The Apostolic Conspiracy

The conspiracy is hatched                                 

Put yourselves in the shoes of the earliest disciples, particularly the Apostles. If you were going to start a new Jewish cult based on nothing but your imagination or wishful thinking, how would you try and convince others as to the veracity of your claims, especially the one about a Nazarene who was brutally crucified and then rose from the dead. How could you possibly persuade others?

Leaving their motivations aside, let’s assume for the moment that the disciples of Christ decided to launch a new religion based upon a fictitious resurrection of Christ. We’ll take it one step further and assume that they in all honesty, but erroneously, thought he rose from the dead. They wanted others to believe that Jesus was the Son of God who gave us the gift of eternal life by dying on the cross.

Imagine a meeting among Peter, James, John, Paul, Mark, Luke and Matthew. (If you prefer, imagine a meeting of men not with these names, but others who, for the purposes of this story, we would deem the real authors of the Gospels.) The agenda has been prepared by Peter and the top of the scroll reads, “Convincing Jews that Christ was the Promised Messiah and Convincing Gentiles to Accept the Reality of Jesus as their Saving God and Creator.” The time is some years after the Holy Week events and the place is Jerusalem.

Peter opened the meeting, “Friends, we’ve been through a lot together. We thought Jesus was the Messiah, but when he was executed it looked like we were wrong. Then, as I told you some time ago, Jesus appeared to me in a dream and I then knew that he had been raised from the dead.” Nodding towards Paul, he continued, “Paul affirmed his resurrection when he had that vision of the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus. We’ve made remarkable progress in spreading the gospel of the Lord and the story of his life, death and resurrection, but we need to do more. So now the question is what can we do to make people believe that he actually rose from the dead?”

It was Paul who responded, “I think it’s time we seriously consider writing a history of Jesus’ life. We need to commit in writing what he said and taught. But even that’s not going to be enough to convince succeeding generations of his life and that he died and was resurrected. I’ve given this a lot of thought and we’re simply going to have to include stories about healings, miracles – you know, that sort of thing. The story of Jesus needs legs and to solidify our position and the attractiveness of our message we need to expand the message to include the Gentiles. That means we have to proclaim that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Covenant and that God’s mercy as first envisioned by us, the Jews, is now available to everyone, and in a simplified format.”

Peter was doubtful, “I don’t know. That sounds pretty intellectual. Can we handle that?”

Paul continued, “Stay with me. I think it’s time we introduce the written word. This will expand the reach of our teaching dramatically. But our life of Jesus must include details of his teachings, events leading up to the crucifixion, about his being resurrected and his second coming. These teachings should differentiate us from the rabbis and help solidify our position. Sure, we’ll take some grief, but we need to expand our message so that we can start building our church to include Gentiles as well.”

Peter now saw where Paul was heading and turned to the group, “What can we say that would convince others of the reality of his resurrection? It’s not going to be enough to say that I had a dream and Paul had a vision. How can we convince others that Jesus was the Son of God and rose from the dead?”

It was Matthew who responded first, “I think one thing we can do is to declare that Jesus was born of a virgin. This should help convince the Jews at least that he is the promised Messiah because of Isaiah’s prophecy. I know our rabbis here in Palestine aren’t sure whether Isaiah explicitly said that his mother was to be a virgin or whether they implicitly said the same thing when he said he would be born of a young woman because Isaiah knew that a young woman in our Hebrew tradition would necessarily be a virgin. But on the other hand, our rabbis in Alexandria are not the least bit uncertain. They know that the Christ was to be born of a woman who had never known man.”

Luke picked up on this, “I think Matthew is right. We need to make up a story on how Mary miraculously conceived him and develop supporting details.”

Paul broke in, “Matthew is the one to run with this story. I know he wants to write about the life of Jesus, primarily for the Jews. He can go back into the Scriptures and weave a story which fits nicely into our Hebrew tradition. The key is to develop something they’ll believe.

Mark was puzzled, “Do you think Jesus would want us to lie about his life and teachings? I mean just to make up a story about how he was born….”

Luke interrupted him, “Mark, don’t be so naïve. We’ve got a hard sell here. I can put together a really great story about how an angel visited Mary and then add all kinds of miraculous things to convince the so-called rational Greeks that Jesus was in fact God. Wise men coming from the east will persuade them of his reality and kingship. I can have them following a star that only they can see or discern its significance. The Gentiles will love it!”

