God Beyond Religion: Re-imagining Salvation

As I stated in the previous post, I am reading a book entitled “The Hermetica, the Lost Wisdom of the Pharaohs by Tim Freke and Peter Gandy. I should also state that the message found in the Hermetica was found on hieroglyphs in Egypt that were dated to 5,000 BCE. The Greeks claimed that the Hermetica was of Egyptian origin and dated to 3,000 BCE, so the hieroglyphs substantiate that claim. There are ideas in John’s gospel that coincide with the teaching of the Hermetica. This should lead one to conclude that either Jesus was familiar with the Hermetica, or the Hermetica contained mystical revelation from God. In my view, coincidence is not an acceptable explanation.

Being born again or born from above is not the only overlapping similarity. Both the Hermetica and John’s gospel speak of the creative source as Father and the word of God as the Son of God. It is also important to say, that in the Hermetica the name given God, the one and only supreme creative source of the universe and all that is in it, is Atum. So when you see the name Atum in the quotes from the Hermetica you can understand that it refers to God. The one that both Hermes Trismegistus, and Jesus of Nazareth referred to as Father. 

I have added two quotations in this post. One from the Hermetica and one from John's gospel. I believe that Jesus brought clarity to something that was a bit more shrouded in mystery in the Hermetica. I also believe that Paul added understanding to the operation of rebirth. In the Hermetica, it appears that for one to be born again, born from above, one has to rid oneself of the twelve torments of matter. However if you look at the quote from below, I have underscored and emboldened a sentence that gets us closer to what Jesus revealed. It reads, but by Atum's mercy, they may all depart and be replaced by understanding. Understanding what? 

REBIRTH (from the Hermetica)

“No one can be saved, until he is born again. If you want to be reborn, purify yourself of the irrational torments of matter. The first of these is ignorance. The second is grief. Third is lack of self-control. Fourth is desire. Fifth is injustice. Sixth is greed. Seventh is deceit. Eighth is envy. Ninth is treachery. Tenth is anger. Eleventh is rashness. Twelfth is malice. Under these twelve are many more, which force the man who is bound to the prison of the body to suffer from the torments they inflict. But by Atum's mercy, they may all depart and be replaced by understanding. This is the nature of rebirth.

This is the only road to reality. It is the way our ancestors trod to discover Primal Goodness. It is sacred and divine, but a hard highway for the soul to travel in a body. For the soul's first step is to struggle against itself — stirring up a civil war. It is a feud of unity against duality. The one seeking to unite and the other seeking to divide. He who is reborn communes with the All-Father who is Light and Life. You will only experience this supreme vision when you stop talking about it, for this knowledge is deep silence and tranquillity of the senses. He who knows the beauty of Primal Goodness perceives nothing else.

The above quotation in italics is from Freke, Tim. The Hermetica: The Lost Wisdom of the Pharaohs (p. 112-114). Tim Freke Publications. Kindle Edition.

In the Gospel of John, chapter three, verses sixteen through twenty-one is quite probably the most familiar passage in Christianity. It reads, John 3:3, 16-21 NRSV Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above."… "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."

Let me again repeat the question from above the quotes, understanding what? It will be instructive to examine these two passages as I believe that they relate closely with one another. The first is from the Hermetica, claimed to be written by Thoth an ancient Egyptian, at latest 3,000 BCE, and the second is from the Apostle John, a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth of the first century CE. In answer to my question, I believe that it is understanding what Jesus was really teaching in John’s gospel, and I think it is far more simple than it has been made with 2,000 plus years of orthodox dogma. Jesus was teaching that he was the word of God incarnate. This made him the son of God according to the ancient Hermetic text. But he also taught that we too were the incarnate word of God. This is the understanding that leads to salvation from the irrational torments of matter.

Salvation for Jesus was never salvation from eternal torture in hell. That was a hyperbolic metaphor for the impending catastrophic result of Roman occupation, and their fixation of a literal earthly Messiah that would rid them of Roman rule, and once and for all establish the kingdom of God in Jerusalem for Jews. All of the references to Gehenna, a smoldering garbage dump outside the city was a metaphor for Rome’s reaction to their false belief in prophecy.

However, in the passage in John’s gospel Jesus widened the opportunity for being born from above, becoming spiritually awakened. It was available for anyone who would believe that the word of God, the son of God, indwelt humanity by default. Jesus was simply awakening people to the reality. He was awakening them to the fact that they were divine and thus children of God by virtue of the indwelling Logos the consciousness of God. The crucifixion of the flesh was a metaphor for awakening to the knowledge that one was first and foremost mental creative spirit.

Paul’s mystical understanding added to this by letting people know that their life was hidden in God. This in my view meant that the true spiritual nature of all was hidden in the universal mind of God the realm of the Spirit.