The Hermetic Writings.

Other texts that appear to have influenced Christianity can be found in the Hermetic or Trismegistic writings, also known as the Corpus Hermeticum, among others, attributed to the legendary Greco-Egyptian godman Hermes Trismegistus or "Thrice-Blessed."[2217] Past scholarship has averred that the Corpus Hermeticum represents a third-century product featuring Neoplatonism, Kabbalism, and "plagiarism" from Christianity. However, the entire body of work cannot be considered to have emanated from one person but represents a tradition over a period of centuries in the name of Hermes Trismegistus as well as his counterpart in older Egyptian mythology, Thoth or Tehuti. Concerning the god Thoth/Hermes, Mead remarks: In the mystic sense Thoth or the Egyptian Hermes was the symbol of the Divine Mind; he was the incarnated Thought, the living Word-the primitive type of the Logos of Plato and the Word of the Christians...[2218]

In the Hermetic mythology, it was said that Hermes/Thoth-the Divine Word-taught the sacred arts and mysteries to humanity. According to Dr. Richard Reitzenstein, a professor of Classical Philology at the University of Gottingen, this mythology dates back centuries before the common era: Reitzenstein...proceeds to show that in the oldest Egyptian cosmogony the cosmos is brought into being through the Divine Word, which Thoth, who seems to have originally been equated with the Sun-god, speaks forth.[2219]

Thus, in the Hermetic writings, as in Plato and Philo, we possess the Divine Word/Logos, who is also the sun. In consideration of these facts, Mead appropriately calls this corpus "Archaic Gnosis,"[2220] since the term gnosis, meaning "knowledge," is commonly reserved for esoteric philosophy and religion. Indeed, the concept of the Word and its relationship to the sun constitute one of the elements of a Gnosticism that long predates the common era, as well as serving as one of the mysteries. In this regard, Hornung relates that certain scholarship has traced the Hermetic tradition to "the priests of the temple of Thoth in Hermopolis of Dynasty 12 (c. 1938-1759 B.C.e.) who conceived of the Book of Two Ways, which can be called the first hermetic work..."[2221]

The story of the Hermetic literature's survival presents a significant example of the peril in preserving texts that might possess knowledge unfavorable or challenging to the dogma and received history of the Catholic Church. Indeed, to circulate such texts when the Catholic Church was at its height of power could cause one to forfeit one's life; hence, those interested in such preservation were keenly aware that they must denounce the contents of the writings, regardless of whether or not they agreed with them. One possible example of this "duplicity" in the name of safeguarding life and liberty evidently occurred in the case of Michael Psellus of Byzantium, who was singlehandedly responsible for circulating anew the Trismegistic or Hermetic writings during the 11th century.[2222] It is fortunate for us that Psellus, who appears to be criticizing these "heretical" texts, had the foresight to make the publication palatable enough for the Inquisitors that it was preserved. Yet, this example goes to show what scholars of the ancient world, in particular of the origins of Christianity, are up against in trying to find appropriate and reliable data. In addition, the Trismegistic literature in particular was "largely reserved and kept secret,"[2223] as the public was "catered for" by omitting or denigrating anything that might affect popular faith.[2224] What remains is, like so many other bodies of literature, merely a fraction of what was, much of it lost even in ancient times, as stated in the literature itself. If so much censorship had not occurred, in fact, we would have a much easier time demonstrating the thesis that Christianity in large part constitutes a rehash of Pagan and Jewish religious, spiritual and mythological concepts, using ancient texts such as the Hermetic or Trismegistic writings.

The age and origin of the Trismegistic writings are the subject of much debate, particularly because a significant amount of Christianity may have been founded upon this literature. Regarding their age, Mead says: The early Church Fathers in general accepted the Trismegistic writings as exceedingly ancient and authoritative, and in their apologetic writings quote them in support of the main general positions of Christianity.[2225]

Because of their evident connection to Christianity, the Trismegistic writings were eventually rejected as "forgeries," such as by Edward Gibbon, who dismissed the entire class of literature along with the Orphic and Sibylline texts as a "cloak for Christian forgery."[2226] After recounting that for over 200 years prior to his era these writings thus fell into disrepute as "Neoplatonic forgeries and plagiarisms of Christianity," Mead remarks: Finally, with the dawn of the twentieth century, the subject has been rescued from the hands of opinion, and has begun to be established on the firm ground of historical and critical research, opening up problems of the greatest interest and importance for the history of Christian origins and their connection to Hellenistic theology and theosophy, and throwing a brilliant light on the development of Gnosticism.[2227]

Mead also concludes: ...the more attention is bestowed upon the Trismegistic writings, the more it is apparent that they cannot be ascribed to Neoplatonism...[2228]

Although certain older scholars have dated the literature much earlier, such as Flinders-Petrie's range of 500-200 BCE, the extensive survey by more modern scholar Dr. William C. Grese reveals the widely accepted dates for the Hermetic texts to range from 200 BCE to 300 AD/CE.[2229]

As concerns the origin of these texts, Champollion averred that the Trismegistic literature preserved ancient Egyptian religion, as well as the doctrines in Plato's Timaeus.[2230] The French Egyptologist Theodule Deveria (1831-1871) proclaimed the Trismegistic literature as "an almost complete exposition of the esoteric philosophy of ancient Egypt."[2231] The value of such an insight, of course, is twofold, as not only are these texts declared absolutely to be of Egyptian origin but the statement also serves as an acknowledgement that there existed an esoteric philosophy in ancient Egypt: That is, hidden doctrines or mysteries, which, we contend, constituted several of the most pertinent parallels between the Egyptian and Christian religions.

