and most benign adieu, he left the medium more exhausted than we had ever seen him at any previous sitting. No other control of the medium was possible, and thus ended a spirit interview, which is destined to mark an era in human progress never transcended, if ever equalled, in importance and interest to all classes of the human race. We publish such facts, as are conceded by ample authority, to be historically established concerning Apollonius. There is much that it would be desirable to add as the result of our own researches, but we will confine ourself mainly to the current history of his life and labors. As the best condensed sketch of the life of Apollonius that we have been able to find, we have chosen that of the " Penny Cyclopaedia," London, 1834 : We feel that we may safely assume as true and proven, the 22 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. following historical statements concerning Apollonius. He was l>orn of wealthy parents at Tyana in Cappadocia, at the very period when it is alleged the Christian's Jesus was horn at Bethlehem. At the age of twelve years he was sent to Tarsus in Cilicia, the alleged birthplace and home of St. Paul. Not liking the frivolous habits of the people of that city, with bis father's consent, he retired to iEga>, a town a short distance from Tarsus, where he remained until after attaining to man's estate. There he studied every system of philosophy, and perfected himself in rhetoric and general literature. There he took up his residence in the temple of iEsculapius, so famed for its miraculous cures, was initiated by the priests of that temple in their mysteries, and performed cures that astonished not oidy the people, but even those masters of the art of healing. He there finally decided to adopt the philosophy of Pytbagoms, and vigorously observed the trying discipline instituted by the 8amian sage. He performed the terrible task of five years silence, which he endured cheerfully and without a murmur of complaint. He abstained from animal food, wine and women lived upon fruits and herbs dressed only in linen garments of the plainest construction went barefooted and with uncov- ered 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 uninformed professors of the Christian religion. 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 centre of learning, but little less noted than At bens or Alexandria. There he began his great mission by teaching philosophy to a number <>f disciples and to the people. He entered the temple of Apollo Daphne, at Antioch, and learned the mysteries of its priesthood. Philostratus describes the style of speaking adopted by Apollonius, thus : "Apollonius used a style of speaking not elevated, nor swollen in the language of poetry, nor yet one too refined, nor too Attic ; for whatever exceeded the Attic mediocrity was considered by him dissonant and unpleasant. He made use of no fastidious nicety in the division of his discourses, nor any tine spun APOLLONIUS. 23 sentences; nor was he known to adopt an ironical manner, nor any kind of apostrophising with his hearers. He spoke as it were from a tripod, to wit : ' I know,' and ' It seems to me,' and ' To what purpose is this? ' and, 'You must know. His sentences were short and adamantine his words authoritative and adapted to the sense, and the bare utterance of them con- veyed a sound as if they were sanctioned by the sceptre of royalty. Being asked once by a subtle disputant why he did not propose what side of a question he should take in argument? he replied : ' When I was a young man, I used to follow that practice, but that is no longer necessary as it is now become my duty not.to investigate, but to teach the result of my investiga- tions.' When he was asked, by the same logician, how a wise man should speak, he said as a legislator, for it was the part of a legislator to command the multitude to do, what he himself was convinced ought to be done. In this way he conducted himself at Antioch, and converted many who were stranger's to his knowledge." Now, when it is remembered that this description of the style in which Apollouius spoke, was written by Damis, the friend, pupil and companion of the Cappadocian sage, long before Jesus Christ or the Christian scriptures were heard or thought of; is it not remarkably evident that the original author of those scriptures was Apollonius himself. If identity of style and sentiment is possible, then was the learned Apollonius 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 nor even imperfectly conceal. Quoting Cud worth, Dr. Lardner, in " The Credibility of the Gospel History," says : " Cudworth, in his "Intellectual System," says: * It is a thing highly probable, if not unquestionable, that Apollonius Tyanaeus, 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 some tilings extraordinary, merely out of design to derogate from the miracles of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and to enable paga- nism the better to bear up against the attacks of Christianity.' So Cudworth, and I suppose that many learned men of late times, may have expressed themselves in a like manner ; but I cannot assent to them." He further cites Huet, as follows : "He [Phiiostratus] aimed," says Huet, "and thinks it to have been his principal design ' to obstruct the progress of the 24 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. Christian religion, by drawing the character of a man of great knowledge, sanctity and miraculous power. Therefore he formed Apollonius after the example of Christ, and accommo- dated many things in the history of our Lord to Apollonius." Thus we see that the very learned and pious Christian, Huet, was forced to admit the common identity of Apollonius and Jesus the first described by Philostratus according to the me- moirs of Damis, made in the first century ; and the latter described by no one knows whom or when, but certainly not earlier than the beginning of the third century of the so-called Christian era, as now contained in what is called the New Testament. As Christian writers have been forced to admit the identity of the respective narratives, concerning Apollonius and Jesus, the only question that remains to be settled is, which was the original author of the so-called Christian teach- ings ? If this has not already been fully done, there remains very little yet to be done to complete the demonstration that Apollonius of Tyana was that author, and not Jesus of Nazareth, nor Paul of Tarsus, as is wrongly claimed by Christian writers. After stating many reasons for his conclusions, Dr. Lardner, than whom there is no higher Christian authority, says : " It is manifest, therefore, that Philostratus compared Apol- lonius and Pythagoras ; but I do not see that he endeavored to make him a rival with Jesus Christ. Philostratus has never once mentioned our Saviour, or the Christians his followers, neither in this long work, nor in the ' Lives of the Sophists,' if it l>e his, as some learned men of the best judgment suppose ; nor 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 denomina- tion, either Catholics or heretics. Whereas I think, if Philos- tratus had written with a mind adverse to Jesus, he would have laid hold of some occasion to describe and disparage his followers, as enemies to the gods, and contemners of the mys- teries and solemnities, and different from all other men." Let it be remembered that Philostratus lived and wrote his lite of Apollonius in the reign of Septimus Severus, about the beginning of the third century A. I). At that time there could not possibly have been in existence any of the scripture narra- tives of the life of Jesus ( 'hrist, so nearly analogous to the inci- dents and events which lie related concerning Apollonius. Had there been such persons living, as Jesus Christ and his APOLLONIUS. 25 apostles, and their Christian followers, during the time that Apollonius lived and labored throughout the then civilized Avorld, Damis, who accompanied him during much of that time, and who recorded every thing worthy of especial note, would have made some mention of such people, either favorably or unfavorably. That he did not do so, is of itself sufficient proof that neither Jesus Christ, his apostles nor the Christian religion, had an existence either before or during that period, which was the only time in which they could have had a real existence. At all events, nothing can be more certain than the conclusion of Dr. Lardner, that Philostratus did not write the life of Apollonius to disparage the Christian religion. But Dr. Lardner is not content to make that fatal acknowl- edgment of the Christian plagiarism of the life and labors of Apollonius ; but makes an equally fatal acknowledgment in another direction. In disagreeing with Cudworth, Huet and others, as to the life of Apollonius, by Philostratus, having been written to oppose Christianity, Dr. Lardner says : "With due submission I do not think that Apollonius was a man of so great importance, as is here supposed ; for it does not appear, that any adversaries of the Christians, either Celsus or Porphyry, or any other before Hierocles, at the beginning of the fourth century, under Diocletian's persecution, ever took any notice of him in any of their arguments. Nor do I know that he has been once mentioned by any Christian writers of the first two centuries. When I first met with the observation of Cudworth [herein before given] I was very much surprised, considering the silence of all early antiquity. If this observa- tion were right, I should have expected to find frequent men- tion of Apollonius in the history of St. John, and the other apostles of Christ ; but there is none. We had in that space of time divers learned men, some of them as eminent for extensive literature as any men that ever lived ; as Justin, Tatian, Bardesanes the Syrian, Clement of Alexandria, Iremeus, Julius Africanus, Tertullian, Minucius Felix ; not to insist on Clement of Rome, Ignatius, or Polycarp, or the histories of them. Of all these we have some remains ; they lived in the first two centuries or the beginning of the third ; but of Apollonius they have not taken the least notice." Very true, Dr. Lardner, and why did they not do so? That total silence on the part of those authors of the first and second centuries regarding so eminent a philosopher and teacher as was Apollonius of Tyana, can be accounted for upon but one 2G ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. theory, and that will show that it was a necessity to utterly ignore Apollonius and his philosophical and religious teachings, in order that the Christian religion could gain a foothold to usurp the field he had so grandly occupied. Of all the authors named by Dr. Lardner, the complete works of none of them have come down to us. 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 evi- dence, within their reach, that showed the real origin and nature of the Christian religion. It should have struck the attention of Dr. Lardner, with vastly greater force, that no where in the books of the New Testament is there a single mention made of Apollonius, if we except in a few verses of 1st Corinthians, where it says. "For while one saith, I am of Paul ; and another, 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." In a very ancient manuscript of this Epistle found in a monastary of France by a Huguenot soldier, called the Codex Beza, the name is not Apollos, but 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 posi- tive proof that his recognition, in any way whatever, by the authors of Christianity would be fatal to their scheme of decep- tion and fraud. We wonder they had not had 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 tell-tale confession from the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians. There it stands, and there it will stand, thanks to the art of printing, to confound these Christian enemies of truth, and make clear the fraud they are upholding. Dr. Lardner further says : APOLLONIUS. 27 " The first Christian writer who has mentioned him" (Apol- lonius), so far as I can recollect, is Origen, in his books against Celsus, written not long before the middle of the third century. When he says : ' He who would know whether magic has any power over philosophers, may read the memoirs of Moeragenes, concerning Apollonius of Tyana, both a magician and a philos- opher. In which Moeragenes, who was not a Christian, but a philosopher, says, that some, and no inconsiderable philoso- phers were taken by the magical art of Apollonius and came to him as a magician. Among them I suppose he means Euphra- tes, and a certain Epicurean. But we can affirm upon the ground of our own experience, that they who worship the God over all through Jesus Christ, and live according to the Gospel, and pray as they ought to do day and night, have no reason to fear anything from magic' So Origen is led to speak in answer to some things in Celsus ; but it does not appear that Celsus had at all mentioned either Apollonius, or his historian. Apollonius is mentioned by Lucian, but what he says of him is far from being to his advantage. He is also mentioned by Apuleius who was contemporary with Lucian ; nor is there any other older author now extant where he is mentioned ; which must be reckoned an argument of his great obscurity, till he was set up. by Philostratus. After that time Apollonius is taken notice of by many ; as Arnobius and Lactantius, and Eusebius, who were led to observe upon Hierocles, whose whole book against the Christians was founded on the memoirs of Philos- tratus. He is afterwards mentioned by Augustin and other Christian writers ; and he is mentioned several times by the writers of the Augustin History, who flourished in the time of Diocletian, or soon afterwards, and by Dion Cassius, and by Eunapius, who commends the history of Philostratus, but says, that instead of entitling it the ' Life of Apollonius,' he might have called it the 'Peregrination of a God among Men.' " Now it must not be forgotten that the writings of Celsus were lost or destroyed long since ; nothing being known of what they were, except as Origen has reported them. Whether Celsus did, or did not, mention Apollonius, is a matter of no consequence. Celsus did not write until nearly a century after the death of Apollonius, and may never have met with the memoirs of Damis or Moeragenes concerning Apollonius. That Lucian and Apuleius, Avho wrote while Apollonius still lived or soon after his death, should have mentioned him is sufficient to establish his historical existence. Philostratus had not then come into possession of the memoirs of Damis, Moeragenes and 28 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. Maximus of iEgis, and the history of the life and labors of Apollonius, had been suppressed, no doubt by the influence of the priesthoods of Greece and Rome. The desire of the cultured empress Julia Domna, to learn the history of Apollonius, shows that he was not unknown to fame as a distinguished philosopher, as late as the beginning of the third century, when Philostratus wrote his Life of Apollonius. As admitted by Dr. Lardner, all through the third century, there was frequent mention of his name and teachings. But it was not until Hierocles in the beginning of the fourth century boldly charged upon the Chris- tian 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 portentous force. It is true that no one now knows exactly what it was that Hierocles wrote, for Eusebius, who took upon himself the task of destroy- ing the testimony of Hierocles, took precious good care to destroy the work of his formidable opponent, and to give his own version of the matter instead. The reply of Lusebius to Hierocles has come down to us. "Why has not Hierocles' arraignment of the Christian priesthood also come down to us? Let that priesthood answer. We can in no way more effectually show the effect winch the Life of Apollonius of Tyana, by Philostratus, had upon the Christian priesthood and clergy, than to cite the observations of Dr. S. Parker, D. D., Archdeacon of Canterbury, published 1G81. We copy it from Mr. Lanlner's works. They are as follows. "But the man of wonders is Apollonius Tyanceus, of whom they boast and insult as the true heathen Messias; in that he wrought not, as Vespasian did, one or two chance miracles; but his whole life was ail prodigy, and equal to our Saviour's both for the number and the wonder of his works. But here first we have in part shown what undoubted records we have of the life of .Jesus; whereas, all the credit of Apollonius, his history, depends upon the authority of one single man, who besides that lie lived a hundred years after him, ventured noth- ing, as the apostles did, in confirmation of the truth, but only composed if in his study : thereby, as appears from his frequent digressions, to take occasion of communicating to the world all the learning lie had raked together. >>'ay, so far was he from incurring any lo>s by the work, that he was set upon it by a APOLLONIUS. 29 great empress, whose religious zeal in the cause would be sure to see him well rewarded. And though he made use of the commentaries of Damis, the inseparable companion of Apol- lonius, yet he confesses that Damis himself never published his commentaries, but that a friend of Damis communicated them to the Empress, which himself probably might have forged (as is common in courts) to pick her pocket. However, as for Damis himself, it is evident from Philostratus, his whole story, that he was a very simple man, and that Apollonius only picked him up as a fit Sancho Panza to exercise his wit upon ; so that upon all occasions we find him not only baffling the esquire in disputes, but breaking jests upon him, which he always takes with much thankfulness, and more humility, still admiring his master's wisdom, but much more his wit. " But after all, what the story of Damis was, or whether there was ever any such story, we have no account, unless from Philostratus himself ; and therefore we must resolve it all into his own authority alone. And there it is evident, that Apollo- nius was neither a god nor a divine man, as his friends boasted ; nor a magician or conjurer, as his enemies imagined, but a mere fanatic and pedantic Pythagorean ; who for the honor of his sect travelled, as many others have done, into all parts of the world ; and when he returned home told his countrymen, that all men renowned for wisdom all the world over were of the sect of the Pythagoreans ; and then for advancement of their authority told strange and prodigious tales of their wonder-working power. Though here either he, or his histo- rian, has acquitted himself so awkwardly, as utterly to spoil the tale and defeat the design. This Eusebius has shown at large in his book against Hierocles, by taking to pieces all parts of the story, and discovering all its flaws and incoherences. " But I shall content myself with proving the vanity of the whole from the notorious falsehood of one particular narration, upon which depends all that extraordinary power which he pretends to; and that is his conversation with the Indian Brahmins, from whom, if we may believe his account of him- self, he learned all that he could do, more than the common philosophers of Greece. And if this prove a romance, all the rest of his history must avoidably follow its fortune." Here some of the most trivial things related by Damis are cited to show that the Brahmans of India imparted nothing worth knowing to Apollonius. And then he continues : "And that is the most I can make of the story ; though I know that Huetius is of opinion, that all the substantial mira- cles are stolen out of the gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, 30 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. and that for the most part, in the words and phrases of St. Luke. And this he has 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 Apol- lonius, where he is only adorned with borrowed feathers, but a great accession to the credit of our Saviour, that when his enemies would frame the idea of a divine man, they were forced to steal their 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. 14 This were a pretty discovery if it stood upon good grounds ; but alas ! most of the parallelisms are so forced, or so slender, or so far fetched, that it were easy to make as many, and as probable, between any other histories whatever. And indeed, in such a design as this of Philostratus, viz, to make up a story as full of strange things as he could contrive, it is scarcely possible not to have hit upon some things like some of those miracles which are recorded in the gospels ; so that in some few of them there may be some resemblance, as particularly there seems to be in that of the Gadarene dcemoniac, and the Corcyrean youth ; yet it is very obvious to apprehend, that this might happen, not by design, but by chance. And whereas Huetius will needs have it, that Philostratus has stolen not only the stories, but the very words of St. Luke, I find no instance of it, only in this one relation, where they both, it seems, use the word Basanichein ; and this they might easily do without theft or imitation, it being the common Greek word that signifies torment ; so that they could no more avoid that in Greek, than we could this in rendering it into English. Nay, setting aside tins one story, I find no resemblance between the history of Philostratus and that of the gospels, that I scarce know any two stories more unlike ; for it is obvious to any man that reads Philostratus, that his whole design was to follow the train of the old heathen mythology; and that is the bottom of his folly, by his story to gain historical credit to the fables of the poets. So that it is a very true and just censure which Ludovicus Vives has given of him, that as he had endeavored to imitate Homer, so he had abundantly out-lied him. For there is scarcely any thing extraordinary reported in the whole history in which he does not apparently design either to verify or to rectify some of that blind ballad-singer's tales ; but espe- cially in conjuring Achilles out of his tomb, and discoursing with him about t lie old stories that were told of the Trojan war. "And yet after all, few of Apollonius' miracles are sufficiently vouched, even in his own history ; v. g. the last that I men- APOLLONIUS. 31 tioned, of the apparition of Achilles ; which had no other testimony but of Apollonius himself, who stubbornly refused to have any companions or witnesses of the fact ; beside many other absurdities in the story itself; as his rising out of the tomb five feet long, and then swelling to twice the length ; his being forced to vanish away at cock-crowing, and the nymphs constantly visiting him. "And so again, he pretended to understand all languages without learning any [This is a positive misstatement on the part of Dr. Parker.] and yet when he came to the Indian King he was forced to converse with him by an interpreter. And whereas the story tells us of the devil's being cast out of a young man by a mandate from the Brahmans, yet it gives us no account of the event of it, only they pretended to do it ; but whether it was effectually done, we do not find that either Apollonius or Damis ever inquired. " But the great miracle of all was his vanishing away at his trial before Domitian in the presence of all the great men of Rome. But then, though our historian be very desirous we would believe it, yet he falters afterwards, like a guilty liar, in his confidence. For whereas at first he positively affirms, that he quite vanished away ; at last he only says, that he went away. And this, though he would seem to affirm that it was after a wonderful manner, and nobody knows how, is a pitiful abatement to the bigness of his former expression, ' vanishing away.' Though the truth is, if he stood to it, it must have unavoidably proved itself a lie ; for it is utterly incredible, that so strange a thing as that should have been done in so great a presence, and yet never any notice taken of it. " But in the last place, the historian would fain bid at some- thing of his hero's appearing after death ; yet he does it so faintly, that in the conclusion of all it comes to nothing espe- cially when he tells us, that the time of his death was alto- gether unknown, and that the uncertainty of it took in no less than the compass of thirty years. And then they that were so utterly at a loss as to the time of his decease, and that for so long a space, were very likely to give a very wise account of the certain time of anything that he did after it. " But how, or to whom did he appear? Why, to a young man, one of his followers, that doubted of the immortality of the soul, for ten months together after his death. But how, or where? Why, the young man being tired with watching, and praying to Apollonius, that he would appear to him in this point, one day fell asleep in the school, where the young men were forming their several exercises ; and on the sudden he starts up in a great fright, and a great sweat, crying out, ' I 32 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. believe thee O ! Tyanrcas.' And being asked by his compan- ions the meaning of his transport : Why, says ho, do you not see Apollonius? They answer him, No; but they would be glad to give all the world if they could. It is true, says he ; for he only appears to me, for my satisfaction, and he is invisi- ble to all others. And then he tells them what he had said to him in his sleep concerning the state of souls. This poor account of the dream and vision of an over-watched boy, is all that this great story affords, to vie with our {Saviour's resurrection. "And now upon the review of this whole story, it seems evident to me, that this man was so far from being endowed with any extraordinary divine power, that he does not deserve the reputation of an ordinary conjurer; for though Huetius has taken some pains to prove him so, yet he gives no evidence of it beside the opinion of the common people ; and if that were enough to make a conjurer, there is no man of an odd and singular humor (as Apollonius affected to be) who is not so thought of by the common people. And, therefore, when he was accused for it before Domitian, the emperor, upon coming to hear the cause, slighted both him and his accusers and dismissed him from the court for an idle and fantastic fellow. "And it is manifest from the whole series of his history, that he was a very vain man, and affected to be thought something extraordinary, and so wandered all the world over in an odd garb to l)e gazed at and admired, and made himself consider- able, in that ago by wit, impudence and flattery; of all which ho had a competent share. And for his wonder-working faculty which he needs pretend to, he fetched that as far off as the East Indies, that is, the farthest off, as he thought, from confutation ; and yet the account which he has given of those parts is so grossly fabulous, that that alone convicts his whole life of imposture and impudence." Such was the consternation produced by the translation of Philostratus' " Life of Apollonius of Tyana," into the modern tongues of Europe, that Christians both Catholic and Protestant, seem to have oast discretion to the winds ami to have floundered into the hog from which it was their chief aim to escape. It will he soon that neither Dr. Parker, Huct, nor Dr. Lardner so much as deigned to notice the rial and undeniable facts connected with the life and labors of Apollonius, hut spent all their ingenuity in making the most of the fictions or exaggerated recitals which wore so common tin accompaniment of ancient historical narratives, not one of which docs not mingle the APOLLONIUS. 33 marvelous with the well authenticated events, which constitute the ground work and object of all ancient historical records. This avoidance of all notice of the philosophical and religious teachings of Apollonius, by those learned theologians, shows, as nothing else could, their consciousness, that Apollonius was really the Jesus, Paul and John of the "New Testament Scriptures." We have shown that Apollonius for several years taught and preached at Antioch, and converted many, who were strangers to his knowledge, to a belief in his doctrines. It was owing to his great renown as a spiritual medium and teacher, acquired at Antioch, that certain Jews who had become acquainted with his gifts as a medium, and the remarkable manifestations of spirit power occurring through him, prevailed upon him to go to Jerusalem. This visit, he tells us, he made to Jerusalem when he was just thirty-three years of age, the very age at which it has been alleged that Jesus began his heaven appointed mission. He tells us he was then hailed upon his entrance into that city, by the people, as it has been alleged the entrance of Jesus of Nazareth was hailed, with hosannas and songs of praise to one who came in the name of the Lord. He refers no doubt to the following portion of the (xxi Matthew 9), "And the multitude that went before, and that followed, cried Hosanna to the son of David ; blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord ; Hosanna in the highest. And when he came into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? and the multitude said, This is Jesus, the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee." It is true that Apollonius says nothing of his experience at the hands of the Jewish priesthood, and we are left to infer that their treatment of him was less agree- able to him than his reception by the multitude. It is true that there is no historical mention extant, of this visit of Apollonius to Jerusalem, and therefore we may justly conclude that the writer of " The Gospel According to Matthew," after making use of such a historical manuscript to serve his purpose of robbing Apollonius of his duly acquired fame, by substituting the mythical Jesus in his stead, took special care to destroy the historical original. That Apollonius never returned to Jerusa- lem, until he did so thirty-two years afterward as the oracle in Vespasian's camp at the overthrow of Jerusalem, would indicate that the usa^e he had received at the hands of the Jewish 34 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. priesthood, on his first visit, was such as to deter him from again placing himself in their power. As strong evidence of the correctness of this conjecture, it is well to note, that Judaea was the only civilized country that Apollonius did not visit, and throughout which he did not preach, and in which he did not receive the fraternal reception of every order of priesthood. That Damis made no record of this visit of Apollonius to Jeru- salem, may be reasonably accounted for by the facts that it was made before Damis began his memoirs, and in all probability Apollonius was too much disgusted with the narrow bigotry of the Jewish hierarchy to inform Damis about it. Apollonius has not told us what followed his joyous reception by the people of Jerusalem. The writers who have made use of that event to exalt their mythical man-god, say, regarding the latter : "And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David ; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these saj'? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?' And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany ; and he lodged there." How much of that is taken from the historical memoirs of Apollonius, we may not certainly know ; but nothing is more thoroughly authenticated than the fact that Apollonius was a wonderful healing medium that he restored si^ht to the blind, strength to the lame, health to the sick, life to those apparently dead, and prophesied with an accuracy that astonished the then civilized world. That he did all these things at Jerusalem, is most probable, if not certain. And thus, through the return of the spirit of AjjoIIo- nius, we have a chapter of history revived that the writers of the Christian scriptures supposed they had entirely obliterated from Us records. DAMIS. 35 OAjvris. The Friend and Disciple of Apollonius of Tyana. "I Salute You, Sir : All subordinate conditions, or such as may be regarded as of an inferior character, must give way where a great object is to be obtained. The spirit opposition to what I am here to say is of the most intense character. Every- thing has been done that it was possible to do to prevent my coming here. In the first place I know personally the truth of all that I shall here say ; secondly, I know that the evidence exists that will support all I say ; and thirdly, I know that Apollonius of Tyana, my master or teacher, was the Jesus Christ of the Christians. We must now proceed in a systematic way to prove the truth of what I have said. The place where I was born was Ephesus. I was an Ephesian and not a Cap- padocian nor a Ninevite. I was born in the city which was the chief seat of the worship of The Great Diana of the Ephesians. The bond of unity between myself and Apollonius was, that we were both mediums in whose presence materialized spirits appeared. When I was present with Apollonius the spirit manifestations that occurred were stronger, and so with the manifestations that occurred through me, when he was present. Apollonius made two journeys to India, and not one as is generally supposed. The last of these was about from A. D. 45 to 50. It was, when on that journey, that he reached Farther India, whence he brought back the Indian gospels in relation to the Hindoo god Christos. The first journey to India, by Apollonius, was about from SG to 38 A. D. On that journey he only obtained a few extracts from those Hindoo gospels. The first attempt of Apollonius to introduce the religion of Christos in Western Asia was made shortly after his return from India, at Nazarita, a small village near Gaza. He there formed a community according to the Gymnosophic ideas and practices. The principle of initiation is expressed in that famous text of what is termed the Scriptures where it is said, ' Thou art a priest after the order of Melchisedec' The original meaning of that was, 'A priest after the order of the Sun.' It was also the Parsee worship and was at a remote period derived from the 'Golden Rules' of Hermes Trismegistus or from 86 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. Hcsiod. The last named was the author of " The Seven Before Thebes" and "Agamemnon." The works of both those ancient writers contained the expression, 'Thou art a priest Mechel forever after the order of the Sun.' The first works that my master brought from India contained the teachings of Christos, before their reformation by Deva Bodhisatoua, in the reign of the king of Asoka. Bodhisatoua was prime counsellor of that king. His real name was Azabelle. He was a Tamil King. Azabelle meant the rising Sun. The l>ooks which Apollonius afterward used, he obtained on his second journey, when he went to visit larch us, the chief of the "Wise Men, in Farther India, near Singapore. I went with him on his second journey and not on his first. I never saw Phraotes the King of Taxila. I was a disciple of Apollonius and remained atEphesus and at Thessalonica while he was away on his first journey to India. The most important part of the life of Apollonius ex- tended over the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Nervaand into the reign of Trajan. I passed to spirit about 90 A. D. I wrote memoirs of Apollonius from about 34 A. I). toSOA.D. TheGreek followers of Prometheus mutilated those memoirs. They were greatly opposed to the in- troduction of the Indian Christos among the Greeks, and were exceedingly opposed to Apollonius and his teachings. Apollo- nius and myself were youthful companions when I was at Tyana. Apollonius was the real Paul, this is rendered plain by the Epistles to Timothy. I was called Timotheus by the Thessalonians. What you have received in relation to Apollo- nius of Tyana is all true. Apollonius was the founder of the Nazarite sect. The word Nazarite meant to clear oft' the head bare. Ques. How came the Nazarites, to afterwards take the name of Kssenes? Ans. The name Essene is Phoenician, and meant Sun baptism, or fire baptism. The initiation into the sect of the Essenes required the candidate to pass through two flames, one a bright and the other a pale one. 1 was twice at Koine with Apollonius. I was there in 41 and in i>2 and (>.'5 A. I). Ques. Were you at Rome when Apollonius was tried before Domitian? Ans. No, I was not. I was then at Alexandria in Egypt, where I died. I left my writings and other property to my sister, Samostra. After my death she came to Alexandria and carried my writings to Tyana in Cappadocia. Other Spirits will follow me, Pore i us Eestus, Agrippa and I think Joseph us. Ques. How came it that Josephus made no mention of Apollonius of Tyana? Ans. Josephus, Apollonius and myself, were all initiated in the secret order called the "Sons of Sun." The Emperors Claudius, Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Nerva, and Trajan, were all initiated in that order, and it was DAMIS. 37 therefore made a binding rule upon the members, that they should manifest no outward relation to one another, so that if the brethren of the order had occasion to favor each other, or afford mutual protection in times of trouble and danger to them, their secret relations to each other should not be known. Marcion and Lucian obtained mutilated copies of my Memoirs concerning Apollonius and used them in shaping their gospel tragedies. If further information is needed about those matters it will be given through Aronamar." We regard this communication as of the very highest import and value as a means towards solving some of the most per- plexing problems connected w T ith the origin and real nature of the Christian religion. It was intended that this communica- tion should have been given at the sitting, one week previously ; but the opposing spirit influences were so strong that it became necessary to defer giving it until a more favorable opportunity. As it was, when given, the opposition at times was so great as to compel frequent breaks in the continuation of the testimony of this thoroughly informed spirit, and he could only proceed by the greatest power of will and the complete control of the medium's organism. Very little can be gleaned from biograph- ical or historical sources concerning Damis, and very little of that can be relied upon, on account of the efforts that have been made to conceal everything possible that was true in relation to Apollonius of Tyana and his Nazarite disciples. We take the following brief reference to him from the Nouvelle Biographie Generale : "Damis a Greek historian, of Assyrian origin. He wrote in the first century A. D., and was an inhabitant of New Nineveh. He joined Apollonius of Tyana in that city, and accompanied that thaumaturg in his journeys. He wrote an account of those journeyings, in which he inserted the discourses and prophecies of his master. This work seems to have served as the basis of the Life of Apollonius by Philostratus. The style of it was rude and indicated him to be a foreigner raised among barbarians." The Biographic Universelle in treating of Apollonius of Tyana, alludes to Damis as follows : "He (Apollonius) quitted Antioch, followed only by two servants, and went to Nineveh, when chance offered him a new disciple, named Damis, who became his faithful compan- ion and remained attached to him as long as he lived. This young man who was versed in the languages of the East, was very useful to his master on his journey, and constantly 38 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. expressed for him a religious veneration that often amounted to superstition. "Damis had written very full details concerning his master. These writings bequeathed by him to one of his relatives, at a later period became the property of Julia, the wife of Septimius Severus. This princess entrusted to Philostratus, an eloquent sophist of high reputation, the duty of editing the Life of Apollonius, the philosopher of Tyana." This is about the extent of what has been preserved to us of references to Damis by name; but in the Pauline Epistles, there can be little doubt that he is referred to as Demas. In that connection I cite the following reference to Demas from McClintock and Strong's Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature ; " Demas, a companion of the apostle Paul during his first imprisonment at Rome (A. D. 41), called by him his fellow laborer, Synesgos, in Philemon, 24; see also Col. iv, 14. At a later period (2d Tim. iv, 10) we find him mentioned as having deserted the apostle through love of this present world, and gone to Thessalonica (A. D. 64). This departure has been magnified by tradition into an apostacy from Christianity (See Epiphanius, Heres li. 0), which is by no means implied in the passage." There may seem to be a contradiction between the two claims on the part of the spirit that he was both Damis or Demas and Timotheus or Timothy, and yet there may be no such contra- diction after all. The spirit tells us he was called by the Thessalonians Timotheus. I will show, I think, very clearly that the testimony of the spirit is fully born out by the testi- mony of the New Testament, but I will defer this until it is reached in its proper order. It seems from the spirit's testimony that there is hardly anything said of him, even in the biography of Apollonius by Philostratus, which is strictly true, and much that cannot be true; but, for this, Philostratus may not have been to blame. No one can now tell what Philostratus really wrote concerning Apollonius and his disciples, for his work has been mutilated and interpolated to such an extent as to leave it of little value on many points of the history of the Cappadoeian saviour. Philostratus, as his work has come down to us, is made to say that Apollonius of Tyana made only one jourmy to India, while it is certain that lie must have made two; and the events of the two journeys have been so interblended and confounded as t<> leave the ni<>>t perplexing uncertainly almost DAMIS. 3D at every step. This could hardly have been possible, if the Memoirs of Damis had been followed in good faith by Philos- tratus, as it, no doubt, was. The confusion, probably, was the result of the bad faith of the subsequent copiers of Philostratus's work. We are told in that work, as we now have it, that Apollonius first met Damis at Nineveh when he was on his way to India from Ephesus the first time. The spirit tells us that this was not the fact. For he was himself an Ephesian, and had known and was a companion of Apollonius in his youth. That he was a pupil and Disciple of Apollonius, while the latter was at Ephesus, as he claims to have been, is so highly probable, and so consistent with what we know of the intimate relations existing between Damis and Apollonius as to render the fact certain. It is known that Apollonius could not induce any of his Ephesian disciples to accompany him to India, and he was compelled to set out with only two serving attendants. Spirit Damis claims that he was one of the disci- ples who declined to accompany Apollonius on that journey, and says he was at Ephesus and Thessalonica during the absence of Apollonius while on that journey. Damis explains the nature of the bond of unity that existed between him and his master, and makes known the fact that they were both mediums through whom spirits materialized in a remarkable manner when they were mutually present and controlled by the operating spirit influences together. A grander band of spiritual influences never before or since united and held two men together throughout their protracted lives. From what the spirit says, it would appear that Apollonius made his first journey to India about A. D. 36, at which time he obtained a comparatively few portions of the Hindoo gospels. And here we come to a statement of the spirit, which, to say the least, is of surprising import. Damis tells us that it was Apollonius of Tyana, who, after his return from India, about A. D. 38, founded the communistic sect of the Nazarites at a village near Gaza, which was called Nazarita, and that he modelled it after Gymosophic ideas of ethics, theology, social polity and religious observances. If this is the fact there cannot be a doubt as to the common identity of Apollonius, the Founder of the Nazarite sect, and Saul of Tarsus or Paul, who was charged before Felix, governor of Judea, by Ananias the high priest of the Jews, through the orator Tertullus, in the following words (Acts xxiv, 5) : 40 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. " For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the seet of the Nazarenes." As I say in commenting on the communication of Ananias, the Jewish highpriest, it is as certain as can be, that there never was a religious seet in Judea or elsewhere that was called the seet of the Nazarenes, while it is just as certain that there was a Nazarite seet, and as it appears, it took its rise in Judea, near its southern border. If Paul wasaNazarene and the ring- leader of that sect, is it not very strange that none of the Epis- tles which are attributed to him say anything whatever about him, Paul, having been, or being a Nazarene. Indeed if we may believe the gospel of St. Matthew, to be a Nazarene did not denote membership in any religious sect, but merely a residence in a city called Nazareth. See Matthew ii, 23, where it is said : "And he (Joseph) came out and dwelt in a; city called Naza- reth ; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets. He shall be called a Nazarene." If to be a Nazarene, then, was to belong to a sect called Nazarenes, that which was spoken by the prophets, has never yet been fulfilled. It has been supposed that Nazarenes was a name given to the first Christians by their adversaries. It is a conceded fact that no seet that called themselves Nazarenes had any existence before the second century, and, therefore, that Paul, who did not survive the first century, could not witli any propriety have been charged with being the ringleader of the Nazarenes. On the other hand, if Apollonius was the ring- leader of the Nazarites, a well known religious sect of that time, and if that sect was bitterly hated by tiie Jews, as was the ease, it becomes almost certain that the man accused before Felix was Apollonius of Tyana, a Cappadocian Greek, and not a Jew at all. In view of the further facts, that the man accused did not deny that lie was the ringleader of the sect which was so hated by the Jews, and that lie claimed to be a Roman citizen and only amenable to the Roman law, what was almost a certainty, with those facts added, became a certainty, and the common identity of Paul and Apollonius is settled beyond successful contradiction. Not only so, but the truth of the spirit's testimony in relation to the founding of the Nazarite sect, and the nature of their worship and social polity is equally set at rest. The people, who, in the second century and after, DAMIS. 