Mark 4:34 and possibly other verses allude to Jesus having some secret teachings only for his disciples.
True, but then in Scripture Jesus does go on to explain the parable.
And I would also throw in that Christianity was a Christian Liturgy before the New Testament was written ... if you want to look for Christian esoterism, that's the place to start.
The Perennialist Frithjof Schuon regarded Christianity as 'an esoterism in plain sight' – he once said that Christianity was meant to, and should have remained, an initiatic school within Judaism. Not quite sure how well that would have worked, but I can see his point. I personally think the loss of a certain Hebraic holistic understanding, eclipsed by Hellenic dualism, has cost us dearly.
But in the esoteric schools, the transmission of secrets is to do with instruction and entrance into the school via initiatic rites – and baptism and Eucharist are exactly that.
From the beginning, Christians spoke freely about baptism and the Eucharist to anyone who cared to listen.
Around the 3rd century emerges the
disciplina arcani. This emerges slowly, because at the same time in the latin west Tertullian (in Carthage, N Africa) believed that Christian teachings were public and should be taught in public. Origen of Alexandria replied openly to Celsus' anti-Christian polemics, and Celsus accused Christianity of being a religion of secrecy like the Greco-Roman mysteries, and Origen replied that while the prominent doctrines of Christianity are well-known to the entire world, including the virgin birth, crucifixion, resurrection, punishment of the wicked and rewarding of the just, there are a few elements that must be retained within the group.
The 3rd and 4th centuries were the highpoint of the
disciplina arcani, there are mentions in recoded sermons of “the initiated know”. “The initiated” is characteristic, and the transference of the phraseology of the mysteries into the Church is evident. “To initiate” (Gk.
myeisthai) and “to instruct” (
katēcheisthai) become interchangeable terms. Baptism is 'the seal of the mystic perfection' and 'a mystic purification (
katharmos)' The Lord’s Supper is “the mystery", its elements are 'symbols'. “To be initiated” (
mystagōgeisthai) signifies to be competent to partake of the sacraments, and to betray the mysteries is expressed by the corresponding
exorcheisthai.
Around this time, Hippolytus of Rome wrote (regarding baptism):
If anything needs to be explained, let the bishop speak in private to those who have received baptism. Those who are not Christians are not told unless they first receive baptism. This is the white stone in which John spoke of; "A new name is written on it which no one knows except him who receives the stone. (Ap. Trad. 23:14)
By the fifth century, the
disciplina arcani had become universal, mentioned in Rome, Jerusalem, Egypt, Constantinople, Cappadocia and North Africa.
Theologians echoed the words of Christ: "Give not that which holy to dogs; neither cast your pearls before swine; lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning upon you, they tear you" (Matthew 7:6).
It's probably the case that in various persecutions, Christian teachings were distorted and used against them – the Eucharist, for example, was said to cannibalism.
St. Paul called his Corinthian congregation "little ones in Christ", giving them "milk to drink, not meat", because they were not yet able to bear it (1 Corinthians 3:1-2). There are similar sentiments in Hebrews 5:12-14: "solid food is for the perfect; for them who by custom have their senses exercised to the discerning of good and evil."
The practice seems to have faded away with the cessation of persecution. By the sixth century, with the Faith established and secure, the need of such a discipline was no longer felt, and it seems to pass away.
In my own parish, it was a common practice for the catechumen, those undergoing instruction prior to baptism, were present at mass but led out of the church just before the Liturgy of the Eucharist (about the half-way point) – traditionally there was the Mass of the Faithful and Mass of the Catechumens. In Oriental liturgies, the deacon often proclaims, "The doors, the doors!" to signal that the doors must be watched to prevent unbaptised from participating in church activities.
I have gone on before about St Augustine's Homily to the Catechumen (227) is Christian esoterism writ large and loud –
“If you receive the Eucharist well, you are what you eat. Since you are the Body of Christ and his members, it is your mystery which you receive... Be what you see. Receive what you already are.”
Today the catechumen are usually children. After baptism and Holy Communion, instruction stops. In the Traditional Church, once baptised, the catechumen enters the
mystagogia, the Mysteries – that instruction rarely happens nowadays. A great pity.
The existence of the Gospel of Thomas is sometimes said to refer to secret teachings.
Here's the thing. If there is an 'esoteric Christianity' then where does it come from, what are the lines of transmission, and who is in receipt of it today.
The Gospel of Thomas is no doubt ancient, and no doubt contains some sayings of Christ, but its message is unique unto itself – it is not an orthodox gospel compared to the Four, nor is it really 'Gnostic' in that its cosmology is different from the common cosmological elements of the gnostic schools of the time. It is of great historical interest, and a snapshot of a period about which we know so little ... but is it an authentic Christian esoteric document ... a) I don't think so and b) who the heck understands it, if it is?
And the Rosicrucians at least used to be referred to as a kind of esoteric Christianity.
Are these misunderstandings? What is your take on them?
I think at various points in European history there blossoms forth a renewed interest in the 'mysteries' of old.
The Early Modern period saw profound change in European culture. The emergence of science as a formal practice, and the beginnings of secularised society. The emergence of capitalism and mercantilism. Alongside this, a decline and eventual disappearance of feudalism and serfdom (in W Europe, at least).
The Protestant Reformation had staggering impact on the religious outlook of Christendom, notably a de-mystification – gone were saints and stained glass and any element of 'popish superstition' (it's no surprise that the emergence of a paranoia about witchcraft was particular to the Protestant states – we need our myths and rites of passage).
It was also a time of dreadful wars that engulfed W Europe and saw the populations reduced dramatically, so no surprise then there was a rebirth of a certain Romanticism harkening back to a Golden Age.
Rosicrucianism emerges in the 17th century with the publication of several texts announcing to the world a thitherto unknown esoteric order, publishing manifestos promising a "universal reformation of mankind" through a science "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which, "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe, and the spiritual realm", which they say had been kept secret until the intellectual climate might receive it.
The manifestos are a mix of Kabbala and Hermeticism, alchemy and Christian mysticism, appealing to the culture-starved intellectuals of the period. The promise of a 'spiritual transformation' at a time of great threat, fear and turmoil, was eagerly embraced.
The same thing happened in the late 19th/20th century, as a reaction against the dehumanising of the Industrial Revolution, WW1, etc., there is the emergence of Gothic literature, the Art of the Sublime, and a blossoming of new esoteric orders ....
Then again, in the 60's, post WW2 and the Bomb, we have the New Age ...
