The books of Dr E. V. Kenealy
We review and recommend three remarkable books, each of which contains an important message for mankind
Introduction
You can read more about these books and the author in the sidebar at right and full reviews of all three books below. Each book can be downloaded free of charge in PDF format to read and study at your leisure on or offline.
THE BOOK OF GOD—The Apocalypse of Adam Oannes by Dr E. V. Kenealy
Published by Reeves & Turner, London, 1867-1870 in three volumes as Part 1 (1867); Part 2 (1868); and Part 3 (1870). Now re-published by us in PDF format.
DOWNLOAD THE BOOK of GOD PART 1 in PDF FORMAT
DOWNLOAD THE BOOK of GOD PART 2 in PDF FORMAT
DOWNLOAD THE BOOK of GOD PART 3 in PDF FORMAT
The Book of God is the first of three remarkable occult books written by Dr Kenealy in the 19th century. It is not only the longest at nearly 2,300 pages, but the least known or read. Not that any of his books are well-known as we say in our introduction in the sidebar! We have preserved the arrangement of the original print edition in three parts in this PDF, each of which bears the title The Book of God. Printed editions of this book are now extremely scarce. Only the other day we saw Part 1 advertised for sale at over $1,500 on the website of a US bookseller! However, it's not all doom and gloom, as an enterprising publisher intends to reprint all three of Kenealy's books in future (see sidebar for more information).
Kenealy tells us that Adam-Oannes was the first messenger from God to Man, and that he, and not 'John' is the true author of the Book of Revelation in the Bible, also known as the Apocalypse of John and the Revelation of John. We think this is true. Where we depart from Kenealy is his assertion that Adam-Oannes lived a mere 7,000 years ago. We shall return to this question and the contentious subject of the twelve messengers later. What is not in doubt is the sheer antiquity of the book known today as Revelation in the New Testament. It was known to the Gnostics as early as the 1st century A.D., who called it the Book of Perfection, and to the early Fathers of the Church. Kenealy was certain it was one of the hidden volumes of the Essenes, which were revealed only to the initiates among them. Again, we think this is very possible. Later the book passed subsequently under the names of Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Elias, Peter, Paul, and many others, culminating with John during the 4th century when the book was finally accepted into the biblical canon at the Council of Carthage in 397.A.D.
Prior to that, the book struggled to find acceptance within the Church, mostly owning to its too great antiquity and the controversial, complicated and esoteric nature of its content which is still poorly understood today, dealing as it does, in a symbolic and allegorical manner, with some of the most profound occult truths and the unknown history of our planet and the races and civilisations which have preceded our own.
Part one contains 653 pages divided between six books followed by the Apocalypse itself, being a new translation of the Greek text into English by the author. This differs from Revelation in the Bible in many significant ways. Among the many subjects covered in this volume are creation, the sacred naros cycle of 600 years, ancient arts and sciences, the phoenix and other symbols, mistranslations of the Old Testament examined and explained, and much more. Part two is subtitled 'An Introduction to the Apocalypse' and divided into five books that run to 756 pages. Book 1 begins with a discourse upon the ancient Mysteries, their evolution and some of their secrets and the unity of God. Book 2 deals with the messengers of God, reincarnation and the worship of Adonis. The remaining three books consist of a dissertation on initiation, symbolism, mythology, the Mystery Language of the Initiates, various notions of the Divine, information on the stars and planets, and ends with an appendix about the Egyptian Goddess Isis.
Part three is subtitled 'A commentary on The Apocalypse'. This is the longest volume at no less than 889 pages spread across three books. Book 1 examines the differences between Indian and Greek and Roman theology and mythology, book 2 discusses the seven churches mentioned in the Apocalypse, whilst the third book consists entirely of a long commentary on the various sections of the Apocalypse. This final part of The Book of God concludes with a list of the ancient mystical names employed in the Apocalypse, a pictorial index of the symbols referred to in the book, copious notes on this volume, followed by a general index to the whole book.
