Economic Origins of Christianity

Kirill Kolikov

1.

As an economist, I know that money underlies any political event. But economy is
influenced by the human psychology. Just the psychology prompted me many years ago
to study economic aspects of what had happened 14 Nisan 781 from the founding of
Rome...

Having read the gospel in my teens, I was astounded by the disgusting scene, which
Jesus had made in the temple of Jerusalem. This sudden and seemingly unreasonable
burst of aggression is totally contrary to Christ's personality and sermons.
Christ overturned the tables, shouted and cursed... Later it would be called
"driving the traders from the temple". But historians know well that no traders
were ever in the temple of Jerusalem simply due to lack of place for them. But
there were money-changers sitting in the square in front of the temple. If it were
somebody else who had done this act of vandalism, he would be considered a
hooligan. Imagine that today somebody rushes into the church, crashes the tables
where candles and religious literature is sold, and shouts: 'Traders, clear out
from the temple!' - how would you take it? The same way Christ's actions were
perceived by his contemporaries.

Why did not they kill Christ immediately for such a blasphemy? only because 12
robust guys accompanied him and some of them were armed? Why did Christ conduct
his raid just at Passover while he had seen these traders' tables many times
before and calmly passed over?

These questions gave me no rest, and I engaged into investigation.

2.

The economy of the Ancient World was not much simpler than the modern one. But in
order to understand hidden causes of the death of a vagrant Judaic preacher, who
originated one of the world religions, we must grasp some aspects of the financial
system of the Roman Empire.

Speaking in modern terms, Christ became prey of business monopolies, because he

demanded of them to stop currency speculations based on inflation and to start
investing into productive sectors of economy. Christ was killed by big money.

Due to geology, it turned out that gold was mined mostly in the East while the
Apennines were rich in silver. Therefore 1 g gold cost 12.6 g silver in Rome, but
4.7 g silver in Jerusalem. Sooner or later somebody had to profit by it...

Judea was the only province of the Roman Empire that was allowed to coin its own
money; some restrictions existed though: the Judeans could mint only special
religious coins - shekels. The point was that Roman coins had Pagan inscriptions
and images on them, and therefore, according to the Judaic religion, were
forbidden to be brought into the temple. But donations had to be made. Therefore
the levites (Judaic priests) asked Rome to allow them minting their own coin.
Don't think bad of it, we don't want to mess with the finances of Rome! The
purpose is only religious!

Shekels were exchanged in front of the temple, at the tables, which Jesus crashed.
A shekel was a huge golden coin, equal to 20 Roman denarii. At Passover each adult
Jew had to donate one half-shekel to the temple; it was a kind of local tax.
In addition to the Roman governor, Judea was ruled by the Synedrion, a sort of
religious parliament. There were two parties in it: the Sadducees and the
Pharisees. Drawing an analogy to the modern politics, the Sadducees were
fundamentalists, while the Pharisees adhered to a more moderate, even mildly
liberal, position.

The Pharisees were pragmatics and therefore controlled the exchange tables at the
temple doors: money always comes to pragmatics rather than fanatics. The money-
changers did not like the Sadducees for their narrow-minded fanaticism, but
supported them financially - just like some present-day kings of business, who are
funding the Communists.

The Sadducees bearded the Western occupants, switching the people's anger from the
Pharisees to the Romans. The Sadducees sympathized with the Zealot terrorism. They
defended the traditional values, which were eroded with the Western cultural
contagion... So the Sadducees declared the Romans to be guilty of all the Judean
problems. The Western imperialists are robbing the poor East!

...But really the things were just the contrary.

3.

The things were the contrary. The pragmatic Pharisees exchanged silver for gold in
Jerusalem at a rate of 4.7:1, loaded this gold on ships and went to Rome, where
gold was exchanged back for silver but at a rate of 1:12.6; then the silver was
brought back to Palestine... The Wall Street can't even dream of so profitable
currency transactions! And what did Rome do?