Explicating upon the origins of the Trismegistic literature, Mead comments: The fragments of the Trismegistic literature which have reached us are the sole surviving remains of that "Egyptian philosophy" which arose from the congress of the religious doctrines of Egypt with the philosophical doctrines of Greece. In other words, what the works of Philo were to the sacred literature of the Jews, the Hermaica were to the Egyptian sacred writings. Legend and myth were allegorised and philosophised and replaced by vision and instruction. But who were the authors of this theosophic method? This question is of the greatest interest to us, for it is one of the factors in the solution of the problem of the literary evolution of Christianity, seeing that there are intimate points of contact of ideas between several of the Hermetic documents and certain Jewish and Christian writings, especially the opening verses of Genesis, the treatises of Philo, the fourth Gospel (especially the Prologue), and beyond all the writings of the great Gnostic doctors Basilides and Valentinus.[2232]

The clarification of the Hermetica being to Egyptian religion what Philo is to Judaism ranks as very helpful, as does emphasizing that the Trismegistic literature shows "points of contact" with Judaism and Christianity. These facts lead us to wonder precisely who were the authors of this syncretistic effort.

In Hermes Trismegiste, Dr. Louis-Nicolas Menard (1822-1901) discussed the Trismegistic literature as a combination of the efforts of the Jewish, Greek and Egyptian populaces specifically at Alexandria, representing the "missing link" between Philo and Gnosticism: Between the first Gnostic sects and the Hellenic Jews represented by Philo, there was missing a link: One can find it in some Hermetic books, particularly in the Poimandres and the Sermon on the Mountain; perhaps one may also find there the reason for the oft-noted differences between the first three gospels and the fourth.[2233]

The Hermetic texts are thus intricately linked to the efforts of Gnosticism, especially in that both systems thrived at Alexandria, seat where so much of the creation of Christianity evidently took place. As Dr. Redford states: The only conduit, both geographical and spiritual, through which something of Ancient Egypt survived to enter the world of the European West, was Alexandria, that great intellectual and mystical hub of the world, wherein all beliefs, cults and philosophical systems thrived, often in a syncretistic amalgam. It is to Alexandria that we must look for the origins of two great systems of thought, Gnosticism and Hermeticism, in which a modicum of the Ancient Egyptian belief system survived the Middle Ages to re-emerge in the Renaissance.[2234]

In "The Poemandres of Hermes Trismegistus," Dr. Frank Granger (1864-1936), a professor of Philosophy at University College in Nottingham, finds in Plutarch's writings about Osiris and Isis intimations of familiarity with the Hermetic literature,[2235] which would mean, of course, that the pertinent concepts predated the time of Plutarch, who died around 120 AD/CE-before the canonical gospels as we have them clearly emerged in the historical record. Following Mead, the Catholic Encyclopedia ("Gnosticism") states that "Alexandrian non-Christian Gnosticism is perceptible in Trismegistic literature,"[2236] likewise giving the literature a possible pre-Christian origin as well.

Also following these scholars, Reitzenstein argued that the provenance of the Hermetic literature was Egypt, eventually modifying his opinion to include Iranian influence. For some time after Reitzenstein, scholarly consensus took the origins of the Hermetic literature away from Egypt, agreeing, however, that there is no Christianity in the writings. After a long back and forth about whether or not there was Egyptian influence in the Hermetic literature, Doresse's publication of the Chenoboskion Gnostic texts, as well as the Nag Hammadi discovery, which included Hermetic writings, helped to reestablish a partial Egyptian origin for some of the Corpus Hermeticum (particularly as found in the text called "the Asclepius").[2237] In more modern times, Dr. Jean-Pierre Mahe (b. 1944), a member of the Institute of France, contended that "Hermetic sentences derived from similar elements in ancient Egyptian wisdom literature, especially the genre called 'Instructions' that reached back to the Old Kingdom..."[2238] Regarding Mahe's conclusion, in Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius, Dr. Brian P. Copenhaver, a professor of History at the University of California at Los Angeles, states: Mahe decided that the Gnostic content of the Hermetica is a secondary feature associated with commentary, a later overgrowth distinguishable from a primary core of Greco-Egyptian sentences formulated before Gnostic ideas had developed.[2239]

Summarizing Mahe's work, Dr. Copenhaver asserts that "the greatest impact of his two volumes on Hermes in Upper Egypt is to re-establish an Egyptian ancestry for the Hermetica, three quarters of a century after Reitzenstein's 'Egyptomania.'"[2240]

Copenhaver is convinced enough by the abundant evidence to pronounce in his "Introduction": It was in ancient Egypt that the Hermetica emerged, evolved and reached the state now visible in the individual treatises.[2241]

