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Jesus &
the Pythagoreans
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It is often claimed
that Christianity is an ‘alien’ religion of the Middle Eastern deserts;
unsuited to our people of the North European forests. However, the reality is
much more complicated. Our Christianity does have roots in the ancient
religion of Israel, but it also has roots in pagan Greek Philosophy, Celtic
Druidry and our own pre-Christian Saxon culture. However, what if that
ancient religion of Israel was itself related to or even descended from these
Indo-European traditions. And what if Jesus was teaching in accordance with
this older religion rather than the ‘tradition of men’ that had grown out of
it, practiced especially by the Pharisees. This is something
that many of our forebears believed. Indeed, some of them even considered
that the ancient Patriarchal Hebrew religion of Israel was itself related to
or even descended from the ancient religion of these very Isles of ours. |
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In his book, ‘Jerusalem: the Emanation of the
Giant Albion’ (not to be confused with the famous hymn), William Blake states
that “All things Begin and End in Albion’s Ancient Druid Rocky Shore” and he
asks the question, “was Britain the Primitive Seat of the Patriarchal
Religion?” He went further, claiming that Abraham, Heber, Shem
and Noah were all Druids! And if Britain were the seat of the ancient
Patriarchal Religion, had Jesus come to Britain to return to the land of His
forebears’ religion. “And did those
feet…” But was this just fanciful thinking of Blake’s
part? The association of Druidry with the ancient
Patriarchal religion was quite widespread, especially amongst the Celtic
Romanticists of the 18th and 19th centuries, including
Blake himself. Some of this work was
based on the work of Iolo Morganwg – work that many
scholars now consider discredited. But others take a different view. Similarities
between Druid and ancient Hebrew worship have been commented on by
archaeologists. Sir Norman Lockyear states, “I confess I am amazed at the
similarities we have come across” (Stonehenge and other British Monuments)”. Edward Davies
states, “I must confess I have not been the first in representing the
Druidical as having some connection with the patriarchal religion” (Mythology
and Rites of the British Druids as ascertained from national documents). The
antiquarian, William Stukeley also writes, “I plainly discerned the religion
professed by the ancient Britons was the simple patriarchal religion”
(Religions of Ancient Britain)”. Several classical Greek writers, including
Alexander Polyhistor (c105 BC), Dio Chrysostom, Hippolytus, Clement, Cyril and Diogenes Laertius liken the Druids to the
Persian Magi, the Priests of Egypt, the Brahmins of India and the
Pythagoreans of Classical Philosophy. For instance, Hippolytus, writes in AD
200, “The Druids amongst the Celts having profoundly examined the Pythagorean
philosophy.” Polyhistor writes in ‘On the Pythagorean
Symbols’, “Pythagoras was a pupil of Nazaratus the Assyrian … and in addition he was a hearer
of the Galatae (Gauls)
and the Brahmins.” Clement of
Alexandria makes a similar point, though he may simply be repeating it. Julius Caesar tells us that the Druid
religion began in Britain and spread from there into Gaul. The Druids were not ‘witch doctors’ or
‘medicine men’, but highly skilled orators,
philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, poets, priests, judges and doctors
– all rolled into one. Their training
could take up to 20 years and there were many Druid colleges around the
country. Druid priests followed a
particularly exacting training programme and were required to pass three
separate exams in successive years.
Degrees were conferred after three, six and nine years of learning –
literally the ‘Three Degrees’. These disciplines were characteristic of
the early Greek philosophers; the Pythagoreans and those who followed, such
as the Stoics and Platonists. According to Caesar, writing in AD 54, “the
Druids make the immortality of the soul the basis of all their teaching,
holding it to be the principal incentive and reason for a virtuous life” (De
Bell. Gal. Lib. VI, chpt XIII). Indeed, they believed in transmigration of
the soul, a position also central to Pythagorean tradition. But evidence is mounting that not only did the
ancient Britons hold religious beliefs similar to
other ancient religions, but that theirs was the older. Indeed, it may go back even further than
the Druids to proto-Celtic culture.
Modern scholars such as Beresford Ellis and Euan Mackie support a
continuum of culture from the Neolithic Stoneage
into Druidical times. In 1967, the archaeologist, Patrick Crampton,
in his ‘Stonehenge of the Kings’, demonstrated from excavations at locations
such as Clickhimin, that the ancient Britons were
able to construct sophisticated buildings long before the Romans conquered
the country. Alexander Thom was a Professor of Engineering
at Oxford University between 1945 and 1961.
