Customer Reviews

The Archko Volume: Or, the Archeological Writings of the Sanhedrim and Talmuds of the Jews

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

In the 19th century there was a flood of genuine discoveries of ancient manuscripts containing hitherto unknown works from antiquity. This seems to have stimulated the production of numbers of bogus documents, targetted at various communities. The common motive was to get money: the intended victims of the hoaxes could be determined by the language used.

Most of these documents have vanished into history, with their target groups - 'Jesus in Tibet' enthusiasts and the like. The Archko volume is one that has not. It was first published in 1884 under the title "The Archaeological and the Historical Writings of the Sanhedrin and Talmuds of the Jews..." and repackaged, reedited and revised as "The Archko Volume" (2nd Edition) during the life of W.D.Mahan, its author (I have both a 1884 and a 1905 edition - Mahan died in 1906).

After some difficulty I procured a first edition. One document -'Eli and the Story of the Magi' has been omitted altogether from subsequent editions, without any mention of why. There is, of course, a good reason for this. Apparently the text is copied verbatim from the novel "Ben Hur" (publ. 1880). The rest of the material has been rearranged, although there is no mention of this in the preface. All copies with the title 'Archko volume' are versions of the second edition - the first does not have the preface in the same place.

I investigated the 'translators' McIntosh and Twyman, and found that they are not listed as the authors of any other volume in the US Library of Congress catalogue. There is no evidence that they ever existed.

The shelfmark given for the material by "Valleus Paterculus", as a Vatican Library shelfmark, is wrong, as this institution classifies its manuscripts by collection, not by author. Since I am interested in other Vatican MSS, I can vouch for this myself. In fact no manuscripts of any work by Velleius Paterculus exist anywhere in the world, as the sole MS of his real history was lost during the 17th century. Since he died in AD30, it naturally does not mention Christ.

A general discussion of some of these hoaxes is available:GOODSPEED, Edgar J., Strange New Gospels, Chicago: University of Chicago Press (1931), v+110pp. (There is a copy on the internet). It isn't very scholarly, and some of the judgements seem biased - New Testament Scholars enjoy a low reputation among Christians, and with good reason - but I have checked a number of the facts given and they seem to be correct. The rest must be left to the judgement of the reader.

The purpose of the hoax is plain - to make money from Christians living in rural areas of the US. As far as I know, it has not circulated elsewhere. It certainly was not targetted at unbelievers, or scholars, or even persons living outside the US, none of whom were at all likely to be taken in.

So what should Christians think? I was reminded of some wise words by the ancient Christian writer, Tertullian: "Manifold are the ways in which the devil has sought to undermine the truth. He is now trying to crush it, by pretending to defend it" (Adversus Praxean 1, 1). Spiritually this is a snare - inviting Christians to put their trust in something false, in the hope of convincing them, when the fraud is revealed, that the bible too is false. Commercially it is circulated for money, since its fraudulent nature has been known for over a century. If something seems too good to be true - it is. So is this.

First published in 1897, the Archko volume contains translations of a number of ancient legal reports and letters that are stored in libraries in Rome and Constantinople that confirm and add insights about the events of Christ's day. Also included are descriptions of how these documents came to light and were translated, other ancient documents that references these, and discussions of how some of the documents came to be in Constantinople.

Contents: > How these records were discovered > A short sketch of the Talmuds > Constantine's letter in regard to having fifty copies of the scriptures written and bound > Jonathan's interview with the Bethlehem shepherds-Letter of Melker, Priest of the Synagogue at Bethlehem > Gamaliel's interview with Joseph and Mary and others concerning Jesus > Report of Caiaphas to the Sanhedrim concerning the execution of Jesus > Report of Caiaphas to the Sanhedrim concerning the resurrection of Jesus > Valleus's notes-"Acta Pilati," or Pilate's report to Cęsar of the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus > Herod Antpater's defense before the Roman Senate in regard to his conduct at Bethlehem > Herod Antipater's defense before the Roman Senate in regard to the execution of John the Baptist > The Hillel letters regarding God's providence to the Jews, by Hillel the Third

The ancient documents contained in this volume may help convince those who harbor doubt about many of the events described in the Gospels. Some of the documents provide interesting details that have already inspired many believers.

Pilate's report to Rome recounts how he had first become aware of Jesus, watched him during his ministry and even sought to protect him for three years. He describes calling Jesus to meet with him, during which he warned Jesus to be "more circumspect and moderate" in his preaching because powerful forces were on the verge of rising up against Him. Pilate tells of his wife's warnings, recounts the fateful night when Christ's execution was ordered, how he tried to thwart the mob with legal and procedural arguments, the crucifixion and burial, how the priests asked for guards to be placed around the tomb, and how he ordered that Jewish soldiers be placed around the tomb so that the Romans could not be blamed were something to happen. After the resurrection, Pilate interviewed the two commanders of the guards, who told him that 100 guards were assigned to the duty. Ben Isham, a lieutenant, told Pilate that "...about the fourth watch they saw a soft and beautiful light over the sepulchre. [Isham] first thought that the women had come to embalm the body of Jesus, as was their custom, but he could not see how they had gotten through the guards. While these thoughts were passing through his mind, behold, the whole place was lighted up, and there seemed to be crowds of the dead in their graveclothes. All seemed to be shouting and filled with ecstacy, while all around and above was the most beautiful music he had ever heard; and the whole air seemed to be full of voices praising God. At this time there seemed to be a reeling and swimming of the earth, so that he turned so sick and faint that he could not stand on his feet. He said that the earth seemed to swim from under him, and his senses left him, so that he did knew not what did occur. [Pilate] asked him in what condition he was when he came to himself. He said that he was lying on the ground with his face down...."