Discussing a bias that has prevented the most scientific analysis of the situation, Copenhaver further addresses the efforts of scholars during the 20th century to show biblical inferences in the Hermetica, after which he remarks that "the possibility of influence running from Hermetic texts to Christian scripture has seldom tempted students of the New Testament."[2242] In this regard, Morenz remarks: Egypt's links with the religion of the Old Testament have been known and studied for a long time. But hardly any consideration has been given to the fact that the religious forms of the land of the Nile also had an effect upon the New Testament and so upon early Christianity. Such a lack of interest can scarcely be due to dogmatic reservations, for if this were so such a ban would also have affected investigations into the contributions of Greek philosophy and the Hellenistic mystery religions, which have long since been recognized. It is rather the case that scholars have failed to appreciate the influence which Egypt had exerted upon the entire Hellenistic world in which Christianity was destined to take shape.[2243]

In consideration of various notorious episodes suffered by those who have in fact endeavored to outline comparisons between the Egyptian and Christian religions, Morenz may be too optimistic in his assessment. In any event, although we possess no such bias as Copenhaver discusses that prevents us from looking for influence from the Hermetica upon Christianity, an exhaustive study of the issue would require significant time and space. Hence, we will rely here on the insights of certain other scholars, such as Mead, who did not shrink from conclusions that contradicted received Christian history. In any event, the final word on the subject of the provenance of Trismegistic literature, as stated by Dr. Garth Fowden of the National Hellenic Research Foundation in Athens, is that "Hermetism was a characteristic product of the Greek-speaking milieu in Egypt"[2244]-in other words, the Hermetica constitute a Greco-Egyptian product, precisely as Mead and others had evinced over a century ago.

The Poimandres.

One of the most prominent Hermetic or Trismegistic texts is called the "Poimandres" or "Poemandres," widely interpreted to mean "Shepherd of Man," but also perhaps more fittingly as "the knowledge of the Sun-God (Ra)."[2245] The Poimandres is known in scholarly circles as "Corpus Hermeticum I" ("CH I"), concerning which Spence comments: The "Poimandres," on which all later Trismegistic literature is based, must, at least in its original form, be placed not later than the first century. The charge of plagiarism from Christian writings, therefore, falls to the ground. If it can be proved that the "Poimandres" belongs to the first century, we have in it a valuable document in determining the environment and development of Christian origins.[2246]

Prior to Spence, Mead had reached the same conclusion as concerns the Poimandres: The theory of plagiarism from Christianity must for ever be abandoned. The whole literature is based on the "Poemandres" as its original gospel, and the original form of this scripture must be placed at least prior to the second century A.D.[2247]

When these scholars say that the Trismegistic literature is based on the Poimandres, they are addressing a narrow genre that does not include all the Hermetic texts, a number of which predate the common era.

Mead places the terminus ad quem or latest possible date of composition of the Poimandres at the beginning of the second century. Copenhaver provides the argument that the Poimandres is apparently related to the work of Valentinus, but that it likely predates his era, with the best evidence of an early second-century or possible late first-century date.[2248]

In reality, the cosmology behind the Poimandres is ancient, dating to at least 700 BCE, as found on an Egyptian inscription that itself claimed to be reproducing an older text.[2249] It is intriguing that in this "Prayer to Ptah," reproduced in the "Memphite Theology," the "heart" and "tongue" of Ptah-"God the Father"-are Horus and Thoth,[2250] the latter being the "Word" or Logos, long prior to the common era. Horus as the Heart of "God the Father," of course, reminds us of the "Sacred Heart of Christ."

Demonstrating both its Platonic and Gnostic relevance, in the Poimandres we find the Archons as the seven planets, while in Plato the "subaltern demiurgic gods, among whom are the heavenly bodies," are likewise called Archons ().[2251] In this regard, it is interesting to note that in Coffin Text spells 550 and 1026 appear references to "seven gods."[2252] The Poimandres as we have it seems to have been Judaized and, if not Christianized, certainly would represent a link between the Egypto-Jewish "Gnostic" or Platonic/Philonic efforts and Christianity.

The Egyptian origin of the Poimandres has also led to the opinion that the author was a Therapeut.[2253] Dr. Menard, for example, specifically names the Poimandres as constituting a text out of the Therapeutan sect.[2254] Menard places the Poimandres significantly earlier than the formation of the Gnostic sects by Basilides and Valentinus, which occurred shortly after the composition of the Hermetic text called "The Sermon on the Mountain."[2255] Menard also avers that the Therapeuts eventually disappeared into Christianity, Gnosticism and Paganism, a sensible assessment, although some of them, of course, could likewise have joined the mainstream Jewish community as well.

Reflecting the Greco-Jewish coloring of the text, Dr. Granger relates that the third chapter of the Poimandres bears a Platonic origin, styled after Philo, "as a commentary upon Genesis i-iii."[2256] While the Poimandres therefore possesses both Greek and Jewish character, as well as Egyptian, since it is clearly about Egyptian mythology, there is nary a trace of the Christian scriptures or any aspect of a life of Christ-in fact, no mention whatsoever of Christ, Christians or Christianity. Indeed, demonstrating that the borrowing occurred in the opposite direction, Granger -an apparently devout Christian-remarks upon "how the Greek representations of Hermes furnished Christian art with one of its earliest motives."[2257] Granger also states: The functions of Hermes in Greek religion, and of Thoth in Egyptian religion, offered a sufficiently close analogy to the mission of Jesus, and Christian writers hastened to make use of this analogy.... Now since the Poemandres belongs to the same school of thought, we need not be surprised to find that Jesus is represented under the figure of the Egyptian Hermes.

