We will begin by offering firm evidence that Jesus Christ was a real, historical person. A Jewish historian of the first century A.D. Josephus, regarded the life of Jesus Christ as an established fact. In Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus wrote:

"There was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works,-a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principle men among us, had condemned him to the cross... he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day."

In this account, written shortly after Christ died, Josephus not only gave us a powerful witness that Jesus Christ truly lived, but also provided an independent corroboration of many of the biblically-discussed events of his life. Josephus refers to him as "a wise man," and wonders whether he was more than a mere man because of the "wonderful works" he did. That a non-Christian, Jewish historian of the apostolic era writes of the miracles of Jesus as actual facts offers proof of his miracles.

Josephus agrees with the testamental writings that Jesus was indeed sentenced to be crucified by Pontius Pilate at the behest of the Jewish Sanhedrin ("the principle men among us"). Josephus acknowledges that Jesus Christ fulfilled the many prophecies of the Hebrew prophets about the Messiah, and even refers to his resurrection as a historical fact!

His reference to Jesus as "the Christ" acknowledges that Jesus was the Messiah ("the anointed"). Since a non-Christian source so close to the actual time of Christ has confirmed these facts of his life, the musings of modern sceptics questioning Christ's existence are without merit. Josephus could speak with eye-witnesses of Jesus' life; modern sceptics are almost two millennia removed the events, and their writings are merely speculative,

Roman secular sources also agree with Josephus. Celsus, an anti-Christian writer of the Roman Empire in the second century A. D., wrote: "It was by magic the he (Jesus) was able to do the miracles which he appeared to have done." In this statement, an antagonist of Christianity grudgingly acknowledges the reality of Christ's "miracles."

However, Quadratus, writing in approximately 117-134 A.D. "urged people to believe in Jesus because the effect of his miracles continued up to the present. People had been cured and raised from the dead, and "some of them... have survived even to our own day." Tacitus, the famous Roman historian, writing about the Christians several decades after the death of Christ, stated: "their originator, Christ, had been executed in Tiberius' reign by the governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate."

Clearly, Roman records confirm that Jesus Christ lived, and that he was executed in Judea during the administration of Pontius Pilate. Even his detractors and non-Christian writers acknowledged that he performed supernatural deeds, and one writer recorded that some previously dead persons were known to be alive as a result of being resurrected by Jesus Christ. Whatever one thinks about Jesus Christ, we begin with the fact that he indeed lived and died when the bible states that he lived and died, that he performed marvellous deeds, and that he made a major impression on the civilization of his day.

Let us now review the historical setting into which Jesus Christ was born. The Roman and Parthian Empires were both powerful, well-established "superpower" rivals at the time Jesus was born. Rome ruled the Mediterranean region, and Parthia ruled Asian lands from modern Syria to India. Palestine was located within the Roman Empire, but was close to the Parthian border (the Euphrates River).

In the decades previous to the birth of Jesus, Rome and Parthia fought several battles with each other near Antioch of Syria (very close to Palestine). In about 40 B.C., the Parthians launched a major assault which swept the Romans out of Asia for a short time. For three years (40-37) B.C.) Palestine was within the Parthian Empire and was ruled by a Jewish vassal king of the Parthians named Antigonus.

At that time King Herod (the Roman king of Judea) fled from the Parthians in fear of his life. While the Parthian-sponsored rule of Antigonus was brief, it was apparently popular with the Jews. When the Parthian's withdrew across the Euphrates, Antigonus, with Jewish support, attempted to maintain himself as king of the Jews, but was defeated by Herod. Mark Antony (the Roman leader famous for his dalliance with Cleopatra) ordered Antigonus beheaded, and Josephus records that this was done to compel the Jews to reaccept the hated Herod as their king. Mark Antony then led a massive invasion of Parthia in 37-36 B. C., but his army was utterly defeated by the Parthians.

To help modern readers gain a frame of reference for these ancient events, these Roman Parthian wars were more recent events for the people in the period when Jesus was born than World War II and the Korean War are to modern readers. Parthian rule over Palestine was, therefore, vividly remembered by many in Jewish society as being preferable to Roman rule.