It's often said that luxury destroyed Rome. And this is a bitter truth. Taxes were
properly collected in all the provinces. But Roman officials failed to save up the
gold reserves. Gold was melted into adornments. Also touring artists made easy
money in Rome, but, leaving for home, exchanged Roman silver coins for gold.
Gladiators (and the beasts they fought) were also bought for gold.

Almost all Roman aristocrats lived on credit. But who were their creditors? Mostly
the Jews were - the Pharisees, who made business on the exchange tables of the
temple.

So, the public debt was growing; Rome drove to a catastrophe. Emperor Tiberius
understood it and tried to fight the financial leak-away: restricted alcohol
trade, banished artists from Rome, closed down expensive restaurants, tried to
restrain prices by decree. This all led to nothing good, of course: inflation
galloped, black market flourished, tension in the society grew. Authorities
irritated at the Pharisees, whose speculations harmed the economy, aristocrats got
angry at the usurers and at Tiberius and his restricting decrees. Such a situation
is not far from a plot...

And a plot aiming to kill Tiberius really was organized. At the head of it Lucius
Aelius Sejanus was - the prefect of the Praetorian guards; now we would say
Commander-in-Chief.

Here a digression must be made. Sejanus's plot was in 30 CE. Formerly Christ was
considered to be crucified in 33 CE, but modern historians move this date three
years back, just in Nisan 30 CE, the time of the conspiracy against Tiberius.
'Throw Tiberius into Tiber!' - this was a slogan of the plotters.
But Sejanus needs support in case of a probable civil war. He writes to his friend
Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea. Pilate agrees, but he has a problem: he is
not sure whether his legions are willing to fight for the pretender. They earn in
Judea much more than in Rome, because of the disparity in gold-silver exchange
rates. What the hell is the reason for them to want back to Rome!?

So, some money must be given to the legionaries. But where to get it? Pilate is an
ordinary Roman official, living on his salary. Where can he find such huge money
to bribe the whole legion? But he knows where. Once he had already taken funds
from this source, and then hardly justified himself for it.

4.

Jerusalem had a rusty sewerage system. Streets were stinking. Pilate had been
writing to Rome many times, asking for funding to repair it, but the capital was
deaf to his requests. The local Jewish authorities also were stingy, claiming the
sewerage to be under Roman authority. But, if an epidemic struck, they would curse
the occupants for poor sanitation!

Then Pilate dared to take money from the temple treasury by force. He used it for
enormous works: repairing the sewerages, building water supply and bath-houses. Of
course, the priests flooded the authorities in Rome with complaints: 'Temple
plundered! What a blasphemy!' Pilate was called to Rome to appear in the Senate.
But he had what to reply: 'Gentlemen, there was shit floating in the streets!
Legionaries suffered from dysentery! And also I've built new bath-houses!'

At that time the senators excused Pilate: 'Yes, bath-houses are more important
than the aborigines' temple!' But now Pilate can't repeat the same trick. It will
be known in Rome soon that he has taken the temple treasures again. So he must
think hard how to explain it.

5.

Pilate lived in Caesarea, the capital of the province of Judea. Only at Passover
he came to Jerusalem, to bring gifts from the Roman Emperor to the temple. And
just in his presence, at 400 m from his residence, such a crying outrage happened:
a young man crashed the exchange tables near the temple. Surely, it became known
to Pilate in a moment.

Pilate is not a fan of aborigines and certainly not a liberal. Once he sent, by
request of the levites, heavy cavalry on the crowd listening to a heretic vagrant
preacher Theudah. The cavalry trampled down the aborigines. Why does Pilate now
feign that nothing has happened? According to the laws, the death penalty is
provided for such deeds, but sentences to death must be approved by the Roman
authorities.

Pilate does not react, because the young man shouts an interesting slogan: "Give
to Caesar what is Caesar's", and shouts it certainly expecting Pilate to hear.
Pilate understands that the demonstration is organized specially for him, and it's
against those whom he hates to the innermost of his heart - the Pharisees and the
Sadducees. Pilate's silence has a justification: 'There were no insults at the
Emperor, and I don't care about your religious clashes. Don't you ask me about the
death penalty for the hooligan?' Indeed, for some reason the levites don't ask to
sentence Jesus to death. They even have not arrested him. Why do they hesitate?

