Appendix to Chapter II of Christian Metaphysics and their Controversies

Vindicating the Western Calendar and Corroborating it with Tradition

Further Evidence that Christ Died Friday April 3, AD 33 (Julian) by Steven S. Jones

Recap In the book Christian Metaphysics and their Controversies I made the argument that the Traditional record of Christs birth (~1 BC), death (April 3, AD 33 (Julian)), and resurrection, followed by the destruction of Jerusalem (August 5, AD 70 - Ab 9/10) is accurate. Validating this claim are two items: 1) the rediscovery of the original Text of Josephus, correcting the dates of Tiberius reign, bringing the date of Christs birth within the traditional date of 1 BC 1; and 2) the rediscovery of the Star of Bethlehem star sequence/conjunction centered on His Star, Astera, and the signicance of these conjunctions as a timing mechanism allowing ancient astronomers to accurately date the coming birth of God as revealed in Daniels weeks of
Esther accuses Haman
Gustave Dore

The dating of Christs birth has been problematic due to an often quoted mistranslation of Josephus concerning the reign of Tiberius. The proper translation renders the traditional birth date of 1 BC birth tenable and brings into play a completely different series of cosmological events around that same era. It also solves the discrepancies in the weeks of years prophecy in Daniel. See, The Star that Astonished the World, Dr, Ernest L. Martin and my book Christian Metaphysics and their Controversies, chp. 2. In 1995 David W. Beyer reported to the Society of Biblical literature his personal examination in the British Museum of forty-six editions of Josephus Antiquities published before 1700 among which twenty-seven texts, all but three published before 1544, read twenty-second year of Tiberius, while not a single edition published prior to 1544 read the twentieth year of Tiberius. Likewise in the Library of Congress ve more editions read the twenty-second year, while none prior to 1544 records the twentieth year. Handbook of Biblical Chronology, Jack Finegan, p. 301

years prophecy 2. The importance of this star sequence (as has been contended) is that it puts a precise date on the coming of Christ and the fall of Jerusalem, dating it from a similar conjunction/eclipse (predicted in several parts of the Bible) that occurred in the 7th year reign of Artaxerxes I Longimanus (longhand) as the decree was sent forth3 . It was this decree that released the Jews from their captivity in Persia. The technology to accurately keep track of a near 500 year long prediction existed in Persia at that time period in form of the Astrolabe, a scientic analog computer used by the Magi. While much of the ancient world had no accurate calendar, the heavens provided a perfect self-correcting clock to date such events, the Astrolabe is merely a mechanical model of those same heavens. As all calendars are mere approximations of the heavens, by returning to their method of keeping track of time it is now possible with modern computers to re-create the cosmic phenomena and the dates so derived. Recently, however, I have discovered another method of corroborating the dates bringing a startling series of events into play. Controversies Surrounding the Book of Esther It might be surprising to many that the the oldest surviving Biblical texts are not in Hebrew, but are in Greek. This oldest text of the Old Testament is called the Septuagint. Yet, there is one book that does not survive in the Greek, for the most part, the Book of Esther. The book contains the story of how Esther pleas with the Persian King (most today contend to be Xerxes) and wins the freedom of the Jews from an impending holocaust decreed by that King. The signicant date in the story is the 7th year reign of that
2

Daniel 9:23-27; From the beginning of thy prayers the word came forth: and I am come to shew it to thee, because thou art a man of desires: therefore do thou mark the word, and understand the vision. Seventy weeks [these are weeks of years, each 7th year was a sabbatical year making weeks of years a common division of time. 7 years times 70 weeks equals 490 years] are shortened upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, that transgression may be nished, and sin may have an end, and iniquity may be abolished; and everlasting justice may be brought; and vision and prophecy may be fullled; and the saint of saints may be anointed. Know thou therefore, and take notice: that from the going forth of the word, to build up Jerusalem again, unto Christ the prince, there shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks [Christ shall appear after 69 week/years, or 483 years from the decree going forth]: and the street shall be built again, and the walls in straitness of times. And after sixty-two weeks Christ shall be slain: and the people that shall deny him shall not be his. And a people with their leader that shall come, shall destroy the city and the sanctuary: and the end thereof shall be waste, and after the end of the war the appointed desolation. And he shall conrm the covenant with many, in one week: and in the half of the week the victim and the sacrice shall fall: and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation: and the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end. See Christian Metaphysics for the dating.
3

Ezra 7:7-13; And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. And he came to Jerusalem in the fth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. For upon the rst day of the rst month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the rst day of the fth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it , and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel. Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time. I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.

king. But the Book of Esther is not without its difculties. The author lists several precise dates, yet they are protracted over a time period that does not seem to make sense chronologically. That these difculties are real is further attested to by the fact that the original Greek, the Vulgate, and the Douay-Rheims versions of the Bible all contain six added Greek chapters that seem to try to clarify the dates and provide further evidence to the same events. Several signicant things should be noted: 1) the added chapters specically state that the king was not Xerxes, but his son Artaxerxes I - this is consistent with Jewish tradition, the records of Josephus and other legends of the event; 2) Esther states that she is of the fallen tribe of Israel (not Judah) the tribe that is continually accused of following Baal in the Bible; 3) the actual decree of Artaxerxes giving freedom to the Jews is produced4 - it should be noted that the events predicted by Daniels prophecy is dated from just such a decree that specically is stated in the Bible