Mark Antony's defeat led to a long period of "detent" between the two empires, with the Euphrates River serving as the border between their two vast empires. This prolonged period of peaceful relations lasted from 36 B.C. until 58 A.D., including not only all of Jesus Christ's life, but also the early period of the Apostolic church as well. Rawlinson records that it was an established Roman policy not to provoke a Parthian war during that period of time so long as both empires agreed to coexist on separate banks of the Euphrates River. Rawlinson comments on this peaceful interlude as follows;

"It is a well-known fact that Augustus left it as a principle of policy to his successors that the Roman Empire had reached its proper limits, and could not with advantage be extended further. This principle, followed with the utmost strictness by Tiberius, was accepted as a rule by all the earlier Caesars... "

Obviously, as long as the Caesars wanted peace with Parthia, Roman officials along Parthia's border (such as King Herod and Pontius Pilate) knew they would risk their positions and lives if they entangled Rome in an unwanted war with Parthia.

Without this period of Parthian-Roman detent, it would have been well-nigh impossible for some of the events of Jesus Christ's life to have occurred, as we shall see. The first such event was the coming of the Magi, or "Wise Men" to pay homage to Jesus. We read of this event in Matthew 2:1-12, which becomes more important when considered in the overall context of Roman-Parthian relations.

The Magi were powerful members of one of the two assemblies which elected Parthian monarchs and wielded great influence within the empire. One assembly was composed of members of the royal family (the Arsacids), and the other consisted of the priests (the "Magi") and influential Parthian's of non-royal blood (the "Wise Men"). The Magi and Wise Men were jointly known as the Megistanes.

The King James Version of the Bible states in Matthew 2:1 that "wise men from the east" came to worship Jesus. The term "Wise men," can be seen as the proper title of Parthian Megistanes. The Greek word translated "wise men" is "magian, " literally meaning "Persian astronomer or priest. " Parthia had long governed all Persian territory at the time of Christ, and the "Wise Men" cited in the Bible were clearly members of the megistanes, very high Parthian officials

While traditional Christian accounts of this episode celebrate the coming of "the three wise men," the Bible does not limit the number of visiting Magi/wise men to three men. Indeed, Biblical events and the realities of that time argue for a much larger contingent of Parthian Magi. Parthians were descended from the ten tribes of Israel and that their priests were likely descended from the tribe of Levi, this delegation of Magi consisted of leading members of the ten tribes of Israel. Since there were numerous members of the tribe of Judah in Parthia's empire, they may have been represented as well. Consequently, the delegation of Magi could easily have consisted of at least ten or twelve men representing the various tribes of Israel.

Also, the Bible shows that the Magi did not visit the young Jesus in the manger at Bethlehem (as most nativity scenes depict), but rather visited Jesus in a house somewhat after his birth.

Matthew 2: 11 states that this visit of the Magi took place in a house (not at the manger) when Jesus was old enough to be called "a young child (no longer "an infant in swaddling clothes"). Luke's version of Christ's birth (Luke 2:8-40) mentions the shepherds' arrival at the manger, but makes no mention of any Magi visiting Christ at that time.

Matthew 2:8 adds that Herod sent the Magi "to Bethlehem" after conferring with the Jewish hierarchy about the prophesied location of the Messiah's birth. They cited Micah 5:2 that the Messiah would originate in Bethlehem, and they were likely familiar with Daniel 9:25, 26 which predicted that the arrival of the Messiah was due at that time. Armed with this information, Herod then privately met with the Parthian delegation, and enquired when the "the star" which they had followed had first appeared. He apparently learned that this period of time was almost two years because he killed all male children in Bethlehem under two years of age in an attempt to kill the Messiah (whom he regarded as a competitor for his position as king of the Jews).

Although the Bible tells us that "the star"appeared to the wise Men almost two years prior to his birth, this offers inexact information in determining how old Jesus was when the Wise Men came to him. since the Wise Men were prominent people in Parthia at the time of the arrival of "the star," they had to make a very time-consuming journey to reach Judea. Also, it took time to prepare the costly gifts to present to the Messiah, set their affairs in order for a long absence, organize a caravan (and likely obtain an armed escort for protection) and make the lengthy journey to Judea, a journey which moved at the speed of the slowest pack animal in the caravan. Since the "star" may have appeared to the Wise Men prior to Jesus' birth, Jesus may have been a few months (or up to two years) old at the time of the Magi's arrival.

Consider also that Matthew 2:1-3 states:

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem. Saying, where is he that is born king of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. "

This account does not indicate that three wise men from the east quietly visited Herod, then Jesus, and then just as quietly left Judea to return to Parthia. Their arrival in Jerusalem was a very public affair because "all Jerusalem" was "troubled" by their arrival. This indicates that the Magi (a delegation of a dozen or more high Parthian officials) came to Jerusalem in a caravan loaded with costly treasures and escorted by a strong force of armed Parthian soldiers! Since the Magi were high officials of the Parthian government, they would customarily travel with a substantial escort of Parthian soldiers to guarantee their protection. Since they were travelling with many costly treasures to present to the new-born Messiah, their escort must have been unusually large.

