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In Egypt, what we now call religion, was so widely acknowledged that it did not even need a name. There is no indigenous name for religion within their own language.
The Egyptians did not have a word for religion in their language. For the people of Egypt, there were no perceived differences between sacred and mundane actions, as we moderns believe there to be. Every action, no matter how mundane: plowing, sowing, reaping, brewing, building ships, waging wars, playing games, the system of weights and measures - was viewed as an earthly symbol for a specific divine activity. All actions by mankind are linked in a grand dynamic scheme. No aspect can be isolated from another and treated as a separate specialty or field without distortion and destruction. What is startling is that this is the exact concept of Biblical Judaism! But as said before the Jewish people are the children of the Egyptians and their intermarriage with Semites so one should begin to expect great similarities between Biblical Judaism and Egyptian religion in many regards.
Most grievously the Egyptian words "neter," and it's feminine form "netert," have been wrongly, and possibly INTENTIONALLY, transformed to "god" and "goddess," by most all scholars. There is NO equivalent word in meaning, to the word "neter," in the English language. Honest translators should use the native word, if they cannot find its equivalent in their language. Neteroo (plural of neter/netert) are the Divine Principles and functions that operate the universe. They are all aspects and functions of the One Supreme God!
Getting that out of the way we need an honest foundation in the religion of Egypt.
Egyptian cosmology is based on coherent scientific and philosophical principles, of the universe as a whole. The totality of the Egyptian civilization was built upon a complete and precise understanding of universal laws. This profound understanding manifested itself in a consistent, coherent and inter-related system, where art, science, philosophy and religion were intertwined, and were employed simultaneously in a single organic Unity.
The Egyptians regarded the universe as a conscious act of creation by the One Great God. The fundamental doctrine was the unity of the Deity. This One God was never represented. It is the functions and attributes of his domain that were represented. Once a reference was made to his functions/attributes, he became a distinguishable agent; reflecting this particular function/attribute, and its influence on the world. His various functions and attributes as the Creator, Healer, and the like, were called the neteroo (singular: neter in the masculine form and netert in the feminine form). As such, an Egyptian neter/netert was NOT a god/goddess but the personification of a function/attribute of the One God.
Central to their complete understanding of the universe, was the knowledge that man was made in the image of God, and as such, man represented the created image of all creation. Accordingly, Egyptian symbolism and all measures were therefore simultaneously scaled to man, to the earth, to the solar system, and ultimately to the universe.
The Egyptian thinking that the One God can be represented through his functions/attributes has its equivalence in mankind. Each one of us has various functions and attributes. A person can be a teacher in the classroom, a father to his children, a husband to his wife, a player on his team, ... etc. This person does not have multiple personalities, but multiple functions/attributes.
Egyptians recognized the universal validity of this kind of thinking, and applied it to all the levels of the hierarchically organized world. Even though it may appear complex at first sight, it is both coherent and consistent with experience. This was the essence of the Egyptian philosophy. It is a real philosophy based on organized, systematic, self-consistent and coherent principles. God was undefinable to the Egyptians but the "effects" of His "cause" were seen everywhere. The "Cause" and His " effects" were recognized in various forces seen both in the Heavens, Nature, and within the human species himself. These forces have to be subordinate, since they all came from somewhere. The ultimate thing is God, the One.
These cosmological ideas of ancient Egypt were expressed by myth and symbolism, which are a superior means for expressing metaphysical concepts. Philosophy, mathematics and science are dry subjects with many abstracts. Mythology incorporates philosophical and scientific ideas into a story form, like a sacred drama or mystery play, which can be easily digested. Pure philosophical and scientific abstracts and terms do not guarantee understanding. Information alone is useless, unless it is transformed into understanding. Well-crafted mythology can achieve that understanding. Again it needs to be stressed that this understanding of the Creator and His actions exhibited and observed by these Egyptians were later personified and symbolized by various entities which were narrated in story form to express such Divine concepts.
Myth is an intentionally chosen means for communicating knowledge. Myth dramatizes cosmic laws, principles, processes, relationships and functions, and expresses them in an easy to understand way.
Meaning and the mystic experience are not tied to a literal interpretation of events. A myth has no historical value.
Once the inner meanings of the myths have been revealed, they become marvels of simultaneous scientific and philosophical completeness and conciseness. The more they are studied, the richer they become. And, rooted in the myth as it is, the part can never be mistaken for the whole, nor can its functional significance be forgotten or distorted.
We live in a world of symbols, icons, and emblems, which are a powerful and concise means of representing a company, product, idea, etc. Words convey information; symbols evoke understanding.
Egyptian symbolism could be compared in some sense to modern day caricature. The use of symbols are arbitrary and reveal nothing functional of the entity they symbolize. As such, a symbol, by definition, is not what it represents, but what it stands for, what it suggests. A symbol reveals to the mind a reality other than itself.
