The followers of the Way never referred to themselves by this
name or title only the pagans referred to the followers of The
Way as Chrestus or Chrestusians’ as a servant or servants of
Yahowah the Mighty One Yahowsha. Chrestus was a derogative and
demeaning term or pet name for slaves. This title does not
imply, either in Latin, Greek or in Hebrew, a divine nature for
the possessor of it, rather a subservient position of slave. In
this case one who is called out, free and chooses to serve
another.
In the book of Daniel he uses the word/title MessiYah twice,
which means the upright, useful and beneficial implement of Yah.
Clearly demonstrating the connection between the followers of
Yah and Yahowsha the Anointed MessiYah all of whom are called
and considered useful servants of Yah or beneficial implements
of Yah, those who are called out and called by His Name and
found as members of His Family, the Yahuwdym.
Starting around the third to fourth century the
licentiousness of authors and copiers of the scriptural text
took literary license altering and substituting words and
phrases and vowels to suit their particular political and
religious influences. Just as the political and rabbinical
influences of Jewish authors had done with the scripture
alterations as a result of their Babylonian exile had influenced
them contrary to the Torah, Prophets and Psalms. Influencing
them too choose to alter the text and form the oral traditions
of the Talmud. Bringing changes to the original text, written in
Paleo Hebrew’s Set-Apart Scriptural text and language. Being
separated from all signs and symbols of their God, they learned
the pagan ways of the Babylonians and integrated pagan practices
into their way of life and their scriptures followed suit by an
Aramaic or Babylonian Hebrew text, with different vowel points
and intentional altering and hiding Yahowah’s personal and
proper name. Replacing Yahowah’s Name with titles of Adon,
Adonai, LORD and God which makes it nearly impossible to know
Yahowsha, Yahowah is Salvation. The long promised Messiyah of
the Torah, Prophets and Psalms fulfilled in the flesh as
Immanu’EL Yahowah’s set-apart form of Himself The Set-Apart,
Set-Apart Useful, Beneficial, Implement of Yah. Yahowsha the One
and Only One who came in His Fathers Name.
Yahowah has given us in His scripture the two personal and
proper names and five titles, Yahowah, Yahowsha, Elohim, The
Set-Apart Spirit, Messiyah, Stauros the verb and Stauros the
noun the upright pole. The earliest manuscripts of the Greek
Septuagint did not use placeholders for the specific two deity
names and five deity titles the Greek language did not contain
letters in their alphabet to write out these names and titles.
So the Greek text referred the reader to the original Paleo
Hebrew text and using their letters to express and speak the
proper names and titles. The early Septuagint authors used the
Paleo Hebrew text and letters for all seven. Later copies of the
Septuagint used placeholders 100% of the time in every
manuscript as did the 69 pre Constantine manuscripts.
After
Constantine’s
influence and the forming of the religion of Christianity the
placeholders were abandoned for pagan deity names and titles. So
as to lose every connection between Hebrew, Jewishness, the
Torah, Prophets and Psalms as well as the personal name of God,
Yahowah, His title Elohim, His Messiyah’s Name-Yahshua, the title
Messiyah, His Set-Apart Spirit’s title and the verb and noun
form of the upright pole which points to Edon the upright One
Yahowah, who will come and stand upright on the upright pole so
as to cause you to stand upright with Him. This is the story of
His Salvation depicted in His seven Miqra’ey.
The original word used in the earliest scriptural text to
describe the followers of the WAY that is Yah's Way, they were
not called Christos/Christianos but were called and referred to
as Chrestus or Chrestusians’... Those who are called out,
upright, beneficial, useful, helpful, kind, excellent, worthy
and good ones verifying and witnessing to Yahowsha the Anointed
Messiyah the upright useful, beneficial, implement of Yah. Who
Yahowah himself came as a servant in the form of man in
Yahowsha/Immanu’EL. He is described as upright, useful and kind
one of whom He said test and see if what I AM saying is
trustworthy in the Torah, Prophets and Psalms, read all about
me. At this time period there were no such things as
Gospels. Where as Christos was used once only in the text to
describe the Laodicea
assembly who made a drug to smear on their eyes, making them
look drugged and whitewashed around the eyes.
