Definitely not Christian. It pre-ceeded Christianity
This ancient practice is the fore-bearer of modern chemistry
and science.
At the time, there was little in regards to either science or
religion, but just as you have an interest, there was much speculation then also, as to what life was all about.
The term Alchemy actually was not one approach, but rather a term used to bring the study of all phases of science and metaphysics and spirituality into some understandable explanation and description, leading to the study of many areas and how each correlates with the other.
Although of ancient origins, the term persevered until rather recently, laying the foundation for independent areas of research into what we now call the modern disciplines of science, with the spiritual side of it developing into modern psychology as a distinct science.....with alchemy being replaced also with the numerous religions who actually seek to understand existence through messengers who are said to have brought God's laws to Earth to better mankind, which we can clearly see it hasn't quite done yet.
While the sciences have leapfrogged, with every year bringing forth new and amazing truths, discoveries, and inventions and refinements, nothing has changed for hundreds and hundreds years in the spiritual field, other than the study of psychology.....just having really come into its own over the past 80 or so years, which is actually the discovery and understanding of how we work and interact
It's predecessors having been called 'philosophers', many great thinkers of the ages observed many of the laws of cause and effect, and gave huge breakthroughs in the understanding of our world, ourselves, and how we inter-relate, and even accurately predicted into the future.
Socrates, Plato, Galileo, Di Vinci, Aristotle and many others not just put down on paper what is still true today..many many inventions arose, many of which were from Greece and Italy and neighboring areas, with the maths and languages developing further south in the "fertile crescent", such as Egypt and the surrounding areas.
Still somewhat further south, modern day religions developed around what is now Israel, and what used to be called the Persian empire, from Turkey down to the northern african continent, becoming the fertile area for the understanding of, and dispersing of different understandings of the "unseen", which developed into the different religions which have flourished, while the same thing had and was happening in the area of Asia which spawned Buddhism, Hinduism and others.
Judaism spawned Christianity which was followed by Islam.
With little differences between them, the leaders of these 'modern' religions, which are anything but, being steeped in ancient morality and traditions, each sought to distinguish themselves from the other and compete and cast dispersions on everything that was not exactly the same as their own belief systems. This explains the over 10,000 types of Christianity, the divisions of Judaism and Islam, and how these so called self-professed religions developed into being built around mortal men or their own understandings, who made themselves the focus, rather than the spiritual and living truths, which do not vary in any way from one person to another anywhere on the planet.
A growing school of thought is that there will be a major breakthrough in religion, just as there has been in all the other disciplines, delayed only by the fear of religious leaders being 'put out of business' so to speak.
All religions speak of a promised one, who would unite all mankind and bring mankind into a blissful co-existence with each other and the planet we were given as our home.
While the religions all await a human being, perhaps one who will hold concerts and tickets sold to this returned human form throughout the world, this return will in fact be purely spiritual, with the messenger and message coming and going before anyone will know and will be able to build there own religion around that person, run by themselves.
It will, just as our future existence, be purely spiritual.
What is being studied closely is that this may have already happened !
In the mid 1800's, in the middle east, there was a man of prestigious family background who shunned his family fortunes and spoke in terms of soon to be coming truths and understandings never before revealed. Even this man's teachings had been foretold by another, who had been given the term The Gate, much like Jesus coming was foretold.
Immediately ostracized by Muslim leaders this man garnered a following and was murdered, but not before he divulged the promised one was in fact on earth and in the form of messages to be delivered over a somewhat short period of time. It was to be the fulfillment and maturation of mankind.
The nobleman, sometime after, declared himself to have been bequeathed astonishing insights.
He was soon imprisoned and sentenced to death as a threat to society, not unlike Jesus.
With intervention form Russia and other countries, he was not martyred but rather sent into exile with his family and friends, but not until after he had transcribed huge volumes of truths, which he called The Glory of God, a name he took upon himself as well, as the bearer of God's Truths - which he was given without as much as the ability to not receive them. While in prison, he dictated these eloquently beautifully written Truths to what could be called "pre-stenographers", often repeating the exact same extensive works word-for-word to different transcribers at different times, all while he was imprisoned in a dark underground cavern which few others survived. What happened underground in the dark, out of sight and without audiences would have dramatic and lasting effect on mankind.
This man lived out his life as an ordinary family man with astonishing personal magnetism, having received a Gift through the Holy Spirit so extensive and intense as to stay with all mankind everywhere as eternal truths and laws that will cure the conditions of human existence that mortals have been struggling with from seemingly the beginning of mankind.
Faced with daily survival, relatively few have discovered these Writings, yet they have circled the world and set up communities in virtually every country and area in the world, each comprised of every age, financial and social background.
In the Writings, it teaches that the 'pulpit', or preachers, are to done away with as leadership positions and not followed, and that each person shall, through the Holy Spirit directly, come to know and understand God through their own eyes and ears and not others, that mankind is really one family, earth is really one community, there will become one common language and currency around the globe, and individual freedoms will spread forth and rein into smaller communities within larger communities, each having autonomy, and no one imposing their will upon anyone else, with everyone in the community participating in a system it calls Governance.
He taught the process mankind will come to embrace is called Consultation, that each community will have a Spiritual Assembly of believers chosen by all from amongst them all in the community on the basis of being the most capable, no matter what their background, accessible to everyone for assistance in quickly handling needs as they arise, with a House of Justice for each community where people can easily and quickly interact and a nine person council will prayerfully consult with each other in giving forth the most just way to handle mis- or incomplete understandings.
He taught each persons' neighbor is actually more important than oneself, and we were placed on Earth to know God and everything we are able to learn about God, to have an individual and moment-by-moment living relationship with God, and worship God with and by the way they actually live their lives, in constant service to others., filled with examplary character traits of the highest level, praying daily numerous times and at need and thanksgiving. Regularly, spiritual filled gatherings are to be held wherein the focus is purely and deeply spiritual, encompassing and including Holy Writings from all the religions that have flourished besides the Baha'i Writings.
It teaches Science and Medicine are revelations of knowing God, with the more we discover, the closer we get to God.
It teaches that extremes of poverty and wealth are to be eliminated, and each person on Earth is to live happily and joyfully, with having every other person on Earth to turn to for assistance with any need they may have.
In Iraq today, believers are persecuted and still put to death for these beliefs, which..if lived by...would resolve the middle eastern crises forever, something some entrenched and power hungry religious leaders fear, as it would take their human control of others away from them and remove the differences between people and replace them with mutual care and helpfulness, something many Jews and non-Jews have in fact been doing for some time.
It would remove borders between countries ( but not the countries, states, counties, cities, and neighborhoods as we know them, each self-governing, spawn a common currency and language ( we have international credit cards and all major airports all over the world use English as their common language), and result in one common economy, with every person on the planet being able to know, to assist, communicate with, and enjoy each other.
We know that this has to a large extent already come true. The computer for instance, uses the same code no matter where in the world it is located, and through the Internet and voice over Internet Protocol, any two people on earth could not only speak with, but also s