My Letter to David Xavier Kenny, the 'Lord of the Ring' (So To Speak) Which I Believe Will Be the First Step Toward Proving the Roman 'Carpocratian' Cabal Against the Alexandrian Church

I felt compelled to write 'Dave' (who turns out to be David Xavier Kenny a very respectable person with a very respectable bio).  Mr Kenny is that collector who has that ring which demonstrates the Christian cabal at the heart of Commodus rule - (read original article here).  After asking him to confirm that the ring was authentic he wrote back ""As stated with the posting, it is in my collection. I do not know why you would want to prove anything to anyone with my artifact ring - But it is 100% 2nd C AD!"

I thought to myself - I'd better write to him in order to explain my interest in this object:

You can ignore this email but I thought since you have the ring I should begin to tell you why I think your ring is more important all discoveries of Biblical manuscripts so far in the field of early Christianity.

I have written an article which in the latest issue of the Journal of Coptic Studies where I argue that a throne of St. Mark in Venice which was stolen in 828 CE from Alexandria is the original episcopal throne of Egyptian Christianity.

I happen to believe based on a number of lines of argument that Christianity originated in Alexandria and then was 'relocated' to Rome with the help of the Emperor Commodus.

I have a lot of circumstantial arguments to support this idea but two objections always stood in the way of my theory (a) that scholars weren't sure that Marcia was a Christian and (b) that she had any connection with Egypt. Your interpretation of the object supports both of these arguments.

I am not sure whether you are aware of ALL of the reasons we should think that the Roman Church in the late second century should be connected with Commodus. We all know that Marcia was connected with Christianity (directly or indirectly). We all know that Marcia helped liberate Callixtus from the mines and a number of other Christians with Commodus' help. We all know that various historians say that Commodus was heavily reliant on Marcia giving her all the honors accorded a wife save for the carrying of the sacred fire.

You might not be aware that Irenaeus the highly influential (I would say 'most important') Church Father speaks of a number of Christians sitting in the court of Commodus and defends his/their taking of money from the Imperial treasury (AH iv.30.1).

It is worth noting that Hippolytus Irenaeus' student refers to a Christian banker named Carpophorus who seems to have been the one to whom the money was dispensed. He seemed to have some relationship with the aforementioned Callixtus who was not only liberated from the mines and was Pope from (218 - 222) but served as second in command or deacon for Pope Zephyrinus (198 - 217) and was also close to Victor who was Pope during the reign of Commodus (and worked with Marcia to liberate Callixtus).

The point is that if you lay the Popes from the time of Victor down through to Urban (222 - 230) and Pontian (230 - 235) there is an unmistakable sense of Roman Church and Roman State being in lockstep with one another. Not only is Commodus' (180 - 192) relationship with the Catholoci and Marcia noteworthy but it is interesting to note that Severus Alexander (222 - 235) had a great number of Christians in his court.

I have started to develop some arguments which suggest Hippolytus, a student of Irenaeus who fell out of favor with the 'Imperial court based' Christian Church (and is subsequently identified as a member of the breakaway Novatian or 'renewed' Church) identified the Roman tradition as being sprung from a 'Carpocratian' identified as Marcellina ('little Marcia') who came to Rome during the reign of Lucius Verus.

I think that the name Carpocrates ultimately comes from Celsus of Rome's identification of an (Alexandrian?) sect of 'Harpocrates of Salome.' The point however is that many of the historical references as being present in this ring fit my theory perfectly.

I ultimately want to prove that what was started in the reign of Commodus wasn't just a shift of the political center of Christianity (i.e. from Alexandria to Rome) but instead that over the course of the half century that the line of Christians that date from the original collaboration with the Empire a new canon was developed but where (as witnessed by the Muratorian canon) clear signs that even this new (or 'renewed') canon derived from an Alexandrian source is still recognizable.

This is probably more information than you need to know. I just wanted to let you know that you have an invaluable object there. I think it is more important for the study of early Christianity than the discoveries of Nag Hammadi and the Gospel of Judas but of course very few scholars would be inclined to agree with me right now.

There is an inherent 'subjectivity' when interpreting an object such as your ring which handicaps scholars. I know this first hand from my work with my throne.

My only hope is that you keep that object safe and allow me to have access to it once we get around to filming our documentary.

Thanks so much. It was quite a fortunate discovery. I wish you all the best

Sincerely

Stephan


Update: As it turns out Mr. Kenny quickly responded to my original email with the message which follows:

I can now see your intent and purpose with your questions, according to what is on the Marcia Commodus Glad ring you are right about Marcia and her cohorts. I wish you well with your paper that I very much look forward to reading it. The following info. may be of assistance with your question:

First, after many years of research with countless ancient artifacts I have found that they all have miniature art, it is probably the same with all ancient artifacts and should be a first in any authtication process - So for anyone that may be a gamer (legit or not) this one factor is an immense game changer - With this some of my findings with that art I keep private or only share with a select group of Italian Roman scholars. Interpretations of the art and or any inscriptions on artifacts may vary, but then they should as I have found that no one is "the" expert in anything. On that note and the reason why I purchased the Marcia Commodis Glad ring - I have viewed many dozens of gladiator combat scenes on Roman artifacts first hand, the basic scene on this ring is extremely unique and the technique is advanced showing an Anatolian eastern connection  - Once the miniature art was ID'd it very much showed why this is so!

Secondly, the art on other Roman artifacts with Christian miniature art and or inscriptions shows that various sects of Christians were actively conspiring against Rome from at least the time of Vespasian onward. What is on the Marcia Commodus Glad ring shows that although Marcia and her cohorts may have felt justified with the ousting of a crazed tyrant and had grand mystical vision, that they were not exactly nice people - Usualy any violent sexual content on an ancient artifact suggests a thirst for power! 

All My Best!

Dave