Genesis on Homosex: Beyond Sodom

"Given the traditional Orthodox understanding of the Old and New Testament scriptures as expressed in the Church's liturgical worship, sacramental rites, canonical regulations and lives and teachings of the saints, it is clear that the Orthodox Church identifies solidly with those Christians, homosexual and heterosexual, who consider homosexual orientation as a disorder and disease, and who therefore consider homosexual actions as sinful and destructive." -- Fr. Thomas Hopko


Alice C. Linsley

In the contemporary dispute over homosexuality the Bible plays a less significant role than in the past because it is viewed as a book of miracles and supernatural revelation, having nothing to do with science and the modern understanding of sexuality. This is not based on an objective assessment of what the Bible says about homosexuality. It is rooted in the Enlightenment rejection of the Bible, and especially in David Hume's dismissal of miracles. Hume argued that unless universals in religion could be ascertained, no religious truth claims can reasonably be verified. Since Hume's time, anthropologists have identified several significant universals in religion, notably burial in red ochre, serpent veneration, and water shrines.

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) also contributed to a dismissal of the Hebrew Scriptures as "a collection of mere statutory laws upon which was established a political organization." In his Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone Kant argued for a "pure moral religion" based on duty as "the euthanasia of Judaism." He maintained that Judaism was later "interfused, by reason of moral doctrines gradually made public within it, with a religious faith - for this otherwise ignorant people had been able to receive much foreign (Greek) wisdom." Kant's distortion of the facts is evident in the influence of ancient Egypt on Greek philosophers such as Pythagoras and Plato.

Although Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was an oddity in his time, he perpetuated the Enlightenment disdain for the Hebrew Scriptures. He incorrectly portrayed the Hebrew Bible as derivative of what he regarded as the more ancient Vedas. His notion was repeated by Friedrich Maximilian Müeller (1823-1900) who wrote, "In the Rig-Veda we shall have before us more real antiquity than in all the inscriptions of Egypt or Ninevah....the Veda is the oldest book in existence...."

Today it is recognized that the oldest layer of the Vedas reflects the Horite religion which took root in Southern India's Harappa culture. Har-appa is a Dravidian word that means "Horus is Father". The words Kusha, Rama, Hari and the description of Krishna (Christ) as the "Ancient Man" are all found in earlier Hebrew and Aramaic texts. 

Schopenhauer also said, "Monotheistic religions alone furnish the spectacle of religious wars, religious persecutions, heretical tribunals, that breaking of idols and destruction of images of the gods, that razing of Indian temples and Egyptian colossi, which had looked on the sun 3,000 years: just because a jealous god had said, 'Thou shalt make no graven image.'"

Again Schopenhauer was mistaken. It was the Roman emperor Augustus who desecrated the most revered of all the ancient sacred places. In 14 BC, he had the sacred pillars of Heliopolis (Biblical On) removed to Alexandria to grace the grounds of the Caesareum.

It is also evident that polytheistic Hinduism has contributed its share of religious violence and persecutions.

These writers dismissed the Hebrew Scriptures as irrational superstition and their assessment, though false, has been accepted uncritically by many today. Even to refer to the Bible in reference to homosexuality is to risk attack from gay activists. Some claim such references as "hate speech" and thereby effectively block a way of inquiry that has proven to be empirically valid (See Biblical Anthropology). It is no surprise that the Bible does not factor significantly in the contemporary debate over homosexuality.


Beyond Sodom and Gomorrah

When the Bible is referenced in conversation about homosexuality, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is usually cited. Some argue that the destruction of the cities was an act of divine punishment on those who practiced homosex. Others argue that the sin of Sodom was not homosex, but a lack of hospitality. Both sides miss the point. These Canaanite cities represent a religion quite foreign to that of Abraham's Horite people and it is Abraham's people who tell the story.

Their repudiation of homosex proceeds logically from their doctrine of creation. God created humanity in two sexes that the human race might be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. All non-procreative acts are viewed as immoral in this context. This includes onanism, homosex and refusal to fulfill the levirate marriage law (Deut. 25:5-10). Such acts frustrate God's purpose and go against the divine order in creation.

The levir's duty was to produce an heir for his deceased brother by his brother's widow. This practice insured that none of the priestly divisions would cease to exist. This was important to God's purpose since Jesus would be born of these priestly lines. The Virgin Mary's father was a priest who married a daughter of a priest, following the Horite marriage and ascendancy pattern.

