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The Jesus Mysteries: Was the "Original Jesus" a Pagan God?
Drawing on the cutting edge of modern scholarship, this astonishing book completely undermines the traditional history of Christianity that has been perpetuated for centuries by the Church and presents overwhelming evidence that the Jesus of the New Testament is a mythical figure.
“Whether you conclude that this book is the most alarming heresy of the millennium or the mother of all revelations, The Jesus Mysteries deserves to be read.”
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Far from being eyewitness accounts, as is traditionally held, the Gospels are actually Jewish adaptations of ancient Pagan myths of the dying and resurrecting godman Osiris-Dionysus. The supernatural story of Jesus is not the history of a miraculous Messiah but a carefully crafted spiritual allegory designed to guide initiates on a journey of mystical discovery.
A little more than a century ago, most people believed that the strange story of Adam and Eve was history; today it is understood to be a myth. Within a few decades, authors Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy argue, we will likewise be amazed that the fabulous story of God incarnate—who was born of a virgin, who turned water into wine, and who rose from the dead—could have been interpreted as anything but a profound parable.
“Whether you conclude that this book is the most alarming heresy of the millennium or the mother of all revelations, The Jesus Mysteries deserves to be read.”
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Far from being eyewitness accounts, as is traditionally held, the Gospels are actually Jewish adaptations of ancient Pagan myths of the dying and resurrecting godman Osiris-Dionysus. The supernatural story of Jesus is not the history of a miraculous Messiah but a carefully crafted spiritual allegory designed to guide initiates on a journey of mystical discovery.
A little more than a century ago, most people believed that the strange story of Adam and Eve was history; today it is understood to be a myth. Within a few decades, authors Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy argue, we will likewise be amazed that the fabulous story of God incarnate—who was born of a virgin, who turned water into wine, and who rose from the dead—could have been interpreted as anything but a profound parable.
360 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
391 people are currently reading
2156 people want to read
About the author
Tim Freke
58 books140 followersTimothy Freke has an honors degree in philosophy and is the author of more than twenty books on world spirituality. He lectures and runs experiential seminars throughout the world exploring gnosis. For information, see timothyfreke.com. Both Freke and Gandy live in England and are the authors of five previous books, including The Jesus Mysteries and Jesus and the Lost Goddess.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews
March 15, 2016
Insightful reading.
TO THE CHRIST IN YOU
The chosen title for this first section of my review, To the Christ in You , it's the dedication that the authors used for this particular book.
I knew that I made the right decision to read it.
I am Catholic, I have a strong faith in God, but also I have no problem to know about the earthly origins of the foundation of the Christian-Catholic Church.
Some people can see this book like a blasphemy and if so, well, I respect their position, but in my case, I can separate my spiritual faith in a higher power from the humane history of the religion.
So, I think that there is enough space between Earth and Heaven to fit our own each particular image of Jesus and that Christ in your hearts.
RELIGION & FAITH
In a novel that I read many years ago, Virgin by Mary Elizabeth Murphy, there is a quote that stuck in my memory...
God made faith to unite us, people made religion to separate us. ...
...and I live pretty much by it.
I am still a practicing Catholic. I guess that some people who knows me, they didn't realize how religious I really am.
You don't have to say the name of God or Jesus on each sentence or being every Sunday in a concrete building to believe in God and to have faith.
God is everywhere and in everything, when you believe that, you get gnosis and you see things in a different way.
THEN WHY NOT A 5-STAR RATING?
So, why 4 stars instead of 5?
Simple, sadly, well sadly to my rating of the book anyway, I have read before a lot about the subject, and even recently I read the novel, The Secret Magdalene by Ki Longfellow (amazing book, one of my favorites now), and I now got many about that kind of info that I already knew previously and I got it in more amusing and entertaining ways.
I found the narrative in this book like a cold reading information text. And any related to religious faith should be told with passion, at least that's my thinking about the matter.
However, this is still a great book if you don't much about the topic, or if you want to refresh about what you read before of the godman myth that almost every culture in the planet developed in their own way and in their own terms.
I hardly losing respect of the Catholic Church, since I am always been amazed of how smart the founders of this religion were and how they acomplished such big task that convert to this faith a third of the people in this planet.
You have to be clear that the churches on Earth are managed by human beings subject to failures and sins, so you don't have to be so rude when they do some wrong if it's for a greater good.
Of course, if it isn't for a greater good but for personal avarice or lust, you should be brave enough and tell it, but don't judge the whole Church (any church) for the evil ones, but judge it for the faithful ones.
Also, you have to be clear that any doing of the earthly churches is separate of the spirituality that you have in your mind and your heart about a higher power that you may call God or whatever you wish.
It's YOUR faith and you have the right of defining it for yourself.
Nothing can be between you and your God.
Believe in your God. Do the right thing. And being able to see yourself into the mirror each day. Anything else can be solved on the way.
TO THE CHRIST IN YOU
The chosen title for this first section of my review, To the Christ in You , it's the dedication that the authors used for this particular book.
I knew that I made the right decision to read it.
I am Catholic, I have a strong faith in God, but also I have no problem to know about the earthly origins of the foundation of the Christian-Catholic Church.
Some people can see this book like a blasphemy and if so, well, I respect their position, but in my case, I can separate my spiritual faith in a higher power from the humane history of the religion.
So, I think that there is enough space between Earth and Heaven to fit our own each particular image of Jesus and that Christ in your hearts.
RELIGION & FAITH
In a novel that I read many years ago, Virgin by Mary Elizabeth Murphy, there is a quote that stuck in my memory...
God made faith to unite us, people made religion to separate us. ...
...and I live pretty much by it.
I am still a practicing Catholic. I guess that some people who knows me, they didn't realize how religious I really am.
You don't have to say the name of God or Jesus on each sentence or being every Sunday in a concrete building to believe in God and to have faith.
God is everywhere and in everything, when you believe that, you get gnosis and you see things in a different way.
THEN WHY NOT A 5-STAR RATING?
So, why 4 stars instead of 5?
Simple, sadly, well sadly to my rating of the book anyway, I have read before a lot about the subject, and even recently I read the novel, The Secret Magdalene by Ki Longfellow (amazing book, one of my favorites now), and I now got many about that kind of info that I already knew previously and I got it in more amusing and entertaining ways.
I found the narrative in this book like a cold reading information text. And any related to religious faith should be told with passion, at least that's my thinking about the matter.
However, this is still a great book if you don't much about the topic, or if you want to refresh about what you read before of the godman myth that almost every culture in the planet developed in their own way and in their own terms.
I hardly losing respect of the Catholic Church, since I am always been amazed of how smart the founders of this religion were and how they acomplished such big task that convert to this faith a third of the people in this planet.
You have to be clear that the churches on Earth are managed by human beings subject to failures and sins, so you don't have to be so rude when they do some wrong if it's for a greater good.
Of course, if it isn't for a greater good but for personal avarice or lust, you should be brave enough and tell it, but don't judge the whole Church (any church) for the evil ones, but judge it for the faithful ones.
Also, you have to be clear that any doing of the earthly churches is separate of the spirituality that you have in your mind and your heart about a higher power that you may call God or whatever you wish.
It's YOUR faith and you have the right of defining it for yourself.
Nothing can be between you and your God.
Believe in your God. Do the right thing. And being able to see yourself into the mirror each day. Anything else can be solved on the way.
December 3, 2023
Christianity turned out to be a continuation of Paganism by another name
Controversial.
Well researched.
Informative.
Theoretical.
Blasphemous to billions.
A religious mystery worthy of The Da Vinci Code.
Based on a bestselling book The Pagan Christ, by an Anglican priest, Tom Harpur: ordained for more than forty years; a Rhodes scholar; a professor of the New Testament and Greek studies.
In sociology, there is a concept of religion that aligns with the essence of this book: all religions lead to God. Different religions construct distinct bridges to God, and ultimately, these bridges, instead of God, are worshipped by various groups. The world's major conflicts have resulted from this intolerance for each other's bridges.
This 'bridge' concept is essentially demonstrated in this book, leading to a much broader understanding of history and our modern lives. It is recommended for those interested in a wider scope of civilizations since the beginning of time. The information has been known for several thousand years and, more recently, for hundreds of years. The authors have managed to present an easy-to-read text, sharing outstanding scholarly research spanning many years. While not the first time the information is shared, it is certainly an entertaining and highly informative addition to history.
