Thursday, July 27, 2006
Esoteric Christianity
The path has led me here. Not being able to relinquish the Christianity I was raised with, I have settled into the esoteric Path.
The basic tenets of Esoteric Christianity are the same as those of outer Christianity, it's just that it obviously looks inward and does not believe the Scriptures have to be 100% historically accurate in order for them to be true. The Scriptures, whether they be concretely factually true or not, contain a wealth of spiritual truths.
One is the explanation of the tripartite soul of man.
He has a Spirit, which is the inner 'I' that experiences and just 'is'.
He has a Soul, which is the house of the emotions and thoughts.
He has a Body, which is the Flesh, tempted by the 'carnal' sins of the world.
The Soul is the receptacle of the emotions and thoughts.
Thoughts and emotions are not the Soul.
They are considered to be part of the world.
So the main demarcation is between the 'Inner I', the true me or my Spirit, and the world.
God is the Father, who is transcendent.
God is the Son, without Whom nothing was created and is immanent.
God is the Spirit, the glue that binds the Son to the Father.
And there is also Sophia, Wisdom, who is personified as 'She' and has been coexistent with the Son.
Though God is transcendent of sex, He has been understood by man in both masculine terms and feminine terms.
In esoteric Christianity, all men, all women, are Adam and Eve, the primordial man and woman God originally created.
Adam and Eve, and we along with them, chose to know the difference between good and evil over complete union with God, and as a result we fell, and Nature with us.
This could only be remedied by the sacrifice of the Son so that Nature, the Earth, and us as Adam could be in union with the Father once again.
In esoteric Christianity, the planets affect men, though not to an obsessive degree. In early Christianity, there were seven planets...Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These planets were described as having both beneficient and detrimental influences on Man.
In addition, the Universe, in esoteric Christianity, is alive, and for those who have accepted Christ, is redeemed and blessed by Him.
One exercise esoteric Christians participate in is the prayer of the heart which goes as follows and is prayed throughout the day: 'Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me, a sinner.'
Esotericists believe through Christ living in us, we have a divine spark that will survive death. Some esotericists believe that Spirits, upon death, will be able to chose whether they want union with God at this juncture, or want to return, re-incarnated to fulfill a mission or take care of unfinished business. I am not going to touch this one yet, though I am more open minded about the possibilities of an afterlife compared to stricter, more 'conservative' Christians.
Those who burn in hell, which is separation from God, will do so because that's where they're most comfortable, and it will be of their own choosing.
The experience of heaven for those who have accepted Christ will provide men with that level which they have been prepared for in their life.
Heaven will be the Pleroma, that fullness, where we will once again enjoy union with God...as we did before the Fall.
The path has led me here. Not being able to relinquish the Christianity I was raised with, I have settled into the esoteric Path.
The basic tenets of Esoteric Christianity are the same as those of outer Christianity, it's just that it obviously looks inward and does not believe the Scriptures have to be 100% historically accurate in order for them to be true. The Scriptures, whether they be concretely factually true or not, contain a wealth of spiritual truths.
One is the explanation of the tripartite soul of man.
He has a Spirit, which is the inner 'I' that experiences and just 'is'.
He has a Soul, which is the house of the emotions and thoughts.
He has a Body, which is the Flesh, tempted by the 'carnal' sins of the world.
The Soul is the receptacle of the emotions and thoughts.
Thoughts and emotions are not the Soul.
They are considered to be part of the world.
So the main demarcation is between the 'Inner I', the true me or my Spirit, and the world.
God is the Father, who is transcendent.
God is the Son, without Whom nothing was created and is immanent.
God is the Spirit, the glue that binds the Son to the Father.
And there is also Sophia, Wisdom, who is personified as 'She' and has been coexistent with the Son.
Though God is transcendent of sex, He has been understood by man in both masculine terms and feminine terms.
In esoteric Christianity, all men, all women, are Adam and Eve, the primordial man and woman God originally created.
Adam and Eve, and we along with them, chose to know the difference between good and evil over complete union with God, and as a result we fell, and Nature with us.
This could only be remedied by the sacrifice of the Son so that Nature, the Earth, and us as Adam could be in union with the Father once again.
In esoteric Christianity, the planets affect men, though not to an obsessive degree. In early Christianity, there were seven planets...Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These planets were described as having both beneficient and detrimental influences on Man.
In addition, the Universe, in esoteric Christianity, is alive, and for those who have accepted Christ, is redeemed and blessed by Him.
One exercise esoteric Christians participate in is the prayer of the heart which goes as follows and is prayed throughout the day: 'Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me, a sinner.'
Esotericists believe through Christ living in us, we have a divine spark that will survive death. Some esotericists believe that Spirits, upon death, will be able to chose whether they want union with God at this juncture, or want to return, re-incarnated to fulfill a mission or take care of unfinished business. I am not going to touch this one yet, though I am more open minded about the possibilities of an afterlife compared to stricter, more 'conservative' Christians.
Those who burn in hell, which is separation from God, will do so because that's where they're most comfortable, and it will be of their own choosing.
The experience of heaven for those who have accepted Christ will provide men with that level which they have been prepared for in their life.
Heaven will be the Pleroma, that fullness, where we will once again enjoy union with God...as we did before the Fall.
