Abstract:
Three men appeared almost simultaneously on the stage of the first century AD to transform the Roman world:

(1) Apollonius of Tyana, a Greek philosopher who was a world traveler and “a man who became a god” in the eyes of the known world.

(2) Yeshua the Nazarene, a Galilean who became an itinerant teacher and a healer within the Essene community.

(3) Saul of Tarsus, a Herodian who wavered between his Jewish background and his Roman political allegiance.

These three stories are intertwined with an overarching theme of initiation into the mysteries of the Human Being and the ancient mysteries of the Apocalypse.