Novel in Progress: The Skeleton Key
“Everything of Christianity is of Egyptian origin.”
Johann David Michaelis, biblical scholar (1717-1791)
Alexandria
Alexandria, the eclectic nexus of the Mediterranean, was in the first century CE the consummate “melting pot” in which western civilization’s intellectual and religious foundation for the next two millennia was brewed. Located in Egypt and thus steeped with the rich tradition of the Pharoahs; founded by Alexander the Great and populated by the Greeks who imported the heritage of Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle and the vibrant Hellenic civilization; and cradle of the cult of Serapis, the Ptolemaic Great Library, and the Serapeum, the world’s prototype university, its connectivity made the city the intellectual and cultural center of the Graeco-Roman empire for the century that witnessed the advent of Christianity.
Philo Judaeus and the Therapeutae
Hardly mentioned in existing historical accounts is Alexandria’s large population of immigrant Jews, whose unique monotheism sometimes mixed and often clashed with other elements of the city’s religious and philosophical amalgam. Among them was a notable family, surnamed “Alexander” coincidentally, that provided the city with political leaders that negotiated with their Roman overlords to maintain Jewish security, acted as advisers to the emperor and to the Herodian kings of Judea, and served as prefects and procurators in the imperial administration.
One of the family members was the eminent philosopher and theologian, Philo, called Judaeus (the Jew), whose voluminous writings have survived largely intact. His longer life span quite conveniently included the years that Jesus of Nazareth lived in Palestine.
In a essay called On the Contemplative Life, Philo describes and gives high praise to a spiritual community of men and women, called Therapeutae (healers), that settled a narrow strip of land between Lake Mereotis and the Mediterranean Sea, just west of the Alexandrian city walls, a location easily pinpointed today from Philo’s indications.
Were the Therapeutae Christians?
Enter an uncanny coincidence: so close was the Therapeutæ doctrine and practice, as described by Philo, to early Christian organization that Eusebius, a respected fourth-century ecclesiastical historian, maintained that they were one of the earliest known Christian communities; that their books were primitive versions of the Gospels; and that Philo was, in fact, an early “Father” of the Church. This equation lasted well into modern times when it was proven that Philo’s treatise on the Therapeutæ was composed “as early as the time of Augustus,” in other words, decades before the Gospels could have been written.
Apollos the Alexandrian
And yet evidence abounds to support the theory of a close connection between the early Christian movement and Philo’s Therapeutæ. Their proto-monastery on Lake Mereotis was evidently part of a vast network of similar communities that spanned the Mediterranean region, including perhaps some Zoroastrians in Persia and Buddhists of India.
Both the New Testament Acts of the Apostles and Epistles of Paul have cameo appearances by a teacher, Apollos of Alexandria, who was “fervent in spirit” and “spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.” Paul mentions this same Apollos, whom many theologians see as influenced by Philo, as teaching a competing Gospel to his own.
Some scholars project that there was a mass “conversion” of some or all of the members of the network that included the Therapeutæ, which would explain how Apollos knew of John the Baptist and Jesus before he met Paul and account for the explosive growth of a movement barely mentioned in the records of the first century. And these items are only the tip of the iceberg of available evidence about the connection between Philo Judaeus and Jesus of Nazareth, between the Therapeutæ and the early Judaeo-Christians.
The Roman Destruction of Jerusalem
Another huge influencing factor rarely mentioned by the historians of early Christianity, is the impact of the war between Rome and the Jews (66-73 CE), which left the Temple of Jerusalem in ruins and the Jewish people scattered throughout the empire as slaves or refugees. It made sense for survival that the Jewish-Christians, who followed James, the brother of Jesus, gravitated from their Jewish roots towards the Graeco-Roman world. Almost all records of both Jews and Christians in Alexandria, caught in the crossfire between Rome and Palestine, were buried, quite literally, for almost two centuries. Miraculously, the writings of Philo Judaeus, perhaps because they were valuable to both groups, managed to survive. Otherwise, it was two hundred years before Alexandrian Christianity with its opposing factions reentered the mainstream in the later part of the 2nd century. The rest, as they say, is history, as written by the victors: Christian orthodoxy.
Fast-Forward to 2060 CE…
Thus far, these are the facts, disconcerting as they may be to those of us who were taught differently about the chronology of the founding of Christianity and its impact on the world since. But, of course, the story does not end there despite the dire warnings, century after century, that the End Times, are “nigh upon us.”
It is 2060 , and the human race is again poised on the apocalyptic cliff edge. Below lies its annihilation–this time, not from overpopulation, resource depletion, nuclear disaster, catastrophic climate change or other natural or man-made disaster, although these factors, decades out of control, contributed to the international state of Dystopia, now intensified by the Revelationaries, who wrested planetary control from the godless Transhumanists and coerced the majority of those remaining to embrace the doctrine of the redeeming Parousia, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, which would only occur upon the complete destruction of Earth.
Meanwhile, a group of experienced psychics had outlasted the Transhumanist dictatorship by dwelling in underground installations and operating with paranormal tools and weapons that left no physical traces. Now they must adapt their tactics to reverse the course towards destruction on which the Revelationaries have set the planet. The tide can be turned, they sense, if they can induce a sufficient percentage of the population to understand that the apocalyptic fate foretold in the New Testament is not of Jesus nor is it as inevitable as the Revelationaries maintain.
But to do this, they needs undeniable proof that their views about the foundation of Christianity are truthful. To counter the distortions accidentally and intentionally implanted into the story, they will need to determine what actually occurred between the birth of Jesus at the start of the first century and the composition of the Gospels towards its end–and it must make eminently more sense than the Revelationary version of the story.
Several members of the group recall having past lives in the first century. But anecdotal evidence will not suffice. Using techniques they had already mastered and inventing new ones as needed, qualified team members would instead have to reinsert themselves into the first century, retaining contact with their present existence but not allowing that awareness to alter the past as it occurred then or doing anything there that might change the future from what it came to be. It was a mission preposterous–and their rivals, the Revelationists counted on that for its failure–but for the survival of the human race it not only had to be done, but it had to be done in the only way that continued survival made sense.
The Joy is in the Journey…
In writing this novel, I intend to do something different. Rather than keeping the story under wraps and launching it only as fait accompli, I am looking to share what appear to be important points of the process with all who care to witness how “the sausage is made.” Wise ones claim that the joy is in the journey; I’ve found that to be so in the past when writing novels. Here’s an opportunity for us to test this theory together.
This page can be the beginning of our mutual journey. Of course, I’ve done a lot of advance preparations–years worth–and have a decent idea of where I want to take this. But I know how that can change–a book and its characters often prove they have a mind of their own–so there is plenty of improvisation with suspense still to come. I will generally communicate thoughts and events through my blog in the category, Novel in Progress. I might put up an occasional permanent pages on the site to cover more complicated or thematic materials. Remember that this novel includes history, the work of many scholars, and some travel (Alexandria is still on my calendar, and I intend to blog that live), so it is an educational opportunity as well.
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