Christianity and Egyptian Mythology

[stumbler]

I wonder if anyone here can help me by suggesting a book on the topic of the relationship between Egyptian mythology and Christianity.

I have a friend in the UK who is very interested in all things Egyptian, and who pointed out to me that the 15 "commandments" of Egyptian religion are very similar to the "ten commandments" of the Old Testament.

I am sorry to say that I remain ignorant of the relative dates of origin or historical provenance of either of these sets of religious commandments. (Obviously, I understand Moses' involvement, but I meant speaking from a historical perspective.)

Just this week, I had occasion to reread Vladika Antoniy's sermon concerning the thieves who were crucified with Christ, and in it, he touched upon the idea of the Cross as a scale, and the origin of the slanted crossbar. I had heard him talk about this before, when I was a child, but it reminded me.

I was struck by the similarity of that imagery to the Egyptian mythology of Ammut, who weighed the heart of a deceased person against a feather of Ma'at, the goddess of order and justice. Also similar to some Christian traditions is the fact that the myth of Ammut refers to a "lake of fire."

There are other examples of similarities between Egyptian ideas or myths and Orthodoxy, many of which predate Greek civilization.

I am left wondering whether there is a text about this subject.

It is possible, of course, that ideas of judgment and punishment are simply human.

I know this is an Orthodox site, and I am Orthodox, but I don't think Orthodoxy requires us to leave our minds or our intellects at the door.

I am curious as to whether anyone has run across these parallels between Egyptian mythology and Christianity before or knows of a book which discusses the topic.

Thank you for your help.

[stumbler]

I guess I asked too soon - before looking into the question thoroughly. I just found this: {link} in case others are interested as well.

[Pravoslavnik]

Stumbler,

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  I have been very interested in the subject of pagan prefigurations of Christ.  In Egyptian mythology the God Osiris was slain by his evil brother Set (?parallels with Shaitan, Satan?) and his body was cast into the Nile.  There is a parallel pagan Syrian myth regarding the murder of Adonis and casting of the body into the sea.  Both pagan religions associated the slain God with resurrection/immortality and a sacrificial love for humanity.  The ritual sacrifice of the king in various forms has been seen in many pagan religious traditions.

  Neo-pagans tend to reduce Christianity to a patriarchal iteration of these pagan myths, but one can also stand the New Age thinking on its head and interpret these pagan myths as partial prefigurations of the God-Man, the Christ.  This is precisely what blessed Father Seraphim Rose did in the interpretation of Taoism published by Hieromonk Damascene Christian at St. Herman's Press in the book, [i]Christ the Eternal Tao[/i].

   There is a scholarly book by Professor Cyrus Gordon of Brandeis University, [i]The Bible and the Ancient Near East[/i], but it is a secular, positivistic work--like most modern historical works--that does not consider historical events in relation to any possible spiritual or metaphysical reality.

[stumbler]

I really like your take on my question.

It seems as if you are suggesting the idea that some of these ancient pagan mythologies might be seen as almost a sort of early prophesy of the Christ to come.

It is often said that Christianity developed by building its feasts around existing pagan holidays - but the idea of pagan holidays as a prefiguration of Christianity to come is really quite mind-bending, given the usual tripe we here about Christians as religious thieves.

I wonder if Fr Mark or Fr Siluan or other clergy members might offer comment on this idea from the perspective of the Orthodox Church.

Thanks Pravo, for your idea. It is so rare that one comes across an idea which makes one think differently about a set of facts.

[Cyprian]

St. Justin the Philosopher and Martyr

FIRST APOLOGY

CHAP. LIV.--ORIGIN OF HEATHEN MYTHOLOGY.

