Books & Sources

Operation Messiah is built on years of research, academic work, and intelligence analysis. Here you’ll find the key publications that shaped the theory – from the original thesis to peer-reviewed articles and the book that pulled it all together. Want to see what we saw? Start here.

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Publications

The Perfect Spy (MA thesis)

Download the original investigative thesis that started it all.

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Operation Messiah (Academic Article)

Published in Small Wars & Insurgencies (2005) — the theory’s first peer-reviewed version.

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Operation Messiah: St. Paul, Roman Intelligence and the Birth of Christianity

Saul of Tarsus is one of the best known and most beloved figures of Christianity. This man, later known as St. Paul, set the tone for Christianity, including an emphasis on celibacy, the theory of divine grace and salvation, and the elimination of circumcision. It was Paul who wrote a large part of the New Testament, and who called it euangelion, "the gospel". 

Co-authored with Colonel Rose Mary Sheldon (2008)

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Sources Used

The full investigation is grounded in historical sources and counterintelligence literature. The ACH matrix is based entirely on evidence treated in Operation Messiah. 

Primary Texts 

The authentic letters of Paul 
The Acts of the Apostles 
Josephus, Jewish War and Antiquities 

Secondary Works 

New Testament scholarship on Paul 
Jewish perspectives on messianism
Roman history of Judea 

Intelligence Literature 

James Olson, To Catch a Spy 
William R. Johnson, Thwarting Enemies at Home and Abroad 
Voskuilen & Sheldon, Operation Messiah 

ACH methodology by Richards Heuer and others 

Watch & Listen

Podcast

Listen to the podcast about Saul of Tarsus.

Listen To the Podcast

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