Chapter 7

Chapter III.

✦

THE HIDDEN SIDE OF CHBISTIANITY

(concluded).

(b) The Testimony of the Church.

While it may be that some would be will-
ing to admit the possession by the Apostles
and their immediate successors of a deeper
knowledge of spiritual things than was
current among the masses of the believers
around them, few will probably be willing
to take the next step, and, leaving that
charmed circle, accept as the depository of
their sacred learning the Mysteries of the
Early Church. Yet we have S. Paul pro-
viding for the transmission of the unwrit-
ten teaching, himself initiating S. Timothy,
and instructing S. Timothy to initiate others
in his turn, who should again hand it on
to yet others. We thus see the provision
of four successive generations of teachers,
spoken of in the Scriptures themselves, and

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these would far more than overlap the wri-
ters of the Early Church, who bear witness
to the existence of the Mysteries. For
among these are pupils of the Apostles
themselves, though the most definite state-
ments belong to those removed from the
Apostles by one intermediate teacher.
Now, as soon as we begin to study the wri-
tings of the Early Church, we are met by
the facts that there are allusions which
are only intelligible by the existence of the
Mysteries, and then statements that the
Mysteries are existing. This might, of
course, have been expected, seeing the
point at which the New Testament leaves
the matter, but it is satisfactory to find
the facts answer to the expectation.

The first witnesses are those called the
Apostolic Fathers, the disciples of the Apos-
tles ; but very little of their writings, and
that disputed, remains. Not being written
controversially, the statements are not as
categorical as those of the later writers.
Their letters are for the encouragement of
the believers. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna,
and fellow-disciple with Ignatius of S.

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John,1 expresses a hope that his correspon-
dents are " well versed in the sacred Scrip-
tures and that nothing is hid from you ; but
to me this privilege is not yet granted " 2 — ■
writing, apparently, before reaching full
Initiation. Barnabas speaks of communi-
cating "some portion of what I have myself
received," 3 and after expounding the Law
mystically, declares that "we then, rightly
understanding His commandments, explain
them as the Lord intended."4 Ignatius,
Bishop of Antioch, a disciple of S. John,5
speaks of himself as "not yet perfect in
Jesus Christ. For I now begin to be a dis-
ciple, and I speak to you as my fellow-disci-
ples,"6 and he speaks of them as "initiated
into the mysteries of the Gospel with Paul,

1 Vol. I. The Martyrdom of Ignatius, ch. iii.

The translations used are those of Clarke's Ante-Nicene
Library, a most useful compendium of Christian antiquity.
The number of the volume which stands first in the refer-
ences is the number of the volume in that Series.

2 Ibid. The Epistle of Polycarp, ch. xii.

3 Ibid. The Epistle of Barnabas, ch. i.
4 Ibid., ch. x.

5 Ibid. The Martyrdom of Ignatius, ch. i.

6 Ibid. Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians, ch. iii.

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the holy, the martyred."1 Again he says:
" Might I not write to you things more full
of mystery? But I fear to do so, lest I
should inflict injury on you who are but
babes. Pardon me in this respect, lest, as
not being able to receive their weighty im-
port, ye should be strangled by them. For
even I, though I am bound [for Christ] and
am able to understand heavenly things, the
angelic orders, and the different sorts of
angels and hosts, the distinction between
powers and dominions, and the diversities
between thrones and authorities, the mighti-
ness of the asons, and the pre-eminence of
the cherubim and seraphim, the sublimity
of the Spirit, the kingdom of the Lord, and
above all the incomparable majesty of Al-
mighty God — though I am acquainted with
these things, yet am I not therefore by any
means perfect, nor am I such a disciple as
Paul or Peter."2 This passage is interest-
ing, as indicating that the organisation of
the celestial hierarchies was one of the sub-
jects in which instruction was given in the
Mysteries. Again he speaks of the High

lIbid.i ch. xii. 2 Ibid., to the Trallians, ch. v.
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Priest, the Hierophant, " to whom the holy
of holies has been committed, and who alone
has been entrusted with the secrets of God.55 1

We come next to S. Clement of Alexan-
dria and his pupil Origen, the two writers
of the second and third centuries who tell
us most about the Mysteries in the Early
Church ; though the general atmosphere is
full of mystic allusions, these two are clear
and categorical in their statements that the
Mysteries were a recognised institution.

Now S. Clement was a disciple of PantaB-
nus, and he speaks of him and of two
others, said to be probably Tatian and The-
odotus, as " preserving the tradition of the
blessed doctrine derived directly from the
holy Apostles, Peter, James, John, and
Paul,"2 his link with the Apostles them-
selves consisting thus of only one intermedi-
ary. He was the head of the Catechetical
School of Alexandria in a.d. 189, and died
about a.d. 220. Origen, born about a,d.
185, was his pupil, and he is, perhaps, the
most learned of the Fathers, and a man

1 Ibid., to the PMladelphians, ch. ix.
9 Vol, IY. Clement of Alexandria. Sir omenta, bk. I. ch. i.
72

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of the rarest moral beaut}7. These are the
witnesses from whom we receive the most
important testimony as to the existence of
definite Mysteries in the Early Church.

The Stromata, or Miscellanies, of S.
Clement are our source of information
about the Mysteries in his time. He him-
self speaks of these writings as a " miscel-
lany of Gnostic notes, according to the true
philosophy,"1 and also describes them as
memoranda of the teachings he had himself
received from PantaBnus. The passage is
instructive: " The Lord . . . allowed us to
communicate of those divine Mysteries, and
of that holy light, to those who are able to
receive them. He did not certainly disclose
to the many what did not belong to the
many ; but to the few to whom He knew
that they belonged, who were capable of
receiving and being moulded according to
them. But secret things are entrusted to
speech, not to writing, as is the case with
God. And if one say2 that it is written,

