Post by shanestokes777 on Sept 9, 2019 18:27:57 GMT
JOSEPH BECOMES THE APOSTLE OF BRITAIN
ARRIVES ON THE SACRED ISLE OF AVALON
TAKING their farewell of Philip and the faithful in Gaul,
Joseph and the Bethany group of missionaries set sail for Britain
in company with the Druidic delegation. Reaching its shores the
illustrious band sailed up the waterway of the west, the Severn
Sea, until they came within sight of a lofty green hill, as Dean
Alford writes, "most like to Tabor's Holy Mount", known to this
day as Glastonbury Tor. They made their way up the estuary of the
Brue and the Parrot, arriving at a cluster of islands about
twelve miles inland from the coast. The most inspiring of these
was the "Sacred Isle of Avalon", its shores sheltered in apple
orchards.
The isle derived its name from Aval, Celtic for Apple, which
was the sacred fruit of the Druids, the emblem of fertility. Thus
its name applied a special symbolic significance to the spot
destined to become the Mecca of Christendom.
This was the manner of arrival of the Saints in Britain.
On this fruitful Isle of Avalon Joseph of Arimathea and his
dedicated companions were met by another assemblage of the
friendly British Druidic priesthood, King Guiderius and his
brother Arviragus, Prince of the royal Silures of Britain, and an
entourage of nobles. The first act of Arviragus was to present to
Joseph, as a perpetual gift, free of tax, twelve hides of land, a
hide for each disciple, each hide representing 160 acres, a sum
total of 1,920 acres.
This was the first charter given to any land to be dedicated
in the name of Jesus Christ, defining them as the Hallowed Acres
of Christendom, A.D.36. It was the first of many charters this
historic sacred spot was to receive, during its sacred existence,
from the kings and queens of Britain. We find these charters
officially recorded in the British Royal archives; many are
extant today, and over one thousand years later we find in
remarkable detail record of the original charter embodied in the
Domesday Book, on recognition of William I, first Norman king of
England, A.D.1066. Throughout the reigns of the British
sovereigns these charters were the means of settling state,
political and religious disputes in refusing to recognize Papal
authority, proclaiming Britain's seniority to unbroken apostolic
succession through its Bishops, dating from St. Joseph, the
Apostle to Britain, appointed and consecrated by the Apostle St.
Philip and, as we shall see, on orders arising from St. Paul, the
Apostle to the Gentiles. Incidentally, the British claim of
seniority was never denied by the Vatican Popes and was affirmed
by Papal statement as late as 1936.
With the chartered gift of land to the Josephian Mission,
Arviragus promised his protection. With his brother he led the
first army in battle against Roman Christian persecution as
Defender of the Faith, A.D.43. King Lucius, A.D.156, grandson of
Arviragus, who renewed and enlarged the charter, was baptized
many years earlier at Winchester by St. Timotheus, his uncle, who
then proclaimed him "Defender of the Faith". At this time Roman
Catholicism was not founded. It remained for the intrepid Queen
Elizabeth, lineal descendant of Arviragus, to make the
worldshaking declaration for the Reformation, when challenging
the threats of the combined forces of France, Spain and Rome, by
Pope Pius V, A.D.1570, to subject Britain to Roman Catholicism.
In her famous address from the throne she rebuked and
denounced Papal authority. Alluding to the charters, she
pronounced Britain's priority in the Christian Church. She made
it a royal decree for the sovereigns of England on their
coronation officially to take oath as the "Defender of the
Faith". Personally she declared, as her ancient ancestors had
done, that only Christ was the Head of the Church. Ever since, on
their coronation, the sovereigns of Britain have taken this oath,
as did the present Queen of the British Commonwealth, Elizabeth
II, on her accession to the British Throne, A.D.1953. On this
occasion the Roman Catholic Church petitioned for this oath to be
omitted. It was stoutly refused, stating the British Kingdom was
the Defender of the true Christian cause with Christ at its Head.
It is stated that following their disembarkation the
travellers made their way up the hill where it is reputed that
Joseph, weary from his travel, stopped to rest, thrusting his
staff into the ground. Tradition tells us that the staff became
part of the earth, taking root, and in time blossomed.
Historically it is known as the "Holy Thorn". From ancient times
it is referred to as a phenomenon of nature, being the only thorn
tree in the world to bloom at Christmas time and in May. It
endured throughout the centuries as a perpetual, living monument
to the landing of Britain's Saintly Disciples of Christ, and a
reminder of the birth of Jesus in far-away Bethlehem.
To this day this spot bears the name it received in Joseph's
time - "Weary All Hill".