Matthew agreed, “Mark, you need to write a story about the life of Jesus, his teachings and everything else from the time he started teaching. Stay away from anything doing with his childhood. Luke and I will take care of that. Just work with Peter and he’ll be able to give you the basics. No disrespect, Peter, but you’re just an uneducated fisherman and nobody would take your written story seriously. Let Mark handle this for you. He’s educated (at least by our standards) and pretty smart. Luke, go with the complete infancy narrative and I’ll supplement it in a way that may be more palatable to the Jews.

John had been quiet. He was the youngest and sometimes was reluctant to offer his opinions. After all, Matthew used to be a tax collector and had been around. Then there was Luke. Luke was a physician and historian and knew how to gather stories from various witnesses to narrate a story about Jesus. Finally, however, John could no longer contain himself, “Luke you weren’t there so you couldn’t really be a witness to our Lord’s death so despite your academic credentials, what you say may be somewhat suspect. Mark, you have the same problem, but somewhat mitigated by the fact that you were there as a young man during the trial of Jesus and have been associated with Peter for so many years…”

Mark interjected, “I see what you’re saying. Maybe I should make up some more personal stories and include them in my writing. What if I were to include a story about how the night Jesus was arrested, I followed him and then the guards grabbed me, tore off my garment and I had to flee naked. That should add a sense of realism”.

Peter thought for a moment, “I think that’s a great idea! Also, maybe introduce some other personal touches like maybe how Jesus said I would deny him three times and how bitter and remorseful I was when these instant prophecies all came true”.

Paul had been silent a while, but now he came forward with what can only be described as a stroke of genius, “Listen, all of you except Luke claim to have been with Jesus when he preached the coming of the Kingdom. You all saw him taken away to be tortured, crucified, and die. Peter saw him resurrected in a dream, which is a clear message from God. Plus I saw him. We all are pretty well convinced that he rose again. We need to create events in the life of Jesus which will enable our fellow Jews to see how Jesus was the fulfillment of the scriptures. That’s a big task, I know, but it’s an important one.”

The group fell silent, and after a short pause, James offered a suggestion, “We should claim that Jesus spent 40 days with us after his resurrection teaching and explaining and applying the scriptures so that we could understand how he was the fulfillment of the Old Covenant. Think about it! This would tie in nicely with how Moses remained on Sinai for 40 days [Exodus 24:18] and the 40 years our ancestors were in the desert being tempted [Deuteronomy 8:2]. We can claim he told us what to do and then rose bodily into the sky.”

Luke then put the finishing touches on this scheme, “Maybe we can make up a story about how Satan tempted Jesus at the beginning of his ministry and how Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness fasting and then arguing with the devil. That should start tongues wagging! Plus, his 40 days of our being fed his word following the Resurrection would be a nice counterbalance to his 40 fasting days when he first got started.”

Paul continued, “Then I think we should make up a story about how ten days after he ascended into heaven, and when you were all in Jerusalem, tongues of fire descended upon you. I doubt that kind of event has ever been recorded before. I know in the Old Covenant, fire from Heaven came down and consumed the offering made by Elisha, but for fire to land on each of you and not burn you would be great – kind of like the time when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush. The possibilities are endless.” [Note: I wonder if the Holy Fire described Miracle of the Holy Fire is an extension or continuation of the Pentecost holy fire.

“Don’t forget, when I saw him on the road to Damascus he made it clear that he was the resurrected Lord and that my job was to spread his gospel as best I could to the whole world. That’s what I’ve been doing and will continue to do. But we really need to come up with some more fabulous events and new teachings and history that would prove he was the Son of God. We’ll start of course with the resurrection and the aftermath. But we need more. Let’s think about all this and get together in a week.”

The story emerges

Seven days later they convened, and it was agreed that they would create a biography of Jesus. It would be anchored by Mark, Matthew and Luke who would write in roughly parallel fashion. Either Mark or Matthew would write first and then the other two could use that as a starting point and modify as they thought best to reflect their own thoughts and to avoid the charge of collusion.

One thing they had to be careful about was describing events and stories that other people who could have been there might look at and say, “No – never happened!” Additionally, they decided to make up some stories that were so miraculous or weird they would have to be believed on the grounds that no one could conceive of such wildly improbable events. As part of the overall planning it was decided that John would author a separate testimonial. He was, after all, closest to Jesus and pretty imaginative. He could make up some great stories that were so outside the mainstream that they must in fact be accepted as true.

