The Church As A Secret System: In the approximate year of 178 of our Common Era, Celsus, the Epicurean Philosopher and opponent of Christianity published a rather embarrassing work in opposition to Christianity known as The True Word or Discourse.    It is said that this work was widely published and used by the Pagan world as an attack on the Church.   Seventy years after its publication The True Word was still so widely circulated, that the Church Father Origen was commissioned by St. Ambrosius to refute this attack by Celsus.    This publication and the reply by the Church Father Origen is so important to modern-day Christians who are attempting to bypass the corruption of the Church by a series of Roman emperors beginning in the fourth century, that is should be a starting place for all sincere seekers of Truth and TheWay.

In our modern day it can be said that this reply by the Church Father Origen is even more important than when it was written.   Why?   Because the majority of Christians today have been so disenfranchised from the spiritual essence and objectives of the teachings of TheWay (The Way) that Jesus taught, that it is as if they are practicing a different religion.   Because they view life from a quasi-Darwinist perception -- and their minds have been trained by the secular philosophers of our day to limit their thinking to a counterfeit three-dimensional perception of Creation -- they remain helplessly lost, repeating scriptural verses that has little meaning to their present secularized state of mind.

In our endeavor to enlighten ourselves with regard to a much clearer picture of the original Gospel message as it was envisioned by the early Gentile church at that time prior to its Paganization under the government of Rome -- and in our effort to begin the process of comprehending our present day theological limitations which was a result of the Reformation -- it would be very helpful for us to begin by examining the church prior to the time when its doctrine came under the direct control of a series of Roman Emperors in the fourth century.   From this perspective, what we have in both The True Word by Celsus, and the official reply of the church in the form of Origen's work known as Origen Contra Celsum -- or, Origen Against Celsus -- is a window to the past that provides a rather unique glimpse into the beliefs and doctrines of the first and second century Gentile Christian Church.   Unique, in that the text not only contains the allegations of the second century Pagan world against the Church, but also the official reply of the Church to these allegations.   The document known as The True Word no longer exists, but its text is largely preserved in the eight (8) books that Origen wrote in the endeavor to refute the charges against the Church by the Pagan Philosopher Celsus.

In examination of this document, the modern Christian must initially ask: Who today would accuse the Christian Church of being a “secret system”?   No one -- because the Church today has lost its spiritual essence -- and is a mere shadow of its former self over the first three centuries of its existence.   Therefore, it is important for us to recognize that such an allegation would be unheard of in our present time.  

  The Institutionalized Church: The modern Church views its mission as a sort of religious outreach to save sinners -- and yet, quite contrary to the modern agenda, Celsus viewed sinners as being detrimental to a religion such as Christianity.  In fact, he questioned why they were even tolerated.   Before we inquire how such a statement could even be made, let us remember that the Apostle Paul said the exact same thing when he wrote: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” (2 Cor 6:14 NIV).   Further, the whole dogmatic foundation of the modern Church that dispenses salvation on the basis of merely saying a prayer and accepting Jesus as one's personal lord and saviour -- is openly condemned and rejected in the New Testament (see The Ten Minute Test). 

This view -- in and of itself -- is crucial to both demonstrate and understand the major fundamental differences between a secular institutionalized church -- which was born during the Nicene (Nicene Council in the year 325) and post Nicene period (after the year 325) -- and the anti or pre-Nicene Church (prior to the year 325 AD), during the first three centuries of our Common Era.   It is important to understand that from the perception of the pre-Nicene Church, the very pagan version of Christianity that came into existence in the fourth century -- the manmade dogma of which is the foundation of the Church today -- not only would have been condemned as heresy by the early pre-Nicene Church -- but is openly condemned as apostates to the New Covenant and the Kingdom in the Bible itself (see  The Ten Minute Test).  

If we are to begin the process of the spiritual restoration of the essence of the teachings of TheWay, it is important for us to understand that the doctrine of the Nicene and post-Nicene Church was largely under the control of the Emperors and the Roman Government.   This meant that in the fourth century, Christianity had become the religion of the masses -- masses of what -- masses of Pagan and heathen converts from every quarter of the Roman Empire.   This also meant that freedom to believe in accordance with either ones conscience, or even ones spiritual knowledge, was terminated once the church was brought under government control.   In fact, it could be stated that freedom of belief no longer existed once the church became institutionalized.   The church -- which had become secular in nature -- formulated official dogma, and like any other government edict or law, everyone was required to adhere to this doctrine.   Anyone who disagreed with the official position of the Church was either banished from the empire, or put to death.   At the direction of the Emperor Constantine, the Council of Nice declared Jesus to be God, and affirmed what is today known as the doctrine of the Trinity -- which basically states that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, are all one and the same being.   Yet, the scriptures openly stated that Jesus was a man who fulfilled the Law within himself, and became the (adopted) Son of God and Messiah at his baptism in the Jordan (see The Ten Words).   And that the modern Church continues to reject the very Words of God spoken to mankind, is a reality that has not only spiritually disenfranchised the modern Church -- but has inhibited them from receiving the Divine Knowledge/Manna of the Kingdom -- and like the Jews, has banished them into a Spiritual Diaspora of profound ignorance.  

  Church Sold It's Soul To The Devil: It can be said that when you sell your soul to the Devil, then you dwell under diabolical control.   From a spiritual perspective, the Roman Emperor Constantine was in every way the minister and servant of the Devil -- and when the segement of the Church which called themselves Orthodox entered a covenant with Constantine, then the Church itself became a possession of the Left Hand -- and that the Church would worship Satan instead of God, was predicted by Paul (see The Church Of The Anti-Christ).     

What is important to understand is that prior to the Council of Nice there existed a whole host of differing and often conflicting opinions with regard to the nature of Jesus.   Was Jesus God?   Was Jesus a man who matured to his true potential as the Offspring of God, and in essence took his place next to God his Father?  What we fail to realize today is the fact that, in a religion with a true spiritual foundation, these differences of opinion -- opinions that are not permitted under government rule -- are an absolutely necessary condition for the establishment of a healthy Church   In fact, it is the flexibility in doctrine that is necessary for the very structural fabric that is vital to support the proper functioning and framework of an enlightened Church.   In contradistinction, such flexibility in doctrine is absolutely detrimental to a secular institutionalized church -- where the hierarchy of priests must be maintained as the source and authority of church teachings and doctrine.    The Institutionalized Dogmatic Church breeds ignorance, and this can be readily demonstrated with the profound ignorance of the modern sect of Jehovah's Witnesses -- who must strictly adhere to the dogma of their Bible Aide that is published by the Watchtower in Brooklyn, New York.    Those who can observe the plight of the Jehovah's Witnesses portray their Bible Aide that has all the approved answers that a Witness is permitted to give, the sects "Paper Pope".

We can observe this same problem at work today in Communist China.   There is only one church -- which is the government ordained church.   Doctrine is controlled -- religious thought and expression is controlled -- the clergy being ordained to their position by the state, is tightly controlled -- by virtue of these controls, the church is never at odds with the government -- and the very manner in which the people worship is also controlled.   Genuine, spiritual religion is suppressed, and anyone who deviates from the prescribed doctrine of the government-church is immediately dealt with -- severely.

In a Spiritual Church such as that which Jesus ordained, the focus is not on the believer holding the proper set of beliefs, or a hierarchy of priests -- because the source and authority is spiritual, and remains above and beyond the physical world.   The belief's of each person are therefore seen as a product of the people's stage of spiritual development -- i.e., their spiritual condition -- and their level of understanding is in direct accordance with the individual person's condition in relation to man's spiritual reality.   Because each person is at a different level of spiritual awareness, fixed creeds and dogma are a detriment to a truly spiritual religion.

  Why Are sinners Tolerated?  When Celsus questioned why sinners were tolerated in the Pre-Nicene Church, he was merely affirming the Apostle Paul's warning when he commanded: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers?” (2 Cor 6:14 NKJ).  To the degree that the Congregation of believers are commanded not even to eat with sinners -- i.e., "But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner — not even to eat with such a person" (1 Cor 5:11 NKJV).   Yet, the modern Church which is very much secular and instutionalized, not only opens their doors to sinners -- but does not even require a change of mind and lifestyle (repentance) from their sinful ways.    And while these people may profess to be believers, their actions and thoughts of the heart reveal them to be unbelievers.   Why?   Unbelievers are those who, because of their carnal thinking and lifestyle, are spiritually undeveloped, and do not have a solid spiritual connection with God.   They may profess a belief in the Lord -- they may demonstrate the outward appearance of a religious person -- they may even be a priest or member of the clergy -- but because their heart and mind is focused on the things of this world, their condition is carnal, and they are said to be of the flesh rather than the spirit.  

