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Conspiracy
 THE CHRISTIAN CONSPIRACY
[The Orthodox Suppression of Original Christianity]
After more than 10 years of research...
 Trace the lineage of the mysterious Christian-Gnostics. The mystery teachings of Jesus are not included in the New Testament. The teachings on reincarnation and karma were suppressed by church councils. Why and how did Irenaeus, Augustine, and others reformulate Christian dogma their way. Ancient Christian texts contained secret teachings of Jesus that may be necessary for salvation. Texts concerning the origin and proliferation of evil were destroyed by the church fathers 1800 years ago. Church fathers suppressed amazing evidence about Jesus' life in Kashmir, India years after his crucifixion. PREFACE
Before the reader commences the reading of this book, I would like to caution that this work is not intended for average devout Christians whose pure faith in Jesus and his teachings is the sustaining center of their lives. Were it possible, I would keep this work out of the hands of any Christian whom it would not benefit and for whom it was not written. I have no desire to interfere with the spiritual path of those Christians whose self-chosen way to eternal life is set before them. Nor is it the intent of this book to defame the person or image of Jesus, whom I also regard as my Saviour. It is not my purpose to challenge the present hierarchies of the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox or other Christian churches. Christianity as an institution, despite the falsity of certain of its man-made dogmas, has upheld a certain degree of virtue in the world as well as upholding the image of Christ. The spiritual lives of millions are sustained by the presence of Christian churches in the world, and more importantly they are sustained by the living presence of Jesus--within the hearts of the faithful. These faithful, by their pure devotion to Christ, have sustained Christianity itself as an institution. Countless prelates both small and great whose lives reflect the glorious example of Jesus have been of inestimable value to the spiritual progress of humanity. Therefore, if throughout this book I seem to be taking a sledgehammer to Christianity as a religion, I am doing so only with regard to the theological dogmas, man-made, that were constructed during the first five centuries in order to counteract and oppose innumerable ancient movements, schools and communities which taught what I consider to be original Christianity--that body of teaching which has been termed Christian Gnosis. Not one word in this book is written against the genuine teachings of Christ found in the New Testament and in other ancient texts. If I choose to regard Jesus not as God, but as Master, Adept and divine incarnation and as an example of what humanity may become, I hope I will not be taken to task. The most important theme of this book is that man has a "Christ Consciousness" and a divine spark which can be developed commensurate to that of Jesus. Through man-made dogma this teaching and others like it, including teachings on the mystery of "evil," have been suppressed.
I was born and raised in the Roman Catholic Church, and to this day I still recall the spirit of devotion which I found in the Church, especially during the 1950's. Later, from the mid-sixties onward, I began to feel that there was something missing from Christianity as it was being taught and expounded upon in the church. Thus began a search which led to my accepting the intrinsic truths in all religions, and I realized that these "truths" also existed in Christianity. These truths had to do with preexistence of the soul, the possibility of its reincarnation, and the fact that not only Jesus but everyone in his true nature was a "Son of God" and that we had the potential within us to become like Christ. I found that the ancient Christian Gnostics also taught the same thing, but that their teaching had been suppressed and banned by the orthodox church as heretical. I also came to the awareness that certain facts in the life of Jesus had also been suppressed. After a decade of search and study, I decided to write this book and to put it all together as my personal view of the first four centuries of Christian history.
I am not suggesting that my readers, if they are Christians, abandon their faith or turn to other religions. If the Christian tradition is spiritually effective for them they should remain steadfast in it, since no matter what they believe in terms of dogma, their faith in and love for Jesus is real, as the love of Jesus for them is also real. Thus, my purpose is not to alienate Christians but to show that the religion they have chosen may be far deeper and more mystical than they had first suspected. I aver, furthermore, that the master-disciple relationship, the personal loving relationship between the Christian and his Lord, is a private and sacred matter which can be sustained irrespective of a belief-system. Thus, if this relationship is the core of one's Christianity, what I have to say concerning the incorrect dogmas regarding the nature of man, God and Christ ought not to have an adverse effect on this relationship and one's spiritual life.
There are other Christians, however, who may welcome this book, if they are searching for the truths beyond doctrine and dogma and are willing to scale the uncharted heights and to begin probing the mysteries of Cosmos. I, like many others, have only glimpsed the surface. I can affirm, however, that the mysteries of the Heart of Jesus are indeed worthy of assimilation, since the mysteries of eternal love can be found there.