Esther Chapter 16, the Decree of Artaxerxes I (Longimanus) - The great king Artaxerxes, from India to Ethiopia, to the governors and princes of a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, which obey our command, sendeth greeting. 2 Many have abused unto pride the goodness of princes, and the honour that hath been bestowed upon them: 3 And not only endeavour to oppress the kings subjects, but not bearing the glory that is given them, take in hand, to practise also against them that gave it. 4 Neither are they content not to return thanks for benets received, and to violate in themselves the laws of humanity, but they think they can also escape the justice of God who seeth all things. 5 And they break out into so great madness, as to endeavour to undermine by lies such as observe diligently the ofces committed to them, and do all things in such manner as to be worthy of all mens praise, 6 While with crafty fraud they deceive the ears of princes that are well meaning, and judge of others by their own nature. 7 Now this is proved both from ancient histories, and by the things which are done daily, how the good designs of kings are depraved by the evil suggestions of certain men. 8 Wherefore we must provide for the peace of all provinces. 9 Neither must you think, if we command different things, that it cometh of the levity of our mind, but that we give sentence according to the quality and necessity of times, as the prot of the commonwealth requireth. 10 Now that you may more plainly understand what we say, Aman [Haman] the son of Amadathi, a Macedonian both in mind and country, and having nothing of the Persian blood, but with his cruelty staining our goodness, was received being a stranger by us: 11 And found our humanity so great towards him, that he was called our father, and was worshipped by all as the next man after the king: 12 But he was so far puffed up with arrogancy, as to go about to deprive us of our kingdom and life. 13 For with certain new and unheard of devices he hath sought the destruction of Mardochai, by whose delity and good services our life was saved, and of Esther the partner of our kingdom with all their nation: 14 Thinking that after they were slain, he might work treason against us left alone without friends, and might transfer the kingdom of the Persians to the Macedonians. 15 But we have found that the Jews, who were by that most wicked man appointed to be slain, are in no fault at all, but contrariwise, use just laws, 16 And are the children of the highest and the greatest, and the ever living God, by whose benet the kingdom was given both to our fathers and to us, and is kept unto this day. 17 Wherefore know ye that those letters which he sent in our name, are void and of no effect. 18 For which crime both he himself that devised it, and all his kindred hang on gibbets, before the gates of this city Susan: not we, but God repaying him as he deserved. 19 But this edict, which we now send, shall be published in all cities, that the Jews may freely follow their own laws. 20 And you shall aid them that they may kill those who had prepared themselves to kill them, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is called Adar. 21 For the almighty God hath turned this day of sadness and mourning into joy to them. 22 Wherefore you shall also count this day among other festival days, and celebrate it with all joy, that it may be known also in times to come, 23 That all they who faithfully obey the Persians, receive a worthy reward for their delity: but they that are traitors to their kingdom, are destroyed for their wickedness. 24 And let every province and city, that will not be partaker of this solemnity, perish by the sword and by re, and be destroyed in such manner as to be made unpassable, both to men and beasts, for an example of contempt, and disobedience.

as having occurred in the 7th year reign of Artaxerxes; 4) a holiday of Purim is established with a specic liturgy and feast day. Briey, the story of Esther is this: Esthers father, Mordecai, discovers a plot to assassinate Artaxerxes. The conspirators are the two sons of Artaxerxes Prime Minister, Haman. The name Haman is signicant. Linguistically, it can be shown that the name is related to the stone cutter. It is well known in Masonic lore and Egyptian theosophy that this is a common reference to the god Hermes/Thoth making Haman a priest in the cult of Hermes/Baal/Owanes (hamayun is related to the Persian illustrious and Babylonian god Humman - the god Hermes literally meaning stone - Hermes/Thoth in ancient cult lore was the false good shepherd and the Hermetical son of God)5. When the two assassins are caught, Haman, their father, becomes vindictive - he fabricates stories about the evil intentions of the Jews causing Artaxerxes to decree that they should all be massacred (the original holocaust). Lots are cast to determine the exact date that the Jews shall be murdered. Mordecais daughter, Esther, who is married to Artaxerxes, goes to the King in the course of the night, and by telling several tales wins back the freedom of the Jews. (She is brought to him initially in the tenth month of the 7th year of his reign) Ultimately, Haman and his two sons are found out and crucied on the very cross intended for Mordecai. Of particular interest is that Esther is not even her real name. It is Hadassah, the name Esther actually being Persian for the star gazer. She wins the freedom of the Jews when she convinces Artaxerxes to grant her his scepter (when the word scepter is used in the Septuagint Genesis in Jacobs prophecy of Christ, it literally states the Greek word eclipse). Adding a peculiar validity to Artaxerxes Grants Liberty to the Jews the story is that the name Hadassah is Gustave Dore commonly believed to be derived from the
5

