JESUS' DISCIPLES TO BRITAIN #6

 The Lost Disciples to Britain #6

Joseph of Arimathea comes to Britain

DRAMA OF THE LOST DISCIPLES #6

by George Jowett (1961)

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 world-shaking 

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 600 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 600 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 call the Celtic or British church

"heretics" and followers of "Judaism." It was from 600 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!'"