There are, then, positive elements of Christianity which this book can do nothing to alter: the love between Christ and his disciples which, if not steeped in sympathetic emotionalism, can grow to a divine love in the disciple centered in the heart chakra (the spiritual center of love within man). Jesus said to his disciples, "Ye are the light of the world." He also said, "Ye are the salt of the earth." The salt of the earth is sprinkled everywhere. They are the leaven that leavens and brings out the best in Christianity and in any of the world's religions, and which defeats the false and misleading dogmas of those religions by what they do, who they are and what they stand for.
Thus, in view of the controversial analysis of Christian theology I am presenting in this work, I feel it is up to me to praise the good, the light in the hearts of Christians and Christian clergy everywhere, and to walk with them as companions on the way as far as we can walk together. Then, when we come to a chasm that can't be crossed, I choose to bow to Christ within them and to the Divine in them, with a prayer for their eternal victory in the Light.
Yours in the Love of Christ,
Joseph P. Macchio
This book is Dedicated to: The Lightbearers of the world
SYNOPSIS
This book chronicles the replacement of an original Christianity which was diverse and Gnostic in character by an orthodox pseudo-theology defined by a narrow set of doctrines quite different in scope and spirit. If it shatters any image, it is the myth that there was an "original" Christianity, somewhat in the image of modern fundamentalism, where all held to the four Gospels, the concept of Jesus as God, His death for our sins, the resurrection of the body at the last day, etc. Rather it lifts the curtain on a profoundly different "original" Christianity--a rich set of doctrines in the Gnostic tradition defined across many sects existing at Christianity's very earliest beginnings including even the communities and teachings of St. Paul and the Nazorean community at Jerusalem, and including doctrines of reincarnation, the origins of evil in a class of beings called "archons," the preexistence of souls, the divine spark in each, therefore the divinity of each--all befitting the universalist character Jesus in fact had. And it chronicles the grim, often political and ultimately violent destruction of this diversity and these doctrines by the end of the fourth century, their replacement by a stark orthodoxy of distorted and narrowed dogmas, the destruction or suppression of the many gospels by an arbitrary and edited canon of four, and the concomitant establishment of a power structure set in a hierarchy which moved increasingly to the denial of freedom of belief and its final alliance with the power of the state.
The book opens with a discussion of the "lost years" of Jesus between the ages of 13 and 30, his travels to India and Tibet, and the "hidden years" after the resurrection, quoting sources such as Nicholas Notovich's Tibetan manuscript on the "lost years" and Indian and Moslem texts detailing Jesus' sojourn on earth to an advanced age in Kashmir, India. It discusses the controversial issue as to whether Jesus survived the crucifixion and the general picture one can gain from various sources showing Jesus as an adept in the traditions typified by the Hindus and others. In general it notes the many statements in the New Testament that can be interpreted in mystical meanings beyond that accepted in the orthodox framework, the many ties and similarities of Christianity to ancient mystical religions, and the vast number of "gospels" and writings that were excluded from the Christian canon, destroyed or suppressed, and that are now being discovered.
A discussion of the apostle Paul's theology follows, demonstrating its affinity with Christian Gnosis and opening up the probability that Paul taught the preexistence and resurrection of the soul and a "secret doctrine" for initiates.
The Nazorean-Jewish Christian community is next examined, demonstrating the affinity among these earliest Christians and the Essenes, Pharisees and Hellenistic Jews, especially regarding their doctrine of preexistence and reincarnation, the doctrines of the embodied fallen angels, watchers and Nephilim, showing that the concept of embodied evil was a part of early Christianity. This chapter also contains a controversial discussion disproving the Virgin Birth.
A brief scenario of early Christian history follows, emphasizing Christianity's major trends and developments from esoteric schools and communities to a monolithic church controlled by bishops.
Then begins a survey of the teachings of the lost Christianity, the oldest sects from AD 30 to 120 AD, including discussions of the Simonians, Ophites, Naassenes, Cerinthians and others, which together comprised what was known as the "secret doctrines" of Jesus. The major emphasis of this chapter is on the teaching of the indwelling divine spark in man, the doctrine of emanation, the unreality of Jesus' death on the cross, and the radical doctrine of a usurper deity as the cause of evil (from the Nag Hammadi texts)--all doctrines suppressed and/or distorted by the orthodox movement.
In this chapter the orthodox movement emerges clearly as a reaction to the gnostic communities and schools. Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch spearhead the movement through their appropriation of a power base, the formulation of creed and the alienation of sectarian Christians. It demonstrates the episcopate as a misuse and usurpation of the Old Testament priesthood and includes discussion of the controversial Marcion, who saw through the conspiracy of the orthodox and formulated the first canon.