Since then, the identification of Jesus with Hermes took place in circles which formed part of the Christian community, we shall not be surprised to find that one of the leading types of Christian art, the Good Shepherd, was immediately adapted from a current representation of the Greek Hermes...[2258]

Thus, we find in the Poimandres, or the "Shepherd cycle"-which predates the clear emergence of the canonical gospels-indications for the identification of Christ with Hermes, the pre-Christian Greco-Egyptian Divine Word and Good Shepherd.

Granger's insights further lead us to a connection between the Poimandres-which, again, Menard identified as Therapeutan-and Gnostic Christianity: We now approach what is perhaps the most important contribution which the Poemandres makes to our knowledge: namely the light which it throws upon the Gospel according to the Egyptians and the Logia Jesu.[2259]

Granger goes on to demonstrate how widely known was the Gospel of the Egyptians, which was used by the Gnostic Valentinians, for one. He also avers that the author of the Poimandres used the Gospel of the Egyptians, from which he further suggests were taken the Logia Iesu, or "Sayings of Jesus."[2260] We would submit that the evidence, however, may allow for the opposite to be the case, the Poimandres preceding the Gospel of the Egyptians and serving as a basis thereof.

The connection between the Poimandres and Christianity has been remarked upon many times and is so evident that, as we have seen, the Hermetic text has been considered a "Christian forgery" or, at least, a plagiarism from Christianity. However, as we have also seen, concepts in the Poimandres are very old, dating to several centuries before the Christian era in Egypt. Moreover, there is no scientific evidence to show specific Christian influence upon the Poimandres and, incorporating the rest of the facts, we may logically conclude that Christianity was built upon such texts as the Poimandres, rather than the other way around.

When faced with the parallels between Christianity and the Trismegistic literature as a whole, it is noticeable that the latter, while possessing what appear to be "Christian" concepts, contains nothing of the gospel story, "not a single word breathed of the historical Jesus,"[2261] and so on. Hence, with all factors, logic suggests that if there be any borrowing, it is from the Hermetic tradition by the Christian effort-and we would evince that rather than simply "borrowing" the two endeavors were intertwined, with one leading into the other.

The Gnostics.

From the Therapeuts, Philo and the Hermetic literature, we move on to the organized movement of Gnosticism, which developed alongside Christianity, as both a sibling and a competitor. Over the centuries, many writers have speculated upon a pre-Christian Gnosticism of sorts, because several of Gnosticism's defining characteristics have their roots in the hoary mists of time, in writings such as those of Plato, as well as in Egyptian mythology, among others. As Hornung says, "Gnosis, one of the chief forms of syncretism in late classical antiquity, drew on every area of culture in its day, including the Iliad and the Odyssey."[2262] Concerning the origins of formalized Gnosticism, Gnostic text expert Doresse remarks, "Gnosticism appeared originally in Syria. It is in Samaria and the valley of the Lycos that we trace it for the first time."[2263] Doresse next names the first Gnostics as Simon, Menander, Satornil, Cerdon and Cerinthus-all from the Syro-Samaria/Palestine area. One individual who evidently brought Gnostic ideas into the early Church at the Syrian city of Antioch was Nicolas, founder of the dreaded Nicolaitans, as discussed at Acts 6:5, as well as at Revelation 2:6 and 2:15-16.

Regarding Gnosticism and Simon in particular, Hornung relates: With its origins at least in part on Egyptian soil-Simon Magus, one of its founding fathers, was supposed to have acquired his learning in Egypt-and with Alexandria as one of its most important centers, it also incorporated concepts from pharaonic Egypt.[2264]

As examples of these pharaonic concepts, in discussing the nature of Divinity within Egyptian religion, Griffiths first notes that one of the oldest forms of God in Egypt was Atum, who brought forth offspring without a female consort, asking whether or not he should "therefore be regarded as an androgynous deity in the strictest sense..."[2265] Griffiths continues: [Dutch Egyptologist Dr. Jan] Zandee's admirable study (1988) posits this view forcefully, and he adduces many Gnostic points. God as mother-father or father-mother is often present in varied periods of Egypt's literature... It was especially evident in Amarna and pre-Amarna hymns... In Elaine Pagels' The Gnostic Gospels..., there is an eloquent chapter on "God the Father/God the mother," but with no mention of the strong Egyptian background.[2266]

Griffiths's remarks reveal some important notions, for example that Egyptian religion contained sophisticated ideas later found in Gnosticism, as we have also already seen abundantly in this present work.

In Two Powers in Heaven, Dr. Alan F. Segal, a professor of Religion at Columbia University, cites the work of Dr. Moritz Friedlander, who "put forth the thesis that gnosticism is a pre-Christian phenomenon which originated in antinomian circles in the Jewish community of Alexandria."[2267] Citing the conclusion of various scholars that Gnosticism "grew out of Jewish thought that had absorbed Indo-Iranian themes," Segal remarks: "Based on this consensus, many New Testament scholars feel that Christianity actually adapted a pre-existent gnostic savior myth to the facts of Jesus' life."[2268] As we can see from the abundant evidence presented here, there is very good reason to believe that Christianity is in significant part an adaptation of pre-Christian myths.