There is much to be said, shared, and synchronized about the fascinating information in this book. However, providing a comprehensive review here would be time-, and space-consuming.
The book was well worth the read. I will have to read it again and again to remember more details.
I am adding a long spoiler to allow this book, The Jesus Mysteries: Was the "Original Jesus" a Pagan God?, and the authors, Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, to speak for themselves.
This YouTube video inspired me to read the book. I strongly recommend it. Different viewpoints and evidence are provided for the discoveries.
https://youtu.be/xxH1QdmDnpM
Controversial.
Well researched.
Informative.
Theoretical.
Blasphemous to billions.
A religious mystery worthy of The Da Vinci Code.
Based on a bestselling book The Pagan Christ, by an Anglican priest, Tom Harpur: ordained for more than forty years; a Rhodes scholar; a professor of the New Testament and Greek studies.
There is, after all, a great deal of unsubstantiated nonsense written about the 'real' Jesus, so any revolutionary theory should be approached with a healthy dose of skepticism. But although this book makes extraordinary claims, it is not just entertaining fantasy or sensational speculation. It is firmly based on the available historical sources and the latest scholarly research. Whilst we hope to have made it accessible to the general reader, we have also included copious notes giving sources, references, and greater detail for those who wish to analyze our arguments more thoroughly.
In sociology, there is a concept of religion that aligns with the essence of this book: all religions lead to God. Different religions construct distinct bridges to God, and ultimately, these bridges, instead of God, are worshipped by various groups. The world's major conflicts have resulted from this intolerance for each other's bridges.
This 'bridge' concept is essentially demonstrated in this book, leading to a much broader understanding of history and our modern lives. It is recommended for those interested in a wider scope of civilizations since the beginning of time. The information has been known for several thousand years and, more recently, for hundreds of years. The authors have managed to present an easy-to-read text, sharing outstanding scholarly research spanning many years. While not the first time the information is shared, it is certainly an entertaining and highly informative addition to history.
There is much to be said, shared, and synchronized about the fascinating information in this book. However, providing a comprehensive review here would be time-, and space-consuming.
The book was well worth the read. I will have to read it again and again to remember more details.
I am adding a long spoiler to allow this book, The Jesus Mysteries: Was the "Original Jesus" a Pagan God?, and the authors, Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, to speak for themselves.
This YouTube video inspired me to read the book. I strongly recommend it. Different viewpoints and evidence are provided for the discoveries.
https://youtu.be/xxH1QdmDnpM
April 1, 2008
An interesting thesis, easily accepted by serious students of comparative religion, but probably highly irritating and/or distasteful to fundamentalist sects. If you're truly interested in the history of religion, I highly recommend it.
Read
August 6, 2010Have you: 1) Ever heard that not a single contemporary first-hand account of the Jesus of Nazareth exists? And wondered why? 2) Ever taken a shot at understanding the very strange 2nd-4th century Gnostic Gospels (discovered in an Egyptian cave in 1948), but found them too bizarre to wrap your arms around? 3) Ever heard of the Egyptian, Persian, and Pagan man-Gods, worshiped during the 1st-5th centuries B.C., who were born of a virgin, died on a cross/tree, buried in a cave, descended into hell, and rose again on the third day? In The Jesus Mysteries, Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy not only document the once-prevalent belief in these ancient Man-gods, but link them directly to the Gnostic Gospels and Jesus of Nazareth, who—according to the authors—was merely a mythical Jewish adaptation from the Pagan Man-god “Mysteries” religion of Rome. Although released in 2000, the recent surge of public interest in books by the likes of Christopher Hitchins and Richard Dawkins makes The Jesus Mysteries a fascinating read with a controversial thesis. (Russ K., Ref.)
May 25, 2012
Read it, didn't buy the theory. The authors didn't know the difference between Mithra (Persian deity) and Mithras (god of the Roman legions) to start with, and that's a pretty critical distinction. They also didn't talk enough about the story of Dionysus to get a real feel for any comparisons between Dionysus and Jesus, and there are some. Nonetheless, a "mystery religion" lens for viewing the Jesus narrative is useful for mining more significance out of it when the usual way of reading it runs dry. There are also some very nice colour photos.
December 11, 2020
[Please note that I wrote this review many months after my original reading, so it does not consist of my original thoughts from the time.]
The subject of this book is certainly highly provocative, and the authors certainly capitalise on that within the text, but I nevertheless felt they were fair in their assessment of the main topic of the book, i.e. whether the portrayals of Jesus we see in our texts might have been influenced by pagan traditions, which have several figures that bear similarities with Jesus. Some of this is explicit in the historical context already, such as Mithras’ birthday being borrowed for the birth of Christ (though their confusion of the Roman Mithras with Mithra, the Persian deity, betrays that they are not really experts on this subject!); others are implicit, but widely accepted by scholars; other points are more dubious, such as claiming that it was common for pagan gods to be ‘born of a virgin’, though they often have unusual births.
My main criticism is that much of what they have written is stated with confidence when it should be highly speculative (this is what I mean about the provocative tone), when it would have been better to explore it in a more speculative fashion. It also seems to ignore a lot of the pretexts for Jesus’ qualities and behaviours in the Jewish tradition, and in particular how the role of ‘Messiah’ was characterised both in prophecy and in the purported Messiahs roaming around Judaea in his own time, when a more accurate reading should put both traditions alongside one another to assess the influence in each (since it is at least clear that they both to some extent influenced the portrayal of Christ). I read this mainly for the discussion of communion, which related to my research at the time, and I thought it covered the potential pagan influences well but did not compare it at all with, for instance, the Judaic Didache. On the other hand, this was one of the more convincing parallels (though of course I am biased by my own interest in the subject).
As you can see, there is a lot to criticise about this book (in my view), but I am giving it a middling rating because it is at least brought up some interesting passages and ideas and made me give them a second look. I also respect them for tackling this subject without making an outright attack on Christianity. To anyone offended by the content, it is worth remembering how C. S. Lewis treated pagan beliefs in his work — despite wanting to spread a Christian message, he intertwined pagan elements with those themes, and saw no contradiction in doing so. I would go so far as to say that his fellow Christians, likewise, should not find any inherent conflict in realising the elements that Christ and some pagan deities have in common.
The subject of this book is certainly highly provocative, and the authors certainly capitalise on that within the text, but I nevertheless felt they were fair in their assessment of the main topic of the book, i.e. whether the portrayals of Jesus we see in our texts might have been influenced by pagan traditions, which have several figures that bear similarities with Jesus. Some of this is explicit in the historical context already, such as Mithras’ birthday being borrowed for the birth of Christ (though their confusion of the Roman Mithras with Mithra, the Persian deity, betrays that they are not really experts on this subject!); others are implicit, but widely accepted by scholars; other points are more dubious, such as claiming that it was common for pagan gods to be ‘born of a virgin’, though they often have unusual births.
My main criticism is that much of what they have written is stated with confidence when it should be highly speculative (this is what I mean about the provocative tone), when it would have been better to explore it in a more speculative fashion. It also seems to ignore a lot of the pretexts for Jesus’ qualities and behaviours in the Jewish tradition, and in particular how the role of ‘Messiah’ was characterised both in prophecy and in the purported Messiahs roaming around Judaea in his own time, when a more accurate reading should put both traditions alongside one another to assess the influence in each (since it is at least clear that they both to some extent influenced the portrayal of Christ). I read this mainly for the discussion of communion, which related to my research at the time, and I thought it covered the potential pagan influences well but did not compare it at all with, for instance, the Judaic Didache. On the other hand, this was one of the more convincing parallels (though of course I am biased by my own interest in the subject).
As you can see, there is a lot to criticise about this book (in my view), but I am giving it a middling rating because it is at least brought up some interesting passages and ideas and made me give them a second look. I also respect them for tackling this subject without making an outright attack on Christianity. To anyone offended by the content, it is worth remembering how C. S. Lewis treated pagan beliefs in his work — despite wanting to spread a Christian message, he intertwined pagan elements with those themes, and saw no contradiction in doing so. I would go so far as to say that his fellow Christians, likewise, should not find any inherent conflict in realising the elements that Christ and some pagan deities have in common.