But he is best known for his surveys of Megalithic sites throughout
Britain, which he started in 1931. Sailing up the west coast of Scotland, he
noticed that the famous stones at Callanish were aligned due north. This was
a particularly difficult feat in those times as the Pole Star was not aligned
as it is now. This discovery led to thirty years of field work at more than
three hundred sites. His first book,
‘Megalithic Sites in Britain’, was published in
1967. In this, he put forward the theory that some of the stone circles he
had recorded were not round shaped, but elliptical or egg shaped. These, he
claimed were constructed by means of Pythagorean triangles; right angled
triangles in which all the sides were whole numbers. He also claimed to have
discovered the unit of measurement which had been used to construct the
circles. These were units of 2.72 feet which he called the Megalithic Yard
and 6.8 feet (2 ½ Megalithic yards) which he called the Megalithic Rod. He
writes, “It is remarkable that 1000 years before the first mathematicians of
classical Greece, people in these islands were capable of setting out
elaborate geometrical designs but could also set out ellipses based on
Pythagorean triangles”. Thom’s theories were, perhaps unsurprisingly,
treated with derision by most archaeologists, but this seemed to be mainly
based on a refusal to believe that so called barbarians were capable of such
a feat rather than any objective critique of his research. However, some of
these same critics, slowly came to accept that Thom’s thesis, though counter
intuitive, was evidentially plausible.
One of the difficulties of Thom’s work is that
it is highly mathematical and not presented in a form that archaeologists can
easily relate to. When his work has been assessed from a mathematical
perspective, rather than an archaeological one, conclusions have been much
more positive. For instance, Professor Douglas Heggie in ‘Megalithic Science’
admits that he “found satisfactory evidence for something like” Thom’s
megalithic units of length. He also gives qualified support for their
geometry and orientation being based astronomically. Though cautious, Heggie
goes on to ask the big question; ‘why were the Megaliths built’. And he finds himself attracted to Mackie’s ideas that
Neolithic Britain, at least the elite of that society, was far more
sophisticated than we have ever supposed. Mackie goes on to cite evidence
from the measurements of the Iron Age brochs in
Scotland to hammer home his case for a 2000 year
continuity of astronomer-priests and wise men. There is still much debate over Thom’s work but
there is a strong and growing body of opinion that, however much his views
undermine received wisdom about ancient British society, they are tenable. A
proto-Druid tradition pre-dated the Pythagoreans by 2000 years! Thom’s work
provides evidence to support the classical writers that Pythagoreanism – or
something akin to it -
can be traced back through the Druids to the astronomer-priests
or wise men who built the ancient stone circles. This tradition goes back
more than 3000 years, strongly suggesting that Britain and North Western
Europe were home to the ‘parent’ faith that developed not just into Druidry,
but also Pythagorean and other classical philosophy and maybe also to the
religion of the ancient Egyptians, Persians and the
Hebraic religion of the Israelites. In this sense, Mackie has provided
evidence to support Blake’s assertion that the Patriarchal religion of
ancient Israel is actually descended from the
Druids. If a connection between the original Israelite
religion, Jesus and his teachings can be identified, a strong case can be
made that the ancient faith of Israel that Jesus sought to restore was based
on a much older tradition that was rooted right here in the British Isles! Main Beliefs of the Pythagoreans This section is not intended to be a detailed exposition
of Pythagorean beliefs, but concentrates on those which have helped shape
Christian doctrine. The intent is to show that core elements of Christianity
do not stem directly from Judaism, but from classical philosophy – or rather
as the above section demonstrates something even older. Pythagoras himself is best known as a
mathematician and not as a philosopher or theologist. But his mathematics and
theology are interwoven. There are no surviving texts of his written work, if
indeed he wrote anything down at all. But his beliefs have been captured by
his followers and those who built on his teachings, not least Plato and
Aristotle. Living in the 5th century BC,
Pythagoras believed that the cosmos was a living being with a soul in its
body and reason in its soul. He talked about the music of the spheres and the
orbits of the soul. He believed that numbers are the basis of the Cosmos and
that all things conform to the harmony of musical scale. They are what Carl
Jung came to call Archetypes and can be seen as aspects of the divine. Much has been written about where Pythagoras
developed his ideas, but there is evidence that he travelled extensively and
spent large parts of his life in Egypt or Babylon or both. Pythagorean
mathematics, including the famous theorem, was well known in Babylon at least
a 1000 years before Pythagoras lived. Pythagoras’
beliefs also appear to have held much in common with the Orphics,
another strand of classical philosophy current at a similar time, although
there is no clear view as to which influenced the other if at all. More
likely, both stretch back further into some older tradition. The Pythagorean tradition recognises a
primordial Divinity that encompasses all else; sometimes referred to as Aeon
(eternal time), the All (Pan), the Whole (Holon) and the One (Hen or Monad).