Isn't it nice to know you are not a drugged and whitewashed
one? But you are a called-out, upright, beneficial, useful,
helpful, kind, excellent, worthy and good one verifying and
witnessing to Yahowah the Mighty One Yahowsha the Anointed
Messiyah. Who is the upright one who came and stood upright on
and upright pole so as to cause you to be able to stand upright
with Him? If we look deeper in to the Torah we find Yahowah
describing Himself as EDON, the Upright ONE, EDON, as examples
in scripture we see in Egypt, the EDON, upright pillars of the
house where the blood of the lamb was place so that the
Set-Apart Spirit would hover over to protect those inside the
house and who in the days of desert wandering was the EDON,
upright pillar of cloud and by night was the EDON, upright
pillar of fire. He Yahowah the Upright One in a set-apart,
set-apart manifestation of Him self is the one who came and
stood EDON, upright on the upright pole so as to cause you to
stand upright with Him. The word EDON was replace by ADON giving
us the word LORD a complete and total abomination of the upright
one, Yahowah the Mighty One Yahowsha.
Many words and phrases in our current English Text we call
the bible, have been altered to reflect sun god worship in name
and title's influencing what we call Christianity and Judaism
as well as other religions.
“Come Out Of Her My People” by CJ Koster
Similar to the
foregoing components of Sun-worship which had been adopted into
the church, we have similar proof of the adoption of a pagan
word or name, although less convincing of its absolute solar
origin. However, we can clearly see that, with the Greeks using
both the Greek words Messias (a transliteration) and Christos (a
translation) for the Hebrew Mashiach (Anointed), the word
Christos was far more acceptable to the pagans who were
worshipping Chreston, Chrestos, and perhaps also those
worshipping Krista. But we will come to that later.
The Hebrew word
Mashiach has been translated in the Old Testament of the King
James Version as "Anointed" in most places, but as "MessiYAH" in
two places, namely Dan. 9:25 and 26. This word is a title,
although it was used as an appellative (name) later on. Thus,
this word was faithfully translated as "Anointed Implement of
Yah" in the Old Testament and only in Dan 9:25 and 26 was its
Hebrew character retained in the transliterated "MessiYAH".
Likewise, we find that the Greeks also admitted their
transliterated form Messias in the Greek New Testament in John
1:41 and John 4:25.
Why then did they
introduce or use the word Christos in the rest of the Greek New
Testament? Even if they had preferred Christos to Messias, why
did our translators transliterate the word as "Christ"? Why did
they not transliterate the word, as was done in Dan 9:25 and 26,
as "MessiYAH", seeing that the Greeks had also accepted their
Greek transliteration of the word, namely Messias in John 1:41
and John 4:25? Ferrar Fenton's translation, The Complete Bible
in Modern English, used "MessiYAH" instead of "Christ" in most
places where the word is used alone, except when used as the
combination "Jesus Christ". Similarly, the New English Bible has
used "MessiYAH" in its New Testament in many places. The Good
News Bible has restored the word "MessiYAH" in no less than 70
places in its New Testament. The New International Version gives
the alternative "MessiYAH" in almost all places, by means of a
footnote. Dr. Bullinger in The Companion Bible, appendix 98 IX,
says, "Hence, the Noun (Christos) is used of and for the
MessiYAH, and in the Gospels should always be translated
'MessiYAH'". Also, Benjamin Wilson in his Emphatic Diaglott has
restored the words "Anointed" and "MessiYAH" in many places.
Yahowsha Himself said
in John 4:22, "For salvation is from the Jews," NASB. Not only
was our MessiYAH born from a Hebrew virgin, but also all of His
Saving Message, the teachings, "the root and fatness" (Rom.
11:17), the Glad Tidings, "spiritual things" (Rom. 15:27), "the
citizenship of Israel" (Eph. 2:12, Rotherham), "covenants of
promise" (Eph. 2:12), "the spiritual blessings" (Rom. 15:27, NIV
and TEV) - are all from the Jews! The Good News Bible, in its
rendering of Rom. 9:4-5 added the word "True" to the word
"Worship" to make it clearer. Speaking of literal
Israel, it read, "They are The
Mighty One's people; He made His covenants with them and gave
them the Law; they have the True Worship; they have received The
Mighty One's promises; they are descended from the famous Hebrew
ancestors; and MessiYAH, as a human Being, belongs to their
race." Read this passage in the NIV and
NEB
to.
