WERE THERE REALLY 12 APOSTLES

Were There Really 12 Apostles

It really doesn't matter how many disciples or apostles Jesus supposedly had so I will present just the facts and let them speak to you themselves. You be the judge.

Throughout the legends and myths we have talked about in earlier articles, the New Testament's depiction of "Christ Jesus" is a personification of the Sun in its path through the Zodiac. The Sun gives its life to others in its yearly life cycle; being birthed at the Winter Soltice from its death where it remained motionless for 3 days (Dec. 21-24).

Paul wrote in Galatians 1:11-12 he wrote, “For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Here Paul admits that he did not hear of this Jesus from apostolic tradition but he uses the word “paralambano” which is the same unique word that was used in the Greek mysteries to refer to some "Gnostic experience." So Paul makes clear that the gospel he preaches about "his Christ" has come to him through personal revelation ... not a man.

Now think about this for a moment if you will. If at the time Paul wrote this, why would he have to state that his gospel of Christ is from personal revelation when he could very well have used the 12 disciples themselves as witnesses? Something is not quite right here if you think about. Could it be that there was no such thing as the “tradition of the disciples” about Jesus and that Paul did not know of any such thing?

There is NO corroborating evidence for the existence of the 12 Apostles and absolutely NO evidence for the colourful variety of martyrs' deaths they supposedly experienced. The Bible itself actually mentions the death of only two apostles, a James who was put to death by Herod Agrippa and the nasty Judas Iscariot, who gets several deaths because he's made into the bad guy.

Legend and tradition alone, dreamed up by the early churches in their bid for legitimacy and authority, provided the uplifting fables of heroics, miracles, and martyrdom. The plethora of conflicting claims and alternative deaths are testimony to wholesale fabrication of the non-existent godman's non-existent companions. The sun's "followers" or "disciples" are the 12 signs of the zodiac, through which the sun must pass. Nothing else.

Upon closer inspection we find Christianity to be both a "literalized" and "plagiarized" astrotheology, humanism, and a blatant perversion of Ancient Spiritual Wisdom. From the astrotheological beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, which spawned the basis for many of Christianity's tenets — 12 signs of the Zodiac=12 disciples, sun worship= "personification" in to "son" worship (Horus...the Egyptian Karest/Christ), the immaculate conception of Horus, the Egyptian sun/sky god (Among several other immaculate conception mythologies), etc., to the humanism of eastern philosophies/religions, which spawned outright the "Golden Rule" — Christianity's only ethical strong point — thousands of years before the alleged existence of Christ, to the usurpation of pagan traditions such as the celebrations of the Winter Solstice (Christmas) and the Spring Equinox (Easter), it's not at all difficult to see how Christianity has come to be what it is today — nothing more than an amalgamation and conglomeration of ancient legends, customs and traditions, both secular and religious. There is truly not one original thought within the New Testament. It is a hodgepodge collective work from many different belief systems.

Many people may know that the Zodiac is a big part of deciphering the "Christ myth" and the "Jesus Story" from the 12 houses or "ages" of the zodiac relating to 12 disciples (helpers), to the separation of the zodiac into four seasons making a cross on which the sun of god “dies”, stops moving for three days, and is “reborn” on December 25, but talk about the startling correlation between the Zodiac and Jesus' adventures.

Do you know the cross is a picture of the path of the Sun through the Eqinoxes and Solstices? The Spring and Autumn Equinox have equal amount of light and this is symbolized by the horizontal plane of the cross that has equal lenghts. The vertical beam of the cross is symbolic for the Solstices; the Winter Soltice refers to the top vertical short extension (the shortest amount of light on the Winter Solstice) and the bottom beam of the cross refers to the Summer Solstice which has the longest amount of daylight on that day each year.

Besides cosmological and human interpretations, there is an astronomical story that tells of the great sidereal cross which fixes the four cardinal points of the equinoxes and solstices -- points completely invisible except to the mind's eye, yet commemorated by humanity for thousands of years. An equinox is the point of intersection between the plane of the ecliptic (the sun's path in the sky) and the celestial equator (the earth's equator projected in space), and occurs once in spring and once in the fall. The solstices occur each year when the sun is at its southernmost point (December 22 this year) and again when it is at its northernmost (approximately June 21).