Pearson also explores this thesis of pre-Christian Gnosticism: This Gnosticism, against which Philo polemicizes, came early to Palestine; and the rabbinic polemics against the Minim [outsiders] are directed specifically at such Gnostics. Christian Gnosticism is simply a secondary version of the older Gnosticism, which attached itself to the emergent Christian sect and appropriated for itself the figure of Jesus Christ.[2269]

Dr. Friedlander's timeline puts "heretical" Jewish Gnosticism in Palestine by at least the early first century AD/CE.[2270] Several pre-Christian Jewish texts demonstrate this development, including, Pearson asserts, the "tractate Eugnostos the Blessed," which "reflects the existence in the first century of a Jewish Gnosticism..."[2271] In any event, the Gnostics preceded the Christians.

Moreover, we would submit that, as Jews who followed the Old Testament scriptures, these particular Gnostics already possessed the spiritual or allegorical "Anointed Savior"-as is the meaning of the name "Jesus Christ"-decades before "Jesus of Nazareth" was created. The words "Jesus" and "Christ," in fact, would have been very familiar to the Greek-speaking Jewish population at least two centuries before the common era, after the Old Testament/Tanakh was translated into Greek. In the Septuagint, the word "Jesus"-meaning "God is salvation"-appears wherever the name "Joshua" is used, while, again, "Christos" can be found at least 40 times in relation to God's anointed priests and kings. The Hebrew word for "salvation" in the OT, as used in regard to God (2 Sam 22:3), for example, is yesha, while "savior" is yasha-both terms essentially the same as Jesus, which in the OT is Yeshua or Yehoshua, etc.[2272] Salvation is a repeated theme throughout the OT, with the word yasha used over 200 times. Thus, the concepts of anointing and salvation were highly significant to religious Jews in the pre-Christian era, and are to be found in the intertestamental literature that undoubtedly influenced Christianity.

Regarding the origins of Gnosticism, Pearson concludes: "The evidence continues to mount that Gnosticism is not, in its origins, a Christian heresy, but that it is, in fact, a Jewish heresy."[2273] He further remarks, "There is a strong case to be made for the view that ancient Gnosticism developed, in large part, from a disappointed messianism, or rather as a transmuted messianism."[2274] So, too, we aver, did Christianity develop in precisely the same way-as an offshoot of this Jewish mysticism, combined with Pagan philosophy, religion and mythology, increasingly historicized and Judaized to the point where what was a mythical messiah was claimed to be "historical."

At the time when Christianity began to be formulated, there had been a long trend within Judaism to allegorize the scriptures and to integrate Hellenistic philosophy into the faith. This effort, it is evinced by Drs. Friedlander, Pearson, et al., produced Judaic Gnosticism.[2275] As one example, the Gnostic figure of Sophia or personified "Wisdom" is pre-Christian, appearing in the works of the Alexandrian Jew Philo, as we have seen.[2276] Philo was building upon concepts in the Old Testament, in which Wisdom is called Hokmah or Chokmowth-"Sophia" in the Septuagint, personified in various scriptures, such as at Proverbs 9 and elsewhere. Presenting a brand of Gnosticism that was the self-deprecating sort or "mortification of the flesh" which later dominated both Gnostic and Orthodox Christianity, Philo attempted to distinguish between true and false gnosis, and was already aware of at least one "Gnostic" sect, i.e., that of the Cainites,[2277] against whom he wrote, as did the Church fathers following him over a century later. As Pearson says: "There can be no doubt that the heretics combated by Philo are the forerunners of the Christian Gnostics later combated by the church fathers..."[2278]

Named among these pre-Christian Gnostic sects that came out of the Diasporic Jewish community are not only the Cainites but also the Ophites and Sethians, listed by Christian Bishop Filastrius or Philastrius (d. 397 AD/CE) "among the sects that flourished in Judaism 'before the advent of Jesus.'"[2279] Ophitism was the most important Jewish Gnostic heresy to arrive in Palestine prior to Christ's purported existence.[2280] Friedlander suggests that the pre-Christian Jewish-Gnostic cult of Melchizedek was the starting point for Christian Gnosticism, and he opines that the author of the canonical Epistle to the Hebrews was Alexandrian and involved in Melchizedekiniasm.[2281] The "various Jewish or Baptist sects, such as the Essenes, Galileans, Ebionites, Samaritans, Nazarenes," are also the forerunners of the main Gnostic sects, including that of the Egyptians Basilides and Valentinus, according to Church father Hegesippus.[2282] It is interesting to note that some of the sects involved in or contributing to early Christianity, such as the Pythagoreans, Essenes, Ebionites and Nazarenes, evidently possessed a peculiar revered symbol in common: The ascia, or mason's trowel,[2283] indicating an intriguing masonic connection among the brotherhoods.[2284]

The movement of Syro-Palestinian Gnosticism into Egypt occurred during the reign of Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD/CE), which makes sense in that it was also during this period that much of Palestine and Judea were destroyed, forcing another Hebrew diaspora. At this point, Gnosticism began to thrive at Alexandria under Basilides, Carpocrates and Valentinus, before migrating to Rome, where it threatened the budding orthodox Christian effort.