According to the Roman laws, Pilate must personally talk with Jesus before
sentencing him to death. And such a conversation is what the levites are afraid
of.

What did Pilate know about Christ at that time? He knew that Jesus was a
professional preacher, with charisma and some sympathy of the locals. Christ did
not support the Zealots. From rumors, Christ's real father was not an old
carpenter Josef, but a Roman soldier Pandira. So, Pilate could feel some respect
to Jesus, who was a half-Roman and whose ideas were advantageous for Pilate's
policy...

6.

So, Jesus wants to meet with Pilate, even risking to be sentenced to death for it.
Why?

Jesus is not blind. He sees clearly what is going around. He sees growing
irritation of Rome against financial speculations of Jerusalem. He sees Pilate's
anger at the Zealot terrorists killing Roman citizens, burning houses and
poisoning wells. He sees a widening abyss between the levites living in luxury and
common people hungering in misery. The only one, who somehow keeps order in the
city and the country, is Pilate, the damned occupant, a cruel governor hated by
everybody.

Christ understands: it can't end well. Sooner or later the tension will bloodily
discharge. By the way, it really happened so. In some years after the crucifixion
of Christ a revolt arose, but emperor Titus suppressed it and destroyed the
temple; that's to what Jesus alluded in every his speech.

As necessary Christ considers starting to invest the accumulated speculative

capitals into productive sectors of economy: vineyards, workshops, forges,
mines... It's enough of filling the pocket! The thesis that one should share one's
wealth runs all through the sermons of Christ.

At that time Jesus has already a party of his followers; he wandered in Judea not
in vain. Even in the Synedrion he has supporters among the most educated Pharisees
- Joseph of Arimothea and Nicodim. Christ's dream is to enter the Synedrion with
his party and to influence the financial flows: to stop the currency speculations,
to care about municipal services, to provide welfare for the poorest levels of the
population.

It's clear that the levites will not voluntarily let him in the Synedrion.
Especially because only members of the levite clans can sit there. But with
Pilate's help the plan to introduce a third party - Christ's one - into the
Synedrion can be realized. Pilate should merely write to Rome: here a very
advantageous gentleman has appeared, who needs to be included into the aboriginal
senate for the benefit of Great Emperor Tiberius, - and the question will be
solved; gritting their teeth, the levites shall have to obey. In exchange for it,
Jesus will "give to Caesar what is Caesar's": being a full member of the
Synedrion, he will be able to buy some exchange tables and to turn financial flows
for the benefit of Rome and Pilate.

7.

Surely, high priest Caiaphas, head of the Synedrion, immediately understood, to

whom the phrase "give to Caesar what is Caesar's" is addressed. So, Jesus is a
threat for the wealth of the temple. It's a risk to yield him to the Romans asking
for the death penalty. Usually Pilate does not take much trouble over approving
the sentences, but not in such a case.

Thus no other choice remains than to kill the guy without a fuss. But it's not so
easy. Firstly, Jesus has a talent of conspirer (we will make sure of it further).
Secondly, he really is guarded, and some of the apostles are armed. Peter, as we
know, always carried his sword (and finally would use it). Sword is a rare
privilege: only Roman citizens may be armed; the natives are put to death for it.
Even the temple guard has only wooden bludgeons.

So, Peter is a Roman citizen. How could a native of Judea get a citizenship?
Possibly he fought as a Roman mercenary. For example, in 19 CE Roman commander
Germanicus led a war in Cappadocia and Armenia. He hired mercenaries in nearby
provinces in the East. For services in battle a mercenary could get a Roman
citizenship. Apparently Peter was a good soldier.

Mercenaries served in cavalry, therefore Peter carried a long sword, which can't
be hidden under clothes. So, everybody in Jerusalem knows, that Jesus is
accompanied with armed men, and therefore trying to fall upon him with wooden
sticks is sheer madness.

