Esotheric themes in theology E-Book

Róbert Sarka

• Herausgeber: EDUCatt
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

During the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church opened itself to a dialogue, which became its communication tool with the world, with other Christian denominations and religions. At the end of the 19th century, so called new religious movements and new magical movements started to appear, which are still currently expanding. Is it possible to lead a dialogue with new religious movements (NRM)?1 A dialogue is an inseparable part of the Church’s mission, therefore neither can the NRM be excluded. However, to have a dialogue with them, the correct preparation is needed, because a great variability exists amongst the NRM. In this dialogue, it is also necessary to take into account the risks from the side of the NRM’s participants, who may try to abuse it for their own promotion, e.g. as happened when some of the NRM’s participants showed photographs from a general audience with the pope, or photographs with Mother Theresa, as proof of a support of their activities. Another form of abuse can be the publishing of their own doctrines in the Catholic Publishing Houses. The statements of some forms of NRM, concerning the possibility of double memberships, thus actually remaining as a member of the Catholic Church, but at the same time being a disciple of some occult community, are also of a great danger2. It is necessary to think about these pitfalls during the dialogue. The dialogue should also not be detached from the proclamation; in this case it is about keeping fidelity to the Catholic faith. I would also like to stick to this criterion in the submitted monograph about esoteric themes in theology. Excerpt from the Introduction

Leseprobe

Reviewers

prof. ThDr. Pavol Farkaš, PhD.

doc. PaedDr. ThLic. Alojz Kostelanský, PhD.

© 2015 EDUCatt - Ente per il Diritto allo Studio Universitario dell’Università Cattolica

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ISBN edizione cartacea: 978-88-6780-786-4

ISBN edizione ePub: 978-88-6780-797-0

copertina: progetto grafico Studio Editoriale EDUCatt; elaborazione grafica della foto di Vladimír Pavlík, Stained glass window depicting Cosmic Christ, United Methodist Church, Morristown, New Jersey, USA.

Index

Introduction

Esoteric christian doctrine?

The grace of Christ and the zodiac

Sophiology in western and eastern tradition

1. Sophia in Judaist and patristic tradition

2. Sophia in Western tradition

3. Sophia in Eastern tradition

Conclusion

Some theological models of the cosmic Christ

1. Esoteric ideas

2. Christian Ideas

Conclusion

Image of Christ in the esoteric gospels

1. The Life of Saint Issa

2. The Fifth Gospel of Rudolf Steiner

3. The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ

4. Gospel, This is My Word A and Ω

Conclusion

Respects from the wise men from the east (Mt 2, 1-12)

1. Questions regarding the wise men

2. The issue of the so called Bethlehem star

3. The Liturgy and spirituality of the feast

Theological “x-files”. The case of Judas

1. The “Historical” Judas

2. Psychology of Judas’ drama

3. Judas and the Gnostic spirituality

Conclusion

The secret of Jesus’ chalice and its echo in culture

1. The Grail and Grails

2. The Grail, the legend about Joseph of Arimatheaand the Invisible Church

3. The Grail and Art

4. The Grail, theology and mysticism

5. The Grail, psychology and spirituality

Conclusion

Melchizedek and the New Testament priesthood

1. The Historical Melchizedek

2. Melchizedek and Christ the High Priest

3. Melchizedek and the New Testament priesthood

Conclusion

Conclusion

Riassunto

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

During the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church opened itself to a dialogue, which became its communication tool with the world, with other Christian denominations and religions. At the end of the 19th century, so called new religious movements and new magical movements started to appear, which are still currently expanding. Is it possible to lead a dialogue with new religious movements (NRM)?1 A dialogue is an inseparable part of the Church’s mission, therefore neither can the NRM be excluded. However, to have a dialogue with them, the correct preparation is needed, because a great variability exists amongst the NRM. In this dialogue, it is also necessary to take into account the risks from the side of the NRM’s participants, who may try to abuse it for their own promotion, e.g. as happened when some of the NRM’s participants showed photographs from a general audience with the pope, or photographs with Mother Theresa, as proof of a support of their activities. Another form of abuse can be the publishing of their own doctrines in the Catholic Publishing Houses. The statements of some forms of NRM, concerning the possibility of double memberships, thus actually remaining as a member of the Catholic Church, but at the same time being a disciple of some occult community, are also of a great danger2. It is necessary to think about these pitfalls during the dialogue. The dialogue should also not be detached from the proclamation; in this case it is about keeping fidelity to the Catholic faith. I would also like to stick to this criterion in the submitted monograph about esoteric themes in theology.