41 were called, or called themselves Nazarenes, were not Christ- ians. "They believed it was necessary to unite the Jewish ceremonial law with the precepts of Jesus, and refer to a Hebrew gospel of Matthew." In fact they were even more Jews than Christians, and it is hardly likely that St. Paul was one of that sect, although the writer of Acts has exhausted his ingenuity and convicted himself of falsehood in trying to do so. What the spirit says in regard to the passage of Scripture : "Thou art a priest after the order of Melchisedec," is very peculiar as being a formula of initiation among the Nazarites. We are told by the spirit that this ceremonial expression origi- nally meant "a priest after the order of the sun," and was used in that sense by the Parsees and that it was at a remote period derived from the " Golden Rules " of JJerm.es Trisme- gistus, or from Hesiod. Nothing is more certain than that Hermes Trismegistus and Hesiod were priests after the order of the Sun, the one as of Oromazda or Ormuzd, and the other as of Prometheus. There is something so peculiar, not only about the text or passage to which the spirit of Damis refers, but that it should be so positively connected with Apollonius and the Nazarite sect, which he seems to have founded, that I will quote the passage of the New Testament in which it is used or referred to. In Heb. iii, 1, we read : "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly call- ing, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus." Here we have Christ Jesus made an Apostle and High Priest of the profession of the holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling. Who were those holy brethren ? What was their profession? In what manner were they partakers of the heavenly calling? Who made Christ Jesus the Apostle and High Priest of those holy brethren ? When those questions are answered, we will find that the spirit of Damis has suggested the answer to them all. It has been strongly contended that the author of the other Pauline Epistles was not the author of the Epistles to the Hebrews. Why ? Because it comes too near to disclosing the true authorship of all those epistles. In none of the other epistles was Christ Jesus made to figure as an Apostle and a High Priest. In Heb. iii, 14, we read : " Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession." 42 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. Here we have the same Christ Jesus figuring as a great High Priest that is passed into the "heavens." If the expression had been, is passed into heaven, it would not so plainly have been indicated that this great High Priest was the great lumi- nary of day which so grandly presides over the celestial hierarchy. We have no doubt that the words "Jesus the Sou of God" in that passage are a fraudulent interpolation in a Nazarite epistle to the Hebrews, and that that Nazarite epistle was written by the founder of the Nazarite sect, Apollonius of Tyana ; and more than that, that it was for writing that very epistle to the Hebrews, that Ananias, High Priest of the Jews, through Tertullus, charged him, Apollonius, before Felix, with being " a mover of sedition among all the Jews, through- out the world." In Heb. v, 4, 5, 6, we read : "And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. "Bo also Christ glorified not himself to be made an High Priest ; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. " As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec." Now it is very evident that neither of those sayings could have been addressed to Christ Jesus, for the first saying was used in Psalms ii, 7, and the second in Psalms ex, 4. There will hardly be any one who will be rash enough to claim that either of those sayings was addressed to Christ Jesus, for the latter was never heard of as god, man or myth, until many hundred years after those Psalms were composed. In Heb. vii, 1,2, 3, 4, we read : " For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him ; "To whom also Abraham gavea tenth part of all ; first being by interpretation king of righteousness, and after that, also, king of Salem, which is King of Peace ; "Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life ; but made like unto the Son of God ; abidcth a priest continually. "Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils." Yes we will consider how great this man was without a father, without a mother, and without descent, and who had neither twginning nor vu<\ of life; and we have come to the DAMIS. 43 conclusion that he was no man at all, and no high priest or king who ever reigned among mankind. This Melehisedec was something else than a man, and we conclude that he was what the spirit of Damis says he was, the King of Day, and High Priest in the heavens, the Solar orb, personified as a human king and high priest. It would be irrational to conclude otherwise. The Sun is a king without father, or mother, or descent, and without beginning or end of life, and the only such king that human imagination can even plausibly conjure up. In Heb. ii, 11, we read : "If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melehisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron." Here we can see that it was this attempt on the part of Apollonius, the founder of the Nazarites, to subvert the Jewish priesthood, who claimed their priestly authority from the high priest Aaron, and to raise in its stead a priesthood after the order of Melehisedec or the order of the Sun ; that was also the ground of the hatred toward him by the Jews and the cause of the charge that he sought to create sedition everywhere among the Jews. I will close my quotations in connection with this re- markable spirit disclosure with the following from Heb. vii, 21 : " For those ' ' (the Jewish priests) "priests were made without an oath ; but this," (the High Priests of the Nazarites) "with an oath by him who said unto him. The Lord Sware and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melehisedec." Now the language there referred to is used in Psalms ex, 4, and was evidently used by some priest, perhaps some high priest, according to the order of the Sun, which order of priests was in very ancient times designated as of the order of Mel- ehisedec ; or, as the spirit of Damis testifies, it was but a modification of a similar expression used by both Hermes Trismegistus and Hesiod as follows : " Thou art a priest Mechel forever after the order of the Sun." I certainly have adduced sufficient evidence to show the substantial correctness of this surprising testimony of the spirit of Damis, that Apollonius was the founder of the Nazarite sect, and that the passages in which the New Testament gives the expression "Thou art a priest after the order of Melehisedec" is taken directly from the formula of priestly ordination among the Nazarites; and 44 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. indeed, enough to show that the Epistles to the Hebrews, is the appeal of the great founder and high priest of the Nazarites to the Jews to abandon their sacerdotal organization, and join the holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, by becoming priests forever of the order of the Sun, designated as Melchisedec, King of Salem. Thus, point after point that has completely confounded theologians for centuries, is being ex- plained clearly and satisfactorily through the testimony of returning spirits who have personal knowledge of the matters on which their communications bear. The great probability is that the Epistle to the Hebrews was written at an earlier period than the other Pauline Epistles, and just after he founded the Nazarite sect at Nazarita. On his second journey to India, he obtained the full Reformed Hindoo Gospels of Deva Bodhis- atoua which had been drawn up by Deva, and adopted at the Council of Asoka, by the Buddhist followers of Christos. These are points of information in relation to the second journey of Apollonius to India that are worthy of especial attention. The attempt of Azabelle, king of Asoka, to reform the Hindoo religion and weaken the arbitrary power and rapacity of the Buddhist priesthood, as a matter of course, called forth a deadly hostility on the part of the Brahman priesthood ; and, although Azabelle was powerful enough to carry his reform over the greater part of India, as the monu- ments still standing in various parts of that vast country show, yet it is known that in later years the Buddhist reformers were driven into Southern India and finally out of the country, as priests of an established religion, the last Buddhist patriarch, Bodhishormah, taking his departure for China in the early part of the Christian era. The Buddhist reformation took place about from 250 to 290 B. C. When Apollonius went to India in A. I). 4) or 46 in search of the reformed Buddhist gospels, he was compelled to travel into Farther India, as Damis tells us, to find them, on which journey, Damis says lie accompanied him. It was there, near Singapore, at the extreme southern limit of Farther India that Apollonius found Iarchus, and through the kind offices of Phraotes, king of Taxila, obtained from him the reformed Hindoo Gospels, of Deva Bodhisatoua with which he returned to his Nazarite followers, and began those modifications of his original plan which led to such bitter opposition on the part of Apollonius of Alexandria, Phygellus DAMIS. 45 and Hermogenes, which Apollonius in his letter to Timotheus, or Damis, refers to as follows, 2d Tim. i, 15 : "This thou knowest, that all they whieh are in Asia be turned away from me ; of whom are Phygellus and Hermoge- nes." The spirit of Hermogenes, in his communication, fully ex- plains the nature of the controversy between himself and his Essenian associates and Apollonius which grew out of Apollo- nius's saccrdotalizing tendencies, which were considered by his opponents as destructive of the communistic polity of the Nazarite sect. If Azabelle was a Tamil king, that was another reason why the Brahmans, who were Aryans, and who used the Sanscrit tongue, sought the more determinedly to drive out the Tamil reformation. At all events the Tamil population of India, still remaining there, are to be found in Southern India and on the island of Ceylon. It would seem that Iarchus found a refuge in the jungles amid the tigers, whose numbers gave the name to the neighboring city of Singapore, which meant the City of Tigers. In that distant and last refuge of the reformed Buddhism of Deva Bodhisatoua from the hands of Iarchus, the chief of the reformed religion, Apollonius ob- tained the gospels which he afterward used in propagating the Essenian faith, and which have been since modified into what are called the Christian Gospels. Of these facts there can be no reasonable doubt. It has long been known that the Christian Scriptures could not possibly be what they purported to be, by those who sought, without prejudice, to comprehend them, but to find out where they originated and what they really were, has never been possible until these spirit testimonies in relation to them were given. What the spirit says about the reigns of the Roman emperors during which the most distinguished part of the labors of Apollonius of Tyana were performed is certainly true, for they extended from A. D. 33 to A. D. 98 or 99. It has never been known how long Damis lived or whether he survived Apollo- nius. He tells us he did not, but that he died ten or twelve years before him at Alexandria in Egypt. This accounts for the fact that Damis gave no account of Apollonius's work while in retirement on the island of Patmos, and his subsequent publication of the Gospel of St John and the Apocalypse, as they are called, at Ephesus, where he closed his long and remarkable labors. 46 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. The spirit explains another point which has heen lost sight of in the confusion of the history of the first three centuries of the so-called Christian era, and that is, that the Greek and Roman priestly followers of the God Prometheus were bitterly hostile to the Nazarite and Essenian propagation of the teach- ings and doctrines relating to the Hindoo Saviour Christos (Chrishna, as he has been miscalled) and not less hostile to Apollonius himself. They no doubt, did all they could to create prejudice and doubt concerning the Christosite teachings of that real founder of the Christian religion. It is impossible to now judge how far the writings of Apollonius came into the hands of Marcion and Lucian in their original shape ; those two Greek writers being none others than the St. Mark and St. Luke of the Synoptical gospels ; and it is equally impossible to know to what extent the latter altered them before they came into the hands of Eusebius of Caesarea and his contempo- raries and coadjutors of the Council of Nice. It is enough to know that in spite of all this modifying by the priests of Prometheus, and the priestly founders of the Orthodox Chris- tian religion, the Apollonian or Essenian Christosism is shown to pervade it from beginning to end, and that there is nothing original or true connected with it as a distinctive or original religion. We now come to tho consideration of what the spirit says in relation to Apollonius of Tyana being the real Paul, rendered plain by the epistles of Paul to Timothy. Damis tells us that he was himself called Timotheus by the Thessalonians among whom he resided at the time the Epistles to Timothy were written. It appears that he had gone into Thessalonica years before as a subordinate teacher of the philosophical, theological and soeial doctrines of the Nazarites, and when Apollonius was sent to Rome, after his return from his second journey to India, that Damis, whose name had been changed to Dumas, left him and went again to Thessalonica. It is proper to here say t hat in reply to my question : Why were you called Timotheus by the Thessalonians? he replied : "In the Thessalonian dialect Timotheus meant the same as leader or bishop." No one can read the two Epistles to Timothy and not see that the person to whom they were addressed was one who had been the im- mediate pupil of the writer of them. The words addressed to Timothy are : " Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith." It is DAMIS. 47 true that it has been represented and supposed that Timotheus was at Ephesus when those two letters were written, but if we understand the import of what the spirit said upon that point, this is a mistake, the result no doubt, of the purpose to conceal the identity of the Timotheus who was addressed by Apollo- nius, who was none other than his devoted disciple Damis. These letters to Timothy do not follow the Epistles of Paul to the Ephesians, as they would naturally have done if they had been addressed to an Essenian bishop of Ephesus. They follow the 2d Epistle to the Thessalonians, thus showing very strongly that the statement of Damis that he was the Timotheus addressed is substantially correct. The name Timotheus was therefore rather the theological rank of the person addressed than the given name of that person. The one circumstance that seems to strongly weigh against this claim of spirit Damis is, that in the 2d Epistle to Timothy there seems to be a manifest reference to Damis himself where in chapter iV, 9, 10, we read : "Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me. For Demas (manifestly Damis) has forsaken me, having loved this present world and is departed unto Thessalonica." Whatever seeming confusion and inconsistency there may appear about this matter it can all be the result of the bungling alterations that are manifest throughout the so-called Pauline Epistles. Why should we not prefer to accept the testimony of this spirit who has given so many proofs of his personal knowledge of the things about which he testifies, to the untruthful versions of these same things, which have been produced to conceal the truth about them? I, at least, think it is safer to do so. I cannot prolong these comments, but I have adduced sufficient proof to show that the communication is authentic and substantially true. That being so, it seems certain that through this testimony of Damis we have been taken to the source of Christianity which we find to have been in India, and that instead of its having any relation to Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth, it relates to the Hindoo saviour Christos ; and was carried in to the Roman empire by Apollonius of Tyana about the time when it is alleged the mission of Jesus Christ began. 48 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. t)EVfl BODHISATOUA. A Buddhist Prophet. "Saib, I Salute You : In all things pertaining to the spirit and mortal life, experience must be the guide and reason the teacher. It is my duty as a spirit, being appointed by the higher order to come here, to tell you what 1 know of what are termed the Christian Gospels more particularly those relating to what are termed Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Right here I might go into a personal history of myself, in order that you may understand more thoroughly what I herein set forth. I am of a line of teachers or prophets from Buddha down. Whether you can obtain, through the encyclopaedias of to-day, the information I shall give you I cannot tell. But if you can obtain the Japanese Encyclopaedia of 1821, translated by Abel Ilemusat, you will be able to learn a great deal about myself. In the Sanerit tongue my name was Deva Bodhisatoua ; in the Chinese tongue my name was Phou-sa, and in the Hindoo tongue it was Ma-Ming. I commenced exactly as this man I am using to-day a trance medium, in the Mahabarata country, and it was I who first taught, in India, long before the Christian era, the metaphysical-allegorical style claimed to have come from one who never existed, called Jesus of Nazareth. These gospels were transferred to Singapore, where they afterwards fell into the possession of Apollonius of Tyana, Their original names, in your modern tongue, would represent the four seasons; but were afterward used, or misused, to typify a saviour of men. The originals, as understood by the Hindoos, werein this way. First, the preparation of the ground the planting of the seed the harvest time the gathering in and the feast time or harvest home. This was what those books, interpreted by the aid of certain stars, in what is now termed the zodiac, meant. The 'Star in the East' was simply a signal of seeding time or planting time. Now, these mysteries were used by Hindoos, to show certain things occurring in the life of man that resembled the offices of nature, such as the infancy, youth, maturity and old age or death, of man. You see the beauty of these things when properly understood. First, the DEVA BODHISATOUA. 49 stars used then as an almanac ; second, the seed time and har- vest, and third, their analogy to the life of man. These writings or gospels were given to me, first, as I have set forth in the beginning of this communication, by experiences in the way of trance ; second, by my reasoning upon them ; and third, by my intuitional nature coming in contact with the higher relations of spirit life. And here again, I must remark that in my time they wore not original, but they w r ere simply the reflex of spirits on my receptive organism. In an allegorical sense these writings can injure no one ; but when used by priests to gain power and as they keep the key to themselves end in enslaving the intellects of their fellow-men. We believed in re-incarna- tion ; we believed, in the language of Buddha, that, as long as there was a decline of virtue in the world, a good man was raised up to re-establish morality ; and that this man was either Buddha himself, or that, at his conception, he was over- shadowed by the holy spirit of Buddha. These epistles or gospels brought from India by Apollonius, were modified by him to suit his spiritual nature. Much of the force and sub- limity of language in them is lost in their translation through so many different tongues. As near as I can give you their name, they would be called, in your language, translated from the Hindoo, "The Code of the Initiated." There was at that time, in India, a sacred order, in which all persons of good blood not that there is anything in caste were to become pupils, and gradually go from one degree to another, similar to modern Freemasonry. No one was admitted as a pupil unless first examined to see whether he had any spiritual gifts, and this was tested in different ways. One of the principal tests was looking through a hollow tube on a piece of glass or piece of skin. If he discovered any sign on either, this was evidence of clairvoyance. Others were tested by a tube shaped like a horn placed to the ear. If they heard a voice, or any noise, or anything was photographed upon their brain, they were admit- ted on the ground of clairaudience. By this method we were always enabled to have mediums that not only preached our philosophy, but proved it also. I have certified to all I think that is necessary, and I have fulfilled my duty to the best of my present ability ; and if I am not mistaken, this communi- cation, which is launched in this humble home to-day, will undoubtedly be looked upon, in the future, as one of the mar- vels of Spiritualism, considering the source from which it conies. Wise spirits not that I lay claim to wisdom never enter where pride shuts them out. Humility is the best prep- aration any medium needs to receive the whole truth and nothing but the truth." 50 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. We can find no historical reference to any such person as Deva Bodhisatoua, Phou-sa, or Ma-Ming, and are therefore compelled to confine our test of its genuineness and authenticity to what we can learn regarding Abel Bemusat, referred to in the communication. We take the following facts concerning Remusat from theNouvelle Biographic Generate : "Jean-Pierre- Abel Remusat, a celebrated Orientalist, born at Paris, the 5th of September, 1788, died of cholera, in the same city, the 4th of June, 1832. The circumstances that awakened in him a taste which was soon to develop into a true vocation, were as follows : The Abbey of Tersan hud united to the Abbey- aux-Bois a precious collection of antiquities and objects of curiosity, to which was joined a library composed of rare books, relating to the different objects of the museum. Amid these amateur treasures was a Chinese pastoral poem. Abel Remusat being permitted to visit this collection of the Abbey of Tersan, from the first gave special attention to that work and deter- mined to give a translation of it. Animated by his tastes and his desire for the distinction, because it had defied the learning of the time, he surrounded himself with all the works, small in number and insufficient as they were, which treated of sinology or the Chinese writing. The track was rough and almost im- practicable in the state in which he found the undertaking ; but he persevered because he felt he had found the May. With- out neglecting his profession of medicine, he found time to learn the Tartar language, copied all the alphabets he could procure, and in a manner made a vocabulary for his own use. After five years of labor he published his Essay on the Chinese Language and Literature. In doing this he gave his attention particularly to the Chinese writing, the composition, origin, form and variety of characters. From this he pursued the art of reading and writing the Chinese tongue ; and finally treated of the influence of accentuation exercised over the phonetic value of words." This essay was followed by a work, in 1811, entitled, The Study of Foreign Languages Among the Chinese, which attracted the greatest attention, in 1813 he published his Uranographic Mongole and his Dissertation on the monosylla- bic nature commonly attributed to the Chinese language. On the 19th of November, 1*14, he was appointed Professor of Chinese, in the College of France. From that time his life was devoted to the study of the languages of the extreme Orient. In 1820 lie made public his Researches Concerning the Tartar Language, or Memoirs on different points of the Grammar and DEVA B0DH1SAT0UA. 51 Literature of the Ouigours and Thibetans. After mentioning several other essays and works of Remusat, the writer in the Nouvelle Biographie Generate says : " The study of Chinese documents, both printed and in man- uscript, enabled the learned sinologue, to indicate to Cordier, according to the Japanese Encyclopaedia, the locality where the Calmouks collected the salts of ammonia, and to reveal the existence of two burning volcanoes, situated in Central Asia, four hundred leagues from the sea, information of which Humboldt, travelling in Chinese Tartary, was pleased to recog- nize as correct. The Japanese Encyclopaedia, is the most important work in relation to information concerning the state of the sciences, arts and occupations in China. Its entire civi- lization is therein described. Abel Remusat early gave a translation of the titles of the chapters of it, with that of an entire article relative to the tapir, that the imagination of the Chinese had transformed into a sort of fabulous animal. * * "Historically Abel Remusat was particularly occupied with the Tartar nations, and he know how to profit by the relations of the Chinese with them to solve many historical problems. Instead of making the barbarians who overrun the Roman Empire descend from the North he showed their oriental origin and the different localities of them in the countries of Asia. * * * The true object of the researches of Abel Remusat con- cerning the religions of China was Buddhism. Three memoirs from his pen appeared on this subject in the ' Journal des Savants' of 1831. Soon after he published his translation of the ' Book of Rewards and Punishments,' of the popular moral code. His labors on the history of Buddhism are numerous. The discovery that he made in the Japanese Encyclopaedia of the list of thirty-three first patriarchs of Buddhism, with the date of the birth and death of the greater number among them, relative to the Chinese chronology, entitled him, at least approximately to fix the epoch of the death of Buddha, which would have taken place nine hundred and fifty years before Jesus Christ. One of the centres of Buddhism was Rotan, which also became a great centre of civilization. Abel Remusat translated the history of that city. It was at this period that the pentaglot dictionary, called by the author the ' Somme or Whole of Buddhism,' was conceived. The translation of that collection, undertaken by Abel Remusat and E. Bournouf, was only begun. The former of these savants also intended to translate the journeyings of the religious votaries of China, going on pilgrimages to visit the places consecrated by the Buddhistic legends. Death surprised him, so to speak, with pen in hand." 52 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. Such was the learned Oriental scholar to whom the Hindoo spirit prophet referred. Whether this Buddhistic patriarch either under, the name of Deva Bodhisatoua, or Phou-sa, or Ma-Ming was found recorded in the line of patriarchs of Buddhism, by Remusat, in the Japanese Encyclopaedia, or not, we cannot tell. Should it be there, it would hardly be possible to doubt the authenticity of this strange, and as we incline to believe it, most important communication. In the absence of positive knowledge upon this point we are warranted in giving great weight to the reference of this Buddhistic spirit to the Japanese Encyclopaedia, and its partial translation by Remusat in 1821. But most signiricent of all is the fact that Remusat in his labor of translating that noted Oriental work, discovered a chronological list of the names of the thirty-three first Buddhistic patriarchs with the time of the birth and death of most of them, so fully given as to determine with considerable certainty, that the Buddhistic religion had its origin about nine hundred and fifty years before the Christian era, so-called. If we could obtain that chronological list of the first thirty-three patriarchs of Buddhism, and if it should prove that Ma-Ming was among them, and that he was the Buddhistic patriarch about two hundred years before the Christian era, as the communication seems to imply, it would be impossible to doubt the genuineness and authenticity of that communication. We will now proceed to analyze this very remarkable com- munication, when the indirect evidence of its authenticity will become almost irresistible. The spirit tells us that he was a trance medium, and that under the control of spirits he wrote several books that they were written in the Mahabarata country, which we understand to mean in that portion of India, where the Vedic Poem called "The Mahabarata," was com- posed and held as sacred that he it was who first taught in the metaphysical-allegorical style, two hundred B. C. that he afterwards sent the books thus written to Singapore that Apollonius of Tyana two hundred and fifty years afterwards found them in that centre of Buddhism that Apollonius bore them away with him, making such alterations in them as better suited his spiritual philosophy that they were originally used to typify the four seasons, caused by the annual revolution of the earth around the sun, but that they were used, or mis- used to typify a Saviour of men that as understood by the DEVA BODHISATOUA. 53 Hindoo priesthood they implied the time for preparing the ground, planting the seed, the harvest and gathering in time, and the feasting time or harvest home that those books were interpreted by the successive appearance of the Stars of the Zodiac, " the Star in the East," simply being the signal of seeding or planting time that these books were also used by the Hindoo priests to show certain things in the life of man that resembled the offices of nature that stars were used by them as an almanac, as a rural calendar, and as relating to the life of man and he might have added a fourth use of them as relating to the atmospheric or meteoric changes of the four seasons. No one who has given any attention to the subject of the Brahminical, Buddhistic, Zoroastrian, Egyptian, Grecian, and Roman religions, which all preceded the so-called Christian religion, can doubt or question the fact that they were one and all based upon the annual revolution of the earth around the sun, and the natural changes which were thus produced on the earth, and which especially affected the comforts, interests and happiness, or the misery, misfortunes and calamities of the human race. Such were the religions and philosophies, every- where met with by Apollonius of Tyana, in his long and active journeyings throughout the then civilized world. That the books obtained by him at Singapore, India, were of that nature, cannot be reasonably questioned. Those Buddhistic books were afterwards written, as has been alleged by the spirit of Ulphilas, bishop of the Goths, and Apollonius himself, in the Hebraic-Samaritan tongue ; the written language of his native country. They were afterwards copied by Hegessippus in the same tongue, and from the copy of Hegessippus, Ulphilas made his translation into the Gothic tongue. This Gothic bible of Ulphilas is sufficiently extant to-day in the Codex Argenteus to show that it is identical with the canonical books of the New Testament. We have thus a direct connection between the Gothic bible of Ulphilas and the Hindoo writings brought from India by Apollonius. This singularly disclosed transmission of Hindoo theology to Europe seems to be fully confirmed by the otherwise meaningless deco- rations of Christian churches, and the ceremonial mummeries of the Christian hierarchies, which are identical with the deco- rations of the caves and temples of India, and the feasts and 64 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. fasts and ceremonies observed and enforced by the Brahmanical and Buddhistic Hindoo priesthoods. Now it is a positive fact, especially noted by the learned Charles Francis Dupuis in his great work, " The History of A!l Systems of Worship," that upon the door of the main entrance to the Church of Notre Dame, at Paris, dedicated to the worship of Mary the alleged mother of Jesus Christ, are delineated in basso-relievo, our series of ideas, alluded to by the spirit purporting to be Ma-Ming. They consist first of a series of twelve panels arranged around the outer margin of the door, corresponding with the signs of the Zodiac, arranged in groups of three, each corresponding with the four seasons. The panels of eleven of those signs contain each the respective symbol representing it, to wit : Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, etc. But in the square corresponding with Virgo or the Celes- tial or Zodiacal Virgin, the symbol, a young woman, is absent, and in its place is a figure of the sculptor himself, at his work. The Virgin of the Zodiac which should have occupied that panel, is placed in the large central panel of the door, holding in her arms an infant effigy or representation of the new born Sun, which, according to all the so-called heathen systems of religion was supposed to be born of the zodiacal Virgin, at midnight, at the winter solstice, an event which Christians celebrate, in concert with the heathens of every hue, or condi- tion of savagery or civilization, at that precise hour. The church of Notre Dame or " Our Lady," stands on the site of a sacred grove of the ancient Gallic Druids, consecrated to the mother goddess of the northern nations ; afterward appropri- ated by the Roman conquerors of Gaul as the site of a temple consecrated to Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, and now consecrated to Mary, the Christian successor of the same zodiacal virgin mother of the Hun. On the same door of this noted Christian church is another series of panels, in which are arranged figures of men, denoting the different stages of each individual life on earth, the dress and garments of which denote the changes of the temperature of the seasons. On the same door is still another series of figures showing the various rural occupations of the year. Similar devices, says Dupuis, ornament the doors of the church of St. Denis, also in Paris, showing beyond all question that the Christian religion is nothing more than the same old theological Monsieur Tonson DEVA BODHISATOUA. 55 of heathendom come again in a Christian garb. In view of such facts as these, who can doubt the pagan origin and nature of the Christian religion? We feel sure, as these spirit revela- tions are continued, that every possible doubt as to this point will be done away with. What this Hindoo spirit says as to the incarnation of the Deity, the mediumistic character of the Buddhistic priesthood their methods of selecting their priests and teachers the spiritual origin of their religion and sacred writings, and indeed, all that he says, is worthy of the deepest consideration of all who desire to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, concerning the mutual relations of the world of mortals and the world of spirits. If they will give it this consideration, they will wonder more and more how such important information is given through the mediumship of an unlearned man ; and why it has been so long withheld. We confess our own amazement as we proceed in our researches, at the prospective store of knowledge that is soon to be poured, in one unbroken flood upon the minds of thoughtful and intelligent people. [As may be seen by the above comments, Mr. Roberts states that he had been unable to find any historical refer- ence concerning Deva Bodhisatoua. This was written by him July % 2, M. S. 34. Two years later, September 1, M. S. 36, he records the following. "The reader may judge of our surprise when in searching for some historical reference concerning Ardilua Babekra, two years after the communi- cation of Deva Bodhisatoua was published in Mind and Matter, we came across the following account of the remarkable man, whose spirit gave that grand explanation of the Buddhism of his time, which we translate from the French of Abel Remusat's work, ' Melanges Asiatiques.' " Compiler.] "The eleventh of the line of patriarchs was Founayche, who was succeeded by Ma-Ming or the celebrated Phou-sa, his name in Sanscrit was Deva Bodhisatoua. This one who was of the order of the incarnate divinities coming immediately after Buddha has given into the whole class of gods of the second order, the different names that he has received in the lan- guages of the various Buddhistic people. The Hindoos calls him Bodhisatoua, which signifies sensitive intelligence, the Tibetians have changed his name into Djangtchhoub or 56 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. Djangtchhoubsemspah. The Chinese have abbreviated it into Phou-sa, which by a very ridiculous misunderstanding, some Chinese idolaters, and following them many missionaries have given him the name of Goddess of Porcelain, they have lavished most honorable titles on him, such as most intelligent, most victorious, omnipotent, most holy son of Bouddha, born of ins mouth. We do not have at present to seek the allegorical sense of all these names, but it is very important to determine the age of the historical personage to whom they attributed them, for Bodhisatoua seems to have been one of the reformers to whom the Buddhist philosophy is most indebted. Georgi has given vent to a crowd of conjectures upon this subject, he takes Bodhisatoua for Somonakodom or Bouddha, and besides for a celebrated religious person in China in the 4th century after our era under the name of Fo-thou-tchhing, and even for Scythianus or Manes. By reason of this error he makes him live in the 3d century of our era. I must confess that Chinese authors themselves differ upon the epoch of this celebrated man, some make him live three hundred years after Bouddha others makesix hundred years interval, other still eight hun- dred years interval, but the Book of Mahaya whence is borrowed the succession of the Patriarchs, cuts this difficulty, since it makes Bodhisatoua die in the thirty-seventh year of Hian-Wang, 332 before J. C, or 018 years after the death of Chaikia-Mouni. He was born in the kingdom of Po-lo-nai, and had received from Founayche the deposit of the doctrine which he transmitted to the thirteenth Patriarch named Kabimara ; this one travelled in the west part of Indies and delivered his body to the flames in the forty-first year of Nan-Wang, 1274 before J. C." [Our readers will notice that the spirit of Bodhisatoua says he received the gospels, which afterward laid the foundation of the Christian religion, from spirit sources, he being a trance medium. The translation of Remusat claims, however, that he received them from his predecessor, Founayche. This evident contradiction is easily accounted for, as it is not likely that after taking so much trouble to suppress all evidence of the real origin of the Christian gospels, that an attempt would not be made to mislead in this direction. The great wonder is that at this late day, so much evidence can be obtained, which only shows, that at some point in their calculations, a misstep was made and that this evidence was overlooked, which makes it possible that in this the nineteenth century the true facts may be brought to light. The manner in which this last in forma- PLOTINUS. 57 tion was obtained is of itself, strong testimony, to the fact that though truth may be suppressed for a time, it cannot be so crushed that it will not come uppermost at last. Our readers will do well to carefully study this communication, as it will shed more light upon the supposed divine origin of the Christian gospels than any other information extant, proving that the priesthood after obtaining them changed them to suit their own views and purposes, thus perverting the truth to the detriment of all mankind. Compiler.] PliOTIflUS. The Neo~Platonist. " Ours is a War for Truth : As it was with me in the mortal form, so it is now with me in the spirit. While you right with benighted souls in the mortal form, I am fighting with the deluded millions in spirit. The school to which I belonged is known to you moderns as the Neo-Platonic ; by us it was called the Eclectic. The founder of this school was Ammonius the Peripatetic ; but the person who really furnished the materials for this school was Apollonius of Tyana ; and all the ideas that this school ever gave forth under Potamon, Ammonius Saccas and myself, were gathered from the originals of the school of that famous Hindoo, known to us by his Sanscrit name of Deva Bodhisatoua. His writings were the foundation, combined with some Platonic writings, which form the whole of what the Eclectic school taught. In the first place, the whole history of Jesus of Nazareth, so-called, was started by that Hindoo representing the life of Buddha, and afterward taught by Apollonius of Tyana. In my mortal life I was a particular friend of the Emperor Gallienus. I had frequent conversations with those who claimed to know any- thing of this Jesus, and proved to them so conclusively that Apollonius was the real Jesus, that my works were destroyed by the Christians ; and the next spirit that communicates after me, shall be the one to tell you when and where they were destroyed. This pope comes here by the force of my medium- istic power. I acted in precisely the same capacity to the Emperor Gallienus that Apollonius did to Vespasian, that is, I was his oracle. I obtained almost all your modern physical phenomena. I had independent writing on copper plates, 58 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. which were closed and sealed together, and the writing was produced on the inside of those plates. I also taught in my own house on two days of the week while in trance or an ecstatic state. It is by the mediumistic power of us so-called heathens, that the Christian interpolators and destroyers of other men's good works are compelled to come back here and confess their rascality. Fight them faithfully on your side, my good brother, and you will find that one Plotinus will ever help you when he can. I have exhausted the time allotted me for this sitting. Good-bye." [For the historical record of Plotinus, we refer the reader to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, also Nouvelle Biographie Gen- erale. Compiler.] We have found enough evidence in the works referred to above to show that Plotinus was beyond all question a medium ; and no one will deny that he was the first Neo-Platonic Eclectic author of whose writings we have any trace. It is the spirit of this truly great and good man who comes back to testify to facts regarding the Christian Scriptures and religion, which absolutely confirms the spirit testimony of Ulphilas, Apollonius of Tyana, Vespasian, Deva Bodhisatoua, Felix, Ignatius, Gregory, Hegessippus and many others ; that the original source of all that is called Christianity was the Scriptures of Buddhism, introduced into Western Asia, Europe and Africa, by Apollonius of Tyana, afterward modified by Amonius the Peripatetic, Potamon, Amonius Saccas, and Plotinus himself. Thus do the facts accumulate that must render as clear as the noonday sun that Christianity is a monstrous fraud and delusion, that has desolated the earth and filled the spirit world with demons. The reader may imagine with what curiosity we awaited the next control, that was to show the power of Plotinus, the spirit medium, to compel a Christian pope to disclose the most important secrets of his church. Reader, we are about to bring to your notice facts that must prove beyond all question, not only the authenticity and truthfulness of these astounding communications, but also the wonderful attributes of the medium through whom they are given. Read attentively the facts that we are about to lay before you, and doubt if you can that high and beneficent spirits are behind the revelations of truth being made through him and recorded and published by ourself. The communica- tion referred to was from the spirit of Pope Gregory. POPE GREGORY. 59 POPE G^EGO^V VII. By Whose Order the Library of the Palatine Apollo Was Destroyed in the 11th Century. " Good Day : I come here by force, as the preceding speaker (the spirit of Plotinus) told you ; and what is worse, I am forced to tell you exactly what I did, when here in the mortal form. When living on earth I was known as Pope Gregory, and what I am here for to-day is to own to the destruction of the Library of the Palatine Apollo, which contained the whole of the writings of the School of Alexandria from the days of Potamon to the days of one Maximus. And what was my excuse for its destruction? Religious bigotry. I made the excuse for it, that I did not want the clergy to have their minds diverted from their holy work by studying heathen literature. But the real cause of my action in that matter was, that there were recorded in that library all the facts that would prove that no such person as Jesus of Nazareth ever existed ; and therefore, feeling the weakness and insecurity of my position, I did all I could to strengthen it, by letting as few as possible know what the real contents of that library were. I am here also to state that there is a power a band of spirits now occupying a position that enables them, when they want a man to return here and atone for the wrongs he has done during his mortal life, to force him to come back and communicate the truth. By the force of truth itself, he is compelled to come back and acknowledge his wrongs. It is the same with spirits as with mortals ; they love power and hate opposition as much there as they did here. That is all I have to say." Consult Chambers' Encyclopaedia for sketch of Pope Gregory. When I was told by this spirit, through the lips of the medium, that he had destroyed the library of the Palatine Apollo, which contained the whole of the writings of the Alex- andrian (or Neo-Platonic) school, from the days of Potamon to the days of one Maximus; or, in other words, from the early part of the first to the middle of the fourth century, I wondered whether it could be true ; for it seemed to me that no man possessed of the learning Avhich such a library was said to contain, could have been so lost to every sense of moral princi- 60 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. pie, as to be guilty of such a cruel, heartless destruction of invaluable literature. When I came to seek for light upon this point I was surprised to find that there was no historical reference to the fate of the Palatine Apollo Library, and indeed no historical reference in many scores of works to such a library, subsequent to the reign of Julian the Apostate (so-called by Christians) in the fourth century. I found references to the fact that the Emperor Augustus had erected a temple to Apollo on the Palatine Hill in Pome, and had founded a library in connection with it. This temple was burned in the reign of the Emperor Julian, on the same night that the Temple of Apollo at Daphne, near Antioch, was burned. It was further stated that it was with the greatest difficulty that the Sibyline books were saved. Whether the library shared the fate of the temple was not stated. I infer however that it was not burned at that time, but existed until it was destroyed by the order of Pope Gregory. [It seems to be a disputed question among writers as to whether Gregory I, or Gregory VII, ordered the destruction of the library Palatine Apollo. It is well known, however, that this library was wholly or partially destroyed several times. It is possible, in fact probable, that both of these Popes caused its destruction in the time of their various reigns, and this may be the solution of the much discussed question, which arises from the fact that John of Salisbury is the only authority for the statement that the Palatine Apollo library was destroyed by the order of Gregory, and cites his proclamation to that efiect in his work, " The Policraticus." Who was John of Salisbury? A historian who was the private secretary of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and through him ambassador to the Papal See, which very fact gave him opportunities to obtain knowledge, the nature of which is not to lie carelessly estimated in consid- ering his works, which even to-day, are regarded invaluable. Men like Gregory I, and Gregory VII, whose whole lives were given to perpetuating the power of their church, would certainly not stop at the burning of a library to accomplish their object. Therefore, whether Gregory I, or Gregory VII, caused the destruction of the valuable library in question, the facts which come down to us show that it was destroyed in the interests of the so-called Christian church. Compiler.] EUTHALIUS. 