The spilling of semen (onanism) is still regarded as an unrighteous deed among Afro-Arabians and most tribal peoples. The seed that should fall to the earth is the seed of plants, which spring forth from the earth. The seed of man should fall on his own type (the womb), from which man comes forth. This is the ancient wisdom which observed patterns in nature.

From the earliest days, Christians have upheld the Biblical teaching on non-procreative acts. Clement of Alexandria wrote, “Because of its divine institution for the propagation of man, the seed is not to be vainly ejaculated, nor is it to be damaged, nor is it to be wasted” (The Instructor of Children 2:10:91:2 A.D. 191).

The Pew Research Center's 2007 Global Attitudes Survey found that "people in Africa and the Middle East strongly object to societal acceptance of homosexuality." It should not come as a surprise that societies that value the traditions of their ancestors resist acceptance of homosexuality while societies influenced by the Enlightenment, i.e., Western Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, accept and even advocate for gay rights.

Blue shades represent areas where homosex is most accepted. There are groups within the blue areas which do not accept homosex. The Micmac (Ainu) of northeast Canada and the Aborigines of Australia are examples.

The Horites and sexual purity

The moral law which is associated with Moses developed out of an early moral law associated with Menes who united the peoples of the Nile. Menes is shown as the first in the procession of ancient lawgivers in the South Wall Frieze of the United States Supreme Court. His was called the Law of Tehut. Menes (c. 3200 BC) and the kings after him bore Horus names. They were Horite ruler-priests whose wisdom and skill was still remembered in the times of the Egyptian historian Manetho (3rd century BC) and the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC).

The most ancient moral codes have many features in common. They appeal to the authority of the deity who was recognized by the ruler and they view the ruler as the deity's earthly representative. Another common feature is concern for purity among the priestly caste as they were regarded as the mediators between the deity and the ruler and his people. Often the rulers themselves were priests, but when it came to ritual purity, especially to cleanse from blood guilt, ruler-priests turned to other priests for purification of absolution rituals.

Ancient moral codes have a religious quality because religion and government were never separate in the ancient world. Among ancient peoples religious laws governed every aspect of the community’s life. Taboo is an aspect of ancient law that regularizes a community’s recognition of boundaries and supernatural power. In ancient Egypt none were permitted to touch the ruler except his queen who was usually his half-sister or his cousin. Among the ancient Polynesians, the high chief’s “mana” was such that people even avoided having his shadow fall on them. Taboo extended to objects, persons, words, and even numbers. Those who broke a taboo were punished or shamed by community.

An example of a taboo among the ancient Israelites was boiling a kid in its mother’s milk (Exodus 23:19; 34:26; Deuteronomy. 14:21). This was taboo because it blurred the boundary between life-giving and life-taking. This same boundary applied to blood. The blood shed in hunting, war and animal sacrifice could not be confused with or even physically near the blood shed by women in their monthly cycle or in birthing. The two bloods represent the binary oppositions of life-taking and life-giving. To blur the distinction between them was a serious matter as this boundary was established by the Creator.


Moses and the Horites

Moses was a Horite and the Mosaic law reflects the Horite caste's emphasis on ritual purity. The Horites (Ha-biru/O-piru) were expected to keep themselves from all impurity as the taint of impurity would render their work as intercessors and mediators ineffective. The Horites served as river shrine and temple attendants. They interceded for others and offered sacrifice. Both Abraham and righteous Job offered sacrifices and interceded for others.

There is a linguistic connection between Hr and TR. The Horite priest shaved his body before his term of service. The shaved priest was called Korah. Kor/Korah and Tor/Torah are both related to blood sacrifice and the Horite concept of purity. The Hebrew root thr = to be pure, corresponds to the Hausa/Hahm toro = clean, and to the Tamil tiru = holy. All are related to the proto-Dravidian tor = blood. The Horite priest was to be purified before entering the temple. The purification ritual involved shaving their heads and bodies. Moses had two brothers who were priests: Aaron (Harun) and Korah.

Horite priests were known for their purity and devotion to the High God whose emblem was the Sun. Plutarch wrote that the “priests of the Sun at Heliopolis never carry wine into their temples, for they regard it as indecent for those who are devoted to the service of any god to indulge in the drinking of wine whilst they are under the immediate inspection of their Lord and King. The priests of the other deities are not so scrupulous in this respect, for they use it, though sparingly.”

