Esoteric Christianity Part 2

Justin Martyr here is making an analogy between the so-called pagan mysteries and Christian theology. Normally many of us are taught to believe that those old stories of pagans were very simple, superficial types of things, that had nothing at all to do with true religion. But in reality the very early Christian Fathers knew how similar the stories of the Greek and Roman Gods and Goddesses were to the stories that were eventually written in the New Testament.
Those traditions that were eventually replaced by Christianity, all of those old religions, those pagan religions, were in decline at the time. This is why they needed to be replaced. Yet, the true source of those old religions is the same gnosis underlying Esoteric Christianity. Whether we call it gnosis in Greek, or some other word, it does not matter.
All traditions are susceptible to falling away. When a traditions usefulness begins to decline, new traditions are made in order to renew the teachings that lead to gnosis, the universal knowledge which all of us, all of our souls yearn for.
Esoteric Christianity is really the true universal doctrine, the true Gnostic Catholic doctrine. As we have said, catholic really means universal, and by gnostic we are talking about knowledge.
Gnosis is the knowledge we must possess in order to achieve theosis, the incarnation of the divine. Just like the old traditions of Greece and Rome, and all the other traditions of the world fall into degeneration, just as there are good and bad aspects of any tradition, when we talk about gnostic groups, many groups served the true teachings of Christ and there were other groups which were quite the opposite. Unfortunately, all these groups get mixed together today and this is partly why a lot of Christians have a very negative connotation of gnosis.
We have to keep reminding ourselves that gnosis just means knowledge and the idea that there is a spark of divinity within us that can provide us with knowledge of the divine. This is something that many ancient church Fathers also agreed with. This is the fundamental basis of gnosis or gnostic doctrine, and it is no different than all of the true ancient traditions as well.

When Jesus received Christ, he was receiving the universal principal, the universal intelligence, and was speaking from that perspective saying, “I am the light of the world.” Unfortunately, people interpret that to believe that there was one manifestation of Christ and that singular physical manifestation as Jesus was the one and only Christ.
Actually it is different. Anyone who achieves that level unites completely with Christ, so becomes one with Christ. Christ is universal and beyond any individual, but an individual like Jesus purifies his soul to such a degree that Christ – the Universal Force – can individualize itself into that soul, and speak and bring teachings, found religions. All the world religions are founded by Christ, different individuals who reached the level of Christ. This is what is always happening, from time to time.
According to inner or Esoteric Christianity, our role in all of this is to purify our soul, to work on our psychology, to do the inner psychological, and spiritual work.
To truly follow this teaching we have to become practical. Many people who study religion, who are interested in these things, have a lot of theories and ideas about the differences, conceptually, of different theologies, different mythologies, different ways of understanding how God and man interact, how creation ‘really is’ according to one doctrine or another. All of this may have some relative importance, but what is the most important for us here and now is to make Esoteric Christianity a practical effort in our life. In order to do this we are going to study the Book of John, we are going to look at the very beginning, the first chapter, the first verse. It is a very famous verse often repeated:
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2The same was in the beginning with God.
3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
John 1: 1 -5