The Nazareth Inscription is a 24" x 15" marble tablet with a 14-line "Edict of Caesar" prescribing capital punishment for body stealing, acquired by Wilhelm Fröhner (1834–1925), Paris, in 1878, sent from Nazareth. Since 1925 it has been in the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris, displayed in the Cabinet des Médailles.( Wikipedia article, Nazareth Inscription).

The Fröhner Collection was acquired by the Paris National Library in 1925, and a Russian archeologist named M. Rostovtzeff brought it to the attention of a French archeologist named M. Franz Cumont, who translated the inscription into French. Subsequently, it was translated into English and created a firestorm in the academic world.

La Bibliothèque nationale, 58 rue de Richelieu.

This 2000 year old stele is a decree of Caesar against tomb robbing or body stealing. Hurry and see it before it disappears. Tomb robbing was the very charge leveled against Simon Peter and the other Apostles of Christ to explain away the Resurrection.

The Nazareth Inscription.

Only a few scholars in the academic world are familiar with this extraordinary tablet. Here is an English translation of the tablet:

An edict of Caesar. It pleases me that graves and tombs, whoever has made them as a religious act for forebears or children or household members, that these remain undisturbed forever. But if any should show that someone has either destroyed or in any other way cast out those buried there, or has with evil deception removed them to other places, an injustice for those buried there, or has removed the monument or the stones, in such a case I command that there be a trial, as if pertaining to matters of the gods, for the benefit of the religious duty of men. For it shall very much be required to honor those who have been buried. Let no one move them for any cause. But if someone does not comply, it is my will that he suffer capital punishment on a charge of robbing tombs.

Most reliable scholars say that the Caesar in question was Emperor Claudius, and date it to around 41 A.D. The edict required the death penalty for robbing tombs. Pagan Romans usually cremated their dead so it is amazing that the Emperor was concerned about grave robbers.

The Nazarenes were accused of tomb robbing!!

The Messiah rose from the dead on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem. The followers of the Messiah were called Nazarenes.

Here is one of four surviving accounts of the dramatic events on the Resurrection morning:

In the end of the sabbaths, as it began to dawn toward the first of the sabbaths, Miriam of Magdala and the other Miriam came to see the tomb. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the guard did shake, and became as dead men(Matthew 28:1-4).

This guard was a sentry of Roman soldiers that Pontius Pilate commanded to guard the tomb. When the soldiers recovered their senses, they went into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened:

Now when they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city, and showed the chief priests all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day (Matthew 28:11-15).

Pilate heard of the Resurrection almost immediately after it happened so he and the soldiers must have received huge bribes to maintain the tomb robber myth.

The Messiah remained with his disciples for 40 days after his Resurrection:

To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3).

After his ascension into Heaven to sit at the right hand of JEHOVAH, the first order of business for the Messiah was to kick Satan and his fallen angels right out of heaven:

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him(Revelation 12: 7-9).

The expulsion of Satan meant the cleansing of heaven from his defiling footprints, but it was very, very bad news for planet earth:

Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time (Revelation 12:12).

After his expulsion from heaven, Satan took total possession of Pontifex Maximus Caligula . . . and all the Pontiffs that succeeded him!!

Satan took total possession of Emperor Caligula!!

At the time of the Resurrection, Tiberius was Emperor, but he was in self imposed exile on the Isle of Capri, and given over to ever kind of perversion and debauchery.

He was succeeded in 37 AD by Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, commonly known as Caligula "little boots."

Emperor Caligula (12–41 AD). Emperor from 37 to 41 AD.

The mad Pontiff Caligula was the adopted son of Tiberius. He became Emperor with the help of the standing army Praetorian Guard. About 6 months into his reign, he became totally Satan possessed and he called himself Zeus and his sister/wife Druscilla he called Hera.

Pontiff Caligula sacrificing at the temple of Jupiter.

