AUGUSTINE SPEAKS OF A CHRISTIANITY BEFORE CHRIST...

TRACING ITS ORIGINS TO ANCIENT EGYPT

The title of this article at first appears rather paradoxical, seemingly contradictory but as I will show the reader and student with undeniable proofs nonetheless true. Questions quickly come to mind the least of which is not the following. Answer for yourself: How could there be Christianity before Christ? There have been many down through history that have struggled as I have with the facts and undeniable evidences that exist behind such a statement. One such great man of religious history is the great African Church Father, St. Augustine who studied this problematic question and answered as follows:

That which is known as the Christian religion existed among the ancients, and never did not exist; from the beginning of the human race until the time when Christ came in the flesh, at which time the true religion, which already existed began to be called Christianity. (Retractt. I, xiii, cited by Dr. Alvin Boyd Kuhn in his Shadow of The Third Century, Elizabeth N.J.: Academy Press, 1949, p.3.)
Wow. What a statement. Upon casual reading of the Early Church Fathers I ran across this statement by Augustine while in Seminary and was simply blown away but such an admission. My mind ran away almost immediately at the possible startling implications of such a statement. I would spend the last twenty years of my life uncovering the depth of Augustine's statement and the birth of Bet Emet Ministries is the fruit of such a causal read one day long ago by a young Baptist boy who just wanted "the truth". But Augustine is not alone in his view about the ancient existence of Christianity and "the Christ". Eusebius, the first Christian Historian says that "the names of Jesus and Christ were both known and honored by the ancients" (Hist. Eccl. lib. i. ch. iv). Answer for yourself: How could this be? Eusebius, the great champion of Christianity, admits in his book: "that which is called the Christian religion is

neither new nor strange, but-if it be lawful to testify the truth-was known to the ancients" (Hist. Eccl. lib. 2, ch. v.).

One more example. The early Church Father Tertullian (160-220 C.E.), Bishop of Carthage, ironically admits the true origins of the "Christ story" and of all other such "god-men" who are but personifications of the descent of the Soul into matter (flesh) by stating in refutation of his critics, "You say we worship the sun; so do you" (Wheless, Forgery in Christianity, p. 147). Answer for yourself: Could this begin to explain why the life of this "Jesus Christ" in our Christian Bibles reads like so many other ancient "sungods" from nation to nation down through history? It helps to know that this "sun" spoken of by the Ancients as well as many Church Fathers is but the symbol of the "Living Energy and Power (God)" that animates all life in the cosmos and thus this sun is but a symbol "only" for the ONE God and His mediation and life-giving existence into this physical realm in which we live. Answer for yourself: What implication does this make for Rome's presentation of a "literal-historical" person called Jesus Christ which we find in their later New Testament (380 A.D.) if the religion centered around this Jesus Christ has been known for thousands of years dating as far back as Ancient Egypt? Answer for yourself: Did we not already read in an earlier article that the name of "Jesus Christ" can be found in Ancient Egypt many thousands of years before the time given by Rome for his supposed "historical life"? Back to Augustine for a second. For those who are possibly not familiar with Augustine he was one of the four great fathers of the Latin Church, and admittedly the greatest of the four, more profound than Ambrose, his spiritual father, more original and systematic than Jerome, his contemporary and correspondent, and intellectually far more distinguished than Gregory the Great, the last of the series. The theological position and influence of Augustine may be said to be unrivalled. No single name has ever exercised such power over the Christian church, and no one mind ever made such an impression upon Christian thought. And Augustine admits that Christianity is not "new" or "unique"; in fact if the truth be told its origins can be found on in Ancient Egypt dating back 10,000 years or more. This above astonishing declaration of the great antiquity of the existence of "Christianity before Christ" by this great African Church Father was made in the early fourth century of our era. It can be asserted with little chance of refutation that if this affirmation of the pious Augustine had not sunk out of sight, but had been kept in open view through the period of Western history, the whole course of that history would have been vastly altered for the better. It is only too likely the case that the obvious implications of the passage were of such a nature that its open exploitation was designedly frowned upon by the ecclesiastical authorities in every age. It held the kernel of a great truth the common knowledge of which would have been a stumbling block in the way of the perpetuation of priestly power over the