In the following chapter the Christian-Gnostic movement flowers into a brilliant school of theologians. Here are discussed the teachings of Basilides and Valentinus on reincarnation, cosmology, the causes of evil, and it explicates a grand cosmic myth on the origin and fall of the soul, showing that these Christian teachers were psychologists in their own right. This chapter draws on works from the Nag Hammadi Library, such as the Gospel of Truth.
In the ongoing struggle, Justin Martyr formulates one of the earliest anti-Gnostic dogmas to combat the ancient sects, including the orthodox doctrine of the Incarnation, which was a distortion of the incarnation of Vishnu, and the doctrine of the resurrection of the body. Irenaeus next attacks the Christian-Gnostics by formulating a web of dogmas calculated to attack Gnosis and to alienate sectarian Christians as heretics. Here is demonstrated that the basic dogmas such as the resurrection of the body, the concept of Jesus as God, etc. were not part of the earliest Christianity and were fabricated by Irenaeus solely to combat Christian-Gnostics, and it shows that Irenaeus formulated the myth of apostolic succession based on the more ancient chain of Gnostic Christian teachers.
A detailed study of the teaching of Origen of Alexandria follows, discussing such fascinating subjects as Origen's doctrine that Jesus' soul was the same as all souls, preexistence, reincarnation, the fallen angels and the fall of souls, and Origen's all-pervading doctrine of cause and effect; and showing then Origen's achievement in integrating Gnostic teachings with other views into a vast synthesis. And it includes the story of the attack on Origen and his ultimate labeling as a heretic.
The Manichaean-Christian revolution--again with strong Gnostic ties--is dealt with in the next chapter. Included is a detailed survey of the more controversial doctrines of this misunderstood Christian sect, such as Mani's doctrine on the evil Archons who had a hand in man's physical creation and the cosmic battle of Light and Darkness. It shows how Manichaeism challenged orthodox Christianity and remained a powerful rival which was suppressed only after centuries.
The famous Council of Nicea and the Nicene Creed are discussed from the point of view that in order to destroy the ancient, esoteric doctrine on the identity of Christ in all souls, the doctrine that Jesus was God eternally had to be formulated. Here is chronicled the final usurpation of Christ by Constantine, the beginning of the papacy and the totalitarian Christian State.
The doctrines of Augustine are surveyed next, showing how he formulated the dogmas of original sin, infant damnation and predestination, and rejected preexistence and reincarnation. This chapter radically departs from the usual attitude toward Augustine by amply demonstrating that Augustine's psychological neurosis rooted in guilt was causative in the formulation of his dogmas, which became over the following centuries the fundamentals of the Christian faith, and it emphasizes Augustine's ongoing debates with fellow Christians--Gnostics, Manichaeans and more--which hardened into his unmerciful doctrines.
The concluding chapter examines the legacy of the orthodox totalitarian Christian state and how it influenced (socially and psychologically) our attitude toward God and self over the centuries. It disproves the authenticity of the papacy as the exclusive succession of Roman bishops; it shows how and why the mystery religions were destroyed and how women were debased; and examines varying ancient interpretations of the Adam and Eve story. Finally it shows how the Vicarious Atonement replaced expiation of sin by reincarnation. Then follows a brief survey of Gnostic Christianity in various forms to the present day, including its traces through the Cathars and Albigenses.
The work concludes with a plea to the average seeker or Christian to examine the evidence presented and to study the forbidden texts which once comprised authentic Christianity and to decide for himself what was and is Christianity.
CONTENTS
Preface
Synopsis
Contents
Introduction Why a "Conspiracy"?
I The Lost and Hidden Years in the Life of Jesus
The Hidden Years of Jesus The Secret Facts about the Crucifixion Did Jesus Spend His Heaven Doing Good on Earth? The Final Mahasamadhi II The Oldest Christian Sects
Part I The Gnostic Theology of Paul
Christ as Archtypal Man Christ as Indwelling Presence Paul's Teaching on the Resurrection and Preexistence of Souls The Hidden Wisdom of Paul - "Christ in You, the Hope of Glory" Paul's Teaching on the Vicarious Atonement III The Oldest Christian Sects, Communities and Their Teachings
Part II Nazorean or Jewish Christianity
The Nazoreans The Virgin Birth and the Sonship of Jesus Preexistence and Reincarnation in Early Christian Teachings The Qumran Essenes and the Nazorean-Christians The Fall of the Rebel Angels and Watchers The Doctrine of Embodied Evil The Nephilim IV Brief Scenario of Early Christian History