Caligula called himself Zeus and demanded divine worship from everyone in the Empire. He was determined to put his statue in the Great Temple in Jerusalem:

Now Caius Caesar did so grossly abuse the fortune he had arrived at, as to take himself to be a god, and to desire to be so called also, and to cut off those of the greatest nobility out of his country. He also extended his impiety as far as the Jews. Accordingly he sent Petronius with an army to Jerusalem to place his statues in the temple, and commanded him that, in case the Jews would not admit of them, he should slay those that opposed it, and carry all the rest into captivity. (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Book II, 10,1).

Only the timely assassination of the mad Caligula prevented him from forcing everyone in the Empire to worship him as Zeus incarnate.

In 41 AD his infamous career was cut short by assassins . . . and that was the end of the first line of Satan possessed Pontiffs.

Emperor Claudius issued the tomb robbing decree

The next Pontiff to succeed him was Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, commonly known as Emperor Claudius. He was placed in power directly by the standing army called the Praetorian Guard. In 43 AD he added Britannia to the Roman Empire.

Claudius grew up with Herod Agrippa in Rome and the two of them were very, very close friends. Claudius survived all the poisonings because he stammered and had several physical handicaps so nobody believed that he would ever become Emperor. He was a prolific writer however and wrote a detailed history of his family in forty-three volumes . . . which did not survive . . . unless in the Secret Archives of the Vatican!!

Emperor Claudius (10 BC - 54 AD). Emperor from 41 to 54 AD.

Emperor Claudius was the 2nd of the Satan possessed Pontiffs. Claudius and Herod Agrippa grew up together in Rome. At the instigation of Herod, Claudius issued the tomb robbing decree about 41 AD.

Herod Agrippa I (10 BC– 44 AD. King from 41 to 44 AD.

Herod Agrippa received the kingdom of Judea from Emperor Claudius:

Now when Claudius had taken out of the way all those soldiers whom he suspected, which he did immediately, he published an edict, and therein confirmed that kingdom to Agrippa which Caius had given him, and therein commended the king highly. He also made all addition to it of all that country over which Herod, who was his grandfather, had reigned, that is, Judea and Samaria; and this he restored to him as due to his family. (Josephus, Antiquities, XIX, 5,1).

Claudius rescinded the previous persecuting decree of Caligula regarding the Jews, and he issued a decree that was engraven in stones that they should not be molested in the practice of their religion:

And I do charge them also to use this my kindness to them with moderation, and not to show a contempt of the superstitious observances of other nations, but to keep their own laws only. And I will that this decree of mine be engraven on tables by the magistrates of the cities, and colonies, and municipal places, both those within Italy and those without it, both kings and governors, by the means of the ambassadors, and to have them exposed to the public for full thirty days, in such a place whence it may plainly be read from the ground. (Josephus, Antiquities, XIX, 5, 3).

At that time it was a common practice that decrees of Caesar be engraven in stone and displayed in a very prominent place so that all could read them.

Herod Agrippa believed that he was the Messiah!!

The corrupt Herod actually believed that he was the Messiah. He soon commenced a persecution of the followers of the real Messiah at Jerusalem:

Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the congregation. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (These were the days of unleavened bread). And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him; intending after Passover to bring him forth to the people. (Acts 12:1-4).

St. Peter had a miraculous escape from the prison, and was delivered from the murderous bloody hands of Herod Agrippa:

And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the guards before the door kept the prison. And, behold, the angel of JEHOVAH came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. And he went out, and followed him; and did not know that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision. When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of its own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that JEHOVAH hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews. (Acts 12:6-11).

After Peter's miraculous escape, Herod Agrippa wrote to his friend Claudius and urged him to enact the death penalty for tomb robbing.

St. Peter went to another place after his escape from Herod!!

After his miraculous escape from prison, Saint Peter visited his fellow believers in Jerusalem:

And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel. But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished. But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how JEHOVAH had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go show these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place (Acts 12:13-17).

St. Peter did not go to Rome after his miraculous escape because Claudius had enacted the death penalty for tomb robbing. Of course St. Peter did not rob any tomb, but that did not matter to the Satan possessed Claudius and Herod.