These New Testament
texts irrefutable prove the Jewishness of our MessiYAH. That
well-known scholar of the Old Testament, as well as New
Testament, Prof. Julius Wellhausen, who in all his works
expressed his hatred towards Pharisaical Judaism, nevertheless
wrote the following bold words, "Jesus ... was a Jew. He
proclaimed no new faith, but He taught that the Will of God must
be done. The Will of God stands for Him, as for the Jews, in eh
Law, and in the other Set-Apart Scriptures that are classed with
it."200 Yahowsha could not have been known as Christos amongst
His people. His title was known as Mashiach in Hebrew and Mesiha
in Aramaic - to those who accepted Him as such, Matt. 16:16,
John 6:69 etc. This title is easily transliterated as
"MessiYAH", and is generally accepted, and has been accepted,
just like the Greek Messias. Why then have they not persisted
with it? Even if they wanted to translate it, why have they not
translated it as "Anointed", as was done in the English
translation of the King James Version's Old Testament?
Our research into
this matter has produced some revealing similarities between
Christos and certain pagan names and titles. F.D. Gearly,
writing in The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, vol. 1,
pp. 571-572, says, "the word Christos ... was easily confused
with the common Greek proper name Chrestos, meaning 'good'." He
also quotes a French theological dictionary which says, "It is
absolutely beyond doubt that Christus and Chrestus, Christiani
and Chrestiani, were used indifferently by the profane and
Christian authors of the first two centuries of our era." he
continues, "in Greek, 'e' and 'i' were similarly pronounced and
often confused, the original spelling of the word should be
determined only if we could fix its provenance (origin). ... The
problem is further complicated by the fact that the word
Christianos is a Latinism ... and was contributed neither by
Jews nor by the Christians themselves." He quotes various
scholars to support his proposition that the word Christianos
was introduced from one of three origins: (a) The Roman police
(b) The Roman populace (c) Unspecified pagan provenance
(origin)." he then proceeds, "The three occurrences of
'Christian' in the NT suggest that the term was at this time
primarily used as a pagan designation. Its infrequent use in the
NT indicates not so much lateness of origin as pagan provenance
(origin)." This almost sensational admission as to the confusion
and uncertainty between Christos and Chrestos, Christus and
Chrestus, Christiani and Chrestiani, is well documented and
shared and published by other scholars too, 201 as well as by
the Early Fathers: Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Lanctantius and
others.201 This confusion and uncertainty can only encourage and
encourage us to return to the only Source of Truth, the Word,
the Scriptures, before it was translated into the languages of
the pagans. Only then can we find peace in the truth of Yahowsha
being the Anointed, the One promised to Israel.
Who was this Chrestos
or Chreston with which Christos became confused with? We have
already seen that Chrestos was a common Greek proper name,
meaning "good". Further, we see in Pauly-Wissowa,
Realencyclopaedie, under "Chrestos", that the inscription
Chrestos is to be seen on a Mithras relief in the Vatican. We also
read in J.M. Robertson, Christianity and Mythology, p. 331, that
Osiris, the Sun-deity of
Egypt, was reverenced as
Chrestos. We also read of the heretic Gnostics who used the name
Chreistos.202 The confusion, and syncretism, is further
evidenced by the oldest Christian building known, the Synagogue
of the Marcionites on Mt. Hermon, built in the 3rd century,
where the MessiYAH's title or appellation is spelt Chrestos.203
Justin Martyr (about 150 C.E.) said that Christians were
Chrestoi or "good". Tertullian and Lactantius inform us that
"the common people usually called Christ Chrestos". Clement of Alexandria, in the same
age, said, "all who believe in Christ are called Chrestoi, that
is 'good men.'"203
The word Christos
could even have been more acceptable to the Krishna-worshippers,
because the name of Krishna was pronounced, and still is to the
present day, as Krista, in many parts of India.204Thus, we can
readily see that the word Christos was easier to convert the
pagans with than the word "MessiYAH", especially because of the
anti- Judaism that prevailed among the pagans. The syncretism
between Christos and Chrestos (the Sun-deity Orsiris), is
further elucidated by the fact of emperor Hadrian's report, who
wrote, "There are there (in Egypt)
Christians who worship Serapis; and devoted to Serapis, are
those who call themselves 'Bishops of Christ'."198 Serapis was
another Sun-deity who superseded Osiris in
Alexandria. Once again, we must not
falter nor stumble over this confusion among the Gentiles.