For centuries the phenomenon of the blooming thorn was
looked upon as a miracle by the early devout Christians of
Britain and, as one could expect, the Holy Thorn provided
critical opportunity to the nineteenth-century scoffers. Modern
science shows their ignorance. Tree experts affirm it is not only
possible, but a natural process, under favourable conditions, for
such a staff formed from the limb of a tree to take root and
develop into a live, thriving tree. The strange blooming
propensity of the thorn tree at Christmas, as well as in May, is
something different, but one we can accept as an Act of God to
remind us of the fulfilment of Divine prophecy.
The Holy Thorn continued to be world famous for its strange
blossoming habit until the regime of Oliver Cromwell, A.D.
1649-60. During these years it was cut down by a fanatical
Puritan, when the Cromwellian desecration of holy places by his
blind, bigoted followers was in operation. But the sacred
phenomenon did not die. Its scion, already planted, lived to
thrive and bloom as had the mother thorn tree. It can be seen
today, a healthy, fertile tree, blooming gloriously at the same
appointed seasons, in the hallowed churchyard of St. John, at
Glastonbury, where the noble ruins of the Mother Church of
Christendom stand. Nowhere in the world is there another similar
tree enacting the same blossoming phenomenon. Its lovely
snow-white petals spread out like a beacon in the midst of dead
nature, its immaculate beauty looking skyward and mutely
proclaiming that God still reigns in the heavens. Other shoots
taken from this tree, and grafted to wild stock, bloom in the
same manner.
Within a mile of the Sacred Isle of Avalon was another
smaller island known as Inis Wytren, or Glass Island, a name some
claim derived from the pure glassy waters that once surrounded
it. Archaeologists provide the more probable answer. Excavations
have revealed that it was once a busy site of the glass industry
for which the ancient Britons were famous. Later the Saxons named
it Glastonbury, by which name it has continued to be known.
During the Saxon period the famed Isles ceased to exist. The
monks drained the land, making where the islands once stood a dry
plain, though it is yet below water level and swampy in wet
weather. Today as you wander among the noble ruins of the
glorious old Abbey, you cannot escape the feeling of entrancement
that touches your heart as you realize you are standing in the
centre of the hallowed twelve hides of land which the Silurian
prince deeded to St. Joseph and his twelve companions. The beauty
of the scene in this quiet little English town of Glastonbury,
encircled by verdant meadows, all part of the dedicated 1920
acres of Christendom, makes it difficult to get down to reality
and comprehend the fact that one is walking on the same holy
ground on which they trod; where they communed together,
including Mary, the mother of Jesus; the beautiful Mary
Magdalene; the Bethany sisters whom Christ loved; their brother
Lazarus; Peter and Paul, Philip and James, Trophimus, Mary
Cleopas and Mary Salome, Aristobulus, the father-in-law of Peter,
and Simon Zelotes, among a multitude of others, and where
tradition asserts that Jesus built His wattle chapel, where He
talked with God. Here countless pilgrims from all parts of the
world made their vows. Here illustrious converts were confirmed
and went forth into the world to preach the Word and die gruesome
deaths for the Christian cause. Here, for over a thousand years,
mighty kings bowed in reverence and were buried with the elect in
Christ, within God's Acre. You see embedded in the walls the
ancient weather-worn stone which has mystified so many, causing
centuries of controversy, mutely bearing the two sacred names,
"Jesus - Maria", first hewn and placed within the outer wall of
the original stone church by the hands of the faithful Saints.
You see the ruined Altar of St. Joseph of Arimathea and just
across the way the ancient cemetery which contains more famous
characters and more dramatic history than all the cemeteries in
the world put together.
These magnificent ruins of Glastonbury Abbey are the remains
of the beautiful church erected over the very spot where the
uncle of Jesus and our Lord's own disciples built their first
altar in a church of wattle, thatched with reed, as was the
custom of that time. This was the first Christian Church erected
above ground to the glory of God and His Son Jesus, dedicated to
the Blessed Mary, His mother.
Wattle was the common building material of the ancient
Britons, used in the construction of their homes, just as cabins
of log and mud and houses of sod were commonly built in the
colonizing years of America and Canada. Therefore Joseph and his
companions, in building the First Church of Christ of wattle, did
not employ unusual or inferior materials for the purpose, but
only that which was then of the common order. We find proof of
this in the book "The Church in These Islands before Augustine,"
written by the Rev. G. F. Brown, a former Bishop of Bristol.