The oldest tomb associated with the Horite priestly caste was found in Egypt. The tomb belongs to a priest named Rudj-Ka (or Rwd-Ka) and is dated to the 5th Dynasty - between 2465 and 2323 BC. The 4400-year-old tomb is located south of the cemetery of the pyramid builders at Giza. This corresponds to the time of Noah's son Ham (2438-2363) and Noah's grandson Kush (2417-2342). For other correlations between Genesis and history see A Scientific Timeline of Genesis.

The story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah comes from the Horite priests who condemned Canaanite practices such as homosex and onanism. These same practices were condemned by the Biblical prophets who were their descendants.

The Horite priests were a high ranked caste in ancient Egypt. Among the ancient Egyptians homosex was regarded as shameful. To be anally penetrated was looked upon as humiliating, and the only archaeological evidence of homosex in ancient Egypt is a painting on the interior wall of a remote cave.

The Book of the Dead, from approx. 1650-1550 BC, tells of how the one who wishes to enter the afterlife must confess before Ra/Horus and the 42 deified rulers (Horim or Houris) that "I have committed no acts of impurity nor have I had sexual intercourse with a man." [The Book of the Dead, chapter 125, by Richard Hooker.

There is textual evidence that homosexual rape was practiced in the ancient Near East against defeated warriors. This supports the view that homosex was regarded as a humiliating act. St Paul states that homosex is "contrary to nature" (Rom 1:26), that is, it violates the binary order of creation whereby God makes known His eternal power and divine nature (Rom 1:20).


An argument from silence?

A fallacy circulating these days is that no Near Eastern texts have been found that condemn homosexuality. This again points to the Enlightenment rejection of the Hebrew Scriptures which are themselves representative of Near Eastern and Afro-Arabian texts and which clearly are not silent on homosex. Both homosex and onanism bring death to their practitioners and the death is not from natural causes, but ascribed to God as an act of punishment (Gen. 19; Gen. 38:7-10).

Further, the Assyrians prohibited homosex during the time of Tukulti-apil-Eser, also known as Pileser I (1115–1077 B.C). However this prohibition and the prescribed punishment of castration can be traced back to the 15th century B.C. The Hebrew (Ha-biru/O-piru) punishment for homosex was far more severe. Leviticus 20:13 states, "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."

From the Old Babylonian period this image (left) was found depicting homosex in what appears to be a tavern or a place of orgy. The passive partner is seen drinking from a fountain. (Ch. Ziegler, ADFU 6 (1962), plate 10, Fig. 168 and p. 55. Whether the passive partners were castrated males is uncertain. In the 2nd century A.D. the Roman satirist Apuleius refers to Ishtar's castrated devotees as galli. In the 4th century A.D. Eusebius mentions effeminate priests attached to the moon goddess in Harran. They were said to perform homosex on Mount Lebanon.

Ruler and white bride
represent sun and moon

Worship of the moon god was criticized by the Biblical prophets. For the Horites, who were famous sky watchers, the eclipse of the moon was less significant than the eclipse of the sun because in their binary worldview the sun was regarded as superior to the moon. For this reason, it was shameful to worship the moon.

This was not an arbitrary preference, but a description of reality since the sun gives light whereas the moon merely reflects the sun's light. The sun's superiority is expressed in Genesis 1:16: "God made the two great lights: the greater to rule the day, the lesser light to rule the night."
 
The sun and the moon were gendered in Horite thinking, but the two were not seen as equals. As with all the binary sets found in the Bible, one entity in the set is regarded as superior to the other. This distinguishes the Biblical worldview from the dualism of the East. The sun was associated with the masculine because solar rays inseminate the earth over which the sun has dominion. The moon was associated with the feminine because it is the sun's counterpart, reflects the sun's light, and because it influences the woman's monthly cycle. This is why the male rulers of ancient Egypt appeared with darkened skin from sun exposure while their queens appeared with whitened skin, symbolic of the moon.

Apart from the adoption of the 12 month lunar cycle, the Horites recognized the moon as the binary opposite of the sun, and regarded worship of the lesser entity as idolatry. This is why worship of a moon-goddess finds no resonance in the Hebrew Bible.

Even were it true that no ancient Near Eastern texts condemn homosex, the argument from silence is not conclusive. We might as well note that no ancient Near Eastern or Afro-Arabian texts pose homosex as good.


