03x13 - Spies And Apostles Part 2

[bunniefuu]

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪ (upbeat music)

- What does it all mean?

This is where the archeology has been found.

Oh hi, how are you?

Oh, look at that.

I need a planter.

♪ From the mountain tops ♪

Trying to a belly button.

This a rock of salt?

♪ He digs for clues ♪

♪ In his dusty groove ♪ Look at that.

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪

No one gets into this but Noah.

Don't take me too far.

Now that's naked archeology.

♪ He's for his archeology ♪

♪ For his archeology ♪

♪ For his archeology ♪

(tape rolling)

This is a story of three men, (upbeat music)

who after the crucifixion of Jesus

fought a power struggle for the leadership

of a movement that would one day become, Christianity.

This is a story of how that battle was won,

how it took one of them to die,

to make up the mind, of one of the others.

And how, as usual, it all depended on a woman.

(tape rolling) (upbeat music)

That woman was Queen Helena from a place called Adiabene,

on what is now the border of Iraq and Jordan.

The first century historian Josephus,

records that she converted to Judaism,

around the time that Jesus was crucified.

(lightning cracking)

Josephus says that she moved to Jerusalem,

and she gave enormous funds to the Jewish temple.

But one archeologist thinks that story

is only partially right.

Robert Eisenman believes that Helena

was not converted to Judaism,

but to James's version of what would be called Christianity.

His version entails strict Jewish adherence to the law,

yet open to Gentile followers.

- I'm not talking to you as your brother now,

wasn't I chosen a head of the zealots in this village?

- Eisenman has put together (upbeat music)

pieces of an ancient puzzle to prove his theory.

If he's right, it would change our understanding

of how things played out in the years

right after the crucifixion. (playful music)

(exploding)

First, the story of James. (tape rolling)

- I'm a patriot and a zealot. (drum rolling)

(gentle music)

- Most people don't know much about James,

but it's right there in the book of Acts.

He was the Jesus appointed leader of the movement

after the crucifixion.

And, the big stars like Paul (dinging)

and Peter reported to James, (dinging)

not the other way around.

Jesus' brother James was the boss.

After the crucifixion, James stayed put in Jerusalem,

remained true to Jewish law,

and was a patron of the poor people of the city.

(gentle music)

Jerusalem at that time, was under the boot

of the Romans, (pattering)

and they were keeping a close eye on James.

- We'll clean out this nest of vipers.

(clattering)

- [Narrator] So if a rich queen

(dinging) was backing James,

the Romans would have been plenty worried.

(cracking) (pattering)

But did it really happen?

Archeology has now revealed an amazing clue.

(upbeat music)

We are in the city of David, beneath the Temple Mount

in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Recently, archeologists uncovered

the Palace of the now obscure, Queen Helena.

Built exactly where the poor people

that follow James, would have lived.

It seems to back up Eisenman and his belief

that Helena converted to James's brand

of Judaism for Gentiles. (clapping)

- What you're looking at down here is an area

where the palaces, of Queen Helen very sumptuous palace,

and one of her sons named Monabases, and his descendants,

were living at the time of the uprising against Rome.

- In a way by situating her palace in the poor area,

she's saying, "I don't wanna be with the rich people

"who are sucking up to the Roman occupation."

- No, no absolutely.

These are the freedom fighter.

This is the bastion and center of the w*r against Rome.

And right in the center of it, is the Helen family.

- And the conflict itself, (upbeat music)

how can it be defined?

- [Narrator] Think of it,

like the US and the USSR in the cold w*r.

In the first century, Helena's country, Adiabene

was a buffer between Rome and Parthia.

Two superpowers divided right on the border

that Queen Helen controlled.

And here she is living with the poor in Jerusalem.

And Eisenman believes,

following the religious teachings of Jesus's brother.

But what's his proof? (tape rolling)

- Is it true? (upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Eisenman has juxtapose the book of Acts,

the Dead Sea Scrolls, and historical texts

to build his case, and for Eisenman, they all spell, James.

(playful music) (rustling)

Let's start, with the book of Acts.

Acts and are associated with James.

Here he speaks to non-Jews, or Gentiles

and tells them that they do not have to be circumcised

or follow Kosher Law.

- It must be true.

I saw it in this book right here.

- Well, Josephus records (slow music)

that Helena's sons were not circumcised.