Herein the Rev. Brown refers to the excavations of Arthur
Bulleid, L.R.C.P., F.S.A., at Godney Marsh, in 1892:
"This wattle church survived till after the Norman invasion
when it was burned by accident. Wattle work is very
perishable material and of all things of the kind, the least
likely would seem to be that we in the nineteenth
century should, in confirmation of the story, discover at
Glastonbury an almost endless amount of British wattle work.
Yet this is exactly what happened. In the low ground, now
occupying the place of the impenetrable marshes which gave
the name of the Isle of Avalon to the higher ground, the eye
of the local antiquary had long marked a mass of dome-shaped
hillocks, some of them of very considerable diameter, and
about seventy in number, clustered together in what is now a
large field, a mile and a quarter from Glastonbury. Peat had
formed itself in the long course of time, and its
preservative qualities had kept safe for our eyes that which
it had enclosed and covered. The hillocks proved to be the
remains of British houses burned with fire. They were set on
ground made solid in the midst of the waters, with
causeways for approach from the land. The faces of the solid
ground and the sides of the causeways are revetted with
wattle work. There is wattle all over, strong and very well
made. The wattle when first uncovered is as good to all
appearances as the day it was made. The houses of the
Britons at Glastonbury, as a matter of fact, as long
tradition tells us, and their church were made of wattles."
Soon after Joseph and his apostolic company had settled in
Avalon painstakingly they began to build their wattle church. It
was sixty feet in length and twenty-six feet wide, following the
pattern of the Tabernacle. The task was completed between A.D.38
and 39. To those who followed after every particle of clay and
every reed was held sacred. To protect it from dissolution it was
encased in lead and over it St. Paulinus, A.D.630, erected the
beautiful chapel of St. Mary's. It remained intact until the year
A.D.1184, when the great fire gutted the whole Abbey to the
ground and with it perished the structure of the first Christian
Church above ground.
The pattern of the wattle church was the model employed in
the architecture of all the early British churches and
perpetuated in many up to the present time. Within that humble
wattle church the first Christian instructions were given and the
first prayers and chants of praise to the glory of God and to His
Son Jesus rang forth over the Island. Sanctuary at last! Safe and
free from the persecution of the Sanhedrin and the tyranny of
pagan Rome, those faithful, fervent hearts taught the Gospel of
Love and Truth in all its original Christian beauty and humble
simplicity. Protected by the valiant armed might of the
invincible Silures, before whom the might of Rome was to tremble
and crumble, the Apostle of Britain and his noble companions
dedicated their lives and efforts in fulfilling the Word of God,
through the teachings of the crucified Jesus, in the quiet,
restful sunlight of the English vales.
British peoples the world over, Americans whose roots are
British, and Christians wherever they may be, should take a
heartthrobbing pride in this monumental event. No wonder England
is known as the Motherland to the world. Hers is the womb of
Christianity, out of which has sprung the world's most humane
democracies. Proudly they proclaim the source. America and
Britain are the only two nations that permit another flag to fly
above their own national standard and that flag is the Flag of
Christ - the Church Flag, more commonly known as the Flag of St.
George. By this act they proclaim to the rest of the world that
they acknowledge Christ and the Law of God.
Back of the little wattle church rose the great Tor, which
was a Druidic Gorsedd, or "High Place of Worship", a hand-piled
mound of earth vaster in its dimensions than the Pyramid of
Egypt. To this day the terraces that wind around the Gorsedd to
its summit can be traced. On such eminences the Druids had their
astronomical observatories from which they studied the heavens.
In this knowledge, Greek and Roman alike extolled the Druids as
the greatest teachers of this complicated science.
There are many who maintain that the reason for the
heartfelt, friendly welcome extended to the Josephian Mission was
because the Druids, simultaneously with the wise men of Persia,
had discovered in the heavens the Star of Prophecy, which
heralded the long-expected "Day Spring" that was to lighten the
world with the new dispensation - the glory of "The Star" that
should rise out of Jacob.
This could be so - prophecy has a strange way of revealing
itself - in which case, to the Druidic priesthood, the discovery
was but the revelation of the great event which they knew,
equally with the Israelites of old, was to happen. The astounding
fact is that whereas the Sadducean Judeans were never familiar
with the name of the Messiah, His name was known to the British
long before the memorable event transpired on Golgotha's Hill. It
was a name familiar on the lips of every Briton. The indisputable
fact is that the Druids proclaimed the name first to the world. A
translation from a reading in the ancient Celtic Triads is:
"The Lord our God is One.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be
ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the
King of Glory shall come in.
Who is the King of Glory? The Lord Yesu;
He is the King of Glory."
