Choosing Between Two Stupid Theories to Explain the Origins of Christianity

I know how crazy it sounds when you hear that I wrote a book claiming that St. Mark was really Marcus Julius Agrippa, the last king of Israel. If I hadn't read the writings of Samaritan Mark (Marqah ben Titah) BEFORE I became knowledgeable about Christianity.

That's one of the advantages about being a Jew studying the history of Christianity you see familiar things with new eyes.

In any event, I can't help it if no one before me cared to identify who the author of the first Christian gospel was. Most believers are quite happy to think 'God' or 'the Holy Spirit' wrote the gospel with various 'vessels' holding the pen. Indeed the narrative at the heart of the Acts of the Apostles which claims a wholly supernatural origin for Christianity seems to be even more idiotic to me.

Again, I wasn't born into this fantasy world so it all seems quite ludicrous to me.

In any event in my examination of a previous chapter in Book Two I showed you how the name 'Gaius' appears in the mystical discussion of the miracles which lead up to the redemption of Israel. I argued on behalf of taking this as a reference to Agrippa's early relationship with Gaius 'Caligula.' Now I will argue that the name 'Titus' appears in an interest that Mark takes in what Moses prophesied when he stood in the water with the Israelites.

Let's look at the number of times the word 'then' (titah) appears in the early part of chapter seven.

Mark is plainly obsessed with seeing some mystical significance to the word titah. While the original Hebrew reading in the Samaritan Pentateuch is 'az yashar. Even though Mark will take an interest in the mystical significance of this Hebrew phrase, at the present moment he choose to focus on the Targumic reading.

MacDonald recognizes that there is some hidden reference here. He capitalizes the word THEN throughout his translation. He just doesn't know what is being referenced here. So we read:

Observer the prophetic status of Moses, how he began to proclaim in the words of Enosh, by which he magnified the True One then (TITAH) men began to call upon the name of the Lord (Gen iv. 26; Targ.)

At the beginning of the Song (Ex. xv) is then (TITAH), for TIT was made an extensive garden. The True One commanded it and Abraham made it - And the Lord God planted (Gen ii. 8), the True One spoke; and Abraham planted a tamarisk tree (Gen xxi. 33), the True One wrote. Then (TITAH) Moses began and said in the sea; he composed his Song a garden of praises. He said then (TITAH) to rear a fine garden with living trees, and also when he began to proclaim the word 'then' (TITAH) Creation was renewed at that. Then included Creation and Sabbath, Sabbath being an excellent pillar, all of it good, for God established it on the foundation of Creation; thus Moses began with mighty proclamation. Then (TITAH) is the Beginning, the opening - wholly excellent! Sabbath is a city - wholly blessed! Beginning is an origin, wholly spiritual! Sabbath is a place, wholly sacred!

Does any of this PROVE that Marqe was Marcus Julius Agrippa secretly referring to his role in the redemption of Israel in the period following the destruction of the Jewish temple. These ideas would certainly have had great resonance among Samaritans. But I leave the job of deciding if these matters are just a 'crazy idea' - even a stupid idea - which came into my head with my readership.

I certainly don't have any objectivity in the matter any more because I fully 'buy into' the idea. The question now is how many of you do too once you see the evidence.

By the way I think that Marqe's interest in the word AZ has everything to do with the Christian revelation of the ogdoad - i.e. the 'eighthness' - which later became associated with Sunday. More on that in a later post ...