Possible evidence that Queen Helena's family

did not convert to Judaism,

but to James's version of Christianity for Gentiles.

Then, Eisenman found a letter in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The scrolls were discovered in

in caves along the Dead Sea.

They include, some of the oldest Biblical texts ever found.

(whooshing)

One fragment called MMT by scholars

contain ideas and words associated with James

in the book of Acts.

But in the scrolls, it's a letter written to a king

by an anonymous writer. (slow music)

Eisenman believes, that writer was James.

- The minute I saw it I was smacked

right in the middle of the eyes,

by the fact that MMT contained themes

of materials associated with James in the book of Acts, and-

- A letter by James? - Right.

But it talks about, the good of you,

your own good and the good of your people,

as if this is a foreign king.

- So you're saying this is a letter to a king.

- Right.

- That king, is the King of Edessa.

- Right.

- And this is the final piece (upbeat music)

of Eisenman's puzzle. (playful music)

Edessa, was right next door to Queen Helena's Adiabene.

And the King of Edessa's favorite queen,

was, you guessed it, Queen Helena.

While Helena may be an obscure figure,

the King of Edessa's story is well known.

Because as it turns out, there is an ancient

Christian tradition, that he is the first king

to convert to Christianity. (upbeat music)

According to this tradition,

the King of Edessa wrote a letter to Jesus

asking Jesus to heal him, of an illness.

Jesus responded (tapping)

that He would send one of His apostles

after His death and resurrection.

(upbeat music) (tapping)

The King of Edessa was healed and converted.

Was it James who did the miraculous healing?

- He's well learned in the law.

- [ Eisenman's pieces seem to fit.

It seems like the same story

is being told by the archeology, the book of Acts,

the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Josephus.

For Eisenman, (soft music)

although James stayed true to Jewish law,

he was a world player,

a converter of kings and queens.

Eisenman says, that when she moved to Jerusalem

Queen Helena pitched her tents, among James's followers.

If we could zap back through time

and walk to those passages behind you

and meet those people. - Right.

- You think if we asked them, "Who was your leader?"

A lot of them you think would say

James- - James the righteous one.

(gentle music)

- If Queen Helena and her husband,

had converted to James's Jesus Movement for Gentiles,

a new picture of James emerges.

He wasn't some big player,

he was Rome's public enemy number one.

The leader of the Jesus Movement,

and the converter of strategic kingdoms.

This sets the stage for the conflict

with two other key players,

Paul and Peter. (dinging)

This conflict would determine

whether the followers of Jesus

were to remain a Jerusalem-based Jewish sect,

with some gentle followers

or a mighty Rome-based religion.

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪

We've now heard a pretty convincing case

that James the brother of Jesus,

was running the show from his tiny base in Jerusalem.

And he wasn't selling falafel,

what he was doing is converting kings and queens.

In fact, some historians now believe

that James's rising power was a thr*at

to the number two guy in the Jesus movement, Paul.

(upbeat music)

He was born Saul, in five or CE

in what is present day Turkey.

He was a Roman citizen, but Jewish educated.

He was actually a persecutor of the early Jesus followers,

(siren blaring)

until he set off on the road to Damascus,

where a resurrected Jesus appeared to him.

He commanded Saul to lead the world in a brand new religion

that would one day, become Christianity.

Saul, changed his name to Paul

and began converting thousands.

Today, he is considered to be the guy

who brought Christianity to the western world.

How did he do it?

- He says in Corinthians, "I run the race to win.

"That's how I fight, not b*ating the air.

"I'll be a Greek to the Greek, a Jew to the Jew

"a Torah keeper to the Torah keeper,

"a Torah breaker to the Torah breaker.

"I'll do whatever I have to do to win."

In other words,

it's the old philosophy of American football,

'win baby, just win'.

Winning is the only thing. (upbeat music)

- [Narrator] If winning was the only thing for Paul,

some experts believe Paul may have even turned

to the other side, in his obsession

to b*at James. (thumping)

m*llitary historian Rose Mary Sheldon

thinks Paul was a spy, sent by the Romans

to infiltrate the Jesus Movement.

And she's created a spy checklist, to prove it.

- Watch what he does. (somber music)

You'll see his actions, not necessarily his words.

See who he associates with.

Paul is always surrounded by Roman officers,

Roman governors, people of wealth.

Aspires to take on many identities.

Not just a change of a name,

but it could be the change of your appearance.

