East: An Alternate History of Judas Iscariot

Just because my finals and work are starting to catch up to me, I am gonna do something... different. I have some ideas as to where I want this to go, but I also want to kind of keep things secretive. Thus...

The Apocalypse of Judas

...I, Judas, was taken into the third heaven by Zadkiel, the Archangel, and was placed into the care of the Seraphim. They were bright, shining like the sun...

Then I was told to look down upon the earth. There I saw a great king, the one who rules forever and ever, give His kingdom away to 12 princes. The princes were the shiners of the Light, and the Light extended across the world, and the Light shone through the whole world. However, the darkness also was strong, and eventually began to crack through. The kingdoms of the earth began to fight against each other, Brother against brother, twin against twin. It was as bad as the days of Jared. Furthermore, the Archdemons began to move through the world. And behold, a great dragon of metal and dark light stirred from it's slumber in the south, and attacked the children of god.

And yet God had not forgotten his children. After being oppressed for time, times, and half a time, the Lord sent a great tiger, who's power had not been seen before, and he went to war with the dragon and defeated it. While before, his eyes had been blinded, but Christ shall be his eyes. I saw Paul and the bear conversing, and he took of his robe of green and put on the gleaming gold crown of righteousness.

After this, there would be a great change. I saw mountains full of people being raised from the ground, and even people-birds flying through the air. The power of boiling water, taught to the Dragon by Azazel, would be a great force in this new world. The oceans would be held captive, and the skies would be owned, and yet even in this prosperity, the people would forsake the Lord.

I then saw a great bird, a crane, spread it's wings across the land. And from it's wings, came the parasites: The sexually amoral, the heretics, the gnostics, the Monopaulines, and various philosophies of the east, all mingled and snatched the hearts of men across the world.

"Therefore," said the Lord, "I will shake the world again. I will shake it from the core. I will make mankind remember me, and I will be like a pillar of fire to those who search for me. Lo to those who are deceived, however, for the time is already growing close to their demise." Then...
 
This TL is extremely interesting! Especially this last bit talking about the power of boiling water. I seriously wonder the ramifications this will have on the industrial revolution and the modern age. I can easily see the people of the time abhorring the practice of using steam engines, deeming them heretical or demonic. Perhaps this would lead to a very strong Luddite movement, crusading against the use of steam and other modern inventions. This all will likely play a large role in the future.

In regards to the various philosophies in the east, I wonder if this will lead to an even greater conflict of religion between the Abrahamic faiths and the traditional ones. Since it seems that there will be larger early Christian presence in South East Asia, the chances of conflict seems to be very likely.

I really hope to hear more about this timeline and sincerely hope it isn't dead!
 
I legitimately thought this tl waa forgotten. Ill have a new update up by xmas for yall!

Hm. On your comment about conflict, i am intending to only have trouble emerge after a "saint Krishna" reaches Carthage
 
"Is it too late now to say sorry?"


From A History of Our Pernach by St. Randika, c.170 AD. Part diary, part history, part theology, it is seen as a masterpiece of Karo-Banak literature, though some of its elegance may have been been lost in translation.

"Judas would shed tear after tear of joy if only he could see what his hard found mission looked like now. The little kingdom that he had enriched with Christ was not so little any more! The entire land of Batak was unified, along with all of the tribes down to the Indragiri. The land was named Pernach[1], as the land was as beautiful as a flower from Eden. The local administration was completely changed, from groups of nearly independent tribes that constantly fought among each other, staining Eden red, to a group of coherent Bishoprics and local rulers, all united among the words of Christ. The poverty and famine that once plagued the land was eradicated. Even the Orang pirates that once depopulated towns on the coast, were either eliminated or repented and helped to settle the interior, empowered with the light of Christ.

Us Pernach have even adopted a new writing system. It is mostly based off of the Hebrew Alphabet, for St. Judas is said to have said [4] that God still loves Israel, and at their time made them superior, and thus we should adopt some of their customs, including their alphabet. It has increased productivity and prosperity here, and has begun to leak into our neighbors, and even to the Orang.

On our kingdom itself, when St. Harta was 36, his son Teugh was born. After this, St. Harta lived to the age of 62, and then fell asleep in the Lord.