Also, these high officials would have travelled with a large entourage of servants, animal handlers, cooks, etc. on such a long journey. The entourage in this Parthian caravan may have constituted many hundreds of people! Given the fact that many Parthian officials and very expensive treasures were in the caravan, there may have been thousands of Parthian soldiers escorting the caravan. This is not an overstatement. Josephus records that treasure caravans bringing expensive offerings to Jerusalem from Jews living in Parthian territory did so with "many ten thousand men" as escorts.

In ancient times, travelling with expensive items was dangerous. There was danger not only from brigands, but also from local satraps who might use their armies to conquer a treasure train passing through their territories. If Jewish commoners from Parthia were allowed to travel to Jerusalem with the equivalent of several infantry divisions as escorts, would an important delegation of Parthias's ruling class and a treasure train of gifts have been accompanied by fewer armed escorts?

The Wise Men who came to Jesus were not bringing just a few samples of gold and other precious things that they carried in their personal saddlebags. They were coming to worship he who was born "king" of the Jews. This Parthian delegation was offering tribute money to a "king, and therefore would more likely have brought a whole train of pack-animals loaded with "gold, frankincense and myrrh." Three gifts NOT three wise men.

Their caravan was so big that their arrival quickly became a "cause celebre" in Jerusalem. The whole city was in an uproar over their arrival, and that argues for a very visible and impressive Parthian caravan arriving in Jerusalem not long after Jesus' birth in Bethlehem. The sheer size of the caravan, its treasures and its escorts awed King Herod and the whole city to the point they were all "troubled." This indicates that the Parthian caravan had so many armed escorts that many feared it was an invasion force coming to beseige Jerusalem. However, their announced reason for coming to visit the Messiah stunned a city of Jews which intensely wanted the Messiah to come and free them from Roman rule! It is clear that the Jewish hierarchy understood the Parthian's were looking for the Messiah as they quickly looked for Messianic Prophecies to locate the city of his birth.

After their consultations with Herod and high Jewish officials, the Parthian delegation travelled to worship Jesus and present their gifts to him (by this time, Matthew 2:11 states Jesus and Mary were living in "a house," so they were no longer in the manger). Their journey would have been closely followed by Herod's spies.

Joseph was then warned by God in a dream to flee into Egypt (Matthew 2:13) to avoid Herod's impending slaughter of Bethlehem's young male children. Since Herod's edict applied only to Bethlehem, there would have been no need for Joseph, Mary and Jesus to flee unless they were still in Bethlehem. Going to Egypt took them completely out of Herod's area of jurisdiction. Herod made the mistake of assuming the Messiah would be born to a family native to the Bethlehem area.

However, Luke 2:4 shows that although the family into which Jesus was born resided in Galilee, they had to journey to Bethlehem at that time to comply with a taxing edict because they were direct descendants of King David. Since Luke 2:39 states that Joseph, Mary and Jesus returned to Galilee not long after Jesus was born, and doesn't even mention the Egyptian trip, it seems apparent that the stay of Joseph, Mary and Jesus in Egypt was brief. Indeed, since history records that Herod ("Herod the Great ") died in 4 B.C., and Matthew 2:14-19 states that Jesus and his parents returned from Egypt as soon as Herod was dead (4 B.C.), Herod must have died soon after he gave the order to slay the male children in Bethlehem.

Since Herod died in 4 B.C. and the date of Jesus' birth is accepted to be around 4 B.C. by many historians, the events of his birth, the arrival of the caravan of the Parthian Magi, the flight to Egypt, the death of Herod and the return of Jesus' family from Egypt occurred within a short time. Since Luke 2:39 indicates that Joseph, Mary and Jesus returned to Galilee soon after Jesus' birth, the above events had to occur in a short period of time.

It is significant that Jesus' parents were faithful to God's law requiring circumcision on the eight day (Leviticus 12:2-3), and to Jewish custom by making an offering to God at the Temple in Jerusalem to consecrate their firstborn male child (Luke 2:21-24). This is an important observation as it shows Jesus was raised and shaped in a family environment Literally obeyed God and devoutly observed Jewish customs.