Related reading: Plato's Debt to Ancient Egypt; Ancient Moral Codes; Is Opposition to Homosexual Activity "Irrational"? by Thomas Storck; Binary Distinctions and Kenosis; Levi-Strauss and Derrida on Binary Distinctions; Ritual Sex and Ancient Egyptian Priests; Abraham and Job: Horite Rulers; Alice C. Linsley's Research on Genesis; Genesis and African Bishops

The Ruach of God

Alice C. Linsley


In the ancient world the order of creation was viewed as hierarchical and fixed. This was based on the observation of patterns in nature. In the time of Abraham's Kushite ancestors, the observation of the fixed movement of the heavenly bodies was done by a caste of priests. They noted the constellations have a clocklike movement, the seasons are linked to the 12 lunar cycles, and the Sun directly over head marks mid-day.  The stars also suggested a fixed order in creation, as did the winds associated with the breath or spirit of God.

The ancient Afro-Asiatics perceived boundaries in the nature order. The boundaries were fixed within the hierarchy or pyramid of kinds. The Biblical "kind" is not synonymous with the word "species."  Because of mutation and adaptation there are many more creatures now than there are kinds. Kinds refers to the original essence of a created entity (think Plato's eternal Forms). Creationists believe the essence of an entity never disappears. The Biblical "kind" represents an essentialist worldview.

The Afro-Asiatic priests saw boundaries in earth's geometry. This is reflected in the wisdom literature of Job, Proverbs and Ben Sira. From the tops of high mountains they noted the curvature of the Earth at dawn and dust. They "oriented" themselves by facing east as the Sun rose.  They conceived of the cosmos as God's sacred pyramid or temple. As the Sun rose, God entered the temple from the east.  As the Sun set, God left the temple toward the west. Rulers were buried in pyramids with the hope that they would rise with the Sun and lead their people in procession to immortality. St. Paul refers to this belief when he writes about how Christ rose from the grave, leading captives in his train. (Ephesians 4:7-9)

This is the symbolism of the sand scarab which comes out of the sand when the Sun rises and returns to the sand as night approaches. The sand scarab represents the Sun's journey and repose in death. The female sand beetle lays her eggs in the sand and when the eggs hatch, she is no longer, because she gives her body to be eaten by her newborn young (cf. Jesus' words, "This is my Body given for you...").

For Abraham's Horite ancestors, the Sun and the scarab spoke to them of their deity, HR (Horus in Greek). He was regarded with his father Ra as the marker of boundaries. Horo (oros in Greek) refers to boundaries. From horo come the English words harmony, hour, horizon and horoscope. Today "horoscope" connotes astrology, but the word originally meant observer of the hours, from hora (time or hour) and skopos (observer or watcher). Horite priests were ardent observers of the heavens and thought about the cosmos in terms of divinely established boundaries and celestial patterns.

In the time of Abraham's Nilotic ancestors, the priests of Horus (called "Horites" in the Bible) were dedicated to observation of the planets and constellations. They believed that the pattern of the heavens was mirrored on earth. They observed that the planets and the constellations have an orderly clock-like movement and they perceived as that being the same order on earth. They conceived of this order as fixed and established by the generative force that makes existence possible (logos, ruach, wisdom). The Horite priests were the known earliest astronomers and it is likely that horo is a reference to their celestial archetypes surrounding Horus, the son of Ra, born to Hathor-Meri. Hathor-Meri's animal totem was a cow. She is shown at the Dendura Temple holding her newborn son in a manger or stable.

The Horites were devotees of HR (Hor, Hur, Har or Horus) whose mother Hathor-Meri conceived miraculously by the overshadowing of the Sun (the Creator's emblem). Horus is the archetype by which Abraham's descendants would recognize Jesus as the promised Seed of the Woman (Gen. 3:15). His authentication was His rising from the dead on the third day, in accordance with Horite expectation. As St. Augustine noted, the Egyptians took great care in the burial of their dead and never practiced cremation, as in the religions that seek to escape physical existence. Abraham's ancestors believed in the resurrection of the body and awaited a deified king who would rise from the grave and deliver his people from death.

Horus controlled the wind (ruach). The Harmattan trade wind which blows from the northeast and east across the western Sahara was named for Horus. The Nilotic peoples were probably the first in invent the sail because the prevailing wind blows south while the Nile (Hapi) flows north. Horus was invoked to send favorable wind. The four winds sometimes appeared as birds at the four quarters of the heavens announcing the accession of Horus' deified ruler on earth. On the walls of Amenemhat's burial chamber at Hawara Horus is depicted at the cardinal points and associated with the resurrection of the ruler.