How the Druidic Priesthood knew the consecrated name so long
beforehand is indeed a mystery in itself. The name "Yesu" was
incorporated in the Druidic Trinity as the Godhead. In Britain
the name Jesus never assumed its Greek or Latin form. It was
always the pure Celtic "Yesu". It never changed.
The more researchers study the Celtic Druidic religion the
more astonished are they with its similarity with that of old
Israel. They taught it as a gospel of peace more faithfully than
did their brethren in Israel. Wars, hatreds, persecution and
family separation had never divided them as it had the Israelites
of Judea. To the members of the Arimathean Mission the British
environment must have appeared as a true haven of happiness after
all their bitter experiences.
To the Druids the advent of the Josephian Culdees was but a
confirmation of the Atonement. They did not need to take up the
Cross. It was already with them, a familiar symbol in their
religious rituals. The early British Christians never employed
the Latin Cross. Their Cross combined the Druidic symbol with the
Cross. Even today, the Celtic Cross appears on the peaks and
spires of many Anglican churches throughout the world. The
Druidic circle embracing the Cross is the symbol of eternity. The
Cross is the symbol of victory over the grave, through the
salvation bought by the vicarious atonement,
The merging of the British Druidic church with Christianity
was a normal procedure, peacefully performed. Those who state
that Christianity was bitterly opposed by the Druids speak
falsely. Nowhere in the Celtic records is there any mention of
opposition. The Druidic Archbishops recognized that the old order
was fulfilled according to prophecy, and with the coming of
Christ and His atonement the new dispensation had arrived. In
this light of understanding Druids and Judean Apostles marched
forward together firmly wedded in the name of Christ. It was
never marred with the persecution, bloodshed and martyrdom that
accompanied the teaching of the Christ Gospel in Rome. The former
President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt, truly said,
"All histories should be rewritten in truth." School history
books still erroneously teach that the Augustan Mission, sent by
(Pope) Gregory, A.D.596, marked the introduction of Christianity
into Britain. Actually it is the date of the first attempt to
introduce the Papacy into Britain. Therein lies both error and
confusion.
The Vatican has always been more emphatic in correcting this
mistake than have the Protestant denominations. Baronius and
Alford, the two foremost historians of the Vatican, each
referring to ancient documents in the Vatican Library, affirm St.
Joseph as the Apostle of Britain and the first to introduce
Christian teachings in the Island. The Popes also have
substantiated this statement.
In 1931 Pope Pius XI received at the Vatican the visiting
English Roman Catholic Mayors of Bath, Colchester and Dorchester,
along with a hundred and fifty members of "The Friends of Italy
Society." In his address to them the Pope said that St. Paul, not
Pope Gregory, first introduced Christianity into Britain.
This statement is quoted from the report made in the London
Morning Post, March 27th, 1931.
The Pope spoke the truth; in fact St. Paul was
authoritatively the first to deliver the Message from Rome,
though actually his appointed representative, Aristobulus,
preceded him. The important point to remember here is that St.
Joseph did not go to Britain from Rome. He went direct from
Palestine, via Marseilles, and preceded St. Paul in Britain by
twenty years.
At the Ecclesiastical Councils of the Roman Catholic Church
the religious representatives of each country were accorded
honour of place at the Council, in the order that each had
received Christianity. Due to the bitter envy some of the
countries bore towards the British they vigorously sought to
dispute Britain's precedence in priority but on each occasion
Britain's position was defended by Vatican authority.
Theodore Martin, of Lovan, writes of these disputes in
"Disputoilis super Dignitatem Anglis it Gallioe in Councilio
Constantiano," A.D.1517:
"Three times the antiquity of the British Church was
affirmed in Ecclesiastical Councila. I. The Council of Pisa,
A.D. 1417; 2. Council of Constance, A.D. 1419; 3. Council of
Siena, A.D. 1423. It was stated that the British Church took
precedence of all other Churches, being founded by Joseph of
Arimathea, immediately after the Passion of Christ"
The erudite Bishop Ussher writes in Brittannicarum
Ecclesiarum Antiquitates:
"The British National Church was founded A.D.36, 160 years before
heathen Rome confessed Christianity."
The founding of Christianity in Britain by the Josephian
Mission was truly the beginning of the British national Church.
Conversion spread rapidly through the Isles. It is recorded, A.D.
48, that Conor Macnessa, King of Ulster, sent his priests to
Avalon to commit the Christian law and its teachings into
writing, which they named "The Celestial Judgments". However, it
was not until A.D.156 that Britain, by the royal edict of King
Lucius, officially proclaimed the Christian Church to be the
national Church of Britain, at Winchester, then the royal capital
of Britain.
