Toward Christain Renewal

Fall 2013 Toward Christian Renewal Aaron J. French Abstract ledge of the eventful impact of the Christ, nor what it means to become an apostle of the he purpose of this article is to introduce faith. Particularly eclipsed are the mystical T the reader to the types of esoteric Christi- origins of the religion, the history of transmis- anity that have developed out of the ancient sions from esoteric schools, which have poured mystery traditions of Greece, Egypt, and vari- themselves into the melting pot that is Christi- ous other locales. Additionally, it seeks to anity in its current form. These days simply demonstrate how incorporating these esoteric stating “I am a Christian” seems to suffice. aspects into mainstream Christianity will pro- Nevertheless, there exists within the Christian duce a more informed participant of the Chris- religion a system of ideas, linking it to pro- tian faith. By examining the rituals of the mys- foundly potent mysticism and esotericism. tery traditions, principally those of death and This system finds its roots in what is common- rebirth, one can identify a connection between ly known as the mystery traditions, and a prop- Christian practices and the ancient mysteries. er understanding of their correspondences en- In this article, the frayed ends of those tradi- genders a complete and utter renewal (what tions are found to reconstitute in the Christian Paul referred to in Galatians 6:15 as becoming religious system, particularly within its esoter- “a new creature”). ic branches. The writings of Christian esotericists such as Richard Smoley, Antoine Faivre, This is not meant to denigrate mainstream Rudolf Steiner—and even the Universalist phi- Christians, but rather to acknowledge the long losophy of Alain Badiou—are shown to reveal tradition of mysticism in their very midst, as spiritual components absent from mainstream well as to draw attention to the works of Chris- Christianity. Their work provides a roadmap to tian esotericists such as Richard Smoley, An- the true teachings espoused by Christ Jesus, toine Faivre, and Rudolf Steiner. We would i.e. that of self-apostleship or self-initiation. also draw attention to the Universalism of Alain Badiou, and additionally, the history of Introduction esoteric practices incorporated into Christiani- ty and its various branches, including the neo- hristianity is an effectively organized sys- Gnostic churches, in the hope that members of tem of beliefs, yet much of the religion— C the faith can take full advantage of them and including its history, mythology, teachings, enhance their spiritual life—ultimately becom- and symbolism—remains unknown to its prac- ing more informed Christians. titioners. If we look to Paul of Tarsus, the goal of subscribing to the Christian beliefs is to be- _____________________________________ come an apostle—to be utterly reborn into something new, a self-appointed harbinger of About the Author the “good news.” Alain Badiou, a French athe- Aaron J. French is a Religious Studies and Creative ist and communist thinker, elucidates the pro- Writing undergraduate student at the University of cess in a groundbreaking philosophical work Arizona, where his main areas of interest and re- Saint Paul: The Foundation of Universalism, search include Anthroposophy, Freemasonry, and in which the author gets at the core of what it Christianity. He is also a writer and editor. You can means to be Christian. On the other hand, it read his online column “Letters from the Edge” in seems acceptable among members of the Nameless Digest, where he focuses on the occult, mainstream Christian community to consider spirituality, rogue scholarship, esotericism, and themselves Christians without a true know- speculative fiction. He lives in Tucson, Arizona. Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly 83 The Esoteric Quarterly The article explores three subjects, which knowledge was transmitted to the Egyptian combine to form the complex picture of the people by a highly organized priesthood under esoteric structure of Christianity. Enhancing the direction of the pharaohs who were ad- one’s beliefs and aligning them in the proper vanced initiates. way does not involve physical action, contrary Making the transition from ancient Egypt to to what some might believe. Mainstream ancient Greece we again find the practice of Christians have been performing valid rituals mystery religions in the Pythagoreans, Orphic and prayers for hundreds of years, so there is cults, and the Dionysian and Eleusinian mys- no need to devalue the solemnity of their devo- tery schools. It was common practice among tion. The requirement, rather, is an acquisition these groups to experience a premature death of certain information not usually given to in which the candidate was given glimpses of church members (knowledge about the ancient the spirit world or the gods themselves, the end mysteries and esotericism), and a deeper un- result being that of self-identification with the derstanding of the