To a Spiritual Church, these unbelievers who put on the appearance of being a Christian are in fact an anchor to the soul of the Church, and cause it to be grounded in the error and the dark ignorance of this world.   Being sinners, their condition is one of spiritual sickness -- they are incomplete and not whole, and unable to connect with God in the true spiritual sense.   As both Celsus and the Apostle Paul warns, if they are in too great a number, they will bring about the death and demise of the church itself.   In the end, the warning of Celsus, which merely reflected that same warning in the Epistles of Paul, proved correct.   And the Church Father Origen who was commissioned by the Church to refute Celsus, has been condemned as a heretic -- even though Origen was one of the greatest saints and enlightened holy men in the history of the Church. 

A government Church -- i.e., a secular institutionalized church not only welcomes sinners -- but its strength and continued existence depends upon a large body of adherents that Celsus calls sinners, and what Paul refers to as unbelievers.   Where a Spiritual, or Living Church must be accessed through man's spiritual nature -- and innate spiritual nature that is dormant in those who are carnal in their thinking and lifestyle -- the authority of an institutionalized church is very much of this world -- and it is necessary that its members remain at a level below, and in mental subjection to its body of pseudo-priests and clergy.   Genuine followers of the Christ would have nothing to do with the likes of Constantine, and neither would they enter into a covenant with the secular powers of this world.

  Spiritual vs Institutionalized Church: It is important for us to recognize the fact that neither Celsus, Origen, the Apostle Paul, or the Pre-Nicene Church could have been imbued with the thinking that too many sinners or unbelievers were detrimental to the religion of Jesus and TheWay, unless they possessed what we call a Gnostic mindset -- and their church was built upon a spiritual framework.   But since the mere use of the word Gnosis and Gnostic causes modern Christians to be alarmed, it is important to understand the meaning of the word Gnosis from a higher perspective of soul and spirit.   Quoting from The Reality Of Gnosis:  Gnosis is the Greek word meaning Spiritual Knowledge -- and True Gnosis is defined as Knowledge received directly from God.  Gnosis cannot be found in a book -- it cannot be taught by another man or teacher of this world -- and it is representative of a higher spiritual reality that simply cannot be redefined by man.  Gnosis is the Greek word which indicates that revelationary experiential Knowledge received directly from God -- and cannot be imparted by any other Source.  Which means that when quasi-religious and politically-religious motivated people condemn Gnosis/Spiritual Knowledge as heresy, they are in every way condemning and rejecting the Divine Manna/Knowledge imparted to the most religious and spiritual of mankind, as heresy.  Those who ignorantly condemn Gnosis, condemn the Directly Acquired Knowledge of God.  And the fact that, because of the politics of religion and the fact that governments the world over have traditionally used religion as a means to maintain rule and authority over the people, we can begin to understand the very reason why genuine Mystics who have dedicated their lives to seeking Spiritual Knowledge -- defined as Gnosis -- have concealed the means to acquire this Spiritual Knowledge within the written text of the scriptures -- cloaked in allegory, so it would not be revealed to carnal/organic man.

What this means is that Gnosis has nothing to do with man's history -- nothing to do with any historical people, including Jesus and Mary Magdalene (see The Cult Of The Worship Of Mary Magdalene) -- and what is presented in the scriptures, is an allegorical portrayal of the forces and Laws at work within the cosmology of one's own body, mind/soul and spirit.  That this body of esoteric knowledge is so important to preserve and protect, is the reason why Mystics and Spiritual Disciples will write virtually anything in the literal text -- even outlandish absurdities -- so long as the unenlightened people of organic consciousness will insure it is carried forth into future generations (see An Inconvenient Truth).   

This fact is further explored in Origen's reply to the allegations of Celsus, and in his answer we can see revealed the true mission of the genuine Christian Church that was ordained by Jesus and his Apostles.   Origen responded to the allegation of Celsus by explaining that:  “For there are in the divinity of the Word some helps towards the cure of those who are sick”, meaning the sinners.   Origen then clarifies his statement and writes that these sinners are by no means invited to “…participation in mysteries, then, and to fellowship in the wisdom hidden in a mystery, which God ordained before the world to the glory of His saints”.  

To demonstrate the biblical foundation of this great truth in Origen's reply to Celsus, we can see the same exact message in the assertion of Paul that there were different doctrines -- i.e., the “milk” for the carnal believer -- the lesser mysteries for the seeker -- and the deeper realties of the spirit for the genuine Christian -- of which Origen wrote: “Now, in answer to such statements, we say that it is not the same thing to invite those who are sick in soul to be cured, and those who are in health to the knowledge and study of divine things. We, however, keeping both these things in view, at first invite all men to be healed, and exhort those who are sinners to come to the consideration of the doctrines which teach men not to sin, and those who are devoid of understanding to those which beget wisdom, and those who are children to rise in their thoughts to manhood, and those who are simply unfortunate to good fortune, or -- which is the more appropriate term to use -- to blessedness. And when those who have been turned towards virtue have made progress, and have shown that they have been purified by the word, and have led as far as they can a better life, then and not before do we invite them to participation in our mysteries. ‘For we speak wisdom among them that are perfect’”.

What we have demonstrated in this reply to Celsus by Origen is the framework of a True Spiritual Church.   Contrary to the structure of the modern church, the Word is presented at varying levels in accordance with the needs of the individual.   The sinner is invited to partake of the healing of the Word -- and if they repent, and have a change in heart and mind, they will have prepared themselves to move onward.   After purification from the transgressions and mindset of this world and servitude to man's carnal nature, the minor mysteries can be revealed to the disciple -- which minor mysteries will then enable the disciple to begin the process of attaining the next stage of birth, and gaining entrance to the spiritual kingdom within them (see Gate Of Eden).   As the disciple gains spiritual strength and vitality, and develops his innate spiritual attributes -- attributes which lie dormant in the carnal believer -- the disciple is then able to take the hand of the Lord and walk in the footsteps of the Master.  

This great spiritual truth is seen in the words of Origen when he writes regarding the mysteries of God:  “…others again, which to the pure in soul and body exhibit the revelation of the Mystery, which was kept in secret since the world began, but now is made manifest by the scriptures of the prophets, and by the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ”.  Origen then goes on to explain that the Christ will appear to, and teach, everyone who will be His disciple and follow in His footsteps: “…which appearing is manifested to each one of those who are perfect, and which enlightens the reason in the true knowledge of things”.   In these words Origen confirms the essence of Christian doctrine -- a spiritual doctrine -- that even today, the Christ is the One and Only Teacher for the genuine disciple of the Light (see The True Prophet).

These words of Origen are of the utmost importance to the modern Christian in search of the higher mysteries of the Gospel.   What he is saying confirms the essence of New Covenant thought with respect to the existence of the One Teacher who will instruct the faithful flock when they have sufficiently purified themselves from the defilements of this world.    Where the objectives of the Pre-Nicene Spiritual Church was to gain access and learn directly from the  One Teacher who Jesus taught to seek out and learn from, these spiritual objectives were deemed heresy by the pseudo-priests of the Institutionalized Church.

The modern Christian is greatly inhibited in his spiritual knowledge by the fact that the Roman Church of the fourth century threw away the keys to understanding the manner in which man grows and evolves to perfection.   Instead, the modern faith-based believers cling to the dogma of Pagan Rome, and the words of the Apostle when he proclaimed: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23 KJV).   And because all have sinned, the modern Christian manufactures a perpetual array of dogmatic excuses -- all of which the pseudo-clergy provide dispensations -- which have the effect of a continued imprisonment in the abyss of profound ignorance.   In perceiving only a very limited vision of man's reality, we erroneously conclude that man's natural state is sin, and he must be redeemed.   Because the sixth century Emperor Justinian forced a quasi-Darwinist mindset upon the thinking of the church, we no longer understand that man's spirit is ever residing with God -- and our spirit is in fact depicted as the older son in the parable of the prodigal son.   In the parable, the elder son who remains with the father is older, because he represents our pre-existent soul and spiritual natures that has transcended all time as we understand it today.