Quoting from Augustinicio Mission, A.D. 597, it reads:
"Britain officially proclaimed Christian by King Lucius, at
National Council at Winchester, 156 A.D."
Winchester was the ancient capital of Britain where its
kings were crowned for over fifteen hundred years. It was founded
500 B.C.
There is no lack of evidence among the earliest writers,
many of whom were citizens of nations hostile to Britain.
Confirmation of the facts by them and by prelates of a
powerful religion opposed to the British Church, cannot be denied
on any pretext.
St. Clement of Rome, A.D. 30-100, refers to the disciples in
Britain in "The Epistle to the Corinthians."
As we turn the pages of the Demonstratio Evangelica by
Eusebius, of Caesarea, we read the potent passage:
"The Apostles passed beyond the ocean to the Isles called the
Brittanic Isles."
(Lewis, "St. Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury;" also "Old
History of Ulster," Irish Tourist Bureau).
Tertullian of Carthage, A.D. 208, tells us that in his time
the Christian Church "extended to all the boundaries of Gaul, and
parts of Britain inaccessible to the Romans but subject to
Christ". Sabellius, A.D. 250, writes this important passage:
"Christianity was privately confessed elsewhere, but the first
nation that proclaimed it as their religion and called it
Christian, after the name of Christ, was Britain."
Origen, in the third century, wrote:
"The power of our Lord is with those who in Britain are separated
from our coasts."
The famed and benevolent St. Jerome, A.D. 378, writes:
"From India to Britain all nations resound with the death and
resurrection of Christ."
Arnobius, A.D. 400, adds his trenchant message, writing:
"So swiftly runs the Word of God that within the space of a few
years His Word is concealed neither from the Indians in the East,
nor from the Britons in the West."
Chrysostom, the venerable Patriarch of Constantinople, A.D.
402, potently pens in his Sermo De Utilit:
"The British Isles which are beyond the sea, and which lie in the
ocean, have received virtue of the Word. Churches are there found
and altars erected ... Though thou shouldst go to the ocean, to
the British Isles, there thou shouldst hear all men everywhere
discoursing matters out of the Scriptures, with another voice
indeed, but not another faith, with a different tongue, but the
same judgment."
In later years the confirmation continues undenied and
unabated.
Polydore Vergil, an eminent Roman Catholic divine, who wrote
during the denunciations and quarrels between the Pope and Henry
VIII of England: "Britain partly through Joseph of Arimathea,
partly through Fugatus and Damianus, was of all kingdoms the
first to receive the Gospel."
Another Roman Catholic leader, the Rev. Robert Parsons,
definitely states in his book "The Three Conversions of England":
"The Christian religion began in Britain."
Sir Henry Spelman, the eminent scholar, writes in his
Concilia: "We have abundant evidence that this Britain of ours
received the faith, and that from the disciples of Christ
Himself, soon after the Crucifixion."
And the famed Taliesin, A.D. 500-540, one of Britain's
greatest scholars, Celtic Arch Druid and Prince Bard,
forthrightly declares word from the beginning, was from the first
our teacher, and we that though the Gospel teaching was new to
the rest of the world it was always known to the Celtic British.
He writes: "Christ, the never lost His teachings. Christianity
was a new thing in Asia, but there never was a time when the
Druids of Britain held not its Doctrines."
Giidas, A.D. 520, Britain's foremost early historian, wrote
in his "De Exidio Brittannioe": "We certainly know that Christ,
the True Son, afforded His Light, the knowledge of His precepts
to our Island in the last year of Tiberius Caesar."
He also wrote the following most important statement:
"Joseph introduced Christianity into Britain in the last year of
the reign of Tiberius." ....
The last year of Tiberius's reign being his twenty-second,
would be, according to the respective calendars, A.D.37 and A.D.
38. Thus the general agreement that the Gospel was transplanted
to Britain within five years of the Passion is in accord with the
dates recorded.
(In actuality 7 years after the death and resurrection of Christ.
Interesting as the number 7 is an important number used in the
Bible - Keith Hunt).
To all this is added absolute confirmation that Joseph of
Arimathea was the one who first brought Christianity to Britain
and was the first and truly appointed Apostle to and of the
British.
Probably the statements quoted herein will appear revelatory
to many, particularly those saturated with the unreliable,
impotent theories of school-book historians. The references are
beyond dispute and are only a fraction of the mass available.
They substantiate the fact that Joseph and the Arimathean Mission
in Britain was known the world over, and in all cases accurately
reported long before the Roman Catholic Church was founded at
Rome. Later, when the Vatican had become established, Popes,
prelates and historians of the Roman Catholic See freely
confirmed the record.
