Mystic Christianity; Or, The Inner Teachings of the MasterAtkinson, William Walker
Religion
Mystic Christianity; Or, The Inner Teachings of the Master
Atkinson, William Walker
Jesus Christ -- Miscellanea; Mysticism; Yoga
8. That acceptance of the legend is not, nor should it be, a
proof of belief in Christ and Christianity. This view is
well voiced by Rev. Dr. Campbell, in his "New Theology,"
when he says "The credibility and significance of
Christianity are in no way affected by the doctrine of the
Virgin Birth, otherwise than that the belief tends to put a
barrier between Jesus and the race, and to make him
something that cannot properly be called human.... Like many
others, I used to take the position that acceptance or
non-acceptance of the doctrine of the Virgin Birth was
immaterial because Christianity was quite independent of it;
but later reflection has convinced me that in point of fact
it operates as a hindrance to spiritual religion and a real
living faith in Jesus. The simple and natural conclusion is
that Jesus was the child of Joseph and Mary, and had an
uneventful childhood." The German theologian, Soltau, says,
"Whoever makes the further demand that an evangelical
Christian shall believe in the words 'conceived by the Holy
Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary,' wittingly constitutes
himself a sharer in a sin against the Holy Spirit and the
true Gospel as transmitted to us by the Apostles and their
school in the Apostolic Age."
And this then is the summing up of the contention between the
conservative school of Christian theologians on the one side and the
liberal and radical schools on the other side. We have given you a
statement of the positions, merely that you may understand the
problem. But, before we pass to the consideration of the Occult
Teachings, let us ask one question: _How do the Higher Critics account
for the undoubted doctrine of the Divine Fatherhood, as clearly stated
all through the New Testament_, in view of the proofs against the
Virgin Birth? Why the frequent and repeated mention of Jesus as "the
Son of God?" What was the Secret Doctrine underlying the Divine
Parentage of Jesus, which the pagan legends corrupted into the story
of the Virgin Birth of theology? We fear that the answer is not to be
found in the books and preachments of the Higher Criticism, nor yet in
those of the Conservative Theologians. Let us now see what light the
Occult Teachings can throw on this dark subject! There is an Inner
Doctrine which explains the mystery.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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