After a lot of give and take they decided that some of the stories they would create would include:

• Mary was approached by the angel Gabriel, the same angel who appeared to Daniel, and told her she would conceive the Son of God but without having any sexual relations with Joseph. They’d have to bring Mary on board, of course, but that shouldn’t be a problem;
• Mary visited Elizabeth who had conceived a few months earlier. It was good luck that she was so old since that plays right into their scheme that with God nothing is impossible. We could say that her son became John the Baptist and pointed towards Jesus as the savior;
• And we could say how John, while still a baby in the womb, leaped with joy as Jesus arrived in the womb of Mary;
• They would figure out how to have Jesus born in Bethlehem in fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies because everybody knew that Jesus was from Nazareth. Luke could probably come up with a believable story;
• They needed to make up a couple of childhood stories about Jesus – maybe they could say that Jesus was presented to the Lord in the temple when he was an infant and how an old Jew prophesied about how Jesus and Mary would suffer, and that Jesus would be a light to the world;
• Then demonstrate that Jesus knew he was the Son of God even when he was 12 years old. Make up a story about staying in Jerusalem, and his parents losing him, and then finding him three days later (ties in neatly with his being lost in the tomb for three days) in his ‘Father’s house’ (not Joseph’s) to be about his business. This would add a sense of realism to the story and constitute a great continuation of the theme presented earlier at his birth;
• Even though Jesus would not have sinned since he was the Eternal One and of necessity sinless, he should still be baptized by John the Baptist (Elizabeth’s son) dressed in a weird outfit. At the baptism the voice of God would be heard from heaven and a dove alight upon Jesus, representing the Holy Spirit (they still hadn’t figured out what that was, exactly);
• Jesus spent 40 days fasting and then winning an argument against the devil;
• Jesus told them to eat his body and drink his blood. This may be going a step too far, alienate the Jews (and maybe just about everyone else), and possibly lead to future persecution. No one likes cannibals. Still, they decided to go with it;
• Jesus stood up in a boat and calmed a raging sea;
• Miraculous healing after miraculous healing, and incorporate theological lessons in the miracles (but keep them subtle so their meaning wouldn’t necessarily leap out at the reader);
• Jesus raised people from the dead. John would take it a step further and describe how Jesus raised one of his friends four days after he died;
• Jesus would commit the ultimate blasphemy and actually forgive sins. Only God could do this, so this would be a huge step toward showing that Jesus was actually God – the creator of the universe, omniscient, omniscient, but who still lived within Mary’s womb for nine months;
• Jesus turned water into wine, but only after his mother told him to do something to help out at a wedding;
• Jesus walked on water, and so did Peter when he had a sufficient amount of faith – for a little while anyway;
• Jesus fed 5,000, and then 4,000 with a few loaves of bread and a few fish;
• After he died he would rise from the dead and later fly into heaven; and
• Tongues of fire would descend upon the Apostles about ten days after he ascended into heaven.

They agreed to create stories and sermons from Jesus with a subtlety that could only be appreciated after many years of study. One example that came to mind was having Christ preach as he suffered on the cross. (see Seven Last Words). Also, they thought it would be helpful always to incorporate the unexpected, such as having women discover an empty tomb. They all agreed this was a good start but would require a lot of coordination and communication among the group to be able to develop a consistent story line, particularly when it came to the details of the resurrection.

Matthew introduces the Transfiguration

It was then that Matthew elevated the level of enthusiasm to new heights when he introduced a story that would put to rest all doubt. He called it the Transfiguration, and they all loved it. They would say that Jesus went to the top of a mountain and there his face and garments would transform into a dazzling white. Elijah and Moses would appear with him. A voice from heaven would declare that Jesus was “His Son.” They would also be enveloped by a cloud. All of this would incidentally tie in neatly with another story about a similar voice from heaven when Jesus was baptized. Peter, James, and John agreed that they should be shown as the witnesses to this transfiguration. It was also decided that these three should be shown as the apostles with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. They would actually be bold enough to proclaim that Jesus prayed to himself (since he was God and there was only one God) to release him from his journey to the cross.

After a bit of give and take, Matthew sat down and penned the story [Note: See Matthew 14:1-13. The other accounts of the Transfiguration are contained in Luke 9:28-36 and Mark 9:2-13]:

“And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces, and were filled with awe. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

‘And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead.” And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” He replied, “Elijah does come, and he is to restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of man will suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.”