Various explanations have been offered to explain the name and designation of the would-be exterminator of the Jews. The names of both Haman and his father have been associated with haoma, a sacred drink used in Mithraic worship, and with the Elamite god Humman. The name Haman has also been related to the Persian hamayun, 'illustrious', and to the Persian name Owanes.; Encyclopaedia Judaica: Volume 7, Encyclopaedia Judaica Jerusalem, The Macmillan Company (Under "Haman"), p. 1222. Oannes is listed in Berosus as the god of mathematics, writing, and the building of temples. This is an obvious connection to the Greek god Hermes (Mercury) messenger of the gods, the Egyptian god Thoth, and Baal/Beelzebub/Moloch of the Bible. See Hebrew is Greek, Joseph Yahuda, pp. 275, 304-308 for a complete connection between the god names. See also the occult Corpus Hermeticum for references of Hermes/Thoth as the Good Shepherd and the Son of God.

Persian equivalent Myrtle meaning bride. Hadassah in Persian is Shahrazd, or Sheherazade whose Arab legend is nearly identical6 . To commemorate these fortunes, the Jews are commanded to celebrate the feast of Purim, the casting of Lots, on the 13th, 14th and 15th of the month of Adar in walled/major cities (the feast day is one day prior in minor cities). It should be noted that the concept assassins, according to most historians, does not occur until AD 1090 when Hassan-i-Sabbah creates the cult of Islamic mercenaries/ terrorists through the Doctrine of Intelligent Dissimulation7 . Yet, Judas Iscariot is also commonly held to be an assassin (Iscariot being a misspelling of the term sicariot meaning assassin) and here, in Esther, an event circa 463 BC, we also have assassins. If one investigates the cult of Hassan-i-Sabbah one will nd a Ismailic religion based on Hermetic/Neoplatomic mind control and theosophy 8. To fuel this cult mentality requires the methodical destruction of the soul of the individual. These are some of the techniques or secret truths used to inspire and rationalize the would-be assassin: 1) Taught is the Gnostic highest occult principle: that the minds of the universe are Her6

Persian tradition (in Firdousi) makes Princess I-aIomi the daughter and wife of Bahman Ardashir, i.e. Artaxerxes I. Longimanus. She is depicted as a great builder, a kind of Persian Semiramis, and is a halfmythical personage already mentioned in the Avesta, but her legend seems to be founded on the history of Atossa and of Parysatis. Firdousi says that she was also called Shahrazad (Mohl v. II). This name and that of Dinzad both occur in what Masdi tells of her. According to him, Shahrazad was Elomis mother (ii. 129), a Jewess (ii. 123). Bahman had married a Jewess (i. 118), who was instrumental in delivering her nation from captivity. In ii. 122 this Jewish maiden who did her people this service is called Dinzd, but the accounts, says our author, vary. Plainly she is the Esther of Jewish story.; the Encyclopedia Britannica 1911 Edition, article on the (Arabian) Thousand and One Nights
7

Hasan began to attract young men from the surrounding countryside, between the ages of twelve and twenty: particularly those whom he marked out as possible material for the production of killers. Every day he held court, a reception at which he spoke of the delights of Paradise... "and at certain times he caused draughts of soporic nature to be administered to ten or a dozen youths, and when half dead with sleep he had them conveyed to the several palaces and apartments of the garden. Upon awakening from this state of lethargy their senses were struck by all the delightful objects, and each perceiving himself surrounded by lovely damsels, singing, playing, and attracting his regards by the most fascinating caresses, serving him also with delicious viands and exquisite wines, until, intoxicated with excess and enjoyment, amidst actual rivers of milk and wine, he believed himself assuredly in Paradise, and felt an unwillingness to relinquish its delights. When four or ve days had thus been passed, they were thrown once more into a state of somnolency, and carried out of the garden. Upon being carried to his presence, and questioned by him as to where they had been, their answer was 'in Paradise, through the favour of your highness'; and then, before the whole court who listened to them with eager astonishment and curiosity, they gave a circumstantial account of the scenes to which they had been witnesses. The chief thereupon addressing them said: 'We have the assurance of our Prophet that he who defends his Lord shall inherit Paradise, and if you show yourselves to be devoted to the obedience of my orders, that happy lot awaits you'. . . 'By means of these trusty servants I get rid of the enemies of our society.' from A History of Secret Societies, Arkon Daraul
8

