d find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?" This
is a parable symbolising the uselessness of the old teaching,
represented by the barren fig tree. That which is meant
metaphorically, St. Mark relates as a fact appearing to be historical.
We may therefore assume that, in general, facts related in the Gospels
are not to be taken as only historical, or as if they were only to
hold good in the physical world, but as mystical facts; as
experiences, for the recognition of which spiritual vision is
necessary, and which arise from various mystical traditions. If we
admit this, the difference between the Gospel of St. John and the
Synoptists ceases to exist. For mystical interpretation, historical
research has not to be taken into account. Even if one or another
Gospel were written a few decades earlier or later than the others,
they are all of like historical value to the mystic, St. John's Gospel
as well as the others.

And the "miracles" do not present the least difficulty when
interpreted mystically. They are supposed to break through the laws of
nature. They only do this when they are considered as events which
have so come about on the physical plane, in the perishable world,
that ordinary sense-perception could see through them offhand. But if
they are experiences which can only be fathomed on a higher stage of
existence, namely the spiritual, it is obvious that they cannot be
understood by means of the laws of physical nature.

It is thus first of all necessary to read the Gospels correctly; then
we shall know in what way they are speaking of the Founder of
Christianity. Their intention is to relate his life in the manner in
which communications were made through the Mysteries. They relate it
in the way in which a Mystic would speak of an initiate. Only, they
give the initiation as the unique characteristic of one unique being.
And they make salvation depend on man's holding fast to the initiate
of this unique order. What had come to the initiates was the "kingdom
of God." This unique being has brought the kingdom to all who will
cleave to him. What was formerly the personal concern of each
individual has become the common concern of all those who are willing
to acknowledge Jesus as their Lord.

We can understand how this came about if we admit that the wisdom of
the Mysteries was imbedded in the popular religion of the Jews.
Christianity arose out of Judaism. We need not therefore be surprised
at finding