Jesus discussion

[FAVENTIANVS]

Jesus can be portrayed as both a violent rebel or a pacificist proponent of brotherly love, using the ancient sources. We know his followers carried (and used) swords (which I believe was forbidden by Roman law for civilians), and I think it is in the book of Luke, chapter 22 that Jesus tells his disciples to "sell their cloaks to buy swords". I believe some researchers have made good arguments that at least some of the disciples may have been Zealots. Rather than a "prince of peace", Jesus is portrayed as an avenging war god in Revelations, fighting demons and dragons stolen from Zoroastrian mythology.

But I hope you are not implying that I am "insulting Christianity" by stating that it is probably "wishful thinking" on the Vatican's part that these are early Christian martyrs. This is simply human nature to want such things, just as every RAT member probably hoped that a mass of skeletons found at Cannae were casualities from that battle, when they turned out to be Medieval skeletons instead, as I recall.

Dan

It's been written that the name Judah Iscariotes derived from Sicariotes, from Sicarius, the bearer of a sica.