"The heart of the Isma'ili haqa'iq, which consists in their denial of rationalism and forms the basis of their 'heresy', lies in the denial that God is the rst cause. For them, the rst cause is the Order or Word of God, which became united with the Universal Intellect. Hence the idea of the Order is at the heart of their esoteric doctrines, and achieves their synthesis of Neoplatonic philosophy and Islam.", The Assassins Holy Killers of Islam, Edward Burman

metically linked and, therefore, numerically one - God, represented by the number 0 as a nothingness, causes the mental possession and unication of all the minds of the world. Therefore, mans thoughts are not the result of his thinking, but of God, a mere word, causing him to think those thoughts. Because your beliefs arent your own, you are not responsible for them; 2) Complete obedience to cult authority is created through the use of paradox as truth psychology, based on the tautology of circular reasoning. This induced skepticism of what is Truth causes the cult members to doubt all thought except the ideas of the cult leader, the only one who is honest enough to reveal such secrets; 3) Steps 1 and 2 combine to create a psychology of Nihilism in the cult member through the redening of truth. Only once this is attained, is a true assassin created. Genuine truth is dened as this: conformity of mind to reality followed by a willingness to act as if what one believed were, in fact, true. In contrast, the creed of the assassin is nothing is true/real, therefore, nothing is forbidden. Not only does the assassin become an assassin of men, but of thought in society itself. By sacricing his intellect to the One, he learns a technique of relieving the burden of morality not only in himself, but in society in general. This not only creates a fertile ground for obtaining more aspirants, but it is also a clever tool to create a weakened, skeptical society in which the assassin can thrive. Necessary to the training of assassins is the destruction of belief. This assassin doctrine, the end of law, enables him to mentally achieve the mind-set of the heartless killer. It is this lack of compassion in the assassin/terrorist that earns him the retribution of his victims should he be found out. It is this insidious mind-set that not only seems to be on trial in the story of Esther, but is fueling the passions on Good Friday: not only is it Christ who is handed over to the Romans by an assassin, but it is in Christ that the Jews symbolically perceive the Gnostic Haman/Baal/Hermes who once threatened the destruction of their nation through the destruction of truth. The Liturgy of Purim, the Feast of Esther The chronology of the events in Esther is troublesome, as it must have been for early scholars trying to make sense of them. It necessitated a textual clarication demanding the added chapters found in some Bibles. Yet, these dates in Esther seem to hop around the years of Artaxerxes reign. It is as if Esthers fallen tribe of Israel (as opposed to Judah who stayed true) is trying to borrow portions of legend from another culture to validate their claim as the legitimate saviors of the Jewish nation. Even the feast of Purim is borrowed from the Persian feast of Phurim, when the gods were said to determine the fate of men by casting lots. Therefore, we can disregard much of the details given to us in the story because much of it is questionable, if not contradictory in nature. Yet, the story, in my belief, is undoubtedly based on a very real event - theres just too much correspondence to other stories. What is signicant is the Jewish traditions, which can be substantiated, that came to be as a result of the story. These include: 1) the importance to the salvation of their nation through the out-witting of their persecutors, and the winning of their freedom (the decree); 2) the attaching of that decree to the date of 7th year reign of Artaxerxes; 3) the fact that Daniels prophecy species precisely when the Jewish nation will end including the coming of Christ; but most importantly to us in this

discussion is 4) the tradition of liturgy that develops over the years surrounding the commemoration of the feast of Purim, the feast of Esther9 . The signicant features of the Feast of Esther or Purim are these: 1) The Fast of Esther was honored 10. A nal, last supper was held on the night of the 13th, the day of revenge, the eve of the 14th, to commemorate the impending doom and massacre of the nation of the Jews. 2) The waking of the next morning, the 14th, to nd that they have been spared and that the conspirators/assassins, Haman and his two sons have been caught. Also, true to this feast day going back to the Persian celebration of Phurim, a condemned scapegoat ritual is enacted where a common criminal is led through the streets in procession.11 3) To mock this change in fortunes, the crucixion of Haman and his two sons is reenacted - Haman is crucied in the center with his sons being also crucied one on either side as fellow criminals. While many historians insist crucixion is a uniquely Roman form of execution, the Jewish text, Jewish tradition, and Josephus History of the Jews all insist that it is an actual crucixion, not a mere hanging, that is specied

The Darkness of the Crucixion

Gustave Dore

2 Maccabees 15:33-37: He commanded also, that the tongue of the wicked Nicanor should be cut out, and given by pieces to birds, and the hand of the furious man to be hanged up over against the temple. Then all blessed the Lord of heaven, saying: Blessed be he that hath kept his own place undeled. And he hung up Nicanor's head in the top of the castle, that it might be an evident and manifest sign of the help of God. And they all ordained by a common decree, by no means to let this day pass without solemnity: But to celebrate the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, called in the Syrian language, the day before Mardochias' day.
10

And Esther prayed to God after the manner of her country, by casting herself down upon the earth and putting on her mourning garments and bidding farewell to meat and drink and all delicacies, for three days' time (Josephus); Comment : The Fast of Esther is now commemorated on the thirteenth of Adar.; Esther: Her Point of View Josephus' Version with Commentary, G. J. Goldberg
11

The Babylonian new year was also known to feature a type of scapegoat ritual whereby a condemned criminal was led through the streets in a processional. Finally, there indeed was a custom of distributing gifts at the new year, as there is today on Purim.: MyJewishLearning.com, Purim Origins, Rabbi Ronald H. Isaacs

in Esther12 . It is this act made symbolic that is reenacted as part of Purim. 4) To illustrate the charitable nature of the Jews, Purim calls for a prisoner/ criminal to be voted on and set free.  5) A casting of lots ritual is acted out, signicant of the wheels of fortune (purim literally means casting of lots). 6) On the 15th, the Jews rested and prepared for the Sabbath.