In his Preface, Kenealy writes: "When I think of the time, the labour, and the thought which I have bestowed on this and on the preceding Volumes...and when I look at the pile of manuscript which I have accumulated...I feel almost dismayed at the magnitude of my undertaking, and should in my present state of health, succumb, did I not know that I was supported by a higher Power." These were prophetic words as Kenealy passed away in April 1880, less than two years after the Book of Fo was published. He continues: "I have been but little encouraged by the reception which Parts I. and II., have obtained: but the seed is sown, and though I may not live to see it even bud, I am happy nevertheless in the full conviction, that it is of Heaven, and will produce fruit unto everlasting." We couldn't agree more, and hope you will too, when you have looked into this most luminous and inspiring of books.
If you should doubt us, we make no apology for quoting the dedication to Part 1 of The Book of God in full below.
In the Name of the God of Truth
"The Lord of Light—the Lord of the Universe;
Who framed the Kosmos of innumerable spheres;
From whom cometh all that is beautiful:
The Creator and the Sovereign Ruler,
The Father and the Judge;
The Eternal Fire who is alone in the Orb of Circles;
Who first gave form to the Elements,
The stars, the firmament, the shining planets,
The sun and comets, rapid in their wandering flight;
The lightnings which are his quick sceptre;
The whirlwinds, the luminous expanse;
Who fabricated the earths in choirs innumerable,
And made them to be the habitation of life;
And from the essential energy of the material and immaterial;
Made spirits manifest in soul and body.
In His Name—the Name of the Most High God,
I delivered unto the Earth this Book;
That it may be an Everlasting Testament through Time everlasting
Of the whole duty of Man."This is the Book of Light;
This is the Book of the Children of Heaven;
Which God hath graven in fire
On the stupendous pillars of the Universe.
Let no man approach unto it,
Whose soul is not pure:"Let no man touch it with his hand,
Who hath a thought of sin within his heart.
Let no man gainsay its words—
They are the Words of Truth of the most Ancient.
There is but One only God—
This is His Book:
There is but One only Heaven—
This is its law.
The Heavens and the Earths inhabited by spirits,
The myriad-folded hearts of men—
Behold, they shall bear witness unto its verity,
In the face of death and desolation.
O Sons of men! know this—
That in this book which now I hold,
The law of Truth is opened:
The Light of Heaven is unveiled.
Like the Everlasting Universe of the Lord of Beauty,
It comprehendeth all.
It is the First and the Last
Of things recorded."O God! give unto thy sons,
The brightness of thy Spirit;
That they may read, know, and understand.
O God! give unto thy sons
The illumination of thy Wisdom;
That they may believe thine heavenly precepts.
From all evil guard us, O God!
That our intellects may be calm and holy,
While meditating on thy Holy Word."We said earlier that we doubted whether Adam-Oannes lived a mere 7,000 years ago. A bigger sticking point in The Book of God pounced on by Kenealy's critics is the contentious doctrine of the twelve Messengers or Messiahs he espoused. He calculated that a Messiah, or divine Teacher, has been sent to the world every 600 years in the following sequence:
Adam, the first messenger, 4800 B.C.
Enoch, the second, 600 years later in 4200 B.C.
Fo-hi, the third; to China in particular, 3600 B.C.
Brighou, the fourth; a Hindu prophet, 3000 B.C.
Zarathustra (Zoroaster), the fifth; to Persia, 2400 B.C.
Thoth, Tahuti, or Hermes Trismegistus, the sixth; to Egypt, 1800 B.C.
Amosis or Moses, the seventh; the Jewish law-giver, 1200 B.C.
Lao Tzu, the eighth; a second messenger to China, 600 B.C.
Jesus, the ninth; to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles, A.D.
Mohammed, the tenth; he flourished about A.D. 600.
Genghis Khan, the eleventh; A.D. 1200, he conquered Persia.Who the special Messenger was for 1800 A.D. Kenealy does not openly say, but the assumption among his critics and detractors is that he himself was the twelfth Messenger.
Whether this assertion is true and whether Kenealy himself believed it we would not like to say. Nor do we think it matters a great deal. There is far too much emphasis on personalities among seekers after Truth in our view and not enough on what the great ones of the past actually taught. Our main concern with Kenealy's doctrine is not the Messengers he names, all of whom we are sure existed, or the sequence of their appearance, but his chronology which, to be blunt, simply doesn't add up!