January 25, 2010
I always imagined that during the first century there were many, many versions of what happened to Jesus of Nazareth.. Out of that primordial soup of belief emerged orthodox Christianity and Gnostic Christianity, and afterward it was one long process of natural selection which eventually produced the religion we know today. It was survival of the fittest, and Paul’s interpretation of the life and death of Jesus won, driving all other versions into extinction. This book posits a radically different theory. The Gnostics were first! Heavily influenced by Greek culture, the Gnostics, like the Greeks, relied on myth as a means of accessing the divine that dwells within us all. Like the Greeks, like the Egyptians, like the Persians, the Gnostics seized upon the dying / resurrecting godman as a beacon to the transcendent. Over time, however, there were those who insisted on looking at the gospel through the lens of history rather than mythology, and thus the great struggle between the literalists and the Gnostics began. The literalists labeled the Gnostics heretics. They co-opted the message of Paul. (The authors make a very convincing case that Paul was a Gnostic sage.) To quote the book: “They… created a religion that required blind faith in historical events from what was originally a spiritual path through which each initiate could experience mystical knowledge or gnosis.” The literalists eventually won, and history, as we all know, is written by the victors. The theory rings true to me. Draining the life out of our stories, our ideas—it’s what we do. Kentucky Fried Chicken wants us to march to the beat of a different drumstick. Snoopy goes from iconoclast to insurance company mascot. And Christianity hardens into history.
April 12, 2010
...no evidence for the existence of a historical Jesus...for thousands of years Pagans had also followed a Son of God...this Pagan savior was also born of a virgin on the twenty-fifth of December before three shepherds, turned water into wine at a wedding, died and was resurrected, and offered his body and blood as a Holy Communion!..these Pagan myths had been rewritten as the gospel of Jesus Christ...the earliest Gnostic Christians knew that the Jesus story was a myth...Christianity turned out to be a continuation of Paganism by another name.
This book blows up the concept of Christianity and exposes some painful ideas. Opened my mind and broke down the wall that 50+ years of careful indoctrination had built.
This book blows up the concept of Christianity and exposes some painful ideas. Opened my mind and broke down the wall that 50+ years of careful indoctrination had built.
April 4, 2013
This is one of the most important books I have ever read. If you have wondered what the real story was at the time Christianity began, and why it has not translated very well through the centuries, this explains it. For everyone that thought the bible was allegorical and not literal, this explains why it unfolded the way it did. This is a magnificent piece of work. I read the sequel before this, and I like this one better.
July 5, 2019
The authors of this book are, according to their brief biographies, amateur readers of the bible. Freke holds a degree in philosophy, Gandy a master's in classical civilization. What they do, constructively speaking, is to show many of the formal similarities between early Christian texts and traditions and those of other, earlier and contemporary cults on the ancient Mediterranean world. In other words, they correctly illustrate how the figure of Jesus relates to other figures.
Where they are mistaken is in taking this problem to the extreme of denying the historicity of Jesus. It is one thing to say that the 'quest for the historical Jesus' is ever uncertain, it is quite another to claim that the quest has no subject. Jesus, however shadowed, remains one of the most well attested figures of antiquity.
The authors further posit that something they call 'Gnosticism' antedates the original Jesus movement. The term being a modern, not an ancient, rubric, they would have a point were they to be referring instead to something like a perennial esoteric tradition, a mysticism, detectable throughout Western antiquity. As it is, however, those texts commonly so classed are late, third and fourth century productions, much later than many certifiable holographs of the canon. The texts are also so, often floridly, variant as to define 'gnosticism' as essentially, radically eclectic.
This book might be recommended to naif readers of the bible as another antidote to fundamentalism. To others, not familiar with the canon(s) of Christianity, it would be misleading.
Where they are mistaken is in taking this problem to the extreme of denying the historicity of Jesus. It is one thing to say that the 'quest for the historical Jesus' is ever uncertain, it is quite another to claim that the quest has no subject. Jesus, however shadowed, remains one of the most well attested figures of antiquity.
The authors further posit that something they call 'Gnosticism' antedates the original Jesus movement. The term being a modern, not an ancient, rubric, they would have a point were they to be referring instead to something like a perennial esoteric tradition, a mysticism, detectable throughout Western antiquity. As it is, however, those texts commonly so classed are late, third and fourth century productions, much later than many certifiable holographs of the canon. The texts are also so, often floridly, variant as to define 'gnosticism' as essentially, radically eclectic.
This book might be recommended to naif readers of the bible as another antidote to fundamentalism. To others, not familiar with the canon(s) of Christianity, it would be misleading.
March 3, 2011
'The Jesus Mysteries' was a Sunday Times bestseller and The Daily Telegraph's Book of the Year, when published back in 1999. As it states on the book's cover, 'drawing on the cutting edge of modern scholarship, this astonishing book will change everything you ever thought you knew about Christianity.' Amen to that.
The book's two authors, Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy have dumped an enormous amount of research between it's covers. If I have one teeny weeny criticism it's the fact that hardly a paragraph goes by without having to refer to the hundreds of listed notes at the end of the book. However in the end it's all well worth it. The notes refer to everyone from Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Celsus, Origen all the way to modern day writers like Gibbon, Bultmann, Wrede, to the excellent Elaine Pagels and everyone in between.
Plato...'We beheld the beatific visions and were initiated into the Mystery which may be truly called blessed, celebrated by us in a state of innocence. We beheld calm,happy,simple,eternal visions, resplendent in pure light.
The Gnostics called those who identified with their body 'Hylics',because they were so utterly dead to spiritual things that they were like unconscious matter, or 'hyle'. Those who identified with their personality,or 'psyche',were known as 'Psychics'. Those who identified with their Spirit were known as 'Pneumatics',which means 'Spirituals'. Those who completely ceased to identify with any level of their seperate identity and realised their true identity as the Christ or Universal Daemon, experienced Gnosis.
In both Paganism and Christianity these levels of awareness were symbolically linked with the four elements, earth,water,fire and air. The initiations leading from one level to the next were symbolized by elemental baptisms. Baptism by water symbolizes the transformation of the Hylic person who identifies solely with the body,into a Psychic initiate who identifies with the personality or psyche. Baptism by air symolizes the transformation of the Psychic initiate into a Pneumatic initiate who identifies with their higher self. Baptism by fire represents the final initiation which reveals to Pneumatic initiates their true identity as the Universal Daemon, the Logos, the Christ within, the Light-power. Such an initiate has reached Gnosis.
Psychic Christians had experienced the first baptism by water and been initiated into the Outer Mysteries of Christianity. They understood the story of Jesus as an historical account of a person who literally returned from the dead.
Pneumatic Christians had experienced the second baptism of air (holy breath or holy spirit) and been initiated into the secret Inner Mysteries of Christianity. They understood the Jesus story as an allegorical myth encoding teachings about the spiritual path travelled by each initiate.
Gnostics had experienced the final baptism of fire and realized their identity as the Christ (the Logos or Universal Daemon).
Then, along came the Roman church.
The book's two authors, Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy have dumped an enormous amount of research between it's covers. If I have one teeny weeny criticism it's the fact that hardly a paragraph goes by without having to refer to the hundreds of listed notes at the end of the book. However in the end it's all well worth it. The notes refer to everyone from Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Celsus, Origen all the way to modern day writers like Gibbon, Bultmann, Wrede, to the excellent Elaine Pagels and everyone in between.
Plato...'We beheld the beatific visions and were initiated into the Mystery which may be truly called blessed, celebrated by us in a state of innocence. We beheld calm,happy,simple,eternal visions, resplendent in pure light.
The Gnostics called those who identified with their body 'Hylics',because they were so utterly dead to spiritual things that they were like unconscious matter, or 'hyle'. Those who identified with their personality,or 'psyche',were known as 'Psychics'. Those who identified with their Spirit were known as 'Pneumatics',which means 'Spirituals'. Those who completely ceased to identify with any level of their seperate identity and realised their true identity as the Christ or Universal Daemon, experienced Gnosis.
In both Paganism and Christianity these levels of awareness were symbolically linked with the four elements, earth,water,fire and air. The initiations leading from one level to the next were symbolized by elemental baptisms. Baptism by water symbolizes the transformation of the Hylic person who identifies solely with the body,into a Psychic initiate who identifies with the personality or psyche. Baptism by air symolizes the transformation of the Psychic initiate into a Pneumatic initiate who identifies with their higher self. Baptism by fire represents the final initiation which reveals to Pneumatic initiates their true identity as the Universal Daemon, the Logos, the Christ within, the Light-power. Such an initiate has reached Gnosis.