History records that Roman-Parthian relations were peaceful at the time that Jesus was born. The Bible confirms this was the case, as the Parthian Magi did not sneak into Roman territory to look for the Messiah, but rather came directly to King Herod, quite open about their reasons for being in Roman-occupied Palestine. They informed Herod that they had come to worship "he that is born King of the Jews. " It is a tribute to the power of Caesar's policy that the Roman-Parthian peace be maintained that war did not result from this statement, for Herod could easily have flown into a rage, and yelled "How dare you ask to see another 'King of the Jews' besides me; I am King of the Jews! " That Herod swallowed his pride, and meekly answered the Parthians is quite noteworthy.

This is a tribute not only to Caesar's policy to maintain the peace, but also to Herod's memory that the Parthians had militarily controlled the throne of Judea a few decades earlier. Herod's very meek response to the Highly provocative question of the Parthian officials may also indicate that he was intimidated by the many Parthian soldiers who accompanied the Magi. Indeed, since the whole city was "troubled" by the Parthians' arrival, the presence of many Parthian soldiers may have sparked rumours that a new Parthian-Roman war was imminent.

Herod may even have suspected that the Parthian's question was designed to provoke an incident which would lead to an outbreak of hostilities and his removal from the throne. A comment must be made concerning the "star" which led the Magi to Jesus. Some have proposed that this star was a comet or a celestial phenomenon although the context shows that this was not possible.

The biblically-described star led the Magi over a long east-to-west route from Parthia to Judea, and Matthew 2:9 states that it finally "stood over where the young child was." No comet or celestial phenomenon could pinpoint a single city, much less an individual child within a particular house. The Bible periodically uses the word "star" to represent an angel (Job 38:7, Rev. 1:20), and there is every reason to believe that this "star" which led a delegation of Parthian nobles to a specific child in a specific house in Judea was an angel of God. Nothing else makes sense.

Only an angel (a spirit being) could literally "stand over" the baby Jesus to designate one specific child to the Parthian nobles. Also, there is nothing in the biblical account which indicates that this "star" was visible to anyone other than the Magi ((Wise Men)! Matthew 2:2 states that the Magi saw "the star," but the context indicates no one else ever saw it. Verse 7 shows Herod asking the Magi when "the star" appeared to them, indicating no one in Judea was aware of any such "star".

If there had been some unusual celestial object in the sky, Herod and his astrologers would already have known the exact date on which it had appeared. After leading the Parthians to Judea, the angel ("star") disappeared, forcing the Parthians to ask Herod for directions. After the Magi left Herod, the "star" again appeared to them and, led them directly to Bethlehem (Matthew 2:9), and "stood over" the young child Jesus to set him apart from all others. Verse 10 states the Magi rejoiced that the star was again showing them the way they should follow. Obviously, a "star" which appeared, disappeared and reappeared for the Magi (but which was apparently not seen by any other humans) was an angel --- to be continued.

Alex Cain

The Sinn Fein Oath

I swear by Almighty God, by all Heaven, by the Holy and Blessed Prayer Book, of the Roman Catholic Church, by the Holy Virgin Mary Mother of God, by her bitter tears and wailing's, by St. Patrick, our Blessed and adorable Host, the Rosary, to fight until we die wading in the field of Red Gore of the Saxon tyrants and murderers of our glorious nationality, if spared to fight until not a single trace is left to tell that the Holy Soil of Ireland were trodden by these Heretics. Also these Protestant robbers and Brutes, these unbelievers of our Faith, will be driven like the swine they are into the sea, by fire, the knife or by Poison Cup until we of the Catholic Faith and avowed supporters of Sinn Fein Action and Principles, clear these Heretics from our Lands.

Age is not to be considered in our Blessed Deeds of extermination of Brutes who in the Past Ages robbed many of our Blessed Churches. We must shed streams of Blood of these tyrants to again claim our Holy places. Report to our Blessed Priests regularly upon all works and business transaction of any kind.

At any cost we must work in secret, using any method of deception to gain our ends, towards the destruction of all Protestants and the advance of the Priesthood and the Catholic Faith until the Pope is complete ruler of the whole World.

Our beloved Ireland has been held in chains by these cursed foreign Tyrants for ages, now we can see the end of their Power.

We must strike at every opportunity using all methods of causing ill-feeling within the Protestant Ranks, and in their Business. The employment of any means will be Blessed by our earthly Fathers the Priests, thrice Blessed by His Holiness the pope.

Scotland must also be swept clean of their accursed beliefs by the extermination of all Masonic and all such bodies, as do not accept our Creed must Perish, as before the days of the accursed Reformation.

So shall we of the Roman Catholic Church and Faith destroy with smiles and Thanksgiving to our Holy Father the Pope all who reject our beliefs. So help me God.

Editor's comment: This short article was sent to us by a reader.

-----------------------