1 Vol. IV. Stromata, bk. I. ch. xxviii.

2 It appears that even in those days there were some who
objected to any truth being taught secretly!

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' There is nothing secret which shall not be
revealed, nor hidden which shall not be dis-
closed,' let him also hear from us, that to
him who hears secretly, even what is secret
shall be manifested. This is what was pre-
dicted by this oracle. And to him who is
able secretly to observe what is delivered to
him, that which is veiled shall be disclosed
as truth; and what is hidden to the many
shall appear manifest to the few. . . . The
Mysteries are delivered mystically, that
what is spoken may be in the mouth of the
speaker ; rather not in his voice, but in his
understanding. . . . The writing of these
memoranda of mine, I well know, is weak
when compared with that spirit, full of
grace, which I was privileged to hear. But
it will be an image to recall the archetype
to him who was struck with the Thyrsus."
The Thyrsus, we may here interject, was
the wand borne by Initiates, and candidates
were touched with it during the ceremony
of Initiation. It had a mystic significance,
symbolising the spinal cord and the pineal
gland in the Lesser Mysteries, and a Rod,
known to Occultists, in the Greater. To
. 74

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say, therefore, "to him who was struck
with the Thyrsus" was exactly the same
as to say, "to him who was initiated in the
Mysteries." Clement proceeds: "We pro-
fess not to explain secret things sufficiently
— far from it — but only to recall them to
memory, whether we have forgot aught, or
whether for the purpose of not forgetting.
Many things, I well know, have escaped us,
through length of time, that have dropped
away unwritten. . . . There are then
some things of which we have no recollec-
tion ; for the power that was in the blessed
men was great." A frequent experience of
those taught by the Great Ones, for Their
presence stimulates and renders active
powers which are normally latent, and
which the pupil, unassisted, cannot evoke.
"There are also some things which re-
mained unnoted long, which have now es-
caped; and others which are effaced, hav-
ing faded away in the mind itself, since
such a task is not easy to those not experi-
enced ; these I revive in my commentaries.
Some things I purposely omit, in the exer-
cise of a wise selection, afraid to write what

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X guarded against speaking; not grudging
—for that were wrong — but fearing for my
readers, lest they should stumble by taking
them in a wrong sense; and, as the proverb
says, we should be found ' reaching a sword
to a child.' For it is impossible that what
has been written should not escape [become
known], although remaining unpublished
by me. But being always revolved, using
the one only voice, that of writing, they an-
swer nothing to him that makes enquiries
beyond what is written; for they require
of necessity the aid of some one, either of
him who wrote, or of some one else who
has walked in his footsteps. Some things
my treatise will hint; on some it will
linger; some it will merely mention. It
will try to speak imperceptibly, to exhibit
secretly, and to demonstrate silently." 1

This passage, if it stood alone, would
suffice to establish the existence of a secret
teaching in the Early Church. But it
stands by no means alone. In Chapter xii.
of this same Book I., headed, "The Myste-
ries of the Faith not to be divulged to

^IMd., bk. L, ch. i.
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all,'5 Clement declares that, since others than
the wise may see his work, "it is requisite,
therefore, to hide in a Mystery the wisdom
spoken, which the Son of God taught."
Purified tongue of the speaker, purified ears
of the hearer, these were necessary. "Such
were the impediments in the way of my
writing. And even now I fear, as it is
said, ' to cast the pearls before swine, lest
they tread them under foot and turn and
rend us.' For it is difficult to exhibit the
really pure and transparent words respect-
ing the true light, to swinish and untrained
hearers. For scarcely could anything
which they could hear be more ludicrous
than these to the multitude; nor any sub-
jects on the other hand more admirable or
more inspiring to those of noble nature.
But the wise do not utter with their mouth
what they reason in council. 6 But what ye
hear in the ear,' said the Lord, ' proclaim
upon the houses ' ; bidding them receive the
secret traditions of the true knowledge, and
expound them aloft and conspicuously; and
as we have heard in the ear, so to deliver
them to whom it is requisite; but not en-

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joining us to communicate to all without
distinction, what is said to them in para-
bles. But there is only a delineation in the
memoranda, which have the truth sown
sparse and broadcast, that it may escape
the notice of those who pick up seeds like
jackdaws; but when they find a good hus-
bandman, each one of them will germinate
and will produce corn."

Clement might have added that to " pro-
claim upon the houses " was to proclaim or
expound in the assembly of the Perfect, the
Initiated, and by no means to shout aloud
to the man in the street.

Again he says that those who are " still
blind and dumb, not having understanding,
or the undazzled and keen vision of the
contemplative soul . . . must stand outside
of the divine choir. . . . Wherefore, in ac-
cordance with the method of concealment,
the truly sacred Word, truly divine and
most necessary for us, deposited in the
shrine of truth, was by the Egyptians in-
dicated by what were called among them
adyta, and by the Hebrews by the veil.
Only the consecrated . . . were allowed

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access to them. For Plato also thought it
not lawful for ' the impure to touch the
pure.' Thence the prophecies and oracles
are spoken in enigmas, and the Mysteries
are not exhibited incontinently to all and
sundry, but only after certain purifications
and previous instructions."1 He then de-
scants at great length on Symbols, expound-
ing Pythagorean, Hebrew, Egyptian,2 and
then remarks that the ignorant and un-
learned man fails in understanding them.
"But the Gnostic apprehends. Now then it
is not wished that all things should be
exposed indiscriminately to all and sundry,
or the benefits of wisdom communicated to
those who have not even in a dream been
purified in soul (for it is not allowed to hand
to every chance comer what has been pro-
cured with such laborious efforts) ; nor are
the Mysteries of the Word to be expounded
to the profane." The Pythagoreans and
Plato, Zeno, and Aristotle had exoteric and
esoteric teachings. The philosophers estab-
lished the Mysteries, for "was it not more
beneficial for the holy and blessed contem-

lIbid.} bk. V., ch. iv. 2 Ibid., ch. v.-viii.