During this second century, Gnosticism in Egypt depended significantly upon not only Philo but also Plato, as well as traditional Egyptian religion and Greek philosophy. Indeed, the Gnostic Valentinus was accused by his detractors of "having stolen doctrines from Pythagoras and still more from Plato,"[2285] and the "general consensus of opinion is that Valentinus must have known Philo's writings."[2286] Valentinus, of course, was Alexandrian, as was Basilides, both of whom were responsible for much of the predominant Gnostic thought. As Eusebius says, "Basilides the heresiarch was living in Alexandria; from him derive the Gnostics."[2287] Basilides is also named in a Christian polemic, The Acts of Archelaus, as having been influenced by Persian doctrines.[2288]

Despite the claims of Church fathers, as well as their uncritical acceptance by modern scholars, there is no scientific evidence that Basilides's "Commentary on the Gospels" utilized any of the four canonical gospels, which, in fact, seem not to have been in existence by his time.[2289] What is interesting, however, is that Basilides evidently discussed the "parable of Lazarus and the rich man," which is of apparent Egyptian origin, based on the myth of Osiris. If Basilides did indeed discuss this myth, and we have no reason to believe he did not, it may have been his text used by Luke (Lk 16:19-31), rather than the other way around.

In his analysis, Morenz likewise cites the story of Lazarus in Luke as being accepted by the mainstream as originally from the Egyptian religion, explaining that in this case the Egyptian ideation had gone through Judaism first.[2290] Naturally, that fact is precisely the point, that Christianity is largely the product of Egyptian religion being Judaized and historicized. Morenz also describes the Epistle of James as "originally Egyptian," demonstrated through a word analysis. In addition, Morenz includes in this process that produced the New Testament and Christianity "Greek elements (Stoic diatribes)..."[2291] He also definitively states that the clear way in which the Egyptian religion influenced Christianity was through its previous impact on the Jewish scriptures and apocrypha. Morenz further says, "Finally, the path taken by Egyptian influence can also be followed where the Christian form can be traced back first to an Egypto-Hellenistic one, and this in turn traced back to Egypt itself."[2292] The German Egyptologist then provides several examples of these Egypto-Hellenistic precedents to Christian concepts, before progressing to a section entitled, "Egypt's significance for early Christian theology."[2293]

Regarding the influence of Alexandrian religion in particular on Christianity, Morenz remarks: Without abandoning our principle that the Egyptian influence made itself felt as an undercurrent throughout Hellenism, we may nevertheless claim price of place for Alexandria and so consider Alexandrian theology as the intermediary between the Egyptian religious heritage and Christianity.[2294]

As concerns possible influence of Egyptian Gnosticism on the canonical gospels, in discussing the "more ordinary" of the Christian apocrypha found in the Gnostic cache at Chenoboskion, Doresse remarks: ...certain elements in them may have come from a fund of traditions that were current before the compilation of the Synoptics, all the more probably because of the fact that our Gnosticism came into being in a period when the canonical Gospels were not yet in general circulation.[2295]

The "Synoptics" refers to the first three canonical gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, styled as such because they "see together," containing much of the same material, while the gospel of John is the odd-man out.

In regard to Gnosticism preceding orthodox Christianity in Egypt, theologian and scholar of Christian origins Dr. Walter Bauer (1877-1960), a professor at the Universities of Breslau and Gottingen, evinced that that the "earliest form of Christianity in Egypt was heretical, specifically Gnostic, a fact that later ecclesiastical leaders repressed."[2296] Pearson pronounces this conclusion as possessing a "certain plausibility in that the earliest Christian teachers active in second-century Alexandria of whom we have any information were the archheretics Valentinus, Basilides and his son Isidore, and Carpocrates and his son Epiphanes..."[2297] Bauer's theory, however, remains problematic in consideration of the existence of the "earliest attested Alexandrian Christian literature": For example, the Epistle of Barnabas, written sometime between 70 and 135 AD/CE, and the Gospel of the Hebrews, composed during the second century. However, if we consider the Therapeuts as "original Christians" and their allegorical short works as the basis for the gospels, then certainly we would say that a sort of Gnosticism preceded the orthodoxy, if by "orthodoxy" is meant the historicizing, as opposed to allegorizing, Christianity.

Concerning the Gospel of the Hebrews and that of the Egyptians, Pearson states: The Gospel of the Hebrews was used by the Alexandrian Jewish Christians and reflects not only a special allegiance to James, but also the influence of Alexandrian Jewish wisdom theology.... The Gospel of the Egyptians was used by a group of Greek-speaking Egyptian Christians, probably residents of Rhakotis, the native Egyptian section of Alexandria. This group, as seen in its gospel, was oriented to asceticism and may indeed have been influenced by the Jewish Therapeutae who lived west of Alexandria and whose communal life is described by Philo in On the Contemplative Life.[2298]

As can be seen, this conservative Christian scholar makes an association between the Therapeuts and those Christians who used (and possibly wrote) the Gospel of the Egyptians. As noted, the Gospel of the Egyptians was utilized by the Valentinians; hence, it would represent a link between the Gnostics, the orthodox Christians and the Therapeuts.