Rather, we must seek the truth, primarily from the faithfully
preserved Old testament Scriptures - see 2 Tim. 3:16, John
17:17, Ps. 119:105, Isa 40:8. We must worship the Father in
Spirit and in Truth, as well as His Son, Yahowsha the MessiYAH,
Who is sitting at His right hand. We do accept every word in the
New Testament, but we do desire to return to the original
Scriptures of the New Testament, as far back as we possibly can.
As previously mentioned, the Greeks changed Elijah into Helias
in the Greek New Testament, and the Helios-worshippers must have
been overjoyed because of their Sun-deity being assimilated to
the Elijah of the Scriptures. To avoid the confusion between
Helias and Helios, we should abide by the Hebrew "Elijah".
Likewise, to avoid confusion between Christos and Chrestos, we
should abide by the word Anointed - remembering that Osiris the
Sun-deity, amongst others, was called Chrestos. Mithras too, was
possibly called Chrestos (see above).
Source: http://www.isr-messianic.org/pubs/come_out.shtml
Historicity of Jesus
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (c. 69–140) wrote the following
in his Lives of the Twelve Caesars about riots which broke out
in the Jewish community in Rome under the emperor
Claudius:
"As the Jews were making constant disturbances at the
instigation of Chrestus, he (Claudius) expelled
them from Rome".
The event was noted in Acts 18:2. The term Chrestus also
appears in some later texts applied to Jesus, and Robert Graves,
among others, consider it a variant spelling of Christ, or at
least a reasonable spelling error. On the other hand, Chrestus
was itself a common name, particularly for slaves, meaning good
or useful. In regards to Jewish persecution around the time to
which this passage refers, the Jewish Encyclopedia states: "...
in 49-50, in consequence of dissensions among them regarding the
arrival of the MessiYAH, they were forbidden to hold religious
services. The leaders in the controversy, and many others of the
Jewish citizens, left the city".
Another suggestion as to why Chrestus may not be Christ is
based on the fact Suetonius refers to Jews not Christians in
this passage, even though in his Life of Nero he shows some
knowledge of the sect's existence. Even discounting all these
points, this passage offers little information about Jesus
himself.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrestus#Suetonius
The Origin of The Word Christian
Paul put his Gnostic Christ Jesus in the forefront of his
preaching, and they [the early Gentile churches] can hardly have
done otherwise. It is no accident, indeed, that over time the
true understanding of this Divine Mediator as a Divine Concept
as the indwelling Logos as held and taught by the earliest
Jewish and Gentile believers to whom we look as the earliest
Christians were really "Chrestus-ians" instead. They held
completely opposite views concerning this Divine Mediator
between God and man than what the later "orthodox" Roman
Christians would hold as seen when they changed the name of
"Chrestus" to "Christ" and in so doing changed the Gnostic
"Christ" into a human being whom is known today as "the Christ"
and not "Chrestus". We lose completely by changing this name the
original concepts of the Logos, Sophia, Hochmah, Holy Spirit,
etc. Again over time and the manipulation of the words
"Chrestus" and "Christ" the adherents of the new faith were now
called and recognized as Christians" (Arthur Cushman McGiffert,
The God of the Early Christians, p. 44).
http://firstnewtestament.netfirms.com/origin_name_christian.htm
Suetonius on Chrestus
"Judaeos, impulsore Chresto, assidue tumultuantes (Claudius)
Roma expulit".
"Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the
instigation of Chrestus expelled them from
Rome" (Clau., xxv).
Suetonius, a Roman historian, lived A.D. 75-160. It has been
noted that Suetonius considered The Way as (Chrestus) to be
Roman rebels active in the days of Claudius, who reigned A.D.
41-54:
http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/~tomshoemaker/handouts/suetonius.html
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