Hello dear reader,
I begin this article with Figure 1, which provides an overview of how mankind developed the belief in one-universal God. Few people have had the benefits of being taught history of ancient civilizations and it’s for certain that religious leaders of the Judaic, Christian and Islamic faiths have not instructed their followers about the beginnings of their beliefs. To learn how these religions developed their beliefs based upon facts and findings, I begin with an opening statement by Jesus Christ from Revelation 3:14, wherein he acknowledged Amen as the beginning of the creation of God.
These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.
The words of Jesus are profound, albeit, a revelation that has not been acknowledged by Judaic, Christian and Islamic religious leaders. And yet, they and their followers announce Amen at the end of a prayer, supplication, giving thanks, asking for His protection in challenging times, and reverently sing His name in houses of worship.
It is not my intent to alter your beliefs. My objective is to inform and educate people about facts that have been surfaced by scholars of religion and highly respected Egyptologists. They have sacrificed their time and given their lives to surface facts and findings that religious institutions, through ignorance or intent, have not revealed to their followers.
I take you back through the centuries to provide a history of one of the greatest civilizations built by mankind. In the lands of Egypt, along the Nile River, entered Africans who built homes, irrigation canals, pyramids, and temples where they worshipped many different gods. But it was through their beliefs in renewal of the Nile each year that evoked the wonder and veneration for those gods that enriched their lives. It would be an injustice for me to write in an article a history of how the Africans, later to be called Egyptians after the name of their country, developed the belief in many gods. They have left a legacy of advancing their multible god beliefs into one-universal God and establishing the first formal religion, which is documented on the walls of their temples, pyramids and obelisks.
For a detailed history of Ancient Egypt, I recommend James H. Breasted book, A History of Egypt. This book served as the groundwork, along with books by other great scholars and Egyptologists, that served to widen my knowledge about the beginning of man’s belief in God and the growth of the major religions of today. To wet your appetite for further study, I have provided Figure 1. Hopefully, it will motivate your curiosity to read Future of God Amen and AMEN, the Beginning of the Creation of God. These books offer a perspective of man’s development in the belief in God and bibliographies of the many outstanding books whose authors gave me the gift of knowledge I now impart to you. Overviews and book reviews are presented on website:
http://www.futureofgodamen.com
Referring to Figure 1, 2600 BCE, I introduce you to the hymn, The Creation by Atum. Major extracts of this hymn, as with the others that will be mentioned, are provided in the two books referenced above. Atum was the first god that created the first four gods of the Great Ennead (nine gods): Shu, god of air; Tefnut, god of moisture; Geb, god of earth; and Nut, goddess of the sky. The Priesthood advanced the idea that their city god Atum-Kheprer, who rose out of the waters of chaos (Nun), brought the first gods into being. This was a very perceptive concept that recognizes Atum as emanating from two important elements, the heat of the sun, associated with Kheprer and water, associated with Nun. The Egyptian mind was resourceful and reflective to include the gods of air (Shu) and moisture (Tefnut); for without the elements of air and moisture, life, as we know it, could not be sustained.
A thousand or more years later, between 1550 and 1350 BCE, The high priests of Amon in Thebes wrote A Hymn to Amon-Re. It professes joy in praise of Amon-Re to the height of heaven and the width of the earth. With this hymn the Priesthood centralized and unified their religion by worshiping Amon-Re as the supreme god who was the “Maker of all Mankind, Creator and Maker of all that is.”
By 1370 BCE, Amenhotep IV was the first pharaoh to break with the priesthood’s worship of multiple gods by transforming the sun god Amon-Re into a personal god named Aton, a god that creates and sustains life in all the earth. Re still was part of the dominate belief of the sun for life on earth but now was envisioned as waves of heat portrayed as emanating hands of life.
Figure 2. Amenhotep IV (Ikhnaton) and Nofretete worshiping Aton.
It was during the reign of Ramses II, circa 1270 BCE, that the Priesthood of Amon wrote, Amon as the Sole God. The ingenuity of the Egyptian Priesthood cannot be overlooked; with this hymn, they were able to establish Amon as the universal and sole god by advancing the belief that he came into being at the beginning, gave birth to Re and completed himself as Atum, a single body with him. They therefore closed the circle by linking Amon with Atum, the first Egyptian god; more than 1400 years later.
But an observation needs to be made that it was only twenty years later, in 1250 BCE, that Moses walked out of Egypt extolling the one god belief. He wrote the Book of the Covenant, which preceded the development of the Torah, The Five Books of Moses, that were started in 950 BCE and finalized around 444 BCE by Erza and Nehemiah.