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plation of realities to be concealed? " 1 The
Apostles also approved of "veiling the Mys-
teries of the Faith," "for there is an in-
struction to the perfect," alluded to in Co-
lossians i. 9-11 and 25-27. "So that, on
the one hand, then, there are the Mysteries
which were hid till the time of the Apos-
tles, and were delivered by them as they
received from the Lord, and, concealed in
the Old Testament, were manifested to the
saints. And, on the other hand, there is
6 the riches of the glory of the mystery in
the Gentiles,' which is faith and hope in
Christ ; which in another place he has called
the ' foundation. ' " He quotes S. Paul to
show that this "knowledge belongs not to
all," and says, referring to Heb. v. and vi.,
that "there were certainly among the He-
brews, some things delivered unwritten;"
and then refers to S. Barnabas, who speaks
of God, "who has put into our hearts wis-
dom and the understanding of His secrets,"
and says that "it is but for few to compre-
hend these things," as showing a "trace of
Gnostic tradition." "Wherefore instruc-

1 Ibid. , ch. ix.
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tion, which reveals hidden things, is called
illumination, as it is the teacher only who
uncovers the lid of the ark."1 Further re-
ferring to S. Paul, he comments on his re-
mark to the Romans that he will "come in
the fulness of the blessing of Christ," 2 and
says that he thus designates "the spiritual
gift and the Gnostic interpretation, while
being present he desires to impart to them
present as ' the fulness of Christ, according
to the revelation of the Mystery sealed in
the ages of eternity, but now manifested by
the prophetic Scriptures. ' 3 . . . But only to
a few of them is shown what those things
are which are contained in the Mystery.
Rightly, then, Plato, in the epistles, treat-
ing of God, says : ' We must speak in enig-
mas; that should the tablet come by any
mischance on its leaves either by sea or land,
he who reads may remain ignorant.' "4

After much examination of Greek writers,
and an investigation into philosophy, S. Cle-

lIbid., bk. V., ch. x. 2Loc. Cit., xv. 29.

3 Ibid., xvi. 25, 26; the version quoted differs in words,
but not in meaning, from the English Authorised Version.
*8tromata, bk. V., ch. x.

6 81

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ment declares that the Gnosis " imparted
and revealed by the Son of God, is wisdom.
. . . And the Gnosis itself is that which has
descended by transmission to a few, having
been imparted unwritten by the Apostles."1
A very long exposition of the life of the
Gnostic, the Initiate, is given, and S. Cle-
ment concludes it by saying: "Let the
specimen suffice to those who have ears.
For it is not required to unfold the mystery,
but only to indicate what is sufficient for
those who are partakers in knowledge to
bring it to mind." 2

Eegarding Scripture as consisting of alle-
gories and symbols, and as hiding the sense
in order to stimulate enquiry and to preserve
the ignorant from danger,3 S. Clement
naturally confined the higher instruction to
the learned. "Our Gnostic will be deeply
learned,"4 he says. "Now the Gnostic
must be erudite." 5 Those who had acquired
readiness by previous training could master
the deeper knowledge, for though "a man

lIbid., bk. VI., ch. vii. 2 Ibid., bk. VII. , ch. xiv.
*Ibid., bk, VI., ch. xv. 4 IMd., bk. VI., ch. x.
5 Ibid., bk. VI., ch. vii.
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can be a believer without learning, so also*
we assert that it is impossible for a man
without learning to comprehend the things
which are declared in the faith."1 "Some
who think themselves naturally gifted, do
not wish to touch either philosophy or logic;
nay more, they do not wish to learn natural
science. They demand bare faith alone.
... So also I call him truly learned who
brings everything to bear on the truth — so
that, from geometry, and music, and gram-
mar, and philosophy itself, culling what is
useful, he guards the faith against assault.
. . . How necessary is it for him who de-
sires to be partaker of the power of God,
to treat of intellectual subjects by philoso-
phising.'52 The Gnostic avails himself of
branches of learning as auxiliary preparatory
exercises." 3 So far was S. Clement from
thinking that the teaching of Christianity
should be measured by the ignorance of the
unlearned. "He who is conversant with all
kinds of wisdom will be pre-eminently a
Gnostic."4 Thus while he welcomed the

1 Ibid., bk. I., ch. vi. 2 Ibid., ch. ix.

3 Ibid., bk. VI., ch. x. 4 Ibid., bk. I., ch. xiii.
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ignorant and the sinner, and found in the
Gospel what was suited to their needs, he
considered that only the learned and the
pure were fit candidates for the Mysteries.
" The Apostle, in contradistinction to Gnos-
tic perfection, calls the common faith the
foundation, and sometime milk"1 but on
that foundation the edifice of the Gnosis was
to be raised, and the food of men was to suc-
ceed that of babes. There is nothing of
harshness nor of contempt in the distinction
he draws, but only a calm and wise recogni-
tion of the facts.

Even the well-prepared candidate, the
learned and trained pupil, could only hope
to advance step by step in the profound
truths unveiled in the Mysteries. This ap-
pears clearly in his comments on the vision
of Hermas, in which he also throws out
some hints on methods of reading occult
works. "Did not the Power also, that ap-
peared to Hermas in the Vision, in the form
of the Church, give for transcription the
book which she wished to be made known
to the elect? And this, he says, he trans-

1 Vol. XII. Stromata, bk. V., ch. iv.
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cribed to the letter, without finding how to
complete the syllables. And this signified
that the Scripture is clear to all, when taken
according to base reading; and that this is
the faith which occupies the place of the
rudiments. Wherefore also the figurative
expression is employed, ' reading according
to the letter, ' while we understand that the
gnostic unfolding of Scriptures, when faith
had already reached an advanced state, is
likened to reading according to the sylla-
bles. . . . Now that the Saviour has taught
the Apostles, the unwritten rendering of the
written (scriptures) has been handed down
also to us, inscribed by the power of God on
hearts new, according to the renovation of
the book. Thus those of highest repute
among the Greeks dedicate the fruit of the
pomegranate to Hermes, who they say is
speech, on account of its interpretation. For
speech conceals much. . . . That it is there-
fore not only to those who read simply that
the acquisition of the truth is so difficult,
but that not even to those whose preroga-
tive the knowledge of the truth is, is the
contemplation of it vouchsafed all at once,

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the history of Moses teaches; until accus-
tomed to gaze, as the Hebrews on the glory
of Moses, and the prophets of Israel on the
visions of angels, so we also become able to
look the splendours of truth in the face.'51

Yet more references might be given, but
these should suffice to establish the fact that
S. Clement knew of, had been initiated into,
and wrote for the benefit of those who had
also been initiated into, the Mysteries in the
Church.

The next witness is his pupil Origen, that
most shining light of learning, courage,
sanctity, devotion, meekness, and zeal,
whose works remain as mines of gold
wherein the student may dig for the treas-
ures of wisdom.