Introduction V The Lost Christianity of the Original Sects
30 A.D. - 120 A.D.
Christian Sects in Samaria The Seth Connection The School of Simon Menander and Satornilos Christian-Gnostic Sects on Evil The Ophite Christian Sect Lost Christianity's Most Suppressed Teaching - A Usurper Deity as the Cause of Evil The God Called "Man" Strategies of Light and Darkness The Origin of the Doctrine of Original Sin The Naassenes - Christ as Unveiler of the Mysteries Did Jesus Die on the Cross - the Docetists The Teaching of Cerinthus - A "Secret Doctrine" of Matthew? Carpocrates and the Secret Gospel of Mark VI The Emergence of Orthodoxy
The Misuse of the Old Testament - Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch - The Power Politics of Orthodoxy The Emergence of Creed Ignatius Attacks Sectarian Christian Communities Marcion - Marcion Formulates the First New Testament Canon VII The Great Schools of Christian Gnosis
Basilides Basilides' Doctrine of Reincarnation Valentinus The Doctrine of the Three Natures The School of Valentinus Valentinian Literature - The Gospel of Truth The Valentinian Sacraments The Doctrine of the Resurrection VIII The Orthodox Movement Formulates "Anti-Christian-Gnostic" Theology
Justin Martyr The Doctrine of the Incarnation of the Word The Resurrection of the Body IX Irenaeus and the Formulation of Orthodox Pseudo-Theology
Irenaeus The Doctrine of Deity The Doctrine of the Logos and Christ The Doctrine of Salvation Irenaeus Fabricates His Own Apostolic Succession The Myth of the Orthodox Apostolic Succession Tertullian Cyprian of Carthage X Origen of Alexandria and the Golden Age of Christian Theology
The Catechetical School at Alexandria Clement of Alexandria Origen - The Synthesis of Christian Orthodoxy and Christian Gnosis The Theology of Origen The Trinity Origen on the Doctrine of Christ Origen on the Fall of Souls Origen on the Fallen Angels Origen's Doctrine of Salvation Origen and Reincarnation The Golden Age of Christian Theology The Attack on Origen XI The Manichaean-Christian Revolution
The Universal Religion of Light The Doctrine of Mani The Conspiracy of Darkness The Realm of Light The Original Purity of the Preexistent Soul The Realm of Darkness The Darkness Attacks the Light The Soul Enters "Matter" The Rescue of the Soul The Judgment of the Archons and the Creation of the Physical Cosmos The Archons Release Their Stolen Light The Archons Entrap Souls in Material Bodies - "Adam and Eve" The Redemption of Adam and Eve Mani's Doctrine of the Last Things Comments on Christian-Gnostic and Manichaen-Christian Anthropology Manichaen-Christian Salvation - The Writings of Mani The Character of Mani The Controversy between Orthodox and Manichaean Christianity The Manichaean Concept of Christ XII The Arian Controversy and the Council of Nicea
Constantine Becomes the Messiah The Doctrine of Arius The Council of Nicea The Nicean Council's Secret Agenda? Constantine Becomes the Messiah - The Dawn of the Papacy Aftermath of the Arian Controversy XIII The Bondage of Orthodoxy
Augustine Augustine Attacks the Manichaeans The Theology of Augustine - The Theory of Original Sin Augustine Denies Preexistence and the Law of Cause and Effect The Doctrine of Infant Damnation and the Eternality of Hell Augustine's Doctrine of the Soul Free Will Versus Human Bondage - The Donatist and Pelagian Controversies The Legacy of Augustine XIV The Legacy of the Orthodox Conspiracy
The Triumph of Totalitarian Christianity The Keys of the Kingdom and the Supremacy of Peter The Destruction of the Mysteries - The Martyrdom of Hypatia The Debasement of Woman - Adam and Eve - The Celibate Movement The Emergence of the Vicarious Atonement Theory The Hidden Gnostic Legacy Conclusion
Epilogue What Is Christianity and Who Is Jesus?
Reference Notes
INTRODUCTION
Upon picking up this book, the reader may be surprised to learn that there is such a thing as a "Christian conspiracy." The term "conspiracy" as I use it in this book may be defined as a movement or as a pattern of action of those who consciously or unconsciously work in concert to undo or destroy a fabric of thought held to be different from that which the "conspirators" hold to be true. In the matter of the Christian religion, and as far back as the first century, those who saw themselves as "straight-thinking" (which is what the term "orthodox" means) believed it was their duty to remake and remold the doctrines of the oldest Christian sects and communities to fit a belief system which did not guarantee freedom of thought or, more importantly, the freedom of the individual to pursue God as he or she saw fit. The leaders of "orthodox Christianity" soon became mind-controllers and mind-reformers and, convinced that they represented the original and pure stream of Christianity, eventually developed through voluminous writings and church councils a pseudo-theology which was passed off as authentic.