What Origen and the first Christians were working to build was in fact the very essence and foundation of a Spiritual, or Mystical Church.   Those believers who purify the body in which they dwell, and seek the teachings of the Spiritual Christ, rather than clinging to the “Milk” of the Gospel, are those who mature enough to receive the knowledge of the Kingdom.   In understanding the differences between this pre-Nicene church, and what remains today, it is important to understand that the very word knowledge was of a multidimensional nature -- i.e., the word used to describe the knowledge gained as the vision of the disciple pierces beyond the great divide between this world and the Kingdom, in the Greek is called “Gnosis” -- or Gnosticism.   When the more spiritual disciples of the Apostle Paul said to the carnal Gentile converts, that man is saved through knowledge, they were speaking of the knowledge -- or gnosis -- that was given to them by the Anointing of the Spirit -- a knowledge that the carnal mind cannot receive, because spiritual truths and reality appear as “foolishness” to them (see Mystery Of The Gospel).   What they said was true because one cannot be Anointed without Knowing, and one cannot know without being Anointed.   Thus, spiritual knowledge and the Anointing of the Light are synonymous -- and this Anointing is in accord with each individuals spiritual condition!

Now the carnal believers who are unable to perceive the true vision of man's spiritual reality focused on Paul's doctrine of faith, without comprehending that the faith which Paul preached was not an end to itself -- but rather, a beginning of TheWay.   Because many carnal believers were being misled by the manner in which they understood what Paul wrote, James and other Ebionite Nazirene Christians intervened, as seen in the words: “What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? …Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, 'You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works’” (James 2:14-18 NAS).  

The problem is explored in the words of the Barnes' Notes Commentary for James 2:26: "...all history has shown, the statements of Paul on the subject of justification are liable to great abuse. All the forms of Antinomianism have grown out of such abuse, and are only perverted statements of his doctrine. It has been said, that if Christ has freed us from the necessity of obeying the law in order to justification; if he has fulfilled it in our stead, and borne its penalty, then the law is no longer binding on those who are justified, and they are at liberty to live as they please. It has been further said, that if we are saved by faith alone, a man is safe the moment he believes, and good works are therefore not necessary. It is possible that such views as these began to prevail as early as the time of James, and, if so, it was proper that there should be an authoritative apostolic statement to correct them, and to check these growing abuses. If, therefore, James had, as it has been supposed he had, any reference to the sentiments of Paul, it was not to correct his sentiments, or to controvert them but it was to correct the abuses which began already to flow from his doctrines, and to show that the alleged inferences did not properly follow from the opinions which he held; or, in other words, to show that the Christian religion required men to lead holy lives, and that the faith by which it was acknowledged that the sinner must be justified, was a faith which was productive of good works."

In the teachings of the New Covenant, faith is the foundation -- and it is the works of the spirit that opens the (mystical) gate between this realm and the Kingdom within  (see Gate Of Eden) that enlightens the mind of the disciple with the (gnosis) knowledge of the Light.   In order to begin to get a right sense of the reality that is being conveyed in these terms, we must understand that in the same way that gnosis has nothing to do with doctrine and the concepts of carnal men, neither does the term works have anything to do with the rituals or religious observances which was practiced by the secular Jews and the later Roman Church.   True Works is the manifestation of the Gospel Teachings and Principles in the life of the disciple/believer -- and has nothing to do with outward rituals in the manner of the carnal Jews who Jesus condemned as the offspring of the Devil.

The problem in the early church began to manifest when many of the Gentile converts attempted to reinterpret the teachings of TheWay as a means of justification and redemption from sin, whereby they could philosophically believe in Jesus and continue to live a carnal lifestyle.   From a gospel perspective, what these carnal believers were doing was embracing one part of what Paul wrote, and ignoring the other parts.   This is acknowledged by Barnes' Notes in the words: “All the forms of Antinomianism have grown out of such abuse, and are only perverted statements of his doctrine. It has been said, that if Christ has freed us from the necessity of obeying the law in order to justification; if he has fulfilled it in our stead, and borne its penalty, then the law is no longer binding on those who are justified, and they are at liberty to live as they please. It has been further said, that if we are saved by faith alone, a man is safe the moment he believes, and good works are therefore not necessary”.

Because their perception of the gospel was fragmentary and incomplete, they naturally ignored what they were unable to comprehend, and they were unable to perceive the reality of what Paul was attempting to covey where he wrote: “for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Rom 8:13-14 NAS).   In the end perhaps the ultimate example of a spiritually illegitimate doctrine is seen to have emerged out of this carnal reinterpretation of the gospel message as it became embodied in the doctrine of Original Sin -- which doctrine was conceived by the Latin Church Father St. Augustine -- whereby all men were born in sin, and incapable of doing anything good.

Those believers -- both Jewish and Christian -- who understood the essence of what Jesus conveyed in the parable of the prodigal son -- that the soul and spiritual natures pre-existed the body, and our indwelling spiritual nature which is the very source of our being, remains with the Father in the Kingdom -- were able to move their thinking beyond the carnal perception of the Word, pierce the great divide between this realm and the Kingdom, become enlightened by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, and embrace the Truth and the Light.   Those believers who clung to manmade carnal doctrines -- doctrines that envisioned man's reality from the perception of the body, and not the spirit -- caused the believers to fall into error.  

Over the course of the first four centuries the conflict raged between the carnal Christians who called themselves Orthodox, the spiritual (Gnostic) Christians, and at times the original Jewish Ebionite Nazirene believers who were often viewed as heretics by the majority of Gentile converts.   The end of the conflict came when the carnal Christians who called themselves Orthodox, entered into a covenant and alliance with the Roman Emperor Constantine, who then annihilated both the spiritual Christians and the Ebionite Nazirenes -- thereby making the very carnal reinterpretation of the gospel message the winner of the controversy.

The problem was that the carnal Christians were incapable of understanding the Apostles words when he wrote: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Rom 6:1-2 KJV).   The ideas they developed that man was genetically incapable of not being a sinner, and that even after becoming a Christian continued to sin, negated the words of Paul when he wrote: “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Rom 6:16 KJV).   One of their paramount errors was their failure to perceive the words of Paul in their true spiritual sense -- i.e., when Paul spoke of death he was not indicating the death of the body, but more appropriately, the severing of the natural man from his spiritual nature.   Thus, as sinners, and men of the flesh, the essence of New Covenant theology -- which was the spiritual perfection of the believer -- was simply beyond their comprehension.  

The political leaders of the church -- men such as Augustine -- waged great battles with those of an opposing viewpoint such as Pelagius, who championed the cause that “Man is able, if he likes, to live without sin and keep the commandments of God, in as much as God gives him this ability”.   Before we become offended by the early Christian idea that man can live a life free of sin, it is important for us to recognize in the words of Pelagius that he did not say that man has the power to live without sin -- but rather, “God gives him [man] this ability”.   What believer today would disagree with this statement?

The political leaders of the church could not even begin to envision the secret to the controversy when Jesus said: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls” (Luke 11:17 NKJ).   It is not that physical, or natural man had to become perfect -- but rather, that man only had to break down the great wall of divide that separates his carnal self, from his spiritual nature.  

From the perspective of the Old Testament symbolism, the plight of carnal man is embodied in the reality of the unmarried and unfaithful woman.   It is for this reason that James used the feminine gender when he wrote: “Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God. Or think ye that the scripture speaketh in vain? Doth the spirit which he made to dwell in us long unto envying?” (James 4:4-5 ASV).   It is for this same reason that the author of the Imitation of Christ used the feminine gender when he wrote: “I WILL hear what the Lord God will speak in me. Blessed is the soul who hears the Lord speaking within her”.   Throughout the New Testament the Lord is often called the Bridegroom.   Why?   In the symbolism of the scriptures male and female are viewed as opposite polarities -- sometimes within the same realm, other times the disciple is portrayed as female, while his soul or spiritual nature which resides in another parallel realm, is correctly portrayed as male.   Thus, it is for this reason that both the Old and New Covenant theology is often viewed as being obsessed with the absolute purity of the wife.   Why?   So she will be a fit vessel for the husband -- i.e., which husband could be either the soul or spiritual nature of the disciple -- and is even used to portray the relationship between the Son of God and the disciple.  