But those who hand down the myths which the poets have made, adduce no proof to the youths who learn them; and we proceed to demonstrate that they have been uttered by the influence of the wicked demons, to deceive and lead astray the human race. For having heard it proclaimed through the prophets that the Christ was to come, and that the ungodly among men were to be punished by fire, they put forward many to be called sons of Jupiter, under the impression that they would be able to produce in men the idea that the things which were said with regard to Christ were mere marvellous tales, like the things which were said by the poets. And these things were said both among the Greeks and among all nations where they [the demons] heard the prophets foretelling that Christ would specially be believed in; but that in hearing what was said by the prophets they did not accurately understand it, but imitated what was said of our Christ, like men who are in error, we will make plain. The prophet Moses, then, was, as we have already said, older than all writers; and by him, as we have also said before, it was thus predicted: "There shall not fail a prince from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until He come for whom it is reserved; and He shall be the desire of the Gentiles, binding His foal to the vine, washing His robe in the blood of the grape." The devils, accordingly, when they heard these prophetic words, said that Bacchus was the son of Jupiter, and gave out that he was the discoverer of the vine, and they number wine [or, the ass] among his mysteries; and they taught that, having been torn in pieces, he ascended into heaven. And because in the prophecy of Moses it had not been expressly intimated whether He who was to come was the Son of God, and whether He would, riding on the foal, remain on earth or ascend into heaven, and because the name of "foal" could mean either the foal of an ass or the foal of a horse, they, not knowing whether He who was foretold would bring the foal of an ass or of a horse as the sign of His coming, nor whether He was the Son of God, as we said above, or of man, gave out that Bellerophon, a man born of man, himself ascended to heaven on his horse Pegasus. And when they heard it said by the other prophet Isaiah, that He should be born of a virgin, and by His own means ascend into heaven, they pretended that Perseus was spoken of. And when they knew what was said, as has been cited above, in the prophecies written aforetime, "Strong as a giant to run his course," they said that Hercules was strong, and had journeyed over the whole earth. And when, again, they learned that it had been foretold that He should heal every sickness, and raise the dead, they produced Aesculapius.

[stumbler]

Thanks, Cyprian, for adding that interesting quotation and citation.

It seems to refer to mostly Greco-Roman deities though.

It is at times like this that I am sorry that my liberal arts education treated the Greeks as the beginning of earthly civilization (for academic purposes.)

I really feel like I have a lot of reading to do if I am to figure out how the Egyptians fit into what we call "Western Civilization" - and which, upon reflection, has so many "Eastern" origins.

[Pravoslavnik]

It had occurred to me yesterday that none other than Cyprian would submit a post along the lines of "all the pagan Gods are demons," etc., which may well be true, but I think that the whole subject is a bit more complicated than that. The book Christ the Eternal Tao is a rather astounding work in this regard, showing the amazing parallels between (pre-Christian) Taoism and Christianity. Consider also that the pagan Sybilline priestesses of Rome in the time of Augustus prophesied that God had become man--which the Romans misinterpreted as a reference to Augustus, himself. Was this prophecy also from the demons?

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Also, it is quite interesting to read about the prophecies of the pagan Grecian oracle at Delphi.  The oracle accurately predicted that the Athenians would triumph over the Persians at Salamis, and that Athens would be saved "by wood," which Themistocles accurately interpreted, in advance, as a reference to ship building.  Was this prophecy from God, or from the demons?  (see Herodotus's [i]Histories[/i] for this and other accounts of Greek and Egyptian mysteries.)  Do demons have fore- knowledge of the future?

   There are many direct parallels between ancient Greek and Egyptian mythology.  Demeter, for example, is identified by many as the Greek version of the Egyptian Corn Godess Isis,etc.  Robert Graves outlines many of these parallels in the ancient Mediterranean myths in his two volume work on the [i]Greek Myths[/i].

     A more recent pagan phenomenon is the rather astounding story of the mystical visions and prophecies of the Lakota Sioux Chief Sitting Bull in late nineteenth century America.   Sitting Bull, who was once seen giving his salary (from Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show) to impoverished spectators in New York, had prophetic visions of the battle of Little Big Horn, and also had a prophetic vision that he would be murdered by his own people--which later happened.  Was this also from the demons, Cyprian?  Or have righteous people of all nations at times found favor in the sight of God, as St. Paul once wrote?  Put differently, did the Triune God never reveal His Energies to any ancient people other than the Hebrews?  Was all mystical revelation extraneous to the Judeo-Christian world necessarily demonic?

Addendum: Another more recent historical case is that of the Aleutian Shaman from Akun who foresaw the arrival of St. Innokenty of Alaska to his island. This Shaman, called the Righteous John Smirrenikov, was visited by two men dressed in white who told him that a man was coming to the island to teach his people the fullness of the truth about God. St. Innokenty was astonished when he arrived at Akun in a kayak and found all of the natives waiting on the beach to learn about God.