In his famous controversy with Celsus at-
tacks were made on Christianity which drew
out a defence of the Christian position in
which frequent references were made to the
secret teachings.2

1 Ibid., bk. VI, ch. xv.

2 Book I. of Against Celsus is found in Vol. X. of the
Ante-Nicene Library. The remaining books are in Vol.
XXIII.

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Celsus had alleged, as a matter of attack,
that Christianity was a secret system, and
Origen traverses this by saying that while
certain doctrines were secret, many others
were public, and that this system of ex-
oteric and esoteric teachings, adopted in
Christianity, was also in general use among
philosophers. The reader should note, in
the following passage, the distinction drawn
between the resurrection of Jesus, regarded
in a historical light, and the " mystery of
the resurrection."

" Moreover, since he [Celsus] frequently
calls the Christian doctrine a secret system
[of belief], we must confute him on this
point also, since almost the entire world
is better acquainted with what Christians
preach than with the favourite opinions of
philosophers. For who is ignorant of the
statement that Jesus was born of a virgin,
and that He was crucified, and that His
resurrection is an article of faith among
many, and that a general judgment is an-
nounced to come, in which the wicked are
to be punished according to their deserts,
and the righteous to be duly rewarded?

Esoteric Christianity

And yet the Mystery of the resurrection,
not being understood, is made a subject of
ridicule among unbelievers. In these cir-
cumstances, to speak of the Christian doc-
trine as a secret system, is altogether
absurd. But that there should be certaiil
doctrines, not made known to the multitude,
which are [revealed] after the exoteric ones
have been taught, is not a peculiarity of
Christianity alone, but also of philosophic
systems, in which certain truths are ex-
oteric and others esoteric. Some of the
hearers of Pythagoras were content with
his ipse dixit ; while others were taught
in secret those doctrines which were not
deemed fit to be communicated to profane
and insufficiently prepared ears. Moreover,
all the Mysteries that are celebrated every-
where throughout Greece and barbarous
countries, although held in secret, have no
discredit thrown upon them, so that it is in
vain he endeavours to calumniate the secret
doctrines of Christianity, seeing that he
does not correctly understand its nature."1
It is impossible to deny that, in this im-

^ol. X. Orig en against Celsics, bk. I., ch. vii.
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portant passage, Origen distinctly places the
Christian Mysteries in the same category as
those of the Pagan world, and claims that
what is not regarded as a discredit to other
religions should not form a subject of attack
when found in Christianity.

Still writing against Celsus, he declares
that the secret teachings of Jesus were pre-
served in the Church, and refers specifically
to the explanations that He gave to His dis-
ciples of His parables, in answering Celsus'
comparison of "the inner Mysteries of the
Church of God " with the Egyptian worship
of animals. "I have not yet spoken of the
observance of all that is written in the Gos-
pels, each one of which contains much doc-
trine difficult to be understood, not merely
by the multitude, but even by certain of the
more intelligent, including a very profound
explanation of the parables which Jesus de-
livered to ' those without ' while reserving
the exhibition of their full meaning for
those who had passed beyond the stage of
exoteric teaching, and who came to Him
privately in the house. And when he comes
to understand it, he will admire the reason

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why some are said to be ' without, ' and
others 6 in the house. ' " 1

And he refers guardedly to the " moun-
tain " which Jesus ascended, from which he
came down again to help " those who were
unable to follow Him whither His disciples
went."1 The allusion is to "the Mountain
of Initiation," a well-known mystical
phrase, as Moses also made the Tabernacle
after the pattern "showed thee in the
mount."2 Origen refers to it again later,
saying that Jesus showed himself to be very
different in his real appearance when on the
"Mountain," from what those saw who
could not "follow Him on high."3

So also, in his commentary on the Gospel
of Matthew, Chap, xv., dealing with the
episode of the Syro-Phoenician woman, Ori-
gen remarks: "And perhaps, also, of the
words of Jesus there are some loaves which
it is possible to give to the more rational,
as to children, only; and others as it were
crumbs from the great house and table of the

1 Ibid. 2 Ex. xxv. 40, xxvi. 30, and compare with

Heb. viii. 5, and ix. 23. 3 Origen against Celsus, bk.

IV., ch. xvi.

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well-born, which may be used by some souls
like dogs."

Celsus complaining that sinners were
brought into the Church, Origen answers
that the Church had medicine for those that
were sick, but also the study and the know-
ledge of divine things for those who were
in health. Sinners were taught not to sin,
and only when it was seen that progress had
been made, and men were " purified by the
Word," "then and not before do we invite
them to participation in our Mysteries. For
we speak wisdom among them that are per-
fect."1 Sinners came to be healed: "For
there are in the divinity of the Word some
helps towards the cure of those who are
sick. . . . Others, again, which to the pure
in soul and body exhibit the ' revelation of
the Mystery, which was kept secret since
the world began, but now is made manifest
by the Scriptures of the prophets, ' and 6 by
the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,'
which ' appearing ' is manifested to each
one of those who' are perfect, and which en-
lightens the reason in the true knowledge

1 Ibid., bk. III., ch. lix.
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of things."1 Such appearances of divine
Beings took place, we have seen, in the Pa-
gan Mysteries, and those of the Church
had equally glorious visitants. "God the
Word," he saj's, "was sent as a physician
to sinners, but as a Teacher of Divine Mys-
teries to those who are already pure, and
who sin no more."2 "Wisdom will not en-
ter into the soul of a base man, nor dwell in
a body that is involved in sin "; hence these
higher teachings are given only to those who
are "athletes in piety and in every virtue."

Christians did not admit the impure to
this knowledge, but said: "Whoever has
clean hands, and, therefore, lifts up holy
hands to God ... let him come to us . . .
Whoever is pure not only from all defile-
ment, but from what are regarded as lesser
transgressions, let him be boldly initiated in
the Mysteries of Jesus, which properly are
made known only to the holy and the pure."
Hence also, ere the ceremony of Initiation
began, he who acts as Initiator, according
to the precepts of Jesus, the Hierophant,
made the significant proclamation "to those

1 Ibid., ch. lxi. 2 Ibid. , ch. lxii.

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who have been purified in heart : He, whose
soul has, for a long time, been conscious of
no evil, especially since he yielded himself
to the healing of the Word, let such a one
hear the doctrines which were spoken in
private by Jesus to His genuine disciples."
This was the opening of the " initiating
those who were already purified into the
sacred Mysteries."1 Such only might learn
the realities of the unseen worlds, and might
enter into the sacred precincts where, as of
old, angels were the teachers, and where
knowledge was given by sight and not only
by words. It is impossible not to be struck
with the different tone of these Christians
from that of their modern successors.
With them perfect purity of life, the prac-
tice of virtue, the fulfilling of the divine
Law in every detail of outer conduct, the
perfection of righteousness, were — as with
the Pagans — only the beginning of the way
instead of the end. Nowadays religion is
considered to have gloriously accomplished
its object when it has made the Saint; then,
it was to the Saints that it devoted its high-

1IMd., ch. lx.
93

Esoteric Christianity

est energies, and, taking the pure in heart,
it led them to the Beatific Vision.

