View source for 95:5 The Remarkable Ikhnaton

[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:The_eye_of_all_ur60.jpg|right|frame]]

95:5.1 The teachings of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amenemope_%28author%29 Amenemope] were slowly losing their hold on the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_religion Egyptian mind] when, through the [[influence]] of an Egyptian Salemite [[physician]], a woman of the royal family espoused the [[Melchizedek]] teachings. This [[woman]] prevailed upon her son, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikhanaton Ikhnaton], Pharaoh of Egypt, to [[accept]] these [[doctrines]] of One God.

95:5.2 Since the disappearance of [[Melchizedek]] in the [[flesh]], no [[human being]] up to that time had possessed such an amazingly clear [[concept]] of the [[revealed]] [[religion]] of [[Salem]] as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikhanaton Ikhnaton]. In some respects this young Egyptian king is one of the most remarkable [[persons]] in [[human]] [[history]]. During this time of increasing [[spiritual]] depression in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia Mesopotamia], he kept alive the [[doctrine]] of [[El Elyon]], the One God, in Egypt, thus maintaining the philosophic [[monotheistic]] [[channel]] which was vital to the [[religious]] background of the then [[future]] [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_120 bestowal of Michael]. And it was in [[recognition]] of this exploit, among other reasons, that the child [[Jesus]] was taken to Egypt, where some of the [[spiritual]] successors of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikhanaton Ikhnaton] saw him and to some extent [[understood]] certain [[phases]] of his [[divine]] mission to [[Urantia]].

95:5.3 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses Moses], the greatest [[character]] between [[Melchizedek]] and [[Jesus]], was the joint gift to the world of the [[Hebrew]] [[race]] and the Egyptian royal family; and had Ikhnaton [[possessed]] the [[versatility]] and [[ability]] of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses Moses], had he [[manifested]] a [[political]] [[genius]] to match his surprising [[religious]] [[leadership]], then would Egypt have become the great [[monotheistic]] nation of that age; and if this had happened, it is barely possible that [[Jesus]] might have lived the greater portion of his [[mortal]] life in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt Egypt].

95:5.4 Never in all [[history]] did any [[king]] so [[methodically]] proceed to swing a whole [[nation]] from [[polytheism]] to [[monotheism]] as did this extraordinary [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikhanaton Ikhnaton]. With the most amazing [[determination]] this young ruler broke with the [[past]], changed his name, abandoned his [[capital]], built an entirely new [[city]], and created a new [[art]] and [[literature]] for a whole people. But he went too fast; he built too much, more than could stand when he had gone. Again, he failed to provide for the [[material]] [[stability]] and [[prosperity]] of his people, all of which reacted unfavorably against his [[religious]] teachings when the subsequent floods of [[adversity]] and [[oppression]] swept over the Egyptians.

95:5.5 Had this man of amazingly [[clear]] [[vision]] and extraordinary singleness of [[purpose]] had the [[political]] [[sagacity]] of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses Moses], he would have changed the whole [[history]] of the [[evolution]] of [[religion]] and the [[revelation]] of [[truth]] in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occident Occidental world]. During his lifetime he was able to curb the [[activities]] of the [[priests]], whom he generally discredited, but they [[maintained]] their [[cults]] in [[secret]] and sprang into [[action]] as soon as the young king passed from [[power]]; and they were not slow to [[connect]] all of Egypt's subsequent troubles with the [[establishment]] of [[monotheism]] during his reign.

95:5.6 Very wisely [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikhanaton Ikhnaton] sought to [[establish]] [[monotheism]] under the [[guise]] of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_deity sun-god]. This [[decision]] to approach the [[worship]] of the [[Universal Father]] by absorbing all gods into the [[worship]] of the [[sun]] was due to the [[counsel]] of the Salemite physician. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikhanaton Ikhnaton] took the generalized [[doctrines]] of the then existent [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aten Aton faith] regarding the [[fatherhood]] and [[motherhood]] of [[Deity]] and created a [[religion]] which recognized an [[intimate]] [[worshipful]] [[relation]] between man and God.

95:5.7 Ikhnaton was [[wise]] enough to [[maintain]] the outward [[worship]] of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aten Aton], the sun-god, while he led his associates in the [[disguised]] [[worship]] of the One God, [[creator]] of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aten Aton] and [[supreme]] [[Father]] of all. This young [[teacher]]-[[king]] was a prolific [[writer]], being [[author]] of the exposition entitled "The One God," a book of thirty-one chapters, which the [[priests]], when returned to [[power]], utterly destroyed. Ikhnaton also wrote one hundred and thirty-seven hymns, twelve of which are now preserved in the [[Old Testament]] [[Book of Psalms]], credited to [[Hebrew]] [[authorship]].