Psychic Christians had experienced the first baptism by water and been initiated into the Outer Mysteries of Christianity. They understood the story of Jesus as an historical account of a person who literally returned from the dead.
Pneumatic Christians had experienced the second baptism of air (holy breath or holy spirit) and been initiated into the secret Inner Mysteries of Christianity. They understood the Jesus story as an allegorical myth encoding teachings about the spiritual path travelled by each initiate.
Gnostics had experienced the final baptism of fire and realized their identity as the Christ (the Logos or Universal Daemon).
Then, along came the Roman church.
December 30, 2010
The Jesus Myth thesis is a very controversial one of late, particularly after the string of new atheists and controversial publishings; but I'm afraid to say that the thesis is ultimately the epitome of misconstrued articles on gnosticism, paganism, and Christianity. Now, let me make it perfectly clear, there is obviously history in their [Freke and Gandy] product, but rather than assuming that all of their citations and references to other "historians" are reliable, actually read a Greek, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, or even a Christian text that is written by a scholar with credibility and experience (Or, even read the actual reference, because they often quote mine). For example, when online bloggers make connections between Osiris, Dionysus, Buddha (wtf?), and other religious icons to Jesus they tend to blur the line on what historians actually know about such mythologies and what they say about them. The most heavily distorted is obviously, if I remember correctly, their comparisons of Siddhartha to Jesus Christ. I'll concede one point in jest: that they both probably wore sandals in the Middle-East.
Before reading this text, read actual documentation of the varying beliefs that receive mention in The Jesus Mysteries. Also, afterwards, read the critiques of Freke and Gandy's work; the most accessible critique is Gary Habermas' The Historical Jesus, which confronts the many allegations on this topic. However, DO NOT READ LEE STROBEL. PLEASE!! HE'S AN IDIOT! Haha, thank you for your time.
Before reading this text, read actual documentation of the varying beliefs that receive mention in The Jesus Mysteries. Also, afterwards, read the critiques of Freke and Gandy's work; the most accessible critique is Gary Habermas' The Historical Jesus, which confronts the many allegations on this topic. However, DO NOT READ LEE STROBEL. PLEASE!! HE'S AN IDIOT! Haha, thank you for your time.
September 1, 2015
I learned a lot from this book. My biggest gripe is that the authors come across as snarky, and are extremely liberal with their exclamation marks. People tend to say that showing some myth or story to be symbolic, or highly similar to other myths, disproves any sort of literalist interpretation of that story. For instance, in The Jesus Mysteries they make a very convincing argument that the stories of Jesus from the gospels are rehashes of older allegories from other traditions (Osiris, Mythras, Adonis etc...). I can see why people come to this conclusion, but I don't think things are so black and white. It's possible that there was a real Jesus, whom many of his contemporary jews considered the messiah. There are other instances of this happening in the history of Judaism. Perhaps the man Jesus (if he existed) purposely was trying to mimic these allegories, or fulfill these prophecies that were written of in the older texts. Or perhaps the Church of Rome took the original stories of Jesus and doctored them to match these pagan(ish) dying god myths. Still, the similarities with these 'dying god' myths or most certainly there, and I learned a great deal about these various traditions as well as early Christianity from this book.
January 26, 2008
This is the best book I've found that explains Christianity's place in the pantheon of world religions. The authors start with the question of whether it's possible that Jesus was not, in fact, the true son of God. They examine the evidence of numerous god-men that preceded Jesus, each living pretty much the exact same life: virgin birth, miracles, water to wine, feeding thousands with a few fish, crucifixion, resurrection. They go on to explore the role of the New Testament as a handbook for the latest (at the time) in a series of mystery religions.
They explore the eventual corruption of the Jesus myth, from its combination with the Jewish messiah prophecy (and adoption of the Old Testament) to the rise of a strict literal interpretation as the one true Christianity. The section about its early history is interesting, though a bit brief. In the end, the authors condemn the early Christians for launching "a cultural revolution that laid waste the ancient wonders and achievements of Paganism, setting Western civilization back 1,000 years."
They explore the eventual corruption of the Jesus myth, from its combination with the Jewish messiah prophecy (and adoption of the Old Testament) to the rise of a strict literal interpretation as the one true Christianity. The section about its early history is interesting, though a bit brief. In the end, the authors condemn the early Christians for launching "a cultural revolution that laid waste the ancient wonders and achievements of Paganism, setting Western civilization back 1,000 years."
November 13, 2011
Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy collaborate to write this nonfiction elaboration of the ancient Pagan Mystery cults and how they relate to modern Christianity. With careful attention to detail, these two authors explain the traditions in existence during the arrival of the early Christian Church and the process by which the Church uprooted them. Freke and Gandy write with an authorial voice while sharing information, discovered through their research, that has been lost to the ages (sometimes intentionally covered and hidden from society) and remains unknown to most. Due to the controversial nature of their findings, some may consider this book a heresy, but its importance to the religious discourse is paramount. As a writer, I appreciated and took note, the great amount of work that went into writing this book. All of the authors' claims are well documented and easily accessible for verification with footnotes.
October 11, 2015
I am an atheist, but I have always found religious material to be fascinating. I picked up this book on the recommendation of a colleague who considers himself to be a Gnostic rather than a Christian. I can only imagine how this book might be received by a person of faith, because of the controversial subject matter. The central premise is that there is no historical evidence of Jesus, but there is considerable evidence that early Christianity was cribbed together from a host of pagan Mystery religions, and more evidence that the early Church fathers went to considerable effort to suppress this knowledge. Some of the information here is old news, but I was impressed with the authors' scholarship as well as their sources.
September 6, 2011
Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy have produced a book with copious research. Their study is saturated with ancient testimony and much thought. This is not a superficial look at the area of Theosophy. However, the flaw in their study comes as they acknowledge that much of their thesis depends on Paul's writings. They argue that the apostle Paul was one of the earliest Christian writers. And they are convinced he was one of the earliest Gnostics (the true Christians). Freke and Gandy are convinced that Jesus was not flesh-and-blood, but only a myth -- a Gnostic myth. Colossians 1:22 clarifies what Paul believed and leaves Freke and Gandy with nothing to say.
April 4, 2021
Έργο που αποκαλύπτει πόσο μεγάλη είναι η σχέση του παγανισμού με τον χριστιανισμό και μελετάει διεξοδικά όλες τις πτυχές του, από τον ρόλο του Αποστόλου Παύλου, τη σωκρατική διδασκαλία της αγάπης, τους γνωστικούς και τους άλλους παγανιστές Θεούς που κρεμάστηκαν επί ξύλου όπως και ο Χριστός. Κάθε χριστιανός που σέβεται τον εαυτό του θα έπρεπε να το διαβάσει για ν ερευνήσει τις καταβολές της θρησκείας του, αλλά και να κατανοήσει πόσο μπορεί να παραχαράξει την αλήθεια το ανθρώπινο χέρι.
March 17, 2012
Fundamentalist Christians will find this book extremely controversial and possibly heretical. I found it to be a fascinating study as to the origins of Christianity and how much in common Christians really do have with Pagans. This book has introduced me to new ideas that I want to explore more.
October 3, 2015
Is Christianity a Mystery Cult
28 October 2011
I recently had a look at my review of this book and must admit that I was very disappointed in that I gave it just a brief glance and then threw it on my shelf and forgot about it. I have kept my original review below but after reading the book that I am reading now (Orpheus and Greek Religion) I felt that this particular book requires another look.
Now, the idea that the authors proposed, after thinking about it for a bit and considering the elements of the Greek Mystery religions, the concept of Christianity being a mystery religion isn't something to simply write off. However, the arguments that the authors base their thesis upon is wrong. The reason I say this is because they open their thesis with the argument that Jesus did not exist. Now, granted, my position as a Christian is biased in that regard, but taking that bias out of the equation I still believe there was an historical Jesus. There is just too much evidence supporting his existence, and the author's arguments against this are spurious at best.
