Gospel of Holy Twelve

There is disagreement among the modern Essenes and Nazarenes about some of the claims
made for The Gospel of the Holy Twelve, now re-translated and titled, The Gospel of the
Nazarenes.

I am an ordained minister of The Essene Nazarean Church of Mount Carmel and a teacher for
The School of the Prophets, its educational branch. When the questions were first raised within
our group of modern Essenes and Nazareans, I felt it was my duty to investigate and attempt to
definitively answer the questions and resolve the disagreement. I expected to demonstrate that
The New Testament was nothing more than a re-writing of The Gospel of the Nazarenes by the
early church fathers with edits and additions that fit their doctrinal preferences. I was
convinced that they had removed all references to vegetarianism and feminine pronouns in
order to promote the doctrines that remain in mainstream Christianity today which are based
primarily on Paul’s letters. So, I set about to find support that could prove that thesis.

What I found was not what I expected to find. The issue remains open for some of my brother
and sister Essene/Nazarenes; for me it is settled:

1. The Gospel of the Nazarenes, quoted by early Church Fathers, is yet to be discovered. It
appears that its destruction was ultimately complete unless copies are still held within the
Vatican archives. They aren’t talking.

2. The Gospel of the Holy Twelve was not the original from which came the King James
Version. It is the copy. Those who composed it not only wrote it in the style of the King James
Version, they copied much of it directly from KJV.

I would like to explain how I’ve come to those conclusions.

Virtually all serious biblical scholars agree that Mark’s gospel was the first to be written and
that Matthew and Luke used it as the foundation for their gospels. In other words, Luke and
Matthew took many of the stories and parables from Mark’s Gospel and simply re-worded them
and rearranged them, adding additional stories, many of which also came from a single source,
referred to as “Q,” and still undiscovered. With this understanding it can be demonstrated that
the authors of The Gospel of the Holy Twelve had a copy of the King James Version before
them as they created their text.

Gospel of the Holy Twelve, Lection 57:5:

“How think ye? If a man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not
leave the ninety and nine and go into the mountains and seek that which is gone astray? And if
so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more over that sheep than over the ninety
and nine which went not astray.”

Matthew KJV:

18:13: “How think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he
not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone
astray ?” 18:13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep,
than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.”

Had the authors of GH12 stopped with this story of the lost sheep, their claim of it being the
original gospel might not have been disputed. Clearly, Lection 57:5 and Matthew 18:12-13 are
exact duplicates. Someone copied someone verbatim in the same grammatical style. But who
copied who?

The answer to that question comes from the fact that the authors did not stop with Lection 57
and Matthew 18:12. In the subsequent Lection, they moved to Luke's Gospel for their
"inspiration":

Lection 58:4:

“AND he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you having an hundred sheep, if he
lose one of them doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is
lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.”

Luke KJV:

15:3:

“And he spake this parable unto them, saying, 15:4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep,
if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that
which is lost, until he find it? 15:5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders,
rejoicing.”

Lection 58:5:

“And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them,
Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall
be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons which
need no repentance.”

Luke 15:6:

“And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them,
Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy
shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons,
which need no repentance.”

Scholars believe Matthew and Luke copied this parable from the unknown text they have
labeled “Q.” Both told the same parable but used different words and phrases to do so.
I believe the evidence shows that the authors of GH12 copied both Matthew and Luke verbatim
from KJV. To doubt that and argue that GH12 was the original would require believing that the
writer of GH12 repeated the same parable in Lection 58 that had been told in Lection 57 and that
Matthew chose to copy verbatim only Lection 57 while Luke chose to copy verbatim only
Lection 58. That seems unlikely and unreasonable.

Here’s another concern:

Lection 6 contains much original material including a chronological description of Jesus’ “lost
years”:

Lection 6:10: “And in the eighteenth year of his age, Jesus was . . . espoused unto Miriam, a
virgin of the tribe of Judah with whom he lived seven years, and she died . . .”
Lection 6:11: “And Jesus, after that he had finished his study of the law . . .”
Lection 6:12: “And for seven years he conversed with God face to face . . .”
Lection 6:13: “And after a time he went into Assyria and India and into Persia and into the land of
the Chaldeans . . . for many years . . .”

A few pages later at Lection 8:8:

“And Jesus began at this time to be thirty years of age, being after the flesh indeed the Son of
Joseph and Mary.”

Luke KJV

3:23:

“And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of
Joseph …”

Obviously, 18+7+years of study+7+after a time + many years of travel = something greater than
30. The author of GH12, after inserting the portions of text that supports “the wisdom of
Egyptians,” astrology, sacred numbers, “the powers of trees, herbs flowers, and precious
stones,” forgot to add up the years that must have transpired and simply resumed copying from
KJV at Luke 3:23.

Lection 57:14:

“THEN came Peter to him and said, Lord, how oft shalt my brother sin against me and I forgive
him? till seven times? Iesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times, but until
seventy times seven. For in the Prophets likewise unrighteousness was found, even after they
were anointed by the Holy Spirit.”

Matthew KJV:

18:21:

“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive
him? till seven times? 18:22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but,
Until seventy times seven.”

Luke 17:3:

“Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent,
forgive him. Luke 17:4: And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in
a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.”

Jerome (4th-5th century Church Father) is a primary source for what is known about The
Gospel of the Nazoreans. However, he believed both The Gospel of the Hebrews and The
Gospel of the Nazoreans originated from one Jewish-Christian text. Therefore, it is virtually
impossible to determine whether his quotations come from The Gospel of the Hebrews, as he
often states, or from The Gospel of the Nazarenes."