What if Peter had a short sword nevertheless, and carried it illegally under the
clothes? It would be suicidal. The city is full of spies and informers watching
for everybody, and Roman patrols are everywhere. No, Peter must legally have a
sword and always carry the bulla - a certificate of Roman citizenship.

So, in the daytime Jesus appears only accompanied by a guard of former

mercenaries. He spends nights in suburbs, at villas of his rich friends. How can
one get him?

But then Jesus gives himself away!

8.

The Passover night is coming. Jesus asks his followers to go to the city where
they will celebrate Passover. He tells them to go to some house, to check whether
a jug is there; and if it's present, to tell the host some words. The followers
fulfill everything punctually. They go to the house, check the sign, and tell the
host the password - like in modern spy novels. And then Jesus and the apostles
come at the secret address. The host is also one of Christ's followers.

Jesus and the apostles drink and have fun for some time. But two men, Jesus and
Judas, are nervous. Christ says to Judas: 'Go and do what's intended.' Judas
leaves. A bit later Jesus offers to take a walk; nothing strange after drinking a
lot of wine. But Jesus leads them out of the city, to the garden of Gethsemane -
why?

And the main point: Judas has left before; he can't know where Jesus and the
apostles will go - if he really is a traitor, not an accomplice. But Judas leads
the high priest's men just to Gethsemane, where he admittedly gives Jesus up. So
the plan was worked out by them both.

It's easy to imagine what Judas told Caiaphas: Jesus and his men are drunk and
sleeping at Gethsemane; they will not show resistance; and the place is desolate.
Of course, Judas asked money "for betrayal"; unselfishness is suspicious.

So, it's night in the garden of Gethsemane, near Jerusalem. Christ is nervous, he
has just staked his life. Then Judas and Caiaphas's cutthroats come. Judas kisses
Jesus... Don't say that it's a treacherous kiss. No, it's a kiss of a friend:
'Stand firm! I've done what you asked!'

Now Peter puts his sword in use... If the temple guard came to arrest Jesus, there
would be no clash. 'You are arrested. Go!' - 'OK, I've been waiting for it.' It's
a peaceful variant of a legal arrest. But they come to kill Jesus, not to arrest
him. That's why the combat begins, ending with blood: Peter chops off an ear of
one of Caiaphas's men; his name is known - Malch. Jesus stops the massacre.

What has happened? A great trouble has happened to Caiaphas - a mass scuffle
ending with injuries, in the holiday night, the temple guard taken part; and the
most disastrous is that the natives attacked a Roman citizen! Surely Pilate in
person will investigate this case.

- What for the hell did you come with sticks there? - Pilate will ask.

- To arrest a blasphemer, Sir! It was not easy by day, they are tempered guys, but
at night, when they were drunk... So we tried to go without blood.

- And have you arrested him?

- Yes, Sir!

- So bring him here!

9.

Jesus is being convoyed to the city. Peter with his sword goes behind, just in
case. What if they try to kill Jesus "when attempted to escape"?

Christ is brought into Caiaphas's house and has got some blows. Peter does not
intervene. His role as a Roman citizen is to be the main witness. Somebody
identifies Peter: this is Christ's friend! But Peter disclaims: no, I don't know
him, I simply walked in the garden at night, then saw that a boy was going to be
thrashed with sticks and tried to defend him...

Was Peter frightened, as the author of the gospel supposes? Hardly so. Peter is a
war veteran; he has experienced much greater danger. With his sword he can
slaughter this unarmed townsfolk like sheep. But the situation becomes uncertain:
whether Peter is Christ's accomplice or really a casual passer-by, but in any case
he is a Roman citizen and they have nothing to do with him; he is not under their
jurisdiction. Therefore Peter can calmly leave: the situation has got out of
Caiaphas's hand, and Jesus does not risk to be killed for the moment - the whole
city is alarmed. Peter has done his part: Jesus is brought to the city alive.

