Soon after the crucifixion of Jesus, a Greek religious movement began in the areas around Greece, Egypt and Israel.  In 42 AD, Saint Mark and Thomas the Apostle established the Coptic Templar Order in Cairo, Egypt, as an esoteric organization.

Thirty years later, they established a temple in Alexandria, Egypt.  This temple later developed into the Coptic Orthodox Church and Catechetical School.

At that time, a large number of people embraced the Christian faith and Christianity began to spread throughout Egypt.

The first Christians in Egypt were mainly Alexandrian Jews who adopted the cross as the symbol for Christianity. Ideas from the Greek movement then merged with those of early Christianity to form a philosophy called Christian Gnosticism.[i]

In 70 AD, in what was to be the first of three wars between the Jews and the Romans, the Roman army conquered and massacred a large portion of the Jewish population. Jesus’ followers managed to survive 300 years of persecution under the Roman Empire before they were finally eradicated.

By the second century AD, the Catholic Church of Rome had declared itself to be the authority on religious teachings.  At that time, Saint Irenæus was an early Catholic Church Father. He was the author of five works titled The Destruction and Overthrow of Falsely So-Called Knowledge. He wrote them in an attempt to overthrow those who were writing about the process of reincarnation, the Divine laws, the New Jerusalem and all the other philosophies he considered to be heresy. Saint Irenæus was the Bishop of Lugdunum, in Gaul, which was part of Rome. As a result, his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology.[ii]

In 364 AD, in an event known as the Council of Laodicea, the early Roman Church Fathers made a decision as to which of the Greek and Hebrew texts would be included in the Holy Bible. When Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of Rome, the possession of the books Bishop Irenæus had declared to be heretical was made a criminal offence. Copies of them were then burned and destroyed.

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ”I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”  Revelations 3:14-16 & 22

The Church of Rome only allowed the Bible to be available in the language of Latin.  Subsequently, all of the Greek and Hebrew texts they included were translated into Latin.  At that time, few people, other than Catholic priests, could read Latin.  So it was then that we became accustomed to giving away our power to people who undertook to dialog with God on our behalf.

Shortly thereafter, the truths that had been taught by the Greeks and the Egyptians were dismissed as mythology. As a result, Jesus’ secret gnostic teachings were literally driven underground and our wisdom was lost from the collective consciousness.

Even if our Gospel is Veiled, it is Veiled to those who are perishing.  II Corinthians 4:2-3

Part 1 of 9