61 EUTHALlItJS. A Greek Theologian. "Good Evening, Sir: My name was Euthalius of Alex- andria. I lived in the fifth century and was a commentator on the Pauline Epistles. Those epistles are those which were brought from India by Apollonius, and obtained by the latter through King Phraotes of Taxilla. The Gospel according to Matthew is not original, but is of Armenian origin. The Gospel according St. Mark, was left by Apollonius with the Thessalon- ians according to the text of the epistle to them. The Gospel according to St. Luke is but a modified version of the legend of Prometheus Bound as rendered by Lucian and Marcion at Rome. The Gospel according to St. John was written by Apollonius of Tyana toward the later part of his life, when he was an old man, on the island of Patmos, where he retired to end his days, in isolation from the human race. That gospel is a blending with what the inspired seer hoped for, and the knowledge which he feared to impart in such terms as unedu- cated mortals could understand. The Acts of the Apostles relate the doings of Apollonius and his disciples, and this was fully understood by the Gnostics and Neo-Platonists up to the time of Eusebius of Csesarea. Ammonius Saccas, Plotinus, and their followers, were Gymnosophists, Gnostics and Neo-Platon- ists combined. They had no idea nor intention of promulgating anything but what they regarded as truth. Truer or better men than were Ammonius and Plotinus never lived. This was made plain to me by the study of their writings. Apollonius, Ammonius and Plotinus were the purest and best of men, and their only desire was to elevate the human race. Their teach- ings had relation to the Brahmanical and Buddhistic canonical narratives concerning the Indian Saviour Krishna. I now see an ethereal spirit of light which appears behind and over you [These words were addressed to us.] who says he is Krishna, of whom the story of his divine origin, persecution by the tyrant Kansa, and miraculous performances were exaggerations; and that his sole work was that of a moral reformer, and his only object to make the people of his country happy. For 62 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. these services he was worshipped, and regarded as an incarnation of Brahma, or the spirit of the universe. He shows me the figure three repeated four times, by which I understand him to imply that he was born 3333 B. C , in India, at the foot of a mountain near Mathura on the Junna. [We remarked we had always supposed Krishna to have been a myth.] No, lie was a man, and the original of all the world's modern Saviours. The canonical epistles as far as I knew anything about them, were all derived from the writings of Apollonius of Tyana, who, to conceal that fact, has been called Paul or Paulus. The names of James, Peter, John, and Jude, were attached to the other epistles sent to communities too insignificant to be mentioned. All these teachings were appropriated, either successfully or unsuccessfully, by Eusebius of Ciesarea, to make good his theological Christian scheme. But, he failing in his purpose to some extent, and I seeing that it was a grand opportunity for me to gain renown, acknowledged their authority and set about establishing what Eusebius had failed to prove true regarding them from his standpoint. I put these Indian writings of Apollonius into my own shape and eliminated from them every mention of Apollonius or Krishna, and substituted therefor Paul, and the Christ idea. This work of Eusebius and myself became the better assured in proportion as the original writings and the traces of them became destroyed. What I have told you is the truth." We refer to account of Euthalius, to Nouvelle Biographic Generale. According to the spirit statement of Euthalius, it is very certain that the Gospels of Matthew and John were both the production of Apollonius of Tyana. The former written at an early period of his career, and closely in accordance with the Gymnosophic theology or philosophy ; and the latter near the close of his life after he had matured his theological conceptions. There is no doubt that the theological and philosophical views of Apollonius underwent very material modifications as he advanced in his realization of the spiritual department of natural forces and causes, and hence the spiritual nature of the later gospel as compared with the crude, and less spiritually developed characteristics of the first or original gospel of his adoption. There is a singular analogy between the name of Apollonius and John. They are both designations of the Light that lighteth all men coming into the world, the Bun. The sun among the Greeks was alike designated Apollo and Ion ; Ion the Greek name of the sun etymologically speaking, EUTHALIUS. 63 "I" the one, and "on" the being the one being. Eusebius and his successors who have labored so hard to deprive Apolloniua of the credit of his theological labors, have substituted Ion or John for Apollonius. In view of all the facts we are led to credit the spirit statement of Euthalius, and to accept his statement that Apollonius wrote the Gospel of St. John, as it is called, on the Island of Patmos, where he also under spirit control wrote the Revelations. The spirit of Euthalius tells us that the Acts of the Apostles relate the doings of Apollonius and his disciples, and that this was fully understood by the Gnostics and Neo-Platonists, up to the time of Eusebius, A. D. 325 to 350. This is undoubtedly the fact, since Saul of Tarsus or St. Paul was no other individ- ual than Apollonius of Tyana himself. Ammonius Saccas, Plotinus and Porphyry were undoubtedly Gnostic followers of Apollonius, and all were what Euthalius testifies they were, as good and pure men as ever lived. It is almost certain, that the divine incarnation in Apollonius's system of philosophy and theology, was Krishna of the Hindoo theologies called Kristos in the Greek language and known in the various other languages by still other titles, as will be found in other communications. The spirit says that the canonical Epistles, so far as he knew anything about them, were all derived from the waitings of Apollonius of Tyana ; and that to conceal their real authorship Eusebius attributed them to Paul or Paulus, which was but a modification of Pol, the abbreviated name of Apollonius. Euthalius tells us that Eusebius did not perfectly succeed in robbing Apollonius of the credit of his labors, and that he, Euthalius, completed that work. In view of the facts that Euthalius is acknowledged to have broken the Epistles, canon- ical and Catholic, and the Acts of the Apostles into chapters and verses, in order to add to the contents of the chapters, and as it is also admitted historically, on the testimony of Euthalius himself, that he collated them with the copies in the library of Eusebius Pamphilus at Ca?sarea, there can be no doubt he was fully acquainted with the alterations that had been made from the originals by Eusebius. Indeed, he tells us that the Indian writings of Apollonius were at that time in the Pamphilian library at Csesarea, and that he modified them to suit himself, and eliminated from them the names of Apollonius and Krishna, and substituted therefor Paul and the Christ idea. 64 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. POTAJVIOH. The Great Alexandrian Reformer. ' ' Sir : There has never been a religious idea promulgated on earth in latter times, that has not had its counterpart in more ancient religious systems. The principal quarrels of the Christian church have been over the doctrines of the Trinity, or the effort to make three out of one. This has been the occasion of a vast amount of bloodshed. In my day I tried to reconcile these credal ideas of all religious systems, and to amal- gamate them together ; but the same difficulties met my efforts that meet yours to-day. Ecclesiastics have but one means to keep their hold upon the people, and that is the encouragement of ignorance and bigotry. Wrest these from them and their power is gone. For trying to regenerate old ideas for trying to make a better system or a more systematic religion, I was met by curses, and I ended my life in exile. I was banished because I tried to purify the then existing religious systems. But you have a far better day to work in, because you have the aid of the greatest art of modern times, namely, the art of printing, and you can scatter truth all over the land. Keep on with your work and although you maybe persecuted there is one thing they cannot do they cannot banish you nor take your life at this day. All the good you moderns enjoy has been the work of men who were infidels to the prevailing creeds and beliefs of their time. And in conelusion, I want to say a few words on the absolute proofs of spirit existence. We dare not as spirits give the masses of the present day absolute proofs of spirit-life, for should we do so they would not perform their mission here. Once in possession of the absolute proof of the after-life you would find this people becoming a nation of suicides. First they must understand the true duties of mortal existence before 1 1 icy can safely receive the absolute proofs of spirit existence I am Potamon." On receiving the above communication, and having no knowledge ourself of who Potamon was, we concluded to look the matter up. With the exception of a four-line mention of him, in the American Encyclopa?dia, we could find nothing POTAMON. 65 concerning him in either of the English or American Encyclo- paedias or Biographical Dictionaries. After a protracted search we found the following reference to this great Religious Re- former in the Nouvelle Biographie Generale, published in Paris in 1862, of which we give our translation : " Potamon, a Greek philosopher of the Alexandrian school, was born at Alexandria and lived in the third century of the Christian era. It is true that, according to Suidas, who speaks of Airesis and Potamon, this philosopher should have been contemporaneous with the Emperor Octavius-Augustus, but Porphyry, in his life of Plotinus, (c. 9.), said positively that Potamon, according to his understanding, treated of a new philosophy of which he laid the foundation. Now Plotinus was born about A. D. 250, and died at the age of sixty-five, and evidently lived in the third century of our era. The same ought to be the case with Potamon. Now what was this new philosophy of which Porphyry speaks, and of which he repre- sents Potamon as the founder, according to those descriptions of Plotinus ? It is found contained in two works, one of which Mas a commentary on the "Timeus" of Plato, and the other, "A Treatise" on first principles. Of these treatises there re- mains absolutely nothing ; but we know something of the second from a passage of Diogenes Laertius in the introduction of his book "On the Lives and Doctrines of Illustrious Philoso- phers." 'It is but a short time,' said this biographer, 'since an Eclectic school was instituted by Potamon of Alexandria, which selected from the doctrines of all the different sects. Two things,' Potamon explained, 'are necessary to discern truth : on one part, the principle that judges, that is to say, reason ; on the other, the exact representation of the objects of our judgment. As to the principles of things he recognized four matter, quality, action and place ; in other words, of what and by whom a thing is made, how it is made, and where it is made. He established as the aim to which all ought to tend, a perfectly virtuous life, without excluding at all times the needs of the body nor those things external to it.' The results of this passage from Diogenes Laertius, combined with the testimony of Porphyry, are, first, that Potamon was the founder of the Eclectic school, and that, probably, this school owes its name to him ; second, that he adopted the Peripatetic doctrine relative to the principles of things ; and third, that in ethics he had attempted a kind of conciliation between Stoicism and Epicureanism. C. Mallet." In the light of the foregoing spirit communication, it would seem that Suidas was right as to the time in which Potamon 66 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. lived and taught Eclecticism, and that Porphyry, and M. Mallet, the French author, were wrong. Potamon undoubtedly lived and taught under the Roman Emperor Octavius- Augustus at Alexandria, and not in the third century, as erroneously claimed by M. Mallet, on the authority of Porphyry. It would seem also to settle the question as to the disputed age in which Diogenes Laertius lived and wrote. Speaking of the latter, M. Aube says : " We know absolutely nothing of the life of Dioge- nes Laertius. It can hardly be affirmed that he was born at Laertia, a city of Cilicia ; in what year is unknown. We are reduced to conjectures as to the epoch in which he lived ; and on this point critics have widely differed. Some, by an evident confusion, made him live under the reign of Augustus ; others, in the time of Constantino." Now, as Diogenes Laertius said, in writing of Potamon, that the latter had a short time before established a new school of philosophy, it becomes almost cer- tain that Diogenes was contemporaneous "with Potamon, and that they both lived and wrote under the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus, at or about the time when it is said that Jesus Christ lived and taught on earth. Is it not a most signifi- cant fact that so little is now known of those two great Eclectic authors, while their teachings and writings have been surrepti- tiously appropriated by the Christian priesthood and attributed to the fictitious man-god Jesus? In view of the importance that we attach to the spirit return of Potamon, we cannot re- frain from laying before our readers, the following translation of a passage from M. Aube's sketch of the life of this great author : "The work of Diogenes Laertius has for its title, 'Lives and Opinions of the Most Illustrious Philosophers.' It comprises ten books, with a preface, which contains some general consid- erations on the origin of philosophy, the division of the schools, and the different parties among philosophers. Diogenes com- mences by opposing the opinion of those who place the cradle of philosophy in the East. Grecian philosophy, according to him, was autochthonous (native to Greece). The first period comprises the seven sages. The second, which is the age of development and maturity, commenced with Anaximander and Pythagoras and ended with Chrysippus and Epicurus, l( is embraced entirely in two schools; the Ionian school, of which Anaximander, the disciple of Thales, is the chief ami Chrysippus was the last representative ; and the Italian school, of which Pythagoras is the father, and which became extinct POTAMON. 67 with Epicurus. Such was the plan of Diogenes as set forth in the preface to his work. It cannot be denied that this plan was extremely simple, but at the same time we cannot but be aston- ished that this historian made, so readily, an abstract of the most perceptible differences which distinguished the various philosophical doctrines ; and that he mingled thus arbitrarily the most opposite schools of philosophy." It will be seen from that extract from Diogenes' writings that as a historian he was governed by the Eclectic philosophy and sought to co-operate with his contemporary Potamon in pro- moting harmony among the rival religious partisans of their epoch. It is a sad outcome of their benevolent efforts that the Christian priesthood, who sought to turn their beneficent labors to their personal advantage, should have succeeded in conceal- ing from their fellow-men the true source of their stolen and corrupted Eclectic treatises. The reason why Diogenes Laertius had bo little to say about his contemporary, the greatest of all reformers, Potamon, is rendered very evident from the state- ment made in his communication, or the communication con- cerning him, that he was banished for his efforts to bring a religion of peace to his fellow-men. We would have the reader to remark, especially, that the communicating spirit has nothing to say about Potamon as the founder of a school of philosophy, but expressly claims that he sought to reconcile the varying credal ideas of all religions. For this humane and benevolent effort he incurred the united animosity of the pre- vailing religious sects of his country ; for which he was banished and died in exile. The parallel which, as a sjririt, he draws between his own experience and that which he reminds us we are passing through, is not the least significant feature of that communication. Time and space will not now admit of a more extended pre- sentation of the incidents connected with the receipt of that communication. We will, therefore, point out a few things in connection with it, that seem to us of pregnant importance. There can be little, if any, reasonable doubt, that Potamon lived at the very time when it is said Jesus lived that he sought to institute, as the communication says, "A better system, or a more systematic religion," that although the writings of all the other founders of religious systems in Greece and at Alex- andria, have been preserved and brought down to our time, with the exception of the brief reference to him and writings, 68 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. by his contemporary Diogenes Laertius, there is not an authen- tic trace of his writings preserved that he was an illustrious philosopher and worthy to rank with the founders of the other great Grecian schools, in the estimation of the Eclectic biogra- pher Diogenes that the latter should have ventured to say so little concerning Potamon and his writings, or if he said more than has come down to us, that what he did say was suppressed by those who sought to rob this great religious reformer of the credit of his beneficent labors that his teachings were con- demned by the more powerful of the great rival religious sects or schools of philosophy, as they were called, that then pre- vailed that, as the communication says, he was banished for his attempt to reconcile the contradictory creeds and dogmas of the various religious systems of his day and died in exile that the original writings from which those of the present New Testament, as it is called, were derived, were in the Greek language that they are conceded to have been obtained from Alexandria, the native city of Potamon and the scene of his great attempt to reform the prevailing religious systems of his time that the ChristianFathers, so-called, should have utterly ignored Potamon, the great founder of the religious system that they appropriated and attributed falsely to God, in order that they might the more readily and thoroughly rule over their ignorant and too confiding fellow-beings all these and many other facts point most strongly, if not positively, to the conclu- sion that Potamon, a great-souled, learned and benevolent Greek, was the true author of the religious system which, no doubt greatly modified and altered to suit the interests of ambitious and tyrannical priests, has come down to us, as the work of Jesus Christ. Put by far the most significant fact of all is the labored efforts of modern Christian sectaries and writers to show that Pota- mon did not found his Eclectic system of religion until the third century, and not at the very epoch at which it was said Jesus Christ lived and taught, as Suidas stated when he said "Potamon should have been contemporaneous with the Em- peror Octavius-Augustus." It is equally significant that the same efforts have been put forth to make it appear that Dioge- nes Laertius did not live and write his biographical work "On the Lives and Doctrines of Illustrious Philosophers" until the third century or later; the latter having, as before men- POTAMON. 69 tioned, said, in speaking of Potamon, " It is but a short time since an Eclectic school was instituted by Potamon of Alexan- dria, which chose from the doctrines among the different sects." The Christian plagiarists" could not afford to have it known that the author whose writings they were stealing, lived at the very time when they pretended that their fictitious man-god lived. It is amazing that so monstrous and manifest a priestly fraud, as is the pretence that Jesus Christ was the author of the contents of the New Testament should have re- mained so long concealed. But for the fact that Potamon, the Grecian sage and reformer, at last found the means, through a poor, persecuted, and uneducated medium, to return after nearly nineteen hundred years and assert his place in the history of literature and learning, the great mysterious secret of the real origin of the Christian religion would have remained with the Catholic priesthood, the only Christian priesthood, in existence. The Protestant clergy of the various dissenting sects know nothing whatever of the religious system about which they claim to know so much and at the same time con- fess they know so little. Question them about what they preach for positive truth and they will tell you that it is all mystery mystery mystery. How far the religious doctrines and practices selected by Potamon from all the prevailing religions of his day, have been retained by his Christian plagiarists may never be fully known, but that the latter have coined them largely seems very obvious. It is a conceded fact that The Gospels According to St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John, as well as the Acts of the Apostles, are but modified versions of some older writing or writings, the author or authors of which had been most unac- countably concealed. It has not been pretended that Jesus Christ ever wrote a line of the contents of the New r Testament, nor can it be seriously pretended that such a founder of a new religion lived at the time the Christian writers assign as the epoch of his earthly career ; if it be once established that Diog- enes Laertius lived and wrote during the reign of the Emperor Augustus, as we are ready to show was the fact against the world. M. Aube has fully testified to the unprejudiced manner in which Diogenes has presented the doctrinal tenets and creeds of the prevailing religious sects of that early age, and there 70 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. cannot be a doubt that had any such founder of a religion, such as Jesus is represented to have been, lived and taught the doc- trines attributed to him, Diogenes Laertius would have inclu- ded him in his biographical list of illustrious philosophers. Even Suidas, the Greek lexicographer, who stated that Diogenes Laertius, "should have been contemporaneous with the Emperor Octavius- Augustus," has shared the same fate as befel Potamon and Diogenes, at the hands of the Christian priesthood who, prior to the discovery of the art of printing, for fourteen hundred years monopolized the learning of the world. Some Christian authors have sought to make it appear that no such person as Suidas lived and that the name was assumed by the author of the writings bearing his name ; others have sought to show that he lived and wrote as late as the fourth century, in order to remove him as far as possible from the time in which he actually wrote ; but there can be little doubt that Suidas lived and wrote in or near the reign of Augustus, but where he lived seems not to be known. Giraldi, the Italian poet and archaeologist, writing of Suidas, in the sixteenth century, says that it was under the reign of Augustus that he lived. Judging from the obscurity thrown over his history by Christian writers generally, we conclude that Giraldi was correct ; he deriving his knowledge upon the subject from sufficient data in the Vatican, at Rome, where Leo X, allowed him to reside while visiting Koine with his pupil, Hercules, son of Count Rangone, afterwards known as Cardinal Rangone. For some reason, sufficient to his papal masters, Adrian VI, and Clement VII, he never acquired a higher position than Apostolic Prothonotary. We infer that Giraldi in his archaeo- logical researches, had learned too much concerning the true origin of the Christian religion and hence he was neglected and persecuted. The simple fact that he had discovered that Potamon, Diogenes Laertius and Suidas, were contemporane- ous authors, under the reign of Augustus at the time Jesus Christ was falsely alleged to have lived, was enough to have cost him his life, and no doubt it Mould have done so, only for his influence with the people in the priest-ridden age and country. In view, therefore, of the circumstances that we have hurriedly thrown together in the great pressure of our general editorial labors, all tending so strongly to corroborate the state- ments of t be foregoing spirit communication, we conclude that POTAMON. 71 the communication is authentically from the spirit of the founder of the Eclectic school of Alexandria, that he lived at the precise time when Jesus Christ is said to have lived, and that he attempted the greatest and noblest religious reformation that is known in the past history of the world. That Diogenes Laertius and Suidas, contemporaneous writers of that day, should have noticed Potamon as the founder of a grandly beneficent school of religious reformers, and that they should have made no mention of Jesus Christ, as engaged in such a work, at the only period when it is pretended he was so en- gaged, puts an end forever to the misrepresentation that the teachings and inculcations of the New Testament were the work of any such human or divine being as Jesus. Every rational person might have known that the writings of the New Testament, were the work of a man or a school of men who sought to blend such portions of the preceding creeds, doctrines, ceremonies, practices, and religious formulas into a single religion, that would serve to harmonize and unite man- kind in one common effort to advance the welfare of all. No person can attentively read the New Testament writings, and not perceive the fact that there is hardly a paragraph of them which does not contain very clear evidence that it is but a slightly modified reproduction of some tenet or doctrine of some one or more of the various religious systems prevailing at the time of their production, or that prevailed in the reign of Augustus, when Potamon lived and founded the Eclectic school of religious instruction. The religious systems of China, India, Persia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Palestine, and even the Druidical system of Northern and Western Europe, were largely drawn from to make up the Eclectic system of religion founded by Potamon ; a religion which for a period of more than a hundred years after he died in exile, was sup- pressed, and then revived as being of divine origin, and attrib- uted to "Ies," the Phoenician name of the god Bacchus or the Sun personified ; the etymological meaning of that title being, "i" the one and "es" the fire or light; or taken as one word "ies" the one light. This is none other than the light of St. John's gospel ; and this name is to be found everywhere on Christian altars, both Protestant and Catholic, thus clearly showing that the Christian religion is but a modification of the Oriental Sun Worship, attributed to Zoroaster. The same 72 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. letters I H S, which are in the Greek text, are read by Christ- ians "Jes," and the Roman Christian priesthood added the terminus "us," making the name of the fictitious author of the Eclectic system of Potamon, "Jesus." This was a tub thrown to the Parsee whale by the successors of Potamon. To that name the latter added the name of the Hindoo deity Christau, thus, as the representative of the new system, making not Potamon its founder, but Jesus Christ, the compound deified myth of the Orientals and Hindoos, the nominal head of the church. In view of what we have here submitted for the unprejudiced consideration of our readers on a topic of transcendent import- ance, if truth is ever to attain to its proper place in the estima- tion of mankind, Ave claim to have taken a position in relation to the true origin and nature of the so-called Christian system of religion that cannot be shaken, and in order to test its value we challenge the Christian world to show that we are in error, in our claim that Potamon and his followers were the founders of the so-called Christian religion, and not Jesus Christ, as they claim. We ask our readers to invite the attention of the Christ- ian ministry, everywhere, to this fact and require of them in the cause of truth to explain, or like men acknowledge that the religion they are teaching is false. We will add in connection with what wo have previously offered bearing upon the history of the great religious reformer Potamon, that we have given such references to him as have come down to us, or rather such references to him as the Ro- man Catholic priesthood have permitted to reach the public. Whether there is not in the Vatican library at Rome, among the secret archives of the Pontificial church, much fuller information in relation to this remarkable man, we may never know. Enough, however, has been disclosed to show that Potamon attempted to formulate a religious system by taking the best portions of the various religious systems of his time, and blending them so as to make a system that would be adapted to take the place of all other religious systems. We remarked that we were impressed by the fact that while Diogenes Laertius, in the introduction to his inestimable work, "The Lives and Opinions of Illustrious Philosophers," men- tions Potamon, and makes a general statement of his views and teachings in the introduction to his work, vet he does not pre- POTAMON. 73 tend to notice him in the body of his work. We inferred that Diogenes, had said so little concerning the teachings of Pota- mon as is preserved, from fear of consequences personal to himself, Potamon, having, as he says in his communication, been banished on account of his attempt to found a new and more perfect system of religion. On further investigation, we conclude that Diogenes Laertius did set forth the personal history and opinions of Potamon, as he did the personal history and opinions of all the other celebrated philosophers of his time. In his work over eighty illustrious philosophers are treated of by Diogenes Laertius, all of them anterior to Potamon, and yet not one word in the body of the work in relation to this the greatest and most modern of them all. The fact that Diogenes makes especial mention of him in the introduction to his work, as the founder of a new sect, that selected its doctrines from all the other sects, and the great end of which was to develop a perfect and pure life, shows how far Potamon was before all the other philosophers of Greece. His school was established at Alexandria only a short time before Diogenes wrote, and yet Potamon is not so much as mentioned in the list of philoso- phers, whose teachings he sought to embody in his work. It will not do to say that Diogenes either intentionally or inadvertently omitted to give the life and opinions of Potamon. The probabilities are so strong as almost to amount to a cer- tainty, that Diogenes did give a history more or less in detail of Potamon and his teachings. That this history of Potamon is not in the biographical work of Diogenes as it has come down to us, renders it most certain that it has been suppressed by those into whose hands that work afterwards fell. Who were the persons into whose hands the work of Diogenes fell? Most certainly they were the Christian priesthood, into ' whose hands the whole literary treasures of ancient times fell after the banishment and condemnation of Potamon. Then, it was the Christian priesthood who for some purpose suppressed that portion of the writings of Diogenes Laertius relating to Potamon. As in the order of arrangement adopted by Diogenes, in the preface to his work, he would have sketched the history of Potamon and his opinions last, it was an easy thing to eliminate that portion without in any way interfering with the biographies that preceded the biography of Potamon. Not so with the brief allusion in the preface to 74 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. Potanion and his teachings. It would be impossible to erase or remove it without showing that for some reason a part of the preface had been destroyed, and hence that precious remnant of the teachings of Potanion has been allowed to conic down to us. These priestly foes to truth naturally thought that in those few lines of that preface, no one would ever perceive their rela- tion to the origin of the Christian religion, and hence it did not share the fate of the biography itself. But for the return of the spirit of Potanion, his declaring what he attempted to do, and his ostracism and banishment, therefor, through the influence of the rival religious sects, the wonderful significance of that reference by Diogenes to Potanion would have continued to escape public observation. In the light of his spirit communi- cation its true significance is rendered plain. What was there in the writings of Potanion that was so obnoxious to his religious and philosophical contemporaries ; and to those who have since sought to destroy every vestige of the religious system he founded in Alexandria in the reign of Augustus? Can there be a doubt but that he sought to blend with the metaphysical theories of Greece and Rome, the ethical and theological systems of the other peoples of his age, and thus establish a new system that should contain and effect all of good that could be derived from each and all of them? This was the part of true wisdom, and shows that Potanion was as far before the philosophers and priests of his time, as he was before the Christian plagiarists who appropriated Ins labors uncredited, in all that can give lustre to a human life. As before said, we may never know exactly what Potanion taught, but when we consider the care with which the Christ- ian priesthood have sought to conceal the fact that Potanion lived and taught at the very time when, it is said, the man-god Jesus lived and taught, we may naturally infer that the teach- ings and doctrines of Potanion were the same, or nearly the same, as those which they have attributed falsely to .Jesus. To give the weight of divine authority to these doctrines, it was indispensable to destroy as far as possible all trace of their human origin, and hence so little lias come down to us in the name of tlie true author of those doctrines, the founder of the Kclectic system of religion. It lias been the boast of Christian writers thai there never was so perfect a religious system established upon the earth as POTAMON. 75 the Christian religion, and yet there is not a tenet, dogma, doctrine, ceremony, form or prayer, fast or feast, title of deity, form of church government, official rank or religious observance of any kind, that is not identical with some prototype to be found in one or more of the more ancient religious systems. That being so, the originator of that religion was an Eclectic, whether Potamon or Jesus ; and as both must have lived at or about the same time, if the latter lived at all, and as Potamon is by all authorities conceded to be the founder of Eclecticism in religion, and as Jesus is not so much as mentioned by any one as having been a teacher of Eclecticism, it becomes more than a reasonable certainty that Potamon, and not Jesus, was the founder of what has been called or miscalled Christianity. We have found access to information that we feel confident will show beyond all question that no such person, man, or God, as Jesus Christ, had anything to do with establishing the religion that has been taught in that name. We have at our command many incidental facts, all tending to show that the Christian religion is solely of human origin, and has nothing especially divine connected with it. For more than a hundred years there was little or no trace left of the teachings of Potamon or of the Eclectic system of religion which he founded. About that time the books com- prised in the New Testament, so-called, were brought to light, and were entitled the "Gospels According to St. Mathew, St. Mark, St. Luke, St. John, and The Acts of the Apostles," etc. Why they were so designated, and by whom they were so designated, no one knows, or if they did know, none have told us. Those titles show very plainly that they are not the Gospel (or God-spell) according to Jesus Christ. If they had been the latter, the Christian priesthood would not have hesitated to say so. We have just as much right to infer that those writings were different versions of the teachings of Jesus ; and we have vastly more reason to think so, in view of the facts we have stated and those which we intend to adduce in detail in the course of this investigation. The first follower of the teachings of Potamon who avowed his conversion to the Eclectic religion was Ammonius Saccas, of whom too little was known, or at least too little of whose teachings have been permitted to come down to us. Of this great teacher the Biographie Universelle says : 76 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. "Ammonius Saccus, thus called because, it is said, he was a sack or bag bearer in his youth. He was a native of Alexandria and lived toward the end of the second century. His parents were poor and Christians; they raised him in their religion. Disgusted with his wearing calling, he left it to give himself up to the study of Philosophy, in which it is believed he had Panhenus as his master. After some years he opened a school and drew around him a great number of disciples of whom the most celebrated were Herrenius, Origen and Plotinus. This school is ordinarily regarded as the first of the Eclectic philos- ophy. This opinion, nevertheless, needs rectification. Eclec- ticism is the doctrine of those who, without embracing any particular system, take from each system that which is most conformable to truth, and of these various selections arranging a new system as a whole. It was in this manner that Potamon proceeded. But it is impossible to give the name of Eclecticism to the philosophy [why not religion?] of Ammonius, a mon- strous and singular collection of the most contradictory opin- ions, indeed, not content with having amalgamated without arrangement the fundamental systems of the different Greek sects, Epicureanism excepted, he fell into the same confusion relative to religious principles; so that the chaos of his doc- trines embraced alike philosophic opinions and sacred dogmas. He ought then to be regarded rather as the founder of Theoso- phy or the Illuminated. Ammonius never wrote anything. He confided his principles only to a small number of disciples and under the veil of mystery. Meantime, some historians make him the author of an 'Evangelical Concordance,' which is found in the seventh volume of 'Bibliotheque de Peres,' and that others attributed with better reason to a bishop Ammo- nius." The Encyclopaedia Britannica says of Ammonius : "Ammonius, surnamed Saccas or \Saek Carrier,' from the fact of his having been obliged in the early part of his life to gain his livelihood by acting as a porter in the market, lived at Alexandria during the second century A. I)., and died there "41 A. I). Very little is known of the events of his life. He is said by Porphyry to have been born of Christian parents, and to have belonged originally to their faith from which he after- wards apostatized. Eusebius (Church History, vi, 1!),) denies this apostacy, and affirms that Ammonius continued a Christ- ian to the end of his life. It is clear, however, that Eusebius is referring to another Ammonius, a Christian, who lived in Alexandria during the third century. Ammonius, after long study and meditation, opened a school for philosophy at Alex- POTAMON. 77 andria. Among his pupils were Herennius, the two Origens, Longinus, and, most distinguished of all, Plotinus, who in his search for true wisdom found himself irresistibly attracted by Ammonius, remained his close companion for eleven years, and in all his later philosophy professed to be the mere expo- nent of his great master. Ammonius himself designedly wrote nothing, and the doctrines taught in his school were, at least during his life, kept secret, after the fashion of the old Pythago- rean philosophy. Thus while all the later developments of Neo-Platonism are in a general way referred to him as their originator, little is known of his special tenets. From the notices of Hierocles, a scholar of Plutarch, in the early part of the fifth century A. D., preserved in Photius, we learn that his fundamental doctrine was an eclecticism or union of Plato and Aristotle. He attempted to show that a system of philosophy, common to both and higher than their special views, was contained in their writings. He thus, according to his admirers, put an end to the interminable disputes of the rival schools. What other elements Ammonius included in his Eclectic sys- tem, and in particular how he stood related to the Jewish and Christian theosophies are points on which no information can be procured. Few direct references to him exist, and these are not of unquestionable authority. He undoubtedly originated the Neo-Platonic movement, but it cannot be determined to what extent that philosophy, as known to us, through Plotinus and Proclus, represents his ideas. Eusebius mentions some Christian works by Ammonius. As Porphyry expressly tells us that Ammonius, the philosopher, wrote nothing, Eusebius must be referring to the later Christian of the same name. To this later Ammonius belongs the 'Diatesaron, or Harmony of the Four Gospels/ sometimes ascribed to the philosopher." We here see another attempt, on the part of a Christian writer, to get rid of all trace of the teachings of Potamon and to prevent the discovery of the great secret of the Roman Catholic priesthood that Potamon and not Jesus was the founder of the Christian religion. Both of the writers cited, concede that Ammonius Saccas was reared a Christian by his parents. The English writer quotes Porphyry to show that Ammonius apostatized, but admits that Eusebius in his " Church History " denied this apostacy and affirms that Am- monius continued to live a Christian to the end of his life. It is true lie attempts to get rid of that testimony of the most erudite and thoroughly informed Christian Father by saying: " It is clear, however, that Eusebius is referring to another 78 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. Ammonius, a Christian, who lived in Alexandria during the third century." We are not, however, told by this very astute writer that there was any reason to believe that the Ammonius whom Porphyry alleged apostatized from the Christian faith was the Christian Ammonius of the third century ; nor has he pretended that the latter Ammonius was ever charged by Forphyry with having apostati/.ed from the Christian faith. There can, therefore, be little or no doubt that Eusebius referred to Ammonius Saccas when he claimed that he continued a Christian to the end of his life. Now, it being a fact, according to Eusebius, that Ammonius Saccas was a Christian, and that the Christian doctrines which he taught were kept secret while he lived, it becomes a matter of the deepest interest to know what those Christian teachings were which Ammonius kept secret. This English writer does not pretend that those secret Christian teachings were, what afterwards became known as the doctrines of the Neo-Platonists. It is true that the French writer above quoted says that the secret doctrines of the Eclectic school of religionists founded by Potamon, as the inception of what afterwards became Christianity were not the doctrines of Eclecticism ; but we will show before we close this treatise, that Ammonius Saccas was a follower of the Eclectic system of religion founded by Potamon at the very period when the Christian religion is universally admitted to have originated. We have again, in the case of Ammonius Saccas, the evidence that his contemporaries sought to befog his history and teach- ings. Thanks to his followers, Herrenius, Origen and Plotinus, this attempt at Christian concealment was less successful than in the case of Potamon. There can lie but little room for question, in view of all the facts which have been and which will yet he adduced, that the teachings of Ammonius were only kept secret because of the certain destruction that would have awaited him had he pub- licly disclosed the fact that Christianity was not of divine origin, and that human spirits held direct communion with mortals. Those secrets are as carefully guarded to-day, by the Christian priesthood, as they were by Ammonius Saccas in the third century. Finding that they can no longer resist the light which Modern Spiritualism is throwing into the dark chambers of mystery in which God's living truths have been buried by impious priestly craft, these sanctimonious swindlers cry out, VESPASIAN. 79 "It is the Devil it's the Devil's work have nothing to do with it." We answer them and say, " It has been the Devil's work that these most important truths have been so long con- cealed." It will yet prove that the proscribed Potamon and his followers, have been the saviours of their fellow-men, and not the cowled deceivers of their race, who have stolen the garments of sanctity, the more effectually to accomplish the enslavement of the people. VESPflSIflfl. Tenth Roman Emperor. " I Greet You, Sir : I might as well introduce myself be- fore I proceed to give my communication. I am sent here by Apollonius of Tyana, and my name was Vespasian. I com- manded the forces at the taking of Jerusalem. I was afterwards an emperor. Amongst the Jews, at that time, there was no account of such a person as Jesus of Nazareth. But there were several Jesuses commanding the mutineers ; yet neither Greek, Roman nor Jew knew aught of what is now known as the Christian Saviour. There was there, Apollonius, who was what you would certainly term, at the present day, a great medium. By laying his hands upon a roll, upon which nothing whatever was written, communications would come from the spirits of our ancestors. In that way this man was of immense benefit to me in the reduction of Jerusalem. He was deified after his death. His features and hair resembled very much the statues of the God Jupiter. He was looked upon in our camp as the reincarnation of the God Apollo. By reincarnation, I do not mean it in the sense in which you understand it to-day, but that he was a god in flesh. The real truth of the whole affair was, that this man was a medium, and all his teachings were identical with those in the God-book of the Christians. He re'ouked fevers and diseases, and they left those afflicted with them. Our idea of disease was, that they were the result of denionology that is, that they were produced by spirits that 80 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. were only elementary. But this idea was incorrect, for since I became a spirit, I have failed to find such elementary spirits. But I have found diseased spirits, who are attracted to mortals by their diseases, and they make sick, and help to kill those they obtain control of. Another thing T cannot understand is, that with all my endeavors to get possession of the old books of the Jews, I did not succeed in getting one ; for the Jews de- stroyed them rather than that they should be desecrated by heathens. Now, how Christians can claim that they have copies of the ancient Hebrew prophets, when I could not obtain one, I cannot understand. This is something I leave the present Christians and Jews to explain ; because I searched their dead, their houses, their captives, but could obtain nothing of them except the acknowledgment that the Jews had such books, and none of them were allowed to fall into Roman hands. My main purpose in giving Josephus his life was, to get through him those books; but I failed even in that case. The reason why Josephus never mentioned this Apollonius was, because the Jews, and especially the Pharisees, would have nothing to do with a heathen prophet or philosopher. In fact the Jews were the lowest heathens of my time on earth. They worshipped everything they felt like worshipping. They had no especial code or system of laws. The man that succeeded in gaining the most followers governed everything for the time ; and that was the reason we Romans were so severe with them. If they caught a Roman soldier by himself, they would cut his throat with as little hesitation as they would kill a dog. You will receive further particulars from Felix, procurator of Judea. He says he wants to give his solemn spirit testimony that he never heard of one St. Raul, who, it is said, pleaded his cause before him. I thank you for giving me this hearing." We refer to the Penny Cyclopaedia for account of Vespasian. Such was the emperor who testifies as a spirit that Apollonius of Tyana was with him at the siege of Jerusalem, and acted as his medium for communication with the spirits of his ancestors. As shown in our remarks upon Apollonius, both Vespasian and Titus admitted in letters to Apollonius that they were under the greatest obligation to him for services rendered to them as an oracle or medium. The testimony of this spirit that there was nothing known at Jerusalem, at the time of its capture by the Romans, of any such person as the Christian Saviour, is most important as cumulative evidence that no such person lived at the time claimed as the period of his alleged earthly teaching. That Apollonius was looked upon in the Roman VESPASIAN. 