If we count backwards from Moses, who most Egyptologists assume lived around 1200 B.C.; it seems unlikely that Thoth preceded him by a mere 600 years. The date of 1800 B.C. brings us to roughly the end of the 12th Dynasty when one of the Kings called Senusert or Amenemhat was upon the throne of Egypt. But the god Thoth was already ancient even in those times. Even if we conjecture that there was a messenger around this time who took the name of Thoth or Tahuti this does not get over the problem of why such an important personage is not mentioned on the monuments or in the papyri of the period. We would expect to find something; there is nothing.
Whilst there is no consensus among scholars about when the fifth Messenger Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra) lived, it is generally thought to have been between the 1st to the 7th centuries B.C. This places him after the eighth Messenger in Kenealy's chronology, not prior to the sixth. Of course, he may have lived very much earlier, as Kenealy thought. A still more doubtful chronology is encountered with the second Messenger, Enoch, who writes about the fall of Atlantis which took place much earlier than the date of 4,200 B.C., Kenealy assigns to him. Of course, Enoch may have been writing about events that took place long before he was born, but this is not supported by his narrative in our view, which has all the hallmarks of an eyewitness testimony to recent events.
And what are we to make of Adam, who Kenealy says was the first Messenger, appearing a mere 4,800 years before the Christian era, when many advanced civilisations had already come and gone on the ever-changing face of our planet. Were no Messengers sent to these earlier nations and peoples? It seems most unlikely as well as unjust! Finally, we know that Krishna, the Holy Hindu Saviour, died in 3102 B.C., at the commencement of the present Kali Yuga or 'Black Age'. Is it likely the Hindu prophet Brighou appeared less than 100 years before him?
For all these reasons we have grave doubts about Kenealy's chronology. Does this matter? Only to the pedant and the sceptic. The fact that a man can be so greatly inspired as to behold the most sublime occult truths and the beings who dwell in the highest realms and clothe his Vision in moving and powerful prose for the instruction of the few, does not mean he is immune from making mistakes in chronology and human history. Kenealy had two minds—the Higher and the lower— just like the rest of us. And whilst his Higher Mind was undoubtedly in touch with the Eternal Verities his inspiration still had to be transmitted through his lower mind and physical brain with all their limitations and imperfections. This also answers those critics who sneer at the claims that he was the twelfth messenger we alluded to earlier. He may well have been, for his message is in complete harmony with those great ones who preceded him, each one of whom tried to shed a little light in this sorely-troubled realm. And it is the MESSAGE, surely, that matters, not whether the messenger punished his son with 'undue severity' as Wikipedia tells us!
Let us end this all too brief review of The Book of God with the author's own advice to the reader, which we commend to you with all our heart and mind.
"If thou would'st study The Book of God aright.
Take it with thee into thy private room;
Read it with deep seriousness;
Pause over it in earnest prayer;
Do not read too much at a time;
Meditate on what you have read;
Read regularly through in order;
Read calmly;
Ascertain for thyself, if thou hast time, the truths that it makes known.
So may the Holy Spirit of the Heavens guide thee, as with a lamp, unto a perfect knowledge of this most perfect
Volume of Truth."
ENOCH—The Second Messenger of God
by Dr E. V. KenealyFirst published by Trübner & Co., London.1872 in two parts. PDF facsimile, verbatim with the original edition published in 2 volumes in 2019.
DOWNLOAD THE BOOK of ENOCH PART 1 in PDF FORMAT
DOWNLOAD THE BOOK of ENOCH PART 2 in PDF FORMAT
The Book of Enoch is one of the most important sacred texts ever written and the least known. As we say in our introduction in the sidebar, the versions of the Book of Enoch issued by Richard Laurence in 1821 and R. H. Charles in 1906 are based on translations from documents preserved by the Ethiopian Church, large portions of which are nonsensical and lack the clarity, grandeur and sublime beauty of Dr Kenealy's inspired book.