After such scandal Christ is surely going to get to Pilate. The levites will ask
for Jesus's death, but they are Pilate's enemies; therefore Christ will become
Pilate's friend, especially because he has what to tell the governor. Jesus will
submit such a proposal that Pilate is unable to deny...

Christ was sure in his expectations, but there was an important thing, which he
could not know: Sejanus's plot against Tiberius, in which Pilate also took part.

10.
Pilate is not simply a plot participant. He is in time trouble. He promptly needs
money. Pilate has no time to realize Jesus's political agenda, which looks
interesting, but... Pilate has already said goodbye to Judea and is preparing to
send his legion to Rome, to support Sejanus. If it were not so, he would arrange
everything the best way: write to Rome, introduce Jesus into the Synedrion, then,
using him as a dummy, buy some exchange tables out... But it's no time for this.

What happened after the conversation between Jesus and Pilate is not exactly
known. The gospel narrates that Pilate sent Jesus to Herod Antipas. Why? Who is
Herod?

Herod is the king of Galilee and Parea, a European-style educated man. He grew up
in Greece and is used to imperial luxury. Herod lives in Tiberias, the capital of
Galilee. Is it possible that Pilate sent a prisoner there? Hardly. Most likely,
Herod, the same way as Pilate, came to Jerusalem on the holiday. Maybe Pilate
wanted to consult with educated, pro-Roman Herod? Particularly because Jesus came
also from Galilee...

Another evidence of those events came from Josephus Flavius, a Roman historian,
who had written the book "History of the Jewish War". It's told clearly there
that, after encountering Jesus, Pilate set him free, then met the high priest, got
30 talents of money from him, and ordered to arrest Christ again.

What did really happen? Pilate simply blackmailed Caiaphas: look out, I've found
no guilt of him, and now he's free and keeps on acting against you. Tomorrow I can
set him in the face of the crowd, and his supporters, including those in the
Synedrion, will say: "Here is the Messiah, whom we've been waiting for, who can,
with his wisdom, convince even an implacable enemy of the Jews!"

When Pilate betrayed Christ, it was a usual political action for him. But in that
case there was a gnawing in his heart. What did disturb him after such successful
deal? Maybe it was a thin thread of sympathy between him and the man from
Nazareth.

11.

Did Pilate really address to the people in the square with the question, whom they
want to be pardoned, as the gospel tells? It's quite possible. A lofty Roman would
feel himself in the dumps after committing a betrayal. Also, from purely pragmatic
considerations, Pilate did not want to lose such an advantageous figure. 30
talents are stored now in the fortress, Caiaphas can't take them back. So it's
worth trying to save Christ, especially since it's customary to release one of the
condemned. And Caiaphas would have nothing to say in objection: the people decided
so!

There were four men to execute: Jesus - for blasphemy, two Zealot terrorists, and
Barabbas - an ordinary thief. Pilate addressed to the crowd with praises to Jesus,
naming him the king. But Caiaphas was also not a novice; he knew well the
mentality of his nation. The levites had worked on the crowd, and it shouted:
"Barabbas! Give us Barabbas!" Pontius gritted his teeth. (Although maybe the
people were not persuaded by the levites, but simply could not excuse Jesus for
his scandal in the temple.)

Having learned about the failure of their plan, Judas despairingly throws the
money, received from the high priest, over the fence of Caiaphas's house, and
commits suicide, understanding that he will forever hold an indelible shame of
betrayal, because the only one, who can justify him in the eyes of the apostles
and descendants, is going onto Golgotha now...

12.

But Pilate feels ill at ease. He does not want Christ's death. Dead Christ is
needed for Caiaphas, not for Pilate. It's not frequently so that the events are
going against the governor's will. Pilate is angry. He orders to make a wicked
joke: to nail on a tablet "The King of Judea" to the cross - knowing that it will
be offensive for the Jews. The levites ask to remove it, but Pilate harshly
denies.

The Zealots, Dismas and Gestas, are carrying their cross by themselves, but Christ
is not. The Roman soldiers, whom probably some special instructions about Jesus
were given, have found a man named Simon. This Simon carries Christ's cross.
Later, already crucified, Christ asks for a drink, and a Roman soldier gives his
flask to Jesus. What a concern for a prisoner condemned to death!