It is impossible to understand either the inner meaning of the scriptures, the relationship between this physical world and the parallel spiritual realms, or any other aspect of life and Creation without comprehending the all pervading force of male and female energies that interact and bring all things into existence throughout all worlds and dimensions of Being.   What few people are cognizant of is the fact that all the secrets of Creation can be understood as men and women seek out and explore the true depth of their own relationship one with another.   In the same way that an unfaithful wife squanders away the vital Creative Life-Force that is indigenous to the male or positive power of Creation, so too do we squander away the vital life-force that flows into us from our indwelling soul and spiritual natures when we permit ourselves to become entangled in the elemental things of this world.   Because all that is manifest exists and has it’s being within the Two Great Powers of Creation -- and these Two Great Powers move out into Creation and remain present in every life-form that holographically exists throughout every realm and dimension of Being, once the Divine Pattern is fully understood, this knowledge can then be used to unlock the Mysteries and Sacred Secrets of the Eternal-God.  

  Widows And Orphans - The Spiritual Birth Within Us: That mankind is represented as the lost prodigal sons -- and that man is portrayed as being feminine in relation to his indwelling spiritual nature -- is demonstrated in both the statement in the Epistle of James and the most used Gospel of the early Church which was the Shepherd of Hermas.    The Epistle of James reads: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27 NIV) -- but when it is understood that the term  Widows and Orphans possess a spiritual meaning that is not at all understood by those whose minds are in a carnal condition, the above words of Origen pertaining to the early pre-Nicene Church takes on a new and important spiritual meaning.   As explained by Origen, the term Widows and Orphans does not at all pertain to a woman whose husband had physically died -- but rather, orphans are defined as “youthful minds are admonished, who have not yet deserved to have God as their Father, and are on that account styled orphans”.   With regard to widows Origen writes: “They, again, are the widows, who have withdrawn themselves from the unjust man, to whom they had been united contrary to law; but who have remained widows, because they have not yet advanced to the stage of being joined to a heavenly Bridegroom”.    Widows and Orphans are therefore the allegorical portrayal of believers who are in the process of transition and transformation -- with a woman who is a fit wife of the Bridegroom, no longer losing vital life-force -- or what is portrayed as the inheritance of the prodigal son -- being squandered away on the things of this world.     

What this ultimately means is that when our consciousness -- our vital energies -- and our focus in life is projected into this world, we are the lost prodigal sons who squander away our inheritance -- i.e., the adulteress and unfaithful wife who is the sinner and evil doer that must be redeemed.   Our sin -- and for that matter, the very nature of sin from a biblical and spiritual perspective -- can only be truly understood when be begin to perceive the very incomplete nature of our physical being.   When we are no longer the “house divided” that Jesus condemned as a fatal flaw, and we become married to our inner spiritual nature by the mystical refocusing of our consciousness and vital energies with the spouse of our soul, we take on the attributes which are portrayed in scripture as the virgin -- undefiled from the world -- who gives birth to the Child of the Light -- or the Son of God within us.

Because the political leaders of the church embraced a carnal and pagan reinterpretation and perception of the Word, the believers who adhered to the doctrines of the Church of the Roman Empire became helplessly lost in their quest to walk in The Way.   The problem is that the Christian world continues to remain helplessly lost because they no longer possess the knowledge of the Divine Pattern of Creation -- and neither do they understand the workings of the laws that control this realm -- the laws that control the interaction between man’s physical, soul and spiritual natures -- and especially the Royal Law that is spoken about in the Epistle of James.

The biblical concept that the flesh can do nothing good on its own, and is in need of redemption, is the scriptural manifestation of the “house divided”.   What we must begin to realize is that from a biblical perception, spiritual sterility is a sin.   In view of the fact that natural man is feminine in relation to his soul and spirit, the barren woman or the whore of this world is viewed as a sinful creature.   In the same way that a woman cannot conceive and give birth to a child without her male counterpart, the idea of man's inherent sinful nature can only be comprehended when one perceives man as being in a state of incompletion.

When the disciple walks in TheWay, this division is overcome -- and the feminine, carnal nature, becomes merged and married to its inner spiritual nature.   It is for this reason the Bible teaches that the wife must be in total subjection to the husband -- or, in the mystical sense of the marriage, the flesh to the spirit.

The true dilemma of man's existence in this world was easier to comprehend when our culture was based upon these biblical and spiritual realities.   Thus, the concept that woman was an integral part of the man is seen demonstrated in our laws that predated our so-called modern times.  In Blackstone's Law Commentary, under the common law, Book II, Chapter XXIX, VI, marriage is described as the absolute merger of husband and wife into a single legal identity: “…By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law... The very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband, under whose wing, protection, and cover she performs everything; and is therefore called… a femme-covert; and her condition during her marriage is called her coverture”.

In Law, the concept of the unity of husband and wife as a single person was so complete, that a married woman was even absolved of full criminal responsibility for her own conduct: “…criminal acts committed by a woman in her husband's presence were assumed to be done under the husband's command, and he was therefore held responsible” (The Law of Domestic Relations by Homer Clark, St. Paul, Minn, West Publishing Co., 1968, p. 229).   As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Black observed:  “…this rule has worked out in reality to mean that though the husband and wife are one, the one is the husband” (Law, Society, and Industrial Justice by Philip Selznick, New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1969, p. 53).  

Once properly understood, the Bible is neither sexist, nor is it anti-woman, as falsely envisioned by many people today.   These polarities -- male and female -- are holographically true and relevant on every level of our being -- and are used in the manner as depicted in the scriptures, because we are actually living the polarities of Creation throughout every aspect of our daily lives.   Moreover, this is not only the case in relation to men and women, but also our multi-dimensional nature -- which ultimately means that we are living out the very blue-print and Design of all of Creation.   That we are a reflection of our pre-existent soul -- and that if we are to overcome this world we must be in total subjection to our soul that is not manifest in this world or our physical body-vessel (see The Reality Of The Soul And Cosmology of Mind And Being) -- is something that cannot be negated through all the political correctness that we can imagine and create.   Why?   Because the being we truly are can only be perceived and realized from the reality of our soul which not only has projected us into this world (see Man As An Embryonic Soul-Image), but is the very immediate source of our being.   That each level of mind and being within us is a projected image of the level which precedes it -- i.e., God into our individual spiritual nature, spirit into soul, soul into physical -- means that our immediate obstacle is to overcome the wall of division that separates us from our pre-existent soul.   Moreover, because the vital life-force upon which our personality and consciousness springs forth in its own unique individuality, originates with God and flows through our spiritual and soul natures prior to entering into us, our soul is male (positive polarity) in relation to us (reflected polarity).   What this means is that when we attempt to ignore reality and cling to cultural philosophy and political correctness, we end up being unfaithful to our true self -- and ultimately, we make ourselves less by attempting to live in accordance with traditions, falsehoods, and counterfeit doctrines that we have ourselves manufactured.

People in search of Spiritual Truth endeavor to mold their lives in accordance with the Divine Pattern of Creation.   Philosophy -- opinion -- manmade religious dogma -- political correctness -- gender re-engineering -- is all meaningless from the perspective of man’s higher reality.   It is for this reason that in a genuine Jewish and Christian spiritual community which attempts to manifest the higher reality of God and Man, the people recognize that the most gain is always accomplished when each individual explores and perfects the role in life they were born into.   Are you a woman?   A man?   Then learn what it is to be a woman or a man -- and especially in relation to the opposite sex.   Overcoming the natural barriers of the physical world in which we dwell is not easy.   When we can use the indigenous powers and energies of the body, and channel them in the direction we wish to move, the task is made much more simple, because it is natural to one's present state of being.

  Man As A Soul-Embryo: What we are making reference to is the relationship between the soul -- or active principle -- and the natural person of this world which is embryonic and reflective of the soul.   In the designs of our Creator, people prepare themselves to embrace the unity of the soul by first learning to move into an abiding Oneness with their physical spouse.   In a spiritual community, men and women live out this all-encompassing mystical concept, which is a foundational principle of the teachings that Jesus taught as The Way.   It is an abiding truth that the flesh, without the union of spirit, could do nothing good on its own, and was in need of redemption -- or marriage with man's spiritual nature.   Thus, it is not that the carnal nature of man is evil -- but rather, carnal man exists in a state of incompletion.   It is not until we begin to understand that from a spiritual perspective, all evil is the result of this incompletion, that we are able to get a more perceptive vision of man’s higher reality.   Historically, the problem is that when carnal men who did not comprehend the unity of the flesh with the pre-existent soul and spirit, attempted to reinterpreted the Word and embody their very limited perception of reality into a secular institution founded upon manmade doctrines and creeds, the whole spiritual focus and direction of the teachings of Jesus became altered and misdirected from its original course.