You have to be able to move

between one (indistinct) and the next.

Those are good skills to have

if you're in the intelligence business.

- Paul did have different aliases.

He did flip from enemy to friend of Jesus's followers,

and his version of Jesus's message,

turned Christianity (dramatic music)

from an anti to a pro-roman movement.

If James was converting kingdoms

to his revolutionary brand of Christianity,

that would have been reason enough for the Romans,

to send a double agent to infiltrate Jesus's followers

and pacify the movement. (gentle music)

Paul first surfaces as an apostle,

as opposed to a persecutor in Antioch, in modern day Turkey.

Where tradition holds,

that the first Christians worshiping in these caves.

I'm here, scholar of religion, Barrie Wilson.

People don't realize, when we're sitting here in a cave,

where Paul may have worshiped.

- Paul may very well have worshiped

here along with many other people.

- Peter. - Peter, Barnabas, Titus,

and a whole host of other people.

- They might have sat exactly where we sit.

- Right here.

- [Narrator] Here, Peter and Paul had a big blow up.

The issues they fought about (thumping) (dinging)

are hard for a modern day Christian to understand.

Basically, they were arguing whether the followers of Jesus,

including the original Jews should circumcised or not,

eat kosher or not.

And Paul was talking about throwing away the rule book.

It's a curious act that raises the suspicion

about which side Paul was on.

- People tend to blend Paul

in with the rest of early Christianity.

And that's a fundamental mistake.

The origin of Paul's religion is different,

it's in a vision, not the historical Jesus.

His beliefs are different,

they are focused upon the dying, rising Christ,

and his practices are different.

He stands outside of Judaism

by advocating not following the Jewish law.

And that's significant.

These are so significant differences

that Paul really created a new religion.

It is separate from the religion that Jesus

taught, practiced and encouraged.

- And here at Antioch, (upbeat music)

Peter's watching all this

trying to decide who to side with, James or Paul.

All the while it seems that he too was a spy.

Except he wasn't working for the Romans,

he was reporting to the rabbis.

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪

We know that James represented

the Orthodox Jewish Jesus movement.

Paul, well, he represented the Gentile version

going easy on Jewish law, and then there's Peter.

At first he seems to be sticking to James and the Jews.

(whooshing)

Next thing you know (upbeat music)

he's eating non-kosher food, with non-Jews.

Even Paul who's converting non-Jews,

tears into Peter for that one.

Why the flip flop?

Wasn't Peter the rock upon which Jesus built His church?

Isn't the Vatican built over his grave?

Let's recall what the Christian Gospels tell us.

Peter was a fisherman named Simon,

who met Jesus at the Sea of Galilee.

A man who Jesus nicknamed Peter, meaning 'rocky' in Greek.

- And on this rock I will build my church.

- [Narrator] Jesus also correctly predicted

that Peter, would deny him three times

before the crucifixion. (upbeat music)

How could he be the rock on the one hand

and deny the Christ on the other?

- I can't explain it even to myself.

- [Narrator] Maybe Peter was a waffler,

a kind of rocky waffling.

But some historians think

there may have been a deeper reason

for Peter's indecisiveness.

Some think that Peter was sent

by the Jewish religious leaders

(dramatic music)

to keep Paul very far away from Jews.

- That's it, that's it.

- [Narrator] That they were afraid

that by getting Jews to dump the Torah,

the five books of Moses,

Paul would spell big trouble for Judaism.

So they sent Peter into Paul's ranks to make sure

that Christianity and Judaism (thunder clapping)

broke once and for all.

This controversial theory (gentle music)

comes from a book called the "Toldot Yeshu".

It first surfaced in the sixth century,

and some scholars think (papers rustling)

that it may have been based

on the lost gospel of the Hebrews.

In it, Peter pretends to be a Jesus follower

to protect Judaism.

It's a radical idea.

I'm meeting historian, Israel Yuval

from the Hebrew University.

- The story itself tells about, a decision

made by the, Jewish scholars to ask Peter

to become a kind of double agent,

to accept Christianity, to become a follower of Jesus,

and to change Christianity from inside.

What disturbed them was the threats from inside,

the possibilities that there could be a Jewish sect,

which follows Jesus.

And now, by being a double agent,

Peter turned Christianity to be a non-Jewish religion

and that's why, the rabbinic counter version

regarded him so positively.

