Pagan and occultic traditions from atheism to zoroastrianism have a tendency to be unoriginal in their philosophies by borrowing from each other and then changing their (un)holy writings to match, but there are also common characters that tend to pop up in their story lines. Unfortunately, they have also stolen some ideas from the Bible and pagans have infiltrated Christendom to incorporate pagan philosophies into Christianity. This stirs up confusion and deceives people into thinking all religions are essentially the same. Nevertheless, the Trinity has provided us with enough proof that he alone is God and to determine what’s real and what’s fake regarding doctrines, so we can avoid “fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove [expose] them,” Ephesians 5:11.
As I said, there are common characters who appear in many pagan story lines. I’ve talked about Baphomet before, who is one of those characters. Another prominent character is Hermes Trismegistus. He is a pagan combination of the Greek god Hermes (aka Mercury in Roman paganism) and the Egyptian god Thoth. “Trismegistus” is a word meaning “thrice great.” Hermes was messenger of the gods, god of shepherds, travel, usher of the dead to Hades, god of commerce, wisdom, literature, and thieves. He was also a phallic symbol in addition to spawning sexually perverted children like Pan and Hermaphroditus. Thoth was the Egyptian god of wisdom, literature, and knowledge, including the sciences.
The philosophies surrounding this Hermes Trismegistus are known as the “Hermetic tradition” and encompass conjuring up the dead, astrology, alchemy, magick, and all kinds of sexual perversions which the Bible calls fornications. The Greeks and Egyptians, like all pagans, created these gods in their own image according to their own thoughts. These gods committed the same sins they did.
Eliphas Levi, the Jesuit/rosicrucian/freemason/occultist, incorporated the hermetic tradition into his doctrine as reflected in his painting of Baphomet, who holds the caduceus of Hermes. Levi was so ecstatic about Hermes that he stated, “He who is desirous of understanding the great word and of possessing the great arcanum, after studying the principles of our Doctrine, should read the Hermetic philosophers carefully, and he will doubtless attain initiation, as others have attained it…” (Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual, p. 348). Hermetic tradition is included in Islam, the Baha’i faith, Freemasonry, New Age, kabbalah, gnosticism, black and white witchcraft, the Druids, and several other pagan philosophies, including the gay rights movement.
Starting in the 19th century, there was a movement to push hermetical doctrine into the modern Christian church. The main purveyors of the movement were B. F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort. They devised a plan to rid the church of any Bible based on the Textus Receptus, especially the KJV. So they created their version of the Greek New Testament using the 1% family of errant manuscripts known as the Alexandrian text to plant in believers’ minds the ever-popular question of the ages, “yea…hath God said…?” Their work inspired the Nestle-Aland New Testament Greek text underlying most newer versions and paraphrases of the Bible, including the NKJV.
Westcott and Hort while at Cambridge founded the Hermes Club and the Society of Psychical Research (SPR). The Hermes Club was a secret society espousing hermetic tradition. Among their social activities was the regular practice of homosexual sex among the members, no pun intended (Alan Gauld, The Founders of Psychical Research (New York: Schocken Books, 1968), pp. 90-91.) The SPR was designed to investigate hauntings, contact the dead, and communicate with spirit guides (familiar spirits). Westcott and Hort also hated democracy, hated the idea of the inerrancy and authority of scripture, believed humans are divine, ascribed to Darwinism, and scoffed at the idea that Jesus Christ’s suffering and death were to atone for all our sins. These men were ordained preachers and had a great impact on the church and the new Bible versions in their day that has continued in church circles today.
Hermetical doctrine will play a part in moving evangelicals toward more compromise and the coming one world religion.
Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13
Sources:
Hermes Trismegistus. Wikipedia.org
Jesus is Lord Ministries, Hort & Westcott – Bible Translators, March 1, 2000.
Eliphas Levi, Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual, translated by A. E. Waite, [publisher unknown] 1910.
Barbara Aho, The Nineteenth Century Occult Revival, Watch Unto Prayer website.
Harry A. Gaylord
sunandshield.wordpress.com 
I’m trying to understand. How did other traditions borrow from Christianity if their stories were written first?
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Kip, thanks for the question. I should probably re-phrase what I said and state that they borrowed from Judeo-Christian scripture to include how they took things from the Old Testament as well as the new. For instance, the Egyptian Books of the Dead weren’t static documents. They often changed over time. The people who had their own copy of a Book of the Dead that would eventually be buried with them would add to their book any philosophy or religious teaching they came across that was spread when they encountered people of other cultures, like Greeks, Jews, and Christians. They would place their own spin on things and write them in their copy to re-work the stories.
Similar things happened with Hindu scriptures also. Ascended masters like gurus and brahmins reserve the right to change those scriptures as they see fit because they believe the whole body of truth cannot be confined to written words and scripture is merely part of the whole universal truth that has to be discovered over time. Jesus’ disciple Thomas was missionary to India in the 1st century AD, preaching the gospel there until he was martyred by Hindus. They didn’t agree with his teaching that Jesus died for their sins and that he was the only way to heaven, but there were other aspects they agreed with that became part of their teaching, such as equating resurrection with reincarnation. They also incorporated the concept of Trinity into their scripture by saying Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva were the three-in-one. Additionally, some Hindus began writing traditions about Jesus visiting India. Many of their stories were written after they encountered Jews and Christians. The age of Hindu scripture isn’t really known for sure, it’s just an assumption that has been repeated so often people think it’s true.
Buddhist scripture is the same way. Ascended masters of Buddhism also believe it’s okay for them to add to or change their scripture to reflect teachings of other traditions they like. That is how they ended up with stories similar to New Testament stories. Buddhist scripture includes “The Widow’s Mite,” “The Lost Son,” “The Sower,” and other accounts that they plagiarized from the Bible and made changes to in order to fit in with their doctrines.
Even Mohammed made changes to the Koran to force Bible characters into it. This is something that all pagan traditions have in common. The God of the Bible is the only one who commands that there be no additions or deletions from his word. This is one thing that sets true Christianity apart from all other belief systems. If anyone changes what the Bible says (like the Watchtower Society, Latter Day Saints, etc.) it’s a sure sign they are really pagan.
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Thank you. I didn’t know that, but in retrospect, I guess it makes sense. I’m always eager to learn.
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The cult known as the Bahá’í “Faith.” Now, there’s a strategically placed (UN) political movement to keep a close eye on. They’re completely anti-Jesus Christ/Christian, but masquerade as something “religious.” One of their weird aims is the “unifying of man,” their own words. To them, Jesus was just one of the nine “messengers” so far. Nothing more, take note. Be aware that this cult, that somehow seems to fly under the radar, is New Age to the very core and in every aspect, working towards a one world religion (their own twisted Christless version thereof).
Something to investigate sometime, Harry!
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Thanks, Canada.
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Reblogged this on ABUNDANT LIFE LIVING.
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