The ancient Egyptians had the notion that the autumn sun needed to be propped up because of its declining light. They celebrated September 10 as the nativity of the supports of the sun. The shorter days proved the sun was getting weaker as it traveled down into the underworld (below the horizon). To them, the autumnal sun was the dying saviour, and so they fashioned stakes to support it called stauros (Greek for cross) (in the shape of the tau). These were crosses not of death, but of sustenance, people were grateful for the light and warmth of the sun, and sought to uphold and support it. At the vernal equinox the stauros was changed to become a support for mankind, perhaps as part of the life-giving ankh.

Traditionally, the days prior to the winter solstice, as the sun seems to turn southward and downward, were said to be the time when all the powers of darkness, symbolized by Herod in the Jesus story and Kansa in the Krishna story, try to kill the lightbringer (Phosphorus in Greek, Lucifer/Venus in Latin). At the winter solstice the sun seems to pause for about three days, before beginning its northward ascent. Anciently this was seen as a time for great rejoicing: a December birth story was celebrated in Rome hundreds of years before Jesus, because the S-U-N was reborn. Some say that each of us is like a sun and must travel a similar journey. As it begins it's ascent towards the harvest times it is a resurrection.

Back to the 12 disciples let it be said that the year has twelve months. We all know this. The Zodiac is divided into twelve "houses," representing the twelve divisions of the year (Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius.) There are twelve cycles of the moon in a year. The Jewish calendar is actually a Lunar calendar, with twelve months following the twelve cycles of the moon (Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Ab, Elul, Tishri, Cheshvan, Kislev, Tebeth, Shebat, Adar.) Occasionally it is necessary to throw in an extra month, Adar2, to keep the Jewish Lunar calendar in sync with the solar year, just as we occasionally throw in an extra day (Feb. 29) to keep our calendar in sync with the solar year. The prominence of the number 12 is always a strong sign that the story is an astrological allegory for the passage of the year.

Jesus’ major attributes and adventures (and many of his minor ones as well) are those of a sun god. The story of the sun, as widely known in bits and pieces worldwide, follows a basic, logical path. In the northern hemisphere, the sun is "born," "born again" or "resurrected" on December 25th, which is celebrated as Jesus’ birthday. (as well as many other Sungods) Because the sun god is thus born in the sign of Capricorn, the goat, it was said that farm animals attended his birth. At the time the sun rose on December 25th, he was back-dropped by the constellation of Virgo, so it was said that he was born of the Virgin. The Virgin, not a virgin, referring to the constellation and the Goddess.

Also present at the sun's birth are the "Three Kings," stars in Orion's Belt (aligned with the Pyramids). The gifts brought by the "wise men" in the gospel story are all typical symbols of the sun or gifts offered to it. As in the Jesus tale, the sun's myth forwards to the "age" of 12, representing high noon, when it was said that the sun was in the Temple of the Most High.

As the sun moves into the sign of Aquarius, in January-February, which was the rainy season in some places when the zodiac was developed, the sun was said to be "baptized" by the Waterman. Here's the solution to the enigmatic scripture (Luke. 22:10) about following the man with the water jar into a house. It also explains why John the Baptist was placed in art in the position of Aquarius. And so it goes.

The fish motif in the gospel tale represents the Age of Pisces. March or Aries is the Lamb of God. The vernal equinox--spring--occurs during Aries, which is why "Easter," or Christ's Passion, is set at that time: At the equinox, when the night and day are the same length, the sun was said to be on a cross. And the "Jesus Story" continues with the path of the Sun; the only difference is that the movements of the Sun through the Zodiac are "personified" in the "Jesus Story".

So, here's a quick summary:

The "Jesus Story", has a great number of correspondences with the stories of former Sungods and with the actual career of the Sun through the heavens--so many indeed that they cannot well be attributed to mere coincidence or even to the blasphemous cunning of a Satan or Devil. Let us look at some of these numerically.

