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PAGE 18: The Chronicles and The Myvyean Manuscript
Bushby refers to various ancient documents that were destroyed by early churchmen in an effort to conceal
information concerning Christianity. Two particular documents he mentions are The Chronicles and The Myvyean
Manuscript. In a review of The Bible Fraud posted here, a researcher wrote the British Library to confirm the
existence of the documents. I decided to first write to the British Museum as this is where Bushby claims the
documents are kept. This is the response I received:
"Thank you for your email. I cannot find any reference to this manuscript within our catalogue. I would now
advise you to contact the British Library. Our original library collections, the departments of books and
manuscripts of the British Museum, became part of the British Library in 1973. Our current libraries are mainly
specialist collections reflecting the object collections in the British Museum. The material you seek would now be
at the British Library in St Pancras."
I then wrote the British Library and, to my surprise, received an almost verbatim response of the author in the
above link:
"I am afraid that I can find no reference to such a manuscript in our collections. We receive many similar
enquiries relating to subject matter such as this and I have to say many of them are hoaxes or refer to
non-existent manuscripts. It just does not seem to be here."
However, I did notice something peculiar. By Bushby's own admission he began his research for The Bible Fraud
around the late 80's/early 90's. Yet I was told such collections were transferred out of the British Museum (which
Bushby claims owned the documents) in 1973. Bushby also vaguely references "first century coins" which
"clearly and positively" establish the historicity of The Chronicles. As the reader can see in my main site links, I
am a coin dealer. After researching these elusive coins, I could find no such reference to them in any of my
catalogs or records.
PAGE 19: The Sir Francis Bacon Conspiracy
Bushby claims "original documents" in the Records Office of the British Museum mention Bacon's involvement in
the translation of the King James Bible. "They" reveal Bacon personally selecting the staff of translators and
participating in the undertaking in which he would later "encrypt" secret messages into the Bible. Instead of
dwelling on the irrelevant and generally unaccepted allegations, I'll just say that even if we are to believe such
speculation, this only brings the King James Bible into question- not the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts
which Bacon never had access to.
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PAGES 29-33: Jesus: Son of Panthera & Stada
"Ben Stada was Ben Panthera, Rabbi Chisda said. Thus the husband was Stada, the lover Panthera. Another said
the husband was Paphos ben Jehuda. Stada was his mother... And she was unfaithful to her husband."
In an attempt to show Jesus being an illegitimate child, Bushby claims various Talmudic passages which mention
a certain Ben (son of) Stada and Ben Panthera are actually references to Jesus. A better translation of the above
passage is as follows:
"Was he then the son of Stada: surely he was the son of Pandira? Said R. Hisda: The husband was Stada, the
paramour was Pandira. [No,] the husband was Pappos b. Judah. His mother was Stada. [No,] his mother was
Miriam the hairdresser. It is as we say in Pumbeditha: This one has been unfaithful to ('turned away from'
[satath da]) her husband." (See: Shabbath 104b footnote 19)
Though some scholars believe this passage is a reference to Jesus (the hairdresser is linguistically similar to
Magdalene), Mary Magdalene was not His mother nor was His stepfather Pappos Ben Judah. Most importantly,
Pappos Ben Judah is a figure mentioned in other Talmudic passages (Mechilta Beshalach Vayehi 6 and Berachot
61 b). Because the Talmud mentions Judah being killed by the Romans in 134 A.D., there is no way he could be
associated with Jesus (See: Pappos Ben Judah). To reinforce his theory, Bushby even references the Gospel of
Luke: "This story [Mary's rape by Panthera] was supported in the Gospel of Luke, with the description of the
departure of Joseph and Mary from their home prior to the birth." However, this is not so. Luke specifically states
the couple left Nazareth to partake in the census ordered by Quirinus! (See: Luke 2:1-7)
PAGES 34-35: The Lineage of Mary
Bushby now connects Mary to the Herodian line to later associate "Rabbi Jesus" and "Judas Khrestus" with royal
heritage. These are some of the connections Bushby makes:
- Prince Joseph, son of Herod the Great, was the Joseph of Arimathea mentioned in the Gospels.
- Mariamne I, wife of Herod the Great, is the grandmother of Mary of the Gospels.