However, let us consider the elements of what we know of the mystery religions (remembering that our knowledge of them is limited at best considering that the whole concept of the mystery cult is that outsiders did not know what went on inside, and when Christianity rose to become the dominant religion of Europe, many of the other mystery cults vanished). The main aspect is that they seem to have a focus on a dying and resurrecting God-man. Jesus was not the only figure to die and then come back to life. Others included Orpheus (who descended into hell to rescue his wife), Odysseus (who descended into hell to obtain information on how to return home), Dionysius and Osiris, just to name a few (this was something that scholars refer to as the katabasis or the descent below). The second element is that these religions have an initiation rite: with Christianity that is baptism.
However there are a few differences, one being that with mystery religions the knowledge available to the initiates is not available to those outside of the religion. With Christianity (at least the one that Christ set up) prides itself on its transparency. However, while Christianity desires to propogate itself, and to tell others about the benefits of the religion, there are concepts within Christianity (such as the doctrine of the Trinity and Salvation by Grace) which many of the young adherents simply do no understand, let alone non-believers. Another element is a phrase that I read in my current book, and that that is that 'life is a veil of tears where death is the only release.' That statement is Christianity through and through. The Christian life is a life of suffering as we make our way through to the glory that is awaiting for us beyond death (and this makes me question why Christians simply don't kill themselves, but that is an argument for another time, and is also addressed by many of the ancient writers).
It is true that many of the ancient anti-Christian writers (such as Celsus) point out that Christianity is little more than a mystery cult, and it is interesting that many of the ancient adherents disputed this, though Paul was not necessarily one of them (in which he refers to the mysteries of Christ a few times in his letters). It is also interesting to note that the more fundamentalist a Christian sect becomes then more elements of a mystery cult that it takes on, with baptism always being present as a form of initiation. Now, I'm evangelical Anglican, which means that our take on baptism is that it is a public declaration of our faith in Christ, and while there is nothing magical or mystical about the act, many evangelical Christians will baulk at the idea of being baptised more than once. Once you have been baptised that is it, you do not do it again. Sounds very much like an initiation to me.
Mystery religions actually became quite popular during the Imperial Roman age, where Christianity was not the only 'new' religion that arose. We also had Mithraism and a following of the Egyptian God Isis. However what we need to note is that Christianity survived. It is interesting to note that Constantine, the emperor who made Christianity the state religion of Rome, was a sun worshipper himself (and it is said that Orpheus received his knowledge from Apollo, another Sun god) and was himself very resistant to becoming baptised. However, that is beside the point because the question that I raise is 'why did Christianity take the form of a mystery cult?'.
A Biased Load of Rubbish
(18 July 2010)
To be honest, this book is rubbish. It is biased, biggotted, based on flimsy facts and mistranslations. Basically it is guilty of everything it accuses us Christians of doing. Personally, I don't think we're the best bunch of people on the earth, but considering the rubbish that these jokers were propagating, I personally prefer Christianity by a long shot. There are parts that I do agree with, and parts that helped me understand my faith better, such as the myths of the dying god-man (which I see as the pagan myths being fulfilled in Jesus Christ), and the overtly spiritual nature of Paul's letters. However, the thesis, I don't buy it.
28 October 2011
I recently had a look at my review of this book and must admit that I was very disappointed in that I gave it just a brief glance and then threw it on my shelf and forgot about it. I have kept my original review below but after reading the book that I am reading now (Orpheus and Greek Religion) I felt that this particular book requires another look.
Now, the idea that the authors proposed, after thinking about it for a bit and considering the elements of the Greek Mystery religions, the concept of Christianity being a mystery religion isn't something to simply write off. However, the arguments that the authors base their thesis upon is wrong. The reason I say this is because they open their thesis with the argument that Jesus did not exist. Now, granted, my position as a Christian is biased in that regard, but taking that bias out of the equation I still believe there was an historical Jesus. There is just too much evidence supporting his existence, and the author's arguments against this are spurious at best.
However, let us consider the elements of what we know of the mystery religions (remembering that our knowledge of them is limited at best considering that the whole concept of the mystery cult is that outsiders did not know what went on inside, and when Christianity rose to become the dominant religion of Europe, many of the other mystery cults vanished). The main aspect is that they seem to have a focus on a dying and resurrecting God-man. Jesus was not the only figure to die and then come back to life. Others included Orpheus (who descended into hell to rescue his wife), Odysseus (who descended into hell to obtain information on how to return home), Dionysius and Osiris, just to name a few (this was something that scholars refer to as the katabasis or the descent below). The second element is that these religions have an initiation rite: with Christianity that is baptism.
However there are a few differences, one being that with mystery religions the knowledge available to the initiates is not available to those outside of the religion. With Christianity (at least the one that Christ set up) prides itself on its transparency. However, while Christianity desires to propogate itself, and to tell others about the benefits of the religion, there are concepts within Christianity (such as the doctrine of the Trinity and Salvation by Grace) which many of the young adherents simply do no understand, let alone non-believers. Another element is a phrase that I read in my current book, and that that is that 'life is a veil of tears where death is the only release.' That statement is Christianity through and through. The Christian life is a life of suffering as we make our way through to the glory that is awaiting for us beyond death (and this makes me question why Christians simply don't kill themselves, but that is an argument for another time, and is also addressed by many of the ancient writers).
It is true that many of the ancient anti-Christian writers (such as Celsus) point out that Christianity is little more than a mystery cult, and it is interesting that many of the ancient adherents disputed this, though Paul was not necessarily one of them (in which he refers to the mysteries of Christ a few times in his letters). It is also interesting to note that the more fundamentalist a Christian sect becomes then more elements of a mystery cult that it takes on, with baptism always being present as a form of initiation. Now, I'm evangelical Anglican, which means that our take on baptism is that it is a public declaration of our faith in Christ, and while there is nothing magical or mystical about the act, many evangelical Christians will baulk at the idea of being baptised more than once. Once you have been baptised that is it, you do not do it again. Sounds very much like an initiation to me.
Mystery religions actually became quite popular during the Imperial Roman age, where Christianity was not the only 'new' religion that arose. We also had Mithraism and a following of the Egyptian God Isis. However what we need to note is that Christianity survived. It is interesting to note that Constantine, the emperor who made Christianity the state religion of Rome, was a sun worshipper himself (and it is said that Orpheus received his knowledge from Apollo, another Sun god) and was himself very resistant to becoming baptised. However, that is beside the point because the question that I raise is 'why did Christianity take the form of a mystery cult?'.
A Biased Load of Rubbish
(18 July 2010)
To be honest, this book is rubbish. It is biased, biggotted, based on flimsy facts and mistranslations. Basically it is guilty of everything it accuses us Christians of doing. Personally, I don't think we're the best bunch of people on the earth, but considering the rubbish that these jokers were propagating, I personally prefer Christianity by a long shot. There are parts that I do agree with, and parts that helped me understand my faith better, such as the myths of the dying god-man (which I see as the pagan myths being fulfilled in Jesus Christ), and the overtly spiritual nature of Paul's letters. However, the thesis, I don't buy it.
March 9, 2022
In the beginning was ...the word? Well, no, according to Freke and Gandy. In the beginning, there were a number of belief systems, some unique in their own right, many, a variation of a series of philosophical constructs, dubbed "Pagan mystery" religions. Most of these were sadly unoriginal, sharing and evolving ideas and structures, (Dionysus, Osiris). Many of these "Pagan" belief systems had multiple gods, some a single entity. Many shared the theme of son born of a male god figure joining with an earthly, mortal mother. These Son of God adventure stories involved trials and tribulations, miracles and healings, superhuman feats, and eventually leading to some sort of a dying and rising, (again, Dionysus, Osiris).
Eventually, there arose a group of adherents using an allegorical tale, along these traditional lines, of an itinerant Jewish carpenter and his followers to explain a belief system which proclaimed a "knowing", or a wisdom of "Gnosis", a realization of a oneness with nature, and indeed, the universe and all existence, and that knowledge is within each of us. These were the "Gnostics". Imagine such a belief system gathers strength along with an increasing number of followers. These followers split off into sects with slightly or widely different interpretations.