Like the Therapeuts, apparently, the Gnostics recognized not only the personified Wisdom or Sophia but also the Goddess in general: "The Gnostics were par excellence worshippers of the supreme Mother-goddess, the [Meter], in whom we have no difficulty recognizing the characteristics of the goddess of heaven of anterior Asia."[2299]

The Pistis Sophia.

Speaking of Sophia, another possible connection between the Therapeuts, Gnostics and Christians occurs with the famous Gnostic-Christian text the Pistis Sophia, extant in the Egyptian Sahidic dialect but, Mead evinces, originally written in Greek.[2300] The Pistis Sophia has been variously dated across several centuries, from the late second century to the 10th century AD/CE, while current mainstream scholarship places it in the beginning to middle of the third century. The text possesses "some of the mystic dreamy opinions of the Gnostic Christians,"[2301] while the "strict fidelity to the biblical text" of Psalms in the Pistis Sophia reveals the Jewishness of the authors of that part of the text, which otherwise represents a "free invention."[2302]

The Egyptian origins of the Pistis Sophia are described in great detail by Massey in Ancient Egypt: Light of the World (597-604), in which he subscribes to the older thesis that the Pistis Sophia was composed by Valentinus, preceding the clear emergence of the canonical gospels into the historical record. As can be seen from Massey's analysis, the Pistis Sophia plainly incorporates Egyptian mythology into a Christian framework: Pistis Sophia, like the Ritual [Book of the Dead], is mainly post-resurrectional, with the briefest allusion to the earth-life. It begins with the after-life in which Jesus has risen from the dead, like Amsu the good shepherd. It opens with the resurrection on the Mount of Glory, the same as the Ritual. The localities, like those in the Egyptian book, are not of this world. They are in the earth of eternity, not in the earth of time. Pistis Sophia begins where the Gospel story comes to an end. Jesus rises in the Mount of Olives, but not on the mount that was localized to the east of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives, as Egyptian, was the mountain of Amenta. It is termed Mount Bakhu, the Mount of the Olive-tree, when the green dawn was represented by this tree instead of by the sycamore. Mount Bakhu, the Mount of the Olive-tree, was the way of ascent to the risen Saviour as he issued forth from Amenta to the land of spirits in heaven. (Rit., ch. 17). So when the Egypto-gnostic Jesus takes his seat upon the Mount of Olives or the Olive tree, he is said to have "ascended into the heavens." Jesus "descended into hell," according to the Christian creed. This forms no part of the Gospel-legend, but we find it in the Book of the Dead; also in Pistis Sophia. Hell or Hades in Greek is the Amenta, as Egyptian. Horus descends into Amenta, or rather rises there from the tomb, as the teacher of the mysteries concerning the father, who is Ra the father in spirit and in truth. This descent into the under-world is spoken of by Horus in the Ritual (Ch. 38). He goes to visit the spirits in prison or in their cells and sepulchres. Those "who are in their cells," the manes, "accompany him as his guides." His object in making this descent is to utter the words of the father in heaven to the breathless ones, or the spirits in prison. The passage shows the speaker as the divine teacher in two characters on earth and in Amenta. Speaking of Ra, his father in the spirit, Horus says, "I utter his words to the Men of the present generation," or to the living. He also utters them to those who have been deprived of breath, or the dead in Amenta. So in the Pistis Sophia the gnostic Jesus passes into Amenta as the teacher of the greater mysteries. As it is said of his teaching in this spirit-world, "Jesus spake these words unto his disciples in the midst of Amenta." Moreover, a special title is assigned to him in Amenta. He is called Aber-Amentho. "Jesus, that is to say Aber-Amentho," is a formula several times repeated in Pistis Sophia.[2303]

Thus, in this Gnostic-Christian text we find several correlations between the Egyptian and Christian religions, including and especially the connection between the otherworld realm of Amenta, Amente and Amentho, as well as Jesus in the role of Horus.

Regarding the purpose of Jewish Gnosticism, Pearson remarks, "Gnosticism served as the medium by which Judaism should become a world religion."[2304] This world religion, as we know well, turned out to be Christianity, which has spread the Jewish tribal writings across the globe, representing them as "God's Word." We evince that Christianity was always planned as such, not truly representing "divine revelation" through the only begotten Son of God, but constituting a deliberate contrivance by members of a widespread brotherhood, designed to unify the Roman Empire under one state religion. In this regard, "Jesus Christ" is not a real person who walked the earth but an allegorical and mythical character based on Jewish and Gentile philosophy, religion and mythology.

Egypto-Christian Texts.

