In the age of technology we have the ability to research subjects as never before. While researching historical documents for my current work of fiction I came to one major conclusion. For every document written there appears to be another refuting it. Frustrating to say the least. How could someone in another century determine that the writer of a 5th century document was not accurate? I should not be surprised, as there are those who wish to take apart the writings of the Disciples in the New Testament and deem them to either be contradictory or false. My only response can be “You know this how?”
I can totally understand if the document is a fraud, written in a later period and passed off to be an ancient manuscript but not the content.
I have studied multiple historical documents only to find modern day scholars believe the original writer embellished the truth for their own gain. This is especially true in items relating to the church.
It seems that the early church was very political. It held a great deal of power over it’s subjects. The greater the claim the more power they had thus the more wealth.
Glastonbury, England claims to be the site of the first Christian church. This is claimed to be incorrect by scholars and many church leaders but there are several historical records that add substance to Glastonbury’s claim. In A.D. 42 the emperor Claudius ordered that all Christians in Britain be destroyed, every man, woman and child. Now if Christianity was not there and they were all Pagan’s as scholar’s suggest, why would the decree be made?
Up until the 4th century in Rome it was a crime punishable by death to be a Christian. Then along came Constantine and the Christian faith was deemed the religion of Rome and all its territories. Of course Rome wanted to be the birthplace of the first Christian church so documents started to surface denying all existence of Christianity in the Pagan land of Britain.
There are multiple church’s across the world who claim to have an important religious relic. These were all recorded as fact by early church records. Modern day scholars tell us these were made up to give that particular church power, thereby increasing the numbers of those coming to the church to view said relic and making donations. Is it possible the modern day historians are correct? Anything is possible but I would really rather not think that. Would men of the Church manufacture a false story just for financial gain or were they just mistaken in their claim?
The Catholic Church was the religion of the realm in England until dear Henry VIII decided to divorce his wife. The church refused him the request so the Church of England was formed with the ruler of England the head of the church. Thereby removing some of the strict rules of the Catholic faith to allow him to divorce and marry his mistress of the time. The Church of England and the Catholic Church are very similar. It seems he wished to adhere to his original faith with but a few exceptions.
Over the centuries as the power changed the views and opinions flip flopped like a modern day politician. As did the documentations.
Bede, considered a great historian and scholar, is now considered by some to have given an embellished view of certain events in history.
You might ask if I am creating a work of fiction what do the facts matter? To me they matter a lot. I am not trying to rewrite history and the history is important to my modern day cast of characters so I would like to get the historical part as close to the truth as I can. Whereas my modern day characters are a work of my imagination my love of history prevents me from distorting it.
There is one book that has not, to my knowledge been refuted, the Domesday Book.
The Domesday Book recorded in the year 1086 was created for the purpose of taxation and for a view of the state of the economy after the conquest. King William sent his surveyors out. They went around England using parish records, land records and interviews with the land holders they were able to document the ownership and value of all the land and it’s content. Below is an excerpt mentioning Joseph of Arimathea.
“Here was documented the royal gift of “twelve hides” (1900 acres) of marshy cluster of miniature islands at “Ynis-wytrin”. It was given by King Arviragus to Joseph of Arimathea and his twelve companions.”
It was later called the Isle of Avalon, Glastonbury. This historic book was the royal records of all prior records, rechecked and updated culminating in the Laud Manuscript.
This along with church records from Rome in the 5th century acknowledging the first Christian church was indeed in Britain and not Rome.
Other documents refute all of the above and even more documents refute the refuted.
As Glastonbury and the disciples play a large part in my modern day work of fiction I am basing my “fiction” on these “facts”. That being said I do not want my interpretation of these “facts” to be considered by anyone to be fact. As I previously stated mine is a work of fiction with references to historical people and events. A writers imagination at work using the facts as I know them to create a modern day story.
My cast of characters are modern day direct descendants of the original Apostles brought together to help bring about the peace and promise to all before it is too late. The first two books, The Descendants The Acceptance and The Promise are available on Amazon and you can view sample chapters on this website. The third and final book in the trilogy is almost complete and will be released soon.