While the story of Esther in the Bible seems to play out over several years, the tradition of Esther as practiced by the Jews seems to indicate an over-night episode. This shortening is consistent with the story of Sheherazade where the episode occurs entirely on the wedding night (indicated in Esther to be the 7th year of reign). Many Jews kept the feast of Purim/Esther in just such a way until World War II when it was perceived that the burning of crosses in efgy prior to Easter was mocking Christianity. It was abandoned because it was just such celebrations that rationalized the Nazi Holocaust. Even the ancient Byzantine Church had records of just such celebrations forbidding the practice once a Jew converted to Christianity 13. Why at Christs Crucixion Are The Jews Celebrating The Feast Of Esther If It is Passover? What should be eerily apparent to any Christian is that the traditional celebration of Esther are the same as the episodes of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, only gone foul. But does not the Gospel indicate it was the Jewish Passover, not Purim a feast that
12

Josephus on the crucixion of Haman: At this Haman was panic-stricken, and while he was still unable to utter another sound, Sabuchadas the eunuch came in and accused Haman, saying that he had found a cross at his house that had been prepared for Mordecai (for the servant had told him so upon his inquiry when he had come to call Haman to the banquet). He said further that the cross was fty cubits high. When the king heard this he decided that Haman should be punished in no other manner than that which had been devised by him against Mordecai, so he gave order immediately that Haman should be hung upon that same cross until he was dead. Also, Though we are accustomed to imagine Haman and his sons as hanging on a gallows from a noose, that manner of execution was evidently unknown in antiquity. The ancient Aramaic translations always render the word by the root tzalab, meaning "crucify." This of course was a common Roman form of capital punishment, and originally had no uniquely Christian association. However, for later generations all references to crucixion were naturally associated with that of Jesus, The Purim-Shpiel and the Passion Play, Sources, Eliezer Segal
13

It became customary to burn an efgy of Haman at the conclusion of the feast, and this was regarded as in some ways an attack on Christianity and was therefore forbidden by the Theodosian code, XVI. viii. 18. This prohibition may have been due to the fact mentioned by Socrates (Hist. eccles. vii.) that, in 416 A.D., the Jews of Inmester, a town in Syria, ill treated a Christian child during some Purim pranks and caused his death. It has even been suggested that this gave rise to the myth of the blood accusation in which Jews are alleged to sacrice a Christian child, at Passover; but this is unlikely, since it has never been suggested that this crime was committed in connection with Purim. But Jewish sources of the 10th century state that the custom of burning an efgy of Haman was still kept up at that time (L. Ginzberg, Geonica, ii.), and this is conrmed by Albiruni (Chronology, tr. Sachau, 273) and Makrizi and indeed the custom was carried on down to the present century by Jewish children, who treated Haman as a sort o Guy Fawkes.; the Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911 edition, article on Purim

should occur a month prior? Technically, yes, but I think we have a weird anomaly here it is apparent the Jews are using the liturgy of Purim on Good Friday and celebrating Passover at the same time! How is this possible? One must remember, all calendars in that time period depended on the observations of the Moon and the Sun, months usually being 27/28 days in length. Twelve months of 28 days equals 336 days, 29 days short of a full year of 365 days. As it is to this day, the feast of Easter cannot be celebrated until after the New Moon of the Spring Equinox (usually occurring on or after March 21st). Our months equal 30 to 31 days with discrepancies corrected by Leap Years. However, the Jewish calendar made corrections by simply repeating the month of Adar, as necessary, to ll in the gap until the New Year began. This means often times celebrating the feast of Esther/Purim twice in a given year. Each city had an appointed observer whose task it was to determine the beginning of each month and the New Year through the observation of the New Moon and the Sun at Equinox. If it was cloudy, or the skill of the observer was wanting, errors could occur. This was not a huge issue for their calendar was self-correcting. If it was necessary to repeat the month of Adar, the rst month of Adar Little Purim was celebrated, the second month, Ve-Adar, Great Purim was celebrated 14. Because the New Year was determined by observing the Equinox, any difculty in observation could cause the calendars of different cities, or different factions, to be out of synch. It is conceivable that different branches of Judaism, at Equinox, to be in different months making feasts that should be a month apart celebrated on the same day 15. This is what I believe is happening in the Passion narrative. Christ died in his 33rd year. If our calendar is correct, AD 33 should be a curious year. The date of 14 Adar (the date prescribed by Esther for the crucixion of Haman) should occur on a Friday (the day of Christs crucixion) - as should 14 Nisan, the date of preparation for Passover. If we check the records, in order for Passover to occur on Nisan 15 in the year 33 (a full Moon), Nisan 1 (a new Moon) must occur on March 19, but that is two days before the necessary Equinox - a new year should start after the Equinox. Allowing for the fact that different Jews might have made the observations differently, and the particular difculty in making observations in that time period with primitive instruments when the Equinox is close to the beginning of the month, it is possible, if not probable that both feasts were celebrated concurrently by different factions. Imagine the surprise of the Jews when an actual person, Christ, claiming to be the Son of God and Truth itself, was produced by the Romans just in time for Purim! An ironic replacement for an intended efgy representing the soulless, blasphemous assassins of
14