81 camp as the reincarnation of the God Apollo or as an incarna- ted God, and the fact that he was a medium whose teachings were identical with the Christian Scriptures, affords the strong- est evidence that Apollonius was the real origin of the Christian Saviour. His rehuking fevers and diseases, and driving them from the sick, was hut the healing process so successfully practiced to-day hy healing mediums. The suggestion or statement that spirits are sometimes diseased and that they are attracted to mortals, imparting to them disease and sometimes causing death, is a startling fact that seems to be largely borne out by observed events. Especially is this the case with epilepsy, as we have had much reason to know. Who knows how the books of the Jewish scriptures came into the hands of the Christian priesthood? Nothing of them was known to the most learned of the Greeks and Romans as late as the time of Vespasian. That Apollonius had much to do with saving the life of Josephus there is little doubt from what Vespasian says; for it was the work of Apollonius's whole life to master the re- ligions and mysteries of every people then known to civilization. He undoubtedly used all his influence with Vespasian to save Josephus in the hope that he would learn the secrets of the Jewish religion through him. Vespasian states that he spared Josephus on that account. This whole communication of Vespasian is singularly confirmatory of the communication of Apollonius. Thus facts accumulate, all pointing to the one result that there is nothing original in connection with the Christian religion. 82 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. HEf^ODES AG^IPPI II. King of Judea. "I WILL SALUTE YOU, SIB, BY SAYING : Those who would obstruct these communications confirm the saying, 'Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread.' I was born into the mortal life about A. D. 30, and departed to the spirit life about A. D. 85. I lived at the time of the great triumphs and renowned career of Apollouius of Tyana, a man and a medium who, ( if people must have a God and a Saviour) ought to be the leading char- acter in that direction, to-day. I most positively assert, that under the name of Paulinus or Polionos, Apollonius was brought before me for disturbing the peace of the country ; but nothing could be proven against him, except that he knew more about the Jewish religion than my own people did. In those days, the Jews gladly killed any Gentile who knew more of their religion, and who could expound it better than their learned Rabbies. As I could find no harm in the man except what I have stated, he was discharged. He was brought before me a second time about the time of the downfall of the Jewish state, which was about A. D. 67 or 68, when he was again charged with disturbing the country, by advancing ideas that were derogatory to the Jewish Jehovah. But again his accu- sers failed to prove their point. Apollonius was, in fact, a disciple and initiated memher of the school of Gamaliel, and so well did he argue with his accusers, that they failed in all their attempts to prove anything against him. That Apolloiiius was the St. Paul of the present Christian religion is plainly proven, by reading the various epistles attributed to him. Those epistles will show to any candid inquirer or thinker, that Paul was not a Jew. Everything therein goes to show that he must have been a person well versed in Greek, and just such a writer and thinker as was the jjreat Cappadocian sage, Apollonius of Tyana. The last time, during my mortal career, that 1 met Apollonius, was in the camp of Titus, Ix'fore Jeru- salem, about A. I). 70, where I saw such spiritual manifesta- tions occurring through his mediumship, or in his presence, us Joseph us relates as having occurred through Eleazer the Jew. Joseph us was in the camp of Titus at that time. Those mani- festations were similar to the various phenomena now well known to be produced by spirits through mediums, and were AGRIPPA. 83 such as to incite Vespasian and Titus to greater endeavors to overthrow the Jewish state. I have further to say, that there was no Jewish history or book, written in my time, that could prove my people to have a history extending over five hundred years before my time. The sacred writings all took their pres- ent shape in the days of Ezra the scribe. This communication is not from a 'Jew of the Jews,' but is from one who despised them because they would never submit to be properly ruled, and were always in a state of anarchy. They were bigoted on all points, and it was their bigotry that destroyed them as a nation. My name was Agrippa Herodes the Younger. I was king of Judea." For account of Agrippa Herodes II, we refer to Smith's Greek and Roman Biography. If the communication of Herodes Agrippa the Younger is authentic and true, then have we positive proof that Apollo- nius of Tyana was the St. Paul, or the Apostle Paul, of the so- called Christian Scriptures, and the true nature of the so-called New Testament is clearly and certainly known. We do not believe that any untruthful spirit, however bent on deceiving, could invent a story so consistent with so many and widely variant historical facts. We therefore conclude that the whole communication came from the controlling spirit intelligence of him who was known as Agrippa Herodes II. The only other question that remains to be determined, is the substantial truthfulness of the communication. That Agrippa lived, as he says, during the great triumphs and renowned career of Apollonius of Tyana, is very certain ; and, that he was thoroughly acquainted with the distinguished reformatory labors of Apollonius, is equally certain. Therefore, when, as a spirit, he conies back and testifies that Apollonius under the name of Paulinue or Polionos was twice brought before him on the complaint of the Jews, and was twice acquit- ted by him, he states what we have every just reason to believe was the fact. Agrippa was king from A. D. 48, until the eon- quest of Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Jews, A. D. 70. It was during that time that Apollonius was brought before him, as he states. The complaint, in the first instance, was, that he was disturbing the peace of the country, which disturbance arose from his showing the people that he knew more about the Jewish religion than the Jewish priests knew themselves. As that was no offence under the law, Agrippa discharged him. 84 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. The charge in the second instance was that Apollonius was disturbing the country by advancing ideas that were deroga- tory to the Jewish Jehovah. But, on this charge too, he w:is acquitted. Why? Because as the spirit tells us, he, Apollonius, was a disciple of the great Jewish philosopher Gamaliel, and an initiate of his school, and was thus enabled to confound and defeat his Jewish accusers. This was, as the spirit states, about A.D. G7 or G8. At that time Apolloniusmust have been in his sixty-fifth or sixty-sixth year. The spirit states that Apollonius was undoubtedly the St. Paul of the present Christian religion, and calls attention to the fact that the epistles attributed to the latter, were the work of a person thoroughly conversant with the Greek language and literature, and not of a Jew at all. Tiiis is undoubtedly the fact, and because it is the fact, Christian writers have labored so hard to break the force of it. Now in order to show our readers the positive identity of the Christian St. Paid and Apollonius the Cappadocian sage and Saviour, as he was called by his followers, we refer our readers to the account of the trial of the apostle Paul before Agrippa. Acts xxiv, xxv, xxvi. As to the version of the trial of Apollonius before king Agrippa, as set forth in the Acts of the Apostles, by what per- son, or when written, the writer did not dare to disclose. It is a well known fact that this fictitious book was not written until after all the other books of the New Testament, as it is called, were written ; and that it was written to explain the connection between the so-called Christian Gospels and the Pauline Epistles. Everything about that account of the accu- sation of Paul by the Jews, his defence, and of bis being sent to Rome, shows that it was a concocted affair, to git away from the fact that it was Apollonius of Tyana, who created such an excitement among the Jews ; and who was the real author of the Pauline Epistles. This trial, about which Christians make such an ado, is no where mentioned in Josephus's histories, which shows one of two things; either that it was considered by Josephus as a matter of too little account to be worthy of mention, or the mention of it lias been destroyed. That neither Apollonius nor Paid, who are said to have figured so promi- nently at that epoch, should be mentioned by Josephus or any writer of that time, in any connection whatever, would show that there was sonic gnat reason for this- studied silence. AGR1PPA. 85 Apollonius was certainly in Judea while the Jewish war was in progress, and there made the acquaintance of Vespasian whose prophet and seer he became. It was just before the breaking out of the war, that the trial before Agrippa took place, most probably not in A. D. GO, as has been supposed, but in A. D. G7 or 68, as the spirit states. It was no doubt this accusation of Apollonius before Agrippa, and his discharge, that constitutes the whole ground work of the fabulous account of the same occurrence in the Acts of the Apostles: It was most natural that a Greek, such as Apollonius was, who was a remarkable medium, and who created an uproar wherever he went, on account of the wonderful spirit manifestations which took place through him or in his presence, should have aroused the deadly enmity of the Jewish priests ; but it was most un- natural that any Jew, and especially any Pharisee, should have caused such a commotion, and caused so long a detention in custody, as more than two years. Besides, the writer of Acts, inadvertently no doubt, says, that one of the charges brought against the accused by the Jews, was that he was " a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes." This charge could apply to no Jew of the sect of the Pharisees, as it is claimed that Paul was. It did, however, apply especially to Apollonius who was one of those persons whom the Jews, in derision, called Nazarites, who, about that time, assumed the designa- tion of Essenes. Besides, it is very certain that Apollonius as a Nazarite or Essene, believed in the resurrection of the dead. Indeed, however critically the statement of the spirit of Agrippa is compared with the account of this occurrence in Acts, the fact will become the more clear that Apollonius, and not the Christian St. Paul, was the individual to which the account in Acts relates. The spirit then tells us that the last time he met Apollonius was in the camp of Titus, before Jeru- salem, about A. D. 70, where he saw such spiritual manifesta- tions take place in his presence as Josephus relates as having occurred through Eleazer the Jew. The part of Josephus's writings referred to by the spirit, is to be found in the Antiqui- ties of the Jews, Book viii.,chap. ii, Section 5. What the spirit of Agrippa sa3*s as to the antiquity of the sacred books of the Jews is certainly substantially correct. Whether none of them were earlier than Ezra the Scribe, wo do not know, and have no time to ascertain. We have only 86 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. time and space to give the following facts concerning Ezra the seril>e. We quote from MeClintock and Strong's Encyclopaedia of Theological Literature, article Ezra : "Ezra, the celebrated Jewish scribe and priest, who, in the year B. C. 4o9, led the second expedition of the Jews back from the Babylonian exile into Palestine, and the author of one of the canonical books of Scripture. * * All that is really known of Ezra is contained in the last four chapters of the Book of Ezra and Neb. viii and xii, 20. In addition to the information there given, that he was a 'scribe,' a 'ready scribe of the law of Moses,' a 'scribe of the words of the command- ments of the Lord and of his statutes to Israel,' ' a scribe of the law of God in heaven,' and 'a priest,' we are told by Josephus that he was a high priest of the Jews who were left in Babylon, that he was particularly conversant with the lawof Moses, ami was held in universal esteem on account of his righteousness and virtue." These historical facts, if they are facts, would point to Ezra and his time for the establishment of the Jewish canons, which were no doubt largely derived from the Chaldean annals. Whatever Jewish literature existed before that period must have amounted to very little. What Leva Bodhisatoua did for the Buddhist religion, and Pamphilusand Eusebiusof Ctesarea for the Christian religion, it would seem Ezra did for the Jew- ish religion. In closing we do not hesitate to say that we regard Agrippa's communication as true, and that it proves beyond all question that Apollonius of Tyana was the St. Paul of the so-called New Testament. PLINY THE YOUNGEK. 87 PM^Y THE YOUriGEtt. "Sir: Time is nothing to a spirit. We never grow old; but we are cramped by our mortal conditions. I was appointed to the position of consul or procurator of Bythinia and Pontus about the last part of the first century of the Christian era, by Trajan of Home ; and as I am an import- ant witness in the settlement of the dispute concerning the reality of Jesus Christ, I come here to-day, by the invitation of a Persian sage, Aronamar. [The latter is the controlling guide of the medium.] One of the greatest proofs that the Christians bring forward to establish the historical existence of Jesus, is my letter to Trajan. I did write such a letter but the name Christian was not to be found in it. That word is a forgery. The word I used was Essenes not Christians. The cause of my inquiry into the nature and customs of the sect calling them- selves Essenes was, they were what you moderns call Commu- nists, and Trajan wanted to know whether they interfered with the rights of other people. I found them a very quiet and inoffensive class of people, holding everything in common ; and I so reported to the Emperor. I had no knowledge what- ever of the so-called Christian religion. I do not come here in malice to give this communication, but I do come because I wish to testify to the truth. As I hope for future happiness I affirm that what I have stated here is the positive and absolute truth. I have fulfilled my mission. Sign me Pliny the Younger." If that communication is genuine, then the disputed points as to the letter of Pliny to Trajan are clearly explained and set at rest. That it is genuine I confidently believe. The letter to Trajan was by Pliny, but made no reference to a sect called Christians, but to the sect of the Essenes, from whom the Christian priesthood borrowed much of what they claim was divine and infallible truth. The Essenes were not Christians, having existed as a sect long before the alleged birth of their god-man. Refer to Biographic Universelle for sketch of Pliny the Younger. For letter refer to Biblical, Theological and Eccle- siastical Encyclopaedia, of McClintock and Strong. Who can read that letter attributed to Pliny, as set forth in the above work, and believe that he, the friend and pro-consul of the beneficent and gentle Trajan, ever wrote it. From 88 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. beginning to end it bears the marks of the pious errors of the Christian priesthood, who sought to find or produce some plausible historical evidence that Jesus had an existence at some time and in some place. But they have manifested greater desperation of ever being able to produce such evidence, in seeking to make Pliny a witness for them, than we supposed possible. These pretended Christians of Bythinia and Pontus, Pliny is made to tell us, worshipped the image of Trajan and the statues of the Gods and that the Temples of the pagan Romans which had been almost forsaken began to be more frequented ; that the sacred pagan solemnities, after a long interval, had revived ; that victims for sacrifice were bought up, whereas for a time there were few purchasers. What kind of Christians were those ? In the light of the above communication of the spirit of Pliny and the internal evidence of fraud and forgery in the letter attributed to Pliny, we may conclude beyond all doubt or ques- tion that the letter was a pious fraud of a most unpardonable character. It is no wonder that independent investigators of Christian evidences have regarded it as spurious. Pliny says he did write a letter to Trajan reporting the result of his inves- tigation of the practices of a religious sect of communists calling themselves Essenes, made at the request of the Roman Emperor Trajan ; and that he found them a quiet, inoffensive people. That this is certain the historical character of the Essenes will show. And out of these few facts the spurious letter was man- ufactured. Is there any limit to the baseness of the founders of the Christian religion? We have failed to reach it yet. Applied to the mystico-ascetics, the Essenes, the letter of Pliny becomes most appropriate and intelligible, but as applied to the Christian sect, wholly irrelevant and absurd. But, in tlu- light of the explanation contained in the foregoing commu- nication, the true import of Pliny's letter becomes clear ; and th.it as late as the beginning of the second century, A. I), no such person as Jesus Christ was known, and no such people as Christians had ever been heard of. Thus do facts pile up to show (he magnitude of the religious fraud that under the title of Christianity has been practiced upon the civilized world. In view of such spiritual developments as the above, if it is asked, "Of wh.it use is Spiritualism?" we in turn ask, "Of what use is truth?" ORIQEN. 89 O^IGBflES OH O^IGEfi. Claimed to have been a Christian Father. "Sir : Many persons ask this question? Why do you and the spirits coining through this medium keep constantly agita- ting the question 'did Jesus Christ really live?' To those who are free from this, or at least to many of them, it makes no difference, but to the millions held in slavery to this soul-killing doctrine of redemption by his blood, this question is of vital importance. Centuries of time have elapsed since I entered the spirit life. I was reared a Pagan. I embraced this doctrine in my mortal life, but realized the foolishness of all its teachings before I entered spirit life. I regret that I ever wrote one sen- tence toward fostering and upholding the so-called Christian religion. The misfortune has been this. The Christian priest- hood have been careful to preserve everything that I wrote in favor of their religion, but they have been equally careful to destroy all my written denunciations of it, at least so far as they possibly could. I was young when I first learned of Christian- ity. It appealed to my ardent nature so strongly, that it subjected my reason to a passion for religion, and especially for that religion. But as I matured in years, I became perfectly aware of the weak points of Christianity, and the more I studied it, the weaker the fabric became, and because I became an Infidel to that foolish teaching, I was accused by my contem- poraries of having relapsed into Paganism. By the great Divine, I heartily wish I had never had anything to do with it. I am called one of the Christian Fathers. I deny the statement, because I do not want to be understood as the father of any religion. All religions are founded upon untruths, and they must and will all go down together. I here declare that Christianity and so-called Paganism are identical, for the one is the outgrowth of the other. All the evidence I could collect in my mortal life about their so-called Jesus, convinced me that no such person ever lived, and turned me against the Christian religion. I could find no evidence as to the existence or place of the birth of this Christ. There was not a scrap of authentic evidence to be found as late as the year ISO of the Christian era, that afforded any reliable information in. relation to this so- 90 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. called Jesus Christ. The whole of the narratives in relation to such a person, were derived from the Greek and Egyptian god- makers I believed as a mortal, and as a spirit, I now know to be the fact. There never has been, and there never will be, so far as 1 can learn as a spirit, any interference whatever between God and man. But men and women have been interfered with by spirits ; many of them with good purposes, but legions of them the devils of the spirit life. It is these poisoned and darkened human spirits that hang like a whip of scorpions o'er the earth to lash mortals for the errors they have made, and are still propagating. I have acquired a true knowledge of these things as a spirit, therefore I affirm that I have made this communication honestly, and have told the truth and nothing but the truth as I hope for eternal happiness. I was known when here as Origen." Refer to Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography. We think if our readers will carefully read the account of Origen's life by the light of the foregoing communication from the spirit of that great and learned man, they cannot fail to see the vast importance of that spirit communication. It makes plain all disputed questions in relation to the views and career of Origen. The statement of Porphyry that he was reared a Pagan, which can be found in the account of Origen given in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, is posi- tively attested by the spirit, and there can be no doubt of its truth. As he says at an early age he learned of Christianity, and during his youth and earlier manhood was ardently attached to that faith. This change in religious convictions in all probability continued until his visit to Greece where he at- tended the school of Ammonius Saccas, the follower of the founder of Eclecticism, Potamon of Alexandria, after which time he no doubt adopted the teachings of Ammonius, who was himself a spiritual medium, and addressed his hearers while entranced, as do our modern mediums. From that time, no doubt, dated the alienation of Origen from the doctrines of Christianity which were all shown to be untrue by the teachings of spirits. From that time forward Origen was no more a Christian than was Ammonius Saccas ; although ranked among the fathers of Christianity. For the Christian Church to claim Origen as one of its greatest lights is a desperate resource, view the mailer in any light we may; but such was the paucity of evidence for the first two hundred years of the Christian era, that the Christian priesthood were glad to avail themselves of JOSEPHUS. 91 such writings of the excommunicated and heretical Origen as they could turn to their account, while all the rest of the volum- inous writings of his mature life have been carefully destroyed or conveniently lost. The cat is, however, effectually let out of the bag by the spirit of Origen himself, who says he lived for many years an infidel to the Christian faith, and died so, after satisfying himself by the most thorough researches that there was no more truth in it than in Paganism, both being identi- cally the same. His positive declaration that the writings concerning Jesus Christ in his time were unauthentic and untrue, ought to settle the question, especially when it is so fully borne out by all that has come down to us concerning the truly learned and steadfast Origen. That Origen did not know as much concerning the spirit life when on earth as we do to-day, his communication plainly shows. Space will not allow us to enlarge upon this subject. To do it justice would require a volume. FIiflVlDS JOSEPHS. Jewish Historian. " I greet YOU, SIR : Centuries have rolled away since I passed from my earthly labors. There are things in the spirit life that are too deep for mortal comprehension. Away in the higher realms of spirit life there are prepared for you such stores of spiritual manna as you cannot conceive of, which will be poured down upon you as soon as you open up the conditions that will render this possible. The obstructions to this event, is not so much in spirit life as among mortals. On account of the density of your organism as compared with the spirit organism, you have the atmosphere around so psychologized that it is wonderful that a refined spirit can come to you at all. To do so, for such a spirit, is like a strong swimmer almost exhausted by buffeting a swift current. For a sensitive and refined spirit to force itself back to earth, and manifest through a medium is in every way more exhausting. [To this point the control of the medium seemed imperfect.] That is preliminary to what I want to say to you at this time. My life was an 92 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. eventful one. I lived at the time of the final overthrow of the Jewish nation, which was foretold by our seers, clairvoyants and trance mediums. I am here to-day, to testify in regard to a question which is of vital importance to humanity, and to untold millions of spirits also. It is in relation to the correct- ness of the doctrine of salvation through a Saviour. It has been claimed by historians and writers, that I was an Ebionito Christian. I positively deny the truth of that statement. I was a Jew of the sect of Pharisees, and at no time leaned toward the Badducees or to the doctrines of the Essenes. I lived to see my nation dispersed and scattered. At the time when I wrote my histories, there was no such man as Jesus of Nazareth a doer of wonderful works ; and any person of ordinary compre- hension, can see that the passage in which it is said I referred historically to such a man, was fraudulently interpolated by some Christian copier of my history. First, it interrupts the narrative which I was writing at that time ; and in the second place, I always gave all the facts that I could glean concerning those persons of whom I wrote, and if so important a person, as this Jesus has been represented to have been, had lived at that time, I would have given a full description of him. There were no Christians at the time of my retirement from public life, in the year, 100, in the reign of Trajan. Christianity was the subsequent outgrowth of all the mystical religious systems previously existing. If any person will attentively examine the four Gospels, it will be found that all kinds of pagan wor- ships are there expressed to the understanding of those who were initiated into a knowledge of their true meaning, and the final secret of the whole affair is to be found in the blue vault of heaven, being none other than a modified Sabaisin, the worship of the Sun, Moon, Planets and Stars. The Jews were in many respects the same, and their idolatry consisted in symbolizing the signs of the zodiac. So general was this kind of star worship at the outset of the so-called Christian move- ment, that the founders of that religious system, at first, but slightly deviated from the older religious teachings, but as that system struck deeper, they sought to disguise by chicanery and interpolation of new expressions in the writings of the older authors, the nature of their religion, in order that the masses should never know that important fact. There is no priest nor clergyman living to-day, who can deny what I have here set forth, if they tell the truth. The only alternative for those who still persist in this work of concealment is, whether they w ill eon less this truth before mortals, or whether they will wait to be forced to confess it before the immortal spirits. It is only a question of time. To all these so-called spiritual leaders I will JOSEPHUS. 93 say, you will have to return to the only religion ever given by God to man, and that is direct communion with the spirit world pure and uneontaminated with pride and selfishness. This is the Christ this is the Messiah this is the light that is to save all men. Yours for the perpetuation of truth, Josephus. Refer to the Encyclopaedia Britannica and McClintock and Strong's Ecclesiastical Cyclopaedia. We especially invite the attention of our readers to that most remarkable communication from the spirit of Josephus. Read it again in the light of what is said of him and his works by Christian writers, and doubt if you can its authenticity. It leaves nothing that has been doubtful concerning Josephus and his writings unexplained. To suppose it is the work of the medium's mind, or our own who took down the words as they fell from the medium's lips, is preposterous. The medium was insensibly entranced, and we were so busy writing as to have no time to think of anything else. After nearly 1800 years in spirit life, after much preparation and effort on the part of- high and learned spirits, who are co- operating with us in our efforts to get the naked truth before the world, this purified, refined and exalted Jewish historian's spirit returns, and through an illiterate medium, imparts the most important information that has ever come to mortals. The spirit of Josephus testifies most positively that for the first hundred years of the Christian era, nothing was known of such a person as Jesus of Nazareth, and nothing known of any religion called Christianity nor of any sect called Christians. In the face of that spirit testimony the authenticity of which can not be successfully questioned, we ask what earthly reason there can be to cling to the idea that Jesus Christ had an historical or personal existence. The communication settles the question as to why Josephus wrote nothing concerning Jesus of Nazareth. That reason was that no such person lived in the only period of the world's history in which such a man could have lived. The charge, therefore, that Josephus was governed by prejudice in taking no notice of Jesus and his alleged history, falls to the ground. Josephus fully confirms the astro-theological nature of the four gospels and the astronomical origin of the Jewish, as well as the Christian religion. We regard the communication of Josephus, as a whole, as most important. 94 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. FIiAVlUS PHlliOST^flTUS. The Biographer of Apollonius of Tyana. "I Salute you, SIR : I wrote the life and adventures of Apollonius of Tyana, by the order of Julia Domna ; and no reasonable person would suppose for an instant that she would have desired an adept in Oriental languages to have transcribed them for her, if the character to whom they related had not been of great note. Whoever denies the statements of critics, that Apollonius of Tyana was a great man in his day and generation, denies the truth. Among the first and most remark- able discoveries of the Empress Julia, was the identity or striking resemblance of the sculptured features of the faces of the Roman deity, Apollo, and of Apollonius of Tyana, as they were then represented at Rome. I took the facts of my history of Apollonius from the Memoirs of Damis, (the St. John or beloved disciple of that great man) from his birth to the begin- ning of the second century ; and from Moeragenes to the time of Euasthenes. All these men were biographers of Apollonius before my time, and from their works I wrote my history of him. Rut every effort has been made by succeeding popes and emperors since the reign of Constantine the Great, to destroy what I wrote of Apollonius. Rut it is a fact that he, Apollonius, was, by the Romans, worshipped in the days of Septimus Severus as the great Prometheus or the saviour of men, and this continued up to the time when I wrote his history. The feasts in honor of him were always celebrated, in connection with a certain star (such as the star of Bethlehem), and this star was in the constellation Aries or the Land). He was worshipped as the centre of God's eternal circle. Under the idea of propitiatory sacrifice, mankind had sacrificed every animal from a frog to a horse, and finally ended with human blood offerings; and this was deemed a necessity in my age to purify a soul. This was concurrent with the purification related by Kuxencs. From his days to my time there was just as much of sacrifice observed as in previous times. The purest virgin of Rome had to die in honor of the god Apollo, and her soul passed to Apollonius in Paradise. Now I will say in conclusion, PHILOSTRATUS. 95 I saw hundreds of persons kissing the Greek cross and offering up that last dying prayer of the Promethean saviour, accom- panied with the burning of myrrh and frank-incense as incense, the same as you see this done in the Christian churches at your approaching Easter festival. The Catholic spirits are so shut up in their earthly acquired dependence upon their priests that they cannot ascend as spirits out of that condition, and they are forced back to the earth. No ascent is possible for them, while thus held, and they react upon you mortals with disas- trous force. There was no such religion as the Christian religion in my day. There was a sect who worshipped the Hindoo Christos. Their religion was a mixture of Buddhism, Platonism and Greco-Gymnosophism ; and their first and most important rite was circumcision. But they were not very numerous or widespread. They resided mainly at Ephesus, Cairo and Rome. The chief symbol of their religion was a circle within which were represented the human sexual organs. They were very secret in their movements and their teachings were very obscure. No one knew of such a person as Jesus of Nazareth at that time. The Nazarites were held in the greatest contempt by the Jews, and it was for that reason the Christian priesthood chose that obscure village of Judea for the scene of Jesus's abode. I am Flavius Philostratus." Befer to Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography. It is not a little singular that this most invaluable work of Philostratus has never been wholly translated into English. It is very evident that the scholars of English speaking peoples, have too much regard for their popularity to venture to give their patrons an English translation of this Christianity annihilating narrative of the life, adventures and teachings of the real author and founder of that ecclesiastical fraud. It is impossible for want of space to give all the extracts which seem important to get a true idea of the value of this communication. To those of our readers who wish to pursue the investigation of the subject of this sketch in connection with Apollonius, we would say that if they will refer to the account of Apollonius by Benjamin Jowett, M. A. Fellows and Tutor of Baliol College, Oxford, England, as published in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, they will there find in connection with the life of Apollonius, a brief discussion of three very important questions, namely : I. The historical groundwork on which the narrative of Philostratus was founded. II. How far, if at all it was designed as a rival to the Gospel History. III. The real 96 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. character of Apollonius himself. Those discussions will show how Christian critics flounder fruitlessly about to reconcile undoubted historical facts with the fraudulent pretences of the "Gospel history," as they are pleased to designate their string of theological fables. It is a fact that must end all possible controversy as to whether Philostratus borrowed any part of the "general story of our Lord's life," or whether the latter was not bodily stolen from the life and writings of Apollonius of Tyana, that Philostratus does not mention Jesus Christ, or his twelve apostles, or either of the so-called Christian gospels, as having furnished him any of the materials for his biography ; but that the main source of his information was the memoirs of Damis and Maximus of /Ega?, of the life doings and teachings of Apollonius the beloved master, written while yet Apollonius was living. It is certain that when Philostratus wrote his biography, Jesus of Nazareth had never been heard of. That there is, therefore, any striking analogy between the life of Apollonius and the life attributed to the Christian Jesus, is sufficient to show that the latter is but a bungling parody, on, or plagiarism of Philostratus' s Life of Apollonius. Of this fact we have now in hand ample spirit and historical testimony to fully establish. We also call attention to the third chapter of Charles Blount's English translation of Philostratus's Greek text, where will be found the sources from which Philostratus drew his materials for the biography of Apollonius. According to Charles Blount it appears that while in his work, Philostratus speaks disparagingly of Moeragenes as a reliable authority, he mentions him in his communication, as his authority for the facts appertaining to some portions of his work. On the other hand, he mentions Maximus of JEgai as one of his authorities in his work, while in the communication he does not mention him, but mentions Euasthenes. Why he does not mention the Testament written by Apollonius himself, in the communication we do not know, unless he made but little use of it in composing his biography. All the facts would seem to indicate that Damis did not commence his Memoirs or Commentaries on the life and labors of Apollonius, until after he met t lie latter at Nineveh, when he was on his way to India. At that time, Apollonius was past forty years of age. It seems that Maximus, had made a record of t lie events of his life while at /Rgse, in the Temple of yEsculapius, where, young as he then PHILOSTRATUS. 97 was, he gained the greatest renown as a healer and philosopher. After leaving JEgte, there seems to have been no record kept of his doings, until he determined to set out on the wonderings in the search, and in the dissemination of knowledge, which only ended with his great old age. Prof. Jowett says there seems to have been a gap in his history of nearly twenty years. That is true so far as historic records go, but not true so far as the spirit testimony of Apollonius is concerned. After his wanderings through the countries of Asia Minor, fulfilling his Pythagorean probation of long years of silence and contempla- tion, he went to Antioch and opened a school where he taught the modified Essenian philosophy which he had conceived, and which it was to be his life's mission to give to the world. It was there he held fellowship with the great Essenian patri- arch Ignatius of Antioch ; and in time gained the highest name for learning and wisdom of all the philosophers of his time. Especially did he gain renown as a healer of all human mala- dies by virtue of his sympathetic and magnetic nature. At that period there seemsto have beenagreat outpouring of spirit power upon the people of southwestern Asia, and especially upon the people of Judea. Hearing of the wonderful doings of Apollonius at Antioch, the Jews became importunate that he should appear among them, and at length prevailed upon him to visit Jerusalem for which place he set out. Apollonius in his spirit communication recounts the incidents attending his entrance into Jerusalem, and the result substantially as is related in the gospels of the Christians concerning Jesus of Nazareth. The jealousy of the Jewish priesthood was so aroused against him, on account of the popular excitement occasioned by his wonderful work of healing among them, that he was compelled to seek safety by flight. Returning to Antioch, he resumed his teachings there, and continued them until he decided to start for India. There is no doubt some good reason why that portion of Apollonius's life work is not forth-coming at this time, which will be dis- closed in the future. It is by no means certain but that the copy of Philostratus's work that has been permitted to come down to us, has been largely suppressed by the Christian pontiffs or their kingly tools. That gap covers the precise time when it is said Jesus of Nazareth was performing those mira- cles of spiritual power, for performing which he has been worshipped as God. In this connection we are led to notice one passage in the Gospel According to Matthew, which shows 98 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. that the hero of that Gospel was not a Galilean, but quite another person. Matthew iv, 23, 24. "And Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their syna- gogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. "And his fame went throughout all Syria ; and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy ; and he healed them." Now so far as Syria is concerned, that was certainly the case with Apollonius, who at Antioch, the capital city of Syria, was overwhelmed with his labors as a mediumistic healer. That Apollonius, who had for many years been performing his miraculous cures in the very heart of Syria, should have acquired fame in that extensive country was natural, but that Jesus of Nazareth of whom no one had heard until then, should have had such an extensive fame in so short a time was per- fectly absurd. "VVe venture to say that that brief mission, attributed to Jesus of Nazareth in after centuries as having been performed in Galilee and Judea, was nothing more nor less than a parody on the account of the journey made by Apollonius from Antioch to Jerusalem, and his stay among the priest-ridden and superstitious Jews. He would naturally have gone by way of Galilee, and no doubt preached and healed as he went, creating the very excitement among the Jews that he created wherever he went afterwards, from India and Egypt, to the most polished cities of ancient Greece and Rome. Reader, is not this a most natural and unavoidable inference? It is just this part of the grand and unprecedented career of Apollonius that has been blotted out. Is it not most significant that it is during the period of this journey of Apollonius to Jerusalem by way of Damascus and Galilee that the only part of the life of Jesus Christ our Lord that amounted to anything is fixed? Hut more than all else, is the testimony of the spirit of Phi- lostratus important, when he tells us that in the third century at Rome, the especial and original scat of the Christian Church, that Apollonius of Tyana was worshipped as the Saviour of men, at the very time he, Philostratus, wrote his biography. Is this not a most significant fact, for fact it is, as Christian writers are forced to admit? Had Jesus of Nazareth been so PHILOSTRATUS. 99 worshipped at that time, what sense or reason would there have been in the Emperor Severus and his subjects to have wor- shipped Apollonius as a saviour? But this is not all, the star dedicated to Apollonius, was a star in the zodiacal constellation Aries or Agnis, the Lamb, in which the Sun crossed the equi- noctial line, at the vernal equinox, thus identifying Apollonius as the crucified lamb, whose crucifixion redeemed the world from the desolation and death of winter. The sacrifice of the purest virgin of Rome to Apollo, the Sun-god, and the supposi- tion that her soul passed to Apollonius in Paradise, shows the veneration in which the memory of the latter was held, at least one hundred and fifty years after his transition to spirit life. We know from dear bought experience, that the spirit of Philostratus is correct when he says that Roman Catholic and other Christian spirits are the curse of humanity on account of their spiritually but voluntarily enslaved condition, and their earth-bound purgatorial despair. It is certainly true that there was no Christian religion at Rome until more than fifty years after Philostratus's transition from earth. The religion relating to the worship of the Hindoo Christos was not openly taught and the sect was without influence. Their symbol, the phallic cross, showed the Indian origin of their belief. No such person as Jesus of Nazareth was then known, and the great probability is that Apollonius was the Nazarite who went through Galilee to Jerusalem. He was undoubtedly an Essene, and the Essenes were called Nazarites by the Jews as a term of reproach. It is impossible for us to dwell more fully on this most valuable communication, but we have adduced more than amply enough to show its substantial correctness from beginning to end. 100 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. COSJVTAS IfiDlCOPLiEUSTES. A Greek Geographer and Antiquarian. " May we be blessed in the service of truth : I lived in the sixth century and I was a traveller. I am known in connection with what is called the Adulian Marble. It is claimed that this marble has inscribed upon it the life and career of Ptolemy Euergetes. Such is not the fact. I was the first one to call this to the notice of the learned of my day. The real facts of the case are these. I did not know them as a mortal, but I now understand them as a spirit. Upon that marble are the keys of the Christian religion. That is, the symbols are there. The learned of to-day treat this marble as if it were the history of a single king, when in reality it contains all such things as the doctrine of the trinity the communion the blood of Bacchus the feast of the goddess Ceres, and other things analogous to Christian doctrines and observances. But the Christian priesthood are blind to things which they know to be true. They will never read inscriptions right, that are dangerous to their infernal superstition ; but light will be thrown upon these things. If mortals do not stand up to their duty, truthful spirits will. We want no interference by priests with the truth. Even now, in the excavations that are being made for ancient ruins, they are continually manufacturing plates, in imitation of ancient ones, to support the Old Testa- ment, and their operations should be closely watched by Spirit- ualists and Materialists. No tricks are too dark for them, that they think will help them to prolong their power. If this communication is thought upon and acted upon, it will do a vast amount of good. My name here was Cosmas Indieopleustes. For account of Cosmas Indieopleustes we refer to Encyclo- paedia Britannica. When Cosmas tells us that "the Christian priesthood are blind to tilings which they know to be true; that they will never read inscriptions right that are dangerous to their infernal superstition," he undoubtedly speaks whereof he knows, and plainly implies that, they have acted upon that policy in regard to the Adulian inscription. Cosmas tells us that even now, that BARTHELEMY. 