Egyptian symbols were carefully chosen from the natural world, to best express or embody a specific function or principle. A chosen symbol represents that function or principle, on all levels simultaneously - from the simplest, most obvious physical manifestation of that function to the most abstract and metaphysical.
It is important to realize that for Egyptians, every physical fact of life had a symbolic meaning. At the same time, every symbolic act of expression had a material background. So when we begin to examine their representations of God as symbolized in various manifestations like Osiris, Anubis, Isis, etc., we must never fail to realize that these are NOT meant to be literal or separate gods but rather manifestations of the One True God and His Works.
What becomes hard for us is to separate the "ethics" of religion from the pure "myth" that has strayed beyond the Divine Truths of God....for this has happened in the Egyptian religion. I am confident that after your studies of the materials on this website that such a task will be much easier for you.
Religion by definition is any system of belief, worship, and conduct, which often involves a code of ethics and philosophy. The main elements of the Egyptian religion (metaphysical beliefs,) as existed since its earliest history, consisted of:
Egyptian religion is, in the strictest sense, monotheistic (one God.) The Egyptians regarded the universe as a conscious act of creation by the One Great God. The fundamental doctrine was the unity of the Deity. This One God was never represented. It is the functions and attributes of his domain that were represented. Biblical Judaism does the same thing; it is called the Thirteen Attributes of God. Once a reference was made to his functions/attributes, he became a distinguishable agent; reflecting this particular function/attribute, and its influence on the world. His various functions and attributes as the Creator, Wise, Healer, Everlasting, and the like, were called the neteru, (singular: neter in the masculine form and netert in the feminine form.) As such, an Egyptian neter/netert was not a god/goddess but the personification of a specific function/attribute of the One God.
The Egyptian thinking that the One God can be represented through his functions/attributes has its equivalence in mankind. Each one of us has various functions and attributes. A person can be a teacher in the classroom, a father to his children, a husband to his wife, a player on his team, ... etc. This person does not have multiple personalities, but multiple functions/attributes.
Egyptians recognized the universal validity of this kind of thinking, and applied it to all the levels of the hierarchically organized world. Even though it may appear complex at first sight, it is both coherent and consistent with experience. This was the essence of the Egyptian philosophy. It is a real philosophy based on organized, systematic, self-consistent and coherent principles.
Central to their complete understanding of the universe, was the knowledge that man was made in the image of God, and as such, man represented the created image of all creation. Accordingly, Egyptian symbolism and all measures were therefore simultaneously scaled to man, to the earth, to the solar system, and ultimately to the universe.
In order to simplify and convey these abstract notions of God’s attributes, some fixed representations were invented. As a result, the figures of Ptah, Osiris, Amun, Mut, etc., became the signs of such attributes/functions.
These figures were intended merely to fix the attention or represent some legendary tale or abstract idea, and were not intended to be looked upon as real personages. There was no prescribed form for a neter/netert, and the Egyptians believed that a neter/netert could take on any shape a person desired, since the object of a form was only to fix the attention or represent an abstract idea.
The creation of the universe and of man have complementary and intertwining themes. Each creation will be discussed separately, starting with the creation of the universe.
The cosmological ideas of ancient Egypt were expressed by myth and symbolism, which are a superior means for expressing metaphysical concepts. Philosophy, mathematics and science are dry subjects with many abstracts. Mythology incorporates philosophical and scientific ideas into a story form, like a sacred drama or mystery play, which can be easily digested. Pure philosophical and scientific abstracts and terms do not guarantee understanding. Information alone is useless, unless it is transformed into understanding. Well-crafted mythology can achieve that understanding.
The Egyptian creation myths, regarding the universe, are similar to the account provided in the opening chapter of Genesis: God creates heaven and earth, divides the waters, creates the light, and gives life to animals and man.
The origin of the world and the nature of the neteru who took part in its creation were subjects of constant interest to the Egyptians. The Egyptian cosmology was divided into four separate but complementary teachings, each with its center of specialty. These teachings are to be viewed as detailed versions of the various stages outlined in the opening chapter of Genesis. The four Egyptian separate teachings at the four centers were sponsored by four different neteru (wrongly translated as gods). The main neteru of creation are Ra of Heliopolis, Ptah of Memphis, and Amon of Thebes. The fourth, namely Tehuti (Thoth) of Hermopolis, provided an account of creation as a result of the word-analogous to the opening of the Gospel according to St. John.
According to the Egyptian metaphysical beliefs, though all creation is spiritual in origin, man is born mortal but contains within himself the seed of the divine. His purpose in this life is to nourish that seed, and his reward, if successful, is eternal life, where he will reunite with his divine origin. Nourishing plants in the soil is analogous to nourishing the spirit on earth by doing good deeds.
A canon by definition is a collection of books officially accepted by a religious body as genuine. As such, the Bible is the Christian canon. The Bible was formulated as a result of the church selection, from many previous writings some time ago. Their final choice resulted in our common Bible which contains thirty-nine (39) different books in the Old Testament and twenty-seven (27) writings in the New Testament. Ancient Egyptians had several metaphysical writings and teachings, but they were never incorporated into a singular canon. Egyptians had never discarded any view no matter what. Some of the writings were contradictory, but that did not matter, because it was not anybody’s business to select and choose for the people. Each view was like a key to the truth and the various views were like keys resembling the pattern of the lock. As such, they decided to respect and retain all views.