In this book I am attempting to view the development of Christian theology from the other side of the fence--from the point of view of those who taught and believed Christian doctrines vouchsafed to them (as they averred) from Christ and his apostles and which for the most part differed radically from the doctrines which later comprised "orthodox Christianity." In my view of the early history of Christianity, doctrines and beliefs that would today be considered "fundamental" to Christianity did not exist in the first two centuries, not at least in the form we know them today. What I will be attempting to show is that as far back as we go, we do not find an "orthodox Christianity" or what is today regarded by the average Christian as the core of the Christian religion. Describing how this "orthodox Christianity" came to be developed is the purpose of this book. But simultaneously, then, we must describe the original fabric of belief from which orthodoxy was, as a caricature, extracted. If the most ancient doctrines of Christianity were not "orthodox," then what were they? We shall soon see. It will suffice to say that those who suppressed, distorted, misinterpreted or otherwise destroyed ancient Christian teachings conspired to do so over the centuries, whether or not, as we have said, they were consciously aware of doing so.
Why did it appear necessary that these teachings be destroyed? Simply put, the teachings of "Lost Christianity" contained the keys to the spiritual growth and regeneration of the human race--the keys that would enable humanity to have an equal share in the "Mind of Christ." These teachings contained the keys to the "Kingdom of Heaven"--a "Christ Consciousness" that was destined to become the inheritance of every man, woman and child. Anyone who applied these teachings could not be controlled, could not be a partaker in the "mass consciousness," would walk on the earth as a "Christ" knowing "Good" and "Evil" and would have the keys of "hell" and "death."
The reader may well ask why anyone would seek to prevent this magnificent resurrection of humanity. The modern need to ask this question is in good measure a function of the degree of the destruction of the original teachings. To give presently but a partial answer, we take as an example Jesus himself. He is called Saviour and Redeemer. His vision and mission were to "save" humanity from the burden of the sense of mortality and limitation, from the "human condition," to catapult mankind, as it were, into the divine life whereby a new world would dawn, a new age of enlightenment and peace which would spell an end to the old world. Did he not say, "The things that I do shall ye do also, and greater things than these shall ye do...." Jesus, everyone will readily admit, thought differently from the rest of mankind. He said God was his Father and he was one with God; he said he possessed "all power in heaven and in earth" and stated that those who became his disciples would follow him in the "regeneration." For this stance Jesus received the unmitigated wrath of the powers of Church and State. He was summarily tried and executed. Why? It is not at all difficult to conclude that Jesus was a serious threat to the authorities. They were convinced that his teachings would wrest authority from them--they then would be powerless to exert that authority. Jesus saw them for what they were; he starkly called them "vipers." He had a very definite and unmincingly expressed opinion about their origins and about the spiritual forces they represented: they were "tares in the wheat" sown by "the enemy" and, as he told them bluntly, "Ye are of your Father, the Devil." And he saw them for what they did--they tyrannized over the mind and soul of man, and they were in every race and nation. The only way they could be overcome was through the spiritual attainment of Jesus' disciples and followers. The teachings of "lost Christianity" containing doctrines and keys leading to this spiritual attainment were part of the Gnosis (i.e., knowledge as divine revelation), the "secret doctrine" promulgated by the sects, schools, assemblies (i.e., churches) and communities we will be discussing. The "secret doctrine" was not necessarily to be found in the writings of the New Testament (unless one possessed the keys to the interpretation of these writings) but in gospels, letters and treatises passed on from teacher to teacher, initiate to initiate, and through oral tradition. Portions of this doctrine were received through revelation to certain disciples during the first through third centuries. The early history of Christianity, as I am presenting it here, is the history of the suppression of this very doctrine. Not only did the "orthodox" suppress this doctrine, but they took mangled portions of this doctrine to formulate their own "Christian" theology, thus removing the heart from the doctrine, leaving but a corpse.
Not only do we find the suppression of teachings that were intended to liberate mankind, but we also find that certain facts in the life of Jesus were likewise suppressed. In this book we will attempt to uncover these facts. Those who formulated the dogmas of orthodoxy were careful to remove from the faithful the knowledge of the indwelling Spirit Spark which makes man intrinsically divine. They also removed the knowledge of "evil" and its causes. We will follow the teachings of the earliest Christian sects on these subjects.
And finally, I hope that by reading this book the adherents of Christianity and followers of Jesus will no longer abdicate their rights as sons and daughters of God to a power elite in the church, but will investigate and search for themselves the true, original doctrines of Christianity with open minds and hearts. I hope that this book will start them on their journey.
___________________________
This book is copyrighted and protected by U.S. and international law. (1996-99)
"mailto:ceo@newhopeent.com" (all rights reserved)
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