- The Mary of the Gospels, Stada (mentioned above), and Mariamne of the Herodian family are one and the
same.
Bushby doesn't elaborate as to how he came to such conclusions but it seems to me he did so due to the
similarity of the names. If you own a copy of The Bible Fraud, you will notice Bushby provides the alleged lineage
of Jesus in the first few pages of his book. In order to debunk Bushby's theories, check out the actual Herodian
dynasty shown here and here.
PAGES 36-41: The Roman father of Rabbi Jesus and Judas Khrestus
"Tiberius Julius Abdes Panthera, an archer, native of Sidon, Phoenicia, who in 9 A.D. Was transferred to service in
Rhineland [Germany]."
The above inscription was discovered on an ancient German headstone. Though Bushby believes this headstone
was created well after the life of Panthera, he alleges the headstone contains a hidden message with the use of
the word Abdes:
"[Augustus was] inclined towards phonetic spelling... When Augustus wrote in cipher he simply substituted the
next letter of the alphabet for the one required, except he wrote AA for X. By applying both of these rules to the
word Abdes on the German headstone a hidden code is thus revealed. Abdes = ab-des = Bc-des = BC days. The
person or person who created the headstone cipher could have only done so after the Sixth Century when the
Julian calender was first instituted."
Bushby believes the inscription was created to reveal a "special message" that Panthera had previously traveled
to Germany in 9 B.C. (not 9 A.D. as the headstone suggests). Bushby is trying to show that Panthera and
Mariamne Herod (Mary) were contemporaries of one another, were connected to each other through Emperor
Augustus, and that Mariamne Herod met Tiberius when he returned to Rome and was either raped by or had an
affair with him. However, my question is if this particular code was used by Augustus yet the headstone was
made post-6th century A.D., what do either of these things have to do with one another? And who does Bushby
claim this Tiberius Panthera, archer of Sidon, was? The Emperor Tiberius!
In summary, the Talmudic passage is not a reference to Jesus (the timing is off by over a century), Bushby's
depiction of Mary's lineage goes against the grain of historical consensus, and the headstone connection falls
apart under scrutiny.
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PAGES 45-46: Pope Leo X Reveals a Papal Secret
Bushby claims Pope Leo X confessed various secrets to his homosexual lover, Michelangelo, who later passed
them on to Leonardo DaVinci. Again, we are presented with the false Pope Leo X quote. Bushby speculates that if
the pope would make such a confession then it would certainly be possible for him to confess other secrets to his
lover. Later, these "secrets" would be encoded into the works of both artists in an effort to expose "the Rabbi
Jesus and Judas Khrestus secret." Of course, the quote is bogus so Bushby's speculative connection falls apart.
PAGES 46-47: Twins Depicted in Renaissance Artwork
We are offered two illustrations by Michelangelo depicting Mary with two boys (shown here and here). Notice one
of the titles even states Madonna and Child with John the Baptist. Bushby then references the work La Belle
Jardiniere by Raphael (seen here). Notice Jesus is the child with the halo while John the Baptist is the one
wearing the camel-hair garment described in Matthew 3:4. Bushby also claims the fifth figure from Jesus' right in
The Last Supper is actually Judas the twin. An extremely high resolution copy may be found here (you will need
to click the image for a larger view). This figure is paler, thinner, and more effeminate looking than Jesus.
Furthermore, art historians record this individual as being James the Less.
PAGES 47-49: The Berenger Sauniere Fiasco
As told in the fictional work The Da Vinci Code, Bushby embarrasses himself when he uses the Berenger Sauniere
legend as historical evidence to confirm his twin conspiracy. The reader will notice Bushby seems to understand
this is based on legend due to his frequent use of the phrase, "it was said..." The legend basically states during
the remodeling of his church, Sauniere discovered ancient parchments concealed inside a hollow column which
contained "incontrovertible proof" that the crucifixion was a hoax. Church officials then allegedly paid Sauniere
great sums of money to keep his secret. However, it turns out the "hollow" column was not hollow and is
currently on display in a Rennes-le-Chateau museum. Berenger never did obtain "great wealth" and certainly did
not come to his fortune from accepting bribes. He was forced to resign after being involved in various scandalous
activities including mass trafficking. Instead of dwelling on an urban legend, here are some links to authors who
explain the long-since-debunked myth. See: here, here, and here.