There was never a single religious authority who had the power or the desire to choose some writings and incorporate them into one canon, as the case with the Bible, except during Akhenaton’s reign which was an aberration.
The essence of the Egyptian religion is based on metaphysical beliefs. The whole universe is an intentional creation. Man was created to accomplish a specific role within the grand cosmic scheme. Man, who is born of flesh, has the potential to become spirit. The Egyptian texts described in detail the stages of the transformation process from man’s earthly carnal to the pure spiritual.
Each of these texts emphasizes specific aspects of the Egyptian doctrine of life/death/rebirth. The Book of the Caverns has a psychological focus; and its theme of punishment and reward is paramount. The Book of the Gates has a spiritual focus. The Book of What Is In the Duat (or Underworld) has a magical/alchemical focus. The Book of Day and The Book of Night emphasize the cosmological and the astronomical aspects.
The Book of the Coming Forth by Day, wrongly translated and commonly known as The Egyptian Book of The Dead, consists of over a hundred chapters of varying lengths, which were mostly derived from the Unas Funerary (Pyramid) (ca. 2500 B.C.E.). This book is to be found, in its complete form, only on papyrus scrolls that were wrapped in the mummy swathings of the deceased and buried with him.
In a book of instructions, an Egyptian king advised his son, the prince, to attain the highest qualities, because upon his death he will see his whole lifetime in a single instant and his performance on earth will be reviewed and evaluated, by the judges. In recent years, numerous books addressed the near-death experiences of many people. In this phenomenon, it is reported that seeing the person’s whole life span in an instant, is a recurrent theme for all persons with near-death experiences. Death is not the end, but rather it is a transitional state. Such an experience matches exactly the Egyptians’ belief of the transformation process, which starts with the Day of Judgment where the life of the person is evaluated.
As stated earlier, ancient Egyptians expressed their metaphysical beliefs in story form (myth), like a sacred drama or a mystery play. The following are the Egyptians' symbolic representations of the process of the Judgement Day.
The spirit of the deceased denies committing each sin/fault before its assigned judge, by reciting the forty-two negative confessions (analogous to the famed Ten Commandments). These negative confessions come from The Book of the Coming Forth by Day (commonly and wrongly known as The Book of The Dead). Here is a translation of some of these negative confessions. Some of them may seem repetitive, but this was probably caused by not being able to translate the exact intent of the original language.
The imperfect soul will be reborn again in a new physical vehicle (body) in order to provide the soul an opportunity for further development on earth. This cycle continues until the soul is perfected by fulfilling the forty-two Commandments, during his/her life on earth.
The Egyptians seemed to hinder the reincarnation process by mummifying the body. By maintaining the conditions of the physical vehicle, the soul was able to continue its existence in the unknown world of the Duat. As a result, the soul was eventually capable of working towards its own resurrection, and thence, excluding the necessity of another physical reincarnation.
The perfected soul will go through the process of transformation, and as the Egyptian writing describes it, "becomes a star and joins the company of Ra, and sails with him across the sky in his boat of millions of years".
Above was a very short presentation of the basics of Egyptian religion. What the uneducated reader fails to recognize is that some of the above religious beliefs come from Astronomy, Astro-theology, and Nature worship and some do not.
Answer for yourself: How do we tell the difference? How can we discern truth from superstition?
The task might seem impossible but it is not. The Jewish people today have done it....now it is up to us to learn what they know and see the plagiarism of Astro-theology and Nature worship as connected to a Jewish Rabbi named Yeshua. The task is considerable but not impossible. Now begins the detailed study because until you are very familiar with the Osiris story and it's origin in the Stars and the influence of the Heavens upon the seasons and Mother nature then it is impossible to recognize this "Osiris pattern" let alone see it replayed in it's many forms as found in the Jesus of the New Testament. Understand again that for the Christian his "Holy Bible" is corrupted with these solar religious beliefs as handed down by the Sun worshipping Essenes of Alexandria, Egypt, and the later Greek and Latin Church Fathers who shared similar Sun worship with the Essenes. Without knowledge of this "Osiris Pattern" we cannot pick up our Christian Bibles and be able to discern truth from fiction. We end up reading about Jesus and religious doctrines connected with him and his life portrayed in Rome's New Testament which cause unsuspecting believers to live their lives in idolatry and blasphemy and never knowing the horrible consequences of such things; that is until they acquire such knowledge.
Let your goal be this and this only: The recovery of Divine truth and the casting out of religious beliefs that has infected you with idolatry and blasphemy of the Creator because you have accepted by faith alone the Osiris story replayed through the Jesus of history. Now we continue our study to find the truth about the "Osiris Pattern" and the Jesus of History.