Three Apostolic Successions

(Conspiracy Nation, 06/24/07) – To commemorate today's feast of St. John the Baptist, three Apostolic Successions are considered.

One Apostolic Succession derives from Jesus, to Peter, and then on down to the various Popes.

A second Apostolic Succession is from Simon Magus. He is mentioned in the Bible, in “Acts of the Apostles”:

“But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the nation of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great.” (Acts 8:9)

The “Samaritans” were also the “Simonians.” (Gnostics and Their Remains, by C.W. King. 1887.) As early as 35 A.D., the Samaritans regarded Simon Magus as “the Great Power of God.” A counter-Apostolic Succession derives from Simon Magus: from Meander, to Basilides, to Valentinus.

How could a mere magician claim precedence over Jesus? The question, though, is Who was Jesus? The Talmud calls Jesus a sorceror. In The Book Of Legends (Legends From the Talmud and Midrash), in a section on “Heretics” from Part IV, Chapter One, it says, “When King Yannai rose up against the sages to put them to death,” Rabbi Joshua ben Perahiah and Jesus fled to Alexandria, in Egypt. The duo later brought out secrets of sorcery from Egypt by incising them in their flesh. “Jesus practiced magic and incited Israel to heresy, leading them astray.” Jesus was eventually hung (crucified), rather than stoned to death. “Jesus had to be treated differently because he was close to the [Roman] government.”

Who was Jesus? Controversial author Helena P. Blavatsky, in Isis Unveiled (Vol. II, ch. viii, footnote), suggests, “A virgin named Mariam, betrothed to a young man of the name of Iohanan, was outraged by another man named Ben Panther or Joseph Panther, says 'Sepher Toldos Jeshu.' Her betrothed, learning of her misfortune, left her, at the same time forgiving her. The child born was Jesus, named Joshua. Adopted by his uncle Rabbi Jehosuah, he was initiated into the secret doctrine by Rabbi Elhanan, a kabalist, and then by the Egyptian priests, who consecrated him High Pontiff of the Universal Secret Doctrine, on account of his great mystic qualities. Upon his return into Judea his learning and powers excited the jealousy of the Rabbis, and they publicly reproached him with his origin and insulted his mother. Hence the words attributed to Jesus at Cana: 'Woman, what have I to do with thee?' [John 2:4] His disciples having rebuked him with his unkindness to his mother, Jesus repented, and having learned from them the particulars of the sad story, he declared that 'My mother has not sinned, she has not lost her innocence; she is immaculate and yet she is a mother... As for myself I have no father, in this world, I am the Son of God and of humanity.'”

Jesus must have passed on his sorcery secrets to Peter. According to Catholic lore, in Rome, a showdown of the sorcerors, matching Peter against Simon Magus, occurred. “Simon Magus,” writes Manly P. Hall, “the magician of New Testament fame, is often supposed to have been the founder of Gnosticism... That Simon Magus had mysterious and supernatural powers is conceded even by his enemies, but they maintained that these powers were lent to him by the infernal spirits and furies...” (Secret Teachings Of All Ages). A religious contest between Peter and Simon Magus escalated, until Simon vowed to ascend to heaven in a chariot of fire. When Peter saw Simon Magus climbing higher into the sky, he loudly ordered the spirits of the air to release their hold. Simon fell a great distance and was killed. (Manly P. Hall adds, however, that “more and more evidence is being amassed to the effect that St. Peter was never in Rome.” But suppose, by his magical powers, Peter had been able to be instantaneously whisked to Rome?)

Our third candidate in the realm of Apostolic Succession is St. John the Baptist. The situation is like the old TV show, “To Tell The Truth”:

Number One: “I am the Pope.”
Number Two: “I am the Pope.”
Number Three: “I am the Pope.”

The Johannites claimed “to have succeeded one another from St. John by an uninterrupted succession of pontifical powers.” The Messiah was not Jesus, but John the Baptist. (“The Templars and the Vatican,” by Mark Amaru Pinkham. From Forbidden Religion by J. Douglas Kenyon, editor.)

Blavatsky (op. cit.) expands on the claim. The Knights Templar, founded in 1118 by Hugh de Payens and Geoffrey de St. Omer, “nominally for the protection of the pilgrims, its true aim was the restoration of the primitive secret worship. The true version of the history of Jesus, and the early Christianity was imparted to Hugh de Payens, by the Grand Pontiff of the Order of the Temple (of the Nazarene or Johanite sect), one named Theocletes, after which it was learned by some Knights in Palestine, from the higher and more intellectual members of the St. John sect, who were initiated into its mysteries.” These were the first true Knights of St. John the Baptist. “The Christ Jesus was, in their opinion, a false prophet, but the man Jesus a Brother.”

Pinkham (op. cit.) includes that the “Baphomet” head which the Templars were accused of worshipping was actually the head of John the Baptist.

And now... Will the real Pope please stand up?

Conspiracy Nation

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