Divine vengeance overtook Herod Agrippa a short time later, when he was eaten alive by worms, as documented by the Book of Acts and Josephus:

And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of JEHOVAH smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and died. (Acts 12: 21-23, Antiquities, XIX, 8,2).

If Saint Peter did go to Rome, he went incognito, and kept very, very quiet about the fact that he was the leader of the Apostles of Christ. Knowing how much Saint Peter liked to talk, that must have been very, very hard for him to keep quiet about the Resurrection of the Messiah and the empty tomb on the Mount of Olives.

No difference between pagan and Papal Pontiffs

There is no difference between the pagan and Papal Pontiffs. One wild beast is used to symbolize Rome pagan and Papal:

After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. (Daniel 7:7).

Pagan Pontiffs existed before Caligula, but he was the first Pontiff to be completely controlled by Satan after he was cast out of heaven (Revelation Chapter 12).

Mad Emperor Theodosius I (347–395). Emperor from 378 to 392.

Mad Emperor Theodosius was the last pagan Pontiff and Pope Damasus I was the first Papal Pontiff. Pontifical succession can be traced back in an unbroken line 2000 years to Emperor Caligula. It is the oldest dynasty in the world.

Pope Damasus I (305–384). Pope from 366 to 384.

St. Paul said that something was restraining the Man of Sin and that restraint would be removed. When Constantinople became the new capital of the Empire, the bishop of Rome jumped right in to the vacant seat of the pagan Pontiff:

For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now restrains will restrain, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming (II Thessalonians 2:1-12).

There was no mystery or deception about Caligula, Claudius or Nero as the Pontiffs or high priests of paganism persecuting Christianity, but a so-called "Christian" bishop as a persecuting Pontiff is a real mystery indeed.

The pagan Egyptian obelisk is a sun worship phallic symbol and it was brought from Egypt by the mad Pontiff Caligula.

The Vatican obelisk was brought fromEgypt to Rome by Caligula.

The pagan Pontiffs called themselves vicars of Zeus or Jupiter. When the Papal Pontiff says "I am Peter" he means I am Jupiter. The Papal Pontiffs also call themselves vicars of "Christ."

Statue of Jupiter in the Vatican sans his trademark long hair!!

Both dynasties of Pontiffs claimed divine honors as "gods" on earth

Around 330 A.D., Jupiter was given a haircut and renamed Saint Peter. Jerome's Latin Vulgate changed Joshua to Jesus which is pronounced Gee-ZEUS in English and Hey-Zeus in Spanish. Jerome also translated the pagan word pontiff as priest 10 times in the Gospel of John:

And this he spoke not of himself: but being the high priest (pontiff) of that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation (John 11:51, Latin Vulgate Version).

Here is that same verse from the Latin Vulgate:

hoc autem a semet ipso non dixit sed cum esset pontifex anni illius prophetavit quia Iesus moriturus erat pro gente. (Latin Vulgate Version).

And so everyone must decide whether they will follow the Papal Pontiff to perdition . . . or the Risen Messiah . . . Joshua of Nazareth . . . to eternal happiness in heaven.

References

Charlesworth, M. P., Documents Relating to the Reigns of Claudius and Nero. Cambridge University Press, 1939.

Graves, Robert. I, Claudius. Random House, New York, 1989.

Graves, Robert. Claudius the God and his Wife Messalina. Random House, New York, 1989.

Jackson, Douglas, Claudius, Corgi Books, New York, 2010.

Peddie, John. Conquest: The Roman Invasion of Britain. Alan Sutton Publishing, Gloucestershire, UK, 1987.

Suetonius. The Twelve Caesars. (Translated by Robert Graves), Penguin Books, London, 1957.

Josephus, Flavius, Complete Works, translated by William Whiston. Kregel Publication, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1960.

Both of the books by Robert Graves were made into a fantastic 12 part series by the BBC in 1976. Entitled I, Claudius, they are now available on utube.

Copyright © 2013 by Patrick Scrivener

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