The number 1 is symbolic of the Monad, a point or a
circle within which the attributes of all other numbers can be geometrically
inscribed. Number 2 represents the Dyad associated with
division and disharmony, but also the potential for harmony. The dualities
represented by the Dyad form the basis of understanding the workings of the
created cosmos; equal and opposites, male and female, light
and darkness and so on. The individual Gods and Goddesses are also expressed
as Dyad in that they take the form of couples. They emanate from the One and
are therefore a part of it as are the lower beings or emanations, including
human beings. So, as we are all parts of the whole, we are also distinct
individuals. This is as true of the emanated spiritual beings we call ‘Gods’
or ‘Guardians’ as it is of ourselves. The distinction between monothesism and polytheism is therefore less stark than
many assume. The One, or Monad, is infinitely complex as it
is the unity of all things, including all opposites. As such, it was referred
to by the ancients as ineffable, invisible, unspeakable, unnameable
and unknown. It encompasses not only what actually is,
but also all possibilities of what might be. In otherwords,
the One transcends time as well as space. This is the foundation of Divine Providence,
for the Monad comprehends all that might be, and out of that totality
manifests what is. This is similar to the Brahman of
Vedic Hinduism and maybe to what our Germanic ancestors called Wyrd and Orlog – the primal law. A key principle of Pythagorean theology is the
Triadic Principle – the ‘Three’, representing
harmony. This is based on the idea that opposites cannot unite with each
other on their own and need something in common with each other to act as a
‘Mediator’ between them. This ‘Mediator’ connects the opposites of the Dyad,
but also ensures they remain distinct. Pythagoreans saw the male principle of
a Dyad as its unchanging nature or ‘Essence’. This
has the potential to take on material form, which they saw as the female
principle. As the male principle moves towards form, it loses some of its
‘Essence’ and so seeks to revert back to its origin
to restore it. This dynamic process creates material ‘Energy’ emanating out
of ‘Essence’; this ‘Energy’ being the third
principle of the Triad – the ‘Mediator’. Pythagoreans called this ‘Mediator’ the “World
Soul” and saw it as uniting unformed matter and the immaterial thoughts of
the ‘mind’ (Logos) of the One. We can see in this system the origin of the
doctrine of the Trinity with the Holy Spirit as Mediator between Father and
Son or Logos (the mind of God). We can also see the origin of Orthodox
understanding of God as eternal essence and uncreated energies and of the
dynamic activity between these, including the creative forces that brought
the cosmos into existence. The Pythagoreans used the Triadic principle to
explain the Cosmos in terms of three orders of creation. These were the
Empyrean Realm occupied by immortal, immaterial and unchanging beings, the
Gods and Goddesses of Olympus. Then there was the Material Realm of Earth,
ever changing and occupied by mortal beings such as ourselves. And then there
was the Aetherial Realm, the heavens, occupied by
celestial beings which are immortal, but material and ever changing. These
celestial beings came to be associated with the moon and the stars. Pythagoreans believed that these divine realms,
and the beings that inhabited them, were all inter-connected by divine chords
which they called the ‘Great Chain of Being’. This
chain is composed of a great number of hierarchical links, forming a sort of
ladder that links the higher planes of existence to the lower. The highest
level is the One, or God, and at the lowest level is the mundane physical
matter of Earth. Beings within the different realms could
communicate and influence each other through this spiritual ladder. Indeed,
an important spiritual practice to the Pythagoreans was known as the ‘Ascent
to the One’ in which contemplative meditation was used to enter a union with
the One. Pythagoreans also call the ‘One’ the ‘Good’ and
the ‘Highest’, being the totality of all that is and
all that is to be. This does not mean that everything else is evil, but it
does reflect an idea that all else has not yet achieved the perfection that
is the ‘One’. They recognised
various principles that are the ‘Essence’ of the matter they permeate. For
example, life pervades all living things. The ‘One’ emanates its Unity and
Goodness throughout all things, including the physical substance of primal
matter of which all things are made. As such, and contrary to many later
Gnostic sects, the Pythagoreans considered the physical world (matter) to be
good, though not yet in a state of perfection, because it is part of the
‘One’ who is ‘Good’. The Pythagoreans did not consider mind and
matter to be two mutually exclusive things as the ‘One’ is Mind and Matter
simultaneously. We tend to think of our individual minds being separate and
independent, because we identify ourselves primarily with our
ego-consciousness. But this is just the part of our mind that we are most
aware of because it operates in the physical world of space and time. Beyond