When the feast occurred in an intercalary year it was celebrated twice: on 15 Adar (Little Purim) and on 15 Ve-adar (Great Purim).; the Catholic Encyclopedia, article on Purim
15

Even the fact that this latter was celebrated on the rst of Nisan, or a fortnight after the Jewish date for Purim, is conrmed by the Book of Esther itself, which states, that In the rst month, which is the month Nisan, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman (Esther iii. 7, ix. 26). The change of date may have been made in order not to conict with the Passover on the I5th of Nisan., the Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911 edition, article on Purim. In the rst month (which is called Nisan) [in the twelfth year of the reign of Assuerus[Artaxerxes], the lot was cast into an urn, which in Hebrew is called Phur, before Aman[Haman], on what day and what month the nation of the Jews should be destroyed: and there came out the twelfth month, which is called Adar.]

their nation. Using computer modeling, we nd that the year AD 33 does provide all the necessary dates: (Ve-)Adar/Nisan 14 does fall on a Friday; the Spring Equinox does fall on a cusp making it difcult to determine the correct month, some assuming the following month to be a 2nd Adar, others certain it was Nisan. While we can be certain that the Bible says it was the season of Passover, the actual Passion narrative indicates the events unmistakably as Purim, the feast of Esther. What we call Easter is actually the drama of Esther played out with Christ as the Paschal victim. One of the arguments that has divided the Eastern and Western Church is just this dispute: is the commemoration of Christs resurrection properly Easter or Pascha? The answer is that it was both, the term Easter not being derived from the pagan celebration of Oester (as commonly held), but from the Feast of Esther. Therefore, our calendar (and tradition) is correct as is the Eastern Church in calling the feast Pascha and the Western Church in calling it the Feast of Easter (Esther). If one checks all the surrounding dates of the various possible years as to Christs death, one will nd that the only possible year is AD 33: the 14th of Adar/Nisan is on a Friday, the night the full Moon turned blood red due to and eclipse. It is only through the redating of Christs birth c. 1 BC that nally allows this later date. This vindicates the tradition of the Church and its calendar. It also upholds the fundamental accuracy of the Bible.

That the Term Easter is not Derived from the Pagan Oestre but from the Biblical Esther
Easter is perhaps the most important feast of the entire Christian liturgical year. However, most of Christianity, outside of those that are English speaking, use the term Pascha. The term Easter has commonly been held to be of dubious origin. Most modern scholars believe it to be derived from the term Oestre, an Old English pagan female deity, the goddess of spring. Oestre is supposedly connected with the pagan rites of spring rituals celebrated during her feast days. From her is derived the term estrus having to do with natural female cycles of the body (estrogen, menstrual cycles, etc). Many use this word association to validate a more syncretistic if not pagan basis of the Holy Day essentially this means that the true celebration of Easter should be based in worshipping the life force particularly as revealed through woman. Attempts to clarify this issue usually result in controversy: those who, on one hand, want to protect this pagan association, and those on the other hand, who want to protect the scholarship of a long held belief. 1) The only reference to the term Easter having been derived from Old English pagan legend is from the Venerable Bede (c. 672 - 735) who claims such etymology in his history of the English Church. Yet, no one outside of Bede has yet found evidence of such an ancient English goddess or festival 16 . It is well known that Bedes His16

Eostre ("Easter") is the name of a putative goddess of the Anglo-Saxons. The Venerable Bede described her worship as something which had already died out by the time he began writing the rst signicant history of the Anglo-Saxons. In recent years some historians have suggested that Bede may have made her up because there are no known references to her preceding his work. Others point out that Bede is known as "the Father of English history" precisely because he has long been the source for most of what little we know about pre-Christian English history, which, of course, does not make him infallible. From the Wikipedia article on Eostre