Paul recognized the genius behind the Transfiguration story. First, introducing Moses and Elijah into the story was first rate. Moses represented the Law, and Elijah was the greatest of the prophets. Now Jesus would replace them. They would disappear and God Himself would tell Peter, James and John that they needed to listen to Jesus. This was His Son. Pretty powerful stuff. This would plow new ground. Not only that, but Moses had died and so he represented those who were waiting to hear the Salvation message which would be delivered by Jesus. They could later say that Jesus descended to the dead when he had been crucified. Elijah came from heaven to confirm that all heaven joined in this event – that heaven and earth were bound together by this one unifying act. Jesus harmonized all of creation.

Second, Christ wouldn’t appear as just being illuminated. He would be described as being the illumination itself. This they could say was the glory of God. Later, in his gospel, John could say that the Word had become flesh and dwelled among us, full of grace and truth and that “we beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.” We would say that Jesus shined like the sun. In other words, Jesus was the source of his illumination and not just the reflection as if he were to be illuminated by the sun. Because he was the source of the light this meant that he was the creator of the light. This was the same concept introduced by Moses in Genesis when he said that God created light. Finally, God permitted the Apostles to see that Jesus had both a human nature and a divine nature. Jesus illuminated from within as the Creator, but then this energy was transmitted to matter when his clothing took on a brilliance never seen. The Apostles recognized that the importance and significance of the Transfiguration as they had made it up wouldn’t be understood by many – and perhaps for many years – but it was worth inserting this story along with all its improbable details. Were they subtle or what!?

They all agreed that this wasn’t too bad for a bunch of mostly ignorant village people.

Future planning

They could leave it to their successors (assuming they had any because they all held varying degrees of confidence that Jesus would soon return) to puzzle through the issue of the Trinity. That was really complicated and they were uncertain how they could actually convince people that God was Three Persons in One and One Person in Three, but they decided to be bold and include in the gospels and in Paul’s writings enough information that would lead people to accept a concept created by the Apostles and which would be completely alien to the thinking of Jewish and Gentile scholars and totally incomprehensible to the average person. They could at least get the ball rolling by alluding to a Three Person Godhead at the Baptism and at the Transfiguration.

Finally, they concluded that since Paul was going to continue his significant travel schedule, he should be the most prolific writer, introducing hard-to-understand theological lessons in his writings. Probably a series of letters would make the most sense. He should be good at this – being a Jewish scholar and all.

There was a lot of coordination and creativity required to implement their new religion. And for the most part, these were just a bunch of ordinary guys from Palestine – and their leader was a fisherman! They had to keep their stories straight.

_______________________________

It is self-evident that such a meeting never took place and never could. The intricate machinations, coordination, and cover up lies required to devise the story of Jesus as we now have in the Bible would have been completely beyond the abilities of this small cadre of Palestinians and their first century followers.

A rational perspective

The fact is that most of the events described in the Gospels are stunningly unexpected, imaginative, and incongruous. The Transfiguration is but one example, although admittedly an especially powerful one. Skeptics attack the Resurrection, the core belief of Christianity, but the reality of the Transfiguration is never attacked, other than to contend that it is but one more fanciful creation of early Christians. Yet the Transfiguration and its details demand that we recognize either its truth or a level of conspiratorial sophistication on the part of his Apostles that would have been quite beyond the reach of these humble Palestinians some 2,000 years ago. In fact, the Transfiguration eliminates the possibility of fraud, as well as mass delusion, unless of course the delusion and hallucinations continued unabated in a very ordered and logical manner from before the Transfiguration and continued through the Transfiguration and into the Passion, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Ascension, and Pentecost.

With this in mind, consider the alternatives explaining the New Testament origins:

1.  The New Testament accurately reports what Jesus said and did;

2.  It is a series of fictitious narrations and letters created by unidentified zealots for reasons now unclear to us;

3.  It is a series of narrations and letters written by unidentified authors that reflect events and teachings they thought or hoped occurred some 20 – 100 years earlier. If that’s the case, and if Jesus was not who he said he was, the reported events which can only be described as miraculous or strange must have been fabricated; or

4.  Jesus’ teachings and what he said about himself were generally accurate as reported. This means, however, that he was who he said he was or he was lying or delusional. And if he was lying or delusional, this would also mean that the reported miraculous events during his life were inventions of the authors since they could not have occurred without his being the Son of God.

There are no other alternatives. What do you think?

Some websites and references

• Exodus 24:18
• Deuteronomy 8:2
• The accounts of the Transfiguration are contained in Matthew 14:1-13, Luke 9:28-36, and Mark 9:2-13.

Footnotes and Attributions

Painting of the 12 Apostles meeting retrieved from the Strange Notions Strange Notions website.

Last modified July 31, 2019