As the Apostle states, spiritual reality is foolishness to the carnal mind that envisions itself as originating with the body (see Mystery Of The Gospel).   It is foolishness, because carnal man cannot perceive anything beyond the three-dimensional barrier of this realm, and is incapable of comprehending his origination as an embryonic projected image of man’s indwelling pre-existent soul.   When we therefore erroneously view ourselves as being the offspring of men and women, instead of the image of our soul projected into this world -- which soul and spiritual natures are the offspring of the One God -- we simply cannot perceive of the very essence and meaning of both life and the scriptures.   The result is that we fail to see Jesus in accordance with his own words spoken to us: “Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’” (John 20:17 NIV).   Thus, we fail to see the relationship between our pre-existent soul to that of Jesus, and do not comprehend the meaning of Jesus' teachings that we are all the prodigal sons of our Father.   The result is that we are forced to create doctrine upon doctrine in our attempt to explain spiritual mysteries that are beyond our ability to comprehend.

It is because we open the Bible with preconceived notions that were infused upon our modern ideas of religion by the Church of the Roman Empire, and we cling to the doctrines of men in our search for truth, that we fail to perceive that the teachings of The Way is the return of the prodigal son through the marriage and merger of our inner, pre-existing spiritual nature -- overcoming the dilemma of a "house divided cannot stand" syndrome.   We fail to grasp the very essence of what Jesus taught when he told us: Turn about, and change the mind as seen in the English translation of the scriptures where it states: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 3:2 NAS) -- instead of the original meaning of the Greek which literally means to “change the mind” -- conveying the true spiritual meaning to “Open and unloose the mind, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.   Under the dominion of the Pagan Roman doctrines that we cling to today, we cannot even conceive of how the Kingdom can be found when we “Open and unloose the mind” -- which is a core teaching of the New Covenant.

It is because the Church of Rome threw away the Keys of Knowledge, that we lack an understanding of these fundamental spiritual precepts today -- precepts which represent the very elementary concepts of the Mysteries of God.   The result of our no longer possessing the key of knowledge is seen in our failure to comprehend the manner in which our own eventual perfection is achieved.   Moreover, what truly confuses the whole state of affairs is the fact that the concept that carnal man is incapable of perfection is not wrong -- but can only be understood by perhaps using an analogy: If a mutant disease suddenly killed all the males in the world today, from the perspective of bearing children, all the remaining women would be unable to procreate.   In the same way that a woman without a man would be unable to bring forth a child, so too is the natural mind of man incapable of bringing forth spiritual Life without the union of his pre-existent soul and indwelling spirit.

The result of our very limited perception of the Word is seen in the fact that perfection is beyond our scope of vision because we neither understand it, nor do we comprehend the process.   Why?   Because as Christians our forefathers were raped and ravaged by the Pagan Emperor and his diabolical servants, when the True Spiritual Christians were put to death for refusing to accept the religious dogma and leadership of the Emperor's Church of the Anti-Christ.   In clinging to the doctrines of men, the Christian world dwells in what Jesus portrayed as the "outer darkness" of mind and being -- and they possess a very limited vision of Creation -- i.e., we see only this three-dimensional world, and we fail to realize that the biblical goal of perfection which is written about throughout every book of the Bible is merely the overcoming of our own inner division of carnal-body mind, soul-mind, and spiritual-mind.   Moreover, in failing to understanding that our soul and spirit not only at present consciously exists in parallel realms, and in fact pre-existed the physical body and carnal mind that we are using in this life, the whole process and requirement of perfection as outlined in the scriptures makes absolutely no sense to us. 

The result is that we have been alienated from Christianity in its original form, because we no longer possess a very clear perception of the very threefold nature of the pre-Constantine Gentile Church.   What this means is that in the same way that man is comprise of a threefold nature -- i.e., physical, soul and spirit, so too is the scriptures, as well as the original Gentile Church prior to the hostile takeover by Constantine and Pagan Rome.   It it’s original form, there was one segment of the body of believers who were very carnal in their perception of the Word -- and these were they who both the Apostle and the Church Father Origen spoke of as needing the “milk” of the Gospel.   Then there were those who progressed beyond the limitations of this realm, and were souls in search of truth -- and these were the disciples who had dedicated their lives to a more perfect and spiritual understanding of the Word.   And lastly, there was the mature Israelite or Christian who had themselves become spiritual -- and in overcoming their inner division and unity with the Divine Essence within them, these were spiritual men and women who perceived and became a part of the very destiny of mankind itself.  

It is important for us to recognize that in the words of Origen we find it demonstrated the difference between a carnal church of the flesh, and one of the spirit.   Because Constantine was not only carnal, but in every way a ruthless conscienceless despot who embraced evil in everything he did, the church that he formed was born in the image of its creator.   If modern Christians find these words offensive, again let me set the words of your own witness before you when Luther said of the Christian Church: “…once the holiest of all, has become the most licentious den of thieves, the most shameless of all brothels, the kingdom of sin, death, and hell. It is so bad that even Antichrist himself, if he should come, could think of nothing to add to its wickedness” (Quoted in: The Great Thoughts; compiled by George Seldes).  

In a Living Church, there is no reason for beliefs, opinions, dogma or doctrine, because the Living Christ will come to each disciple -- and, in the words of Origen, “enlighten the reason in the true knowledge of things”.   Beliefs, opinions, dogma and doctrine, must therefore be seen as an obstacle in the path of the disciple in a Living Church.

Many sincere Christians today have attempted to embrace the higher aspects of the Gospel -- but it is near impossible for them to follow in a more spiritual path so long as many of their foundational doctrines are drawn from the genetic well of Constantine's Church.   When we begin to recognize this, we will become aware of the fact that to truly restore the Gospel to its original form, we must become very cognizant of our religious genetic flaws.  

How can we continue to open our Bibles to the many warnings of the Apostle when he writes that the carnal mind is incapable of comprehending the Spiritual Gospel of Christ -- and observe where he plainly tells us that the Mysteries of God are beyond even our ability to envision -- and yet, we condemn both the Hebrew Messianic believers who Jesus himself personally revealed the higher truths of the Gospel, as well as the original Gentile Church who claimed to have received these incomprehensible mysteries directly from the Apostle Paul, as heretics?   Are these first and earliest of Christians truly heretics, or are we just perceiving them through our own religious genetic flaw that we inherited when the church that immerged from the Reformation retained many of the foundational doctrines of the Church of Constantine?   Regardless of how much we pray and call upon the name of the Lord, we can draw no nearer to Christ until we have truthfully and accurately answered this question.

  The Pre-existent Soul: One of the things that the modern reader must keep in mind is the fact that Origen had not yet been born when The True Word was first published.   In view of the fact that Origen was officially anathematized by the Emperor Justinian in the year 553 because of his teaching on the pre-existence of the soul (reincarnation), it must be remembered that when Origen defends the Church's doctrines of belief in this matter, he is not defending any beliefs that he was responsible for bringing into the church.   In refuting the attack of Celsus on the church, Origen is in fact defending beliefs and doctrines that were very much a part of the Christian Church prior to Origen even being born -- i.e., beliefs that originated in the first and second centuries of our Common Era.   

Though Origen was eventually condemned by the later Church of the Roman Empire for holding fast to these earliest of Christian beliefs, and Clement of Alexandria was stripped of his sainthood, the entire church was basically condemned by the later Roman Church for being too Hellenistic.   Were they?   It must be realized that neither Origen, nor Clement were the authors of these doctrines.   Therefore, what the writings of these earliest of Church Fathers provide us is a picture of the Church when it was truly a spiritual entity -- i.e., prior to the time when the infusion of government authority undermined and destroyed the great spiritual foundation which was ordained by the Living Word.   It was at this period that the church was in its finest day -- when it healed the sick, and opened the doors of the Kingdom to the disciple in search of Truth.

  Secret System? When Celsus attacked the Church for being a “secret system”, teaching some a different doctrine than others, Origen replied: “Moreover, since he frequently calls the Christian doctrine a secret system, we must confute him on this point also, since almost the entire world is better acquainted with what Christians preach than with the favorite opinions of philosophers.  For who is ignorant of the statement that Jesus was born of a virgin, and that He was crucified, and that His Resurrection is an article of faith among many, and that a general judgment is announced to come, in which the wicked are to be punished according to their desserts, and the righteous to be duly rewarded?” 