Canopic jars showing the
4 forms of Horus

At the north he is Horus the dog-headed (a warrior); at the east he is Horus the jackal-headed (a judge); at the south he is Horus the Man (God's message in the flesh) and at the west he is Horus the falcon-headed. In the Pyramid Texts these four are called the "Four Spirits." These coincide with Sirius (dog) and the Pole Star (jackel). The Pole Star represents "the power of stability fixed at the center of the universe." This is why Horus as jackel is seen at the center of the Dendura planisphere. Horus the Man is the "dark Sun" or Mercury. He is nearest the Sun, but visible only at night. Horus the falcon is he who perches "upon the ramparts of the house of him of the hidden name." He flies with the Sun to west, as is evident in this stone relief from Angkor Wat showing Horus as a falcon perches upon the mast of Ra's solar boat:

Angkor is derived from Ankh Hor, meaning Life to Horus!

Consider how Horus, the archetype of Christ, describes himself in the Coffin texts (passage 148):

"I am Horus, the great Falcon upon the ramparts of the house of him of the hidden name. My flight has reached the horizon. I have passed by the gods of Nut. I have gone further than the gods of old. Even the most ancient bird could not equal my very first flight. I have removed my place beyond the powers of Set, the foe of my father Osiris. No other god could do what I have done. I have brought the ways of eternity to the twilight of the morning. I am unique in my flight. My wrath will be turned against the enemy of my father Osiris and I will put him beneath my feet in my name of 'Red Cloak'." (Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt by R.T. Rundle Clark, p. 216)

Here we find the words of Psalm 110:1, a messianic reference: The Lord says to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet."

Horus and the Winds

In the ancient world, the earth below was perceived as a mirror of the celestial order above. The cosmological significance ot the four quarters of the winds - north, east, south and west - are apparent in Homer's writings. The quarters were divided again to configure an 8-point order for the winds know to the Greeks after Homer. By the time of Eratosthenes (c. 276 – 195 BC) a 12-point wind configuration had emerged, but the 8-point configuration was used again in the time of Andronicus of Kyrrhos in the first century BC. Around the top of the Tower of Winds that he designed 8 winds are named: Boreas (N), Kaikias (NE), Eurus (E), Apeliotes (SE), Notus (S), Livas (SW), Zephyrus (W), and Skiron (NW). The North, Northeast, Northwest and East are associated with men (masculine principle) and the Southwest, West, South and Southeast are associated with women (the feminine principle). This suggests the binary influence of the earlier Afro-Asiatics.

The Horologion

Andronicus' tower is called the "Horologion." Here again we see the root horo. Abraham's Nilotic Proto-Saharan ancestors were the first that we know of to associate the wind with the divine generative force. Ruach eloyim means spirit, breath, wind, movement of God. The association of wind with Horus is seen also in the word harmattan, referring to the dry wind that seasonally blows across the Sahara.

Ancient towers and temples reflect the cosmology of their builders. The differing geometric shapes of the temples of the Horite Sabians (Afro-Arabian Dedanites) associated the hexagon with Saturn, the triangle with Jupiter, the rectangle with Mars, the square with the Sun, the octagon with the Moon, and a triangle within a quadrangle with Venus.


Fixed Boundaries in Genetics

The word horotely is used to describe the boundaries of evolutionary change for a given group of plants or animals. The term is rarely used today since is implies fixed boundaries between "kinds" (to use the Biblical term). This is not a popular idea among those who believe that chimps and humans have a common ancestor because they have similar anatomical and genetic structure, or that nurse sharks and camels have a common ancestor because they have a similar antigen receptor protein structure.

The Darwinian theory of common ancestry of all living organisms still requires fixed boundaries. Human only reproduce humans and have done so from at least 3.6 million years ago. There are fixed boundaries within the DNA code. While the similarity of humans to primates may suggest a common origin, this common ancestor isn't known to have actually existed. It is the creation of artists who draw images for biology books.

There are now enough fossils recovered in Hadar, Ethiopia and in Cameroon to recontruct a picture of Lucy and her people. They were clearly human and not apes although the artists drawings persist in showing them as hairy and apelike. For example, complete fourth metatarsal of A. afarensis was discovered at Hadar that shows the deep, flat base and tarsal facets that "imply that its midfoot had no ape-like midtarsal break. These features show that the A. afarensis foot was functionally like that of modern humans." 