Now, over a couple of centuries one of these sects begins to believe the allegorical tale is actually real, and that the main character as well as peripheral ones actually existed as real people, and the tale was an accurate history. They took the tale literally. They were Literalists. And a couple of centuries hence, these literalists decide to document this "history" into a canon. To be adopted as the one and true interpretation, indeed, the one adopted by the state, (Romans), all other interpretations must be marginalized, (including the original group, the Gnostics). This marginalization continued in many forms. One way was to morph the story the way the Literalists wanted it written, through redaction, addition, alterations, and just plain making it up as they went along, especially structuring it in a way to scare the crap out of people into thinking they have no choice but to become followers. And if that doesn't do it, well, just kill them, (especially the Gnostics), so that your particular sect is the last one standing. Today, that sect of literalists are known as "Christians". Some four to five hundred years after this allegorical story began with the Gnostics, we have this last mendacious and especially violent group leading the world into a thousand years of what we now call the Dark Ages. The death and destruction meted out by this fanatical group over fifteen hundred years in the name of their specious beliefs is mind boggling, (crusades, inquisitions, and genocide in the name of expanding empires).
But this con job of a mind disease did not stop at the Enlightenment; it exists today. Fortunately, it is dying out. This is in no small part to the advancement of Biblical Scholarship over the last two hundred years, (the explosion of which has come to light in just the last fifty years!). In The Jesus Mysteries Freke and Gandy present their theory in compelling fashion, with in-depth research. And yes, this is theory. As is much of Biblical scholarship, because there is so little actual evidence to support any interpretation. But, they make as strong a case based on evidence that IS out there in the historical record. Indeed, they make a very strong case to be the leading theory in this field. In their own words, near the conclusion of the book, the authors state, "As we reviewed the evidence, it seemed to us that the traditional "history" of Christianity was nothing less than the greatest cover-up of all time. Christianity's original Gnostic doctrines and its true origins in the Pagan Mysteries had been ruthlessly suppressed by the mass destruction of the evidence and the creation of a false history to suit the political purposes of the Roman Church. All those who questioned the official history were simply persecuted out of existence until there was no one left to dispute it."
Freke and Gandy's work should be considered in the class of leading scholars of the field, including, but not limited to, Elaine Pagels, Robert M. Price, and Bart Ehrman. If you are interested in anthropology, sociology, history, philosophy, or religion, read this book, listen to the case presented.
Eventually, there arose a group of adherents using an allegorical tale, along these traditional lines, of an itinerant Jewish carpenter and his followers to explain a belief system which proclaimed a "knowing", or a wisdom of "Gnosis", a realization of a oneness with nature, and indeed, the universe and all existence, and that knowledge is within each of us. These were the "Gnostics". Imagine such a belief system gathers strength along with an increasing number of followers. These followers split off into sects with slightly or widely different interpretations.
Now, over a couple of centuries one of these sects begins to believe the allegorical tale is actually real, and that the main character as well as peripheral ones actually existed as real people, and the tale was an accurate history. They took the tale literally. They were Literalists. And a couple of centuries hence, these literalists decide to document this "history" into a canon. To be adopted as the one and true interpretation, indeed, the one adopted by the state, (Romans), all other interpretations must be marginalized, (including the original group, the Gnostics). This marginalization continued in many forms. One way was to morph the story the way the Literalists wanted it written, through redaction, addition, alterations, and just plain making it up as they went along, especially structuring it in a way to scare the crap out of people into thinking they have no choice but to become followers. And if that doesn't do it, well, just kill them, (especially the Gnostics), so that your particular sect is the last one standing. Today, that sect of literalists are known as "Christians". Some four to five hundred years after this allegorical story began with the Gnostics, we have this last mendacious and especially violent group leading the world into a thousand years of what we now call the Dark Ages. The death and destruction meted out by this fanatical group over fifteen hundred years in the name of their specious beliefs is mind boggling, (crusades, inquisitions, and genocide in the name of expanding empires).
But this con job of a mind disease did not stop at the Enlightenment; it exists today. Fortunately, it is dying out. This is in no small part to the advancement of Biblical Scholarship over the last two hundred years, (the explosion of which has come to light in just the last fifty years!). In The Jesus Mysteries Freke and Gandy present their theory in compelling fashion, with in-depth research. And yes, this is theory. As is much of Biblical scholarship, because there is so little actual evidence to support any interpretation. But, they make as strong a case based on evidence that IS out there in the historical record. Indeed, they make a very strong case to be the leading theory in this field. In their own words, near the conclusion of the book, the authors state, "As we reviewed the evidence, it seemed to us that the traditional "history" of Christianity was nothing less than the greatest cover-up of all time. Christianity's original Gnostic doctrines and its true origins in the Pagan Mysteries had been ruthlessly suppressed by the mass destruction of the evidence and the creation of a false history to suit the political purposes of the Roman Church. All those who questioned the official history were simply persecuted out of existence until there was no one left to dispute it."
Freke and Gandy's work should be considered in the class of leading scholars of the field, including, but not limited to, Elaine Pagels, Robert M. Price, and Bart Ehrman. If you are interested in anthropology, sociology, history, philosophy, or religion, read this book, listen to the case presented.
April 17, 2019
Somewhere between whacked-out conspiracy theory and scholarly history, this book presents an interesting theory about the origins of Christianity and contains a lot of untold history of the ancient Mediterranean.
August 24, 2023
The discovery in the Egyptian desert in 1945 of the collection of Gnostic scriptures known (from the place where they were discovered) as the Nag Hammadi Gospels, has brought many questions asked by those ancient heretics back to the foreground of a western culture radically re-examining its relationship to its Christian heritage. As Elaine Pagels, one of the scholars who worked on the first English translations of the gospels, states (in her brilliant introduction to the subject, The Gnostic Gospels):
"Had they been discovered 1,000 years earlier, the gnostic texts almost certainly would have been burned for their heresy. But they remained hidden until the twentieth century, when our own cultural experience has given us a new perspective on the issues they raise. Today we read them with different eyes, not merely as ‘madness and blasphemy’ but as Christians in the first centuries experienced them – a powerful alternative to what we know as orthodox Christian tradition."
Pagels herself does not seek, nor advocates, a return to Gnostic Christianity; but one of the effects of the publication of the Nag Hammadi translations – and of popular introductions such as hers – has been to awaken in a new generation the kind of interest in Gnosticism that was once the preserve of scholars and occultists. This includes many among those who are looking for an alternative to mainstream Christianity; and some in the new generation are far more partisan in their approach to the subject than the objective scholarship of Pagels would allow.
In some ways typical of the post-Hammadi ‘neo-gnostics’ are Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, whose book The Jesus Mysteries: Was the "Original Jesus" a Pagan God? was first published in 1999, twenty years after Pagels. The book is less sensational and far better researched than its subtitle would suggest: a hundred pages of detailed footnotes at the end of the book provide ample documentation for their thesis which is, essentially, that Jesus was not a historical person. His story, as found in the New Testament, is the product of a Jewish adaptation of the pagan mystery religions: The long-awaited Messiah became one in a long line of gods who die and who are reborn; and his myth, when experienced on an inner level, provides us with an initiation into our own Christhood, as the ancient Gnostics claimed.
The striking similarities between the story of Jesus and that of other dying-and-resurrected god-men have been explored by western scholars since the Enlightenment; but they also troubled the early Church Fathers, some of whom explained them as ‘diabolical mimicry’ intended to ensnare the unwary. A more generous explanation was that “the myths of the Mysteries were like ‘pre-echoes’ of the literal coming of Jesus, somewhat like premonitions or prophecies.” This, Freke and Gandy dismiss as “ridiculous”, while the contemporary theological insight that the historical events of the life of Jesus had “popular motifs from Pagan mythology” grafted on to them, they consider “inadequate.”
Personally, I find Freke and Gandy’s ‘Jesus Mysteries Thesis’ “inadequate” (though not “ridiculous”) in that it fails to explain why history was changed utterly by the Christ Event: inevitably since, for them, no ‘event’ took place. They give very short shrift to the explanation that I (at the risk of exposing myself to ridicule) prefer, which is that “as the climax of a divine plan, the life of Jesus finally fulfilled in history what had previously been only mythical.” This is the ‘Mystery Theory’ put forward by German monks in the 1920s and discussed by the Jesuit scholar Hugo Rahner in an essay entitled ‘The Christian Mystery and the Pagan Mysteries,’ (published in The Mysteries: Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks 2), which appears to be Freke and Gandy’s sole source. Rahner was writing in 1944, a year before the Nag Hammadi find; and his extremely learned essay (first delivered as a lecture at the famous Eranos conferences in Switzerland, where scholars of all nations shared gifts of insight, even during the madness of war) is a model of how to defend your viewpoint without trashing the work of other seekers, a model that Freke and Gandy might have benefited from imitating: the polemical nature of their study can detract from the soundness of some of their arguments.