From the dates given it will be seen that many of the
authorities quoted, both secular and ecclesiastical, lived before
and during the epochal period of our story. Others quoted lived
close enough to the era to be familiar with Britain and its
inhabitants. The everrising mass of confirmation from the turn of
this century to the present time is proof of the zealous research
of scholars and scientists in reaffirming the ancient truth and
lifting the curtain of error and misinformation which unqualified
and indifferent writers of the last century had clouded with the
unstable dogma of myth and legend. Undoubtedly they acted under
the influence of atheism which staggered religious belief during
the Victorian era, and to a certain extent still lingers to
mislead too many. The vicious invectives of the Higher Critics of
Germany are squelched along with the fraudulent distortions of
Darwin's treatise of evolution by Henrich Haerlik,
pseudo-scientist, nakedly exposed by the German Institute of
Science and the Lutheran Church, along with the destructive
interpretation of socialism by Karl Marx, from which Communism
has sprung. Today Communism gives the old propaganda a new dress
but it is the same villain, deliberately distorting the true
principles of the Western Democracies.
(We know from history that when the Roman church arrived in
Britain about 500 AD, it found Christianity already thriving, but
declared it to be "heresy" and "Jewish" Christianity, which over
a period of centuries the church of Rome obliterated the Celtic
truths of Christianity it received from Joseph and other first
century apostles, i.e the observance of the 7th day Sabbath of
the Ten Commandments - Keith Hunt)
The Britons of our Lord's time were no more barbarian, or
"painted savages", than are the modern English-speaking nations
"war-mad barbarians", as the Soviet press describes us.
Educationally the Celtic British ranked among the highest to
be found anywhere. Each city had its university apart from the
special Druidic seats of learning. In A.D.110 Ptolemy states that
there existed fifty-six large cities. Marcianus says there were
fifty-nine, and Chrysostom wrote, with the acceptance of the new
order of "The Way", a greater impetus was given to the erection
of seats of learning. To this great work the converted British
Prince Arviragus, then a young unmarried man, along with the rest
of the royal Silurian families in England and Wales, gave the
fulness of their support.
Quoting from the ancient British Chronicles, we obtain an
interesting picture of the conversion of Arviragus by Joseph:
"Joseph converted this King Arviragus
By his prechying to know ye laws divine.
And baptized him as write hath Nennius
The chronicler in Brytain tongue full fyne
And to Christian laws made hym inclyne
And gave him then a shield of silver white
A crosse and long, and overthwart full perfete
These armes were used throughout all Brytain
For a common syne, each man to know his nacion
And thus his armes by Joseph Creacion
Full langafore Saint George was generate
Were worshipt here of mykell elder date."
It is interesting to note in this verse that Joseph, on the
conversion of Arviragus, gave him as a sign for all nations to
know, "the long cross" as his coat of arms, then customarily worn
on the shield of the chieftain. This is the first record of the
cross officially becoming the symbol of a king. The reason is
plain. It was given to King Arviragus as a sign and declaration
that he was the elected Christian king, and of added interest,
given as the writer states long before St. George, the Patron
Saint of England, was born. This symbol, representing the Flag of
St. George and known as such today, was inherited from Arviragus.
Its religious significance is still dominant, being the accepted
Church flag of the present Protestant Church. Since the time of
Arviragus it has always been the Christian flag of the British
Church. Protestantism had nothing to do with it. Actually it is a
mistake to name all Christian denominations separate from the
Roman Catholic Church Protestants. The name arose out of other
religious sects appearing later in Britain, which protested
against the ritualism of the original British Church. In fact the
name applies to the religious sects still holding to the
Christian faith, who are known today as the Free Churches,
meaning free of ritualism of any kind. Up to, and during the
reign of Queen Elizabeth, there was only one religion in Britain.