Christ-event (the crucifixion divine. Greeks initiated themselves into secret and resurrection), which would lead to convic- societies and therein acquired the wisdom of tion regarding the Christ-event itself, as well as the cosmos. the self-authorized apostleship espoused by Saint Paul in the New Testament. This practice The secret Pythagorean Society was formed in of self-appointment may equate to the self- Greece around 400 BCE, and it was based on enlightenment and self-initiation systems pop- the belief that everything in the world could be ularized during the New Age Movement. represented as a relationship between the natu- ral numbers. Plato said in his Republic that, The Mystery Traditions above all else, Pythagoras was most famous he intention here is to show the relation- for leaving behind him a way of life. The T ship between Christianity and esoteric members of his school regarded him as a di- methodology, for this relationship can shed vine figure, sent by the gods to benefit human- 1 light on the connection between Christian reli- kind. gion and ancient mystery traditions from an- Those who were initiated into his school made cient Egypt, Greece, and elsewhere. Once that solemn vows both to Pythagoras and to each connection is established, we can explore the other, and together they learned about reincar- idea that something might be missing from the nation and the relationship between man and exoteric practices of mainstream Christianity, the cosmos. It is said that Pythagoras invented and further propound what that something the musical octave, and that his followers re- missing may be, as well as how to incorporate ferred to him as “the harmonic deity,” halfway it into the mainstream traditions. between the gods and man.2 More than likely, mystery traditions have ex- The Orphic, Dionysian, and Eleusinian myster- isted since prehistory. However, one of the ies make up the more pastoral form of the earliest places scholars encounter them is in Greek initiation rites, though no less secretive, ancient Egypt. Mortuary cults initiated their and by no means less emphatic on the re- members into a secret body of knowledge, en- quirement that the candidate give up his or her abling them to experience a symbolic death, old way of life. All of these initiation ceremo- actually to venerate death, before passing into nies offered rewards in the afterlife, as well as the afterlife following their real death. The an enhanced version of their remaining exist- wisdom and supernatural powers these initiates ence on Earth. Orphism centered on the pivotal gained from their premature death experiences figure of Orpheus and the story of his journey were incorporated into every facet of Egyptian to the underworld. Moreover, “Orphics af- society and culture: funerary rites, burial ritu- firmed the divine origin of the soul, but it was als, hieroglyphs, tomb carvings, the mummifi- through initiation into the Orphic Mysteries cation processes, the construction of pyramidal and through the process of transmigration that structures, and cartographic postmortem texts the soul could be liberated from its Titanic in- such as the Egyptian Book of the Dead. This 84 Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly, 2013. heritance [sinful portion] and could achieve longer feared death, for they possessed a firm eternal blessedness. Orphism stressed a strict and definite knowing that life force did not standard of ethical and moral conduct. Initiates end, but was merely transformed. purified themselves and adopted ascetic prac- In addition to Egypt and Greece, other mystery tices (e.g., abstinence from eating animal flesh) traditions have flourished, such as the so-called for the purpose of purging evil and cultivating Gnostics, the Jewish Kabba- the Dionysian side [divine lists, and the Manicheans of portion] of the human Paul’s belief was that Persia. The ritual death initi- character.”3 everybody, in effect, was ations in the mystery tradi- The Dionysian and Eleu- dead and living in sin, so tion may possibly find the sinian initiation involved a long as they held to a faintest echo in “born-again” focus on a journey to the conversion experiences of underworld, or the darker blind observance of the evangelical Christians. side of the soul, and the law. The only possibility Christianity and the mystery subsequent return to the of liberation, of real life, traditions share a promise of divine portion, so that the immortality of soul follow- candidate was thencefor- was the subjective expe- ing these death experiences. ward unafraid of death, rience of Christ’s resur- The linking with the Christ is and could unfailingly re- rection, which, for Paul, meant to establish a firm call the event of initiation bond with the divine, as the to revitalize that firm be- was freedom from mate- Christ is the Son of the Fa- lief.4 In succeeding years, riality and rebirth in ther, and after being reborn the Mithraic mysteries the faithful practitioner is .

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