hed upon the lower mind.

This is the way of the Divine Wisdom, the true THEOSOPHY. It is not, as
some think, a diluted version of Hinduism, or Buddhism, or Taoism, or of
any special religion. It is Esoteric Christianity as truly as it is
Esoteric Buddhism, and belongs equally to all religions, exclusively to
none. This is the source of the suggestions made in this little volume,
for the helping of those who seek the Light--that "true Light which
lighteth every man that cometh into the world,"[6] though most have not
yet opened their eyes to it. It does not bring the Light. It only says:
"Behold the Light!" For thus have we heard. It appeals only to the few
who hunger for more than the exoteric teachings give them. For those who
are fully satisfied with the exoteric teachings, it is not intended; for
why should bread be forced on those who are not hungry? For those who
hunger, may it prove bread, and not a stone.

CONTENTS.

PAGE
FOREWORD vii.

CHAPTER I.
THE HIDDEN SIDE OF RELIGIONS 1

CHAPTER II.
THE HIDDEN SIDE OF CHRISTIANITY 36

CHAPTER III.
THE HIDDEN SIDE OF CHRISTIANITY 69
(_concluded_)

CHAPTER IV.
THE HISTORICAL JESUS 120

CHAPTER V.
THE MYTHIC CHRIST 145

CHAPTER VI.
THE MYSTIC CHRIST 170

CHAPTER VII.
THE ATONEMENT 193

CHAPTER VIII.
RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION 231

CHAPTER IX.
THE TRINITY 253

CHAPTER X.
PRAYER 276

CHAPTER XI.
THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 301

CHAPTER XII.
SACRAMENTS 324

CHAPTER XIII.
SACRAMENTS (_continued_) 346

CHAPTER XIV.
REVELATION 369

AFTERWORD 386

INDEX 388

ESOTERIC CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER I.

THE HIDDEN SIDE OF RELIGIONS.

Many, perhaps most, who see the title of this book will at once traverse
it, and will deny that there is anything valuable which can be rightly
described as "Esoteric Christianity." There is a wide-spread, and withal
a popular, idea that there is no such thing as an occult teaching