An Indictment of the Roman Catholic Church (by H.G. Wells)–Pt. 1

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Book review with excerpts Part One H.G. Wells (best known for his science fiction classics War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, and The Island of Doctor Moreau) penned his provocative book, Crux Ansata: An Indictment of the Roman Catholic Church in 1943 during the Second World War, following the author’s tenure as Minister of Allied Propaganda. Crux Ansata (Lat: “Cross with a handle”) refers to the symbol which in the late Middle Ages came to represent the Christian religion centered in Rome. The book caused an immediate sensation, provoking bitter rebuttals from the Church and conservatives in the West. Such reactions are understandable when one notes that Wells ends with a chapter entitled “Why don’t we bomb Rome?” (In … Continue reading →

The Hellenistic Origins of Christianity (Ory) – Pt. 2

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by Georges Ory (1965) Collection “Feuilles volantes” no. 40 Translated from the French by René Salm with added notes in green (2013) Dying and rising gods There are numerous resemblances and parallels between the Christ and the pagan divinities. Some are more than a little troubling, particularly those similarities which relate to dying and rising gods. Thus the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. She came down from heaven, was reduced to powerlessness, but was eventually reanimated and returned back to heaven. Ishtar was preceded in history by another goddess, Inanna, who was sentenced to hell, killed, hung on a tree for three days, resuscitated, and finally resurrected from the nether world. The Babylonian Marduk endured a passion. He traveled to a fabled … Continue reading →

The Hellenistic Origins of Christianity (Ory) – Pt. 1

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by Georges Ory (1965) Collection “Feuilles volantes” no. 40 Translated from the French by René Salm (2013) The history of Christian origins must be re-examined from new perspectives. It demands review, correction, and completion in a scientific and objective spirit, that is, lacking doctrinal presupposition and disengaged from every metaphysic and superstition. In the twentieth century, mankind has the duty to consider every belief as a provisional hypothesis. We must not ignore that the history of Christian beginnings—as it has been taught to us—corresponds neither to the needs of a reasonable faith (to the extent that any faith can be reasonable), neither to the lacunae in our documentation, nor to the parameters of science. We shall not discuss here notions … Continue reading →

The Politics of Archaeology in Israel

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Christine R. Perdue’s master’s degree thesis, “The Politics of Archaeology in Israel” (University of Oregon, Interdisciplinary Studies, 2005), is a blistering indictment of Israeli government policies regarding the practice of archaeology both on Israeli soil and in the occupied territories. According to WorldCat only one copy of this thesis exists, namely, at the University of Oregon library. In a fortuitous coincidence, I happen to live only a few blocks away. Perdue reveals her overall goal on page 2: “I will argue that archaeology in Israel has been politicized successively through the efforts of colonialists, biblical archaeologists, the process of nation-state building and tourism, and that ‘the facts’ of archaeological investigation have been and continue to be determined through political agendas … Continue reading →

Pt. 8: The chronology of a crime (final)

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Reconstruction of Vardaman’s activity during the 1962 Caesarea excavation season [This is a July 2014 update of the original post which was uploaded in Sept. 2013. Included here is new information on Vardaman’s field notes published in BASOR 371 (May 2014) in an article authored by O. Storvick and M. Govaars. Older entries from Vardaman’s notebook can be found at Govaars 2009:185-86. Suspicious facts are in red.] Note: For much more extensive information on the Caesarea Inscription, see my 2015 book NazarethGate, Chapter 12, “The Forgery of the ‘Caresarea Inscription.’” (pp. 314-76). Select bibliography is at the bottom of this post.         On July 15, 1962, the excavation season began in Area A of Caesarea—an area north of the Crusader walls … Continue reading →

Pt. 7: The perfect storm

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The unscrupulous archaeologist Over the last several months, my understanding has grown regarding the context of the “Caesarea inscription,” and also regarding Professor Vardaman’s central role in its genesis. As a Baptist minister notably employed by several conservative southern institutions, the late Dr. Vardaman’s values aligned strongly with the evangelical strain of Christianity, including belief in the inerrancy of scripture and in the personal call to act in defense and advancement of the true Christian faith. Jerry Vardaman was an evangelical activist. Unfortunately, he was also unprincipled, as we learned here and here. More correctly, he was a ‘super-committed’ Christian who apparently thought nothing of breaking man’s law for the higher law of Jesus Christ. From the microletters to the … Continue reading →

Pt. 6: Biblical archaeologist “Jerry” Vardaman – an unprincipled lawbreaker

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It seems that every week brings a new development in this deepening intercontinental collaboration researching the “Caesarea inscription”—the ancient Hebrew inscription (which is not ancient at all) mentioning Nazareth which scholars routinely consider “proof” that the hometown of Jesus existed in Roman times. This series of posts on Mythicist Papers is now in its third month (the first post to this website regarding this inscription was back on June 10). Mr. Enrico Tuccinardi in Italy, an anonymous colleague in Israel, and myself in the U.S. have assiduously followed up numerous leads with the result that an entirely unsuspected background has come to light regarding the “Caesarea inscription” (in quotes because readers of this blog now know that the inscription never … Continue reading →

Pt. 5: The case for forgery

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In this series of posts, Enrico Tuccinardi and myself have shown that the “Caesarea inscription” never existed except in the imagination of wishful Christians and Jews. Three fragments which do not go together have been assembled into a mythical plaque. That plaque never existed. Furthermore, such a plaque could not have existed where the fragments were allegedly “found,” for M. Govaars has shown that no synagogue existed in the area. Hence, the traditionalist who considers the “Caesarea inscription” (hereafter in quotes) to be a bona fide artifact suffers under a double impossibility: the mutual incompatibility of fragments, and the missing synagogue where the plaque should/would have been housed. The above considerations inexorably lead us to conclude that: – the three … Continue reading →

Pt. 4: Heavenly deception

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Jerry Vardaman’s career Ephraim Jeremiah Vardaman (1927-2000) was a native of Dallas, Texas. His career spans much of the South. “Jerry” Vardaman received a Th.D in 1957 from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary of Fort Worth, Texas. (His dissertation was entitled Hermeticism and the Fourth Gospel.) He then taught New Testament archaeology for fifteen years (1958-72) at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (hereafter SBTS) in Louisville, Kentucky. Vardaman was thus teaching at SBTS in Louisville when he participated in the Caesarea Maritima excavations of 1962, along with a number of his students. Vardaman subsequently taught at Mississippi State University (1973-81) where he founded the Cobb Institute of Archeology. He obtained a second doctorate in 1974 from Baylor University (Waco, Texas) … Continue reading →

Pt. 3: The “Nazareth” fragment

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The discovery of fragment A (continued) Readers who have been patiently following along with this series of posts on the “Caesarea inscription” are now privy to important information which is not otherwise public knowledge: (1) that all three fragments of the inscription belong to different plaques; (2) that no “synagogue” ever existed in Area A/Field O in Caesarea (where the marble plaque would have been placed); and (3) that all of the fragments actually came from outside the area. Fragment A—the one with the critical word “Nazareth”—was found in “area D,” which actually was a trench about 25m long and 6m wide (see illustration below). This trench was roughly 70m to the east of the main area A where excavation … Continue reading →