Volumen I, The 13th Aposlte; James Writes to Martha, AD 35

Selection from a scroll fragment discovered 2016 in the Antarctica, uncovered by a geological team. It appears to be a letter from the Apostle James to Martha, his wife in Magdala. Written AD 35, 17 months after Resurrection. In it James reveals to his wife that there are some issues with Mirium's authority as Head of the Elect, the Holy Twelve and the New Church of Christos.

James, Master of the Holy Twelve, Elect of Jerusalem

To Martha, Sister Wife in peace
I send love from love
Grace from grace
Faith from faith
Life from holy life

Greetings

I am writing to you Martha, my devoted and patient wife from the community near Pieria. We are staying with Brother Phillip and Sister Naomi while they prepare to depart for Greece, Naomi and the children, young Justus and baby Libi are going to accompany Phillip on the first leg of his ...[ministry?] She is a faithful woman and has earned the respect of all .... [we] are comfortable and well received. I am glad for a respite from the road; it has been a dusty journey from Jerusalem.

We await the arrival of Mirium and her entourage; they are expected... from Antioch. We will have our meeting and then I will be coming home to you, sweet Martha and our brood. How I miss you all. I am enclosing copies of our latest correspondence and Miriums' manuscript. These are for eyes of The Holy Twelve only. There they can be copied again and sent out for safe keeping. Mathias is also enclosing some completed works for storage in Nazareth.

I am pleased to inform you that we are making progress with our scribes. Before Mathias and I set out we instructed them to continue translating and copying all the sacred texts. Whatever they could uncover of Enoch, Adam, Moses, Isaiah; everything. Of course all the recent works of the Elect and the words and deeds of Yeshua and the witness of his Apostles and converts. Scribes are traveling to each community and taking inventory of all the books of knowledge and works of prophecy. These are then dictated or recopied by a seeming endless army of these dedicated Hakamin!

Image I: Fragment of scroll found in 2016

Letter from Apostle James to Martha ISPNng

It is Mathias, the most resourceful man, who deserves so much of the praise.  His energetic work is a joy to watch. I believe he derives satisfaction from every word. He has already completed Enoch’s works into multiple copies of Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, the languages of Africa, the Northern Tribes and ancient, lost languages including Etruscan. He puts them on parchment, waxed wood and tablets and linen. He has a priestess from Germania, who has created inscriptions using ancient Celtic methods, such as carvings and symbols which are then etched in stone, and amulets; he leaves hints everywhere. I believe he has agents working for the Pharisees and with the priests of Rome, as scribes they leave marks of Truth, he hides them in caves; water proof containers which he casts into the sea, traveling troupes find them hidden in their carts when they have traveled far.

Whenever we visit the city, he searches for scribes newly arrived; seeking linguists of every language. He wants to ensure Logos is hidden in plain sight. There for all the Sons of Man to see. I laugh now thinking of him,  bent over his desk, his shoulders hunched, a stilus in hand, fingers stained with ink, black eyes sparkling under that thatch hair! He is a clever man and devout man our Mathias. He sends his love to you. At the moment he is with Josephus recently returned from Armenian. They are planning to inventory the library in Cana. Mathias discovered a trove of healing books while we rested there, he says there are still many original text, handed down from Abraham. Some are intact.

A problem has arisen; I wish I need not speak of it for I know Martha, my beloved how you labor in our community and work ceaselessly with the converts. You do not need another burden and I know you will view it as such …

… [Cephas] has returned from Qumran with ideas about the future of the church. It seems our Brothers there question the role of Feminine authority and her ability to lead because she is a woman. Many of Yeshua’s teachings are as new to them as to the Pharisees and Caesars of Rome. ..

…[Qu]mran has ever been a male community. They have tilled the soil of Engadi in the desert oasis west of the Dead Sea for millennium. Still they live like monks, organized into a strict order who observe both written and oral Law with passionate exactitude, but I fear, not enough joy… it is there that the Baptist as the Romans are calling our lost Brother John, began his ministry and I believe there is some envy over Yeshua’s successful resurrection. …

Cephas, ever hot-headed is being lead by his pride asking why Yeshua would want a woman to lead the Church and not him! She led while Yeshua still walked among us, why should his departure make a difference? Whether he is desirous of the leadership himself or is simply reminding us of the difficulties we endure because of the prevailing attitude toward women and their roles? I worry that he will unwittingly allow for Mirium to be set aside.

I trust that the Apostles and the Holy Twelve will remember how Yeshua respected and loved …

[witho]ut the balance of the Feminine and Masculine; this is at the heart of the Law! Yeshua said, ‘God created mankind in the Divine image male and female, and all nature is in the image of God’. In her last letter Mirium said the day will come when she will have to stoop to cultural pressures that will make it difficult for her to continue her ministry, political pressures and threats from assassins will force her to flee from land to land, in disguise. Mirium has always known what is to come. She is the head of prophecy. She recently warned me about the anti-Christos’ who will infiltrate our Communities. I confess only to you Martha, I wonder if Cephas, our rock, is such a one. I pray this is not so.

I say goodnight my dear, please remind the courier to continue on to Jerusalem with haste. Mirium's words must reach the Holy Twelve before the assembly.

Martha I bid you goodnight. My hope is that I return to your arms before this letter to your hands. 
Love to love, peace to peace, heart to heart.

James

The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4

"The original language of most of this work was, in all likelihood, Aramaic (an early Semitic language). Although the original version was lost in antiquity, portions of a Greek translation were discovered in Egypt and quotations were known from the Church Fathers. The discovery of the texts from Qumran Cave 4 has finally provided parts of the Aramaic original. ...Humankind is called on to observe how unchanging nature follows God's will."
- Milik, Jazef. T., ed. The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4
http://reluctant-messenger.com/enoch.htm