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PAGE 51: Dead Sea Scroll Scholars
Bushby begins this chapter by referring to the highly controversial figures, Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh
(See: here) which should immediately set off warning bells to those that are familiar with their works. These
individual are known for their unfounded and erroneous claims concerning the Dead Sea Scrolls. More warning
bells sound off when he references the work of Robert Eisenman who Bushby claims "provided the now-accepted
and spectacular connection between the Dead Sea Scrolls, and James, the Gospel brother of Judas and Jesus." In
truth, the scrolls contain no mention of Jesus, James, John the Baptist or Christianity as most of the scrolls have
been shown to predate Christianity. Nor is Eisenman's work generally accepted by the scholarly community. To
see a few reviews concerning these authors, check out the articles here and here.
PAGE 53: St. Epiphanius & The 'Men of Yesu'
Bushby claims the early church father, Epiphanius, referred to the Essenes as Men of Yesu and that the term
Yesu was part of the Druid trinity. However, Bushby does not tell us where these statements are found in the
writings of Epiphanius nor could I find them once I looked for myself. Bushby then claims Epiphanius said the
"Men of Yesu were sometimes called Yasseans after Jesus of the Gospels." Of course, no such statement is found
in the works of Epiphanius and again, Bushby never states where these alleged remarks are found. He then goes
on to claim the connection between Jesus and the Essenes was "documented church fact during the very earliest
years of recorded Christian History." Again, no sources are provided but I did find one reference to the sect in
Eusebius' Preparation for the Gospel Book IX, Chapter III (See: here). However, the reader can see the sect is
in no way connected to Jesus. Eusebius is only documenting the Essenic way of life.
PAGES 53-54: The Essenes and Druids
Bushby presents several completely superficial correlations between the Druids and the Essenes:
- Both believed in an after life (virtually all religions do)
- Both taught the existence of a supreme being (virtually all religions do)
- Both had sacred books, hymns, and prayers (virtually all religions do)
- Both taught a system of rewards and punishment in the afterlife (virtually all religions do)
Bushby comes to the conclusion that "the remarkable coincidences between the chief features of the Druidic and
Essenic fraternities can be accounted for only by referring them to the same origin." Of course, anyone can see
these similarities are very shallow (and their vast differences far outweigh such coincidences. See: here and
here).
PAGES 55-56: Paul and John the Baptist: Essene Leaders
Bushby makes quite a few far-fetched statements in order to connect Paul and John the Baptist to the Essenes.
He quotes Luke 1:80 and states "from this Gospel information, John the Baptist is now generally recognised, like
Paul, as an Essene." However, this simply is not so and is in no way "generally recognised" by historians or
Biblical scholars. Bushby then quotes Hebrews 8:7 as evidence Paul was associated with the Essenes. Yet, these
verses are so vague, it would be impossible to accept them as definite references to the Essenes. Furthermore,
Bushby focuses on the fact the Essenes were known for wearing white robes but ignores the passages which
describe John the Baptist as wearing camel-hair (brown) clothing. Furthermore, the significance behind John's
baptism (cleansing of sin) dramatically differs from the Essenes (ritual bathing).
PAGES 56-57: John the Baptist: A Messiah Figure
Bushby points to the "conspiracy" that some believed John the Baptist was a messiah figure- but even the Bible
testifies to this (See: Luke 3:15-16). The New Testament was very forthcoming in mentioning other Messiah
figures (like Simon the Magician. See: Acts 8:9-24) or those who were believed to be the Messiah by the people
(such as John). Bushby also claims figures such as Origen and Epiphanius "clearly recorded that John the Baptist
was a 'Krist' figure but made no reference to Jesus himself attaining that status." Yet this is obviously false.
Check out this one sample from Origen's writings. Origen wrote volumes professing Jesus (not John) as the
Christ. Chapter 14 mentions John the Baptist representing the Old Covenant (So much for Bushby's Essene "New
Covenant" theory). As for Epiphanius, he also clearly professes Jesus as the Messiah- not John (See: here,
Chapter 35).
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