Methodologically, I use an interdisciplinary approach based on a theological approach, which is the basis for the interpretation and orientation in the dark labyrinth of esotericism. I also use a source comparison from esoteric literature and theology. In the monograph, I state some of the esoteric themes that sometimes break through into theological reflections and vice versa the theological themes that have got into the epicentre of the esotericists’ interest. Theology has hinted at these common themes since ancient times, through myths, Gnostic groups and so on. I am trying to answer the question, what was the point of this meeting. Where it appears necessary, I also react apologetically. In some chapters, I also refer to pastoral-liturgical inspirations. From the perspective of Catholic theology, this theme has been processed in Slovakia, for the first time.

The key for choosing the studied themes was the ambiguous term of esotericism. Johan Philipp Gabol used it for the first time in 1792, in connection with a discussion about the mysterious doctrines of Pythagoreans and Freemasons in the edition of Johann Gottfried Eichhorn’s work Urgeschichte3. The document Jesus Christ-The Bearer Of The Water Of Life, elaborated on by the Pontifical Council for Culture and Inter-religious Dialogue, the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity regarding occultism, says the following about esotericism:

“It generally refers to an ancient and hidden body of knowledge available only to initiated groups, who portray themselves as guardians of the truths hidden from the majority of humankind. The initiation process takes people from a merely external, superficial, knowledge of reality to the inner truth and, in the process, awakens their consciousness at a deeper level. People are invited to undertake this “inner journey” to discover the “divine spark” within them. Salvation, in this context, coincides with a discovery of the Self”4.

The document gives a rather systematic view that, however, needs some clarification.

The term esotericism (from the Greek ésoteros – internal, from esoter, eso – interiority; ter evokes an opposition) can have six meanings, according to Antoine Faivre, an expert on Western esotericism5.

The first meaning of the word esotericism indicates a heterogenic reality denoting everything that has an air of the enigmatic, such as Egyptian wisdom, yoga, ufology, astrology, Kabbalah, parapsychology, tarot, Freemasonry, new religious movements and new magical movements. These meanings of the term we find in bookshops. In English, the equivalent terms Occult or Metaphysics are used.

The second meaning denotes a “secret” learning or events that want to remain hidden. It is a typical example of an arcane discipline, thus a hidden reality surrounded by an obligatory secrecy that can be interrupted in order to reveal the meaning only to the chosen ones. The term denotes a strict separation between initiations and the profane. This meaning of esotericism is used in the initiation sense, an introduction into something secretive and conspirative. The general public understands its meaning as a secretive learning that was strictly guarded for centuries, for example by the Church’s Magisterium in secret Vatican archives, or concealed in some artwork. Examples of this type, are works like Foucault’s Pendulum (1988) from Umberto Eco and The Da Vinci Code (2003) from Dan Brown, where neither of the aforementioned authors is an esotericist in the strict sense of the word.

The third meaning – the secret regards the things themselves. It expresses an opinion that the nature is full of occult “signs”, whose hidden patterns are managing to elude the academics. The fact that invisible links exist amongst the stars, metals and planets. Even history has its hidden side that of course a “profane” historian does not accept. Similarly, the religions also have their hidden esoteric side. The occult philosophy, as this meaning was known in the Renaissance, denoted various experiments on how to decipher the aforementioned secrets. For the “occultists”, God is a hidden God, the one who did not reveal everything, the esoteric God.

The fourth meaning is Gnosis, understood as a diversity of knowledge that puts more emphasis on experience, a mythical and symbolic approach, than a dogmatic and discursive one. It is a broad spectrum of schools that claim to have teachings, which are only possible to pass on by initiation. It is about a wanted marginal religiosity, which is outside traditional religions.