101 priesthood under the pretence of honestly searching for the buried evidence of the truth of the Old Testament, are engaged in counterfeiting relics to bolster up that foundation of the Christian Scripture. But it Avill not avail. The truth is to be found, not buried beneath the mouldering ruins of mortal, and perishable antiquity, but in those realms of light and truth where dwell the truly great, and good and wise of all the ages. Brethren, sisters, look up into the beaming sky above you, if you would enjoy the sunburst of living light not adown the dark vistas of the still lingering gloom of the dying and dead past. " Let the dead past bury its dead," and let us seek light and guidance from the teachings of true, good, and wise who are before us ; not from those who insist on groping backward into the darkness that grows deeper and deeper, the further it is penetrated. At least this to me seems the true way of wisdom. kJURJi JACQUES BA^THELiEJVEY. A French Scholar. " Good day, sir : The great difficulty that an antiquarian and searcher into the mysteries of the past has to contend with is the opposition to anything that will throw light on the origin of the Christian religion. In the first place, you are all more or less dependent upon persons who subscribe their money to help you, in various ways, in your researches into the mys- teries of the past ; and you must be careful, no matter what you may discover, of not trespassing upon their religious beliefs. But no antiquarian that ever lived has failed to discover that the whole of the modern Christian religion, under the different forms of symbolic worship, is written upon all the temples and tombs of antiquity. But not being able, when I lived on earth, to do as I pleased, I left a key for those who desired to use it, or who had the means to show up the subject of the Christian religion in its true light, and this was called the Alphabet of Palmyra, by means of which certain inscriptions upon the ruins of the temples of that ancient city could be used to throw a flood of light upon all the ceremonies of Christianity. There, 102 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. is set forth the doctrine of the Trinity ; there, is to he found the censor ; there, is represented the eucharist in the feast of Bacchus ; there, are the priestly robes ; there, are the mitre and other insignia of popes, cardinals and bishops ; there, are offi- ciating priests, all paraded before you on those ancient ruins; and on other ruins in Kartoum, Egypt, and in what is known as the Abyssinian desert, these things have been frequently seen. There, also you will find the identical head that is to be found engraved in Christian bibles, as the representation of Jesus of Nazareth, carved as the object of heathen veneration. On tombs especially this may be found. It was my belief at first, from the knowledge I obtained, that this face or head was the representation of Ptolemy Euergetes ; but I have found out, as a spirit, that it was of much later origin, and represents the likeness of the reviewer of ancient symbolism Apollonius of Tyana. I have also, from the examination of drafts made by Sir Warren Hastings, of the cave of Elephanta, in India, found that instead of the Jews wearing the robe or dress that is set down in history as having been worn by Herod, that it was worn by the tyrant Causa, representing the slaughter of the innocents, in the cave of Elephanta. I am also satisfied that the Adulian marble represents the life, adventures and miracles of Apollonius of Tyana and not of Ptolemy Euergetes ; because the characters that are there engraved or cut do not belong to the time or age of that king, but they do belong to an age about three hundred years later, which would bring them down to the death of Apollonius. Besides, I know that there were to be found in basso-relievo, on tombs and temples, the faee and effigy of that extraordinary man. Another fact bearing on this point is this : In our antiquarian researches we acquire the faculty of distinguishing difierenees of character and style between the antiquities of different ages. I might possibly, after controlling this man for a certain length of time, be able to show you what we antiquarians understand as to these difierenees of face, form, symbols and signs, and thus distin- guish those of one age from another ; but to do this upon the first control of this medium would be impossible for me. 1 want to say further, that there may be scholars who come here from the spirit world who will convey their ideas more clearly and explicitly than I have done ; for under the circumstances, it is with the greatest difficulty I have been able to force this com- munication through the medium. My name was Jean Jacques Barthelemy. I passed to spirit life in 1795. I was the author of the travels of Anacharsis the Younger." liefer to account of Barthelemy in the Nouvellc Biographic CJencrale. BARTHELEMY. 103 The spirit of this learned antiquarian and reader of inscrip- tions that returns and confesses that he did not dare to disclose what he knew to be the truth in regard to them, doubtless gives us a true account of facts as he knows them. As a spirit he congratulates himself that he at least left behind him in his essay on the language and alphabet of Palmyra, the key by which what he left undone may be attained. But the fact of greatest significance is that the monuments in Upper Egypt and Abyssinia that have been supposed to have been erected in honor of King Ptolemy Euergetes, are in reality the monu- ments erected by the Gymnosophists of Upper Egypt and the regions still higher up the Nile, in honor of the great philoso- pher, medium and teacher, Apollonius of Tyana. It is a historical fact that Apollonius travelled all over those regions after his famous interview with Vespasian at Alexandria and made a deep and lasting impression among the meditative and philosophical religionists of those distant regions. In relation to the Adulian inscription, in view of all the facte, I conclude that the throne or monument at that time was erected by Ptolemy Euergetes about 220 B. C, and that a part at least of the inscription upon it relates to that Egyptian king. But when Apollonius visited Adulis three hundred years later, his followers, who were then in control of affairs in that city, made an inscription upon it, commemorative of the doctrines and religious observances inculcated by Apollonius. In noticing the communication from the spirit of Cosmas Indicopleustes, I searched the works of various writers for information in reference to the Adulian inscription and found that a part of the inscription had disappeared. This is, to say the least, very significant. Is it not more than probable that some pious Christian priests have recognized the importance of erasing that tell-tale portion of the inscription? I do not hesi- tate to say, from my large experience in testing spirit commu- nications, that the statements coming from Cosmas and Bar- thelemy are true. It is a fact, amply attested by truthful spirits, that they have vastly more opportunity of knowing what is true, even as to the affairs of earth, than they had when they were here in the mortal form ; and having nothing to lose by telling the truth, and everything to gain by doing so, their statement may be depended on when not inconsistent with probabilities or known facte. The positive evidence of the truth 104 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. of these spirit statements is within reach, and they will doubt- less be fully verified in time. According to the Penny Cyclo- paedia the inscription may be found in Montfitucon's Collectia Nova Patrum, also in Fabricus' Bibliotheca Graeca, and Chia- hull's Antiquita Asiaticaj. HEfi^V SflLiT. An Eminent English Traveller. " Good day, sir : There is noantiquarian no inscriptionist no linguist, but absolutely understands that all historic reli- gions, either through relics, monuments or scrolls, have their origin in the sun ; and that all the ancients, although their religions may be diversified, started on that central pivot, the Sun. And after a most laborious effort to come here to-day, and through an uneducated man to state what I know, I find it most difficult (as you mortals cannot and will not know, until you become spirits,) to carry out my purpose. We will com- mence with this, (what has been said being only preliminary.) 1 Abrasax.' You will find that this word wherever written or carved, is claimed to have been derived from the Hebrew Ab Pen, and lias been said to designate what might be termed in Hebrew 'father ;' but in no case can the learned claim that tins is true, for in reality it relates to the Persian god Mithras ; and the Abraxas or Abrasax, means the amulet worn by the ancients ; and jn all cases is traced to Mithras, as typical of the Sun. 1 will next refer to G. Belzoni's great discovery at Thebes, where basso-relievos cover the sides of a tomb that no antiqua- rian can claim to understand in any other light than astronom- ical. Also in the works of Edward liuppcl, and his discoveries in Egypt, Nubia, and Kordofan, it will be found that all the temple inscriptions and tombs, are, in every ease, either built according to the ancient system of astrology ; or, they are so sculptured, outside and in, as to render their astrological rela- tions apparent. The first thing that strikes the attention of an antiquarian, are certain symbols always known as representing the sun, or the cent re of the solar system. You will also find in the writings of IJel/oni, concerning the Oasis of Jupiter Amnion, that the whole ancient system is a combination of the Sun with HENRY SALT. 105 the first sign of the zodiac, or with Aries, the Ram or Lamb. The same kinds of basso-relievos, only of a ruder character, are found in the bases of the temples of India ; among the principal of which are the caves of Elora and Elephanta. And that this principle is just as much observed to-day, in these ancient countries, I am prepared to prove, by the temples of Shoemadoo near Pegu in Birmah, called in English, the Golden Supreme ; also by the temple near Rangoon of the Shoe Dagon or Golden Dagon. These temples are built upon exact astronomical prin- ciples. This last modern Dagon throws a full light upon the nature of the temple of the Philistines, spoken of in the Hebrew text, where Dagon fell down before the ark. No learned com- mentator can deny the identity of the modern Dagon with the ancient one. And now for my final effort through this man, to show where, from inscriptions and ruins still existing, I think it will be found that true civilization began ; and to do this I shall have to go back before real history begins, and show that man having left his rude home upon the Asiatic plains beyond the Himalayas, made his descent into the fertile plains of India, with all his rude barbarian health not yet enervated by luxury. There, finding the soil to yield him the necessaries of life with- out labor, and everything that goes to make up material happi- ness, he naturally became mentally developed. And in those regions, I think, between 12,000 and 15,000 years ago, was invented and introduced what is termed by the learned, the Sanscrit tongue, the language of the real Sun worship ; and which has governed every system of religion since. If there is any religion without the symbol of the Sun in Aries, or in the first sign of the zodiac, I have failed to discover it. All kinds of life that have taken on form have been worshipped, simply as types or way-marks to the great material god the Sun. In writing they almost always, or as nearly as possible, wrote from East to West. It is a well known fact that all the early Christ- ians worshipped, or manifested their adoration, by bowing toward the East the counterpart of pagan Sun-worship. And, in Palmyra and Thebes, the principal object worshipped by the forerunners of Christianity, was Aries the Ram or Lamb ; and the Therapcutpe also worshipped the same symbol. You will find (his proven in Sir William Jones' Asiatic Researches. I am sorry, as a spirit, that I allowed Christianity to blind my eyes to the truth. As I did so, I owe it to my mortal brethren here on earth to set them right. If this succeeds in doing what I intend it shall, (and I have no doubt it will if properly fol- lowed up,) I will have done my part toward retrieving my mistake. And now I have this to say to you, that whilst I leave you to withstand the concussion of error, I as a spirit will 106 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. always be with you in what I have here uttered. Yours for the public good, Henry Salt." Refer to the Biographie Universelle for account of Henry Salt. Such a man was Henry Salt, whose spirit, after a half century, returns to inform the world as to certain points of ancient history which his Christian prejudices prevented him from acknowledging when in the mortal form. Header, think of what the world has been deprived of thiough the Christian training of this truly learned and accomplished antiquarian. If Henry Salt had, in 1809, when the result of his investigations into the antiquities of Hindostan, Abyssinia and Egypt was first published, then asserted what he now positively asserts, to wit: that all religions had their origin in the"sun,"from which they all started as from one pivotal point, it would not be necessary for me to draw down upon myself the opposition and enmity of religious bigots, in laying bare t be truth in relation to those time-honored delusions, called Christ- ian truths. That he should have found it most difficult to use the medium as well as he did, I can well understand, although bethinks that cannot be possible. I have not a doubt of the correctness of his interpretation of the Abraxas or Abrasax, which has been so clearly misunderstood. It is undoubtedly a Persian, and not a Grecian symbol, as has been erroneously supposed, and no doubt had relation to the sun in its annual revolution. For account of Wilhelm Ruppel and Belzoni, we refer to Thomas's Dictionary of Biography. The spirit of Salt no doubt recalls what he was perfectly familiar with in his earth life, when he speaks of the astrologico- theological discoveries of Belzoni and Ruppel. He must have been personally acquainted with both, and they no doubt con- curred in opinions as to the astro-theological origin and char- acter of Christianity. No well informed antiquarian will question the assertion of this spirit, that the temples of India and Egypt corresponded as to their respective symbols, and the signification of them. That the Burman Dagon of modern times is identical with the fish-god of the Philistines, there is no doubt. They represent, alike, the Sun in the sign of the Fishes, and.because of that fact the former is called the Golden Dagon, everything being considered golden that expressed the solar light. But here we have the spirit of one of the most HENRY SALT. 107 learned men of the beginning of the present century, in the light of his mortal and spirit knowledge, asserting that the first written language was the Sanscrit, and that it had its origin between 12,000 and 15,000 years ago, in the elevated plains of Southern and Central Asia, among a people themselves fresh from a barbaric state ; and what is most significant of all, that that language was invented to express the worship of the Sun by that rude and early people. Even at that early period, the Sun, in the sign of Aries, was a leading feature of the religion of the primitive Aryan people. It was on account of the fact of the Sun's apparent movement from east to west, says the spirit of Salt, that the Asiatic peoples usually wrote from right to left instead of from left to right as we do. It is equally certain that the Essenes, who were the primitive Christians, wor- shipped the Sun, and always bowed or knelt toward the east in adoration of the Sun. It is equally certain that the principal object of worship by the Palmyrans and Thebuns who were the people from whom the Christians derived their religion in great part, was the Sun, in the sign of the Lamb. This spirit frankly confesses that he allowed himself to be blinded by Christianity, and comes to us, he says, to make amends so far as he may for his error, by disclosing wdiat he could of truth. Header, could you know the labor of testing the truth of these communications, you would regard them as more precious than gold, as sources of the most reliable knowledge as to the affairs of the past. 108 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. JVL SE^VlIiLilUS fiOfHAflUS. Roman Consul and Historian. " I salute you, siu : 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 theirgrasp. The Christian Jesus is nothing more than the Chrishna of the Hindoos; the Heal or Hell of the Babylonians; the Apollo of the Greeks ; and Roma or Romulus of the Romans ; modified in forms and ceremonies suited to modern superstition. All this I have learned in spirit life through the desire to be histor- ically correct. When here I was a historian. As a spirit my inclinations lead me the same way. All the kings and princes of ancient times were worshipped at the same time the Christian Saviour Mas said to be on the earth. Now, I am here to tell the truth. There were no Christians nor Christianity in the time of Nero, from A. 1). 4o to 08. We knew nothing of such a reli- gion, nor was it in existence at that time. And I want it expressly understood that 1 was a historian, at that time gath- ering all the facts I could. If there had been the slightest evidence of it, 1 would have acknowledged it. Hut in my day, nobody knew anything of the Christian Saviour nor his apos- tles. There were two religions in the time of Nero that held supremacy, one was the 'Sun' and the other the 'Son.' You may ask me what was the difference between them. 1 answer the first was the sun worshipped in a material sense, ami the second was the same solar orb spiritually or symbolically wor- shipped, in the Ahnnian of Zoroaster of Persia. These were the predominating religions, and all the priests understood them as I have stated. My name was M. Servillius Nonianus. 1 lived about from A. I). 50 to 70." Refer to Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography for account of .Nonianus. Nothing whatever is said in the biography about his historical works, from which we may infer that they shared the fate of the lahois of ot her historians who lived and wrote at the time when it was said Jesus and his Apostles were creating such a sensation in PHILADELPHIA. 109 the world. That this communication is genuine we cannot doubt from the circumstances under which it was given. Here is another spirit who must have known of Jesus and his doings, if what is related of him was in any respect true ; who comes back and positively denies that there was any such person, prior to A. D. 60, as Jesus Christ, or Jesus the Christ, or Jesus of Nazareth, or the Nazarene, or the Saviour of Men ; or any Apostles who taught the religion of such a being. PTOUEJVTY PHlLiAtJELiPHUS. " Good Day : Humility is one of the attributes of true great- ness, therefore I come here to-day, after the lapse of centuries, to try to bring to you as much light as possible under the cir- cumstances. I was born and brought up in a way that devel- oped in me a taste for literature. I was absorbed by a passion for books, and through my library-keeper Demetrius, I suc- ceeded in securing about 280,000 rolls or books. What did all this vast mass of learning do to benefit humanity? There are no religious systems existing to-day but what obtained the principal parts of their creeds and tenets from the Alexandrian Library. Learned men of all nations and religions resorted to Alexandria, and from them I bought the principal works relating to their religions. In the course of time those men after inves- tigating the works on religion in the Alexandrian Library modified and remodeled their respective religions. If you ex- amine the ancient Egyptian coins of the date of my reign you will find myself and queen represented as divine brother and sister; for in order to preserve the cast of features of the royal family unaltered it was regarded as necessary to marry your own sister ; and Arsinoe was my sister. I always desired to receive the truth, come whence and from whom it might. I intended, had not my life ended too early to accomplish the work, to have founded a system of morality and spirituality, to comprise all that was good, true and valuable in the religions of every people that I could reach. I would have saved untold numbers of human lives, and wouid have led the development of mankind to a point far beyond that which has been reached to-day. Spiritual mediumship has been the light of all nations 110 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. and all peoples through all time. The nation or sect that scorns mediumship may flourish for a time, but they will soon perish beneath the wheels of progress. I had another object in mak- ing the vast collection of books before mentioned. I expected to be able to furnish to the world a legal code that would have established justice and abolished human slavery. It was this that caused me to liberate 100,000 Jews. But to accomplish tiiis Herculean task, a mortal life was too short, amid the bigotry and ignorance of my age. Since passing to spirit life, I have been seeking mediums and have manifested myself through them, but never before have I found a medium I could control so well as the present one. You are absolutely correct in the stand you have taken regarding the Christian religion ; and the more you search out and investigate the matter the more posi- tive will become the conclusion that the Christian religion is the outgrowth of the library of Ptolemy Philadelphus. You can then throw down the gauntlet and challenge the world to an investigation of the facts. I will also say that your chrono- logical tables are not correct. Perhaps at some future time I may be able to return and again communicate with you, when I will prove to you by comparing the works yet in existence that you are not living in the nineteenth century of the Chris- tian era, but in the twenty-second. The originators of the Christian religion were many, each contributing something to the aggregate of what it represents. Potamon, in the reign of Augustus, more than two hundred years after the enterprise of projecting a new religion that should take the place of all pre- vious religions that had been begun, arranged the incongruous materials in what he called the Eclectic system of religious observances and maxims. I am Ptolomy Philadelphus. liefer to Biographic Universelle for account of Ptolemy Phila- delphus. When this communication was received, we had no knowl- edge of the history of such a king, beyond the fact that lie reigned in Egypt at some period of history. This communica- tion seems to settle the disputed question as to whether Deme- trius was really the keeper of the Alexandrian Library under Ptolemy Philadelphus a fact which has been strongly ques- tioned, and which is another example of the manner adopted by these ancient spirits to correct history as it has come down to us, and give information to he obtained in no other way. [The value of this communication, is not to be estimated lightly. We call the attention of our readers to the accounts now extant of that vast library, bearing upon the history of antiquity. PHIL.ADKL.PHUS. Ill Wlien we realize the difficulty attending the collection of hooks and manuscripts in ancient times, compared with the present, we can readily understand what a valuable collection it was for that period. Three times this vast accumulation of literature was destroyed, but not before many learned men had visited it and founded new systems of religion upon the knowl- edge there obtained. The library was considered the most valuable in existence, and even to-day scholars bemoan its de- struction, although not giving credence to the report that it was destroyed by Christian vandals in the interest of their religion. To-day the world is agog because of the discovery of a few lines of ancient manuscript in Egypt. (We refer to the manuscript lately discovered by Mr. Petrie, found in the sands of Fayoum, along Western Egypt. Some of which are to be seen in the Egyptian Collection of the University of Pennsylvania.) In these manuscripts reference is made to thirty-five lines of Iliad, five of which it is claimed by scholars are not in existence in the copies which have come down to us, after being copied and re- copied by the Alexandrine and Byzantine scribes; also with the four or five pages of Plato, found at the same time the discovery is made that Plato's text as we have it was touched up to suit the taste of the different critics and writers. If scholars admit these facts, how much ground it gives to the statements of these ancient spirits that their manuscripts have been mutilated and interpolated in copying in the interests of the Christian church by its writers, until they have entirely lost their original mean- ing at many points. Yet how little the information contained in the above mentioned and recently found manuscripts by Mr. Petrie is, compared to what has been obtained through these spirit communications which if accepted, Mill bring knowledge to the world of the greatest importance, and settle once for all, the truth, as to the source from whence the Christian religion sprung. Compiler.] 112 ANTIQUITY LNVKUiKI). PONTIUS PlIiflTE. Procurator of Judea. " My obketino to you is this : I was appointed Procura- tor of Judea in the commencement of the reign of Octavius Augustus. At that time the Jewish nation was in a very tur- bulent state. Many men were brought before me on all kinds of charges, for these Jews were the most bitter sectarian bigots in regard to their religious views that I have ever met with as a mortal or spirit. There never was brought before mo such a man or so-called God as the present Christian system claims. There was a Jesus Onanias who was tried before me for high- way robbery and was crucified by my soldiers ; but of the now renowned Jesus 1 know nothing whatever. In their Jewish ceremonies, conducted at their own temple in Jerusalem, they were just that kind of element to control as are the Jews of the present day. They were divided into three or four different sects, and each of these was striving to become the master of the others. It required the whole military forces under my command to prevent them from murdering each other in their own temple. At the time of my procuratorshipin Judea, there was )>. great infiux of visitors from all over the East wise men, so-called, who came there for the purpose of trying to under- stand the Jewish rites and ceremonies; but they were so strictly guarded in their worship that they would allow none to communicate the secrets thereof. You know from history that it was the Roman policy to conquer and rule all nations by allowing them to enjoy without interference their respective religious systems. We did this simply because we found that religious ideas had become so rooted in the minds of different people that they would be subservient to us just so long as we would allow their religions free scope. Now I want to enter into further particulars. Then; was a sect of Jews called Essenes. They were what you moderns call Communists. They believed in having every tin ng in common. They were also guided by t he same principles tliat now govern the Shakers. The whole Christian story was conceived and framed among the Essen ian brotherhood, who were hermits and lived apart from society. Christians to-day cannot prove anything about their man-God ; and :ill their hopes would have been overturned and destroyed PONTIUS PILATE. 113 but for the destruction, by the Mahommedans of the Alexandrian library. Christianity would not to-day have any foothold if it had not been for the Mahommedans. They can thank the bigotry of the latter for the success of their own religion. 1 was Pro- curator in Judea in the fourth year of the reign of Augustus. I held the position nine years. In the latter part of my life I was banished for participating in a revolt at Rome, and I died at what is known to you as Trieste, in Austria, on account of being banished. This is the whole sum and substance of my career. As I hope for a happy spirit life, I can say I know nothing of any person, Jew or Gentile, of any Jesus, excepting the one mentioned in this communication. I am Pontius Pilate." [This communication from Pontius Pilate is positively con- firmed at the present time by the gifted and learned "Rabbi Wise," who recently journeyed to Jerusalem ostensibly for the purpose of ascertaining if the Gospel account of Christ's trial before Pontius Pilate, and condemnation to be nailed to the cross was true. The learned Doctor says he searched diligently the records of Pilate's Court, which are preserved, for the trial of Jesus, but it was not recorded. He found the record of all sorts of criminals, both of a high and low degree, but the name of "Jesus of Nazareth" was not there and never had been. Thus it appears that \this most important spirit testimony as to the trial, is confirmed by one of the most gifted minds of our day, who personally investigated the records of the court of Pontius Pilate, only to find that what is taught in the Christian churches to-day relating to the so-called pei'sonage Jesus Christ, is entirely without foundation. This testimony from Rabbi Wise comes to us almost ten years after the spirit of Pontius Pilate had voiced through the medium his important statement, viz : that no such person as Jesus of Nazareth was ever tried before him as set forth by Christian writers. Rabbi Wise no doubt after making the long journey to Jerusalem earnestly and truly investigated the matter to learn whether the Christian Gospels were correct. This testimony is disinter- ested but goes far to prove that these ancient spirits are coming to earth for the sole purpose of bringing light to mankind who have been misled and are groping in darkness, mystified by these false teachings. Day by day and Sunday after Sunday, according to what is termed the "Apostles'Creed." millions of Christians repeat in their religious exercises " Crucified under Pontius Pilate," etc., yet in this nineteenth century, evidence 114 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. which cannot be set aside reaches us, not only from the spirit of Pontius Pilate, who, above all others, should know the truth pertaining to the question under consideration, but from a distinguished individual on the mortal plane who unknowingly corroborates the spirit's testimony. We can readily infer from the investigation by the learned Rabbi Wise that other claims of the so-called Christian religion if fully investigated would prove to be myths also. In view of these remarks we leave the reader to his own reflections, believing that the key we have furnished, is sufficient to unravel the mysteries hitherto concealed. Com pi lek. ] CYf*ILiLiUS LiUCHA^. Greek Patriarch. "Sir: The vicissitudes of life are great both in the mortal and spirit condition. No more ardent follower of Jesus Christ ever appeared upon this planet than I was, but my prospect my hop^s my realization, as a spirit, have all been blasted. By what? By the non-realization of what I expected. All tins is sad to think of ; and, far better is it for me to return from the spirit world and state my actual realization of spirit life to all people, so that none can be deceived. Vain is that hope that rests upon another's merits. Cultivate the purity of your own mortal spirit and rely upon nothing but a determination to do right. Oh ! sir, if I had to-day 1000 tongues, and as many transmigrations as the Buddha of old, I should ever aim to teach the truth and realities of a spirit life as I know them to be. Honesty in religion is no proof of its truth. Christianity lias caused more blood to flow more' widows to weep and more children to be fatherless, than have all other religions on earth to-day. I ask, can infinite love conceive" deeper infamy than Christianity has brought to this planet? Millions on millions of ruined souls in the after-life and untold numbers on earth weep, when they reach tho finality of common sense and reason, over what they have reaped from the teachings of Christianity. Oh ! my heart is sad to-day. I feel the weight of the years that have elapsed since I left the mortal state, ami CYRILLUS LUCHAR. 115 would ask mankind to pause and reflect, now ; for the time will come when it will be far more difficult to act as a spirit than it is now for them to act as mortals. Christianity is not from the Jews, but from the Greeks. It is a combination of the Platonic and Alexandrian doctrines, with the doctrines of Apollonius of Tyana, the Syrian Christ, about thirty-two years after the birth of the alleged Christ. Out of these, together with the forged letter to the Roman Emperor Trajan, from Pliny the Younger, A. D. 103, has grown Christianity. Deny these facts who can. In the British Museum, Library Depart- ment, you will find that I, Cyrillus, Patriarch of Alexandria, sent a copy of the scriptures, known as the Alexandrian manu- script, by Sir Thomas Rowe to Charles the First, King of England, and that manuscript was transcribed from the writings of Potamon of Alexandria, about the year 475, by Thecla, an Egyptian lady, and out of that transcribed copy, has their celebrated Alexandrian manuscript grown ; as any one will find to be true who will examine into the historical facts of the case ; and they are indisputable by the advocates of Chris- tianity. I would say in conclusion, let the light of truth shine and let it drive away all darkness from the human mind. Cyrillus Luchar, Patriarch of Constantinople." Cyrillus Luchar was a Greek Patriarch of Constantinople, noted for his efforts to introduce into his church the doctrines of the Reformed (Calvanistic) churches. He was born about 15G8 in Candia, which at that time was under the sovereignty of Venice and the chief seat of Greek scholarship. In 1602 Cyrillus succeeded Meletius as patriarch of Alexandria. After the death of Timotheus, patriarch of Constantinople, he was elected his successor by a unanimous vote of the synod. His life as patriarch was full of vicissitudes. The Jesuits, in union with agents of France, several times procured his banishment, while his friends, supported by the ambassadors of the Protestant powers in Constantinople, obtained by means of large sums of money, his recall. His attempt to Protestantize his church created many enemies against him in the Greek Church, and in 1638 a synod convened at Constantinople to try him. Put, before sentence was pronounced upon him, the Janissaries arrested him by order of the government, carried him to a boat, strangled him and cast the corpse into the sea. Some friends found the corpse and buried it on an island, and ten years later a solemn funeral was held at Constantinople. In view of the facts connected with the communication of 116 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. Cyrillus we deem it one of the most remarkable and important thai has ever come from any spirit since the dawn of Modern Spiritualism. The positive identification it affords of the origin of the so-called Christian Bible is so nearly perfect as only to require such collateral facts as are within reach to render it absolute and beyond question. The source and nature of the Alexandrian Manuscript of the British Museum is so clearly stated by the spirit of Cyrillus as to leave not a doubt that he had positive knowledge of the truth of ins statement in regard to Potamon the Alexandrian having been the author of the original writings of which the Alexandrian Manuscript was a transcribed copy. It therefore becomes more and more clear that no man, nor man-god, such as Jesus Christ ever had any- thing to do with the " Holy Bible," as has been erroneously supposed and wrongly insisted on. Refer to the Encyclopaedia Britannica for the history of the celebrated Alexandrian Manuscript which will show the ma- terial correctness of the communication. It is no wonder that the giving of that communication was so cunningly resisted by interfering priestly spirits through the earlier part of that sitting. The same Jesuits who, in the interest of the Roman Catholic Church, sought the ruin and death of Cyrillus, because he was possessed of the dread secret of the entirely human origin of the Christian religion, might well fear the disclosure of that returning spirit. Hence their manifest attempt to prevent its being given, or to so couple it with deceptive communications as to cause it to be discredited. But in spite of all opposition the gnat secret is out and recorded. Alter reading the history of the celebrated Alexandrian man- uscript in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, we can readily under- stand why the Christian critics of the Church of England in this age, seek to conceal the source of the Christian Bible. Why did not the learned Tregelles tell us how the name of Thecla, the martyred Egyptian lady came to be associated with the Alexandrian manuscript, by being placed upon the margin of the codex? Who placed it there? Why was it placed there ? When was it placed there? Is it there in characters executed by a different hand than the body of the codex ? Is the ink different? Is there any appearance whatever of difference in the age of the writing of the name Thecla, and the writing of the body of MS. Who was Thecla ? When did she live ? Why CYRILLUS LUCHAR. 117 was she martyred ? Who martyred her? Why was she canon- ized by the Greek Church? When was she canonized by that church? When these most natural questions are answered it will appear that, " that shrewd conjecture " of Tregelles is an absurdity ; and that the Latin inscription of Cyrillus is certain to demonstration. But apart from these unanswered questions, we have the spirit Cyrillus coming back and communicating through an almost unlettered medium, not only that Thecla, the Egyptian lady, transcribed the Alexandrian MS. but that she did it about 475, the period which paheographical criticism and analysis assign to its production, making known the most important fact of all that this noble Egyptian lady transcribed that manuscript from the writings of Potamon. It is hardly possible, if Spiritualism be true, that the spirit of Cyrillus should not have met the spirit of the canonized Egyptian Thecla and thus learned beyond all peradventurethe nature of the writings that the latter transcribed. Those writings were, then, undoubt- edly those of Potamon. In view of the fact that Cyrillus, in his Latin inscription on the codex, mentions that Thecla lived shortly after the council of Nice, and that she transcribed Potamon's writings, we can readily understand the cause of her martyrdom. She knew that which the Roman Catholic priesthood could not afford to have the world know, and that was that Potamon was the author of the teachings that they had corruptly attributed to a deific man called Jesus who had nothing whatever to do with them. Thecla, the learned and noble woman, paid the penalty of her erudition with her life. ,113 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. QUl^TILiliIAfl. A Latin Grammarian. " My best greeting to you: When here, in mortal life, I was known as Quintillian, the grammarian, and lived at Rome from about A. D. 40 to A. D. DO. I Mas the master and teacher of Pliny the Younger ; and it is by his invitation that I urn here to-day. I am glad to bear witness to the truth. I was a teacher at Rome at the time when there was not a single man of any education but that was engaged in making prose- lytes to some religious views of his own. All of their religious views had a pantheistic tendency^ In fact Pantheism had set men crazy, each and every one desiring to add another god to his household idols. In such a state were the religions of my day. In regard to that celebrated personage, whom the Christ- ians claim once lived in Judea, there was no account of such a personage in my day; nor have I been able to find a single honest, unbiased spirit, in his or her religious views, who knows aught of Jesus Christ. Another thing that occurs to me in relation to the story of Jesus. It is my clear and positive conviction that the real Jesus was Apollonius of Tyana. While in mortal life I saw Apollonius. I was young then, and I heard him speak at Antioch. lie preached the very same sermon or nearly so, that is called Christ's sermon on the mount. Being young then I thought his sermon wonderful, but when T had grown older, and had seen other philoso- phers at Rome, I heard from them just as much truth expressed more clearly and in fewer words Hum ever fell from the lips of Apollonius. 1 tun also clear in this, that the cross has been the symbol of various countries and religions since (lie days of Rameses 1 1., of Egypt. There is not a single rite, form of baptism, ceremony or prayer but what has been stolen almost bodily from China or India, which any traveller in t hose count lies can see for himself. As the ancient philosophers only taught as much truth as they could conceive, so you should examine everything submitted to you by the light of reason ami analogy. If you do this no Christian teacher will dare to deny the facts which we spirits are bringing forward, from day to day. These spirit voices will make all false religious QUINTIL.LIAN. 119 bow at the shrine of eternal truth. This will finish my discourse." Refer to the Encyclopaedia Britannica for account of Q.uin- tillian. It was this amiable and accomplished Roman whose spirit returned and, through a medium communicated the important facts which we have given. But for that communication we should never have heard of such a person. It would seem from his communication, that ho was neither born in Spain nor in Rome, as has always been supposed, but in Syria, as he says that when quite young he, at Antioch, heard Apollonius of Tyana preach, and this before going to Rome where he heard the transcendent oratory of the Roman philosophers. His mention of the fact that he came at the invitation of his old friend and pupil, Pliny the Younger, very fully accounts for his finding his way to us, Pliny already having com- municated several weeks before. If this communication is genuine and to be relied on, then it is very clear that nothing was known of such a historical personage as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth, as early as the middle of the first century of the so-called Christian era. It is equally clear that although the learned Quintillian has been in spirit-life for eighteen hundred years, he has never met a spirit who knew aught of Jesus Christ. His opinion that the real character or hero of the Christian story was Apollonius of Tyana, he having heard that remarkable man preach, is most significant ; and his testimony that the Sermon on the Mount, is substantially plagiarized from the preaching of Apollonius, leaves no reason to believe that there is anything original in the Christian scriptures, especially so far as its ethical and doctrinal features are concerned. It would seem equally clear that the cross, the forms, ceremonies and church ordinances, practiced and reverenced by Christians, are not original, but borrowed from the religions of China and India, through Egypt after the reign of Rameses II. one of the greatest sovereigns of that country (1300 B. C). Truly, in view of such spirit testimony as this, " These spirit voices will make all false religions bow at the shrine of eternal truth." 120 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. JULilUS LiUClUS FLtO^US, A Roman Historian. 11 1 greet you, sir : My mortal life came to an end about A. D. K50. in the time when 1 lived on earth all was confusion. Mankind was struggling for more light. The spirit of progress was strong, hut it afterwards became buried beneath Christ- ianity. To that religion we owe the long dark night of mental slavery. This religion was in its infancy in Home, in my day ; but I think 1 can truly affirm from what I positively knew, that not only did the man called Jesus Christ never live, but this that none of his apostles, so-called, were known of at Rome when I lived there. I was engaged in writing a history of the Roman emperors at that time, and all sources of infor- mation were open to me, so that I could investigate all existing evidence and write a correct history of what I had taken in hand. Only a portion of my writings have been preserved and are in existence to-day. The reason of this was that there were three pages devoted to denouncing the Christian religion, which were condemned and destroyed by a pope called Urban IV., I think. The Christian popes were cunning, but enough ha esc tped their destroying power to prove that their religion is founded on mythology, and that there is no so-called revela- tions in the Christian scriptures that have not been taken from works antedating the time of Christ. The so-called revelation of Jesus lias nothing new in it. It contains nothing that was not known to the ancients before that time. So much in relation to my mortal knowledge. I will now tell you that in thospirit life, I find that the ancient pagan idolater has a better opportunity to progress as a spirit than a bigoted and self-willed Christian. There are millions of Christian spirits in spirit life, many of whom know that their religion is a fraud, ami yet will not acknowledge it to be so. They seek to keep up that mental slavery in spirit life which t hey maintained when here. The difficulty in the way of reforming these spirits is, that you are constantly sending fresh additions to them to swell their ranks. So long ns this state of affairs continues, you must not wonder at the spiritual darkness that overshadows mankind. The enemies of truth that you meet here on the mortal plane are as nothing compared to the infinite number of spirits that JULIUS LUCIUS FLORUS. 