Rahner gives us an overview of the various theories put forward to explain the similarities between the pagan and Christian mysteries, without subjecting any of them to ridicule. Of the ‘Mystery Theory,’ he gives a fuller and more sympathetic explanation: in both the pagan and Christian cults is present the act of redemption “as it is forever re-enacted in the mystery: in the re-enactment of the mystery rite, transcending space and time, the redeeming efficacy of the dying and resurrected god becomes a new reality for the consecrated community.” This is the common factor “that in the ancient mysteries took a shadowy, incomplete, yet somehow prototypical form (as a kind of guidance toward Christ by the all-pervading Logos) and then in the Christian mystery found its God-given completion.” Without fully endorsing the ‘Mystery Theory,’ the Catholic Rahner is, unsurprisingly, open to the idea that “a God-given purpose runs through the religious development of mankind”.
Although neither Rahner nor Freke and Gandy mention the fact, this approach is also similar to that of Rudolf Steiner, who saw that what had been enacted by the pagan mystery cults in the secrecy of their temple precincts could now be brought into the light of day as the mystery became an event of world history: a ‘mystical fact.’ For Steiner, the incarnation of the Logos in Jesus was the culmination of a process of evolution of consciousness that brought the divine down to earth; but from now on, he claimed, it is all of us who must carry the Logos. We must all become, in the words of the Gospel of Philip (one of the Nag Hammadi finds), not Christians, but Christs!
With this, at least, Freke and Gandy (whose book is dedicated to “the Christ in you”) would agree. While I do not accept that “the original Jesus was a pagan god”, I do believe that Christianity must re-engage with the paganism that it supplanted if it is to rediscover the divine feminine and acknowledge the sacredness of the earth. Many today might agree with Freke and Gandy when they state: “The wanton destruction of our Pagan heritage is the greatest tragedy in the history of the Western world. The scale of what was lost is hard to comprehend.” In conclusion, they state modestly that all they hope to have established “is that there is essentially one perennial philosophy at the heart of both the Pagan Mysteries and Christianity, and that these two traditional enemies are in fact close relatives.” This call for an overcoming of a destructive dualism must be welcome: perhaps we can, along the way, acknowledge that, to answer William Blake's question, ‘He’ whose “immortal hand or eye” framed the “fearful symmetry” of the tiger did indeed, also, make the lamb. For if the Infinite manifests to us as twofold, we can also recognise, as did the Gnostics, that there is a ‘fullness,’ a wholeness that transcends all duality; and that can be a source of inspiration to us all whether in prayer, in worship, or in imagination.
There is more on Christianity and Gnosticism in my Goodreads blog, 'Myth Dancing (Incorporating the Twenty Third Letter).' An A-Z of Myths begins here: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
"Had they been discovered 1,000 years earlier, the gnostic texts almost certainly would have been burned for their heresy. But they remained hidden until the twentieth century, when our own cultural experience has given us a new perspective on the issues they raise. Today we read them with different eyes, not merely as ‘madness and blasphemy’ but as Christians in the first centuries experienced them – a powerful alternative to what we know as orthodox Christian tradition."
Pagels herself does not seek, nor advocates, a return to Gnostic Christianity; but one of the effects of the publication of the Nag Hammadi translations – and of popular introductions such as hers – has been to awaken in a new generation the kind of interest in Gnosticism that was once the preserve of scholars and occultists. This includes many among those who are looking for an alternative to mainstream Christianity; and some in the new generation are far more partisan in their approach to the subject than the objective scholarship of Pagels would allow.
In some ways typical of the post-Hammadi ‘neo-gnostics’ are Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, whose book The Jesus Mysteries: Was the "Original Jesus" a Pagan God? was first published in 1999, twenty years after Pagels. The book is less sensational and far better researched than its subtitle would suggest: a hundred pages of detailed footnotes at the end of the book provide ample documentation for their thesis which is, essentially, that Jesus was not a historical person. His story, as found in the New Testament, is the product of a Jewish adaptation of the pagan mystery religions: The long-awaited Messiah became one in a long line of gods who die and who are reborn; and his myth, when experienced on an inner level, provides us with an initiation into our own Christhood, as the ancient Gnostics claimed.
The striking similarities between the story of Jesus and that of other dying-and-resurrected god-men have been explored by western scholars since the Enlightenment; but they also troubled the early Church Fathers, some of whom explained them as ‘diabolical mimicry’ intended to ensnare the unwary. A more generous explanation was that “the myths of the Mysteries were like ‘pre-echoes’ of the literal coming of Jesus, somewhat like premonitions or prophecies.” This, Freke and Gandy dismiss as “ridiculous”, while the contemporary theological insight that the historical events of the life of Jesus had “popular motifs from Pagan mythology” grafted on to them, they consider “inadequate.”
Personally, I find Freke and Gandy’s ‘Jesus Mysteries Thesis’ “inadequate” (though not “ridiculous”) in that it fails to explain why history was changed utterly by the Christ Event: inevitably since, for them, no ‘event’ took place. They give very short shrift to the explanation that I (at the risk of exposing myself to ridicule) prefer, which is that “as the climax of a divine plan, the life of Jesus finally fulfilled in history what had previously been only mythical.” This is the ‘Mystery Theory’ put forward by German monks in the 1920s and discussed by the Jesuit scholar Hugo Rahner in an essay entitled ‘The Christian Mystery and the Pagan Mysteries,’ (published in The Mysteries: Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks 2), which appears to be Freke and Gandy’s sole source. Rahner was writing in 1944, a year before the Nag Hammadi find; and his extremely learned essay (first delivered as a lecture at the famous Eranos conferences in Switzerland, where scholars of all nations shared gifts of insight, even during the madness of war) is a model of how to defend your viewpoint without trashing the work of other seekers, a model that Freke and Gandy might have benefited from imitating: the polemical nature of their study can detract from the soundness of some of their arguments.
Rahner gives us an overview of the various theories put forward to explain the similarities between the pagan and Christian mysteries, without subjecting any of them to ridicule. Of the ‘Mystery Theory,’ he gives a fuller and more sympathetic explanation: in both the pagan and Christian cults is present the act of redemption “as it is forever re-enacted in the mystery: in the re-enactment of the mystery rite, transcending space and time, the redeeming efficacy of the dying and resurrected god becomes a new reality for the consecrated community.” This is the common factor “that in the ancient mysteries took a shadowy, incomplete, yet somehow prototypical form (as a kind of guidance toward Christ by the all-pervading Logos) and then in the Christian mystery found its God-given completion.” Without fully endorsing the ‘Mystery Theory,’ the Catholic Rahner is, unsurprisingly, open to the idea that “a God-given purpose runs through the religious development of mankind”.
Although neither Rahner nor Freke and Gandy mention the fact, this approach is also similar to that of Rudolf Steiner, who saw that what had been enacted by the pagan mystery cults in the secrecy of their temple precincts could now be brought into the light of day as the mystery became an event of world history: a ‘mystical fact.’ For Steiner, the incarnation of the Logos in Jesus was the culmination of a process of evolution of consciousness that brought the divine down to earth; but from now on, he claimed, it is all of us who must carry the Logos. We must all become, in the words of the Gospel of Philip (one of the Nag Hammadi finds), not Christians, but Christs!
With this, at least, Freke and Gandy (whose book is dedicated to “the Christ in you”) would agree. While I do not accept that “the original Jesus was a pagan god”, I do believe that Christianity must re-engage with the paganism that it supplanted if it is to rediscover the divine feminine and acknowledge the sacredness of the earth. Many today might agree with Freke and Gandy when they state: “The wanton destruction of our Pagan heritage is the greatest tragedy in the history of the Western world. The scale of what was lost is hard to comprehend.” In conclusion, they state modestly that all they hope to have established “is that there is essentially one perennial philosophy at the heart of both the Pagan Mysteries and Christianity, and that these two traditional enemies are in fact close relatives.” This call for an overcoming of a destructive dualism must be welcome: perhaps we can, along the way, acknowledge that, to answer William Blake's question, ‘He’ whose “immortal hand or eye” framed the “fearful symmetry” of the tiger did indeed, also, make the lamb. For if the Infinite manifests to us as twofold, we can also recognise, as did the Gnostics, that there is a ‘fullness,’ a wholeness that transcends all duality; and that can be a source of inspiration to us all whether in prayer, in worship, or in imagination.