The fifth meaning expresses the search for an Original tradition, which should be enhanced from fragments in various traditions and religions. In this meaning, the esotericism is a teaching that enables one to come closer to the knowledge of this Tradition or to co-operate on putting it into an original state6. This teaching is the basis of the traditionalist school, also known as perennialism, where the Anglo-Saxon representatives like to use the term esoterism, in order to be different to the majority, who use the term esotericism.

The sixth meaning denotes specific historical currents. For example, the Neo- Pythagoreans, alchemy, Christian Gnosticism, Christian Kabbalah, Rosicrucians, Christian theosophy and part of German Naturphilosophie belong here. Faivre also includes here the new religious movements and the new magical movements.

In the submitted monograph, I use this ambiguity of esotericism in comparison to theology. The studies Esoteric Christian Doctrine? and The Image of Christ in the Esoteric Gospels are linked with the second meaning of esotericism.

The studies Melchizedek and the New Testament Priesthood, the Secret of Jesus’ Chalice and its Echo in Culture, and Regards from the Wise Men from the East (Mt 2, 1-12) are linked with the fifth meaning, concerning the existence of a sort of mysterious primordial tradition. The Secret of Jesus’ Chalice and its Echo in Culture also overlaps the sixth meaning of the word as an existence of some secret brotherhood guarding the Grail. Theological “X-Files”. The Case of Judas is linked with the fourth, thus the Gnostic meaning of esotericism. In the studies Sophiology in Western and Eastern Tradition, The Grace of Christ and the Zodiac and Some Theological Models of the Cosmic Christ are certain parallels with the fourth meaning of esotericism, according to which, nature and history carry a hidden reality.

The aim of this work is not only to be a critical dialogue, residing in the demythologisation of certain lasting ideas about the alleged existence of “esoteric” Christianity, but also showing how some of the esoteric themes enriched Christian reflection, to show how the Christian theology managed to re-interpret them for its intentions. Of course, the submitted monograph is far from exhausting the topic.

1Introvigne M.: Il sacro postmoderno. Chiesa, relativismo e nuovi movimenti religiosi. Milano: Gribuadi, 1996. pp. 218-226.

2IntrovigneM.: Ilsacropostmoderno. p. 222.

3FaivreA.: L’esoterismooccidentale.Metodi,temi,immagini. Morcelliana Brescia, 2012. p. 9.

4JesusChrist-TheBearerOfTheWaterOfLife.Trnava: SSV, 2005. p. 97.

5FaivreA.: L’esoterismooccidentale. pp. 10-13; 29-30.

6The idea about an original tradition appeared in connection with hermeticism under the names prisca philosophia (or prisca theologia) and philosophia perennis. Prisca theologia hinted at the truth that true knowledge existed already before the Greeks, in philosophers such as Zaratrusta, Hermes Trismegistos and Orpheus, through whom the wisdom has been transferred to Plato. Philosophia perennis is a more general term. In contrast with the first term, it expresses the fact that the true science, true knowledge, has not disappeared, but down the centuries has remained intact (FaivreA.: Esoterismoetradizione. Torino: ELLEDICI, 1999. p. 13). After a critical research by the philologist, Isaac Casaubon, in 1614, was proven Corpus Hermeticum not to originate from ancient times (see SarkaR.: Dávneokultnévsúčasnejkultúre [Ancient occult in contemporary culture], Ružomberok: Verbum, 2012. p. 13). In the years, 1614-1773, the philosophia perennis experienced an eclipse, but did not disappear, it appeared under other terms such as philosophia sacra (Oetinger).

ESOTERIC CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE?