The same fact of secret teaching comes
out again, when Origen is discussing the
arguments of Celsus as to the wisdom of re-
taining ancestral customs, based on the be-
lief that "the various quarters of the earth
were from the beginning allotted to differ-
ent superintending Spirits, and were thus
distributed among certain governing Pow-
ers, and in this way the administration of
the world is carried on." 1

Origen having animadverted on the de-
ductions of Celsus, proceeds: "But as we
think it likely that some of those who are
accustomed to deeper investigation will fall
in with this treatise, let us venture to lay
down some considerations of a profounder
kind, conveying a mystical and secret view
respecting the original distribution of the
various quarters of the earth among differ-
ent superintending Spirits."2 He says that
Celsus has misunderstood the deeper reasons
relating to the arrangement of terrestrial

1 Vol. XXIII. Origen against Celsus, bk. V., ch. xxv.
*Ibid., ch. xxviii.

94;

Hidden Side of Christianity

affairs, some of which are even touched
upon in Grecian history. Then he quotes
Dent, xxxii. 8-9: " When the Most High
divided the nations, when he dispersed the
sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the peo-
ple according to the number of the Angels
of God; and the Lord's portion was his peo-
ple Jacob, and Israel the cord of his inheri-
tance." This is the wording of the Septua-
gint, not that of the English authorised
version, but it is very suggestive of the
title the "Lord" being regarded as that of
the Kuling Angel of the Jews only, and
not of the "Most High," i.e. God. This
view has disappeared, from ignorance, and
hence the impropriety of many of the state-
ments referring to the "Lord," when they
are transferred to the "Most High," e.g.
Judges i. 19.

Origen then relates the history of the
Tower of Babel, and continues: "But on
these subjects much, and that of a mystical
kind, might be said ; in keeping with which
is the following : ' It is good to keep close
the secret of a king,' Tobit xii. 7, in order
that the doctrine of the entrance of souls

Esoteric Christianity

into bodies (not, however, that of the trans-
migration from one body into another) may
not be thrown before the common under-
standing, nor what is holy given to the dogs,
nor pearls be cast before swine. For such a
procedure would be impious, being equiva-
lent to a betrayal of the mysterious decla-
rations of God's wisdom It is suffi-
cient, however, to represent in the style of a
historic narrative what is intended to con-
vey a secret meaning in the garb of history,
that those who have the capacity may work
out for themselves all that relates to the
subject."1 He then expounds more fully
the Tower of Babel story, and writes:
" Now, in the next place, if any one has the
capacity let him understand that in what
assumes the form of history, and which con-
tains some things that are literally true,
while yet it conveys a deeper mean-
ing . . . 2

After endeavouring to show that the
"Lord" was more powerful than the other
superintending Spirits of the different quar-
ters of the earth, and that he sent his people

1 Ibid., ch. xxix. 2 Ibid., cli. xxxi.

Hidden Side of Christianity

forth to be punished by living under the do-
minion of the other powers, and afterwards
reclaimed them with all of the less favoured
nations who could be drawn in, Origen con-
cludes by saying: "As we have previously
observed, these remarks are to be under-
stood as being made by us with a concealed
meaning, by way of pointing out the mis-
takes of those who assert . . . .'51 as did
Celsus.

After remarking that "the object of
Christianity is that we should become
wise,"2 Origen proceeds: "If you come to
the books written after the time of Jesus,
you will find that those multitudes of be-
lievers who hear the parables are, as it
were, 6 without, ' and worthy only of ex-
oteric doctrines, while the disciples learn
in private the explanation of the parables.
For, privately, to His own disciples did Je-
sus open up all things, esteeming above the
multitudes those who desired to know His
wisdom. And He promises to those who
believe on Him to send them wise men and
scribes. . . . And Paul also in the catalogue

1 Ibid., ch. xxxii.
7 97

2 Ibid., ch. xlv.

Esoteric Christianity

of ' Charismata ' bestowed by God, placed
first ' the Word of wisdom, ' and second, as
being inferior to it, ' the word of know-
ledge,' but third, and lower down, 6 faith.5
And because he regarded 6 the Word ' as
higher than miraculous powers, he for that
reason places ' workings of miracles ' and
' gifts of healings ' in a lower place than
gifts of the Word."1

The Gospel truly helped the ignorant,
"but it is no hindrance to the knowledge of
God, but an assistance, to have been edu-
cated, and to have studied the best opinions,
and to be wise."2 As for the unintelligent,
"I endeavour to improve such also to the
best of my ability, although I would not
desire to build up the Christian community
out of such materials. For I seek in pref-
erence those who are more clever and acute,
because they are able to comprehend the
meaning of the hard sayings."3 Here we
have plainly stated the ancient Christian
idea, entirely at one with the considerations
submitted in Chapter I. of this book.

1 Ibid,, ch. xlvi. 2 Ibid., chs. xlvii-liv.

*Ibid., ch. lxxiv.
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Hidden Side of Christianity

There is room for the ignorant in Christian-
ity, but it is not intended only for them, and
has deep teachings for the "clever and
acute."