- But if everyone at the time

knew that Peter was a kosher eating Jew,

how does the New Testament explain his transition

into a bacon eating, ally of Paul?

Well like Paul, Peter seems to have had a revelation.

In the book of Acts, Peter is told

that all food is kosher. (burbling)

And all people who fear God, (crowd cheering)

including the hated Romans, are also kosher.

(sizzling)

So Peter ends up, eating bacon and eggs

with the oppressors of his people.

Did Peter really have this vision?

Or was this the cover story of a double agent?

(screeching) (clattering)

And here's another shocker,

according to Jewish tradition,

as Peter left his beloved Judaism to join Paul's movement,

he composed one last prayer, which is still being said,

in every synagogue on every Sabbath.

It's called, the "Nishmat Kol Chai".

It's addressed to the God of Israel

and it includes the following line:

"There is no God but You."

Few Jews know that it may have been penned

by the first pope. (mumbles)

So the plot thickens. (upbeat music)

James holds the fork in a Jewish-based, Jesus camp.

And then there's Peter.

He was waiting to see who's gonna be the winner,

James or Paul.

He was comfortable with James, not so comfortable with Paul.

And as long as James was in charge,

he was going along for the ride.

And then there's Paul, (clattering)

he's on the road, working the Gentiles.

Then, the dramatic turn.

In AD, James is clubbed, (gentle music)

stoned and dragged to his death

on the orders of a Jewish High Priest

working for the Romans.

Incredibly, the m*rder of James brother of Jesus

does not even receive a mention in the New Testament.

We know the story, from the historian Josephus.

Why is his martyrdom

covered up? (screaming)

The answer to that question reveals a new layer

in the spy, counter-spy story, of the birth of Christianity.

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪

(upbeat music) (tapping)

Quick quiz.

The Book of Acts is supposedly the history

of the early followers of Jesus.

How many references to Paul?

.

How many to Peter?

.

And how many to the brother of Jesus, James?

Three.

- Now the weird thing is, the book of Acts.

The book of Acts is a book of Christian history, right?

But it misses the most important events

in early church history.

It misses the election of James.

- So Acts is writing James out of history?

- Right and the end of Acts, guess where Acts ends?

AD with Paul, under loose house arrest in Rome

free to come and go however he pleases.

Acts doesn't even tell us how he dies.

Yet, James's stoning in AD

that is covered in Josephus for us, is left out of Acts.

Now, how can you understand that?

Why would Acts miss,

the election of, and the death of the most important

character in early Christianity?

- [Narrator] James lost, (gentle music)

Paul won.

But there's an interesting (engine revving)

archeological epilogue to the story.

(upbeat music)

I'm in Rome, at the cathedral which tradition holds

is the final resting place of Paul.

- We are in the Basilica code,

the same pole outside the walls.

Actually, this is the second important Basilica

built in the city of Rome.

And it was constructed on the top of a simple tomb.

In fact, simple tomb is still

under the main altar of this Basilica.

- According to tradition,

Paul was beheaded by the Romans around AD,

or maybe he was never k*lled at all,

and he was just retired by his Roman handlers.

In AD, the first church was erected here in his memory.

But for years people doubted

that Paul was actually buried here.

Then in , the Vatican announced

that it had found a marble sarcophagus, under the church.

The sarcophagus is not available for public viewing,

and most pilgrims pray here.

Assuming that it is right beneath the altar

in front of them, but it's not.

It's tucked away, on the other side of the altar.

Here, the Naked Archeologist got exclusive access.

And sure enough, there is a sarcophagus here.

When I stuck the camera into the crevice,

we could clearly read, the Latin equivalent of Paul,

apostle and martyr.

It says apostle and martyr.

I think that was amazing.

I mean, did anybody ever get that before?

(whooshing)

- Think, incredible thing. - What?

(chuckling)

Nobody- - Nobody could know

because it's very unusual.

- It feels great, got a scoop.

That's wonderful.

So Paul, (upbeat music)

he got his marble sarcophagus in the whole Cathedral.

Peter, well, he got the whole Vatican.

As for James, he got nothing.

He's all but forgotten.

It all seems like Shakespearean court intrigue,

too incredible to be true,

except for some compelling evidence

buried under years, of theological spin.

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪

♪ From a tall tall land ♪

♪ He makes no apologies ♪

♪ For his archeology ♪

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪

♪ From a tall tall land ♪

♪ No apologies ♪

♪ For his archeology ♪