tory of the English people is somewhat of a propaganda text. Rome has long held that it is the true basis of Christianity, that other branches of Christianity are less legitimate. Bede was a Roman Christian. Most history books today list Christianity in England having been founded by the Roman Catholic Church, yet there are (Orthodox) Christians already there by Bedes own account. Other evidence that Christianity proceeded Rome in England is numerous: The Stowe Missal is a Celtic Christian missal which dates before Bede; Constantine predates Bede, is of English descent (his mother was a Christian), rescued Christian Rome from the Barbarian assault, and also established Constantinople as the center of Christianity. One of the main litmus tests of the period as to authentic Christian pedigree was the calculations as to the proper date of Easter. Bedes text oddly ends in a proof that the Roman calculation for Easter is the correct one and that The English calculation is in error (Synod of Whitby). This leads one to believe that the purpose of his text is to undermine the authenticity of the then English Church by associating their celebration of Easter with a pagan deity if the English Easter is of Pagan origin then to be legitimate it should properly be Romanized. Yet, the people in Bedes own account are hardly pagans, if anything they are Orthodox. One can nd a similar argument going on in the Council of Nicaea, yet there the Orthodox position is supported. It is ultimately this argument over the proper Easter/Pascha date that began to erode the union of the Eastern and Western Church. Bede is trying to connect the term Easter and Eoster to substantiate his case but no such connection can be made17. The term Easter must be derived from another tradition. To many, today, the idea of an Old English heritage to Easter has the air of truthiness. The fact is that what many consider the language Old English is not English at all, but middle English derived from French, etc. - the language and time period is wrong for the Easter is Old English tradition argument. The original language of England was not Old English, but closer to Welsh. Ancient Welsh is curiously similar to ancient Hebrew. The Biblical phrase The Lord has swallowed up all the tabernacles of Jacob, in ancient Welsh becomes By-llwng Adon-ydh holl neuodh Jago. In Hebrew, phonetically, it is, Byllang Adonai cal neoth Jangeob. Similarly, the phrase, My shield is from God, becomes, Meigen-i hwyl Elyo. The Hebrew version, Mageni ngal Eloim.18 The true language of ancient Britain must then have an Eastern origin. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth (History of the King of Britain) Britain was founded by the Greek Spartans and their leader Brutus in 1240 BC after the battle of Troy. Geoffrey claims to have derived his text from sources older than Bede the story Geoffrey tells casts early Christianity in England in an entirely different light than Bede. His account shows a people far more civilized than Bede. While his record seems to
17

The word oestrogen is sometimes incorrectly believed to have been derived from Eostre. A train of thought to this conclusion might involve the hormone oestrogen, human egg cells, Easter eggs and fertility. However, oestrogen actually derives directly from the word oestrus. See Etymology in Oestrus. Wikipedia article on Eostre.
18

Celtic Druids, Godfrey Higgins, p. 63

also be dubious a times, his early chronology is consistent with other sources and may be merely the British (Welsh) side of the story (as opposed to the Roman/Norman). If the British are truly Greek/Spartans, then this means any ancient British pagan rituals could not have been derived from indigenous, backward people, but from the same Eastern people as the Hebrew legend of Esther. While the story of Esther (c. 463 BC) is later than the Battle of Troy, if Geoffrey is correct, then any pagan Easter celebration would have an Eastern connection due to the peoples continued contact with the East, not local or Roman customs. According to Geoffrey, Britain was the foe of Rome and only capitulated to Rome in times of need. Consistent with other records, ancient Britain never totally trusted Rome due to an ongoing dispute over autonomy. Further evidence of this Hebrew/Spartan/Greek connection is the Bible itself:
And we have commanded them to go also to you, and to salute you, and to deliver you our letters, concerning the renewing of our brotherhood. And now you shall do well to give us an answer hereto. And this is the copy of the letter which he had sent to Onias: Arius king of the Spartans to Onias the high priest, greeting. It is found in writing concerning the Spartans, and the Jews, that they are brethren, and that they are of the stock of Abraham. 1 Maccabees 12:17-21 DRB

2) Being that Bedes account of Oestre is questionable we must look elsewhere. The only other etymology that makes sense by ALL normal accounts is that the term Easter is derived from the Germanic term Ostara. Easter, it has been conjectured, is not derived from the spring concept of eostral cycles, as Bede claims, but from a Persian version of Ostara meaning Star/Goddess in the East19 . Another ancient spelling of Ostara or star is Ishtar, it is commonly known that Ishtar is the Persian version of Esther - if Easter is Ostara, and Ostara is Ishtar, then Easter is derived from Esther.20 Easter is not connected to the false legend Oestre, if anything both Oestre

19

Etymologically, Ostara probably shares a common root with the word "east", the direction in which dawn rises. It is mistakenly thought by some to be related to the words "estrogen" and "estrus". Wikipedia article on Ostara. Many linguists agree[1] that Eostre and Ostara are derived from the Old Teutonic root 'aew-s', 'illuminate, especially of daybreak' and closely related to (a)wes-ter- 'dawn servant', the morning star Venus and *austrn-, meaning "dawn". Wikipedia on Eostre. http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE29.html - ENTRY: aus- DEFINITION: To shine. Derivatives include east, Easter, and aurora. 1a. east, from Old English ast, east (< the direction of the sunrise); b. ostmark, from Old High German stan, east. Both a and b from Germanic *aust-. 2a. eastern, from Old English asterne, eastern; b. Ostrogoth, from Late Latin ostro-, eastern. Both a and b from Germanic *austra-. 3. Easter, from Old English astre, Easter, from Germanic *austrn-, dawn. 4. Possibly in Latin auster, the south wind, formally identical to the Germanic forms in 2 and 3, but the semantics are unclear: Austro-1. 5. Probably sufxed form *auss-, dawn, also Indo-European goddess of the dawn. a. aurora, from Latin aurra, dawn; b. eo-, Eos; eosin, from Greek s, dawn. (Pokorny aes- 86.)
20

The name Eostre also bears some resemblance to the name Ishtar, a Babylonian goddess. Other variants on Ishtar include Astarte and Ashtoreth. This resemblance has resulted in some Neopagans and Christians opposed to Easter believing that Easter is Ishtar's festival. (Fokelore is often constructed to support such speculative continuities.) There is, however, no evidence that Ishtar was ever worshipped in Europe, nor any strong evidence that the myths of the two goddesses were related. Ibid.