95:5.8 The [[supreme]] [[word]] of Ikhnaton's [[religion]] in daily life was "[[righteousness]]," and he rapidly expanded the [[concept]] of right doing to [[embrace]] international as well as [[national]] [[ethics]]. This was a [[generation]] of amazing [[personal]] [[piety]] and was characterized by a genuine [[aspiration]] among the more [[intelligent]] men and women to find [[God]] and to know him. In those days [[social position]] or [[wealth]] gave no Egyptian any advantage in the eyes of the [[law]]. The [[family]] life of Egypt did much to [[preserve]] and augment [[moral]] [[culture]] and was the [[inspiration]] of the later superb [[family]] life of the [[Jews]] in [[Palestine]].

95:5.9 The fatal weakness of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikhanaton Ikhnaton]'s gospel was its greatest [[truth]], the teaching that [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aten Aton] was not only the [[creator]] of Egypt but also of the "whole world, man and beasts, and all the foreign lands, even [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria Syria] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kush Kush], besides this land of Egypt. He sets all in their place and provides all with their needs." These [[concepts]] of [[Deity]] were high and exalted, but they were not [[nationalistic]]. Such sentiments of internationality in [[religion]] failed to augment the morale of the Egyptian army on the battlefield, while they provided [[effective]] weapons for the [[priests]] to use against the young king and his new [[religion]]. He had a [[Deity]] [[concept]] far above that of the later [[Hebrews]], but it was too advanced to serve the [[purposes]] of a [[nation]] builder.

95:5.10 Though the [[monotheistic]] [[ideal]] suffered with the passing of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikhanaton Ikhnaton], the [[idea]] of one God [[persisted]] in the minds of many [[groups]]. The son-in-law of Ikhnaton went along with the [[priests]], back to the [[worship]] of the old gods, changing his name to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tutankhamen Tutankhamen]. The [[capital]] returned to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thebes Thebes], and the [[priests]] waxed fat upon the [[land]], [[eventually]] gaining [[possession]] of one seventh of all Egypt; and presently one of this same order of priests made bold to seize the crown.

95:5.11 But the [[priests]] could not fully overcome the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotheism monotheistic] [[wave]]. Increasingly they were compelled to combine and hyphenate their gods; more and more the [[family]] of gods contracted. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikhanaton Ikhnaton] had associated the flaming disc of the [[heavens]] with the [[creator]] [[God]], and this idea continued to flame up in the [[hearts]] of men, even of the [[priests]], long after the young reformer had passed on. Never did the [[concept]] of [[monotheism]] die out of the hearts of men in Egypt and in the world. It [[persisted]] even to the arrival of the [[Creator Son]] of that same [[divine]] [[Father]], the one God whom Ikhnaton had so zealously [[proclaimed]] for the [[worship]] of all [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt Egypt].

95:5.12 The weakness of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikhanaton Ikhnaton]'s [[doctrine]] lay in the [[fact]] that he proposed such an advanced [[religion]] that only the [[educated]] Egyptians could fully [[comprehend]] his teachings. The rank and file of the [[agricultural]] laborers never really grasped his gospel and were, therefore, ready to return with the [[priests]] to the old-time [[worship]] of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis Isis] and her consort [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osiris Osiris], who was supposed to have been miraculously [[resurrected]] from a cruel [[death]] at the hands of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_(mythology) Set], the god of [[darkness]] and [[evil]].

95:5.13 The teaching of [[immortality]] for all men was too advanced for the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_Religion Egyptians]. Only [[kings]] and the rich were promised a [[resurrection]]; therefore did they so carefully embalm and preserve their [[bodies]] in [[tombs]] against the day of [[judgment]]. But the [[democracy]] of [[salvation]] and [[resurrection]] as taught by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikhanaton Ikhnaton] [[eventually]] prevailed, even to the extent that the Egyptians later believed in the [[survival]] of dumb animals.

95:5.14 Although the [[effort]] of this Egyptian ruler to impose the [[worship]] of one [[God]] upon his people appeared to fail, it should be [[recorded]] that the [[repercussions]] of his [[work]] [[persisted]] for centuries both in [[Palestine]] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greece Greece]], and that Egypt thus became the [[agent]] for transmitting the combined [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_92#92:3._THE_NATURE_OF_EVOLUTIONARY_RELIGION evolutionary culture] of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_valley Nile] and the [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_92#92:4._THE_GIFT_OF_REVELATION revelatory religion] of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer Euphrates] to all of the subsequent peoples of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occident Occident].

95:5.15 The [[glory]] of this great era of [[moral]] [[development]] and [[spiritual]] [[growth]] in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_valley Nile valley] was rapidly passing at about the time the national life of the [[Hebrews]] was beginning, and consequent upon their [[sojourn]] in Egypt these [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedouin Bedouins] carried away much of these teachings and perpetuated many of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikhanaton Ikhnaton]'s [[doctrines]] in their racial [[religion]].

<center>[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_95 Go to Paper 95]</center>
<center>[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>

[[Category:Paper 95 - The Melchizedek Teachings in the Levant]]
[[Category: History/TeaM]]
[[Category: Melchizedeks]]
[[Category: Revelation]]
[[Category: Tradition]]
[[Category: Legacy]]
[[Category: Seers]]