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Chapter 13 Corpus Hermeticum & Gnosticism
George Gemistos, known as Plethon, ran a Neoplatonist School in
Mistra in the Peloponnese. 731 In 1438CE, with the encouragement of
Cosimo de Medici, Plethon relocated his Platonic studies to Florence.
There he was outside the influence of the Roman Catholic Church and he
established a humanist movement with a belief in universal Platonic
religion.
Although Plethon never mentioned the Corpus Hermeticum, he
declared that within a few years the whole world would have one and the
same religion. This was not to be the faith of Christ or Mohammed, he
said, but another faith, which is not so different from the faith of the
Gentiles.
Shortly afterwards, in 1463CE, Cosimo de Medici’s scholar
Marsilio Ficino translated the Corpus Hermeticum into Latin. 732 The idea
that God had spoken directly to the pagan Egyptians, Sabians and Greeks
ignited intellectual Europe: 733
That God, however, has not cared for the Hebrews only, … The
Egyptians, counting up of their own race the names of not a few
sages, can also say they have had many who followed in the steps
of Hermes. I mean of the Third Hermes who used to come down
to them in Egypt. The Chaldeans also tell of the disciples of
Oannes and Belus, and the Greeks of tens of thousands who have
the Wisdom from Cheirion. For it is from him that they derived
their initiation into the mysteries of nature, and their knowledge
of divine things …
The Corpus Hermeticum that fell into the hands of Cosimo de
Medici was probably the personal copy of Michael Psellus, spirited away
from Constantinople in 1453CE before the Arabs captured the city.
Michael Psellus received this same copy from the Sabians of Harran in
1055CE.
The Corpus Hermeticum is composed of Greek writings
attributed to Hermes Trismegistus. It is apparently a collection of
doctrinal and inspirational writings by several authors, as is the Bible. 734
The Corpus Hermeticum has a number of key themes. These include the
absolute goodness of God who is both One and All; self-revelation of the
Divine Mind in the cosmos; the universe as an emanation of living beings
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