The publication of Enchantress Athena: Her Ancient Spell on Modern Christendom represents the culmination of more than three decades of research into Scripture, the history of Christendom, ancient Greek religion, Greek temple and vase art, and Platonic philosophy. At the heart of that research were two historical questions that refused to go away: How did the simple “good news of the grace of God” heralded by the Apostle Paul become the complex, sectarian creedal theology that ultimately came to define Christendom? And how did the God revealed in Scripture as a God of love and grace come to be portrayed as One who will endlessly torture even one of His own creations—let alone most of them? My research led me to a single conclusion: the answer to both questions is an ancient spell.
I first encountered what I now call this ancient spell on modern Christendom nearly thirty years ago while reading Catholicism by George Brantl, one volume in The Great Religions of Modern Man series. By then, I had learned enough from Scripture to recognize its repeated warnings against adding to or taking away from God’s Word. Proverbs 30:5–6 declares:
“Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. Add not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”Against that biblical backdrop, I was astonished to discover that Christendom’s doctrines of the Trinity, self-will salvation, and eternal torment are articulated through a man-made creed filled with terminology and concepts that are absent from Scripture.
My astonishment deepened when I recognized that the Athanasian Creed itself functions as a spell consisting of three elements: a riddle, a taboo, and a threat.
The riddle asks believers to accept how one can be three and three can be one. The taboo forbids drawing the obvious conclusion that, after repeatedly describing three gods and three lords, there are therefore three gods or three lords. Finally, the creed expresses four separate threats declaring that unless one accepts the riddle as an incomprehensible mystery and submits to the taboo against examining it, one cannot be saved. Even more alarming, the god presented by the creed is portrayed not as One who transforms His creatures through love and grace, but as one who makes them immortal for the purpose of endless torment. Readers can examine both the Athanasian Creed and the evidence for what I believe is its connection to the Greek goddess Athena and draw their own conclusions. See the creed and demon Athena’s connection to it here: https://enchantressathena.com/athenas-spell.html
Enchantress Athena presents the historical, scriptural, and visual evidence that led me to conclude that Greek philosophical and religious concepts gradually displaced the evangel entrusted by Christ to the Apostle Paul. The book further argues that this transformation cannot be understood apart from the cultural and religious influence represented by Athena and the Alexandrian tradition, which blended Platonic philosophy with Scripture and helped reshape the theological trajectory of Christendom.
Whether readers ultimately agree or disagree with my conclusions, my purpose is to encourage careful investigation rather than unquestioning acceptance. Enchantress Athena invites readers to distinguish between the authority of Scripture and the authority of later theological traditions, examining how centuries of philosophical development shaped doctrines that many believers assume originated directly from God’s Word.
My prayer is that Enchantress Athena inspires readers to return to “the sacred scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15), to test every doctrine against God’s Word, and to rediscover Paul’s good news of the grace of God. That message reveals the supreme God as One characterized by love, light, truth, and grace—not as an endless torturer of His own creations.
Looking ahead, Solving Light Books plans to expand awareness of Enchantress Athena through podcasts, media interviews, speaking engagements, and conversations with readers interested in scriptural studies, the history of Christendom, theology, and classical civilization. Our goal is not merely to promote a book but to foster thoughtful discussion about the historical development of Christian doctrine and to make this research accessible to a broader international audience through bookstores, online retailers, educational institutions, and ministry networks.
Author Bio:
Robert Bowie Johnson Jr., author of The Parthenon Code: Mankind’s History in Marble, translated into French and Greek; Genesis Characters and Events in Ancient Greek Art; and A Truer God: The Supreme Spirit of Light and Love in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, is an airborne ranger graduate of West Point. Johnson notes the historical irony that his Alma Mater’s symbolic guardian is Athena, the central figure of his latest work.
Website:Â https://solvinglight.com/Â