Pilate's account continues, with more questioning of Isham, and concludes with statements that even Jesus' foes did not deny that He could and did convert water into wine, change death into life, heal the sick, calm the seas, and more. Pilate notes, "Now, I say, if he could do all these things, which he did, and many more, as the Jews all testify... I am almost ready to say, as did Manlius at the cross, `Truly this was the Son of God."

The first report of Caiaphas to the Sanhedrim outlines the rationale for the execution while the second describes the events following Christ's resurrection. In the latter, Caiaphas notes that all of the soldiers that Malkus (the captain of the guard around the tomb) had spoken with were convinced that Jesus was resurrected by supernatural power and was still living, and that the report was so generally believed that it was useless to deny it. Ciaiphas notes, "I regret that I had the soldiers placed at the tomb, for the very thing that they were to prevent they have helped to establish." Ciaiphas states that he was so disturbed after questioning officers and soldiers that he interviewed John, Peter, Mary and Joanna (the women who went to embalm Christ's body Sunday morning); he includes a summary of what he learned about Christ from them. Afterwards, Ciaiphas, in a "state of conscious dread" went to his room, locked his door and ordered the guards to let no one enter... "When I lifted up my eyes, behold Jesus of Nazareth stood before me. My breath stopped, my blood ran cold, and I was in the act of falling when he spoke and said...."-Well, you'll have to buy the book to find out what Christ told Ciaiphas.

I found the first 51-page section of the book a bit tedious, written in a 19th century style. Mostly it details the events surrounding the discovery and translation of the historical documents, both serving as a means of acknowledging contributions of others and attempting to validate, as much as possible, the ancient texts. But the historical documents themselves abound with information, insight, and are sometimes almost poetic-certainly inspirational, adding interesting details about Christ's outward appearance, Mary and Joseph's demeanor, and several of the events reported in the Gospels. At $10 to $15 (depending on the edition ordered), this book is well worth the price.

This book will touch the heart of every professed christian. It gives you a different look into the life of Jesus of nazareth. This book was written and based upon records from the days of Jesus and will keep you fastened to your seat. It does start off slow, however it is necessary to build a foundation of trust of how the this information was accessed. > I have read this book several times. Each time I am touched .... God bless

The supposed discoverer of these "ancient writings" was German scholar H.C. Whydaman. Rev. William D. Mahan, who paid to have them retreived (after which they were translated and published in 1886) by curator Father Freelinhusen of the Vatican Library, admitted them to be fake prior to his death. Near unanimous criticism by New Testament scholars that the work is an obvious fake has not deterred many believers. Please see Gordon Stein's book, Encyclopedia of Hoaxes.

Christianity is filled with writings that purport to be eyewitness accounts of Jesus' life. Many are forgeries, i.e., they are based on real traditions, but the writers put fake names on them to give them greater authority. The orthodox gospel of Matthew is one such example. Apocryphal writings of this kind have been surfacing for centuries with their "discoverers" often claiming to find them under extraordinary circumstances. The Archko Volume is one such work. The first edition revealed direct plagiarism from the novel Ben Hur, and this certainly cast doubt on everything else in the book. But there is still a mystery about it. Did the authors McIntosh and Twyman make up everything, or if they had created a collection of forgeries, were their writings still based on other documents? If so, what documents? Some Archko writings are intriguing; for example, people interested in UFOs will find remarkable passages here, and this in a book that was published in the late 1800's long before popular UFO awareness. The Archko Volume also contains my favorite apocryphal writing: "Gamaliel's interview with Joseph and Mary and others concerning Jesus" which presents us with an amusing account of Jesus as a lazy young man born of an ugly disagreeable father and a chubby mother who despaired that her son would amount to anything. Hardly the makings of a savior! Alas, New Testament scholars are right to reject the Archko documents since no trace of them have ever been found anywhere else, and the Ben Hur connection was an embarrassment, to say the least. Still, I give this book three stars for its fun value and for the little bit of mystery that it still provides.

This could be an entertaining story if it was presented as a work of fiction. Unfortunately it is presented as fact and much of it is copied from other works. For full explanation see: Wikipedia "The Archko Volume"

Not that it matters what one looks like, but in the Archko Volume you read what Jesus looked like from those who knew him, what his mother looked like and acted like, and even what His dad looked like (of course he was only his adoptive father). If I hadn't gotten this book at Amazon, I would have paid a lot more. If Mary were divine, wouldn't she have believed in her son? For a while she didn't. And Whom do you think was responsible for saving HER soul?

This is an incredible piece of work. I would love to obtain the complete volumes of these writings. Everyone should read this through @ least once.

It is so interesting to see the reports of other writers in the days of Jesus. The perspective of Jesus' impact on His family, of those that impacted His life and why they did what they did. I would definitely recommend this to Christians who are looking for a deeper insights into the life of Jesus.

This is really misleading. Why doesn't the book indicate that this book was a forgery? I feel bad for those people who take these materials at face value...