Fundamentally, what Origen enumerated was elementary Christian doctrine 101 -- i.e., what the Apostle Paul refers to as the “milk” -- or that basic doctrine which still exists to this very day (see Mystery Of The Gospel).   Origen acknowledged these doctrines -- refuted Celsus by stating that these beliefs are openly expounded as articles of Christian faith, and then Origen explained: “And yet the mystery of the Resurrection, not being understood, is made a subject of ridicule among the unbelievers.  In these circumstances, to speak of the Christian doctrine as a secret system is altogether absurd.  But that there should be certain doctrines, not made known to the multitude, which are after the exoteric ones having been taught, is not a peculiarity of Christianity alone, but also of philosophic systems, in which certain truths are exoteric and others are esoteric.  Some of the heroes of Pythagoras were content with his ipse dixit; while others were taught in secret those doctrines which were not deemed fit to be communicated to the profane and insufficiently prepared ears.  Moreover, all the mysteries that are celebrated everywhere throughout Greece and the barbarous countries, although held in secret, have no discredit thrown upon them, so that it is in vain he endeavors to calumniate the secret doctrines of Christianity, seeing that he does not correctly understand its nature”.

It is important that the reader not skim over this rather profound statement that was composed by  Origen in reply to the allegations of Celsus with respect to the acknowledgement that Christianity was is a secret system where some were taught differently than those who were more spiritually mature.   Moreover, what is imperative for the modern Christian to realize is that Origen -- whose reply to Celsus represented the position of the whole Church on these matters -- states that there is another meaning in the doctrine of the resurrection that is not understood by the multitude of believers who were of the simple faith.   In view of the fact that this allegation by Celsus was made against the church before Origen was even born, we cannot take the position that the ideas expressed in this document represent the personal beliefs of Origen.

  Exoteric Doctrines Designed For Entry-Level Believers:  In explanation, the doctrine of the physical resurrection of the body, says Origen, is misunderstood by the spiritually unaware, and writes that it was “preached in the Churches… for the simpleminded and for the ears of the common crowd who are led on to live better lives by their belief”.   Why?   Because the resurrection is a spiritual event that has to do with the perfection of the soul, and is experienced in the rebirth of the disciple.   This was not a matter of belief or doctrine -- but rather, this understanding was based upon the very experiences of the Spiritual Christians who had themselves inherited the promise of the Christ!   That the True Esoteric Teachings could not be revealed to the entry-level immature believers, is explored at the  Mystery Of The Gospel.

With regard to the mystery of the resurrection, St. Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa writes: “Observe, then, that I can hear David, in the midst of his praises in the Divine Songs, saying at the end of the hymn of the hundred and third (104th) Psalm, where he has taken for his theme God's administration of the world, 'Thou shalt take away their breath, and they shall die, and return to their dust: Thou shalt send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created: and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.' He says that a power of the Spirit which works in all vivifies the beings into whom it enters, and deprives those whom He abandons of their life. Seeing, then, that the dying is declared to occur at the Spirit's departure, and the renewal of these dead ones at His appearance, and seeing moreover that in the order of the statement the death of those who are to be thus renewed comes first, we hold that in these words that mystery of the Resurrection is proclaimed to the Church, and that David in the spirit of prophecy expressed this very gift which you are asking about”.

According to St. Gregory who expresses a biblically based opinion that is correct in the spiritual sense of the concept, death is that condition when the Holy Spirit is not present, and the mystery of the resurrection is experienced when the disciple is again made alive by the Anointing of the Holy Spirit.   What this means is that Constantine -- a dead man who was deprived of the life-giving spirit -- is the father of our present-day dogmatic perception of the word.   What it also means is that from a spiritual perspective, the resurrection is experienced by those who are reborn -- not philosophically, in the manner of born again Christians today -- but truly reborn into the very Kingdom that Jesus declared was awaiting those who “opened and unloosed” their minds to man's spiritual nature and reality (see GateOfEden.com .

With regard to the mystery of the virgin birth, St. Gregory writes: “…we conclude that the power of the Highest, coalescing with our entire nature by that coming upon (the Virgin) of the Holy Ghost, both resides in our soul, so far as reason sees it possible that it should reside there, and is blended with our body, so that our salvation throughout every element may be perfect”.  

We can begin to perceive what Origen was speaking of when he wrote that: “But that there should be certain doctrines, not made known to the multitude, which are after the exoteric ones having been taught”.   If the Christian is to be so immersed in the symbolism of the scriptures to the degree where each of us must be born of a virgin, anointed, perfected, crucified, and resurrected into the spiritual Kingdom of God, while we are still living in this body of flesh and blood, then -- and only then -- can be begin to get the true sense of Jesus' requirement for his followers when he stated: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” (Mark 8:34-35 NIV).   Thus, because we no longer perceive either the spiritual meaning, or the need to become totally immersed in the biblical symbols, it can be easily demonstrated that the religion we practice today is not the same religion that Jesus taught.  

Among the mysteries that were concealed from the masses who were too carnal to receive the deeper truths of Christianity, was the doctrine of the pre-existence of the soul.   Again, in his writing known as The True Word, Celsus accused the Christian Church of teaching the masses the spurious doctrine of heaven and hell in an after death state, while teaching the elect the doctrine of reincarnation.   Though this may astonish the modern believer, Origen does not refute Celsus, but rather explains that: “But on these subjects much and that of a mystical kind, might be said; in keeping with which is the following: It is good to keep close the secret of a king, (Tobit xii, 7), in order that the doctrine of the entrance of souls into bodies, not, however, that of the transmigration from one body into another, may not be thrown before the common understanding, nor what is holy given to the dogs, nor pearls be cast before swine.  For such a procedure would be impious, being equivalent to a betrayal of the mysterious declaration of God's Wisdom”.

“It is good to keep secret the entrance of souls into bodies”, Origen writes, but “not… the transmigration from one body into another”.   In other words, Origen openly acknowledges that the pre-existence of the soul, as well as the doctrine of transmigration (reincarnation) are openly revealed to Christians who have been purified and matured sufficiently to comprehend the mysteries of God, while the knowledge of why the soul even came into this world is kept secret, and is not openly revealed to carnal minds.   In explanation, Origen quotes scripture and writes “It is good to keep close the secret of a king”, and affirms that certain mysteries only belong to the spiritually mature in the word, and that one should not permit “what is holy given to the dogs, nor pearls be cast before swine”.

Again, because of the nature of what is being discussed, I will again repeat that it is important to remember that these allegations against the church which Origen responded to were made prior to Origen being born, and at a time when his mentor Clement of Alexandria, did not yet hold a position or authority in the Church.   These charges -- i.e., that the spiritually mature were taught the pre-existence and reincarnation of the soul, while the people of the simple faith were taught the doctrine of heaven and hell -- were made against the church when it was barely one hundred years old.   And, seventy years after these allegations were written, Origen acknowledged that there was the exoteric Christian doctrine which was “preached in the Churches… for the simpleminded and for the ears of the common crowd who are led on to live better lives by their belief”, and there was the esoteric Christian doctrine, which revealed the sacred mysteries of God to those who were cleansed from the defilements of this world.  

Today we can observe many Fundamentalist Churched teaching the Old Testament as an historical and literal fact.   Yet, the Apostle Paul called such teachers “an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law” (Rom 2:20 NKJ).   What the carnally minded failed to perceive is that all religious doctrines of the flesh are used to convey great metaphysical truths of the spirit.   What is conveyed literally, according to the Apostle, is that the text of the scriptures are merely a “form” of the truth, which is veiled, in order to conceal what carnal man is unable to comprehend with his very limited mental resources.   Why were the deeper Christian mysteries concealed from the masses?   The resolution to the problem is not to reveal to carnal minds what they are incapable of comprehending, but to lead the believers of the simple faith to the point where they are able to begin to participate in the mysteries of life, and become immersed in these sacred truths, in order for the believer to become a disciple, whereby they will be able to begin the experience of manifesting the Kingdom in their own life.   The key word that must be understood here is “immersed”, which in no way can be construed to be the same as one who philosophically believes without actual participation.