this conscious mind lies the unconscious, the Higher Self, and beyond this is
the collective unconscious, which we all share, especially with people of the
same ethnic background. Thus ‘race memory’ is a very real phenomenon. The wisest way to live, according to
Pythagoreans, is in harmony with Providence. Wisdom is the
means by which we attune ourselves to Providence and progress to union
with the One. Providence in this sense is the natural law or Orlog, the very nature of God and the goal of our
spiritual life is to live in harmony with this to achieve unity with God. Pythagoras and Jesus Jesus was a carpenter by trade and would have
been familiar with measurements and dimensions. He also lived in the Galilee
which had a large Hellenic and Hellenised population, so he is likely to have
been familiar with classical Greek philosophy, including the work of
Pythagoras. As Jesus grew up and began his trade as a
carpenter, Herod Antipas was building the new city of Sepphoris,
just four miles across the valley from Nazareth. This was such a major
project, taking at least 25 years, that Jesus could not fail to have been
aware of it. Indeed, as a carpenter, he is most likely to have worked on it. And if he had worked there, then he would have
learned about classical architecture, including the mathematical symbols and
proportions which, the Greeks believed, embodied perfection. The project was
being led by the Roman architect/civil engineer Marcus Vitruvius who had
taken on board the Pythagorean approach to design. If Jesus had worked on
this project, he would have become very familiar with the underlying
Pythagorean mathematics of its design. Some scholars, from the 19th century
onwards, have argued that there is a link between the Druids, Pythagoreans and the Essenes. Some believe that Jesus and
his family were Essenes, although others dispute this. But even if Jesus were
not a member of this group himself, he would have come into
contact with them. The Essenes were known students of the Hebrew forms
of sacred mathematics and skilled healers, said to be the guardians of a
secret wisdom. Their ideas, says Strachan, can be seen to form part of a
wider wisdom tradition linked with India, Egypt and
northern Europe. The author Robin Heath makes a link between the
Essenes and Britain (Sun, Moon and Stonehenge: Proof
of High Culture in Ancient Britain). In this work, he studies the geometry of
ancient stone circles, trying to demonstrate how they were used to track and
predict the movements of the Sun and Moon. He points out that the non-canonical
Book of Enoch, which was one of the key scriptures found at Qumran, contains
an intriguing set of astrophysical observations. In the book, Enoch is told
by an angel to come north with him “to measure”, and
in another passage the measurements given are those of the rising and the
setting of the Sun at different times of the year. One passage from the book, describing the sun
at midsummer, states, “And the Sun returns to the east and enters
into the sixth portal, and rises and sets in the sixth portal
one-and-thirty mornings on account of its sign. On that ,
the day becomes longer than the night, and the day becomes double the night,
and the day becomes twelve parts, and the night is shortened and becomes six
parts.” According to Heath, “the latitude can be
deduced and Enoch is not in the Middle East, but at the latitude of southern
Britain. And while I cannot say positively he was in
Britain and the portals described are Stonehenge, the description fits very
well.” At this time, Britain lay unconquered by Rome
and the Druids retained and continued to teach the ancient wisdom, including
that of astronomy, geometry and mathematics. “It is
to the Druids that a large number of the young men resort for the purpose of
instruction,” wrote Julius Caesar, “and the Druids are in great honour among
them. For they determine respecting almost all controversies, public and private…
This institution is supposed to have been devised in Britain, and to have
been brought over from it into Gaul; and now those who desire to gain a more
accurate knowledge of that system generally proceed thither for the purpose
of studying it.” [3]
Cæsar: Gallic Wars, Book 6. It is not such a great leap of faith, given the
above, that one of these young men, whose uncle had strong business links
with Britain, was Jesus of Nazareth! And, of course, he would not have
limited his education to what we now call the sciences. The Druids were also
masters of philosophy, theology and healing. They
were also likened to the Magi, the magicians of ancient Persia. Indeed,
Britain was, and still is, a land steeped in mystery and magic. We cannot be sure which tradition came first
and influenced the others. But there is certainly a link between the ancient
religions of India, Egypt and Europe. There are also
grounds to believe that the original Hebrew religion of the Israelites was
also related to these religions and that Jesus was himself influenced by
them. Whatever the precise truth, it is too simplistic to argue that Christianity
has no relationship to the ancient Indo-European religions (including our own
pre-Christian religion) and is completely alien to Indo-European people. |
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