general Christian mind. It would have provoked inquiry and disarmed the ecclesiastical prestige of much of its power. Answer for yourself: What is the implication of this Augustine statement concerning the great antiquity and Egyptian origins for Christianity in light of Rome's presentation of Christianity as a "Divine and Unique and New Revelation from God"? Simply said, Augustine's statement is a point-blank repudiation of all the chief asseverations on which the structure of Christian tradition rests. Every child born to Christian parents in eighteen centuries has been indoctrinated with the unqualified belief that Christianity was a completely new Divine revelation to mankind, and the first "true" religion in world history and the "only way to salvation"; that it was given to the world by God himself and brought to earth by a historical man and savior named Jesus Christ, the sole divine emissary ever commissioned by God to convey God's truth to mankind. This Christ was was unlike no other; that at long last God's truths for mankind finally beamed out from the lingering darkness of Pagan religions as the first ray of true light of God intended to illumine the pathway of ethical and spiritual evolution for all mankind. Finally the salvation of God that all mankind had awaited and anticipated was finally made apparent "in the fullness of time" though the Christian Christ who came that man might have the access to the life of God and Eternal Life. It goes without saying that all previous religions was deemed by Rome inadequate and little more than the superstitious product of sin depraved minds of men who were lost and doomed to eternal punishment not being saved by the "Christian Christ". Christianity was presented by Rome as the first piercing of Divine Truth through the blackness of heathenism by the good-hearted gift of God. But it wasn't and Rome lied and not only reinterpreted this Ancient Spiritual revelation but so altered its "key" meanings that it is today but a sad distorted image of the glory it one contained which was intended for the whole of mankind! But Augustine says different from what we hear in our pulpits today as do many of the early Church Fathers and Religious sages of a host of world religions. Augustine, our own Church Father, shatters this illusion to which we have fallen today. From remotest antiquity, Augustine asserts that there has always existed in the world the true religion of God our Creator. Augustine says that this "True Religion" of God has been with man since the beginning of time and has illuminated the intellects of the most ancient Sages, Prophets, Priests and Kings. It built the foundation for every national religion, the tenets of which consisted of reformulation of its universal ageless principles of knowledge and wisdom. This "True Religion" of antiquity went under a variety of designations: Hermeticism in ancient Egypt; Orphism in early Greece; Zoroastrianism in Persia; Brahmanism in India; Taoism in China; Shintoism in Japan and China. In no matter what garbled and perverted form, even tribal religionism fostered it. Mystery cultism dramatized and ritualized it in many lands. Social usages, all the round of annual festivals, chimney-corner tale and castle ballad, countryside legend and folklore carried it down the stream of time. Always has God's "True Religion" existed among men; never was it

not present in the world. Hardly was God's "True Religion" ever apprehended at its real value, its representations badly misconceived, its message, symbols, and significance often mistaken, colored and imitated at every turn in popular practice, it yet existed and came down to Augustine's day. And with the aid of archeology today along with the restoration of the ability to read the Egyptian heiroglyphs it is being restored to the world. But much has changed since Augustine's day. This "True Religion" of God of which Augustine speaks finds is origin in Ancient Africa and its zenith among the Egyptian civilization for thousands of years. It is from this Egyptian religion and it influence that all other world religions emanate in various stages of similarity and dissimilarity. If this ancient "True Religion" which Augustine called a form of "Christianity before Christ" had been accepted and handed down through history then we would not have a problem today for man would be following in the footsteps of God and mankind in its intended spiritual path. But this did not happen. Rome will see to it. This "Christianity before Christ" of which Augustine speaks today is but a sad blurred and distorted image of the "real" which Egypt both cherished and gave to the world. Not only has Orthodox Christianity today lost its "Jewish Roots" but even worse Judaism and Christianity have both has lost its "Egyptian Roots". As our studies advance we will see that Judaism is as close to Egyptian religion that we have existing in the world today, but that should not surprise the student of Judaism since it is well known today that the Jews of the first century were the "black-skinned" offspring of Ancient Egypt and parallels between Egyptian religious truths and Judaism should be expected and are found. Herodotus tells us that the Egyptians "are religious to a higher degree than any other people" Some six centuries later, in the Perfect Discourse, Hermes Trismegistos summed up the spirit of Egyptian religious beliefs for his disciple, Asclepius, in a striking metaphor:

"[Egypt] has become the image of heaven, and what is more, the resting place of heaven and all the forces that are in it. If we should tell the truth; our land has become the temple of the world"
You should take a second and let that statement settle in your minds and souls. History records for us that there was a considerable amount of African derived symbols and stories which found their way into Judaism and the Hebrew religious system. An offshoot of Judaism, Christianity naturally adopted many of these beliefs itself but sadly under the influence of mighty Rome "reinterpreted" most of them and today they have lost their original and unique understanding as originally given to the world by Egypt. Unknown to most is that this reinterpretation of Ancient Spiritual Wisdom from Egypt by Rome did not happen easily because simultaneously developing in Rome we find that one of Christianity's main rivals were the numerous Egyptian derived Temples of Isis (Auset). To survive and

flourish, the new Roman religion of Christianity borrowed heavily from this African derived spiritual system. It was in this manner that the Hebrew idea of a "literalhistorical" savior was born. Allegory and metaphor at the hands of Rome becomes assumed "literal-historical" events according to their time-line. Now, a quick summary. The similarities between Jesus and Osiris and the similarities between Jesus and Horus abound. In Egypt Ausar/Osiris was the mangod who was killed and brought back to life thus giving the world the first notion of "the Resurrection." Ausar then became the great Judge of the deceased. Auset/Isis, Ausar's wife, was said to have become impregnated by her husband's spirit while he was dead. She gave birth to a child named Heru/Horus in the world's first "Immaculate Conception." At his birth a host of deities and wisemen were said to have honored him. Some believe the birth of Heru was commemorated on December 25th when the sun was in the zodiacal sign of Capricorn at the Winter Solstice. Capricorn was also known as the Stable of Augeas; so the infant Heru/Horus (Sun/Son) was said to have been born in stable. Thus Ausar, Auset and Heru made for the world's first Holy Trinity. This story of the resurrected God-King can be found among a host of nations in the world today; for example the Khoi and San peoples of southern Africa as early as 2,000 B.C.E.. The story of the God-King and his divine son also appear in many other cultures, not just Egypt. This includes Krishna of India (1200 B.C.E.), Tammuz of Syria (1160 B.C.E.), Iao of Nepal (622 B.C.E.), Quetzalcoatl of Mexico (587 B.C.E.), Mithra of Persia (600 B.C.E.) and others. Jesus of Nazareth of Hebraic folklore would be the most recent addition to this pantheon. Famous the world over is the statue and picture of Ausar/Osiris, Auset/Isis and the infant Heru/Horus. This version of Auset and Heru would become the model for Mary and Jesus throughout the Christian world. Answer for yourself: Are the statues of Isis and Horus only later renamed "Mary" and "Jesus"? Yes they are and not only that the original depictions of this "Mary and Jesus" as substitutes for Isis and Horus were "black skinned". In a few short articles we will have our minds blown away when we look at the Black Madonnas of Egypt and early Christianity. Answer for yourself: How could we grow up as Christians in America and not be thoroughly aware of such parallels between the lives of Jesus and Horus, Mary and Isis, and Osiris and Jesus? What else have we not been told about the AfricanEgyptian roots of Christianity? What does this have to say about what we are taught about this Jesus today? Have been deceived and not know it? Do you want the truth? Answer for yourself: Why would Roman Christianity distance themselves from both Jewish and Egyptian Roots of their own Christianity and fabricate their own version of Christianity and simultaneously burn down the Alexandrian library in Egypt among many others in order to cover up their deception regarding this supposed "unique" and "Divine" religion of Christianity which they will spread

