Apollonius of Tyana : The Monkey of Christ? has as its core premise the following hypothesis, which this book will attempt to prove.

After some months, Apollonius and Damis left "India" and returned to Babylon and Ninevah, where they undoubtedly visited the family of Damis, on their way back to Tyana. The year was 27 CE, and Apollonius was thirty years old. Damis' family might have just returned to Ninevah from Jerusalem. Whilst on their way home, they'd have passed by the River Jordan and seen John The Baptist calling the people to revolution against Rome and "baptizing" all his new cadres. The return of a Messiah had been predicted for centuries, and many thought that John The Baptist himself was the one intended. The singular objective of them all -- Apollonius, Damis, John The Baptist, the Elkhasaites and the Kristosite Revolutionaries -- would have been the end of Roman rule in their territories.

Apollonius and Damis obviously decided to check this out on their way back to Tyana, so they put on some new linen garments, resupplied their provisions and set out walking to Palestine. When they arrived at the River Jordan a couple of days later, John was haranguing the troops and calling for others to join him in his revolution.

Assuming, as we do, that "the Jesus Christ" was none other than Apollonius of Tyana, then ipso facto it would imply that the "Messiah" who was baptized by John The Baptist was Apollonius.

What is baptism? Today it is the symbolic washing away of one's sins and the devoting of one's life to the service of, primarily, "our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to redeem us from sin."

John The Baptist is the first person in recorded history to use baptism on as large a scale as he did. He adopted the ritual from certain ancient Jewish practices, which were only occasionally used.

John The Baptist had a "mission" : to alert the world to their perverted ways and call for "revolution" by a "Messiah" whom he predicted would soon appear to help guide humanity from its abject state of degradation, the sewers to which it had sunk under the Herod Family and the early Roman Emperors. The "mission" of John The Baptist was a lot more than just a "religious movement." It had enormous political overtones, and for these "subversive activities" John The Baptist was eventually executed.

The fact that John is called "The Baptist" is because he is famous in religious history as being the first one to use this practice on a systematic basis. However, he did not use it as a method of washing away one's sins. When someone went up to John The Baptist and asked to be baptized, that person was showing all the other followers of John that this person, too, symbolically united him/herself with John's movement and the laws and aspirations of the Jewish people. It was a public demonstration of loyalty to John's ideas.

Thus, Apollonius, and probably Damis, showed solidarity by being "baptized." Since Apollonius had always been a friend of the birds, it is not surprising that a bird might by chance have landed on his shoulder at the baptism. John The Baptist would immediately have thought that this handsome, mysterious, cosmopolitan ascetic was the perfect "Messiah," the perfect "symbolic leader" of the revolt. After all, Apollonius himself had been speaking out against the evils of the Roman Empire since childhood.

Apollonius was thirty years old. He was one of the most handsome men of the times in which he lived. Because he did not shave or cut his hair, he looked different from the common man. Undoubtedly, when Apollonius and Damis arrived at the River Jordan revolutionary headquarters, they probably looked very handsome and urbane. Because they were vegetarians and so forth, they must have looked extremely healthy compared to the common man and been quite impressive figures to suddenly appear on the scene, "out of nowhere." All the secret knowledge of "India" was fresh on their minds, right at their fingertips. They must have had an air of self-confidence that one can only begin to imagine.

"What do you think, Damis? Should I do it?"

"Why not, Apollonius? Aren't you secretly eager to demonstrate some of the powers that you learned from Iarchas and the Indians?"

"You know me too well, Damis! Let's remain for a while and see what happens."

"I am at your service!"

The revolution heated up. King Herod got the hots for the wicked Princess Salome. By now John The Baptist was a real revolutionary threat to Rome, and this "Messiah" who had suddenly shown up on the scene was not making the situation any better. Somewhat reluctantly, because he realized the adverse political implications of his act, King Herod had John The Baptist arrested and thrown into prison. That done, Herod decided to host a lavish, gala banquet at the palace. Princess Salome was in attendance at lecherous, diseased King Herod's side. She seduced him into beheading John The Baptist and bringing his head on a platter to the banquet table. Then she danced before the eyes of the dead John The Baptist.