Time played a malicious joke with the Synedrion. It's Friday afternoon. The Jewish
Shabbat, when nothing is allowed to be done, comes soon. But the criminals should
not be left on the cross! So, they must be buried just on Friday. But they would
not die in time! A crucified is dying for several days; this kind of execution was
purposely invented for longer torments.

However, some ways to hasten the death exist, for example - nailing on the hands.
In the hot weather dirty nails cause sepsis in some hours, and the crucified dies
soon. But, contrary to the later icons, Christ was not really nailed on to the
cross!

Another way to make one die sooner is to cut arteries of the legs; one dies of
blood loss in that case. Dismas and Gestas had their arteries cut, but not Jesus.
The motivation was strange: he seemed to be already dead! Why? A Roman soldier
poked him with a spear, some blood appeared, and this was a reason to declare
Christ dead. It's odd. Soldiers are just those who must know that the dead don't
bleed!

But the Zealots were really dead. Their corpses were thrown out. But Christ's body
is given to his followers, Nicodim and Joseph of Arimothea, members of the
Synedrion. They carry the body to Joseph's garden and wrap it up with a cloth
imbued with aloe. It can be the process of embalming, but also a usual bandaging:
aloe is a well-known antiseptic. Christ is laid into a crypt; where else should a
"dead" be placed?

Caiaphas understands that he was duped. He rushes to Pilate: what's the matter?
the money were taken, but the criminal is alive! Pilate shrugs his shoulders: I
don't know, I was told that he's dead, I also was surprised that it happened so
soon. But, if you don't believe, you can set your guard at the crypt.

Surely Pilate is jeering. What for a guard can be on Shabbat, when the true
believers stay at home and can't do anything!? Despairingly Caiaphas asks Pilate
to set a Roman guard at the crypt.

But it's just what Pilate needs. A guard had been set, but the body disappeared.
When the levites ask, the legionaries answer that they fell asleep and did not see
anything...

Do you believe that a Roman soldier can sleep on duty? Do you believe that a Roman
soldier having been sleeping on duty can confess to it? The death penalty is
assigned for sleeping on duty!

But where is Jesus?

13.

Most likely, Jesus is in Herod's palace. Christ was living for a year there. It
was a strange year in his life; the whole gorgeous palace was in his disposal, he
could communicate with his friends and with intelligent, educated Herod. However,
at the same time, it was a year of total creative inactivity.

But, before getting under house arrest in Herod's palace, Christ could travel free
for some time. Knowing that he's wanted by Caiaphas's guards, he changed his
appearance and so met with the apostles. The point was that Pilate still had not
determined what to do with Christ. The governor did not know when to march off
with his legion to support Sejanus. Something strange was going on in Rome...

...Anti-Jewish riots happened in Rome mostly at the times of economic crises.

Tiberius usually did not give in to people's fury. Quite the contrary: he saved
the most talented Jews, sending them to public service in the provinces. But his
struggle against luxury and fund wasting brought no results. Than Tiberius changed
his policy and started radical economic reforms. He dared to a repartition of
property.

Tiberius and the Senate issued two decrees concerning debts. The first decree
stated that all debtors must immediately return 2/3 of the debts to the creditors.
The second decree ordered to convert 2/3 of usurers' capital to real estates. It
was not simply confiscation of property for debts. Tiberius achieved two goals:
the greatest debtors would no longer luxuriate in Rome and had to go home, while
the Jewish merchants would no longer lend money due to lack of free capital, and
had to care about their new property: squandering is not their custom.

But, together with this good news, bad news came from Rome: Sejanus's plot is
disclosed. How stupid it happened! Tiberius's grandnephew, Gaius Caligula, was
appointed the great pontific - i.e. the main priest, who can manipulate legions
with his prophecies. Gaius is Sejanus's enemy; the plot was postponed up to
sorting relationships with him. But a postponed revolt is a failed revolt. One
should not be tardy in such affairs.

