Hermetism and other religions
It highlights its similarities and differences with Gnosticism, examines its connections in Islam and Judaism, delves into its influence on Christianity, and even explores its potential impact on Mormonism.
[1] Both flourished in the same period in Roman Egypt, in the same spiritual climate,[2] sharing the goal of allowing the soul to escape from the material realm, and emphasizing a personal knowledge of God.
However, the Gnostics as a result often adopted a pessimistic view of mankind, while the Hermetic belief system generally retained a positive attitude towards humanity.
[10] According to ninth- and tenth-century Arabic authors, the pagan community from the Upper-Mesopotamian city of Harran (who self-identified as the Sabians mentioned in the Qur'an) counted Hermes Trismegistus as one of their major prophets.
[16] Secondly, Jewish scholars of the Middle Ages attempted to make use of treatises on astrology, medicine and theurgy as a justification for practicing natural magic forbidden by a number of commandments in the Torah and reinforced by prophetic books codified by rabbinic authorities.
They attributed these arts to divine knowledge imparted by Jewish heroes to gentiles such as the Indians, Babylonians, Egyptians, and Greeks, and felt that by approaching magic from a religious standpoint would legitimize their use of the sciences.
Fabrizo Lelli writes: "As for Christians and Muslims, so likewise for Jews, Hermetism was an alternative to Aristotelianism--the likeliest prospect, in fact, for integrating an alien system into their religion.
Renaissance scholars argued that the rationalism of Maimonides drew upon the prisca sapienta that had both Mosaic and Hermetic origins and that Abraham ibn Ezra's Commentary on the Pentateuch was evidence that they shared the same views on the relationship between religion and science.
Others, such as Yohanan Alemanno, claimed that the Hermetic teachings were part of a primordial wisdom of the ancients and put the writings of Hermes as being equal to those of King Solomon.
[22] Early Christianity and Hermetism both are esoteric without having an excessive emphasis on secrecy, relying upon inward experience, assisted by instruction and ultimately the result of revelation by God.
[22] Opposed to the basis of the contemporary mystery cults, both texts relayed that the core of religious practice should be done internally through the personal experience of the believer rather than externally through sacramental ritual.
[29] Fourth, the Gospel's figures are all unique and grounds itself in the life of Jesus of Nazareth while the Hermetic text uses an "elusive literary tradition" which does little to identify or separate its characters.
[31] A theory by John L. Brooke, an author and professor at Tufts University, suggests that Mormonism has its roots in Hermetism and Hermeticism after following a philosophical trail from Renaissance Europe.
Brooke attested correlations with the view that spirit and matter are one and the same, the covenant of celestial marriage, and the ability of humanity to become deified or ultimately perfect.