121 are contending against you on the side of life. But all that a true progressionist can do is to fight the good fight for truth here, and then become translated to spirit life as a missionary on the other side. In this work you cannot fail to attain infinite happiness. My name was Julius Lucius Florus, a Roman historian. I was in the height of my work about A. D. 12-5." Refer to Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography for account of Florus. We feel assured that our readers will not begrudge the space we have given to this account of Florus. The remarkable analogy existing between the spirit account of himself and the fragmentary facts which have been permitted to come down to us concerning him, constitutes a most important proof of the power of spirits to return and correct the historical, as well as the religious errors of the past. This communication fully confirms Joubert's conjecture which will be found in the account of Florus written fortheNouvelle Biographie Generale as to the fact that but one and not three Floruses wrote con- cerning Roman history. The name of that Florus was Julius Lucius, and not either of the names that have been attributed to him. Here we have another historian, writing at the very time when Christian theologians claimed that the Christian Scriptures were being composed, and who had access to all sources of information of that period, who declares that there was nothing then extant in relation to any man Jesus Christ or his alleged apostles. He admits that the religion that after- wards was called Christianity, was then in its infancy at Rome, but its Scriptures had no existence then. He says that he devoted three pages to denouncing the Christian religion, which was then taking shape, and for that reason a part of his writings were destroyed by one of the popes, he thinks by Urban IV. The Roman Catholic Church authorities, had a much better reason than that for destroying or mutilating the writings of Florus, and that was the fact that there was no reference in them to any of the events which are claimed as historical in the Holy Bible. To get rid of the damning fact that there is no historical basis for their theological fictions, the Christian priesthood have been guilty of the heinous crime of destroying nearly all trace of the concurrent history of the first two centuries of the Christian era. What little of it they have permitted to come down to us, they have so altered and 122 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. changed, as to destroy its historical value. Thanks to benefi- cent and all powerful spirits the way is rapidly opening to restore to the world, the knowledge which those religious bigots thought they had forever destroyed. Rut precious testimony is that truly, when Florus, the Roman historian, returns from spirit life, and attests the fact that religious bigotry is as rife in spirit as in mortal affairs. He speaks truly when he says that state of affairs must continue, so long as we continue to manufacture religious bigots, and send them to swell the bigoted spirit hosts. No greater curse ever scourged humanity than religious bigotry. U^BAfi VIII. Roman Pontiff. " Good day, my son: I was known when here as Urban VI II., and 1 want to say this, that as a Tope and having been educated fully in Catholicism, I am able to give faets in regard to the mingling of paganism and Christianity. As Pope I took from the Pantheon at Rome, 4ou,000 pounds of bronzes to deco- rate St. Peter's at Rome, and the bronzes were used with little if any alteration in their ornamental designs. There you may see the gods of antiquity converted into the Christian saints. Let those who have charge of that editiee deny this if they can. To my certain knowledge most of the churches at Rome are built on the ruins of heathen temples and of the material of the latter. Christianity has borrowed everything from paganism ; and there is no Catholic priest who holds any office of conse- quence in the Catholic Church who does not know the common identity of a ceremony of the Eleusinian mysteries in Greece and the Lord's Supper. They will not admit this as mortals, hut there will come a time to them in the spirit life when re- morse for their untruthfulness will lash them into giving the truth. ' Why,' ask these milk and water people, 'do yon so roughly attack Christianity?' Because it claims for itself divine powers, and it has none. There is only one religion, and that is tin' religion of reason. There never was a spirit on this planet that i:i the end will possess any more power than another. So AQUILA. 123 they can rely, that each one will get their just deserts exactly. You can make the road long and tedious, or you can have the light. It is for you to choose, both in the mortal and the spirit life. I will close by saying, I hope for the success of truth and the banishment of error." Refer to Chambers' Encyclopaedia for account of Urban VIII. ' There are many points of great interest and importance in the communication of Urban. His emphatic testimony to the fact, that Christianity is only another name for paganism, is one. But of especial interest is the declaration, that in St. Peter's at Rome, the bronze statues of the Greek and Roman gods now figure as the Christian saints, where some of them were placed by Urban himself. Not less significant is the declaration, that the ceremony of the Lord's Supper is identical with a ceremony performed in the Eleusinian mysteries, and that the Bishops, Archbishops, Cardinals and Popes of the Catholic Church, have always known this great fact. RQVIUR. A Cappadocian Philosopher. "I have been set down in history as a Jew Afterwards as a Christian. There has been a great mistake. I was neither a Jew nor Christian. I was a Cappadocian, and they say I wrote a Greek version of the Old Testament. I did nothing of the kind. I combined extracts from the alleged teachings of the God Apollo with certain alleged facts in relation to Jove or Jehovah, but how these men succeeded in tacking my name to a Greek Testament I have been unable to find out even as a spirit. I lived in 128 A. D., and kept philosophical schools in certain portions of Judea and Cappadocia. In those schools I taught a mixture of Egyptian, Grecian and Judean doctrines, by which I gave great offence to the Jews, and on being sum- moned before a Jewish tribunal refused to recant anything that I had taught. The Jews, in consequence raised a sedition, and I was put to death by the Romans to appease them. But, as a spirit, I am no better or worse off for having taught my theology than the Jews for teaching the doctrines of their Jehovah ; or 124 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. the Christians for establishing the religion of their myth-god Erroneous teachings are not immortal. It is true that some are longer lived than others, but they all die of the dry-rot. Killed in the end by "old Father Time." Good and kind actions form the incense that is eternal in its freshness, and wafts the spirit who performs those actions upward and onward toward the great Infinite. My name was Aquila no Jew nor Christian, but a Cappadocian philosopher." Refer to the Biographic Universelle for account of Aquila. Who can read that communication from the spirit purporting to be Aquila, and the accounts that have come down to us concerning him, and not be impressed with the identity of the communicating spirit? No one has attempted to tell us, what was the manner or time of Aquila's death, lie, however, explains it. lie was neither a Jew nor Christian, but a Greek teacher, of a mixture of the doctrines of the Egyptians, Jews and Greeks, which were so offensive to the Jews, that they compelled the Roman authorities to put him to death to stop their seditious commotion. Is it not most encouraging to know, that the lost or concealed facts of ancient history, are being brought to light by these ancient philosophers and learned men of old, even at this late day? SYJVIMACHUS. A Grecian Statesman and Orator. " Well, sir : You have, I think, a paper among you Spirit- ualists called ' Light lor All.' That ought to he my salutation. In mortal life I was an orator, also a writer, and I wrote against the Christians. Now when a man writes against anything it is a proper question to ask: What are your reasons for doing so? hi my case they may lie set forth under three heads. First, because I knew there was no learned Christian hut who must have known, on investigation, that the religion called < 'hristian is hut a duplication of the Kleusinian mysteries, and that (hose mysteries embody every dogma set forth by the Christian priests. Secondly, because I knew that these mysteries were remodeled by Ammonius Saccns, and that the doctrines that SYMMACHUS. 126 the Christians were teaching were not the doctrines of their Jesus, but were the teachings of Ammonius Saccus ; and were Therapeutic doctrines. Thirdly, Theodotius, a Christian em- peror or Pope, after my time, had 27,000 rolls of papyrus destroyed that contained the very doctrines that prove that those mysteries of ancient Greece were the original parent of the Christian religion. Fear was predominant truth was not considered then. Spies and informers were set to watch your houses at all hours of the day or night, and if they could catch you reading anything contrary to the prevailing faith your life had to pay the forfeit. I have nothing to do as a spirit with those who were in this bond of iniquity, when I was in mortal form ; but I think it is no more than my duty as a spirit to enlighten you as to the acts of priestly forgery in my day. There are three things that govern a spirit's happiness, as far as I have learned love, charity, and justice to yourself. You sit in judgement upon your imperfections and becoming en- lightened seek to correct them through your own inward consciousness of what is best for you. I lived about 220 A. D. They have classed me as an Ebionite Christian. To define my true position I can come no nearer to it than to say I was what you are a Spiritualist, to all intents and purposes. As it is hard to express our ancient names through the medium I will spell mine as one of the versions of the Old Testament was attributed to me ; but it was a forgery. I had nothing to do with it. It was Lysimachus, who lived at Constantinople about A. D. 270 who was the author of that version." Refer to the Nouvelle Biographie Generale for account of Symmachus. Here we have another spirit returning and correcting the historical account of himself. He says he was not a Jew nor a:i Ebionite Christian, nor yet a Pagan, but a Spiritualist, and that he wrote against the Christians. There can be little doubt he was a Therapeutic follower of Ammonius Saccas, and if not himself initiated in the Eleusinian mysteries, had learned from the writings of Ammonius Saccas the facts that he sets forth. Truly, the key to the mysteries of all religions has been placed in our hands from the spirit world, and secret chamber after secret chamber is being opened with it never to be closed again. We deeply regret that time and space will not admit of a more extended notice of this undoubtedly genuine and truthful communication. 126 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. POMPOfllUS JVIELiA. A Roman Geographer. " I was a geographer, and lived at the time it is said the Christ- ian Saviour lived. I travelled in and examined many countries. There was none of those countries hut what had their Saviours at that time. I think that the tendency of religion was then from the old to the new, but I cannot say that the new was an improvement on the old. It had, to me, more the appearance of retrogression than progression. I cared not for religion, hut valued truth wherever I found it. What was good in religion I accepted ; what was good for nothing, or invented by priests, I had nothing to do with. There was one thing that embraced all my religion, and that was my conviction that God was the universal life and that I was but one expression of that life. Therefore, T did not fear the consequences to myself. I knew I would get exactly what I deserved. When I became a spirit I found that action, with a real purpose for improvement, is the motive power to spirit progression. In spirit, if you stand and bewail your fate, you sutler the same as you would as a mortal, under that mode of sicking happiness. If you are up, active and doing, then the spirit life is a life of happiness. I met with one strange thing in my travels, and that was the fact that the goddess Diana, A. D. 44, was worshipped as the prevailing God at Antioch, and that there were no Christians there at that time. I spent three months there, and found none; and I know that neither at Antioch, nor at Kphesus, nor at Athens, nor at Rome was there any person who knew anything about the man called Paul, at that time. As a spirit, I have investigated the subject, to find who this Paul was, and 1 found him to be none other than the Cappadocian Saviour, Apollonius ofTyana. Apollonius has told me himself, in spirit life, that he wrote the so-called Christian Epistles to his followers. T ask no man to accept this because it comes from myself, but I know, as a spirit, that it is t rue ; and if it is not found out to be so in this generation, it will be in the next, [died about A. [). (JO. I was a native of Spain, at that time a province of the Roman empire." Refer to Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Riography, for account of Pomponius Mela. Thus testifies another s;>irit, a noted writer who lived and POMPONIUS MELA. 127 thoroughly observed and investigated all subjects of general interest during the very time that it is said that Jesus, the Christian Saviour, was on the earth, and that related to the scenes of his fictitious efforts. Especially did he note the matters relating to the religions of the various countries in which he travelled and of which he wrote. He tells us that as late as 44 A. D., he spent three months at Antioch, where the goddess Diana was the only deity worshipped and that there were no Christians there at that time. He testifies equally positively that he knows that, when he lived, there was no one at Antioch, Ephesus, Athens nor Rome, who had ever seen or knew anything about the man named Paul. Now it will be remembered that the first mention made of Paul, as a historical character, is in the book called "The Acts of the Apostles," Chapter VII, 58. It is not said who he was or why he is there introduced. This is exceedingly strange if Paul was truly a historical character. From that time he is made the central figure of what is called the New Testament, Jesus himself being put in the shade by him. He is first made to figure as a terrible persecutor of Christians. Why no mention of any Christians as existing at that day, nor of Paul their terrible persecutor, was made by contemporaneous writers, no Christian writer has ever explained. Miraculously convinced of his error, as is alleged in " The Acts," Paul became the foremost Christian in the world, not even excepting St. Peter, the rock on which the Christian Church was built. In Chapter XIII, of The Acts, verse 1, it is said : " Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers * * As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them." This was the source of Paul's authorization to speak for the Holy Ghost. If there was no Christian Church in Antioch at that time, then the Christian mission of Paul is without support. The spirit of Pomponius Mela says that there was no such church, as late as 44 A. D., at Antioch, and his statement being in accord with contemporary history, is un- doubtedly true. But still more significant is his statement that no person at Antioch, Ephesus, Athens or Rome ever heard of Paul, who is represented to have figured so prominently, at the time when he lived and wrote, in those centres of religion of that period. 128 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. CA^Dl^AIi STEFAflO BORGIA. "Good day, sir: My name was Stefano Borgia, Cardinal at Rome, from 1806 to 1810, and died in Lyons, France. There is one thing before which everything else must bow, and that is truth. Any religion no matter what its power may be here if not founded on truth, in the spirit life must fail. The atonement of the Roman Church is approaching, and its power will go down in a night of blood. As I can see this with a spirit's eyes, I feel it my duty to say that those persons or characters spoken of in the New Testament never had an existence, and this is well understood by us priests. I was the leader or head of the Catholic Church at Rome, at the time of the entrance of the French into that city. The first and principal thing done was to hide all the works of the Latin Fathers. Why? Because Christianity cannot stand the blazing light of the originals when placed in the hands of scholars and free-thinkers. A child could almost see how the Epistles have been interpolated and changed to suit the views of the writers, and the foolish ceremonies these writers are advocating, show this. They fight about the communion ceremony whether they should use water or wine whether the bread was the real body or Christ or not. There has been more bloodshed, more spirit damnation on account of these follies in regard to these cere- monial laws than on account of all other things put together. This communication is yours for the cause of truth." Refer to the American Cyclopaedia for account of Cardinal Borgia. The importance of this communication may be understood from the fact that the learned Cardinal Borgia made it his especial business to collect the manuscript evidence of the writings of the Fathers of the Christian Church, and all that related to the anterior religious systems of the world. He therefore no doubt tells the exact truth in relation to the fact that the Roman Catholic Church could not afford to have the manuscripts of the Christian fathers fall into the hands of the learned critics of the beginning of the present century. What the Roman Hierarchy were able to secure from the French in 1803, is likely to become the world's property through CARACALLA. 129 the confessions and admissions of returning spirits, who can no longer bear the load of guilt of concealing the truth from their mortal brethren. To these spirits we say, come one, come all ! It is not yet too late for you to win the thanks and sympathy of awakening humanity. Bishop of Nicomedia. "I salute you with my best wishes: It is astonishing to me in one way, and yet not in another, when, as a spirit, I look upon you mortals and see you in this liberal, enlightened and educated age, bowing before the superstition that such men as myself, during our mortal lives, endeavored to perpet- uate for our own benefit. I do not believe that there were, at the Council of Nice, three persons present who believed in the truth of what was set down. If there were, it was on account of their ignorance. There was one thing that took place there that I think has not been recorded for the benefit of humanity. It was agreed among the bishops there assembled, to destroy all books that threw any light upon the mythological origin of the Christian religion. The result of that agreement, it is easy for you to estimate, since you have been receiving these com- munications from the spirits of the priests who flourished in that day and since ; as you must have seen for yourself that this has been carried out as thoroughly as possible. I cannot even plead in my own favor that I agreed to this through ignorance. I was governed by the desire for earthly advancement. In fact, one-half your priests, ministers and bishops, are to-day mate- rialists at heart, and they only advocate the Christian religion because it is popular, and yields them a happy temporal condi- tion. Even in my day we resorted to bibliomancy to decide questions of church policy. That is, we opened at one page, then at another, reading the first verses our eyes met, and by that means decided who should be bishop and who not. But this was only subterfuge to cover the real object, for the priest who had the most gold to pay to the bishops, bought the best bishopries. I will add, there was at that time nearly one hundred different versions of the gospels, so-called, and each 130 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. writer interpreted them to suit himself, as did the hishops like- wise. Therefore, enlightened persons, to-day, must be fools to follow the teachings of such dishonest barbarians as we were. If this communication causes one person to reflect on what I have said I am amply repaid. I was Caracalla, Archbishop of Nicomedia." Refer to McClintock and Strong's Cyclopaedia of Theological Literature, for "Bibliomancy." Here we have a spirit returning, and testifying not only that bibliomancy was practiced by the Christian prelates of his day, himself included, but that it was only a subterfuge of Christian prelates to barter away bishoprics for gold, and to conceal tbe vile and corrupt object of those in authority as Christian prelates. Still more than this, that in the Council of Nice, it was agreed among the prelates there assembled, to destroy all writings that could show the mythological origin of the Christ- ian religion. A pretty religion this to dominate the interests of humanity here and hereafter. We do not wonder that this spirit should feel contempt for the superstitious veneration of such a religion in the light of modern civilization and progress. How long? Oh ! how long, must humanity be governed tbrough superstitious fears? How important are these spirit disclosures of the soul-debasing origin of a religion, impiously taught in the name of the great God-soul of the universe a-s infallible truth ! HEGESIPPUS. 131 HEGESIPPUS. A Greek Theologian. " My best greetings to you : There is only a fragment of my mortal life now extant. I travelled through almost all the countries at that time accessible. My life was an eventful one. 1 am set down in history as a converted Jew, when in fact I was not a Jew at all. I was a Greek, and lived in Athens. As I travelled over air those countries, 1 found the idea of some God saving the people, who was to be born into mortal life, or in fact, as the speaker said, to-day, a reincarnation of some older God or Gods who would effect this. And upon this tradition the Christians have interpolated the small fragments extant now of the works of my mortal life. In reality it was nothing more than the teachings of the pupils or disciples of the Alexandrian school going out and spreading this idea, which they received from India through Apollonius. This I positively know to be the fact, because I talked with them, and was initiated in some of their secrets myself. But I found that a great deal of it was lost, and while they had some sound moral and philosophical thoughts, they had only one object in view as the basis of their teachings and that was to gain power. At the time I lived A. D. 170 there was a great desire to gather together these traditions, and to gain possession of ancient manuscripts, in order to patch up a new religion, out of the old ones. At that time, it was a fight between the power of learned scholars and the power of pagan priests. The priests bitterly ojoposed those who were regarded as learned men. My name was Hegesippus. You will find me mentioned, if anywhere, in Tichendorf's writings, who was one of the best scholars in New Testament matters among modern authors." Refer to McClintock's and Strong's Ecclesiastical Cyclopaedia and Nouvelle Biographie Gcnerale, for account of Hegesippus. Such are the meagre biographical accounts of Hegesippus which may be found in the references. That there is hardly a trace of truth in what has come down to us regarding him seems very certain. That he was not a Jew, his name clearly indicates, it being evidently Greek. He tells us he was not a Jew, but a Greek ; that he travelled over all the countries then accessible to him ; that everywhere he found the theological idea of some God saving the people that was to be born into 132 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. mortal life, or the reincarnation of some older God who would effect this ; that in his writings lie mentioned this fact ; and that this was the ground for Euscbius interpolating the above cited forgery in his reference to him and his work. Further than this he tells us that this theological idea was especially promulgated by the Alexandrian followers of Apdllonius in accordance with the Indian theology brought from India by Apollonius. The spirit tells us that he knows this to be so, from the fact that lie had conversed with him about it and was himself initiated in some of their secrets. Even at that early day the spirit tells us that a great deal of the teachings of Apollonius was lost, and their only object seemed to be to gain power. The spirit also tells us that in 170 A. D., when he lived, there was a great desire to gain possession of ancient manuscripts, in order to patch up a new religion out of the old religions. There is little doubt that Hegesippus was one who attempted that very thing, and that his work designated by Euscbius "Memorials of the History of the Church," was a compilation of those ancient manuscripts, most prominent among which was the Hindoo manuscripts brought by Apollo- nius from India. The reference of the spirit to Tischendorf's writings as the most likely place to find mention of him, is not the Uast significant featureof his communication, as it indicates that spirits are fully apprised of what is going on here on earth after their departure to the spirit life. That the work of Hegesippus emoted by Euscbius was not preserved after it was used by Euscbius to suit himself, shows that that fraudulent writer and forger of Christian evidence could not afford to have it conic down to us, as it would, beyond all question, have put an end to the fraud he labored so hard to perpetuate. It will be remembered that Apollonius, in his communication given weeks before, stated the fact that Hegesippus bad copied his version of the Hindoo gospels and epistles into the Samaritan tongue, from which copy of* Hegesippus, Ulphilas, bishop of the Goths, had translated the "Codex Argenteus." We regard this communication as genuine and authentic, and highly important, as cumulative evidence of the fact that Apollonius, and not Jesus, is the real object of Christian wor- ship. And yet this G reck heathen lias been made a saint by the [Ionian < 'atholic Church. ULPHILAS, 133 A Catholic Bishop. " I am here : You may succeed for many years in keeping back the truth, but a time conies when that which is hidden must be revealed. I was a bishop in the fourth century. I was also a writer, and I translated a set of gospels and epistles from the Samaritan tongue. They are now in the University, at a place called Upsal, and they are called the Codex Argenteus. It was written on what are called silver tablets. In truth, the fact is that I copied the gospel and epistles of Apollonius of Tyana, not originally written by himself, but brought by him from Singapoor, India, in Asia. That is he wrote versions from the originals himself, but these teachings of Apollonius bore, not the names that the Christians have given them. I used the names that the Christians wished to have at the head of their different books. I was paid well for doing this, and managed to gain great popularity and preferment by it, on this mortal plane ; but my condition as a spirit has been one of torture. And know this ; there is an influence amongst progressed spirits that forces all evil-doers back here to confess their sins, and show just where they lied and where they told the truth. This they are obliged to do finally, although they may defer it for a long time. I have stated here, as a spirit, exactly what I did as a mortal, hoping that it will bring out the truth. I am Ulphilas." liefer to Nouvelle Biographie Generale, Feller's Historical Dictionary and Historical Dictionary by Menard and Desenne, 1S23. We have given here several references as to where may be found, (as they have come down to us) the historical facts, relating to Ulphilas and his Bible, in order to enable the reader to appreciate the unprecedented importance of that communi- cation. "We challenge the Christian priesthood and clergy, as well as all who believe in the truth of the Christian religion, to successfully question the truth and authenticity of the state- ments embraced in that communication. If they cannot do 134 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED.' this it simply remains for us to insist that this spirit has spoken only the truth in regard to the source from which he derived his Bible, or rather the cojiy of it, from which he made his translation. The spirit of Ulphilas testifies positively to that fact, and not only declares that the canonical gospels and epistles are identically the same as those written by Apollonius of Tyana, after the Brahaminical Gospels brought by him from Singapoor, but at the instance of the Christian hierarchy, he in the fourth century translated them from the Samaritan original of Apollonius, changing the names according to the wishes of his Christian employers. It was for rendering this detestable service to the Christian hierarchy, none of whom were competent to translate the Samaritan originals of the books they sought to steal to consummate their selfish purpose, that Ulphilas, the poor and comparatively unknown reader in the Roman Catholic Church, was advanced to the dignity of a bishop, a promotion hardly paralleled in the annals of priestly advancement. "We will only notice one more fact in his remarkable communication, and that is that sooner or later, every consecrated error and falsehood will have to be disclosed by returning spirits; and this, because the spirit friends of truth, justice and right, have at last acquired the power to compel it. ABGARUS. 135 A Grecian Priest. "I salute you, sir: Whether my name is recorded in history I care not ; nor do I care whether it is disputed that I ever lived ; but I know that I do live as a spirit, and what is more that I lived exactly at the time it is claimed that Jesus lived. Not only that but it is claimed that I had correspon- dence with Christ. Now for the facts. My name was Abgarus. I was a priest at Abdera, in Thrace afterwards a priest in Home, in the reign of Tiberius Csesar. I held correspondence with a Jewish priest who lived, at that time, in Jerusalem and whose name was Jesus Malathiel. This correspondence was taken advantage of by Felix, bishop of Urgel, in Spain, in the eighth century, in the time of Charlemagne, and was used by Christians after that time, to prove the real existence of Jesus Christ, when no such person existed ; and I had no corres- pondence with any other person than I have named. The points at issue between myself and this Jesus was whether my god Apollo or his god Jah or Jehovah was the older. There was at that time proof positive in ancient books then extant, that the Grecian god Apollo under the name of Bel or Baal, was worshipped by the very father of the Jewish religion, Abraham, in Chaldea, before he became the so-called progenitor of the Hebrew nation, and therefore, I won the debate between this learned Jew and myself. And concerning this controversy some of the apocryphal books, thrown out by the Council of Nice, contained accounts of my controversy with that Jesus ; but the Christians have so mutilated the original argument, that it cannot now be understood. They have done everything they could to utterly destroy that argument. I have come here to-day, to throw what light I could upon this point, and I have done it honestly as a spirit. I care not whether history confirms what I say or not. I departed the mortal life about A. D. 60. This is yours for the truth." We have thought this communication worthy of especial comment, in as much as it is especially calculated to show that the communications that have been given, and which have 136 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. purported to come from ancient spirits, are what they claim to be. We will now give what history says of Abgarus, in order to call attention to some most significant points of this aston- ishing correction of historical errors. We take the following account of Abgarus, from McClintock and .Strong's Biblical Cyclopaedia : "Abgarus (Abagarius, Agbarus; sometimes derived from the Arabic Akbar 'greater,' but better from the Armenian Avag, 'great,' and air, 'man,') the common name of the petty princes (or Toparchs) who ruled at Edessa in Mesopotamia, of one of whom there is an eastern tradition, recorded by Eusebius, that he wrote a letter to Christ who transmitted a reply. Eusebius gives copies of both letters, as follows : 'Abgarus, prince of Edessa, to Jesus, the merciful Saviour, who has appeared in the country of Jerusalem, greeting. I have been informed of the prodigies and cures wrought by you without the use of herbs or medicines, ami by the efficacy only of your words. I am told that you enable cripples to walk ; that you force devils from the bodies possessed ; that there is no disease, however incurable, which you do not heal, and that you restore the dead to life. These wonders persuade me that you are some god descended from heaven, or that you are the Son of God. For this reason I have taken the liberty of writing this letter to you, beseeching you to come and see me, and to cure me of the indisposition under winch I have so long labored. I understand that the Jews persecute you, murmur at your miracles, and seek your destruction. I have here a beautiful and agreeable city which, though it be not very large, will be sufficient to supply you with everything that is necessary.' " To I Ins Utter it is said Jesus Christ returned him an answer in the following terms : ' You are happy Abgarus, thus to have believed in me without having seen me ; for it is written of me, that they who shall see me will not believe in me, and that they who have never seen me shall believe and be saved. As lollie desire you express in receiving a visit from me, I must tell you that all things for which I am come must be fulfilled in the country where I am; when this is done, I must return to him who sent me. And when I am departed hence, I will send to you one of my disciples, who will cure you of the disease of which you complain, and give life to you and those who are with you.' According to Moses of Chorene, (died A. I). 470 1 the reply was written by the Apostle Thomas. " Kusebius further slates that, after (he ascension of Christ, the AjMstle Thomas sent Thadda'iis, one of the seventy, to Abgiir, who cured him of leprosy, and converted him, together ABGARUS. 137 with his subjects. The documents from which this narrative is drawn were found by Eusebius in the archives of Edessa. Moses of Chorene relates further that Abgarus, after his conver- sion, wrote letters in defence of Christianity to the Emperor Tiberius and to the king of Persia. He is also the first who mentions that Christ sent to Abgarus, together with his reply, a handkerchief impressed with his portrait. The letter of Christ to Abgarus was declared apocryphal by the Council of Home A. D. 494, but in the Greek church many continued to believe in its authenticity and the people of Edessa believed that their city was made unconquerable by the possession of this palladium. The original is said to have been brought to Constantinople. In modern times, the correspondence of Abgarus, as well as the portrait of Christ are generally regarded as forgeries." It is to protest against such Christian forgeries as these in his name that the spirit of Abgarus returns, and to state the correct facts in regard to his letters to Jesus Malathiel, the learned Jew with whom he had the controversy about the antiquity of the Jewish God Jah or Jehovah. It would appear from the com- munication that Abgarus was not Abgar, king of Edessa, but was a Greek priest in the temple of Apollo at Abdera in Thrace, and afterward a priest at Home in the reign of Tiberius Caesar. It is therefore more than likely that* Abgarus wrote letters to Tiberius, as Moses of Chorene states ; but those letters shared the same fate as did the actual correspondence with the Jewish priest, Jesus Malathiel of Jerusalem. It would seem that the alleged correspondence between Abgarus and Jesus Christ, was declared apocryphal as early as A. D. 494 ; or in other words, spurious. The reason for that declaration was not given nor was there any attempted explanation, as to how so recognized an authority as Eusebius, had been induced to cite the alleged correspondence as genuine. It would appear that the Council of Rome in 494 only declared the letter of Christ to Abgarus as spurious, but did not pronounce the alleged letter of Abgarus to Christ equally spurious. Both rested on the same authority and both should have shared the same disposition at the hands of the Roman Catholic Church. It would further appear that after the dis- crediting of the correspondence in question, no further use was attempted to be made of it as affording historical evidence of tiie existence of Jesus Christ until Felix, bishop of Urgel, in Spain, in the reign of Charlemagne, again attempted to use it 138 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. as authentic historical evidence of the existence and character of Jesus Christ. Now, who was the Felix, referred to in the communication? He was the bishop of Urgel, in Spain, in the latter part of the eighth and the beginning of the ninth century. Refer to McClintock and Strong's Ecclesiastical Cyclopaedia, for account of Felix. : View all the facts as we may, this communication must strike the attention of thoughtful persons as of especial significance in showing what the so-called Christian religion really is, and furthermore it points us to the truth as to this important item of history, exposing the falsehoods that were built upon the single fact that Abgarus had corresponded with a Jew named Jesus. It becomes more and more certain that the spirits of the learned and distinguished men of the past are perfectly conversant with the pious frauds and errors that have been perpetrated in their names, and that they have at last found a means of setting themselves and the occurrences of their times correctly before us. C^EGOHV. Bishop of Constantinople. " I feel odd in coming back here. I come not of my own will. 1 am forced here to tell, in this communication, what I know about Christian interpolations, Christian robbery, and Christian lying. I lived for the sake of popularity. I deceived, because it gave me power. I professed a morality that I never possessed. In fact, I was a materialist at the bottom. 1 had no hope nor idea of an existence beyond tin- tomb, and I thought the best tiling that I could do was to secure physical comforts here. I tampered with the books that have been described here to-day. I substituted names in them that were not in the originals, and from these books, which taught only pure morality, I helped all I could to destroy the idea of man performing any good work of himself, and to induce people to rely entirely for the atone- ment of their sins on Jesus. I also destroyed many valuable hooks, for fear some one would discover my fraudulent conduct. I confess thai I was one of the principal parties who plaeed the Christian Scriptures in their present shape, or very nearly so. GREGORY. 139 It is known by every Christian priest, to-day, who knows aught of history, that Apollonius was the original Jesus ; and the pagans in my day, in their answers to Christian bishops, said that those bishops positively knew tbey were lying when they claimed any other Saviour than the Cappadocian Saviour; and charged that, in their artfulness, when they could not destroy the knowledge of Apollonius and his teachings they interpolated the name of Jesus, when by every principle of right the name of Apollonius should have been allowed to remain there. If you must have a Saviour I do not see why you should not have the right one. It is better to build on a reality than on a myth. Apollonius, in spirit life, has a noble school of philosophy for spirits who desire to be educated. One of the most consummate villains that ever lived, and one that has done more to retard learning the truth regarding this Christ than any other, was Eusebius, for he spent his whole life in interpolating, mutila- ting and destroying everything that was against Christianity. And the first pope was also guilty of a similar destruction of those books. I might go on further, but the power of control is exhausted. Sign me Gregory of Constantinople." The spirit giving that communication must have been Gregory Nazianzen, so-called from the fact that he was a native of Nazianzus in Cappadocia. He was afterwards made bishop of Constantinople and hence gives himself that designation. See account of him in the American Cyclopaedia. It is the spirit of this Christian saint and church father who confesses that he was forced to come back and testify his knowledge of the fraudulent character of the Christian religion. It would appear that he was not the self-denying, unambitious man that history has described him to be, nor was he the ascetic moralist he feigned to be. Even more than this, he frankly confesses that he was a materialist at heart, and had no hope nor idea of the after-life. Gregory admits that he himself tampered with the books described by Ma-Ming, Hegesippus and Ignatius of Antioch, who had all communicated before him at that seance that he altered the names they contained, and destroyed many of them in order that he might not be detected in his deceptions. It is this Cappadocian Christian who testi- fies positively that the Cappadocian Saviour, Apollonius of Tyana, was the original of the Christian Saviour Jesus. If we may credit this spirit, Apollonius is still engaged in his great mission of education in spirit life, and is now enlightening the spirit world as he did this, by his vastly benevolent labors and 140 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. profound wisdom. That Eusebius was the consummate villain that this spirit testifies he was, is very certain from the unmis- takable footprints he has left of his dishonesty and untruthful- ness, in almost everything he touched. The first Pope who was engaged in the same work of destruction of the books from which the Christian religion was stolen, to whom the spirit of Gregory refers, was Pope Sylvester I., who is described in the Nouvelle Biographic Generale. It is a well known historical fact, that prior to this epoch of the so-called Christian era, there was little unity of purpose and interest on the part of the Christian hierarchy. Then for the first time the present papal power took shape, and everything that was opposed to it was relentlessly destroyed or so modified as to assist in establishing this sacrilegious usurpation of the rights of humanity. It was then that men, wearing the garb of the votaries of divine truth, perpetrated falsehoods of the meanest and blackest dye, and labeled them religion. Most prominent in this work were Sylvester I, and Eusebius, bishop of Ca.'sarea. EUSEBIUS. 141 EUSEBlUS. Bishop of Csesarea. " I yield under protest. I hate both my mortal and spirit life. I acted here, and still do act, a living lie. The prince of interpolators, forgers and plagiarists, now inhabits the organism of this man before you. Curse you and your book ; but I will have, I suppose, to get my name in it. I have fought these spirit powers during two long years before they got me here to- night. I am fast in the net of truth. I am not (bad though I be,) the forger of the passage in relation to Jesus Christ, in Josephus. I merely copied it. Justin Martyr was the man who did that, in his epistle to Antoninus Pius, begging that he would not persecute the Christians, on account of the simil- arity of the Christian with the pagan God. In chap, ii of my Ecclesiastical history, you will find the sentence, as near as I can give it through this man, (Curse me if I was not watched, I would lie to you,) that the Epistles and Gospels of the ancient Therapeutae, are the Epistles and Gospels of the present day. And another thing I was compelled to say in my history was, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was neither new nor strange. There is a book extant that will settle this Anti- Nicene Library question, and what it is and where to find it will be told here to-night by a spirit who will follow me. There is no bishop, archbishop, cardinal, nor pope, that has not tampered with everything that could throw light upon Christ- ianity. It had its origin with, and was founded by Apollonius of Tyana, and its principal exponent, or one who did most to spread it, according to the manuscripts that I copied from, was Ammonius Saccas. I think from my reading of them that he added the Egyptian (Alexandrian) element to the Hindoo originals. That is, he modernized them to suit the Egyptian schools of thought. All the Epistles and Gospels are, in reality, the creation of the Christian priests. Some were named as early as the second century and some not until the fourth century." [Here the spirit stopped to say:] "In the first place I hate to give this communication." [He was urged to do it without reluctance. He answered:] "It is a surrender of power. No man likes to give up power." [He then resumed his communication.] "All the Gospels and 142 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. Epistles of Apollonius of Tyana were in what might be termed the Syriac-Hebraic, or Samaritan tongue, and the Greek writers translated them, in those early ages, to suit themselves. That Christianity and paganism were identically the same, can be proven very easily by the feast in honor of Adonis or Adonai, which the Christians adopted that is the Catholic Christians and which is now their Easter festival, and you can see this at Rome on any Easter day. It requires very little learning to see their identity. The original (if ever there was an original,) Jesus Christ was a Hindoo god, known under the name of Christos, or Krishna, the modern way of spelling it, to disguise the real truth." According ,to documents that were extant in my day, this Christos or Krishna, was worshipped in the temple of Mathura on the Jumna, in the days of Sanchonia- thon, 1200 years B. C. ; positive evidence of which I think is to be found in some manuscripts, of the time of Alexander the Great, still extant, 330 B. C. I do not come here to-night to confess anything willingly. I am caught in the web of circum- stancestrapped by spirits who know more than I do. I have confessed only what their power made me confess. I have had to do it. You know my name." [We replied, Eusebius of Csesarea. Pie replied.] "I am Eusebius of Csesarea. But to me this is the worst experience I have ever had to undergo. I would rather have spent a hundred years in hell than to have acknowledged what I have done here." At our request the spirit consented to allow us to make an appeal to him to reconsider his past life, as a necessary step to his own happiness, as well as an act of justice to the thousands of millions of spirits who have been kept in darkness, ignorance and misery, mainly through his dishonest ami untruthful inculcations. He heard us with attention and patience, and in leaving the control, promised to weigh well what we had said to him, and to return and make known the result. In view of the great importance of that communication, we will give such facts concerning Eusebius as will serve to give it its due weight. Of Eusebius, Dr. Lard ner says : " ' Eusebius, bishop of Csesarea, in Palestine,' says Jerome, 'a man most studious in the divine scriptures, and together with the martyr l'amphilus, very diligent in making a large collection of ecclesiastical writers, published innumerable volumes, some of which are these: The Evangelical Demon- stration, in twenty hooks: The Evangelical Preparation, in fifteen books : Five hooks of Theophanie : Ten hooks of Eccle- siastical History : Chronicle Canons of Universal History, and EUSEBIUS. 