When Teugh was 19, his son Toba was born. Teugh was a wicked man, and was vile to both God and Man. He reinstated the idols of the people to the high places, and collected a harem of young women and children. He was usurped by his son Toba when he was 35, and is said by some of the locals to be cursed to walk the earth to this day.

When Toba was 26, his son Mahalalel was born. Toba restored the worship of the One True God to the land, but has not taken down the idols that his father had set up. Lord willing, the infant Mahalelel will be just as God-filled as his Great Grandfather, and we will enter another golden age.

The amount of Churches on the isle began to grow and grow, as did the faith of the people. After the persecutions of Teugh, the Church of the Crossing and the Church of Saint Harta. Teugh had tried to destroy the Church of the Crossing, but before the men he had hired to destroy the church arrived, they were greeted by an apparition of Judith, who asked them to submit to the Most High, and be saved. The men agreed, moved to the most northern part of Pernach, and established a church in the honor of Judith which still stands today.

Other Churches that were established at this time include the Church of the Archangel Zadkiel, the Church of Saint Heironymos, the Church of Saint Thomas, two Churches of St. Nirmala the Magnificent, six churches of St. Judas the Apostle, three churches of St. Thomas the Apostle, and hundreds of other places of God where there were not means to ordain a full church. Pernach's population has exploded. There are other kingdoms on this island too, and as I write this, ministers have begun to go out and preach to them, for they do not know God. Like the vile Teugh, they worshiped Kasha, Siba, Bamah, which I can only assume to be incarnations of Kaiwan, Molech, and Baal, and yet I still hope that these "Kinhu" can be saved from this heresy...[2]

As for St. Thomas, he has done his part to uproot the local Kinhu. He has been more fruitful politically than we have, however, establishing an "Eastern Roman Empire" (or, as known by the people in the lands, the Thoma Raj) out of his lot.[3] They trade with us [Pernach] very frequently, with us giving them our local spices and them giving us all kinds of manuscripts, news from Rome, Constantinople, Susa, and beyond, and all kinds of things that the people here would never otherwise have.

However, recently, there has begun to be a divide in the Body, as those who call themselves Monopaulines have begun to become established here. While St. Judas knew of them, as evidenced by his Apocalypse, they have begun to spread their heresy in our lands. They believe that St Paul, the Great Apostle of the West, is the Holy Spirit made incarnate, with John the Baptist being the Father Incarnate, and "Jesus bin Joseph" as the incarnation of the Son. Thus, because Jesus has died, Paul as the Helper and his works supersede that of our glorious Christ's. At least they have done one good deed in bringing the works of St. Paul to our people. I pray that they will repent soon.

On another note, news from Rome has been quite scarce recently. I shall write to my associates in Hindia, perhaps they know more of what may have happened..."

Footnotes
[1] "Flower" in Hebrew.
[2]Krishna, Shiva, and Brahman. Kihnu=Hindu. Trying to give a localized bastardization effect.
[3] Big ol' Tamil empire, will be covered more in the next post.
[4] I am also planning on making a little Wisdom Book-like work made out of these "Said to have saids."
 
I'm really glad this tl has returned! I have to admit, the idea of a Christian Raj is very intriguing.

I sincerely hope that we continue to see content as excellent as this!
 
Just so y'all know that I have not forgotten this thread, here is the beginnings of a Worlda that I am putting together. Feel free to speculate :p
(Roman History is not my strong suit, unfortunately, so if anything here is blatantly horrifyingly ASB here, tell me.)

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...from The Confessions of St. Vaikuntanath the Heiroconfessor, Patriarch of Roem [the Thoma Raj]; c.250; Yelagiri, India

"And I repeat, we will never allow for any syncretism between any of the Hindhu beliefs and Christianity. It is blatantly obvious that the Hindhu beliefs are completely inferior to the beliefs of Christ. For only the belief in Christ can unify the beliefs of people from Britian and Hispania, to the Isle of Pernach which is beyond even my lands. Even though the original lands of Rome, the cradle of Christianity, is under siege by pagans, it's progeny is spread across the world. But now, in it's time of need, we shall never corrupt the original faith that our entire lives is built upon.