Throughout the Isles it was known as the British Church and so
known to the rest of the world. It was also known as the Holy
Catholic Church and never Roman Catholic. When Elizabeth and her
Parliament struck back at the powerful forces of the Papal
States, France, Spain and Rome, the Papal See was so determinedly
denounced that a cleavage was created that left no doubt in the
minds of people for all time to come that the British Church, as
at the beginning, had no association with the Roman Catholic
hierarchy. Both the British Church and the State determined on a
reformation within the British Church to exclude anything and
everything that bore any comparison with the Roman Catholic
Church in Liturgy and in ritual. Certain Roman innovations had
crept into the British Church over the years. The order to reform
began, returning to the original concept. Therefore it was not a
protest, creating Protestantism, it was as the historic act
declares - a cleansing reformation of the British Church. Since
then the separation has been positive. The British Church was
still the national religion of the Isles. Shortly after, the
religion began to take on its own native national title, becoming
the Church of England, the Church of Wales, the Church of
Scotland, and the Church of Ireland, all holding the same
communion, all designating themselves as Holy Catholics as
separate from Roman Catholics. The word "Catholic" means
"universal"; thus Holy Catholic means a universal, holy,
Christian Church, with Christ alone being the sole Head of the
Church. The Roman Catholic Church designates itself as the
universal Christian Church of the Romans, with the Pope as its
head. This the British Church would never recognize. In the
United States of America, prior to the Revolution, the
established Church was the Church of England. Following the
Revolution, the name was changed to the Episcopal Church of
America of the Anglican Communion.
It is still so known, maintaining the original service and
communion of the Mother Church. The German Lutheran Church
service also observes a great similiarity. All the named churches
are Episcopalian, meaning a church government by bishops. In this
manner the original Christian Church was created by the Apostles,
who appointed Bishops to govern the Christian Church. The present
Mother British Church is the only Christian Church that has
maintained an unbroken apostolic succession of Bishops from the
beginning, with all the named Episcopal Churches sharing in this
distinction. Protestantism is claimed by many to have arisen with
the protests of Martin Luther against the abuses of the Roman
Catholic Church. In this case the word could be applied, for at
that time Germany had long been part of the Holy Roman Empire,
with the Emperor of Germany the appointed representative of the
Pope. Britain was never part of this Empire and never nationally
under the domination of the Vatican. It was from the beginning to
this day - British - the Church of the Covenant People.
(The author is very misleading on this point as he obviously does
not see or has not inquired enough into "church history" to
understand the Celtic or British church in relation to the church
of Rome. The Celtic church or British church was founded by
Joseph of Aramathea and those with him and also some of the
Apostles of Christ, 7 years after the death and resurrection of
Jesus. They were taught the truths of the Lord, which included
the observance of the 7th day Sabbath, and also among other
things the observance of the Lord's death on the 14th of the
first month in the Spring - what would become known in church
history as the "Quartodecimine" debate. The Celtic church started
off on the right track, with correct teachings and doctrines and
practices. By 500 AD when the church of Rome came to Britain, the
Celtic church had become corrupted in many ways from THE truth,
but still also maintained many truths, as 7th day Sabbath keeping
and the 14th memorial of Jesus' death. These two practices alone
led the church of Rome to called the Celtic or British church
"heretics" and followers of "Judaism." It was from 500 AD that
the battle of British theology with Rome got under way. Over a
period of centuries Rome finally won out and the British church
became in theology and practice more and more like the Roman
church, which the author of this study does not like to admit, or
he is just simply ignorant of the theological facts of history in
Britain as it unfolded through the centuries all the way up to
the so-called Protestant Reformation - Keith Hunt)
Christianity was founded in Britain A.D.36. The first
Christian Church above ground was erected A.D.38-39. The Roman
Catholic hierarchy was founded circa A.D.350, after Constantine,
and not until centuries later was the Papal title created. Until
then, the head of the Roman Catholic Church was still a Bishop.
The title of Pope, or universal Bishop, was first given to the
Bishop of Rome by the wicked Emperor Phocas, in the year A.D.
610. This he did to spite Bishop Ciriacus of Constantinople, who
had justly excommunicated him for his having caused the
assassination of his predecessor, Emperor Mauritus. Gregory I,
then Bishop of Rome, refused the title but his successor,
Boniface III, first assumed the title of Pope.
Jesus did not appoint Peter to the headship of the Apostles
and expressly forbade any such notion, as stated in Luke
22:20-26; Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians I:18; and I Corinthians
3:11.
Returning to the history of the cross as the Christian
symbol of Royal heraldry and given to Arviragus by Joseph, the
cross on the shield up to the present time has remained the
special symbol of the sovereigns of Britain. In later times the
Lion was superimposed on the shield, as shown today. The Lion was
the emblem of Judah, Keeper of the Sanctuary but, as Christ said,
it would be taken away from them and given to another who would
keep the Law. This symbol appearing on the British Royal Arms,
with the cross, is significant. The cross denotes that the
British were the first to accept Christ and by keeping the Law
inherited the Kingdom of God taken from the nation of the Jews.