143 an Epitome of them : and of the Difference between the Gospels : Ten books upon Isaiah : Against Porphyry, who at the same time wrote in Sicily, thirty books as some think, though I have never met with more than twenty : Topics, in one book : An Apology for Origen, in six books : The Life of Pamphilus, in three books : Several small pieces concerning the martyrs : most learned commentaries on the 150 Psalms, and many other works. He flourished chiefly under the emperors Constantine and Constantius. On account of his friendship for Pamphilus, he received his surname from him.' " Eusebius, as is generally thought, and with some degree of probability, was born at Csesarea, in Palestine, about the year 270, or as some think sooner. We have no account of his parents, or who were his instructors in early life. Nor is there anything certainly known of his family and relations. * * It is somewhat probable, though not certain, that Eusebius was ordained presbyter by Agapius, bishop of Csesarea, of whom he made a very honorable mention. He had a long and happy intimacy with Pamphilus, presbyter in that church, who was imprisoned in the year 307, and obtained the crown of martyr- dom in 309. During the time of that imprisonment, Eusebius was much with his friend. After the martyrdom of Pamphilus, he went to Tyre, where he saw many finish their testimony to Jesus in a glorious manner. From thence, as it seems, he went into Egypt; where, too, he was a spectator of the sufferings and patience of many of his fellow-Christians ; where likewise he seems to have been imprisoned. And because he did not suffer, as some others did, it has been insinuated, that he procured his liberty by sacrificing, or some other mean compli- ance, unbecoming a Christian. But that is a general accusation without ground. No one was ever able to specify any mean act of compliance in particular; as appears from Potamon's charge in Epiphanius." " Agapius succeeded Theotecnus in the see of Cresarea. And it is the more general opinion, that Eusebius succeeded Agapius in 315. This is certain, that he was bishop of Csesarea in 320 at the latest. After which we can perceive that he was present at most of the synods held in that part of the world. He died in the year 339 or 340." Speaking of Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History, Lardner says : " Of all Eusebius's works the Ecclesiastical History is the most valuable, but, as it seems to me the least accurate of all his large works, that are come down to us in any good measure entire. Some faults may be owing to haste, others to defect of critical skill, others to want of candor and impartiality For 144 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. our groat author, as well as most other men, had his affections. He was favorable to some things and persons, and prejudiced against others. 1. He was a great admirer of Origen ; iu which he was in the right. Nevertheless, he should not have there- fore omitted all notice of Methodius, because he was Origen's adversary. 2. He had a great zeal for the Christian religion ; and, so far, undoubtedly, he was right. Nevertheless he should not have attempted to support it by weak and false arguments. 3. Abgarus's letter to our Saviour, and our Saviour's letter to Abgarus, copied at length in our author's Ecclesiastical History, are much suspected by many learned men not to be genuine. 4. It is wonderful, that Eusebius should think Philo's Therapeutic were Christians, and that their ancient writings should be our gospels and epistles. (P. 55. D.) 5. Eusebius supposed Josephus to speak of the enrolment at the time of our Lord's nativity, before the death of Herod the Great, related, Luke ii, 1-4; whereas, indeed, the Jewish historian speaks of that made after the removal of Archelaus, which is also referred to in Acts v. 37. 0. Our author does justly allege Josephus, as confirming the account which Luke gives, Acts xii, of the death of Herod Agrippa. But whereas Josephus says, that 'Agrippa casting his eyes upward saw an owl sitting upon a cord over his head.' Our Ecclesiastical historian says, he ' saw an angel over his head.' I know not what good apology can be made for this. 7. He transcribes Josephus' account of Theudas, as confirming what is said, Acts v., 30; whereas, what Josephus says is reckoned to he a considerable objection against the Evangelical History. 8. In the Demonstration he transcribes a passage of Josephus relating to the wonderful signs preceding the destruc- tion of Jerusalem, and then adds, 'These things be writes, as happening after our Saviour's passion ;' though they did not happen till about thirty years afterwards. To the like purpose in the Chronicle and in the Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius transcribes largely that passage of Josephus, as giving an account of the signs before the Jewish war. Concerning this matter may be seen Joseph Scaliger. 'K If the testimony to Jesus, as i he ( 'hrist, had been from the beginning, in Josephus' works, it is strange that it should never have been quoted by any undent apologist for Christianity; and now in the begin- ning of the fourth century be thought so important as to be quoted by our author in two of his works, still remaining. 10. Then' is a work, ascribed to Porphyry, quoted by Eusebius, in the Preparation, and Demonstration. If that work is not genuine las I think it is not 1 , it was a forgery of disown time. And the quoting it, as he does, will he reckoned an instance of want of care, or skill, or candor and impartiality. 11. I formerly EUSEBIUS. 145 complained of Eusebius for not giving us at length the passage of Caius, concerning the Scriptures of the New Testament, or however, of St. Paul's Epistles. But he abridges that, and afterwards transcribes at length several passages of an anony- mous writer of little worth, concerning the followers of Arte- mon. It may be reckoned somewhat probable, that Eusebius's aversion for Saballianism, and everything akin to it, led him to pay so much respect for that author. 12. I add no more at present. Many observations upon this author's works may be seen in Joseph Scaliger's Prologomena to the Chronicle. Dr. Heumann intended to write remarks upon the Ecclesiastical History ; but I do not know that he has published them." So wrote the learned and pious Dr. Nathaniel Lardner con- cerning the famed Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius. From what follows, it will be seen he was equally dishonest and evasive as to the doctrinal views he entertained. Says Dr. Lardner : " It has often been disputed whether Eusebius was an Arian. It may be proper, therefore, for me to refer to some authors upon this question. The ancients were not all of one mind here. Socrates, in the 5th century, inserted an apology for him in his Ecclesiastical History." " Among moderns it is needless to mention Baronius, whose antipathy to this writer is well known. Petavius readily places Eusebius amongst Arians. Bull vindicates him. Cave and Le Clerc had a warm controversy upon this head. Cave allows, ' That there are many unwary and dangerous expressions to be found in his writings.' 'That he has at best doubtful and ambiguous expressions in his controverted doctrine ;' ' and that he was reckoned to be an Arian by Athanasius, and divers others his contemporaries, as well as others in the latter part of the fourth century, and afterwards.' Still he says, he did not hold the peculiar doctrines of Arianism. Fabricius and Du Pin do not much differ from Cave. Valesius, too, was favorable to our author. G. J. Vossius says, his works would sufficiently manifest him to have been an Arian if the ancients had been silent about him. Of the same opinion was James Gothofred. Tilleniont is clear, that Eusebius showed himself an Arian by his actions and his writings. Montfaucon says the same thing exactly, and earnestly, and at large argues on this side of the question ; and that he showed himself to be an Arian as much in his writings, after the Council of Nice, as before it. As for his subscribing to the Nicene Creed, he supposes that Eusebius was moved by worldly considerations, and that he did not subscribe sincerely. Which is grievous to think ; better had it 14G ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. been, that the bishops of that council had never met together, than that they should have tempted and prevailed upon a Christian bishop, or anyone else, to prevaricate and act against conscience." Such is the testimony of Christian writers as to the dis- honesty, worldliness and unfairness of Eusebius as a writer and a Christian bishop. We quote farther from Smith's Dic- tionary of Greek and Roman Biography : " The character of Eusebius, and his honesty as a writer, have been made the subject of a tierce attack by Gibbon, who accuses him of relating whatever might redound to the credit, and suppressing whatever would tend to cast reproach on Christianity, and represents him as little better than a dis- honest sycophant, anxious for nothing higher than the favor of Constantino ; and resumes the subject in his 'Vindication ' of the loth and Kith chapters of the history. For the charge of sN'cophancy there is but little foundation. The joy of the Christians at Constantino's patronage of true religion was so great, that he was all but deified by them, both before and after his death ; and although no doubt Niebuhr has sufficiently shown that Constantino, at least up to the time of his last illness, can only be considered as a pagan ; yet, considering that his accession not only terminated the persecution which had raged for ten years, but even established Christianity as the state religion, it is not surprising that Eusebius, like others, should be willing to overlook his faults, and regard him as an especial favorite of heaven. As to the charge of dishonesty, though we would neither expect nor wish a Christian to be impartial in Gibbon's sense, [Why not, pray?] yet, Eusebius has certainly avowed, that he omits almost all account of the wickedness and dissensions of the Christians, from thinking such stories less edifying than those which display the excellence of religion, by reflecting honor upon the martyrs. The fact t hat he avows this principle, at once diminishes our confidence in him as a historian, and acquits him of the charge of inten- tional deceit, to which he would have been otherwise exposed. Hut besides this, Eusebius has written a chapter bearing the monstrous title,' How far it may be lawful and fitting to use falsehood as a medicine for the advantage of those who require such a method.' Now at the first sitrlit, [and why not 2d, 3d, 4th, ami any number of other sijrhts?] there naturally rises in our minds a strong prejudice against a person who, being a Christian in profession, could suppose that the use of falsehood can ever be justified ; and no doubt the thought was suggested by the pious frauds which are the shame of the early Church. EUSEBIUS. 147 But when we read the chapter itself, we find that the instances which, Eusebius takes of the extent to which the principle may be carried, are the cases in which God is described in the Old Testament as liable to human affections, as jealousy or anger, ' which is done for the advantage of those who require such methods.' " We have given enough and more than enough concerning Eusebius, to show his real character. We may now proceed to analyze the communication, which purports to come from his unwilling and resisting spirit. That this captured spirit should hate to face his work as a mortal and spirit, with such a record of evil doing, was natural, and that he should make his con- fession under protest ought to surprise no one. To realize that he had lived and was still living a lie, was anything but a pleasant necessity. That he should curse ourself, and our con- templated publication, was equally natural ; and not less so his fear that his unwilling and truthful spirit testimony would be made known to the world. Some idea of the kind of psycho- logical warfare going on in spirit life may be gathered from the fact that after two years of effort, this stubborn and powerful spirit, was compelled to yield to a higher psychological force, and become a passive witness to the truth. We desire to direct the attention of our readers to the dis- avowal of the spirit that he forged the passage in relation to Jesus Christ in Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews. It has come to be a general impression among critics, that the passage or section referred to, of Josephus, was forged, as well as interpo- lated by Eusebius. This the spirit denies, so far as the forgery goes, which he charges upon Justin Martyr, who used it in his epistles or apology to Antoninus Pius. Whether this be true or false, it is a fact that Justin Martyr, did write an epistle to the Emperor Antoninus Pius. Speaking of the undisputed works of Justin Martyr, McClintock and Strong's Cyclopaedia says : "Apologia prote upir Christianon pros Antoninon ton Eusebe, mentioned in the only two known manuscripts of the Apolo- gies, and in the older edition of Justin is one of the most interesting remains of Christian antiquity. It is addressed to the emperors Antoninus Pius and to his adopted sons, Verrissi- mus the philosopher, afterwards the emperor Marcus Aurelius, and Lucius the philospher, [we follow the common reading not that of Eusebius] afterwards the emperor Verus, colleague of M. Aurelius." 148 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. If there was any such language put into the mouth of Josephus by Justin Pius, in his letter to Antoninus Pius, we cannot trace it. ihit one thing is very certain, that Eusebius was the first to refer to such a passage in Josephus, and lie was no doubt the interpolator of that fraud if not its author. He, as a spirit seems to regard this forgery as Morse than any he ever committed. So far as the moral guilt is concerned, one " pious fraud," of that nature, is as bad as another. As will l-e seen in our extracts from Lardner's works, Eusebius did say, "that the ancient writings of Philo's Therapeutic were our gospels and epistles." Not only so but the spirit of Eusebius comes back and testifies that such was the fact. The statement of the spirit that he was compelled by the facts to state in his history, "that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was neither new nor strange," is borne out by the following extract from Lardner : "The contents of the fourth chapter of the Ecclesiastical History is to this purpose: 'That the religion published by Jesus Christ to all nations is neither new nor strange.' " For though,' says he, 'without controversy, we are but of late, and the name of Christians is indeed new, and has not long obtained over the world ; yet our manner of life and the principles of our religion, have not been lately devised by us, but were instituted and observed, if I may so say, from the beginning of the world by good men, accepted of Cod, from those natural notions which are implanted in men's minds. This T shall show in the following manner: it is well known, that the nation of the Hebrews is not new, but distingushed by antiquity. They have writings containing accounts of ancient men ; few indeed in number, but very eminent for piety, justice, and every other virtue. Of whom some lived before the flood, others since, sons and grandsons of Noah ; particu- larly Abraham, whom the Hebrews glory in as the father and founder of their nation. And if any one, ascending from Abraham to the first man, should affirm, that all of them who were celebrated for virtue, were Christians in reality, though not in name, he would not speak much beside the truth," Now Eusebius lived and wrote three hundred years after the alleged death of Jesus Chris! ; and yet we have him declaring that the name of Christians was then new, and tiiat their religion and customs wire of long antecedent date. Who believes that Eusebius would ever have given such a death blow to the pretence that Jesus Christ had taught or established a new religion or anv religion at all, had he dared to face the EUSEBIUS. 149 facts that contradicted that pretence in his day ? Who but the spirit of Eusebi us would have recalled those annihilating declara- tions against Christianity made in his history of the Church ? He well conjectured that those admissions on his part ought to be utterly fatal to the pretence of the originality of the so- called Christian religion. As will ba seen by the communica- tion from the spirit of Sir Thomas Bodley, the fact of the existence of the Anti-Nicene Library to which Eusebius refers, is fully explained. The testimony of the spirit of Eusebius to the fact that Christianity had its origin with, and was founded by Apollonius of Tyana, as expounded by Ammonius Saccas, is not more important than it is true. That Ammonius Sac3as should have given them an Alexandrian coloring was to be expected, and this the spirit of Eusebius testifies was the case. When he says the Christian gospels and epistles were all the work of priests, we understand him to mean that the titles they bear, and their present modified forms, are the work of Christ- ian priests. Equally important and truthful is the declaration of this spirit that the gospels and epistles of Apollonius of Tyana were in the Syriac-Hebraic or Samaritan tongue, and were subsequently translated into Greek by translators who construed them to suit themselves. The spirit testified truly when he said that Christianity and paganism were identical ; and that the Christian Easter festival was but the feast of the Greeks and Phoenicians in honor of Adonis, which literally meant "Ad" the Lord, "on" the being, and "is" the fire, or One- Supreme-fire Being the Sun. The confession of Eusebius, that it required very little learning to see that the original Jesus Christ was a mythical Hindoo god called Christos, is a stinging reproach of the Christian clergy who have shut their eyes to that almost self-evident fact. And here Eusebius states a most important and significant historical fact, and that is, that in his day there were documents extant that showed that Christos or Krishna was worshipped in the temple of Math ura on the Jumna, in the days of Sanchoniathon 1200 B. C. We find the following concerning Mathura in Johnson's Universal Cyclo- pedia : " Mathura, or Muttra, a town of British India, in the Xorth- western Provinces on the Jumna, is a decaying and disagreeable place, but as the birthplace of Krisna, it is highly venerated by the Brahmans, and visited by a great number of pilgrims. The shores of the river are provided with gorgeous nights of 150 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. steps, and the city contains an immense temple, from which, however, foreign conquerors have carried away the idols of gold and silver with eyes of diamonds. Sacred apes are kept here; they are fed at the puhlic expense, and allowed to do what mischief they like; swarms of holy parrots and peacocks are also maintained." As Mathura was the reputed birth place of the Hindoo myth Christos, it is more than likely his worship had its rise there, and the statement of the spirit that Christos was worshipped there as early as the time of Sanchoniathon, the oldest of all known authors, 1200 B. C, is confirmed by known facts. For any one to pretend that the medium, an almost illiterate man, ever concocted that remarkable communication is preposterous; and yet there are people who are so prejudiced or lost to all reason as to make that pretence. AiiciPH^ori. A Greek Writer. " I salute YOU, SIR : I lived while in the mortal form at Athens, Koine and Alexandria, about A. 1). 175. There are numerous letters of mine extant to-day, on various subjects connected with all the atl'airs of life, but they have been very careful to let none come down to the present generation, that could in any way invalidate the Christian religion. If they had done so, the whole secret of the 'Wise Men of the East,' coining to worship the young child would be known to you. The story was brought from India to Alexandria by the Gymnosophists. There were four gospels then extant connected therewith, under the title of ' The Incarnation of Buddha.' Also, in my day there came from Singapoor, India, to Alexandria, seven wise men, who came to compare notes upon the subject of religion and philosophy ; and from the holy city of Benares they brought accounts of the gods Brahma, Crishna and Buddha, in exchange for similar accounts of a great many Egyptian, Grecian and Roman gods ; and as far as I read their works, I think they were worsted in the exchange, for more lazy, good-for-nothing nothings than the priests of Rgypt, Greece and Rome have never been upon this planet. They were even worse than the ALCIPHKON. 151 priests of to-day, for the latter work to cover up their tracks, while the pagan priests were openly licentious. I will say further, that I have seen at Alexandria books such as, if they were extant now, would overthrow the whole Christian fabric. My name I will spell Alciphron." Refer to Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Eoman Biography for account of Alciphron. This graceful Greek writer comes back to say that some of his most important letters have been suppressed, especially those which could in any way invalidate the fraud of Christianity. In view of such frequent testimony to the vandalism of the Christian priesthood it becomes a question whether there are any of the ancient writings that have not either been suppressed, destroyed or mutilated to such an extent as to conceal the true nature and bearing of them. The communication of Alciphron settles the question as to the time when he lived, and shows that he was a contemporary of Lucian and Aristsenetus. We have his positive testimony that the story of the wise men of the East coming to worship the young child was an Indian theological legend brought to Alexandria by the Gymnosophists of the former country, and related to the incarnation of Buddha. Of the truth of this statement I have no doubt whatever. That the Gymnosophists, of whom Alciphron speaks, were the orig- inators of the Essenian religion we may very reasonably infer. Such testimony as this cumulative and consistent with recorded facts, must serve to convince the most prejudiced ignorance that truth is at last finding its vindication and approaching its final triumph. 152 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. SIH THOJVTAS SODLtEV. " Good evening, sir : I might as well give my name now, so as to be sure of it, for my control may get weak toward the end of this communication. I was known asSir Thomas Bodley. I was the founder of the Bodleian Library, attached to the Oxford University, at Oxford, England. In the 10th century, I collected manuscripts, and particularly those of a very ancient date, and I know that there was a collection deposited therein by me, called the 'Controversy against the Council of Nice.' It embraced writings of the Controversialists previous to and for a century after that Council, that are known to history ; but how far the clergy have tampered with them since, I know not. I say this, because in the Kith and 17th centuries, if a priest saw a book or manuscript that was dangerous to Christianity, he did one of three things, stole it, bought it, or mutilated it. At Cambridge, you will find what is termed the Cambridge man- uscript, of which sixty leaves were missing, ten of which have since been supplied. {Supplied by whom, I would like to know ! The marginal notes of ancient scribes were damning evidence of the authenticity of the originals from which they copied ; and those lynx-eyed priests could not a fiord to let them come dnvn to posterity. But if the manuscripts of this Anti-Xicene Library, or copies of them are now extant, I think you will find them in Robert Watt's Bibliotheca Britanniea, published in 1824, 4 fpo vols., as it is the finest catalogue in the English language, and a work of vast research. That was the principal object of my coining here to-night. As there are others here to speak I close and thank you for this opportunity." liefer to the Encyclopedia liritannica for account of Sir Thomas I'.odlcy. We will state that the al>ove communication was inspired no doubt by the following circumstances, to wit : Sonic weeks after receiving the communication from Apollonius of Tyana, in which reference was made to the Anti-Xicene Library, while looking up historical matters in reference to other communica- tions, we were surprised to unexpectedly find a mention of a collection of manuscripts formerly known as the "Anti-Xicene SIR THOMAS BODLEY. 153 Library," which comprised a number of works controverting the action of the Council of Nice. Not thinking at the time that any one would ever think of questioning so well authenti- cated a fact, we made no note of the matter, and thought no more upon the subject, until a writer who thought he was well informed, publicly denied that such a collection of works ever existed. When we sought to find the reference that was so distinctly impressed upon our memory, to our surprise we could not lay our hands upon it. Failing to find it, we resorted, as we had done many times before, to the guide of the medium for assistance in our search for it. He promised to refer the matter to the Band of Spirits who had been using the medium, and this communication was no doubt the result of their action in the premises. In any sense in which the communication purporting to come from the spirit of Sir Thomas Bodley may be viewed, it would seem to be authentic. It was given imme- diately after the communication that purported to come from Eusebius Pamphilus, Bishop of Cyesarea, and was referred to by the latter as about to be given. It will be seen that the spirit states that in the 16th century, he collected manuscripts, and particularly those of a very ancient date, and that among those manuscripts, there was a collection of them deposited by him in the Bodleian Library called, "The Controversy Against the Council of Nice," and that that collection embraced the writings of the Controversial- ists previous to and for a century after that Council was held. It is equally a significant feature of that communication, that the spirit should so clearly testify to the vandalism of the Christian clergy, Catholic and Protestant, in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the fluctuating ascendency of one or the other Christian faction was from time to time secured. No one knew better than Sir Thomas Bodley, the learned bibliotheke and critic, the extent of the destruction and mutilation of all then existing ancient works whether in manuscripts or in print. We have no doubt that the marginal notes, on many an ancient manuscript, sealed its doom. As directed by the spirit we sought the work of Robert Watt, a work we had never before heard of, and found it to be just what the spirit said it was, a work of four 4qto vols., published in 1824, which is truly "the finest catalogue in the English language, and a work of vast research." We have no doubt that that invaluable work contains the mention 154 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. of all the works over embraced under the general designation of the "Controversy Against the Council of Nice ;" but as Watt catalogues each work under its special title, we had nothing to guide us in our search. We have no doubt that this communi- cation is authentic and true. MA^CIOH- The Father of Christianity. "I salute you, SIR : For my own benefit and personal aggrandizement, I brought to Home the Pauline Epistles. I obtained them in Antioch. I changed or interpolated them to suit myself; because, being a scholar, and understanding those epistles to contain facts that were not known by the world at large, I thought that they presented a rare opportunity to make myself great. These epistles were written or copied from the originals by Apollonius, A polios, or Paulus; and in order to disguise the identity of their author, Apollonius of Tyana, I interpolated that description of Paul that was afterward copied by Lucian. The principal foundation of those epistles was the sign of the zodiac known as Aries, the Ram or Lamb. The early Christians, as will be proven by one who conies after me to-day (Lucian), all worshipped a lamb instead of a man on a cross. Those epistles were written in the Cappadocian or Samaritan tongue. Jt is my duty as a spirit here to-day, to state positively that I was the first person to introduce these epistles to public notice, in A. 1). 130, and in the manner ! have described. This communication is given for the benefit of all thinkers who wish to be enlightened upon the truth. 1 was a native of Cappadocia, the country of Apollonius of Tyana ; and my name was Marcion." liefer to the works of Dr. Lardner for account of Marcion. Who can read the analysis of the theological labors of Marcion by Dr. Lardner, in the light of the spirit communication of Marcion, ami fail to recognize its complete demonstration that the epistles attributed to St. Paul by Christians, were nothing more nor less than certain epistles of Apollonius of Tyana, found some thirty-two years after his death at Antioch, MARCION. 155 by Marcion, who copied them, he making such alterations as would conceal their real authorship and object, and that they were taken by him to Home, about A. D. 130, where he hoped to become the head of the Christian religion by establishing a new canonical scripture. This spirit testifies positively that he was the first to introduce those writings to the public, and this fact seems to be amply sustained hy indisputable historical evi- dence. According'to Dr. Lardner, Marcion rejected three gospels of the Christians, the Acts of the Apostles, and other books now claimed to be canonical. This is simply absurd. Those books were then not in existence. The probability is, that Apollonius had never made public these writings, and as they were written in the Samaritan tongue, as Apollonius, Ulphilas, Hegesippus, and other spirits have stated, they were not available to the Greek and Latin scholars of that time. Nothing was more natural than that an educated and influen- tial Cappadocian, whose native language was the Samaritan tongue, should have found those writings of Apollonius in Antioch after the death of that great medium, oracle and prophet, and copied or translated them, from the Samaritan, into the Greek and Latin tongues, with both of which lan- guages he was familiar as with his own. But we have these matters set perfectly at rest by the priceless researches of our countryman, Mr. Charles B. Waite, in his " History of the Christian religion to A. D. 200." This fearless and indefatigable searcher for truth has shown, beyond all question, that the Gospel of Marcion, is the original from which the four canonical Christian gospels have been fabricated by Christian plagiarists. We will therefore refer our readers to his invaluable labors in order to prove the importance and truth- fulness of that startling communication from Marcion, entitled by Christian writers, St. Mark. I ask the reader, whether in the light of the spirit communi- cation from the spirit of Marcion, there can any longer be a question that there was a Gospel of Paul, and that the writer of it was none other than Apollonius of Tyana? This Gospel of Paul, was a Samaritan version of the San- scrit gospel or gospels of Deva Bodhisatoua, obtained at Singapoor by Apollonius, and modified by him in accordance with his philosophic views. It was this Buddhistic gospel of Apoll nius that was still further modified by Marcion in the 15G ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. gospel which he took to and preached at Rome. It was still farther modified by some writer thirty years afterward, and labeled the Gospel according to St. Luke. The author of the Gospel of Marcion, the Gospel of Luke, and the Pauline epistles being one and the same person and that person none other than Apollonius of Tyana, the only Apollos or Paulus or Paul, that ever had an existence. This shows the absolute truth of the spirit communication, for Marcion had propagated his New Testament in Pontus before going to Rome, and at least twenty years before Justin wrote. In speaking of the loss or desl ruction of evidence, Mr. Waite speaks of the writings of Marcion in the following just and forcible manner, which we cannot refrain from quoting in this connection. "Pure Christianity has suffered no greater loss, than that of the writings of Marcion, the great theological thinker of the second century the compiler of the tirst complete gospel the collector of the epistles of Paul the editor and publisher of the first New Testament. While the elaborate work against him, written by Tertullian, who called him a ' hound,' has been preserved, and the work of Epiphanius, who bestowed upon him the euphonius appellation of 'beast,' the writings of Marcion have perished, except such as are found in the references and citations of his adversaries. His works havoshared the common fate of those of the heretics of the second century, none of which, in their original form, have been permitted to come down to us. " Man-ion was an educated man, and a profound thinker, and no relic of Christian antiquity, next to the Epistles of Paul, would to-day be more valuable, than his writings. Being him- self a collector of gospei and New Testament manuscripts, his writings upon those subjects would forever set at rest the ques- tion, as to what gospels were then in circulation." Can there be doubt any longer as to what the Gospel of Marcion was, in view of all the facts of the case? Through an unlettered man, who never heard of Marcion, a communication is given, which makes known the fact that the Paul of the Christian Scriptures was Apollonius of Tyana; and that the so-called Pauline Epistles were the writings of that ( 'appadoeian sage, written in the Samaritan tongue and by himself procured and translated into Greek. Mr. Waite has demonstrated that the writer of Marcion's Gospel, the Gospel of Luke and the Pauline Epistles were one and the same person. Can 3-011 doubt L.UCIAN. 157 that Apollonius of Tyana was that author ? If you do, then what is yet to come, and now in hand, will settle that point beyond all doubt. A Greek Satirist. " My salutation shall be, Death to Falsehood, whether in religion or in political affairs of spirits and mortals. The man who preceded me (Marcion) is the one from whom my des- cription of St. Paul was taken, although never known to me by such a nsme. He was known to me as Apollos in the Greek tongue; as Paul us in the Roman; and it was understood by all scholars at the time I wrote, as relating to the life, travels, and miracles of one Apollonius, the oracle of Vespasian. In fact I merely followed the statements of Marcion, although I knew his statement was incorrect, never for an instant thinking that my description of this person would be seized upon by Christians, in after ages to perpetuate their fraud. I was of a satirical disposition of mind, and it made no difference to me if what I wrote was true or false. It was with me as with your dramatic writers of to-day ; and it mattered not what events I sought to use, whether sacred or historical, so I could make them suit my purposes. All men are selfish so far as securing the necessaries and comforts of life are concerned, and gaining prominence over their fellow men. This is not so bad a qualify of human nature as might be imagined. To attain prosperity and avoid adversity is a necessary incentive to human effort. At the time of the writings to which I refer, there was a new element introduced into religious affairs at Alexandria and Rome, as was told you by a spirit last week of the Gymno- sophists, who, by comparing notes, with Grecian, Roman and Samaritan authors, found that one and the same idea ran through the religions of all nations, as to their gods having been born of virgins. In fact, in some countries, in Sicily, for instance this idea had become so common that death was im- posed upon women who claimed to have been overshadowed or impregnated by God or Gods. That is all the light I can at this time throw upon the subject ; and as a truthful spirit I want to assert nothing but what I know to be true. Lucian." 158 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. Refer to McClintock and Strong's Ecclesiastical Cyclopaedia, and Dr. Lardner, in Chap, xix, of his " Testimonies of Ancient Heathens," for account of Lucian. Who can read the above communication and not feel im- pressed with the insignificant measures used by the writers of that time to formulate the Christian Gospels. Judging from the writings of Lucian as they have come down to us, we can glean very little of their true inwardness, they bearing evidence of the mutilation they have suffered at the hands of those who wished to make use of them for selfish purposes. This is especially true of the narrative of Peregrinus or Proteus, which the learned Dr. Lardner comments upon at length in his works, though not to his entire satisfaction, it seems, as he says after quoting a paragraph from Lucian in his work on " Testimonies of Ancient Heathens:" " I have rendered this paragraph as it stands in Lucian, but those titles seem not to refer to Peregri- nus and it may be suspected that something is wanting here- abouts." Tanaquil Faber, in his notes conjectures that there were some expressions injurious to our Saviour, which a Christ- ian Copyist more pious than wise left out." Dr. Lardner also seems to think that the mistakes are owing to ignorance or design or malice at the same time trying to explain them away in the interest of the Christian Church. To which we reply most certainly " something was wanting hereabout ;" and that something was the absence of the interpolation of the word Christian, which was not in the original of Lucian. Unless Marcion was a Christian and his gospel was true Christianity, Lucian never would have used the term Christian in connec- tion with Apollonius and his teachings, his object being to ridicule the attempt of Marcion to launch a new religion made up of the materials left by Apollonius at Antioch so lamely disguised as not to escape the keen observation of the great Grecian satirist. Lucian makes known the fact that Proteus, nicknamed by him Peregrinus, (who was none other than Apollonius of Tyana, the supposed son of the god Proteus,) " interpreted and explained some books ami others he wrote." What books were those lie explained, and what were those he wrote? They were undoubtedly books that his religious fol- lowers regarded as of divine authority, for Lucian says, the " Christians " spoke of him as a god ami took him for a law- giver, and honored him witli the title of" Master." All tins is LUCIAN. 159 historically true regarding Apollonius, provided always that the followers of Apollonius were Christians. That those who accepted the teachings of Apollonius, after they were attributed by cheating priests to Jesus of Nazareth, were called Christians there can be no longer any doubt among well informed persons. It is this narrative of Lueian concerning Peregrinus or Pro- teus that the spirit alludes to when he says " Marcion is the one from whom my description of St. Paul was taken though never known to me under that name." He also claims, which is undoubtedly true that all the scholars and writers of that day knew he referred to Apollonius, when he wrote of Peregri- nus. The name Peregrinus being only a nickname applied to Apollonius, and Proteus being the name sometimes given him, tradition making him the son of the god Proteus. This is good evidence that Lueian did not try to conceal the fact that he was writing of Apollonius or he would have made his character different. The fast is Lueian ridiculed every thing in the shape of fraud and imposition that came in his way, accomplishing much by his raillery against superstition and false teaching. This has been taken advantage of by Christian writers who manipulated his manuscripts to suit their purposes and behold, he steps forth into the Christian Church as one of their greatest saints. This spirit who admits that he wrote to suit himself and who, even Dr. Lardner has to admit, had so many inaccura- cies in his writings, is the one whom we are taught to revere as a Christian saint. He is the untruthful author of one of the four Christian gospels. And I strongly surmise that Marcion's name, transmuted into that of St. Mark, was given to the third Christian Gospel, to disguise the fact that he was in reality the introducer of the Gospel of St. Luke. As Apollonius became the St. Paul of the Epistles, so Lueian, the Greek satirist, became St. Luke, and Marcion, the copier of Apollonius, the St. Mark of the New Testament. Thus, through spirit sug- gestion, we have been enabled to discover with considerable certainty who Luke, Mark and Paul were. That which no Christian has discovered or dared to disclose for the last seven- teen hundred years. Header, I regret to be compelled to pass the communications of Marcion and Lueian with so brief a notice. They are worthy of a special treatise. There is, however, so much pressing forward for recognition that I must move on. 160 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. COjMSTAriTHMUS POGONATUS. " God save the truth ! We have had redeemers enough. It is time to wake up to the fact that the true redeemer is a clear conscience ; and it is in order to gain that, that I am here to-day. I presided at a council of prominent men, holding the highest positions in the Christian Church in A. D. 680 ; and what was that council assembled for? Simply because man- kind had begun to progress and had done so to such an extent that a change of base had become necessary in order to veil the truth. Written upon ancient tombs in Egypt, Phoenicia, Greece and Home, was the worship of the lamb, and it had become necessary to change this symbol. We finally adopted, after long debate, a religious symbol that we then thought was the least known, and that was the figure of Prometheus dying on a cross instead of upon a rock, which we thought would disguise the origin of it. But the form represented was really that of Prometheus the head and face we adopted were those of Apollonius of Tyana. And from that time on, that symbol has been the badge of the Christian Church. The spirit who spoke first here this afternoon (Marcion) is the one through whose efforts I am here to-day. He made this offer to me : " If you will return and tell all you know of Christian symbolism I will do the same in relation to what I know of its origin and meaning.' We .have done so because we know what we have said is the truth, and at most we could only delay these com- munications for a few years. My name was Constantinus Pogonatus." Refer to Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography for account of Constantinus Pogonatus. There is nothing therein said about the substitution of the crucifix for the lamb as the symbol of Christianity; but we take the following concerning that matter from McClintock and Strong's Cyclopaedia of Ecclesiastical Literature: "Among the many symbols which the early Christians used to represent Christ as the central object of their faith, the land) was the most predominant. In (lie beginning of the sixth century the lamb bears a triumphal cross: then it is THE CRUCIFIED LAMB. THE CRUCIFIED MAN. The above engraving of the lamb nailed to the cross represents the Christian symbol prior to 680 A. D., though this fact is not generally known At the Sixth Ecumenical Council held at Constantinople in that year, it was ordained that in place of the lamb, the figure of a man should be portrayed on the cross. This has been known and recognized since that time as the Christian symbol. After the decree of the council in 680 A. D., the representation and worship of the lamb on the cross was prohibited, and that of the man was substituted in its place. By these items of history, we learn how and at what period the story of the so-called crucifixion of Christ was formulated. (See communication of Constantinus Pogonatus, Page 160). The decree of the council prohibiting the representation and worship of the lamb as the Christian symbol, as translated from the Latin, is as follows : " In certain representations of the images of the saints, a lamb is portrayed, etc. We, therefore accepting the old forms and shadows as signs of the truth and as traditional symbols of the church, prefer Crace and Truth, which we accept as the fulfillment of the law. So, that which is perfect, let us place in pictures, even before the eyes of all. We have decreed that that Lamb, which taketh away the sins of the world, Christ our God, ought to be portrayed henceforth in human form in place of the Lamb." In the Roma Sotteranea of Antonio Bosio Dell, concerning the image of Christ under the figure of a lamb. CONSTANTINUS TOGONATUS. 161 lying on the altar at the foot of the cross ; then it appears with blood flowing from a wound, in its side as well as from its feet ; and finally, by the end of this century, a lamb is painted in the center of the cross, where the body of Christ was later placed. On the celebrated ' cross of the Vatican,' on which this lamb thus appears, are two busts of the Saviour ; one above holding a book in his left hand, and giving a benediction i:i the Latin manner with his right, while the one below holds a scroll in the right hand, and a little cross in the left. The sixth ^Ecumenical Council ordered that Christ should be represented with his proper human body rather than under the symbol of the paschal lamb, and in the following century crucifixes multiplied greatly throughout all Christendom. The way to this decision had evidently been prepared by several intermediate steps, by which the aversion and horror of death by the cross, though abolished as a mode of execution by Con- stantine, were gradually overcome in the minds of the Christ- ian world." We have in the foregoing communication beyond all question the real object for which the sixth Council of Constantinople was called together, which was nothing else than to get away as far as possible from the fact that for live hundred years, from the time Marcion took the epistles of Apollonius from Antioch to Rome, A. D. 130, down to the time that Constantinus Po- gonatus convened the sixth Council of Constantinople, the object of Christian worship was a "lamb" and not a " cruci- fied man." It was to conceal the heathen origin of the Christian religion and its purely astro-theological character that those high dignitaries of the Christian church con- vened at Constantinople ; the result of their deliberation, after long debate, being the substitution of the dying figure of the heathen god Prometheus, extended on a cross, with the head and face of Apollonius of Tyana, to represent Jesus Christ, instead of the "bleeding lamb of Calvary." The fact had become known that upon the tombs of Egypt, Phoenicia, Greece and Home, was depicted the same worship of the lamb, and to get rid of this positive proof that Christianity was but a plagiarism of older religions, the crucifix was adopted as the badge of the new religion. I give the communication as it came to me. I do not feel warranted in questioning its authen- ticity. It is beyond all doubt a spirit communication, and the 162 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. reason assigned for giving it most reasonable. I infer the spirit intended to make a distinction between those prelates who represented large Christian constituencies, and those whose dioceses were small and of less importance. COriSTAJNlTirlE THE G^EAT. A Roman Emperor. " It is not a pleasant duty to communicate with you, nor would I perform it, had not a band of spirits fettered me with truth. A spirit dislikes to destroy his own fame, or the name he left behind him here on earth. But since I am compelled to speak, I will say exactly what the other speaker said. I pos- sessed a valuable library. When I became a Christian I destroyed it. I was a fanatic, and was governed and influenced by fanatics ; and what has been stated to you here, by a long line of spirit witnesses, is true. The four gospels were origi- nally Buddhistic gospels, and were written in an ecstatic state by Deva Bodhisatoua. They were mingled with Platonism by Potamon. This is the true account of the Christian New Testament ; and the day will come when it will be ojK'iily acknowledged, for the evidence of it will be so great that through some medium, if not this one, the original Buddhistic gospels, which are extant to-day, in spite of all the interpola- ting and destroying, will be discovered in India. I curse my fate, and I curse those spirits who forced me here to tell the truth ; for I am so constituted, that even after these long years in spirit life, I would rather lie than tell the triiih. I was known as Constantine the Great Constantino the little the nothing here to-day. I lived A. I). 