Apollonius was furious about this latest madness by "the puppets" of Rome. He adopted John The Baptist's cause with renewed enthusiasm. The time arrived to take the Jewish Temple back from the Romans. Apollonius and Damis and a large entourage rode into Jerusalem on donkeys, waving palm leaves. There were riots in the Temple; Apollonius barely escaped with his life, and Damis was arrested for rebellion, thrown into prison and sentenced to crucifixion the following Friday. The situation now called for extreme measures, which Apollonius had never anticipated.

The course of these events had simply spun out of control for Apollonius of Tyana. Certainly the telepathic minds of Iarchas and the other sages were in touch with him at this juncture, supplying him with comforting "mental advice," as they'd assured him that they would always do. Apollonius had a choice : abandon Damis to the Romans or die alongside him on the cross. He chose to sacrifice himself as well.

Apollonius summoned his "inner circle" to his Upper Room. They plotted their strategy. Judas Iscariot agreed to "betray" Apollonius to the Romans on Thursday night. Thus, his trial would be scheduled for Friday; and if crucified, he, along with Damis, would be off the cross by sundown, possibly surviving the ordeal. Co-conspirator Joseph of Aramithea provided an empty tomb, one that was to be used by himself when he died. That night, Judas "betrayed" Apollonius in the Garden of Gethsemene.

The next morning Pontius Pilate looked intently at Apollonius of Tyana, who was wearing his crown of thorns.

"Do you speak Greek?"

Apollonius nodded. "Of course, I speak Greek. I am Ionian."

"Ionian? Really?"

"Yes."

Pontius Pilate glanced at a Roman general standing by his side. He whispered something in the general's ear. The general shrugged. Pontius Pilate looked back again at Apollonius of Tyana.

"Crucify him! Crucify him!" shouted the Sadducees who were gathered below the governor's palace, witnessing the trial. "Free Jesus Barabbas!"

"Silence!" ordered the Roman general.

Pontius Pilate smirked at Apollonius of Tyana.

"But -- art thou King of the Jews?" he questioned sarcastically.

"Thou sayeth," replied Apollonius.

"I sentence thee to crucifixion at noon." Then he turned to the Roman general. "Bring me a bowl of water. I'll wash my hands of this latest 'Messiah.' And let Jesus Barabbas go free."

By noontime, Apollonius and Damis were hanging on the cross. Damis, fearing that death was near, cried out to Apollonius who comforted his friend. At mid-afternoon, they "died." Perhaps, by chance the sky darkened. The earth rumbled. It began to rain. People were scurrying around. The Roman soldiers were in a bad mood, because the crucified bodies had to be taken down from the crosses in all that rain and mud.

There is a book titled The Jesus Conspiracy : The Turin Shroud & The Truth About The Resurrection by Holger Kersten and Elmar R.Gruber, published in 1994. The following is a quote from Part Three, "The Secrets Of Golgotha", which is one of the best and most logical debunkings of the Resurrection that I personally have ever seen. To read the entire 48-page section from this book, click on this link : THE SECRETS OF GOLGOTHA.

"According to John (19:33-5) one of the soldiers drove his lance into Jesus' thorax, and some blood and water flowed out. Luke and Matthew are no help to us on this point, because neither of them mentions this event. Mark, however (15:44-5), gives us an interesting clue. Pilate, surprised that Jesus was already dead, summoned the centurion, who confirmed the death, and Pilate then released the body of Jesus. The centurion is the same one who, moved by the events during the crucifixion, praised Jesus as the true Son of God (Mark 15:39; Mark 27:54; Luke 23:47). Who was this centurion?