And thus, anyone who advocates any sort of syncretism between the Hindus, or any other polytheistic faith, anyone who advocates the worship or equation of Saints as Gods, anyone who advocates any corruption of doctrine for the sake of converting heathens, or advocates of any heresy of Seth, or Antipaulians, let them all be anathema. Our church must be a church of saints, not sinners.

In that regard, I hereby, after speaking with the Bishops and even many of the Presbyters of the lands under my guidance, officially declare the following books to be the cannon, good to read in the Church. Of the Old Testament of the Jews: Five Books of Moses, Enoch, Jubilees, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, two books of Samuel, two books of Kings, two books of Chronicles, Ezra-Nehimiah, 2nd Esdras, 3 Esdras, Judith, Tobit, Esther, Psalms, Proverbs, [Ecclesiastes], Song of Solomon, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Sirach, the Minor Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch, Daniel, Ezekiel, the Seven Books of the Maccabees, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, and the Second Book of David, which is also known as psalms 151-155. Of the New Testament of all: The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and James (which is also known as the Protoevangellium), the Acts of Paul, the Acts of Judas, the Acts of Thomas, the Acts of Peter, the Acts of Phillip of the 15 letters of Paul, two letters of Peter, a letter of Barnabas, three letters of John, a letter of Jude, and the Apocalypse of John. Throughout all of Christendom, one will find these books discussed as scripture, and, God Willing, we shall soon finalize this list as to where one can go anywhere and hear the same group of texts read. However, some wish to dispute the books that I have listed as cannon. There are some that reject the Gospel of John, the Letter of Barnabas, the Letter of Jude, 3 of the Books of the Maccabees, the Book of Jubilees, the Second Book of David, the Acts of Thomas, the Acts of Peter, the Acts of Judas, the Acts of Phillip 2nd and 3rd Esdras, the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Baruch, Judith, Tobit, Esther, and the Apocalypse of John, in no particular order or amount. There are others that wish to add the Letter of the Hebrews, the Apocalypse of Peter, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Didache, and several other works of lesser value, including the so-called Epistle of Judas. I say that until a Council is called to resolve the issue, that we, in good faith as brothers, allow each other to differ in opinion as long as all glory is given to God, and no works of the Sethians, nor the Syncretists, nor the Antipaulans, nor the Gnostics, nor the Ebionites, nor any other vile heresy are read in the church.

Furthermore, I hereby authorize the creation of an Order for the relief of the Romans who are under intense persecution by the Pagans. We take the Archangel Raguel as our patron, as if the Archangel Raguel is mighty enough to terrorize even the Nephillim, he is strong enough to defend our soldiers. They shall link up with Persian garrisons for further orders.

May all the glory be to God.


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One of the best parts about working on this timeline is it takes you to weird places on the internet for research, so you end up finding gems like whatever the hell this is.
 
Quick question: How different at the ATL Gospels from the ones written in OTL? Although the naming conventions are likely remain the same in the ATL, I suspect that the OTL documents are butterflied away due to the very different events.
 
Quick question: How different at the ATL Gospels from the ones written in OTL? Although the naming conventions are likely remain the same in the ATL, I suspect that the OTL documents are butterflied away due to the very different events.
Actually, considering the POD is in 33, the Gospels proper are going to be pretty much the same. The Epistles, however...
 
Actually, considering the POD is in 33, the Gospels proper are going to be pretty much the same. The Epistles, however...

Not really; the Gospel of Matthew is thought to have been composed sometime between 70 and 100 AD, so that's at least 40 years after the POD. I would expect that these new traditions created by the exile of Peter and forgiveness of Judas are going to have some very substantial changes to the theology in each individual gospel.
 
Not really; the Gospel of Matthew is thought to have been composed sometime between 70 and 100 AD, so that's at least 40 years after the POD. I would expect that these new traditions created by the exile of Peter and forgiveness of Judas are going to have some very substantial changes to the theology in each individual gospel.

The events are almost the same, so really the only place that I could see there being a major difference is the beginning of John.
 
No update today, but while looking around online, I found something that might interest some of y'all. I might go into alt-hist Iconography if some of y'all want it.

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