This great truth is seen in Origen's reply to Celsus where he wrote: “By participation in the Son of God one is adopted as a son… by participation in the Holy Spirit is a man rendered holy and spiritual…” and, “every rational creature needs a participation in the Trinity”.   Those who have not themselves yet uncovered their true spiritual nature as the son of God, perceive sacred truths in forms, types, and allegories -- because they, being carnal, “cannot comprehend” the mysteries of God that awaits them.   When God, in the words of St. Nazianzen, no longer is an “object of wonder”, but rather an “object of desire” -- and we, desiring to be purified from the defilements of this world, make ourselves fit vessels for the Lord to indwell, the Spirit, according to St. Nazianzen, reveals to us our true nature, and the revelation of this manifest Sacred Knowledge makes “us like God; so that when we have thus become like Himself, God may, to use a bold expression, hold converse with us as Gods, being united to us, and that perhaps to the same extent as He already knows those who are known to Him”.  St. Nazianzen then writes that “the Divine Nature then is boundless and hard to understand” by those who are yet carnal and think as natural beings of this world.

Who among us has attained to such a level of Godliness that God will “converse with us as Gods”?   It is for this reason that Origen admits that the disciple of Christ knows full well that growing to spiritual maturity is not a simple chore.   In the same way that a man cannot grow to maturity in the cycle of a day, neither can the soul grow to its Godly potential in the cycle of one lifetime.   In the same way that a child grows to a man in steps, the soul has transmigrated and inhabited many bodies of flesh in its quest for this necessary level of Godliness.   It is also the true disciple of Christ who knows that the Lord Jesus came to save us from our fate of being lost in this world -- in subjection to the Law, ever reincarnating in useless lives of suffering and spiritual depravation -- but carnal man, refusing to follow in Jesus' footsteps, continually chooses the darkness of this world over the Light of the kingdom.

The question the modern believer must ask is this: Do you truly believe the words of our Lord when He said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NIV)?   If you believe these words, then you have only one option: You must be ready to cast off the manmade doctrines of error that have become infused into modern Christianity, and become a genuine disciple of the Light.   If you truly believe, then you must begin your search for the real Jesus.   The true Christians are not those who believe in the christ of Constantine or the very carnal and Pagan doctrines of the Roman Church -- but rather, those who realize that they must have Jesus of Nazareth, and no other.   True Christians know that it is not enough to believe, they must believe the Truth -- which Truth can only be received directly from the Lord.

The problem is that in our quest for truth, we have been greatly misled.   Our experts, scholars and theologians do not know the real Jesus.  In the words of A. Powell Davies: “Biblical scholars were not disturbed by what they found in the Dead Sea Scrolls because they had known all along that the origin of Christianity was not what was commonly supposed to have been”.   Many of these same biblical scholars have written numerous books warning the believer that the foundation of church doctrine today was not born on the shores of Galilee at the beginning of our Common Era -- but rather, Rome in the fourth century.   Yet, the message of the biblical scholar has left a great void in the understanding of the believer.   Why?   Our scholars themselves cannot tell us what to believe, because they were not there when the Lord physically walked the earth.  In truth, they cannot tell you what they do not know.  

Biblical scholars such as Wescott and Hort have openly stated that the original text of the Bible has been lost -- and because of the missing pieces, they are unable to restore what they no longer possess.   What the scholar and experts from all disciplines can tell you is that: The historical church -- the Roman Church whose hands believers today received their gospel -- threw away the most important aspects of Jesus' teachings when they recreated the church as a secular institution -- and adopted the doctrines of Constantine and Pagan Rome -- who is in every way described as a dead man who was deprived of the spirit.  Thus, our experts, scholars and theologians cannot help us in our search of the true teachings of Jesus.

If it is true that an important part of the original teachings of Jesus has been lost by the fourth century church, we must then ask the question as to how a believer today can find the truth?   There is only one way.   Each Christian must seek the truth from the True Prophet that the Apostle Peter taught lies dormant within each and every person, and which Prophet can meet and teach each one of us within our own minds and being.   The answer lies in the very first principles of the gospel where it reads:  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 3:2 NAS) -- except we must truly repent through change, and the process of “opening and unloosing the mind” in order to enter the Heavenly Kingdom that the Lord testified is at hand.  

If we truly believe the teachings of Jesus, we cannot sit passively by without coming to terms with the words of Prof. Allegro when he warned that: “It is a fact that the Qumran Library has profoundly affected the study of the Johannine writings and many longheld conceptions have had to be radically revised”.  Thus, we must ask the question: What longheld conceptions must we radically revise in order to begin to comprehend the true meaning of the New Testament, and especially the Gospel of John?  

Every Sunday we listen to accepted religious authorities preach the gospel -- stating, one only has to have faith to be saved.   Yet, experts such as Prof. Allegro warn us that what is being preached has little in common with the religion that Jesus taught.   The first flaw in our thinking has to do with our perception of the scriptures themselves.   When we pose the question as to why we can't just simply read the scriptures like we have been doing?   The answer lies in Prof. Allegro's statement that John's “…gnosticism, and the whole framework of his thought is seen now to spring directly from a Jewish sectarianism rooted in Palestinian soil, and his material recognized as founded in the earliest layers of Gospel traditions.”   Thus, the problem lies in the fact that our mindset today is very different -- and almost opposite -- to the mindset of the authors of our Gospels.   Why?   If it is true that John and the other authors of our scriptures wrote from the framework of Gnostic thought, then the whole direction of even the manner we traditionally search for truth must be radically altered.  

Few Christians today possess any comprehension whatsoever with respect to the meaning of the term Gnostic?   Webster's Dictionary defines the word Gnostic as being the Greek word for Knowledge.   Roget's Thesaurus lists the word Gnostic as an alternative meaning of the word discerning -- which is defined as “showing insight and understanding; discriminating” by Webster's.   Thus the word denotes those people who possess knowledge -- and especially knowledge through direct spiritual experience -- in contradistinction to those people who believe as an exercise in faith in the unknown.   In many respects the word Gnostic is synonymous with words such as spiritual, mystical, paranormal, metaphysical, supernatural and transcendental -- in that it has to do with the acquisition of knowledge gained directly from sources beyond the physical senses of man.  

When the scriptures state that “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24 KJV), the means by which we learn to worship God in spirit, rather than in the flesh, is through the acquisition of spiritual knowledge.   In our natural state we are limited to using less than ten percent of our potential of mind, because these parts of the mind relate to our soul and spiritual nature.   When we begin to grasp this greater reality, we begin to comprehend that the spiritual knowledge that is acquired though direct interaction with inner sources beyond man's physical nature is called “gnosis”, and is the foundation of the spiritual or Gnostic temple.  

What did the first Christians believe?   Did they believe the same faith-based doctrine as Christians do today?   The answers to this question will shock many modern believers as they begin to examine the legacy of writings that have been preserved -- writings that the majority of Christians today haven't the slightest idea exist, and even fewer realize the message they convey.  

Much of what will be presented in the following pages will be from the writings of the earliest of Church Fathers.   St. Clement, who was the first century disciple of Peter who is mentioned by Paul in Philippians 4:3.  Clement of Alexandria, who was the most authoritive Christian voice in the second century.   Origen, who was Clement's pupil and head teacher of the Christian school in Alexandria.  

Who were these people?   In the writings of the second century Church Father Clement of Alexandria, he speaks of himself as “preserving the tradition of the blessed doctrine derived directly from the holy Apostles, Peter, James, John and Paul.”   In the introduction to Clement of Alexandria in the Anti-Nicean Library it states: “Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem, speaks of Clement, in turn, as his master: 'for we acknowledge as fathers those blessed saints who are gone before us, and to whom we shall go after a little time; the truly blest Pantaenus, I mean, and the holy Clemens, my teacher, who was to me so greatly useful and helpful.' St. Cyril of Alexandria calls him 'a man admirably learned and skillful, and one that searched to the depths all the learning of the Greeks, with an exactness rarely attained before.' So Theodoret says, ‘He surpassed all others, and was a holy man.' St. Jerome pronounces him the most learned of all the ancients; while Eusebius testifies to his theological attainments, and applauds him as an 'incomparable master of Christian philosophy’”.

In the case of Clement's pupil, Origen, he was not a convert -- his father was a Christian martyr.   Origen is called “…the most prominent of all the church fathers” (Encyclopedia. Britannica), and was considered by Jerome to be “the greatest teacher of the Church after the Apostles.”   St. Gregory of Nyssa called him “the prince of Christian learning in the Third Century.”   Eusebius, who is known as the Historian of the early church, writes of Origen that he “…clung firmly to the Christian principles his parents had taught him, as this record has already shown”.