and Ostara are derived from the same Eastern legend of Easter, or Esther.21 While there is some dispute as to which legend is the older, Esther or Ishtar, (and which is derived from which) if we are to believe the trustworthiness of the Bible at all we must maintain that Esther is essentially a true story. It is even conceivable that Esther (the Bible lists Esthers real name as Hadassah) acquired her nickname in honor of Ishtar due to a similarity in their lives and trials. While this Easter/Esther connection is not a popular notion, I am not the only one to make it - in fact I am trying to build further evidence that this is the case by showing that it is the Jewish celebration of Purim, the feast of Esther, that is behind the very episodes of Easter in the Bible. I believe the feast of Esther as being celebrated concurrently with passover has been missed by scholars, a fact that seems only too obvious. The fact many scholars say the term Easter didnt arise until the 7th century only supports the case that Bede made up the connection to cast doubt on the English Church and was haphazardly trying to explain away a custom he little understood 22 . The term must have come from somewhere and the legend of Bede, the only other explanation, is not a possibility. Yet, the feast of Esther was apparently celebrated world-wide in many cultures. It is also my conjecture that the term in the Bible referring to the Star of Bethlehem (His Star) in the Greek is actually Astera (the term actually used in the Bible for Star in the East) of which there is an actual star remembered and derived from the same legend. Modern conjecture is that this was Venus. Yet (referring to my book Christian Metaphysics and Controversies) His Star refers to a star in the lost constellation Christ and the Virgin as listed by the Islamic Astrono-

21

The myth will have come, through a Persian medium, inasmuch as there are a number of Persian traits in the story as we now have it. (See especially Siegfreid, Ezra, Nehemia und Esther, pp.137 ff. (1901).) Jastrow agrees with Jensen, and holds that the Babylonian myth was "transformed in such a manner by the Jewish author of the book of Esther as to make it the basis of an elaborate festal legend to justify the adoption of a 'foreign' festival into the Jewish calendar", adding that "the one link missing in the chain of evidence connecting Purim with the period of merry-making in honour of Marduk and Ishtar is evidence of a celebration in Babylonia or Persia in the middle of Adar - just before the New Year's season proper two weeks later." (In Hastings' Enc. of Rel., and Ethics, x.505b, 506a. The Babylonian New Year festival was called the Sacraea, the Roman equivalent of which was the Saturnalia.) Thus, the book of Esther affords an illustration of external inuence on the Jews, inasmuch as they adapted a heathen festival to their own use. (See the interesting article of Krappe, "Solomon and Ashmondai," in The American Journal of Philology, liv. 3, pp.269 ff. (1933).) from AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT by W. O. E. OESTERLEY, D.D., LITT.D., & THEODORE H. ROBINSON, D.D., LITT.D. Hon. D.D. (Aberdeen), Hon. D.Th.
22

Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ("Ecclesiastic History of the English People") contains a letter from Pope Gregory I to Saint Mellitus, who was then on his way to England to conduct missionary work among the heathen Anglo-Saxons. The Pope suggests that converting heathens is easier if they are allowed to retain the outward forms of their traditional pagan practices and traditions, while recasting those traditions spiritually towards Christianity instead of to their indigenous gods (whom the Pope refers to as "devils"), "to the end that, whilst some gratications are outwardly permitted them, they may the more easily consent to the inward consolations of the grace of God". The Pope sanctioned such conversion tactics as biblically acceptable, pointing out that God did much the same thing with the ancient Israelites and their pagan sacrices. This practice might explain the incorporation of Eostre traditions into the Christian holiday. Wikipedia article on Easter. See http://www.englishheathenism.homestead.com/popesletter.html

mer Albumazar.23 My argument is precisely this: what Bede passes off as an English Pagan (Wiccan) holiday is actually a continuation of this feast of Esther/Ostara/Ishtar in another culture. Further, several Christian texts (such as the Exsultet) refer to Christ as the new day-star, a real God as a replacement for the old pagan legends - the connections abound.  3) Easter, then, is not derived from Bedes Oestre, but from Ostara (of which Oestre is perhaps another spelling), which itself is derived from Ishtar/Astera, which is just another version of Esther, literally meaning the star gazer. Christian Easter, then, is a defeat of this pagan holiday, not a continuation of it. One could claim that the Christian Easter is just a continuation of a Pagan religion if it were not for the fact that Christ is not the honored deity of an Oestre celebration, but the fallen victim of that same celebration over which he triumphs!

23

There arises in the First Decan, as the Persians, Chaldeans, and Egyptians, the two Hermes, and Ascalius teach, a young woman, whose Persian name translated into Arabic is Adrenedefa, a pure and immaculate virgin, holding in the hand two ears of corn, sitting on a throne, nourishing an infant, in the act of feeding him, who has a Hebrew name (the boy, I say), by some nations named Ihesu, with the signication Ieza, which we in Greek call Christ." Ieza is evidently the Hebrew verb "yesha," from Albumazar as referred to in Mazzaroth, Frances Rolleston