It is for these that he takes much pains
to show that the Jewish and Christian Scrip-
tures have hidden meanings, veiled under
stories the outer meaning of which repels
them as absurd, alluding to the serpent and
the tree of life, and "the other statements
which follow, which might of themselves
lead a candid reader to see that all these
things had, not inappropriately, an allegoi-
ical meaning." 1 Many chapters are devoted
to these allegorical and mystical meanings,
hidden beneath the words of the Old and
New Testaments, and he alleges that Moses,
like the Egyptians, gave histories with con-
cealed meanings.2 "He who deals candidly
with histories" — this is Origen's general
canon of interpretation — "and would wish
to keep himself also from being imposed on
by them, will exercise his judgment as to
what statements he will give his assent to,

1 Ibid., bk. IV., ch. xxxix.

2 Vol. X. Orig en against Celsus, bk. I., ch. xvii. and others.

Esoteric Christianity

and what he will accept figuratively, seek-
ing to discover the meaning of the authors
of such inventions, and from what state-
ments he will withhold his beliefs, as having
been written for the gratification of certain
individuals. And we have said this by way
of anticipation respecting the whole history
related in the Gospels concerning Jesus.'51
A great part of his Fourth Book is taken up
with illustrations of the, mystical explana-
tions of the Scripture stories, and anyone
who wishes to pursue the subject can read
through it.

In the De Principiis, Origen gives it as
the received teaching of the Church "that
the Scriptures were written by the Spirit of
God, and have a meaning, not only such
as is apparent at first sight, but also an-
other, which escapes the notice of most.
For those [words] which are written are the
forms of certain Mysteries, and the images
of divine thingst Eespecting which there
is one opinion throughout the whole
Church, that the whole law is indeed spirit-
ual ; but that the spiritual meaning which

1 Ibid. , ch. xlii.
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Hidden Side of Christianity

the law conveys is not known to all, but to
those only on whom the grace of the Holy
Spirit is bestowed in the word of wisdom
and knowledge."1 Those who remember
what has already been quoted will see in the
« Word of wisdom " and " the word of know-
ledge " the two typical mystical instructions,
the spiritual and the intellectual.

In the Fourth Book of Be Principiis,
Origen explains at length his views on
the interpretation of Scripture. It has a
"body," which is the "common and histori-
cal sense"; a "soul," a figurative meaning
to be discovered by the exercise of the intel-
lect; and a "spirit," an inner and divine
sense, to be known only by those who have
"the mind of Christ." He considers that
incongruous and impossible things are intro-
duced into the history to arouse an intelli-
gent reader, and compel him to search for
a deeper explanation, while simple people
would read on without appreciating the dif-
ficulties.2

Cardinal Newman, in his Avians of the
Fourth Century, has some interesting re-

1 Vol. X. De Principiis, Preface, p. 8. 2 Ibid., ch. i.
101

Esoteric Christianity

marks on the Disciplina Arcani, but, with
the deeply-rooted ingrained scepticism of the
nineteenth century, he cannot believe to the
full in the "riches of the glory of the Mys-
tery," or probably never for a moment
conceived the possibility of the existence of
such splendid realities. Yet he was a be-
liever in Jesus, and the words of the promise
of Jesus were clear and definite: "I will not
leave you comfortless; I will come to you.
Yet a little while, and the world seeth me
no more ; but ye see me : because I live, ye
shall live also. At that day ye shall know
that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and
I in you."1 The promise was amply re-
deemed, for He came to them and taught
them in His Mysteries; therein they saw
Him, though the world saw Him no more,
and they knew the Christ as in them, and
their life as Christ's.

Cardinal Newman recognises a secret tra-
dition, handed down from the Apostles, but
he considers that it consisted of Christian
doctrines, later divulged, forgetting that
those who were told that they were not yet

1 S. John xiv. 18-20.
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Hidden Side of Christianity

fit to receive it were not heathen, nor even
catechumens under instruction, but full
communicating members of the Christian
Church. Thus he states that this secret
tradition was later "authoritatively divul-
ged and perpetuated in the form of sym-
bols," and was embodied " in the creeds of
the early Councils." 1 But as the doctrines
in the creeds are to be found clearly stated
in the Gospels and Epistles, this position
is wholly untenable, all these having been
already divulged to the world at large ; and
in all of them the members of the Church
were certainly thoroughly instructed. The
repeated statements as to secrecy become
meaningless if thus explained. The Cardi-
nal, however, says that whatever "has
not been thus authenticated, whether it
was prophetical information or comment on
the past dispensations, is, from the circum-
stances of the case, lost to the Church."2
That is very probably, in fact certainly,
true, so far as the Church is concerned, but
it is none the less recoverable.

1 Loc. cit., ch. i., sec. III., p. 55.
'Ibid., ch. I, sec. III., pp. 55, 56.
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Esoteric Christianity

Commenting on Xrenseus, who in his work
Against Heresies lays much stress on the
existence of an Apostolic Tradition in the
Church, the Cardinal writes: "He then
proceeds to speak of the clearness and co-
gency of the traditions preserved in the
Church, as containing that true wisdom of
the perfect, of which S. Paul speaks, and to
which the Gnostics pretended. And, in-
deed, without formal proofs of the existence
and the authority in primitive times of an
Apostolic Tradition, it is plain that there
must have been such a tradition, granting
that the Apostles conversed, and their
friends had memories, like other men. It is
quite inconceivable that they should not
have been led to arrange the series of re-
vealed doctrines more systematically than
they record them in Scripture, as soon as
their converts became exposed to the attacks
and misrepresentations of heretics; unless
they were forbidden to do so, a supposition
which cannot be maintained. Their state-
ments thus occasioned would be preserved
as a matter of course ; together with those

other secret but less important truths, to

104

Hidden Side c/ Christianity

which S. Paul seems to allude, and which the
early writers more or less acknowledge,
whether concerning the types of the Jewish
Church, or the prospective fortunes of the
Christian. And such recollections of apos-
tolical teaching would evidently be binding
on the faith of those who were instructed
in them ; unless it can be supposed that,
though coming from inspired teachers, they
were not of divine origin."1 In a part of
the section dealing with the allegorising
method, he writes in reference to the sac-
rifice of Isaac, &c, as " typical of the New
Testament revelation": "In corroboration
of this remark, let it be observed, that there
seems to have been 2 in the Church a tradi-
tionary explanation of these historical types,
derived from the Apostles, but kept among
the secret doctrines, as being dangerous to
the majority of hearers; and certainly S.
Paul, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, affords
us an instance of such a tradition, both as

1 Ibid., pp. 54, 55.

2 " Seems to have been " is a somewhat weak expression,
after what is said by Clement and Origen, of which some
specimens are given in the text.