Speaking of Origen's saintly life, Eusebius writes that: “While Origen was performing his normal tasks at Caesarea, his services were in constant demand not only by the local people but also by innumerable foreign students who had left their own countries.  The most distinguished names known to me are those of Theodore - who was none other than that illustrious bishop of my own day, Gregory - and to Greek and Roman studies, but he implanted in them a love of true philosophy and induced them to exchange their old enthusiasm for a theological training.  Five whole years they spent with him, making such remarkable progress in theology that while still young, both were chosen to be bishops of the churches in Pontus”.

As we review the writings of the early Church Fathers, it is important to keep in mind that these men, and especially Origen who was perhaps the most prolific writer in Church history, represent an example of Christian thought over the first three centuries.   With regard to Origen, we should ever be cognizant of the fact that Origen was not just another presbyter -- but rather, someone who was considered the very example of orthodoxy in his day.   In his introduction to Origen in the Anti-Nicean Library, Rev. Frederick Crombie writes:

Origen [A.D. 185-230-254] The reader will remember the rise and rapid development of the great Alexandrian school, and the predominance which was imparted to it by the genius of the illustrious Clement. But in Origen, his pupil, who succeeded him at the surprising age of eighteen, a new sun was to rise upon its noontide. Truly was Alexandra “the mother and mistress of churches” in the benign sense of a nurse and instructress of Christendom… As was to be expected, the fame of the great Alexandrine teacher was not confined to his native city, but spread far and wide; and an evidence of this was the request made by the Roman governor of the province of Arabia to Demetrius and to the prefect of Egypt, that they would send Origen to him that he might hold an interview with one whose reputation was so great… The character of Origen is singularly pure and noble; for his moral qualities are as remarkable as his intellectual gifts. The history of the Church records the names of few whose patience and meekness under unmerited suffering were more conspicuous than his… To him belongs the rare honor of convincing heretics of their errors, and of leading them back to the Church; a result which must have been due as much to the gentleness and earnestness of his Christian character, as to the prodigious learning, marvelous acuteness, and logical power, which entitle him to be regarded as the greatest of the Fathers.

In his Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, by Dr. F. H. Scrivener, one of the ablest of modern-day biblical scholars and critics writes of Origen: “Origen is the most celebrated biblical critic of antiquity. His is the highest name among the critics and expositors of the early Church. He is perpetually engaged in the discussion of various readings of the New Testament, and employs language, in describing the then existing state of the text, which would be deemed strong if applied even to its present condition, after the changes which sixteen more centuries must needs have produced… Seldom have such warmth of fancy and so bold a grasp of mind been united with the lifelong, patient industry which procured for this famous man the honorable appellation of Adamantius.”

The biblical scholar Wescott says of the Church Father Origen that: “We have not yet made good the positions which he marked out as belonging to the domain of Christian philosophy” (Religious Thought In the West, p. 252).   What Wescott makes reference to is that spiritual concepts which were at one time openly accepted as belonging to Christian orthodoxy -- concepts that were the foundation of what Jesus taught to his disciples -- and the disciples taught to their disciples -- have in later centuries become rejected by the institutionalized church.   Why?   As we move from the first to the second century, the second to the third, the third to the fourth, the fourth to the Reformation, and the Reformation to modern times, the spiritual connection to God became severed, and the Church was left with little more than it’s doctrinal beliefs about God, its faith in the unknown, and its manmade dogma.

As we examine some of the writings of the earliest of Christians, the paramount picture that will emerge will reveal a mindset that is not only opposite to our own today, but totally spiritual in nature.   Where we are very Darwinist in our thinking -- and as such we often exhibit a mindset that is anti-Gnostic -- we have lost the knowledge of the spiritual Kingdom that is accessed via heretofore unknown dimensions that exist within our own mind and being.   It is these early Christian concepts -- concepts that were orthodox in their time -- concepts that were Christian prior to the time of either Origen or Clement of Alexandria -- spiritual concepts that were later rejected as the church became a secular institution of the flesh, rather than the spirit, that will assist us in our quest to recover the True Teachings and Revelation of Christ.   In view of our new found archeological discoveries that shatter our understanding of Christian beginnings, it is these concepts that we must again understand in order to once more possess the keys to the Kingdom -- a Kingdom that has no place in an institutional secularized church.   

When Jesus said to his disciples: “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, 'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding…’” (Mark 4:11-12 NIV), Jesus was explaining to his disciples that the knowledge -- or gnosis -- of the secrets and mysteries of God, do not belong to the people who are “outside” of the Kingdom, but rather only to Israel -- who are the chosen people of God -- the disciples, spiritual elect or initiates that the Lord reveals his Mysteries and Sacred Secrets to.  

In the words of the Church Father Origen: “And if you come to the books written after the time of Jesus, you will find that those multitudes of believers who hear the parables are, as it were, 'without', and worthy only of exoteric doctrines, while the disciples learn in private the explanation of the parables.  For, privately, to His own disciples did Jesus open up all things, esteeming above the multitudes those who desired to know His wisdom” (Origen Contra Celsum).   In other words, those who are outside of the spiritual Kingdom were given only the parables and the exoteric doctrines -- which doctrines the Apostle calls the “milk intended for babes in Christ” -- and only the disciples received the revelation of the Mysteries of God.  

From a New Covenant perspective: A true teacher of God's Word is one that leads men into the house, and this is seen in Jesus' condemnation of the Scribes and Pharisees when he said: “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from men; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in” (Matt 23:13 NAS).   If our modern church doctrines were compatible with original New Covenant teachings, and salvation was through mere belief in Jesus, then Jesus would not have said the above words to the leaders of the Jews -- but would have more appropriately stated: “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from men; for you do not yourselves believe in God's only begotten Son in whom all men must acknowledge, nor do you allow those who are listening to your doctrine to believe”.  

Because they failed to apply the scriptures and the Law of Moses within themselves, and they created rituals and traditions that were to be practiced outwardly in worldly temples and synagogues, they made themselves.   In their building of a worldly temple made with hands (Acts 7:48) -- their inauguration of a class of priests and teachers that replaced the One Teacher -- their creation of doctrines and dogma that replaced the true spiritual teachings received directly from God -- made the scribes and Pharisees counterfeit because they “shut off the kingdom of heaven from men”.   If the kingdom of God was something to believe in, then Jesus never would have said: “for you do not enter in yourselves” -- enter in what?   The New American Standard (NAS) translation at this sighting is very interesting in that it could pertain to entering into something -- like a house -- or, we could read it exactly as it appears, and understand that the scribes and Pharisees did not “enter in yourselves” -- which is exactly where Jesus said the Kingdom of God exists (Luke 17:21 KJV).

What Jesus is revealing is the very foundation of Gnostic and mystical teaching -- i.e., that the Kingdom exists within each of us, and we must enter within this Kingdom in order to find true salvation.   This is a truly difficult thing for the carnal mind to envision because it has long grown accustomed to only looking outwardly.   The carnal mind does not perceive that it sits upon a great divide between two worlds -- one that is outer and is a reflection of what is real -- the other is an inward world that is the active principle of man’s true reality.   That the fourth century church which was ruled over by heathen pagans, was unable to perceive the inner Spiritual Temple, and fell into the same exact error that Jesus condemned in the Pharisees and Sadducees -- an error that he did not see in the Essenes.

Those whose mind and perception have been opened by the Holy Spirit, and  have gazed across the great divide between heaven and earth, perceive this world as an illusion of manifest form.   Yet, it is a great deal more than an illusion as many Eastern Religions and Greek Philosophers have proclaimed.   What only a very few of the more spiritually enlightened seekers truly come to realize, is that everything in this world is a pattern that is an allegorical reflection of the other world.   The result is that when we are able to perceive the pattern in its true naked state -- stripped of its allegorical form -- we begin to perceive the reality that lies beyond this three dimensional world.   The problem is that because we do not understand the multidimensional significance of what we perceive, we ignore the many warnings in the Bible with regard to man's inability to see reality because we are unable to come to terms with the fact that what we see in this world is a reflection -- a reflection that is both an illusion, and an allegory that is a pattern and form of what is real and spiritual.   Thus, one truth does not negate another truth in the eyes of a truly enlightened soul.  

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To contact the author: Allan_Cronshaw@nazirene.org