G. R. S. Mead (1863–1933)

One of the striking facts about early Christianity is that there are no historical records of any of the events of Jesus life, as described in the four Gospels. Mead's book examines Jewish sources for any similar records and again, finds none.
There ARE Jewish records of someone who may be Jesus, but they all point to his living around 70 BCE, around 100 years earlier than the dates ascribed to him in the Bible.
But this Jesus, or Jeschu, is accused of being a sorcerer for his miracles, and he is condemned by the Jews and stoned to death.
Mead finds references in early Christian sources to Jesus' stoning and analyzes how the crucifixion was not a central part of early Christian belief.
Mead also looks at later Jewish mentions of Jesus, often as part of attacks on Christianity in response to extreme Christian attacks on Judaism, to see if any historical information can be gleaned.
The claim that Jesus' was a virgin birth was a late addition to Christian belief, he explains, and the Jewish response was to claim he was instead the bastard son of Mary and a soldier named Pandera. He finds several Christian references to the Pandera claim in early Christian writers, indicating they were aware of the accusation, and pushed back against it.
In the end, he concedes that the information is incomplete snd often contradictory. For example, the Christian bishop and writer Epiphanius, writing about 150 AD, insists that Jesus lived during the reign of a ruler who lived around 70 BCE, but he also then insists that Jesus lived in the reign of Pontius Pilate.
Mead is a follower of theosophy, a belief that at heart, all religions are based on the same basic truths, but his analysis of Judaism and Christianity is generally free of bias and he appears to be very knowledgeable about the source material.
His basic problem is the same one facing any analysis of early Christianity: there is very little information, and when it can be dated, it comes from a period many years after Jesus death. But much of the material by early Christian and Jewish commentators cannot be dated at all, either because the writings themselves have no date or because the dates when the authors lived are uncertain. Beyond that, he notes, Jewish and Christian writers of that period loved puns and plays on words, and often referred to Jesus or other personalities by allegorical names. Given that their writing was in Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin or Greek, there are ample opportunities for speculation as to who is being referred to by a given author.
All in all, however, Mead's book is worth a read if you are interested in the field. He will not convince you, but he raises many questions for which, unfortunately, we will likely never have answers.… (altro)

I like short presentations of philosophical subjects so I thought i'd give this one a try. I appreciated the selection of the hymns, but will look for another treatment of the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus because I found that Mead's commentaries to be more akin to sermons on the nature of his particular notion of a transcendental God rather than an exegesis of Egyptian and Grecian gnostic texts. I do give it two stars however because this work attempts to revive a stream of thought found in the renaissance and Mead did good work with the promulgation of the interesting text the Pistis Sophia. I recommend readers interested in hermeticism begin with the Kybalion

… (altro)

I like short presentations of philosophical subjects so I thought i'd give this one a try. I appreciated the selection of the hymns, but will look for another treatment of the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus because I found that Mead's commentaries to be more akin to sermons on the nature of his particular notion of a transcendental God rather than an exegesis of Egyptian and Grecian gnostic texts. I do give it two stars however because this work attempts to revive a stream of thought found in the renaissance and Mead did good work with the promulgation of the interesting text the Pistis Sophia. I recommend readers interested in hermeticism begin with the Kybalion

… (altro)

I ran across this old gem put out by Kessinger Publishing in their cool, old yellow paperbacks with a rosicrucian logo. Hand it to Kessinger, they publish actual scans of old books rather than the fly-by-night publishing outfits that put out terribly O.C.R.'ed texts chockfull of errors.

It's a neat old book on Apollonius of Tyana, a religio-philosopher of the first century A.D. in the Roman Empire by theosophist and scholar G. R. S. Mead. The book kind of tells you a bit more about Mead and Blatavaskian Theosophy than it does Apollonius of Tyana. Mead takes great pains to make Apollonius look not like a first century miracle-worker à la Jesus but like a Indian sage à la Theosophy. He thus poo poos all reference to Apollonius as a magic man and makes him a guru of the Hindu/Buddhist type. His supposed travels to India are made much of; Pythagoras and Egypt, much less important. Mead denounces the historical sources for Apollonius: Philostratus through Damis. Instead, he claims to glean what is good from the sources and discards the dross. Everything he keeps makes Apollonius like a Theosophist guru instead of a Roman philosopher who supposedly worked wonders. Mead says several times that with proper work and practice (it is implied that the proper way is Theosophical) anybody could be like Apollonius and do the things he did.

The work is done in a late-1800s/early 1900s antiquarian style, with lots of odd footnotes, obscure references, etc. It bounces back and forth in time, and is not really done in a narrative or chronological manner. It is not the best source on Apollonius, but it is an interesting read and informative. If you know nothing of Apollonius, it is a decent place to start if you can get it cheap. If you like Theosophy, it will be a great addition to your bookshelf.… (altro)