From time to time, some publications appear claiming1that the tradition of Christianity is not complete, that doctrines exist, which the Church, apparently, excluded from its teaching (e.g. re-incarnation, Jesus’ family, and so on), although they were part of the doctrine in the original Christianity. The question is, whether some secret doctrines really existed. Guy Stroumsa claims that at the dawn of Christianity, an opinion existed regarding the presence of some “esoteric” Christian tradition2.Locus classicus for his claim is 1 Cor 2, 7 theou sophian en mustérioi tén apokekrumenén (Rather, we speak God’s wisdom, mysterious, hidden...). Other New Testament references, even though not secret, but of an unwritten tradition, we can find, for example in Jn 20, 30; 21, 24; 1 Cor15, 1; 1 Sol 4, 12; 5, 1-2; 2 Sol 2, 5. 15; 2 Jn 12. Also, the Fathers and Christian writers actually did write about an oral tradition3.

According to Stroumsa, we find references about the existence of esoteric Christian doctrine in the work of the Fathers. He states that Cyril of Jerusalem in his Catechesis (6, 29) makes a hint to texts Mt 13, 10-17; Mk 4, 10-13; Lk 8, 9-10, where he writes that Jesus talked in public in parables and he taught in private. The hint about the existence of the secret oral tradition is also made by Irenaeus in Adversus haereses (III, 3, 1)Even Basil the Great mentions the mysterious doctrine in the Tractate about the Holy Spirit (XXVII, 66). Clement of Alexandria claims that Jesus was transferring the secret doctrine through Peter, James and John to the other apostles (Stromata VI, 7. 61). Probably, Origen was mostly mesmerised by the esoteric image of Christianity. Stroumsa even claims that Origen cited these doctrines sporadically and unsystematically in hiswork4. In Contra Celsum (I, 7; II, 60) he wrote that certain esoteric doctrines exist and did not resist the accusations from the side of Roman authorities that secret unions also exist (Con C. I, 1). When interpreting Proverbs 1, 8: “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction... and also your mother’s...”, Origen claimed that the father is the written tradition and the mother is the oral tradition (Fragmenta et catenis in Proverbia PG 617, 157 A).

Hints about the existence of some secret tradition appear only very sporadically in the work of the later Fathers. One illustrative example: Ambrose in the commentary for Song of Songs (4, 12) – De Mysteriis warns that some secrets should not be revealed to those, who they are not intended for.

What were the motives for the Christian doctrines to be kept secret? Clement of Alexandria states two reasons of the esoteric doctrine existence: the first main reason is that the esotericism should protect the truth from profanation; the second is to protect the weak ones in faith against the risk of a direct revelation of God’s truth (Stromata VI.15.116. 1-2; I. 1. 13-14). Origen thinks along a similar line, when he is writing that it is necessary to protect the fast uncovering of the truth from the beginner, who should not progress too fast in spiritual life. By the pegagogical method of emphasising the hidden meaning of the Bible, he wanted to help the harmonic growth of the beginner in spiritual life5. It was the Alexandria theologians, who raised the “esotericism” of Jesus’ teaching to a pedagogical method. Alexandria was a seaport, where various cultures, esoteric and

Gnostic cults were meeting. The town had an enormous library. There was a strong community of Jews and Christians. Through sailors and tradesmen. the news about foreign countries and religions leaked here. The following groups influenced the creation of the aforementioned “esotericisation”:

– The group of pagans, who used the method of the so called twofold truth, using allegoric myth interpretation6. The mythological constructions were also used by

– the Gnostics and this method belonged to one of the few “dogmas” that the multi- headed hydra of Gnosticism had in common7. Clement of Alexandria claims that the truths should be transferred in a secret way (Strom. I., 12, 55. 1), referring to the second letter of Plato, who writes that the most dangerous protection of the truth is not to write it, but to learn it off by heart (Strom V, 10. 75.3).

– Jewish esotericism. Clement, and later also Origen, had rabbi teachers. Origen, for example, claims that at the time of Jesus, there was a doctrine about wandering souls prevalent amongst esoteric Jewi groups (Com. Joh. VI. 12. 73). As an interest, I state that this is one of the texts, according to which, Origen was supposed to have stood for a re-incarnation hypothesis, which should have been crossed out from the Christian’s credo at the synod of Constantinople, in 543. As I showed somewhere else, it was a misunderstanding. The Church condemned his teaching about the pre-existence of the soul, which he let himself be inspired with by the Platonics. Origen did not stand for re-incarnation, quite the opposite, he fought against it.