Arviragus was to carry the banner of the Cross through the most
bitterly fought battles between the Britons and the Romans. In
spite of the fact that the early Christian and Roman records
abound with the name and warrior fame of Arviragus, he is
entirely lost to the later histories. His fame is overshadowed by
his famous cousin Caractacus. In spite of this, Arviragus was the
most powerful representative of the royal house of the Silures
and the most famous Christian warrior in history, not excepting
his illustrious descendant, the Emperor Constantine.
The royal boundaries of the Silureswere divided into two
sections. Arviragus ruled over the southern part of England and
Caradoc, or Caractacus, over Cambria, the region that is now
Wales. Each was king in his special domain but in time of war
they united under a Pendragon or Commander-in-Chief, agreed upon
by the people. At that time they represented the most powerful
warrior clan in Britain. Arviragus ruled as Pendragon, while his
cousin Caractacus was captive in Rome, conducting the war against
the Empire for years in Britain in a manner that gained for him
immortal fame exceeding that of Caractacus.
Juvenal, the Roman writer, in his works clearly indicates
how greatly the Romans feared Arviragus, stating that his name
trembled on the lips of every Roman, and that no better news
could be received at Rome than the fall of this Royal Christian
Silurian. He writes, asking: "Hath our great enemy Arviragus, the
car borne British King, dropped from his battle throne?"
Edmund Spencer adds his tribute: "Was never king more highly
magnifyde nor dread of Romans was than Arviragus."
Despite the fact that the Romans were the implacable foe of
the British, and sought by every means at their command in their
vicious hatred to exterminate the Christian faith at its source,
they held the British warriors in high esteem, holding that their
religion was the reason for their fearlessness in battle and
disdain of death.
Julius Caesar wrote, circa 54 B.C.: "They make the
immortality of the soul the basis of all their teaching, holding
it to be the principal incentive and reason for a virtuous life.
Believing in the immortality of the soul they were careless of
death."
(The Druids had much truth but error also, as in time all once
more purer religion goes.....it eventually over time is corrupted
in this way or that way. So was the Celtic or British church so
corrupted, and by about 1100 AD had been infused so much by the
church of Rome, it was hardly recognizable as the same Christian
religion of the first century AD - Keith Hunt)
Lucanus, A.D.38, writes in Pharsalia that the Britons'
indifference to death was the result of their religious beliefs,
and Pomponius Mela, A.D.41, in his works, describes the British
warrior in astonishment. He also ascribes the extraordinary
bravery of the Britons to their religious doctrine, based on the
immortality of the soul.
Such was the invincible spirit of the ancient Britons who
formed a living wall around the sacred boundaries of Avalon in
the domain of Arviragus. No Roman army ever pierced it. These
were the lands which Roman writers referred to as "territory
inaccessible to the Roman where Christ is taught".
Behind this heroic warrior wall of protection Joseph and the
disciples of Christ were safe from harm, free to preach and teach
the glorious faith on the Sacred Isle of Avalon. To the Britons
this was hallowed ground and they died willingly to preserve the
first planting of the Christian Way, so that it might thrive and
blossom to bless the whole world.
There was to be a second separate planting of the Christ
Seed in Britain about twenty years after Joseph's arrival.
Independent of the Josephian Mission it was also to be
sponsored by the Royal Silurian House, in Wales, by the father
and family of Caractacus, under the commission of St. Paul. It
originated at Rome, where this same family were to be the
divinely ordained instruments of St. Paul in developing his great
mission as directed by Christ. After contact with them he
declares it in his statement, "I turn henceforth to the
Gentiles."
This Royal British family at Rome were to provide the
Christian story with its greatest romance, its greatest drama,
and its most terrible tragedy.
They were destined to be the first martyrs to suffer for
Christ. Believe it or not, the British have paid the greatest
blood sacrifice in the Gentile Church and millions more were to
follow later, in the defence and for the preservation of the
Christian Church. The underground cemeteries of Rome, the
Catacombs, are packed with their tortured, murdered bodies - men,
women and children. The soil of Britain is saturated with their
blood, eternal testimony to their undying faith.
Knowing that Christ died for them, they were fearless in
dying for Christ.
..........
NOTE:
The true history of how Christianity came to Britain is there for
all to see if they will but only investigate the historical
records. But until lately historians were not willing to
investigate and announce the truth of the matter. They had been
blinded by the false teachings on the matter from the church of
Rome. Like the truth about the Vikings or Norse Men coming to
North America centuries before Christopher Columbus, only after
enough facts were shouted enough times, did modern historians
finally admit to the truth, and were willing to re-write the
history books.
Keith Hunt
To be continued with "Edict of 42 AD - 'Exterminate Christian Britain!'"