337." Refer to McClintock and Strong's Cyclopaedia of Ecclesias- tical Literature for account of Constantine the Great. It was the spirit of this great and successful Roman emperor that was forced by the power of truth to come hack to earth and confess the destruction of ancient writings that would have rendered the continuance of the Christian religion i:n-' possible; as it was but a modified form of Buddhistic supersti- tion. More than this, he is forced to acknowledge that truth lias power to overcome the most obstinate religious bigotry in spirit life, and force the latter to serve it instead of being obstructed by it. 1 have no doubt of the authenticity of the communication, and therefore regard it as quite important. EPAPIIKODITUS. 163 EPAPH^OtUTLlS. A Greek Grammarian. " I greet you, sir : I might as well state who I am, and what my name was when in the mortal form, in order that we may understand each other more thoroughly. I am the man to whom Josephus wrote his two books in answer to Apion. My name was Epaphroditus. I was not, as history supposes, the freed man of Nero, nor was I Domitian's secretary at Athens. My country was Idumaea. Josephus and myself corresponded a great deal. We both belonged to the Order of the Initiated the Free Masons of the first century. We were mainly interested in investigating occult sciences ; and to prove to you that Josephus was not only interested, but a believer in Spiritualism, I will refer you to his account of Solomon, in which he sets forth that Solomon was initiated in the art of exorcising or driving out demons. Solomon re- ceived this gift from spirits under the mistaken idea it was from God. You will also rind in his description of Solomon, that one Eleazer, a Jew, drove a demon out of the obsessed individ- ual in Vespasian's camp, and the test was this : that the cup of water should be set a certain distance from the obsessed man, and the demon would upset it, as it passed out of the man. The only object I have in introducing these things, is to prove that Josephus was a Spiritualist, and that the Society of the Initiated was made up of investigators of what is termed mediumship to-day. I can also inform you why there is no reference to Apollonius in Josephus's writings. It was owing to the obligation assumed by those who entered into the investi- gation of these mysteries that they should never manifest any conscious knowledge when they saw a brother of the order performing any of those miracles, as they were called, for fear they would be charged with conspiring; as the sceptics then living would have done everything they could to ruin them in the same way they now seek to ruin mediums. Therefore, while they recognized and helped each other secretly, they never acknowledged each other openly. I know that Apollo- nius obtained, in India, the gospel of one Deva Bodhisatoua. I want to say, also, that ell the writings among the learned, that is, the translated writings, were written in those days in the Samaritan tongue, and it was not until the second century 104 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. that there was any amount of those writings translated into the Greek and Latin languages. In the time of Trajan, the ancient arts were somewhat revived. He being a student of astrology and philosophy himself, allowed a freer discussion of the merits of different religions. In fact my age was the age of comparison, and we compared notes, and the materials that were thus collected, served as a basis for manufacturing that great fraud, Christianity. That is about all I can say. I passed to spirit life at Smyrna, A. D. 110." Refer to Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography for account of Epaphroditus. The spirit of Epaphroditus tells us that Josephus and him- self knew that the powers attributed to Solomon were derived from spirits and not from God, as the ignorant, and even Solo- mon himself supposed. But the greatest revelation of all, is the fact that the Order of the Initiated, to which Josephus and himself belonged, was composed of persons who were engaged in the investigation and practice of spiritual mediumship and spirit communion. It appears that Apollonius of Tyana, was also a member of that secret order, and that it was well known by the members of that order, Josephus among the rest, that the miracles attributed to Apollonius were only the result of spirit power exerted through him. It has already been very plainly shown by these spirit testimonies, as well as by the strongest corroborative proofs of historical facts, that Apollonius of Tyana, and St. Paul are one and the same person. Now as Epaphroditus and Apollonius were fellow members of the Order of the Initiated there can hardly be a doubt Unit the latter addresses the former (Philippians ii, 25,) in these words : " Vet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labor, and fellow soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants;" and again (Philipp. iv., IS.) "But I have all and abound : I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of sweet smell, a sacrifice ac- ceptable, well pleasing to God." Whether the Epaphroditus thus spoken of by Apollonius or Paul, was the friend and fellow student of Josephus, or some other Epaphroditus we may not certainly know ; but this much is certain, Apollonius, Josephus and Epaphroditus were beyond doubt contemporaries fellow Spiritualists and mediums, and co-members of the same secret Order of mysteries, out of which- subsequently developed the EPAPHRODITUS. 1G5 .Christian hierarchy a scourge to the human race, the effects of which will not be wholly obliterated for centuries to come. It is such spirit testimony as that of Epaphroditus that settles the authenticity and truthfulness of these communications. [There were several reasons why Josephus did not mention Apollonius in his historical works besides the fact that they both belonged to the Order of the Initiated, as referred to by Epaphroditus and other spirits. Apollonius in his communica- tion gave it as his opinion, that Josephus failed to refer to him in his history on account of the intense prejudice existing be- tween the Jews and the Gentiles. Josephus, as is well known was a Jew of the strictest type, and historian of his country, while Apollonius was a Gentile of even greater distinction as a leading character of his time. In this, history fully concurs, hence it is reasonable to conclude that Josephus could not well have given such an historical account as would have done justice to Apollonius, without speaking of the great Gentile and sage, so favorably as to offend the Jewish people, it being against their policy to favor the Gentiles in word or deed. Furthermore, Josephus was jealous of Apollonius, for the reason that Eleazer, his friend, who was also a Jew, (as well as a medium for casting out obsessing spirits) could not manifest superior, or even equal power to Apollonius in his wonderful manifestations, (or as they were called in ancient days miracles) and by this means become the oracle of Vespasian in place of Apollonius the Gentile. Notwithstanding both these great minds were members of the same order, their oaths evidently did not bind them as to their religious or political views, hence this fact may point to the reason why they could be closely allied in the order and yet powerful opponents on religious grounds. In conclusion will add, that in view of all these con- siderations, we have what is deemed, good and natural reasons, why Josephus did not record in history any account of Apollo- nius. It also appears from all reasonable deductions drawn from these ancient spirit communications, as well as from history bearing upon the subject under consideration, that Apollonius ot Tyana was the character which formed the basis and frame- work upon which the history of Jesus of Nazareth was con- structed. Notwithstanding it is claimed that Josephus re- ferred to Jesus of Nazareth in his history, he emphatically denies the allegation in his spirit testimony and states that it was interpolated by Christian writers, and made to appear as evidence that such an individual lived and taught at that time. Even critical Christian scholars are compelled to admit the reasonableness of this statement as to the interpolation. There- fore we also, must conclude that it is untrue that Josephus alluded to Jesus of Nazareth, from the simple fact that such an individual did not exist at that time as represented by Christian writers. Compiler. ] 1GG ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. F. HIGIDIUS FIGUliOS. A Pythagorean Philosopher. " I salute you, sir : The time I lived in the mortal form was from about B. C. 13 to A. D. 2o. I was an astrologer and philosopher. I also held the office of praetor at Home. My business here this morning is to explain what 1 know about, what is termed, Christianity. J knew of Apollonius, but his name in my day had not become so well known publicly as afterwards. At Rome, at that time, there was a society known as The Initiated, it comprised the learned men of the then civilized world. The real name of that society that is its secret designation was, "The Sons of the Sun;" and they understood all the teachings of the ancients as relating to the Sun, the planets, and principally to the signs of the Zodiac. Out of this religion, or secret society, of which Apollonius was also a member, has grown what is now called Christianity. Each of the gods had a star assigned to him, that astrologers, like my- self, explained to the people, and told them what the gods wanted, by their positions in the houses of the heavens. Most of the Roman, Grecian and Egyptian priests were astrologers, but not truthful ones, they reading the stars in a way that would bolster up the superstitions they were propagating. There were also at Home a class of mystics who pretended to great knowledge, but who in reality knew nothing but to place the minds of those who witnessed their performances' in a chaotic state, in which state they experimented upon them psychologically. Understanding mesmerism they used all prominent men, whom they could psychologize, for their own interests. The next generation after them, as will be made clear by the next speaker here to-day (('. Vcllcius Paterculus), were engaged in preaching and teaching communism, under the name of Essenes, out of which sect the Christian religion started. They had also a secret name, which was " Brethren of the Star of the East." The whole train of their itbns were stolen or appropriated from the teachings of the Cymno- sophists ; and the latter were the " Wise men who saw the Star in the East," or who, in other words, brought the mystery of that star with them. I have used all the time allotted me. My name was Nigidius." liefer to Smith's Dictionary of Creek and Roman Biography for account of Niiddius. VALLEIUS PATERCULUS. 1G7 VEIiliElUS PATE^CUliUS, A Roman Historian. " I salute YOU, SIR : My communication here to-day, will be a continuation of what the previous spirit set forth. I was a soldier under Tiberius. I was also a historian, and during my campaigns wrote most of the notes, from which I con- structed the history of Rome and Greece, after my time as a soldier had expired. In my travels from A. D. 25 to 36, I closely observed the forms and ceremonies of the religions in each country I visited, and also took great delight in examining the ruins of antiquity ; and I found upon those ancient temples and tombs exactly what I found at Rome, the religion of the Sun. Upon the oldest ruins in Phoenicia and in the Palmyrean desert ; also in Sicily, Egypt, the Isle of Cyprus, and Greece ; and throughout the then civilized world, all religions could be unlocked by one key, and that consisted of the signs of the zodiac. He who understood how to use tins key rightly could confound all the priests who were then living. This was the leading idea of them all ; but, of course, as each one of these signs had some particular symbol to represent it ; so each one of them had their followers or worshippers. In Egypt I found principally two signs which seemed to be the leading ones they were what are called Taurus and Sagittarius the Bull and the Archer; in Greece, the Ham or La7nb and The Fishes seemed to be the leading signs ; in Rome the sign of the Lion for which was substituted the Eagle, and Aquarius or the man pouring water. All these signs were to be found upon the tombs and temples of my day. There were also a great many representations of the Goddess with the wheat (by some called corn). These I found in all countries. Soldiers were all tyrants. There was a great appearance among them of worship of the gods, but in reality there were very few who believed them. A god was only of account as long as he prospered their affairs. When he failed to accomplish anything useful for them, they did as the Chinese of your times do, burned him or knocked off his head. I knew Apollonius of Tyana. I knew also his disciple one Damis. I saw them at Alexandria. They there taught in the different temples, but I was so busy as 168 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. a soldier, that I had not much time to listen to philosophy. This was about A. D. 30. Tiberius dying the next year, 37, I returned to Koine and there completed my history, of which only fragments have been allowed to come down to you moderns; and the reason of this suppression of what I wrote was, that in it was a full description of the workings of miracles by Apollonius, ami the Christians could not afford to let this be known. It would have ruined their scheme. It also contained a complete description of the doc- trines and teachings of the Kssenes, who had three colonics at that time, one at Antioeh, one in Samaria, and one in the Isle of Cyprus. I have now stated all I can that will be of much benefit. I will have to spell my name, Velleius Paterculus." Refer to Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography for account of Paterculus. Against the imputation of his lack of fidelity as a historian, in the history which comes down to us, the spirit of Paterculus returns to confound his traducers by stating that it was not until after the death of Tiberius, in A. D. 37, that he left his military occupation in Egypt, and went back to Rome to write the history which mainly gave him his historical fame. That history, he tells us, contained a full recital of the miracles performed by Apollonius of Tyana, and a complete exposition of the dogmas and teachings of the Kssenes ; and that these portions of his work, the most important and valuable to i>os- terity, were destroyed by the Christians to save their monstrous scheme of deception. I do not hesitate to declare my conviction that this communication is authentic and true in every partic- ular. Who will say the graves are not giving up their dead and the judgment day drawing near? GREGORY. 169 G^EGO^V. Bishop of Neo-Caesarea. "I Greet you, sir : I was a collector of manuscripts, and besides, a bishop of the Christian Church. But I was by no means a destroyer of such manuscripts. I did however inter- polate them. My whole collection of manuscripts fell into the hands of Eusebius who destroyed all of them that he could not use. These manuscripts made clear the fact that Apollonius, the Cappadocian, was the true Saviour, and was even wor- shipped in the temple of Apollo. The statue of that god was worshipped as if erected to Apollonius. As I was a resident of the same place as Eusebius, I know that what I have herein stated is the truth. I was known when here as Gregory, bishop of Neo-Cpesarea, about A. D. 266. I feel that this communica- tion should be some compensation for the injustice I have done to mortals. One of the two most important manuscripts destroyed by Eusebius, was "The History of the Initiated," the other was " The Syntagma." Refer to Biographie Generale, for account of Gregory, Bishop of Neo-Ca?sarea. It was the spirit of this Christian mystic that returned and confessed to the destruction of the manuscripts that would have proven the fraudulent nature of the Christian religion. Nothing is said of the collection of manuscripts made by Gregory, or that they afterwards fell into the hands of Eusebius, Bishop of Ca>sarea. That such was the fact, I have not a doubt, and that the most important and valuable of them were destroyed by that greatest of Christian writers, seems equally certain. Where would Christianity be to-day, could " The History of the Ini- tiated," have been saved from his infernal duplicity? 170 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. UMJVIIDIUS QOflD^ATUS. Governor of Syria. " I AM HERE TO-DAY IN THE INTEREST OF TRUTH : My name when hero was Ummidius Quadratus, sometimes called Venidius or Numidius Quadratus. I lived amongst all classes of people and all kinds of religious beliefs, in Syria, in those days. There has never been among learned Christian scholars, one who has given the correct account of their sacred writings. The language used in the originals of them was what might be termed Hebraic-Samaritan, while they have claimed that most of the original copies of them were written in the Creek and Latin tongues. But this was not the case. The copies in those languages were an after occurrence, and took place between the second and third centuries. All the Jewish writings that were extant in my day, from A. 1). 50 to 60, were written in the Samaritan tongue. They were the production of Indian phi- losophers and mediums, and were first brought to my notice by a king named Agrippa, who said he received the copies of them from a follower of Apollonius. These copies were nothing more than an account of soni" god who was born of a virgin, which event took place some nine hundred years before my time, in India. It was said that the Queen, his mother, was overshadowed and the prince born to her was of royal blood, and that he threw away all worldly honors to pass into what was known to us as the ecstatic state. In my travels, from place to place, in Syria I have seen persons sitting under trees, for days, motionless. A good deal of this was natural, hut much of it was forced through the use of drugs, something similar to the modern Chinese opium smokers. The most remarkable case of a real spirit materialization witnessed by me, took place at Antioch, where a man who refused to give his name, but whose name I have found out as a spirit was the same as my own, Quadratus, by means of a burnished silver irlass would sit in front of you, the sun shining clearly into the room, and while be was in this ecstatic stale, I saw reflected upon this jjlass seventeen people pass, one after the other, all of whom I knew when they were living in the mortal form. This I could not account for. as it was impossible for any person to have access QUADRATUS. 171 to the room where this manifestation took place. There was no one present except King Agrippa and myself, and the build- ing was surrounded by Roman soldiers. This I was satisfied was an actual demonstration of what I termed the manes of my ancestors. But as a spirit, I know that it was nothing more than the manifestations you have in your seances of to- day. The Jews were a very sensitive people exceedingly nervous and irritable ever ready to fight, the moment they thought that their religion was assailed. They were mad, fanatical bigots, and it was in vain to reason with them ; so we were compelled, in order to keep them quiet, to kill a few of them at every festival, to compel their respect. After reading those writings or copies of the teachings of Apollonius of Tyana, I went to Jerusalem, about the time when the Jews had their feast of unleavened bread, and from the light thrown upon that ceremony by the teachings of Apollonius by the teachings of the Rabbis of Jerusalem and the teachings of their sacred books; I found that the feast of unleavened bread was nothing more than a revival of the feast in honor of the goddess Ceres, as practiced in the Eleusinian mysteries, and as taking place in the House of Corn, or in the season of harvest. And I found also, that the old Testament which the Jews claimed was the foundation of all the others, was in reality nothing more or less than a copy of the Greek and Egyptian religions. These religions were all of the astrological order ; and in the Jewish temple all the signs that were known to astrologers, were engraved or cut upon its doors or walls. For my part I could see no difference between the priests of Jehovah and the priests of Apollo the one class was simply a copy of the other. In relation to the unleavened bread, the Jews claimed that they ate it in commemoration of a hasty departure in some event which caused their ancestors to leave a country in so great a hurry, that they had not time to supply themselves with leavened bread ; but I think the real reason for the observance was to prevent, at that season of the year, incurring the taint of leprosy, and that it was a blood purifying ceremony. This idea has crept into the Roman Catholic church, and they have their consecrated wafers instead. [This explanation was given in reply to my question, why the bread used by the Jews at that festival was unleavened?] But to return. I Avas allowed to examine into matters of religion while sitting as a judge, and to learn secrets that none others were allowed to know, except the high orders of priests. In that way I found a religion something similar to what is known as Christianity, among the Esst'iies or Communists. I know of no modern people more like the Essenes than the Shakers. They had their own god, 172 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. after the idea of the Indians, and that was that a god always dwelt in the ilesh, and he was known to them by certain marks upon his person, said to have been l>orn upon him. But they had also another god, in the person of a woman who presided over the female portion of the Essenes; and I remember, since 1 come to compare them, (that is since I became a spirit) with the Christian teachings, that one of their teachers inculcated something that was almost word for word like the ".Sermon on the Mount." That the latter is taken from the Essenes, I as a spirit now testify. Of this I am just as sure as I am of happi- ness. I might communicate a great deal more, but it is neces- sary for me to give way in order that others may speak." Few communications have preceded this one that possessed greater interest and importance than this. It is strange so little is known of the man whose spirit gives that communication ; and yet not strange when it is remembered that he knew and understood the great secret of the origin of the Jewish religion. We refer to Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography for account of Quad rat us. The greatest and most significant point of this unusually intelligent communication is the testimony of Quadratus, that by reason of his judical position in Syria, he had been enabled to become acquainted witli the most can-fully concealed secrets of the Essenes, who were especially numerous in that country when he governed it. He tells us these Essenes had not only their incarnated god, but their incarnated female god (or god- dess) as well ; and that he knows that the "Sermon on the Mount" is almost word for word a copy of the teachings of one of the incarnated gods of the Essenes. Upon this point his testimony is most emphatic. Can we read that communication of Quadratus in connection with the historical reference we have given and not come to the conclusion that the Jewish feasts of the Passover, Pentacost and Tabernacles, were but copies of the older religious observances of the Parsees, Egyp- tians and Hindoos? Thus another historical truth is brought to the Ii. ('. More than this, he tells us that all the religious or doctrinal ideas in the Christian Testament were taught in Antioch, but not in their present form, in the first century, by the Essenes who were not Christians. Espe- cially is the designation of the perfect man, the gnat central feature of the Essenian religion, to wit, the Alpha and Omega, identical with the Christ of John's Gospel. There can hardly be a doubt that Apollonius did incorporate the Essenian doc- trines in his religious teachings. We cannot follow up the analysis of this invaluable communication as it merits. The field of inquiry that it opens up could not be exhausted in months spent in researches as to its full import. TITUS LIVIUS. 181 TITOS IilVlUS. A Roman Historian. " Let us unite in the hastening of the downfall of Supersti- tion. I doubt if any person ever had a better opportunity than myself, for ascertaining whether there was any truth in Christ- ianity, being contemporary with the alleged Jesus Christ, and intimately acquainted with Pontius Pilate. I have never been able to discover, either as a spirit or mortal, any positive, or, I may say, any negative evidence of the existence of Jesus of Nazareth. I am certainly one of those spirits that Christians may call a devil, because I violate the precepts of their sacred books (manufactured by priests), and deny that Jesus Christ was ever in the flesh. My reason for this denial must be given. First, no learned Jew and I have conversed with many such, that I have met, knew aught of his existence. I have also seen and conversed with many of the governors of Syria, and with those of them who then ruled Syria, none of whom knew aught of this person, nor of any other person that seemed to approximate to the descriptions of him. But after my decease, there was a man who fulfilled all that has been claimed for Jesus, and that man was Apollonius. All Rome and Judoea were in excitement, at that time, over the conquests of Augus- tus Caesar in Egypt : and many Egyptians were brought to Home, and taught their doctrines there ; and these were of an astrological character. They taught that different stars repre- sented the birth, life, death, and resurrection of a person of the remote past, known by many different names. This legend was first promulgated or taught to his students by a Hindoo philoso- pher called Ma-Ming ; and the Christian legend took its rise some where in the vicinity of the Nepaul mountains, and was afterward transferred to Singapore, whence it was carried to Antioch by Apollonius, where he was met by a sect calling themselves Nazarites, known after my death as the Essenian Brotherhood. Any one reading the life of Jesus Christ, can at once see that he was a communist. This sect was scattered all over the different parts of Syria, extending into Phoenicia and the Tsle of Cyprus. In their teachings there was this resem- blance to Jesus. There was a perfect man among them, to whom all confessed, who was never seen, and by these confessions this man became a great reader of human character, as are the Catholic priests of to-day. These, by taking advantage of the different emotions that animate the human breast, paved the 182 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. way amongst other generations for that curse of humanity a pope. The books I wrote, when here in mortal form, have been tampered with ; first by Eusebius, afterward by Innocent III. ; and almost utterly destroyed after the Council of Basle. Otherwise there would have been no mistake by moderns in regard to the origin of Christianity. I was known, when here, as Titus Livius, A. D. 17." liefer to American Cyclopaedia for account of Livius. The wholesale destruction of the historical writings of Livius shows very clearly that the Christian church could not afford to have it known that Livius had made no mention of those historical fictions, that nearly two hundred years after his death, were woven into the religious legend concocted by Christian ecclesiastics. And furthermore they could not afford to have it known that Livius had recorded the fact that the Egyptian captives brought to Rome by Augustus Ca?sar, thirty years before the alleged birth of the Christian .h'sus, had taught in that city that the different constellations of the starry heavens represented the birth, lif", death and resurrection of a person in the far past, known by many names. It was to con- ceal the fact that Jesus Christ was but a new materialization, or incarnation of this " person of the remote past " whose birth, life, death and resurrection, was only to be read correetly, by the passage of the Sun, in its annual course through the con- stellations of the Zodiac ; having his birth in the sign of the Coat, the Augean stable of the Greeks; his baptism in Aqua- rius, the John the Baptist in the heavens ; his triumph when he becomes the Lamb of God in Aries ; his greatest exaltation on St. John's, the beloved disciple's day, on the 21st of June, in the Sign of the Twins, the emblem of double power; his tribulation in the garden of Gethsemane, in the sign of the rural Virgo ; his betrayal in the sign of Scorpio, the malignant emblem of his approaching death in the stormy ami adverse sign, Sagittarius, and his resurrection or renewed birth on the twenty-fifth of December in the same sign of the celestial Goat ; the ever existing and universal god, Pan, the poetical expression of the Cosmos, or whole of Nature, as known to mortals. Livius tells that what remained of his works was destroyed after the Council of Basle, which took place about 1442. Shortly afterwards it was, that Leo X, made such strenuous edbrts to find the missing books of Livius. As all the books then of uny consequence or value, were in the hands of Q. VEBANIUS. 183 the Christian priesthood, it is hardly likely that he should have failed to find them ; and that he did not do what he meant to do, destroy them utterly. Those that were allowed to remain were not calculated to expose the fraudulent nature of Christianity, and hence were allowed to escape destruction. It is such spirit testimony as that of Livius, that must, in the end, bring retributive justice upon those who have committed such wrongs against humanity, as the destruction of the ancient literature of the world, to conceal their vile deceptions. We tell you, priests, prelates and pontiffs the end draweth near. Governor of Britain. " I greet you : I acted as governor of Britain, under Nero, in A. D. 60. I found in Britain the same principle that governed almost all nations of antiquity that is, they had a God who acted as a Saviour. The antagonists of this system were what are termed Druids. There seemed to be a continual warfare between that order of priests and the Britons. These Britons had a god, who was much older than he is set down in history, called Odin. This Odin, it is claimed by moderns, was brought to Britain, two or three centuries later than he was, by the Norwegians. But that is simply a trick of priests, to throw inquirers oft' the scent. It came about in this way ; Odin, in his teachings, characteristics, and forms of worship, was identical with the God of the first Christians ; and this is admitted by all really learned commentators ; but as they have been principally Christians, this fact has been concealed. Friga, a woman, in the teachings of Britain, instead of being the wife of Odin, was a virgin mother ; showing that the idea was established among barbarous peoples, of being saved by a man born of a virgin. All this I studied, and compared their teachings with those of the Roman priests of the temple of Apollo, and I found that those barbarians had established a religious system identical with that known amongst the Greeks 184 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. and Romans. Although a military man, I am not here to-day to say anything about the conquests of that time, but tell you what I know of Christianity. 1 was governor of Britain from 55 to GO. They (the Britons) claimed that their god lived 000 years before that time. My name was Veranius." Refer to Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography for account of Veranius. I regard that communication not only as perfectly authentic, luit as stuting the truth in relation to the fact that the funda- mental religious doctrines of Christianity were thoroughly established among the Britons for hundreds of years before they were promulgated as divine truth by the Christian priest- hood. That the Druid priests were hostile to the open and unconcealed doctrines of the priesthood of the ancient Britons, was owing to the fact that it was a fundamental principle with them to conceal everything that was taught as religion ; and like their Christian successors, to render everything of a re- ligious nature as mysterious as possible. Nothing was more natural than that Veranius who had been invested with priestly dignities by the Roman Pontifcx Maximus, should have .studied and observed the analogies between his own religion and that of the people, over whom he was appointed to govern. We question whether it is generally known that there was a more ancient system of religion than that of the Druids es- tablished in Britain, and which the priests of the latter religion were doing all they could to suppress, when the Romans in- vaded and conquered Britain. It was but retributive justice that Druidism had, in its turn, to succumb to the bigotry of Christian pries! craft. One step further in the direction of retributive justice will be taken, when Christian priestcraft shall in its turn go down with the withering and consuming 1 i s_c lit of .Modern Spiritualism, which is to close the career of priesthood on the earth. PORPHYRY. 185 A So-called Heathen Philosopher. " Good Day : Many persons may question the conduct or language of spirits who are trying to uproot Christianity. These persons may say : " These spirits deprive me of my Lord what have 1 left?" Oh ! foolish mortals ; to rely so implicitly on that which never existed. We spirits are constantly bringing for- ward more and more proof that Christianity has no basis in truth. It is nothing more than the mistletoe on the oak of ancient religions. The first question to be answered is ; did Jesus Christ, so-called, ever have a personal existence? To this I answer he had not. I come to set forth such facts as I know to be absolutely correct, that will conclusively justify that answer. None of the early Christian Fathers were Christians. Any person who will attentively read their works will see that they did not know whether Jesus ever lived or not, and this was the case immediately after his alleged death. Those early Christian fathers never thought of establisbing such a gigantic system of fraud as is practiced by the Christian priesthood to- day. In all the earliest books and manuscripts of the so-called Christian era, there was no mention of this Jesus, except as a kind of sun-god. Out of astronomy or astrology, the gods of all religions have arisen, one after another. These Christian fathers wherever they could alter thosa manuscripts, during the first one hundred and fifty years of their era, did so ; and they then began to shape their religion as you now find it. To do this they made use of all classes of writers, by them called heathen ami pagan, to plant their religious fraud upon the earth. All this will be brought to light by thoroughly informed spirits. We are now forming a band in spirit life that will bring forth such proofs as will convince the world, or point out the sources from which those proofs may be obtained. There is not a priest in Rome or elsewhere that is fully initiated in the secrets of his church, who does not know that Christianity is a fraud ; for in the Library of the Vatican, at Rome, is the evidence that makes that point certain. The ecclesiastical custodians of that evidence, will have to produce the documents that contain that evidence. At Rome are most of the writings of the first three centuries of the Christian era, embracing the works of all of us, so-called, pagan writers. These have been mutilated but 180 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. not destroyed. Why have they not been destroyed ? Simply because there is a power in the spirit world, that popes and cardinals fear. They know that spirit communion is all there is to religion, and they heed the warnings of materialized spirits who come to them. The priesthood know that the people have become too intelligent to be any longer blinded, by rites and ceremonies, to the simple fact of spirit communion. There are writings of Seutonius there are writings of the emperor Trajan in the possession of the Papal church, that would settle forever the question as to the personal existence of Jesus. It has also the possession of letters of mine, in which they have altered the word Gnosticism into Catholicism, and on the strength of that have claimed me as a Christian. At the time I lived there was nothing but contention and strife; but there was not one-half as much contention about Jesus, as there was about who should attain ecclesiastical precedence in the new religion. All this was the outcome of each individual philoso- phizing and theorizing for himself, and giving these thoughts different forms. In fact it was at a later day than that in which I lived on earth, that Christianity fully settled down in its present shape. This voice of mine is a spirit voice that priests do mightily fear. I am not done with them yet. But there is a shape in which I desire to get my communication that will compel these men to hear me. They will be made to hear me. When a man's citizenship is challenged, then it behooves him to prove his citizenship. So I challenge these priests. I have spoken longer than I intended. I was known when here as Porphyry." Refer to McClintock & Strong's Bibhcal, Theological and Ecclesiastical Cyclopaedia. We deeply regret that space will not allow of giving the par- ticulars of his philosophical doctrines, as these show most clearly and conclusively that Porphyry, one of the ablest and most learned men that ever lived, was a spiritual medium, and taught the grand truths now being brought to the knowledge of mankind, through humble and uncultivated mediums, six- teen hundred years after those truths were rejected and trampled under foot by the Christian priesthood. We have never received or known of a spirit communication which seemed to us to be more important than this communi- cation from the spirit of the great Eclectic and Neo-Platonie philosopher, Porphyry. We can well understand the difficulties under which this learned and truly advanced spirit, after six- teen hundred years in spirit life, labored in imparting the important information therein contained. DOMINIS. 187 A Heresiarch and Apostate. " Good day : None can throw as much light on Christianity as the Catholics. Christianity is a Catholic institution, and not a Protestant one ; and yet, all the paraphernalia of both are the same, except that Protestants have somewhat modi- lied them. During my mortal life I was a Catholic prelate, and held the title of archbishop. I was a man of science, and never allowed my religion to interfere with my reason. I knew the identity between Christianity and Paganism, and that the former was only a copy of the latter. In fact, in the Library of the Vatican at Home were all the documents necessary to prove that the old Roman gods, rechiselled by the sculptors, are the apostles of the Christian religion ; that the Christians robbed the Pagan temples of all these old myths, in the shape of sculptured forms and basso-relievos ; and that all the rites and ceremonies and vestments are copied from the observances of the priests of Apollo. The mitre had, originally, twelve points, representing the twelve signs of the Zodiac ; but as Catholi- cism increased, it was necessary to conceal this fact in such a way that the astrological significance of it would not be too apparent to the public eye. If there is a "Prince of Lies," spiritually speaking, his home is in the Catholic Church. Some persons may think I am hard upon them, but I do not feel so. It cost me one hundred and fifty years of misery, as a spirit, to get rid of a lingering desire, developed in me in mortal life, that held me to that myth of centuries Jesus of Nazareth ; and I speak plainly here to-day, because I wish my mortal brethren to steer clear of any faith or hope in any redemption but their own strength of character, their own love of truth, and to discard all worship of any book, except the book of nature. P>e natural in everything, and you will obtain not only happiness and bliss, but you will be enabled to help others to that point where we shall all be united in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. I was located, in 1020, at Savoy in the Strand, Loudon. My Italian name 188 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. was Antonio de Doniinis, Archbishop of Spalatix). In England I was called Marcantonio de Doniinis." Refer to Nouvelle Biographic Generale for account of Marc- antonio de Doniinis. The foregoing communication is beyond any reasonable question, both genuine and authentic. This man was fully com- petent to know just what he testifies to as a spirit. That he was a man of unusually keen perceptions, is manifested by his discovery of the causes of the rainbow, which destroyed for- ever that pretty fable about that covenant between God and man. It will be seen that for twenty years he was a member and honored and trusted agent of the Society of Jesus, and was undoubtedly fully informed of the facts to which he testi- fies in relation to the robbing of the Pagan temples of their mythical objects of veneration, and that all the appliances and paraphernalia of the Roman Catholic priesthood were copied from the priests of Apollo. Well might this well informed Catholic spirit locate the Prince of Lies in the Catholic Church. Notwithstanding he understood the deceptive character of the Christian religion, he tells us that it took him one hundred and fifty years, in spirit life, to get away from the earth-formed desire of being saved by Jesus of Nazareth. Could any spirit give wiser counsel than does the spirit of Doniinis, when he says, " Be natural in everything, and you will obtain not only happiness and bliss, but you will be able to help others to that point where we shall all be united in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man?" This spirit found himself alike deluded, whether identified with Roman Catholic or Protes- tant Christianity. Roth phases of that grand delusion are undoubtedly alike destructive of spirit happiness, or the testi- mony of spirits is worthless as an element in the stock of human experiences. SEJANUS. 189 SEJAfiUS. The Favorite of Tiberius. " I geeet you, sir : I have a word to say to all who seek for that which will give them physical enjoyment. I gained my success in mortal life, and also my death, through flattery of those in power. My main object in coming here to-day, is to throw what light I can upon the disputed point of the reality of a man, or so-called god, named Jesus. I am set down in historical accounts as departing this mortal life in A. D. 31, but it was in A. D. 33, one year before the death of one whom I acknowledged my master, Tiberius Caesar. I travelled a great deal with him, and was very intimately acquainted with the Jew who taught philosophy Grecian philosophy, not Jewish philosophy, (the elder Hillel) ; and I conversed with him upon that subject which now agitates modern thought spirit com- munion and in no case was he able to identify any of the alleged leaders of Christianity. He knew nothing of their lives, and as he lived at Jerusalem, engaged in teaching philosophy, (and Grecian philosophy, for Hillel was a follower of Plato) from A. D. 10 to A. D. 4-5, he must have known of them had they lived. Here is a Jew, who lived contemporary with the great facts that are claimed by Christians, and yet he knew nothing of them. The only thing that he knew of, that came any where near what the Christians claim, was that a Jew. Jesus Malatheel, was crucified for highway robbery, whose brother (not father) was one Joseph, who begged his body of one Simon, but this was not Joseph of Arimathrea. The last named character was a pupil of Hillel, and told him of this transaction privately. As the Jesus who was crucified was an Essene, they were afraid his body would be desecrated, and as this was repugnant to their ideas, they stole it in the night time. If an extract from the Alexandrian Codex, which has been obliterated by means of chemicals, and which if now rubbed with certain compounds known among modern chem- ists ; or could the latter be placed over this obliterated portion of that Codex, you would recover the proof of the truth of what I here state. In my great desire to atone for a life of sensuality, I come here to-day, and I love made all plain that 190 ANTIQUITY UNVEILED. the concentration of power allows me to utilize. My name was Sejanus." Refer to Nouvelle Biographie Generate for account of Sejanus. It was the spirit of this man who, in his desire to atone for his vile and corrupt life, conies back and testifies as above. His introduction of himself is fully borne out by the recorded facts of his earthly career. He denies that he was put to death in A. D. 31, as history has recorded ; and says it was in A. I). 30. This is by far more probable, for, if it is true that the latter part of the reign of Tiberius was little else than a succession of executions, it is not likely this execution of the friends of Hcjanus continued for six years. A year was ample time to dispose of all of them, and this is the period during which, it is most probable, they were devoted to destruction. This correc- tion of a historical error is, under the circumstances, a sufficient proof of the truthfulness as well as the authenticity of the communication. The spirit of Sejanus tells us that he was intimately acquainted with Hillel the Elder, who taught phi- losophy at Jerusalem from A. I). 10 to A. I). 45, and that lie had conversed with him on the subject of communion of spirits with mortals. While the gospel story of the crucifixion bears the marks of fiction from beginning to end ; not so the statement of the spirit of Sejanus. The latter is perfectly consistent with prob- ability, lint there is one special point in it that seems to show that not only was Jesus Malalheel, an Esseuian culprit, who suffered for his crime, but that he furnished the ground-work for the gospel legend, it will be seen that it was one Simon, the Cyrenian, who was the person assigned as the executioner of Jesus; and whom the Jews compelled to bear the cross on which he was to be executed. According to the statement of Sejanus, after the deatli of Jesus, his brother Joseph, begged the body, not of Pilate, but of Simon, who no doubt had the custody of the body. That Simon should he mentioned in the gos|>el story as the person compelled to act as executioner, or at least to provide the cross, and that the spirit should have stated that it was to Simon the application for the body of Jesus was made, is one of tho