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Esoteric Christianity

existing and as secret (even though it be
shown to be of Jewish origin), when, first
checking himself and questioning his breth-
ren's faith, he communicates, not without
hesitation, the evangelical scope of the ac-
count of Melchisedec, as introduced into the
book of Genesis.'51

The social and political convulsions that
accompanied its dying now began to torture
the vast frame of the Roman Empire, and
even the Christians were caught up in the
whirlpool of selfish warring interests. We
still find scattered references to special
knowledge imparted to the leaders and
teachers of the Church, knowledge of the
heavenly hierarchies, instructions given by
angels, and so on. But the lack of suit-
able pupils caused the Mysteries to be with-
drawn as an institution publicly known to
exist, and teaching was given more and
more secretly to those rarer and rarer souls,
who by learning, purity, and devotion
showed themselves capable of receiving it.
No longer were schools to be found wherein
the preliminary teachings were given, and

lIMd„ p. 62.
106

Hidden Side of Christianity

with the disappearance of these the "door
was shut."

Two streams majr nevertheless be tracked
through Christendom, streams which had as
their source the vanished Mysteries. One
was the stream of mystic learning, flowing
from the Wisdom, the Gnosis, imparted in
the Mysteries ; the other was the stream of
mystic contemplation, equally part of the
Gnosis, leading to the exstasy, to spiritual
vision. This latter, however, divorced from
knowledge, rarely attained the true exstasis,
and tended either to run riot in the lower
regions of the invisible worlds, or to lose
itself amid a variegated crowd of subtle
superphysical forms, visible as objective ap-
pearances to the inner vision — prematurely
forced by fastings, vigils, and strained
attention — -but mostly born of the thoughts
and emotions of the seer. Even when the
forms observed were not externalised
thoughts, they were seen through a distort-
ing atmosphere of preconceived ideas and
beliefs, and were thus rendered largely un-
reliable. None the less, some of the visions
were verily of heavenly things, and Jesus
107

Esoteric Christianity

truly appeared from time to time to His
devoted lovers, and angels would sometimes
brighten with their presence the cell of
monk and nun, the solitude of rapt devotee
and patient seeker after God. To deny the
possibility of such experiences would be to
strike at the very root of that " which has
been most surely believed " in all religions,
and is known to all Occultists — the inter-
communication between Spirits veiled in
flesh and those clad in subtler vestures, the
touching of mind with mind across the bar-
riers of matter, the unfolding of the Divinity
in man, the sure knowledge of a life beyond
the gates of death.

Glancing down the centuries we find no
time in which Christendom was left wholly
devoid of mysteries. "It was probably
about the end of the 5th century, just as
ancient philosophy was dying out in the
Schools of Athens, that the speculative
philosophy of neo-Platonism made a definite
lodgment in Christian thought through the
literary forgeries of the Pseudo-Dionysius.
The doctrines of Christianity were by that
time so firmly established that the Church

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Hidden Side of Christianity

could look upon a symbolical or mystical in-
terpretation of them without anxiety. The
author of the Theologica Mystica and the
other works ascribed to the Areopagite pro-
ceeds, therefore, to develop the doctrines of
Proclus with very little modification into a
system of esoteric Christianity. God is the
nameless and supra-essential One, elevated
above goodness itself. Hence c negative the-
ology, ' which ascends from the creature to
God by dropping one after another every de-
terminate predicate, leads us nearest to the
truth. The return to God is the consumma-
tion of all things and the goal indicated
by Christian teaching. The same doctrines
were preached with more of churchly fer-
vour by Maximus the Confessor (580-622).
Maximus represents almost the last specula-
tive activity of the Greek Church, but the
influence of the Pseudo-Dionysian writing
was transmitted to the West in the ninth
century by Erigena, in whose speculative
spirit both the scholasticism and the mysti-
cism of the Middle Ages have their rise.
Erigena translated Dionysius into Latin
along with the commentaries of Max-
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Esoteric Christianity

imus, and his system is essentially based upon
theirs. The negative theology is adopted,
and God is stated to be predicateless Being,
above all categories, and therefore not im-
properly called Nothing [query, No-Thing].
Out of this Nothing or incomprehensible
essence the world of ideas or primordial
causes is eternally created. This is the
Word or Son of God, in whom all things
exist, so far as they have substantial exist-
ence. All existence is a theophany, and as
God is the beginning of all things, so also is
He the end. Erigena teaches the restitution
of all things under the form of the Dionysian
adunatio or deificatio. These are the per-
manent outlines of what may be called the
philosophy of mysticism in Christian times,
and it is remarkable with how little varia-
tion they are repeated from age to age."1

In the eleventh century Bernard of Clair-
vaux (a.d. 1091-1153) and Hugo of S.
Victor carry on the mystic tradition, with
Eichard of S. Victor in the following
century, and S. Bonaventura the Seraphic
Doctor, and the great S. Thomas Aquinas

1 Article on " Mysticism. " — Encyc. Britan.
110

Hidden Side of Christianity

(a.d. 1227-1274) in the thirteenth. Thomas
Aquinas dominates the Europe of the
Middle Ages, by his force of character no less
than by his learning and piety. He asserts
" Eevelation " as one source of knowledge,
Scripture and tradition being the two chann-
els in which it runs, and the influence, seen
in his writings, of the Pseudo-Dionysius
links him to the Neo-Platonists. The second
source is Eeason, and here the channels
are the Platonic philosophy and the methods
of Aristotle — the latter an alliance that did
Christianity no good, for Aristotle became
an obstacle to the advance of the higher
thought, as was made manifest in the strug-
gles of Giordano Bruno, the Pythagorean.
Thomas Aquinas was canonised in a.d.
1323, and the great Dominican remains as
a type of the union of theology and philoso-
phy— the aim of his life. These belong to
the great Church of western Europe, vindi-
cating her claim to be regarded as the trans-
mitter of the holy torch of mystic learning.
Around her there also sprang up many
sects, deemed heretical, yet containing true
traditions of the sacred secret learning, the
111

Esoteric Christianity

Cathari and many others, persecuted by a
Church jealous of her authority, and fear-
ing lest the holy pearls should pass into pro-
fane custody. In this century also S. Eliz-
abeth of Hungary shines out with sweetness
and purity, while Eckhart (a.d. 1260-1329)
proves himself a worthy inheritor of the
Alexandrian Schools. Eckhart taught that
"The Godhead is the absolute Essence (We-
sen), unknowable net only by man but also
by Itself ; It is darkness and absolute inde-
terminateness, Nicht in contrast to Icht, or
definite and knowable existence. Yet It is
the potentiality of all things, and Its nature
is, in a triadic process, to come to conscious-
ness of Itself as the triune God. Creation
is not a temporal act, but an eternal neces-
sity, of the divine nature. I am as neces-
sary to God, Eckhart is fond of saying, as
God is necessary to me. In my knowledge
and love God knows and loves Himself."1