"In the apocryphal 'Acta Pilata' he is called Longinus and presented as the captain who supervised the Crucifixion. According to a tradition testified to by Gregory of Nyssa, Longinus was said to have later become a bishop in his Cappadocian homeland. This change of heart may mean that he had some connection with Jesus and his followers before the Crucifixion, or was even a secret follower of Jesus. This would make many of the problems about the events during the Crucifixion understandable. Joseph of Aramithea, Nicodemus and the centurion Longinus were among the secret followers of Jesus. Since they held influential positions, they were informed well enough in advance about what the revolutionary exposure of Jesus was leading to. Joseph was highly respected as a member of the Sanhedrin. Since the second century BC this had been the high council of the supreme Jewish authorities for all affairs of state, judicature and religion. In consisted of seventy members under the chairmanship of the high priest. Nicodemus, who was initiated by Jesus under cover of night (John 3:1-22), was also a Jewish councillor. Thanks to their positions Joseph and Nicodemus had surely been kept well informed about the time and place of the execution and were thus able to plan the rescue of their master. We hear an echo of the advance information given to Nicodemus in a highly revered hagiographical legend of the Middle Ages. It tells how Nicodemus, in a letter sent to Mary Magdalene, warned Jesus about the attack by the Jews, when he was in Ephraim (John 11:53f).

"Joseph and Nicodemus knew that the Crucifixion itself could not be avoided. But if they could manage to take Jesus down from the cross early enough, and everything was well planned, it would be possible to keep him alive, and he would probably be able to continue his mission unobserved. It was crucially important to the whole operation that the apostles were not involved. They had gone into hiding for fear of persecution. Nothing would be done against the respected councillors Joseph and Nicodemus or the Roman centurion. So for a limited period there was a chance that the daring operation could be carried out successfully."

It is more than just coincidental significance that the conspiratorial centurion who assisted in this "plot" was a Cappadocian like Apollonius, and a man who later became involved in the dissemination of this "new religion." If a non-Jew like Apollonius were hanging naked on a cross in the center of Jerusalem, then his uncircumcised penis would be a dead giveaway that he was not a Jew. Thus, it is not surprising that the Jews themselves mocked him or that other uncircumcised non-Jews like Longinus would have come to his assistance.

Apollonius and Damis, by now unconscious and very nearly dead, were removed from the cross and hauled away to Joseph's tomb. The others worked throughout the night, cleaning them up and making sure that they survived. Apollonius recovered faster than Damis; and two days later, wearing fresh linen garments, he walked out of the tomb and was spotted by Mary Magdalene, who assumed that he had "risen from the dead." She hurried away to tell everybody about it.

When Damis finally regained consciousness and was told that Apollonius had also survived, at first he didn't believe it. He was "doubting" this until at last Apollonius appeared to him and showed him his wounds.

Apollonius and Damis hung around Jerusalem for a short while longer. Then Apollonius performed one of his disappearing acts that he'd learned from the Indian sages. He vanished before the very eyes of Damis and a group of followers, who assumed that he had ascended into Heaven. Damis was the only one who knew the real truth. He immediately left for Tyana to rejoin Apollonius there. Those who were left behind continued their revolution against Rome, now conducted in the name of this "Messiah," this "Anointed Savior," "the Jesus Christ."

Thus, it is not at all surprising that this "failure" in the life of Apollonius was not mentioned by Damis in the scrap-book. Nowhere did Damis write that he and Apollonius travelled to the Holy Land. It seems to have been the singular place they deliberated tried to avoid. But why would they have wished to remember such a land? Why else would they have so pointedly stayed away from it in the future?

In this regard, it is well to recall that in 69 CE, when Roman Emperor Vespasian wanted to consult with his friend Apollonius, who'd just arrived in Alexandria, Apollonius refused to go to Jerusalem, requiring that Vespasian travel to Alexandria. According to Philostratus, Apollonius "declined to enter a country which its inhabitants polluted both by what they did and by what they suffered."

Then finally, after Vespasian's son General Titus sacked and conquered Jerusalem in 70 CE, the remaining Christian population fled in safety not to other closer towns and cities but to Tyana, Cappadocia, the country of Apollonius. Eventually there, they made Tyana into "the Christian Capital of the World," because Tyana, not Jerusalem, was the center of regional Christianity. This simple fact alone speaks volumes.