Even if Laurence's belief that the book is the figment of the colourful imagination of some ingenious Jew whom he supposes wrote it before the advent of Jesus is true, it does not answer some very awkward questions. Why did this person forge the book in Hebrew in the first place? How did it become lost? Why should it have been translated into the Abyssinian and Greek, and into no other known languages? And under what delusion did the Church Father, Tertullian labour, when, in his tract on Idolatry, he refers to the book as the work of the most ancient prophet Enoch? The learned clergyman Laurence has not thought it worthy to answer any of these questions in his spurious version of the book. Instead, he has, like all such writers, indulged in assertions and speculations which he would have his readers accept without question, as if they themselves furnished the most convincing proofs.
The fact that The Book of Enoch was classed by some of the Church Fathers among the apocryphal writings, proves nothing. Apocryphal does not mean spurious or untrue, as the multitude are taught to believe: the word is taken from the Greek apo—"away" + kryptein "to hide". That is, a book hidden away from the multitude, because it contained secrets the multitude should not know. Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria, writing in the second century, do not deny the authenticity of the book. Tertullian in the same age quotes from it as authentic. Origen, who in most theological matters is worth a phalanx of those canonized imposters, does not throw any doubt upon the work, though he admits that it was not wholly accepted by the Churches. It is interesting in this connection that St. Augustine wrote in the City of God, that the Church rejected the book from its canon owing to its too great antiquity. There was simply no room for the events described in it within the limit of the 4,000 years B.C. assigned to the world from its creation by dogmatic Christianity!
The Divine truths and laws revealed in Kenealy's book were once the code of the vast empire of Atlantis, from whence it spread throughout the then known world, only to disappear at an early period of the so-called Christian era, when the early Church began to destroy every book it could lay its despoiling hands upon which was not in complete conformity with its religious dogmas. It is for these reasons that the only genuine edition of the book we know is that written by Dr. E.V. Kenealy, a man of immense learning and great sincerity, for whom we have the greatest respect. His edition is also in harmony with the true version of the Apocalypse, and not the distorted copy of it which appears in the Christian Bible. This fact alone explains the disappearance of the original Book of Enoch for so many centuries.
The Book of Enoch is a summary of the history of the previous races of Mankind, and of the Atlantean race in particular, some prophecies regarding our present age and a long retrospective, introspective and prophetic summary of universal and genuinely historical events, together with the philosophy, cosmogony and religion of the very ancient past. Our PDF is verbatim with the original edition of 1872 and follows the same arrangement of being divided into two parts. Part 1 comprises three books spanning 403 pages, whilst Part 2 contains the fourth book spanning 343 further pages consisting of the sublime Visions of Enoch himself. Both parts are copiously illustrated.
Those who are genuinely in search of Truth will recognise this book as an authentic revelation of the Ancient Wisdom, filled with true elucidations of the mysteries of Life. As Dr Kenealy himself says in his introduction:
"Those who examine it fairly will be convinced that it is one of the most ancient and authentic volumes in the world; those who are too lazy, too cunning, or too sensual to do so, will go to their priests to ask them how they shall believe, and their priests, as usual, will add a new rivet to their fetters, and tell them it is 'apocryphal."
Harsh words, but eminently true!NOTE: An adaptation of the first edition was privately published in 2007 in one volume by Isiris International Ltd. This appears to have been very cheaply produced, poorly bound (pages fall out!), contains barely one third of Kenealy's text and omits the illustrations in the original edition. For all these reasons we do not recommend it.
FO—The Third Messenger of God
by Dr E. V. KenealyPublished by Englishman Office, London, 1878. PDF facsimile, verbatim with the original edition published in 1 volume 2019.
DOWNLOAD THE BOOK of FO in PDF FORMAT
The Book of Fo (as we call this book for brevity), consists of a lengthy introduction that takes up almost half the books 622 pages. This begins with a dissertation on Buddhist Theology, leading to a review of the history of the first two messengers (Adam and Enoch) and thence on to Fo, the third messenger, with an account of what is known of his life and history from ancient Chinese sources. Later on in the introduction, the author discusses many different subjects, from Atlantis to the Druids of ancient Britain, the sacred geometry of Stonehenge, magnetism, the telescope, antediluvian navigation, ancient alphabets, Egypt and much else besides, so this is not a part of the book the wise reader should be tempted to skip!
