Inner Christianity A Guide to the Esoteric Tradition

by SMOLEY, RICHARD

• ISBN13: 9781570628108
• ISBN10: 1570628106
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-10-08
• Publisher: Shambhala

Summary

Inner Christianityis the first introduction to mystical and esoteric Christianity for the general reader. It speaks from a nonsectarian point of view, unearthing insights from the whole of the Christian tradition, orthodox and heretical, famous and obscure. The esoteric tradition has traditionally searched for meanings that would yield a deeper inner knowledge of the divine. While traditional Christianity draws a timeline from Adam's Fall to the Day of Judgment, the esoteric often sees time as folding in on itself, bringing every point to the here and now. While the Church fought bitterly over dogma, the esoteric borrowed freely from other traditions-Kabbalah, astrology, and alchemy-in their search for metaphors of inner truth. Rather than basing his book around exponents of esoteric doctrine, scholar Richard Smoley concentrates on the questions that are of interest to every searching Christian. How can one attain direct spiritual experience? What does "the Fall" really tell us about coming to terms with the world we live in? Can we find salvation in everyday life? How can we ascend, spiritually, through the various levels of existence? What was Christ's true message to humankind? From the Gospel of Thomas toA Course in Miracles,from the Jesus Prayer to alchemy and Tarot, from Origen to Dante to Jung, Richard Smoley sheds the light of an alternative Christianity on these issues and more.

Author Biography

Richard Smoley is a graduate of Harvard College and Oxford University. He is the coauthor, with Jay Kinney, of <i>Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions</i> and the former editor of <i>Gnosis</i> magazine.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction	p. 1
Threads of a Hidden Teaching	p. 13
The World and the Fall	p. 49
Salvation and Gnosis	p. 66
The Second Birth	p. 81
Cosmology	p. 99
The Gospels and the Work of Christ	p. 120
The Feminine Face of God	p. 137
Spiritual Practices	p. 155
Love, Evil, and Forgiveness	p. 174
Symbols and Sacraments	p. 195
The Secret Church	p. 226
Afterword: Continuing the Journey	p. 241
Notes	p. 249
Selected Bibliography	p. 265
Index	p. 279
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