Then shall the candidate be bound upon the wooden cross . . . After the
third day he shall be brought back from the dead and carried up to
heaven to be on the right hand of Him from whom he came. Surprisingly,
these lines are from an Egyptian initiation ritual thousands of years
before the Christian drama. Linking the two is just one fascinating
element in this profound introduction to esoteric Christianity, as
timely today as when it was first published in 1920. Famed clairvoyant
Charles Webster Leadbeater was a bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church,
which preserves the sacraments while interpreting the scriptures with
maximum freedom. He quotes St. Augustine himself saying that what we now
call Christianity emerged at the very beginning of humanity as the one
true religion. To access its transformative force, Leadbeater returns to
original teachings and decodes its story symbolically as a guide for
direct knowledge (Gr: gnosis) of the Divine. As Christ had the Godhead
behind Him, so have we the same power, although not yet unfolded as
fully, he says. Nevertheless, it is only a question of development, and
that development is certain. With the authority of a scientist and a
mystic, he addresses such topics as the birth of Christ in the heart;
God's utter love; divine grace; angelic help; the true meaning of
salvation; and reincarnation and the evolution of the soul.