While Sejanus kept on considering, the secret guards kept on watching. Sejanus was
arrested, and his accomplices too. Except Pilate, who got off with a reprimand:
his participation in the plot failed to be proved. He was only rebuked for not
informing about Sejanus's letters.

The failure of the plot changed all Pilate's plans. It turned out that he's not
going to march off with his legion. And this is a case for this guy from Nazareth
to become useful...

Not only Passover is celebrated in Judea. There is also Pentecost, Purim and many
more holidays. Every such day arouses agiotage at the exchange tables. But now
Pilate can blackmail the levites again with Jesus, who has become really dreadful
for them; he is now a living god, the arisen! With him Pilate can now throw these
old hypocrites out from their business!

14.
In order to take financial flows of the temple under control, Pilate needs a
Christian party. On Pentecost of 31 CE the apostles, led by Peter, come to
Jerusalem.

Peter and John appear in the square near the temple and give a speech. Peter is a
"deputy Christ" now; John is a young talent, who will write the Apocalypse a bit
later. What do they call for? They plan to build a financial pyramid! They call
the citizens to sell their property and to invest in the apostles. What's going
on?

Nothing strange: Pilate needs working capital for operations on the exchange
tables. Having understood that Pilate is going to take away the exchange business
from the Synedrion and using Tiberius's decrees, the levites begin to feverishly
buy citizens' property up. This suits the apostles well: citizens bring the gained
money to the apostles at high interest.

This leads to downright banditry sometimes. A married couple, Anania and Sapphyra,
sold their parcel and brought money to their new, Christian, Family. But they
concealed some money from Peter. When he got to know it, he killed them straight
near the temple! The reason was that they deceived the Family. It was a flagrant
crime even for that time of shocking changes. Look at these Christians! they began
with smashing in the temple and now are continuing with murders! Indignation was
so great that John and Peter were arrested.

But the apostles were celling not for a long time. As the scripture tells, an
angel came at night and set them free. Seemingly this angel was a Roman officer,
who came and cursed the locals out: what the fucking right did you have to detain
Roman citizens! that's no business of yours! it's an affair of state!

Then everything is going according to plan. Peter appoints some honest provincials
from the Christian party to care about the tables, which are seven at that moment.
Some theologians believe that it was something like tables where free food for the
poor was given, but it's stupid! People never are killed for free soup. The issue
was surely the exchange tables where the story had begun.

So Jesus's plan started to be realized. Peter launched his business and was
getting some working capital by promising high interest.

And what did Christ do at that moment?

15.

Probably by Pilate's order, Jesus together with the apostles comes from Galilee to
Jerusalem. But the question, why he is coming there, worries him. While forcedly
idling in Herod's palace, Jesus certainly saw that Peter became the real leader of
his church.

But Peter's actions did not correspond to Christ's aims. Jesus planned a social,
juridical and economic reform, not simply a property redistribution between the
Pharisees and Pilate. Naturally, Jesus had argues with Peter, which are reflected
in the gospel. The issue was their old friendship and ideals; what's more
important: their dreams - or money and power; especially since Peter was evidently
tempted by the latter.

We don't know to what an end their argument came. We know only that Jesus did not
return to Jerusalem, and that Peter was an unrestrained and ambitious man...
Pilate had to deal with Peter. Probably it even made him glad, because Peter was
more predictable. Arisen Jesus was dangerous not only to the Pharisees, but also
to Pilate. So it's unknown whether Peter killed Jesus himself, or Pilate organized
Christ's assassination.

Emperor Tiberius died with natural death. Caligula, who succeeded him, exiled king
Herod to Gaul, where he died some years later, and retired Pilate, who also moved
to Gaul and spent there the rest of his life.

Caiaphas remained the high priest for four years, then retired, and there is
nothing known about his last years.

All personages of the gospel died in the 1st century CE. History kept on going its
way...

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"Ogonyok" magazine, #39, 1999.

Kirill Kolikov
Translated from Russian by Milchar