Esoteric Christianity

*The Temple of the Rose Cross*, Teophilus Schweighardt Constantiens, 1618

Esoteric Christianity is a mystical approach to Christianity which features "secret traditions" that require an initiation to learn or understand.^[1]^[2] The term esoteric was coined in the 17th century and derives from the Greek ἐσωτερικός (esōterikos, "inner"). It stands in contrast to exoteric (ἐξωτερικός, exōterikos, "outer" or "public"), a distinction already noted by Aristotle, who referred to ἐξωτερικοὶ λόγοι ("exoteric discourses") intended for a general audience.^[3]^[4] Esoteric teachings were often transmitted orally to a small inner circle of initiates rather than through written publications, a pattern consistent with other religious "secret traditions".

Scholars note that esoteric Christian movements often emphasize alternative interpretations of Christian theology that differ from established orthodoxy. These currents frequently draw upon the canonical gospels, apocalyptic writings, and certain New Testament apocrypha as sources of hidden or symbolic meaning.^[5] Some traditions also refer to the disciplina arcani, a concept describing secret teachings or liturgical practices transmitted in the early Church, although mainstream scholarship generally understands it as limited to liturgical secrecy rather than esoteric doctrine.^[6]^[7]

Scholars debate the relationship between esoteric Christianity and Gnosticism. While some see Gnostic movements as among the earliest expressions of esoteric Christian thought, others argue that esoteric Christianity developed distinctively through Alexandrian theology, medieval mysticism, and later currents such as Rosicrucianism and Theosophy.^[8]^[9]^[7]

There are also esoteric Christian Societies such as the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia.^[10]

History

Ancient roots

Some modern scholars believe that in the early stages of proto-orthodox Christianity, a nucleus of oral teachings were inherited from Palestinian and Hellenistic Judaism.^[7] In the 4th century, it was believed to form the basis of a secret oral tradition which came to be called disciplina arcani.^[7] Mainstream theologians, however, believe that it contained only liturgical details and certain other traditions which remain a part of some branches of mainstream Christianity.^[7]^[11]^[12] Important influences on esoteric Christianity are the Christian theologians Clement of Alexandria and Origen, the leading figures of the Catechetical School of Alexandria.^[13]^{[need quotation to verify]}

Present-day denominations

A denomination of esoteric Christianity is The Christian Community.^[14] It focuses on the experiential aspect of sacraments, with the Eucharist serving as "the Rite of the Consecration of Man".^[14]

Scholar Jan Shipps describes the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as having esoteric elements.^[15]

Concepts

Reincarnation

Influenced by the Platonic doctrine of metempsychosis, reincarnation of the soul was accepted by most Gnostic Christian sects such as Valentinianism and the Basilidians, but denied by the proto-orthodox one.^{[citation needed]} While hypothetically considering a complex multiple-world transmigration scheme in De Principiis, Origen denies reincarnation in his work Against Celsus and elsewhere.^[16]^[17]

Despite this apparent contradiction, most modern esoteric Christian movements refer to Origen's writings (along with other Church Fathers and biblical passages) to validate these ideas as part of the esoteric Christian tradition outside of the Gnostic schools, who were later considered heretical in the 3rd century.^[18]

References

^ Stroumsa, Guy G. (2005). Hidden Wisdom: Esoteric Traditions and the Roots of Christian Mysticism. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 90-04-13635-5.
^ "Esoteric". Oxford English Dictionary Compact Edition. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. 1971. p. 894.
^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940). A Greek–English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press, s.v. "ἐξωτερικός"
^ Nikulin, Dmitri (2012-12-11). The Other Plato: The Tübingen Interpretation of Plato's Inner-Academic Teachings. SUNY Press. ISBN 9781438444116.
^ Faivre, Antoine. ''Access to Western Esotericism''. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994, pp. 119–124.
^ McGinn, Bernard. ''The Foundations of Mysticism: Origins to the Fifth Century''. New York: Crossroad, 1991, pp. 178–183
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Stroumsa, Guy G. (2005). Hidden Wisdom: Esoteric Traditions and the Roots of Christian Mysticism. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 90-04-13635-5.
^ Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. The Western Esoteric Traditions. Oxford University Press, 2008.
^ Faivre, Antoine. Access to Western Esotericism. SUNY Press, 1994.
^ "Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia – An Introduction (SRIA)". freemasonrymatters.co.uk. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
^ Frommann (1833). De Disciplina Arcani in vetere Ecclesia christiana obticuisse fertur (in Latin). Jena.
^ Hatch, Edwin (1907). "Lecture X". The Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages upon the Christian Church. London: Williams and Norgate.
^ Daniélou, Jean (1955). Origen. Translated by Walter Mitchell. New York: Sheed & Ward, 1955. xvii + 343 pp
^ ^a ^b Melton, J. Gordon; Baumann, Martin (2010). Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices (2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO. p. 620. ISBN 978-1-59884-204-3. 6 vols.
^ Shipps, Jan (August 16–23, 1978). "The Mormons: Looking Forward and Outward". Christian Century: 761–766.
^ "Quotes by Church Fathers Against Reincarnation". Catholic Answers. 2004. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011.
^ Uebersax, John S. (2006). "Early Christianity and Reincarnation: Modern Misrepresentation of Quotes by Origen".
^ "Articles on Esoteric Christianity". Archeosofica. Archived from the original on 2007-11-02.