u/oneeyedjaxs

From the time the Pharaoh’s daughter discovered him until around 40, Moses was fully integrated into Egyptian culture. He was a prince, which would have meant he almost certainly was introduced into the Egyptian rites in the Ancient Mystery Schools.

To what degree did this become influence him? Did he fully reject all of it when he left Egypt? Or are there elements of that theology within Christianity/Judaism?

I was recently in the city & a man on the street handed a Quran to me. I’m a Christian. I believe in the divinity of Christ & don’t believe Muhammad was a legitimate prophet. I believe the Bible is perfect in matters of morality & doctrine.

That said, I think it is important to be well-read. I don’t think it’s wrong to read or have these items, as long as you are strong in your beliefs. I think having a basic knowledge of world religion can make a person a stronger apologist for their own faith.

Most of my interest in these other books is intellectual. I don’t really view God’s Word (The Bible), as insufficient. It’s interesting to learn about how other people view/think about morality & God. I think there can be some wisdom gleaned by reading ancient philosophical or religious texts.

Also, I do think there are elements of truth in many belief systems, but I think Christ is the fully revealed God. I am interested in learning about how these faiths overlap & differ.

What are your takes? Is it okay to read/own these as a Christian, or should they be forbidden?

I recently have been reading The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P Hall, and have found it to be pretty illuminating. He has a chapter on Hermes Trismegistus, and I find a particular section of the Corpus Hermeticum fascinating:

"Holy is God, the Father of all things, the One who is before the First Beginning. Holy is God, whose will is performed and accomplished by His own Powers which He hath given birth to out of Himself. Holy is God, who has determined that He shall be known, and who is known by His own to whom He reveals Himself.”

"Holy art Thou, who by Thy Word (Reason) hast established all things. Holy art Thou, of whom all Nature is the image. Holy art Thou, whom the inferior nature has not formed. Holy art Thou, who art stronger than all powers. Holy art Thou, who art greater than all excellency. Holy art Thou, who art better than all praise.”

If I did not know better, I would have guessed this was out of the Torah. Apparently many Christian writers from antiquity considered him to be a wise pagan prophet that foretold the coming of Christianity. Which kind of blows my mind & I can’t believe this isn’t more widely acknowledged in Christendom nowadays.

How much overlap is there between his teachings & Jewish/Christian theology?

I have heard several biblical scholars assert that Zoroastrianism was influential on biblical theology (I.e. Cosmic Dualism, views on the afterlife). I was surprised to learn that the Magi were probably Zoroastrian priests.

To what extent did Zoroastrian thought influence Christian or Jewish theology?

The Book of Enoch fascinates me because it is a pre-Christian text that very explicitly proclaims the coming of the son of man.

Many of the church fathers (Athenagoras, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian) seemed to hold it in high regard. The Oriental Orthodox consider it to be canon.

Why do most other groups consider it non-canon?

There seems to be a lot of legends around Solomon. Freemasonry is infatuated with him, his temple & the methods he used to construct them. Lots of occult spell books are named after Solomon.

The Testament of Solomon (a Pseudepigraphical Greek Christian text from the 1st century), claims that he enslaved demons to use them to build his temple. It mythologizes that him doing this opened him to evil, which prompted his fall & the fall of his kingdom.

This isn’t scripture, but I do view the deuterocannon & other ancient historic texts to be useful in figuring out what people believed/thought in various points in time.

I am not as biblically literate as I should be, but I really am curious about what the Bible teaches about Solomon’s involvement with the occult and/or angels/demons. Is there any truth that he was involved in this?

This movie blew me away! Elia Kazan & Andy Griffith… I never would have guessed that it would be a good combo. But Andy Griffith is absolutely spellbinding as Lonesome Rhodes! His character has a lot of depth & complexity. He is the total anthesis of the Sheriff Andy.

It is such a biting, dark satire of the general public, the media & cults of personality. At one point, Rhodes says "I'm not just an entertainer. I'm an influence... a wielder of opinion... a force! A force..."

They literally predicted the modern day influencer back in 1957. It’s crazy how relevant this film is now, from both sociological & political angles. Budd Schulberg’s writing was timeless.

This movie was Elia Kazan at his near peak as filmmaker too. His run from 1950-1963 was honestly peak cinema. Pun intended because Martin Scorsese was a major acolyte of Kazan. Spike Lee also said this was a big inspiration for Bamboozled.

Anyone else love this movie?