Brian of Nazareth: No longer a Myth?

For many years he was worshipped and considered the genuine Messiah by his followers: Brian of Nazareth, born in the year 0 before Christ. In 1979, the life of Brian, son of Jewish mother Mandy Cohen and the Roman soldier Naughtius Maximus, was dramatized in a biopic and became known to a worldwide audience. But scientific evidence and statements by several film crew members substantiated suspicion that Brian of Nazareth was rather a mythological figure based on heathen and ancient gods of that time. Therefore, the original hype about Brian came to a sudden end. However, the recent discovery of a UFO close to Jerusalem might now bring new hope to the ‘Brianians’.

Terry Jones, director und head of the production company Monty Python which portrayed Brian’s life in one of the most successful documentaries ever, admitted in an interview several years after its launch that large portions of the plot were based on a couple of scripts which only had rather weak historical evidence. Terry Jones: “Essentially, our story was based on four scripts which were written at the end of the first century. These chronicles, also called Gospels, were recorded about 50 to 70 years after Brian’s death. Therefore, it’s quite likely that the authors had never known Brian in person and most of their stories were pure legends of those days.”

Historical recordings of the ancient Romans which are more reliable than the Gospels show no evidence whatsoever of a person called Brian of Nazareth. In addition, there is neither a reference of a group called ‘People’s Front of Judea’ nor mention of a gang called ‘Judean People’s Front’. What we can take for granted is that people at that time were crazy about the advent of a messiah and that due to political rebels and uproars against the Roman occupation of Judea a vast number of crucifixions took place.

John Cleese, another crew member of the Monty Python film-studio, had to confess to religious scholars that parts of the documentary were edited in a somewhat creative and fanciful fashion in order to increase the commercial success of the movie. John Cleese: “I have to admit that Pontius Pilate’s rhotacistic speech impediment was simply made-up. In a way, we tried to cheer the audience in this otherwise very solemn biopic. In retrospect, I definitely regret this sloppiness and would like to apologize for this historical blurring!”

Due to weak historical facts and the statements made by the film crew, the primary euphoria about Brian quickly diminished. And his messages were doomed to be buried in oblivion.

However, for those Brianians left there might be a glimmer of hope: archeological excavations close to Jerusalem might prove that the fight between rivaling aliens and the resulting crash of one spacecraft that is shown in the documentary has actually taken place. The excavated flying object is currently examined by NASA experts and FBI special agent Fox Mulder. The discovery could finally be the evidence of Brian of Nazareth’s existence!

There’s a gasp of relief amongst Brian’s supporters: Someone declared dead might well be ressurected. And faith in Brian is again alive!