over the whole known world in their day? Did Rome use their own brand of "Christianity" and religion as a way of maintaining political power over the masses? Did Rome reinterpret key theological dogmas in such a mass deception and have we not been told the truth about God and His Cosmos and our part in it? Answer for yourself: Are the major tenets of Christian belief--One God, the Trinity, the hierarchy of heaven, life after death, the immortality of the Soul, hades and heaven, resurrection of the dead, reincarnation, the Messiah, and the virgin birth all Egyptian in origin? Has Rome kept the original understandings of these and other theological idea constant or have they been reinterpreted and lost their original meanings today and we not know it? How could mankind both keep and cherish these original core religious beliefs from Egypt for thousands of years and Rome come along and destroy them and reinterpret them whereby they lost their original understanding and we not know today? Answer for yourself: How does this impact Christianity today? With its African derived mythology and rituals, it is not surprising that emerging Roman Christianity found in the early centuries A.D. easy converts along the Nile and Eastern Africa. There were many Christian sects in the early years of the religion not all of which were the same. Probably the most famous of these sects were the Christian Gnostics. The early Christians were not called "Christians" as we are told today; rather they were called "Gnostics" from the Greek word "gnosis" meaning "knowledge". Building upon the many Mysteries and Ancient Wisdom of the Ancients which permeated Rome and the trade routes of the Eastern world, the Gnostics emphasized a search for knowledge which was regarded as the key to spiritual salvation. It is not surprising they found converts in such places as Egypt where the beliefs must have seemed quite similar to the native inhabitants which had existed in Egypt since the "first time" (Tep Zepi). Not surprising then that the most famous Gnostic doctrines are found in Egypt. The Nag Hammadi as they were called were found in Upper Egypt and date to about the 4th Century AD. At any rate, Gnostic doctrines are historically later supplanted by a Roman "literalized orthodoxy" as expressed by later Christian sects after the second through the fifth century and this earlier brand of Gnostic Christianity will literally die out. Egypt today remains in large part Christian having lost is history and original faith and religion thus forming what is known as the Coptic branch of the Christian religion. Ethiopia, and for a short time Nubia, soon follow. If one want to continue his study in these areas then I recommend the following.

Bible Myths and Their Parallels in Other Religions, by T. W. Doane; The Golden Bough and Folklore in The Old Testament, by Sir James G. Frazer; Pagan and Christian Creeds, by Edward Carpenter; Anacalypsis, by Godfrey Higgins; Ancient Egypt - The Light of The World, by Gerald Massey;

The Signs and Symbols of Primordial Man, by Dr. Albert Churchward;

Most of these books are out of print or difficult to obtain by laymen who are interested in this field of study. So the purpose of this website is to popularize the results of the research of the great scholars named, and a few others, whom we will meet as we proceed in this study. In closing let me give you a summary of what has happened at the hands or Rome. For thousands of years years before the advent of Christianity the Ancient World world looked to Egypt as the seat of Spiritual Wisdom. With the rise of Rome and in a period of less than 300 years, the wisdom of Egypt was replaced with the ignorance of Christianity. The round earth of the Egyptians and Greeks was replaced by the flat earth of Christianity, in which the sun and universe revolved around its dead god's earth. The Ancient Priests of Egypt who knew the earth was round and revolved around the sun were put to death. The Christian sword first silenced the Egyptian priestesses who offered salvation to those who attained spiritual wisdom, and the rest of the unenlightened would would follow. What escaped Christianity would be destroyed by Islam, but it would be Islam, not Christianity, that would retain some of the Ancient Spiritual Wisdom and knowledge. While the west was immersed in the Dark Ages, where few could read or write, and even fewer bathed and none practiced hygiene, Islam promoted literacy and cleanliness. The Renaissance had begun the restoration of the Ancient Wisdom and thought, and the Reformation began the long process of reason over dogma in the west. It is in this light and hope or restoring the true knowledge of God and His Cosmos and man's responsibilities in it we continue our study to restore the Ancient Spiritual Truths held from us today.

"Fear not what destroys the body. Fear the ignorance that consumes the soul."

Blessings...Craig Lyons M.Div.