When Jeremy DeSilva studied the anatomy of chimps and compared his findings with the anatomical structure of the ankle joint, the tibia and the talus of fossil "hominins" between 4.12 million to 1.53 million years, he discovered that all of the hominin ankle joints resembled those of modern humans rather than those of apes. Chimpanzees flex their ankles 45 degrees from normal resting position. This makes it possible for apes to climb trees with great ease. While walking, humans flex their ankles a maximum of 20 degrees. The human ankle bones are quite distinct from those of apes, and apparently have been from the beginning. In other words, though there are anatomical and genetic similarities upon which to group humans and chimps in the same genus, the two have distinctly different essences. In the essentialist view, similarities cannot be regarded as proof of common ancestors. Common ancestors can only be possible where a creature reproduces it own kind.


Related reading:  Theories of Change and Constancy; Resurrection as Mirrored Reality; The Horite Ancestry of Jesus Christ; Who Were the Horites?; Genesis and Genetics

St. Paul on Genesis

Alice C. Linsley


The Apostle Paul is one of the most fascinating and controversial figures of history and one of the most important leaders of the Church. He was born about 10 A.D. in the Roman province of Cilicia, in the town of Tarsus. According to Jerome, Paul’s parents came from Galilee. Both were Jewish and of the tribe of Benjamin. Paul received thorough grounding in the Hebrew Scriptures. He was a devout adherent of his religion and an enemy of those who followed “the Way” of Jesus Christ. Paul stood by while Deacon Stephen was martyred in Jerusalem. He held the robes of those who performed the stoning.

How is it that this man should become arguably one of the most influential thinkers of all time? And exactly what are his contributions to the Church? The answer must involve the divine formation of the man in both Jewish and Hellenistic thought. Paul of Tarsus was God's chosen apostle to the Gentiles and there could hardly have been a better prepared individual for the job. The elders of the church at Antioch recognized God's call on this man and commissioned him, along with Barnabas, to be an evangelist. In his missionary journeys Paul traveled over 57,000 miles and he endured many hardships and persecutions.

Paul’s conversion and Christian baptism mark the beginning of his spiritual journey in Christ. This journey was one of gradual illumination punctuated by visions. One of these visions was especially clarifying of Paul’s call to be an apostle to the gentiles. In Acts 22, we read that Paul was praying in the Temple in Jerusalem and fell into a trance. He saw the Lord who said to him, “Hurry! Leave Jerusalem at once; they will not accept the testimony you are giving about Me.” Paul answered, “Lord, they know that I used to go from synagogue to synagogue, imprisoning and flogging those who believed in You; and that when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I too was standing by, in full agreement with his murderers, and in charge of their clothes.” Then the Lord Jesus told Paul, “Go! I am sending you out to the gentiles far away.” (Acts 22:17-21) It was during his first missionary journey to the gentiles that Saul began to use his Greek name, Paul, a sign that he had taken the Lord’s commission seriously.

Paul is rightly called the "Apostle of the Gospel of Grace."  He writes, "The Law is only a shadow (Greek skian) of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves. (Hebrew 10:1) Here the Apostle draws on an ancient conception that we associate with Plato. Plato studied in Egypt and was familiar with the ancient Egyptian mystery borrowed the idea of Forms from the ancient Egyptians. The Apostle expresses his epistemology in Platonic terms, as in this verse: For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

Paul was familiar with Greek Philosophy. In Jerusalem, he studied under Gamaliel whose rabbinic school had five hundred pupils. Gamaliel taught Greek philosophy so that his pupils would return to their Greek-speaking provinces prepared to be leaders.

Paul enjoyed a classical Greek education in Tarsus, a center of learning with a famous Academy that the Greek geographer Strabo considered better than the academies of Athens and Alexandria. Growing up in Tarsus, Paul would have heard great discussions and debates in school and in the tea houses and town square.

The Stoic philosopher Athenodorus governed Tarsus and reformed its constitution. He died at age 82 before Paul came of age, but his teachings were upheld by his successor Nestor, who Paul would have heard speak. Athenodorus said, "“Everyman's conscience is his god” and regarded duty to be a matter of the conscience, a concept that the Apostle uses throughout his epistles. The word “conscience” is not found in Hebrew. The closest parallel in the Hebrew Scriptures is the word “heart.”