Both referenced Amen books above present a detailed history of how the Egyptian Priesthood developed the first one-universal god belief and how people from other lands emulated that belief, which led to the formation of the three major religions. This one-god belief incorporates many of the Egyptian beliefs which were emulated by the Hebrews, Christians and Moslems. Such as the belief in a soul, a hereafter attained upon leading a righteous life, a Son of God (the Pharaoh), and after the worship of many gods, the apex of belief – one universal God.
Not acknowledged by religious scholars and leaders is that eight of the Ten Commandments, and many others, were already followed by the Egyptians. But one of the greatest beliefs, the belief in a soul, originated with the first god of Egypt, Atum. Many people have assimilated this very complex belief as a natural part of their spiritual beliefs. However, very few people know where and when this powerful belief in a soul evolved. The Creation by Atum described Atum’s ka as being imbued into his creations. It is fair to reason that the concept of a soul, called the ka, was expressed by the Egyptian priesthood with their hymn extolling Atum’s creation.
The idea of a ka had emerged before or during the life of King Ka, who existed a few generations before the start of the First Dynasty, which Egyptologist James H. Breasted dates as 3400 BCE. By the Sixth Dynasty, approximately eight hundred years later, the priesthood had incorporated the belief of the ka, or soul, in The Creation by Atum. The creation hymn reveals that all created things are protected by the ka of Atum. Let us visit the lines that state that this creator god put his own vital force into his first creatures.
Thou didst put thy arms about them as the arms of a ka, for thy ka was in them.
To be endowed with an internal force or spirit called the ka from the creator god Atum had a spiritual significance. This vital source must be what gave the created object its unique characteristics or its special force. Scholars of Egyptian history believe that the ka represents the alter ego, a guardian spirit, or the vital force of personality. Since the god Atum puts his ka into his creations, it identifies their unique characteristics and attributes. That is, the ka provides those attributes that uniquely form the totality of a living or material substance. In essence, the ka represents the total makeup of glandular, physical, and mental functions that defines humans and their personality.
I diverged from Figure 1 after indicating that it was Moses’ Book of the Covenant that led to the development of the Torah, also referred to as The Five Books of Moses. It was the Judaic religion that gave birth to the Christian religion and how that evolution occurred has been documented in the two Amen books mentioned above. It was Jesus Christ, a man of God, who referred to himself 76 times in the four Gospels as the Son of Man. He announced a revelation in The Revelation of Saint John that Judaic, Christian, and Islamic religious leaders have not acknowledged throughout the centuries, and continue to be silent even today.
In Revelation 3:14, Jesus proclaimed Amen as, “the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.” It is not my interest to change or debate your beliefs for our minds are made up with many different inputs that form our intellect and views. I only desire to present what I have learned for your own evaluation. By comparing your instilled values with new information, you may be able to have a greater appreciation for differences that exist and resolve them with logic.
By reading the referenced Amen books, you can gain information to assess and determine if Jesus has indeed provided a revelation for all of us to examine and evaluate as being true. Much of what I have written in this article may be new to you and therefore difficult to absorb. Beliefs that have been ingrained into our lives are very difficult to analyze with logic. But only with facts and findings from the past can we surface the truth. I will be honored to answer any questions or comments about the contents and findings of this article. Do not hesitate to provide a comment, pro or con; for by presenting our views we will be able to reach a higher level of truth. Hopefully, such greater understanding will bring peace of mind to those who have conflicting beliefs that need to be resolved.
Before I leave you with an extract of a paper published by the Chute Institute, I would like you to reflect on the main themes presented in the book trailer for Amen.
The paper urges our educational institutions to teach our youth about the beginnings of Mankind’s belief in God and how our major religions evolved. It is through understanding of the past, and an honest, truthful assessment of facts and findings, that we can proceed in our spiritual development and our quest to learn about God. To achieve this objective, I have provided below an abstract of the Chute Institute paper titled, Provide History of Religion and God. It is available on the Internet via the link below:
http://cluteinstitute.com/ojs/index.php/CIER/article/download/7729/7793
ABSTRACT – Provide History of Religion and God
There is a need for high school, college, and university educators to introduce their students to a history of mankind’s development of religions and beliefs in God. Regarded as too sensitive a subject, students are deprived of learning how mankind has evolved ways to establish moral and righteous behavior to maintain harmony among competing groups within a growing community. Based upon facts and findings surfaced by such respected Egyptologists as James H. Breasted and E.A. Wallis Budge, this author conclusively reveals how the first formal religion of Egypt has been emulated by the Judaic, Christian, and Islamic religions. Historical findings provide meaningful evidence of the spiritual nature of man, the emergence of one God Amen, the development of the concepts of truth, a soul, hereafter, Son of God, and a universal God. These findings afford greater insights in the fields of theology, humanities, psychology, and sociology studies. More importantly, a greater understanding of the nature of man can energize religious leaders and the public to effect possible solutions with the assistance of those with perceptive minds and love of humanity.