Eckhart is followed, in the fourteenth
century, by John Tauler, and Nicolas of
Basel, "the Friend of God in the Oberland."
From these sprang up the Society of the

1 Article " Mysticism. " Encyclopaedia Britannica.
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Hidden Side of Christianity

Friends of God, true mystics and followers
of the old tradition. Mead remarks that
Thomas Aquinas, Tauler, and Eckhart fol-
lowed the Pseudo Dionysius, who followed
Plotinus, lamblichus, and Proclus, who in
turn followed Plato and Pythagoras.1 So
linked together are the followers of the
Wisdom in all ages. It was probably a
"Friend " who was the author of Die Deut-
sche Theologie, a book of mystical devotion,
which had the curious fortune of being
approved by Staupitz, the Vicar-General of
the Augustinian Order, who recommended
it to Luther, and by Luther himself, who
published it a.d. 1516, as a book which
should rank immediately after the Bible
and the writings of S. Augustine of Hippo.
Another " Friend" was Kuysbroeck, to
whose influence with Groot was due the
founding of the Brethren of the Common
Lot or Common Life — a Society that must
remain ever memorable, as it numbered
among its members that prince of mystics,
Thomas a Kempis (a.d. 1380-14Y1), the au-
thor of the immortal Imitation of Christ.

1 Orpheus, pp. 53, 54.
8 113

Esoteric Christianity

In the two following centuries the more
purely intellectual side of mysticism comes
out more strongly than the exstatic — so
dominant in these societies of the fourteenth
— and we have Cardinal Nicolas of Cusa,
with Giordano Bruno, the martyred knight-
errant of philosophy, and Paracelsus, the
much slandered scientist, who drew his
knowledge directly from the original eastern
fountain, instead of through Greek channels.

The sixteenth century saw the birth of
Jacob Bohme (a.d. 1575-1624), the " in-
spired cobbler," an Initiate in obscuration
truly, sorely persecuted by unenlightened
men; and then too came S. Teresa, the
much-oppressed and suffering Spanish mys-
tic; and S. John of the Cross, a burning
flame of intense devotion; and S. Francois
de Sales. Wise was Eome in canonising
these, wiser than the Eeformation that
persecuted Bohme, but the spirit of the
Eeformation was ever intensely anti-mys-
tical, and wherever its breath has passed
the fair flowers of mysticism have withered
as under the sirocco.

Eome, however, who, though she canon-
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Hidden Side of Christianity

ised Teresa dead, had sorely harried her
while living — did ill with Mme. de Guyon
(a.d. 1648-1717), a true mystic, and with
Miguel de Molinos (1627-1696), worthy to
sit near S. John of the Cross, who carried
on in the seventeenth century the high de-
votion of the mystic, turned into a peculiarly
passive form — the Quietist.

In this same century arose the school of
Platonists in Cambridge, of whom Henry
More (a.d. 1614-1687) may serve as salient
example ; also Thomas Vaughan, and Eobert
Fludd the Eosicrucian ; and there is formed
also the Philadelphian Society, and we see
William Law (a.d. 1686-1761) active in the
eighteenth century, and overlapping S.
Martin (a.d. 1743-1803), whose writings
have fascinated so many nineteenth century
students.1

Nor should we omit Christian Eosenkreutz
(d. a.d. 1484), whose mystic Society of the
Eosy Cross, appearing in 1614, held true
knowledge, and whose spirit was reborn in

1 Obligation must be here acknowledged to the Article
"Mysticism," in the Encyc. Brit., though that publication
is by no means responsible for the opinions expressed.
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Esoteric Christianity

the " Comte de S. Germain," the mysterious
figure that appears and disappears through
the gloom, lit by lurid flashes, of the closing
eighteenth century. Mystics too were some
of the Quakers, the much-persecuted sect of
Friends, seeking the illumination of the In-
ner Light, and listening ever for the Inner
Voice. And many another mystic was
there, "of whom the world was not
worthy," like the wholly delightful and
wise Mother Juliana of Norwich, of the
fourteenth century, jewels of Christendom,
too little known, but justifying Christianity
to the world.

Yet, as we salute reverently these Chil-
dren of the Light, scattered over the cen-
turies, we are forced to recognise in them
the absence of that union of acute intellect
and high devotion which were welded to-
gether hy the training of the Mysteries, and
while we marvel that they soared so high,
we cannot but wish that their rare gifts had
been developed under that magnificent dis-
ciplines arcani.

Alphonse Louis Constant, better known
under his pseudonym, Eliphas Levi, has put

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Hidden Side of Christianity

rather well the loss of the Mysteries, and
the need for their re-institution. "A great
misfortune befell Christianity. The be-
trayal of the Mysteries by the false^Gnostics
— for the Gnostics, that is, those who know,
were the Initiates of primitive Christianity
— caused the Gnosis to be rejected, and
alienated the Church from the supreme
truths of the Kabbala, which contain all
the secrets of transcendental theology. ...
Let the most absolute science, let the high-
est reason, become once more the patrimony
of the leaders of the people ; let the sacer-
dotal art and the royal art take the double
sceptre of antique initiations, and the social
world will once more issue from its chaos.
Burn the holy images no longer; demolish
the temples no more; temples and images
are necessary for men ; but drive the hire-
lings from the house of prayer ; let the blind
be no longer leaders of the blind, reconstruct
the hierarchy of intelligence and holiness,
and recognise only those who know as the
teachers of those who believe." 1

1 The Mysteries of Magic. Trans, by A. E. Waite, pp.
58 and 60.

117

Esoteric Christianity

Will the Churches of to-day again take up
the mystic teaching, the Lesser Mysteries,
and so prepare their children for the re-
establishment of the Greater Mysteries, again
drawing down the Angels as Teachers, and
having as Hierophant the Divine Master,
Jesus? On the answer to that question de-
pends the future of Christianity.

118