Scholars believe that the following came from The Gospel of the Nazoreans, as quoted
byJerome, Against the Pelagians 3):

“’If your brother or sister has wronged you verbally and has made amends, welcome him or her
seven times a day.’ His disciple Simon said to him, ‘Seven times a day?’ The Lord answered
him, ‘That’s right; in fact, up to seventy times seven times. The prophets themselves were
capable of sinful talk, even after they were anointed with the holy spirit.’”

In this example, as in a few others, Jerome’s quotation from what he claimed was the actual
text of The Gospel of the Nazarenes is available. Yet, GH12 is a verbatim recitation of Matthew
18:21-22, KJV.

Jerome, Against the Pelagians 3:

“In the Gospel of the Hebrews . . . the following story is told: ‘The mother of the Lord and his
brothers said to him, ‘John the Baptist baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Let’s go and get
baptized by him.’ But he said to them, ‘How have I sinned? So why should I go and get baptized
by him? Only if I don’t know what I’m talking about.’”

According to Jerome, The Gospel of the Hebrews rejected the story that Jesus asked John to
baptize him.

Lection 8:1:

“And it was in the midst of the summer, the tenth month.
Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad
him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering
said unto him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he
suffered him.”

Matthew KJV

3:13-15:

“Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 3:14: But John
forbad him saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 3:15: And Jesus
answering said unto him, suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all
righteousness. Then he suffered him.”

Lection 8:2:

“And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and lo, the heavens
were opened to him, and a bright cloud stood over him, and from behind the cloud Twelve Rays
of light, and thence in the form of a Dove, the Spirit of God descending and lighting upon him.
And, lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; this day
have I begotten thee.”

Matthew KJV

3:16-17:

“And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens
were opened unto him, and he saw ‘the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon
him: 3:17: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.’”

Luke KJV

3:21-22: “Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being
baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape
like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “Thou art my beloved Son; in
thee I am well pleased.’”

Again, Matthew and Luke’s source was the unknown “Q” gospel. And once again, GH12 is a
verbatim copy of Matthew’s version, adding the opening sentence “In the midst of summer . . .”
and an ending phrase “This day have I begotten thee,” voicing support for the “adoptionist
doctrine” that has been a controversy for all of Christian history.

There are other examples, but keeping this brief requires limiting this to just one more.

In the 4th century, Church Father Epiphanius wrote to dispute The Gospel of the Ebionites. His
work was called, Heresies. In it he wrote:

“And John wore clothes made of camel hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food, it
says, consisted of raw honey that tasted like manna, like a pancake cooked with oil. Thus they
change the word of truth into a lie and instead of “locusts” they put “pancake cooked with
honey.”

According to biblical scholars, this complaint from Epiphanius “. . . confirms that this early
gospel” (The Gospel of the Ebionites) “was composed in Greek, for the connection between
locusts (akris) and pancakes (egkris) could only be made in Greek.”

Lection 7:4 demonstrates a divergence from the ancient text against which Epiphanius railed:

“And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a girdle of the same about his loins;
and his meat was the fruit of the locust tree and wild honey.”

John the Baptist’s eating of “locusts” was almost certainly a mistranslation of the Greek word,
“egkris,” which means “pancakes” to “akris,” which means “locusts.” The Nazirites, which
included Samson, Samuel, John the Baptist, and the Nazarenes who claimed Jesus, were
vegetarians, as were the authors of GH12. For John to eat animal life was unacceptable. So,
they replaced “locusts” with “fruit of the locust tree” to preserve this tradition. They were
simply unaware that a mistranslation had occurred some time prior to the commonly accepted
version of the gospels which described John as eating akris, Greek for “locusts,” instead of
egkris, Greek for “pancakes.”

Had the GH12 been the original Gospel of the Nazarenes, this mistake could not have been
made. Surely they were also aware that John ate "raw honey that tasted like manna,"
connecting him with Moses who ate manna and "created" the "sect" within the Israelite
community called "Nazirites." These "connections" were common features of the earliest
"Christian" texts.

It seems clear to me, I’ll leave others to judge for themselves, that the writers of The Gospel of
the Holy Twelve were vegetarians, feminists, and adoptionists attempting to insert those values
into the New Testament. I agree with those values and support them. The Essene Nazarenes of
Mount Carmel and most modern Essene/Nazarenes agree with those values and support them.

However, some believe that the GH12 is “inspired” and as such should be read and accepted
for the values it promotes without questioning the claims made for it. Indeed it can serve as an
important gospel for what modern Essenes and Nazarenes teach.

I am unable to leave it at that. Even though I agree with the values, I cannot promote the work as
the “original” version of the Holy Scriptures from which the New Testament was derived. I
cannot overlook the glaring clues that show without reasonable doubt that this text came after
the King James Version of ancient biblical texts and that its authors used it as their primary
source. And, I cannot remain silent on this matter.

There is much within KJV to be disputed, and going back to the most ancient sources can help
correct many misconceptions that came from it. I urge all serious investigators to utilize The
New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha for their studies. However, my conscience
demands that I share my misgivings and concerns about the support given to The Gospel of the
Holy Twelve and claims that it was the original from which KJV was derived. This is my only
purpose in writing.

I want to end by reiterating: These observations, although shared with others, remain my own. I
do not claim to speak for any other person or group using the names “Essene” or “Nazarene.”
This is my personal opinion based on my personal research. I share it only because my
conscience insists that I have to share it. Please use it, or not, as you see fit.

PaxAmoLux,

"THE GOSPEL OF THE HOLY TWELVE"
A.K.A.
"THE GOSPEL OF THE NAZARENES"