There are (1) the birth from a Virgin mother; (2) the birth in a stable (cave or underground chamber); and (3) on the 25th December (just after the winter solstice). There is (4) the Star in the East (Sirius) and (5) the arrival of the Magi (the "Three Kings"); there is (6) the threatened Massacre of the Innocents, and the consequent flight into a distant country (told also of Krishna and other Sungods). There are the Church festivals of (7) Candlemas (2nd February), with processions of candles to symbolize the growing light; of (8) Lent, or the arrival of Spring; of (9) Easter Day (normally on the 25th March) to celebrate the crossing of the Equator by the Sun; and (10) simultaneously the outburst of lights at the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. There is (11) the Crucifixion and death of the Lamb-God, on Good Friday, three days before Easter; there are (12) the nailing to a tree, (13) the empty grave, (14) the glad Resurrection (as in the cases of Osiris, Attis and others); there are (15) the twelve disciples (the Zodiacal signs); and (16) the betrayal by one of the twelve. Then later there is (17) Midsummer Day, the 24th June, dedicated to the Nativity of John the Baptist, and corresponding p. 51 to Christmas Day; there are the festivals of (18) the Assumption of the Virgin (15th August) and of (19) the Nativity of the Virgin (8th September), corresponding to the movement of the god through Virgo; there is the conflict of Christ and his disciples with the autumnal star patterns, (20) the Serpent and the Scorpion; and finally there is the curious fact that the Church (21) dedicates the very day of the winter solstice (when any one may very naturally doubt the rebirth of the Sun) to St. Thomas, who doubted the truth of the Resurrection.

These are some of, and by no means all of the coincidences in question. But they are sufficient, I think, to prove, even allowing for possible margins of error, the truth of what has been presented. To go into the parallelism of the careers of Krishna, the Indian Sungod, and Jesus would take too long; because the correspondence is so extraordinarily close and elaborate.

When we read the "Jesus Story" and after we are illuminated to this Solar symbolism then the reader cannot help noticing the "Sun-like" career and life of the New Testament Jesus. This Jesus is in constant company with twelve apostles, the twelve signs of the zodiac; but so is the Sun as it travels through its path once a year. The number twelve appears in many Sun-Myths and we find it duplicated here in the teaching of the 12 disciples.

Is it just a coincidence that the year has twelve months and that the Zodiac is divided into twelve "houses," representing the twelve divisions of the year (Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius.)?

There are twelve cycles of the moon in a year. The Jewish calendar is actually a Lunar calendar, with twelve months following the twelve cycles of the moon (Nisan, Iyyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Ab, Elul, Tishri, Cheshvan, Kislev, Tebeth, Shebat, Adar.) Occasionally it is necessary to throw in an extra month, Adar 2, to keep the Jewish Lunar calendar in sync with the solar year, just as we occasionally throw in an extra day (Feb. 29) to keep our calendar in sync with the solar year. The prominence of the number 12 is always a strong sign that the story is an astrological allegory for the passage of the year.

It refers to the twelve hours of the day or night, or the twelve moons of the lunar year (Cox, Aryan Mythology, vol. i. p. 165; Bonwick, Egyptian Belief, p. 175). Osiris, the Egyptian Savior, had twelve apostles (Bonwick, Egyptian Belief, p. 175).

Is this just a coincidence again? What other similarities exist between the New Testament Jesus and Horus and Osiris? Coincidence? Modern scholarship tells us that the number "12" that we find in the New Testament concerning the number of Jesus' disciples refers to the twelve hours of the day or night, or the twelve moons of the lunar year. Is it just a coincidence that Osiris, the Egyptian Savior, had twelve apostles?

In all religions of antiquity the number twelve, which applies to the twelve signs of the zodiac, are reproduced in all kinds and sorts of forms. For instance, such are the twelve great gods; the twelve apostles of Osiris; the twelve apostles of Jesus; the twelve sons of Jacob; the twelve tribes; the twelve altars of James; the twelve labors of Mars; the twelve brothers of Arvaux; the twelve gods Consents; the twelve governors in the Manichean System; the adectyas of the East Indies; the twelve asses of the Scandinavians; the city of the twelve gates in the Apocalypse; the twelve wards of the city; the twelve sacred cushions, on which the Creator sits in the cosmogony of the Japanese; the twelve precious stones of the rational, or the ornament worn by the high priest of the Jews, etc.

Now is there any doubt that the account of Jesus' having 12 Apostles might be again a further development from the influence of Gentile Sun-Myths?

"A Christian's religious belief system, when tested and exposed to contradictory facts from Archeology, Biblical languages, Biblical history, Biblical culture, Comparative religion, Astronomy and Astrology must in the Spirit of Truth and Repentance, be flexible enough to change."

Just a thought ...

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.

Many thanks to Rev. Craig Lyons Ms.D., D.D., M.Div. for his extensive research.