The book proper begins with Chapter I which is prefaced by a most moving and wonderful prayer which we cannot resist quoting in part.
"In the name of God, the Lord of Life,
Whom no thought can fathom—
Who rules the Universe,
On whose bounty all existences depend;
The Protector of the Sun-Spheres;
The King of the Universe,
Who impels the stars and planets
And the lovely wanderer of night.
Supreme in beauty and grandeur;
The Infinite, All-powerful One,
On whom can no eye look.
How shall we approach Him:
We cannot—we cannot:
His glory dazzles. His majesty astounds;
Man cannot portray his Maker.
He can only view Him in His works,
He can only know Him in His laws,
In the contemplation of His love so boundless.
O Man! hearken and bow down
Reverently to the Word of God."Chapters 2 to 10 consist of the life, visions and teachings of Fo, some of which we have quoted elsewhere on our website. These are followed by a history of the earliest races of man and the development of the customs, laws, arts and sciences among the various peoples who then roamed the earth. To give you a flavour of this part of the book, here is the beginning of Chapter XIII:
"God gave unto the first races
A divine knowledge of his Being:
But this knowledge did not prevail
Always and in all places.
It flourished in the central cradle;
But as colonies went forth it grew faint,
And men fell away into superstition,
And into the worship of the False.""As they advanced further from the primal seat
Where the Ancients had developed Truth.
The memory of their first faith was lost,
And they prayed to new deities."This refers primarily to the Atlantean Race, for they, as we may discover in The Secret Doctrine, were the first to fall into idolatry and embrace the dark arts, which ultimately resulted in the destruction of their island continent. On page 101 of the same chapter the wise laws established for priesthood of those ancient times are laid down, among which we cannot resist quoting the following:
"It is forbidden to close the Temple of the Most High;
Let the door be open all the day.
Let some holy man be always in the place,
To minister to all who are disposed to holiness.
A closed door is an abomination,
Barring up the entrance to the sacred place;
Repelling the approach of the wanderer,
Who should be received with open arms."The writer of this review has been sorely tempted many times to inscribe these moving and powerful words on a large placard and hang it on the door of his local church, the door of which is always closed and padlocked. Not only is it closed (except on Sunday mornings of course!), but it is flanked by large notices informing the poor 'wanderer' who may be 'disposed to holiness' that "thieves will be prosecuted," and "CCTV cameras are in operation." Such is the 'religion' of these modern times in our 'civilised' society. Give us the 'Pagans' of the faraway past whose gentle Wisdom Kenealy shares with us on every page of this amazing book.
The final, immensely moving chapters unfold the wise laws and customs which prevailed in that part of the world we now know as China long, long ago. In concluding this inadequate review we would like to leave you with a quote from chapter XXXV which we feel sure our regular readers will enjoy and appreciate!
"Two golden Gates there are which lead to Heaven;
The Gate of Innocence and the Gate of Repentance;
Happy are they found who do ascend through either,
But most blessed are they who enter through the first,
Who have retained their purity and light and truthfulness,
Repenting not, nor needing to repent;"They have lapsed to earth; but have grown up in beauty.
And sullied not their spirits by a single sin.
My son, there is no other way to God
Throughout the broad Universe but these two;
Neither by offerings, nor sacrifice, nor incense, nor gifts.
Nor libations poured upon the altar.
By love alone, and a life made beautiful by truth;
Is God in Heaven worshipped;"For He is a pure Spirit,
And delighteth not in things of earth.
The works of mercy, love and charity,
The diffusion among men of that which is divine.
The exercise of justice and humanity to all creatures,
These are the offerings dear to God.
Follow thou, therefore, after that man
Who liveth after the dictates of the Spirit of God,
And go not after him who, whatever he pretends.
Is obedient only to his carnal appetites.
For the beam of wisdom shineth over the first
With a radiant light from the Divine;
But the body and the earth corrupt and render ignorant
The heart and reason of the last."
This page was last updated on 28 April 2024 — © Copyright occult-mysteries.org.
