in
connection with Christianity, and that "The Mysteries," whether Lesser
or Greater, were a purely Pagan institution. The very name of "The
Mysteries of Jesus," so familiar in the ears of the Christians of the
first centuries, would come with a shock of surprise on those of their
modern successors, and, if spoken as denoting a special and definite
institution in the Early Church, would cause a smile of incredulity. It
has actually been made a matter of boast that Christianity has no
secrets, that whatever it has to say it says to all, and whatever it has
to teach it teaches to all. Its truths are supposed to be so simple,
that "a way-faring man, though a fool, may not err therein," and the
"simple Gospel" has become a stock phrase.

It is necessary, therefore, to prove clearly that in the Early Church,
at least, Christianity was no whit behind other great religions in
possessing a hidden side, and that it guarded, as a priceless treasure,
the secrets revealed only to a select few in its Mysteries. But ere
doing this it will be well to consider the whole question of this hidden
side of religions, and to see why such a side must exist if a religion
is to be strong and stable; for thus its existence in Christianity will
appear as a foregone conclusion, and the references to it in the
writings of the Christian Fathers will appear simple and natural instead
of surprising and unintelligible. As a historical fact, the existence
of this esotericism is demonstrable; but it may also be shown that
intellectually it is a necessity.

The first question we have to answer is: What is the object of
religions? They are given to the world by men wiser than the masses of
the people on whom they are bestowed, and are intended to quicken human
evolution. In order to do this effectively they must reach individuals
and influence them. Now all men are not at the same level of evolution,
but evolution might be figured as a rising gradient, with men stationed
on it at every point. The most highly evolved are far above the least
evolved, both in intelligence and character; the capacity alike to
understand and to act varies at every stage. It is, therefore, useless
to give to all the same religious teaching; that which would help the
intellectual man would be entirely unintelligible to the stupid, while
that which would throw the saint into ecstasy would leave the criminal
untouched. If, on the other hand, the teaching be suitable to help the
u