There is more on Christianity and Gnosticism in my Goodreads blog, 'Myth Dancing (Incorporating the Twenty Third Letter).' An A-Z of Myths begins here: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
January 22, 2025
Reread this book in December. It was perfect timing with so many people celebrating christmas to see again the stories of all the other gods whose births are also celebrated at Dec. 25. I was in a better frame of mind this time for the research in this book to really resonate for me in my search to understand religion. There is so much that the purveyors of christianity have kept hidden from us. I can't wait until more people awaken to the truth.
December 2019 & 2024 & 2025
This is a long, hard look at the history of christianity. Freke and Gandy make a fairly strong case that the Jesus myth has its roots in all the other mystery religions of the centuries before Jesus' supposed birth. The dictatorial, literalist church has done untold damage to our world by demanding everyone accept its singular philosophy - or else! The authors advocate for a return to the more tolerant mysteries. We can only hope.
BTW The photo on the cover of the book is not an image of Jesus on the cross. It is the godman Osiris-Dionysus; crucified long before Jesus even existed.
December 2019 & 2024 & 2025
This is a long, hard look at the history of christianity. Freke and Gandy make a fairly strong case that the Jesus myth has its roots in all the other mystery religions of the centuries before Jesus' supposed birth. The dictatorial, literalist church has done untold damage to our world by demanding everyone accept its singular philosophy - or else! The authors advocate for a return to the more tolerant mysteries. We can only hope.
BTW The photo on the cover of the book is not an image of Jesus on the cross. It is the godman Osiris-Dionysus; crucified long before Jesus even existed.
January 31, 2013
مع أنني قرأته منذ وقت ليس بقريب إلا أنني لم أنس هذا الكتاب وإن كنت قد نسيت بعضا من أطروحاته وتفاصيلها. ذلك أن الكتاب أثر في كثير من آرائي حول المسيحية ونشوئها وتركز في لاوعي حواري حول الأديان.
ليس من السهل التشكيك في نصوص الكتب المقدسة التي يتبعها ملايين بل مليارات الأشخاص ويصدقون بها. من المستفز أن تقرأ كتابا يمس جوهر العقيدة في دين سماوي حتى وإن لم تكن من أتباع ذلك الدين. لكن الكتاب قتل كثيرا من التساؤلات التي استثارتني عندما قرأت الاناجيل المختلفة. إن المسيح الذي يؤمن به مسيحيو اليوم له أكثر من صورة في النصوص كما أن تلك الصورة تكاد تتطابق مع عديد من الأديان الوثنية الشرقية التي سبقت السبي البابلي من ناحية مفهوم الخلاص والتضحية والثالوث المقدس وغيرها من النظريات التي أعلنها مؤتمر نيقية بعد قرون من قصة الصلب. قصة الصلب نفسها يتناولها الكتاب بكثير من الاستدلالات وتمحيص الوقائع التاريخية التي تحيل المسألة برمتها إلى كثير من الشك والريبة إن لم يكن الارتباك على الأقل. الكتاب رائع لمن يهتم بتاريخ الاناجيل ونشوء الدين المسيحي.
ليس من السهل التشكيك في نصوص الكتب المقدسة التي يتبعها ملايين بل مليارات الأشخاص ويصدقون بها. من المستفز أن تقرأ كتابا يمس جوهر العقيدة في دين سماوي حتى وإن لم تكن من أتباع ذلك الدين. لكن الكتاب قتل كثيرا من التساؤلات التي استثارتني عندما قرأت الاناجيل المختلفة. إن المسيح الذي يؤمن به مسيحيو اليوم له أكثر من صورة في النصوص كما أن تلك الصورة تكاد تتطابق مع عديد من الأديان الوثنية الشرقية التي سبقت السبي البابلي من ناحية مفهوم الخلاص والتضحية والثالوث المقدس وغيرها من النظريات التي أعلنها مؤتمر نيقية بعد قرون من قصة الصلب. قصة الصلب نفسها يتناولها الكتاب بكثير من الاستدلالات وتمحيص الوقائع التاريخية التي تحيل المسألة برمتها إلى كثير من الشك والريبة إن لم يكن الارتباك على الأقل. الكتاب رائع لمن يهتم بتاريخ الاناجيل ونشوء الدين المسيحي.
July 8, 2013
The origins of Christianity are something that are taken for granted and therefore are rarely if ever questioned. That is if you are not a Gnostic or Jewish by descent. And yet the source of primitive Christianity is one of the most illuminating and fascinating histories to follow.
What do we know of the mystical numbers that the ancient Greeks and wrote down in the oldest surviving biblical text from which all others have been translated and what too of the Virgin Mary, was that really her description or was their a typo in the ancient translator's script?
The more often you repeat something the more likely it is to be become truth, or Gospel in this instance.
The list of revelations goes on. If your interest was tweaked by the film Agora then it will be satisfied and amazed by this book.
Christianity began in Egypt and that is why the Coptic Orthodox Church is there, so what else do we have to learn? The short answer is probably everything....
What do we know of the mystical numbers that the ancient Greeks and wrote down in the oldest surviving biblical text from which all others have been translated and what too of the Virgin Mary, was that really her description or was their a typo in the ancient translator's script?
The more often you repeat something the more likely it is to be become truth, or Gospel in this instance.
The list of revelations goes on. If your interest was tweaked by the film Agora then it will be satisfied and amazed by this book.
Christianity began in Egypt and that is why the Coptic Orthodox Church is there, so what else do we have to learn? The short answer is probably everything....
October 11, 2012
I found this book fascinating to read. I have spent a lot of time teaching myself about ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, etc., and truly appreciated the amount of work that went into weaving this vast amount of literature together. I am not convinced we will ever know what actually happened, but I do find it interesting we know so much more about other spirits, prophets, gods, etc. than what we know about Jesus. I also find it disconcerting that the majority of the New Testament is written by Paul, a person who never met Jesus, but who claims to fully understand him. I personally believe that it is important to learn as much as we can so we are able to draw our own conclusions on the best available data and not just believe what we are told to believe because that's how it has always been.
October 8, 2009
I really, really, really enjoyed reading this book. It helped clear a lot of things up that for, well, my whole life, I was confused about; specifically, the supernatural elements to the Jesus story. Not only did it teach me about Christianity, but Paganism as well, and even some history. I like nonfiction books like this that not only explain the "what" and "how" but also the "why" - as in, why is this important to know? I thought it was very well written, with sources to back up the facts similar to a research paper in school, but not so disjointed as the ones I tend to read - the sources and citations flow well with the story-like flow of the book, adding validity to the authors' theory and truly proving the thesis in an entertaining, not just factual, way.
December 10, 2022
İsa fenomeninin pagan temellerini bilimsel verilerle ortaya koyan bir çalışma. Özellikle inisiye inanışların Literal Hristiyanlığın temellerini nasıl oluşturduğunu anlatan eser sonrasında İsa’nın Gnostik altyapısını ve İsa’nın tarihsel olarak yeniden inşasını ele alıyor. Literal Hristiyanlığın oluşumu ve kiliselerin ortaya çıkması ile Gnostisizmin ve Paganizmin yok edilişini anlatıyor. Bu kadar incelikli ve bilimsel önermelerle dolu bir eser acaba neden baskı yapmıyor. Yeni baskısı bulunmayan kitap için sahaflardan destek almak gerekiyor. Konuya ilgisi olan herkesin kütüphanesinde olması gerektiğini düşünüyorum
June 26, 2013
This book was extremely fascinating, full of exciting ideas. The problem is that I don't know how much of it I can believe. After doing some cursory reading online about the book, it appears that the "Jesus Mysteries Thesis" has been around a long time and resurfaces every 10 or 20 years as exciting new research. In the end, though, even if the authors are not scholars, and even if their point is a bit heavy-handed at times, the book still led me into areas of interest I wouldn't have known about otherwise. So it goes.
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