Paul's training in Greek philosophy is evident as we examine his approach to Old Testament figures. Consider 1 Corinthians 15:20ff and Romans 5:12ff which demonstrate Paul’s Platonic approach of Christology. The first man, Adam, is imperfect but the second Man, Jesus Christ, is the perfect and true Form of humanity. God made humans in God’s image and likeness, but sin marred that image so that the first is imperfect. In Platonism, types are imperfect reflections of the true eternal Forms. Paul is using Platonic language to explain Jesus Christ to Corinthians and Romans who would have been familiar with this language. He wants them to see the pattern of revelation.

In Galatians 4:21-31, Paul uses the ides of forms or archetypes to explain the relationship of Grace and Law. Sarah represents imputed righteousness while the bondservant, Hagar, represents the Law. Paul writes, “There is an allegory here: these women stand for the two covenants.”

The Old and New Covanants are accompanied by the sign of blood. Sarah’s bond with Abraham is a blood (consanguine) bond, as opposed to a Hagar's fictive (arranged) relationship with Abraham. The blod bond is always the stronger. Likewise, the Covenant of the blood of Jesus cannot be set aside. It is superior in rank and design to the Covenant of the blood of beasts.  Hagar, the bondservant or concubine, can be set aside, but Sarah, as wife and sister, cannot be put away.

Platonism regards the symbol as more real than the material appearance, so Adam as symbol is what concerns Paul in the I1Corinthians 15 and Romans 5 passages. Using this same approach, we are able to tease out the pattern of revelation about Jesus Christ not only in reference to Adam, but also in reference to other biblical figures such as Abraham and Sarah, Moses, and David. Paul speaks of Adam analogically.

Using this same method, we are able to discover that Noah, Abraham, Moses and David are all types of Christ. They all fail to accomplish righteousness, yet point to the One Who is Able. The Platonic interpretative method uses both contrasts and comparisons. In the two examples above, Paul sets up a contrast. Consider what we discover in Scripture when we use comparison.

Both Abraham and Moses were in contact with the Pharaohs and both found themselves in trouble in Egypt. What might this have meant for early Jewish Christians? What did it say to them about Jesus? Surely they would have recalled the scripture that says, “From Egypt have I brought forth my Son.” (Hosea)

Let’s explore other similarities that point to the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Need for water brought Abraham to Egypt. Without water, he and his people would have perished in drought-stricken Canaan. Moses’ life was spared when his mother floated him on the Nile. Noah and his household were lifted above the waters in the ark. Jesus’ first miracle involved turning water to wine. Might the water-wine story suggest that the blood and water that flowed from HIS body brings about our redemption?

Neither Abraham nor Moses had offspring in Egypt. In terms of progeny, Egypt was not a fertile place for them (as compared to Joseph). Contrary to Dan Brown’s thesis, Jesus had no biological children.

Abraham and Moses’ natural relationships became distorted while they were in Egypt.
Abraham was temporarily estranged from his wife who was also his half-sister, and Moses was estranged from his people. Here we glimpse something of the cost involved in Christ’s taking on flesh and coming to live among us.

Both Abraham and Moses left Egypt with greater authority and wealth. Jesus’ resurrection and ascension are His return from captivity to the glory that He enjoyed before the foundation of the world.

Both Abraham and Moses were blessed by noble priests: Abraham by Melchizedek, and Moses by Jethro (his father-in-law). Jesus was blessed by Simeon, a man of great faith who had yearned to see the day of Israel’s deliverance.

Both Abraham and Moses met their wives at wells: Abraham married Keturah in Beer-Sheba (well of Sheba) and Moses met Zipporah at a well in Midian. What does this suggest about Photini, the Samaritan Woman at Jacob’s well, as a symbol of the Church?

Christ is foreshadowed throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. Paul, John, Peter and the early Church Fathers found nothing in the Scripture to be extraneous to the God Person Jesus Christ. As with Isaac, Jesus’ sacrificial journey required three days. As with Isaac, Jesus carried the wood upon which he would be sacrificed. As with Isaac, the sacrificed one is bound. As with Isaac, the Son is sacrificed on a mountain. However, with Jesus no substitute is provided because Jesus is the true Form, not the type. He is the true Son of God, whose sign among the early Hebrew was a ram. This is what Abraham discovered on Mount Moriah.


Related reading: St. Paul's Application of Greek Philosophy; St. Paul to the Hebrews: Hold Fast the Faith of Your Horim; Baptism in the Teaching of Paul