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Testament record. This leads to an underlying truth hidden below Nathanael said to Jesus, for example, "You are the King of Israel" the surface level of the Gospel story, and is one that the Church (John 1:49), but there is no record in world history of Jesus ever has suppressed for 1,700 years. being a king. Surely King Jesus' existence would have been of The Gospel of Mark suggests Judas and Jesus were commonly immense significance to Israelite history, so why then a blank regarded as illegitimate by the people of their time. The fact that | page? There is an answer. they were each identified as a "son of Mary" (Mark 6:3), not a "son of Joseph", was interpreted by scholars to mean Judas and Thomas the Twin Jesus were regarded at the time as Mary's illegitimate sons. The life of Mariamne Herod's twin sons provided the essence of In the Gospel of John (8:41), the scribes and Pharisees chal- the entire Gospel story. To unravel the "king" story of Jesus ben lenged Jesus about his birth—"We are not born of fornication" _Panthera, it is first important to clarify the Gospel identity of his again revealing that the general populace knew that Jesus' birth, twin brother, who was called Judas Thomas or Thomas the Twin and thus Judas’, was illegitimate. Related, in Luke 4:22, was in the New Testament. Jesus’ irritated reaction to the words, "Is not this Joseph's son?" The name Thomas as applied to Judas is a Graecised form of Why would Jesus (or maybe it was Judas speaking) react to this the Aramaic name Toma. In the Gospel of John, Thomas was seemingly harmless question? The answer was documented in the also called Didymus—a translation of Toma, meaning "twin". oldest Greek texts of the New Testament which read, "not son of The Hebrew form of the name, Teom,™ corresponds almost exact- Joseph, this one". ly to the English colloquial abbreviation, The scriptural and historical data being pre- Tom. In an ancient version of the Syrian sented in this work show that the New New Testament, Thomas is actually called Testament was never an authentic record, but Tommy Didymus (twin twin). was in its entirety a corpus of corrupted docu- In 1945, the Acts of Thomas was discov- ments specifically constructed to induce a par- ered in a collection of thirteen old writings, ticular belief (John 20:30-31). now called the Nag Hammadi Scrolls, and This conclusion rests firmly on known facts, 5 presented Thomas as Judas Thomas—that is, and the ensuing chapters analyse ancient The Premise for the Judas the Twin. Roman, British and Church reports that sup- conclusion in this The eleventh act introduces Thomas' port this assertion. work is that the "ben twin, the other Didymus, as an identical F . twin who is the lord himself.° THE HIDDEN TWIN Panthera" twins were The premise for the conclusion in this work ° ° The Acts of Thomas has been preserved is that the "ben Panthera" twins were of royal of royal birthright with some variations in Greek and in Syriac birthright and legitimate contenders to the and legitimate and bearing the unmistakable signs of its throne of Palestine and the Emperorship Gnostic origin. The general Church of Rome. The Gospel appellations "king contenders to the belief is that it was written by a Syrian of the Jews" and "son of God" were cor- throne of Palestine named Bardesanes (154-222). If the rect titles because of the tradition of the . place of its origin was really Edessa, as and the Emperorship of Rome. times and the identity of both the mother others for sound reasons supposed,” this and father. would lend considerable probability to The boys were “brought up by the statement explicitly made in the Augustus Caesar",* their grandfather, Acts that the relics of the apostle and at least one of the boys publicly Thomas had come from the East. called himself the "son of God" and "son In more than one place,® the Acts of of the archangel".* This he could legally Thomas clearly represents Judas do, for he truly was the "son of God" in Thomas as the twin brother of the one the Caesar family tradition.” now called Jesus Christ. The adopted process for the deification In the reconstruction of the two sto- of humans into a god had for centuries ries provided in this work, the names of remained within the reserve powers of the Roman Emperor. the main Gospel players have been reinstated to what was under- Roman writer Ovidius (43 BC — AD 18) recorded the deification stood to be their original state of being. of Julius Caesar (Divus Julius) after his death in 44 BC. The Acts of Thomas records an incident where Jesus appeared Augustus and others styled themselves "divine filius" or "son of to a young man who "saw the Lord Jesus in the likeness of the a god" and were hailed as "divine emperors" after their deaths.*! apostle Judas Thomas". Jesus then called: "I am not Judas the Their offspring were all "sons of a god", and Mariamne Herod's Twin who is also Thomas; I am his brother..." twins were no exception. Her sons actually had an additional Another narrative from the Acts of Thomas included the phrase, advantage, for a similar tradition existed in the Herod family lin- "the one who art mother of twin young ones; come, hidden eage. mother". The New Testament writers stated King Herod was "a god and During the second and third centuries, the Church writings not a man" (Acts 12:22), merely because all kings of Judea were _ recorded that Judas Thomas was not only Jesus' blood brother but called "God" by the people.” There is a solid basis for such an _also his identical twin brother, with the identity of their mother image in the wording of the Gospels and a wealth of narratives suppressed. exists with which to work. In the Book of Thomas, another ancient writing in the Thomas There are over forty direct references in the New Testament to _ tradition, Judas Thomas is again explicitly called Jesus’ "brother" the twins each being a "son of God" and "born a king" (Matt. 2:2). and "double".” Nathanael said to Jesus, for example, "You are the King of Israel" (John 1:49), but there is no record in world history of Jesus ever being a king. Surely King Jesus' existence would have been of immense significance to Israelite history, so why then a blank page? There is an answer. The premise for the conclusion in this work is that the "ben of royal birthright and legitimate contenders to the throne of Palestine and the Emperorship of Rome. eage. The New Testament writers stated King Herod was "a god and not a man" (Acts 12:22), merely because all kings of Judea were called "God" by the people.* There is a solid basis for such an image in the wording of the Gospels and a wealth of narratives exists with which to work. There are over forty direct references in the New Testament to the twins each being a "son of God" and "born a king" (Matt. 2:2). 30 ¢ NEXUS Panthera" twins were WWW.NeXU smagazi ne.com FEBRUARY — MARCH 2002