As examples of early "orthodox" Christian writings that connect Egypt to the Christian effort, two "Petrine" texts-in other words, those attributed to the apostle Peter-may be submitted, including the Kerygma Petri or "Preaching of Peter," an early Egyptian Christian work dating to the second century and found as fragments in the works of Clement of Alexandria and Origen. Regarding this text, Pearson says, "It certainly reflects a Logos Christology,"[2305] linking it to Gnosticism as well. Considered very orthodox, however, the "Peter, Preaching of" seeks out "prophecies" from the OT of Christ's advent, and represents "the first Alexandrian writing to use the term Christian..."[2306]

The Gospel of Peter is another Christian apocryphal text found in Egypt, perhaps written in Syria during the first quarter of the second century. It was known to Origen, but nothing was ever quoted from it. Peter's Gospel depicts Christ's passion, death, burial and resurrection, and was evidently considered by Eusebius to be Docetic, in other words, representing a non-material or "unhistorical" Jesus, which is in fact a prominent form of Gnosticism. Demonstrating the theory that the gospel story largely follows the Old Testament "messianic scriptures" as a blueprint, rather than constituting history, in the Gospel of Peter "it appears that almost every sentence of the passion narrative was composed on the basis of Scriptural references in the Old Testament, particularly in Isaiah and the Psalms."[2307]

Both of these Petrine texts appear to have been constructed from the Old Testament and may have been used by the compilers of the canonical gospels, who clearly utilized prior texts in their construction, rather than writing accounts from the memory of eyewitnesses.[2308] The fact that these texts possess Gnostic elements further demonstrates the difficulty in disentangling the two efforts, which are in fact ultimately inseparable.

Marcion and the Gospel of the Lord.

In our quest, we must also turn an eye towards the Christian "heretic" Marcion (c. 110-160 AD/CE), considered a "Gnostic" by some, who was responsible for compiling the first New Testament, composed of Paul's "Gospel of the Lord" and 10 Pauline epistles, omitting the three Pastorals (Titus, 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy), which likely did not exist at the time. As is to be expected, Marcion has an Egyptian connection as well. As Pearson says: Yet another group can be identified as a probable part of Alexandrian Christianity: the Marcionites. Gilles Dorival argues that Marcion's New Testament arrived in Egypt sometime around 150 or perhaps a little later... Marcionites were certainly known to Clement, who polemicizes against them...[2309]

It was claimed by various Church fathers that Marcion took the Gospel of Luke and expurgated parts of it; whereas, scientific analysis leads to the opposite conclusion, with the author of Luke taking Marcion's gospel and editing it.[2310] Since Marcion's gospel was known in Egypt, it is possible that the author of Luke utilized it at Alexandria to compose his own gospel,[2311] using other texts as well, some 33 by the count of Dr. Frederick Schleiermacher, considered "the most influential theologian of Protestant Germany" during the 19th Century.[2312]

Involved in the later orthodox Christian efforts at Alexandria, following the publication of Marcion's New Testament, were the Church fathers Pantaenus, Clement and Origen, the founders of the "School of Alexandria." Origen's "master," it is claimed, was the Gnostic Heracleon (fl. c. 175 AD/CE),[2313] a follower of Valentinus, providing a smooth link between Alexandrian Gnosticism and orthodox Christianity.

Adding to the fact that a number of important texts have Egyptian origins, the provenance of the two earliest complete Greek Bible manuscripts, the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, has likewise been suggested as, among other places, Alexandria or elsewhere in Egypt.[2314] Moreover, it is intriguing that the earliest known New Testament in an Egyptian dialect is the Bohairic, which comes from the "district near Alexandria between Lake Mareotis and the W. arm of the Nile."[2315] The Bohairic edition of the Bible is therefore "almost certainly Alexandrian."

According to Dr. Bart Ehrman, a professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, the monks of Alexandria who copied the Christian texts were "scrupulous" and "relatively skilled," making fewer mistakes than copyists elsewhere,[2316] which would provide a major reason why so much Christian literature came from Egypt-a connection that cannot be overemphasized.

The Gospel of John.

We have seen that the Gospel of John occupies a unique position in Christian literature in terms of its usage in Egypt, its apparent provenance in Egypt, its abundance of Egyptian themes, and its evident borrowing of Egyptian scriptures.

We have also noted that the other canonical gospels display Egyptian or Alexandrian influence, including Luke with its tale regarding Lazarus, among other details. As another example, Reber sees Matthew's gospel as possessing an "Alexandrian look not easily to be mistaken," remarking: In what quarter of the globe were the Synoptics written, and by whom? All that can be said on this subject with certainty is, that the Greek version of Matthew...was not written in Judea, or by one who knew anything of the geography of the country, or the history of the Jews. He was ignorant of both.[2317]

Citing the healing miracles in Matthew, Reber further states: "Whoever the writer may have been, it is evident he received his education at the college at Alexandria, where Medicine and Divinity were taught, and regarded as inseparable."[2318]

Not a few scholars have noticed a distinct connection between the "Last Judgment" scene of BD 125 and that of the gospel of Matthew, chapter 25. Concerning this situation, Bonwick remarks: Chapter 125 describes the "Last Judgment."... Mr. Birch supposes the chapter to have connection with "masonic mysteries." No one can doubt that Free-masonry, Phre or Sun masonry, existed b.c. 4000, if not much earlier; but the chapter admits certainly other interpretations, as its narrative runs pretty parallel with the 25th of Matthew.[2319]

Concerning the scene in the judgment hall and its relationship to Christianity, Griffiths states: The judgment before Osiris had a strong impact on other religions, particularly on the eschatology of Judaism and then Christianity-with the development of Judgment Day and the Last Judgment.[2320]

The judgment of the dead has traditionally been a function of the sun god, as exemplified in Egypt, where the solar judge is not only Osiris but also Ra/Re.[2321]