Jerusalem, AD30 - The authorities in Judea have reacted with fury to a story in the current issue of Magi magazine which claims that the late King Herod, father of the current king, ordered a massacre of children in Bethlehem almost 30 years ago. "This is an outrageous suggestion," he said and insisted legal action was being considered.
He described a call by the magazine for an inquiry to be set up to investigate the slaughter as "preposterous".
Hitherto the killings had been attributed to a general in King Herod's army. He was in charge of the division stationed in Bethlehem at the time and was blamed for the atrocity. He was executed by order of the king shortly afterwards.
According to the Magi report three kings from the east, who had come to Judea around that time, sought permission from King Herod to journey further into the country. They said they had seen a star which their astrologers maintained indicated a child had been born who was destined to be king of the Jews. They had followed the star as far as Jerusalem and wished to continue further into the country.
According to Magi sources King Herod was deeply disturbed by their story. He called his advisers who told him that it had been foretold that such a child would be born in Bethlehem.
King Herod informed the three eastern kings of this. He advised them to go to Bethlehem, find the child and let him know the details as he would like to visit it too. The kings followed the star until it stopped over Bethlehem. (The town has recently been visited by the Governor of Palestine, Mr Pilate, and his advisers).
When they arrived at the shed they went inside and found a baby boy being fed by his mother, a young woman called Mary. The kings presented expensive gifts for which Mary, a poor, single mother, was very grateful.
Afterwards, as the kings were about to return to Herod in Jerusalem, one of them said he had an instinct that would be dangerous. The late king Herod had a reputation for paranoia and dealt violently with rivals or anyone he suspected might become one. The kings went back to their countries by a different route.
Magi reported that, when he heard this, King Herod was furious and ordered that every boy in Bethlehem below the age of two be killed. A witness was quoted by Magi as saying "we were stunned that he (King Herod) would even think of doing such a thing. But no one would stand up to him. When he was like that it would have been suicide."
The spokesman for the current King Herod accused Magi of "gutter journalism" and said it was taking advantage of current laws, which hold the dead cannot be libelled, to print "a sensational story to boost its declining circulation, and in the process attempting to ruin the reputation of one of Judea's greatest kings."
In a further development the Palestine Times has reported that it is claimed the child the three kings visited in Bethlehem escaped to Egypt and is the preacher Jesus. An article by the newspaper's Religious Affairs Correspondent, Mr Judas Iscariot, reported that, Jesus, his mother Mary and her partner Joseph went to Egypt as soon as the three kings left.
The article, based on an interview with friend of Jesus's, said Joseph had been told King Herod expressed an interest in visiting them too and, aware of the king's reputation, became afraid.
That night they set off for Egypt and stayed there for four years until the king died. They then returned to Palestine and went to live in Nazareth.
Last night a spokesman for the High Priest, Dr Caiaphas, described the Times story as "a joke". "Can't you see what these guys are doing?" he said. "They have studied the prophets and have reinvented this fellow's childhood so he fits in with predictions about the Messiah. It's a disgrace."
He suggested that John (`The Word') was probably behind the story. John had a reputation for fiction, he said. "I can see his footprints all over that Times article - the prints of darkness!" he said.
However, it has since transpired that the source of the piece was Matthew, a former tax collector and a friend of Jesus's.
