qumran

Let Him Who Thinks Himself Strong Take Heed Lest He Fall

Reflections on the Cultic Shadow of the Liberal Catholic Church and its Offshoots

by Edward J. Parkinson

This essay is intended as a warning to Liberal Catholics and other Gnostics, including Catholic Gnostics, about the dangers of seduction into cult thinking and entrapment by cults.

Involution, Evolution, and Necessary Sin

By Edward J. Parkinson

In my article "Immanence, Transcendence, and a Gnostic View of the Fall of Man in Eden," I contrasted traditional Christian and Gnostic views of sin. I there discussed "orthodox" views at somewhat more length than liberal, Gnostic views. Here I would like to discuss in more detail the Gnostic view of sin.

Immanence, Transcendence, and a Gnostic View of the Fall of Man in Eden

By Edward J. Parkinson

The three great religions of Semitic origin—Judaism, traditional Christianity, and Islam—have emphasized the transcendence and otherness of God, while faiths of Indic origin, including Gnostic Christianity , have emphasized the divine immanence. Neither view is incorrect, of course, since God is both immanent and transcendent (a protestant theologian whose name I cannot remember defined God as "the sum of all there is plus infinitely more") , and all faiths have to some degree recognized both realities.

Karma, Sin and Grace: Some Intricacies, Interrelationships, and Paradoxes

by Edward J Parkinson

The Sanskrit word karma, strictly speaking, means action, but in common parlance it has come to mean karmaphala, the fruits of action, those results, whether of reward or punishment, which follow our actions ineluctably "as the cart follows the ox" (Dhammapada). Upon first consideration karma would not seem necessarily connected to sin, since "good karma" rewards praiseworthy actions. The Buddha, after all, in the above-quoted Dhammapada, asserts that a man cannot escape experiencing the rewards of his good deeds even if he climbs the highest mountain or hides under the depths of the ocean--the reward of good is as ineludible as the punishment of evil.

"Periodicity" and Catholic Gnostics: A Few Practical Considerations

According to Madam Blavatsky, the Universe, which she also calls Eternity, is "a boundless plane, periodically the playground of numberless Universes incessantly manifesting and disappearing" and involving " the absolute universality of that law of periodicity, of flux and reflux, ebb and flow, which physical science has observed and recorded in all departments of nature" (Algeo, "Secret Doctrine").

The Four Laws of Spiritual Growth

by Edward Parkinson

The four laws of spiritual growth (love, light, growth, and justice) are laws in two senses: (1) they are injunctions which we are commanded to obey and (2) they are, like the Law of Gravity or the Second Law of Thermodynamics, descriptions of constant, ineluctable processes in the universe. All four are closely interrelated.

Let us consider each of the four in turn.

Gnostic Catholic Denominations: Exoteric and Esoteric Service

Many clergy and laity in Gnostic Catholic denominations—what might loosely be called the "Leadbeater family" become very frustrated because of the low numbers in their congregations—even though they are offering something of incomparable value, it seems, their denominational offerings never seem to "catch on" as do denominations which ignore or even repudiate the esoteric truths of Gnosticism and, instead, offer only "mainstream" Christianity. As a result of this frustration, an unfortunate development often occurs.

Catholic and Gnostic: Why Be Both?

There would seem to be a problem with being Gnostic and Catholic, since the history of Catholicism is overwhelmingly anti-Gnostic and since, even today, all mainline Catholic churches—Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican-- disavow the major tenets of Gnosticism and even many churches which emanate from the modern apostolic work of C.W. Leadbeater and James Ingall Wedgwood have either disavowed Gnostic tenets or decided to refrain from proclaiming them publicly.

Meditation

We could give many reasons for meditation, but they can all be subsumed under one general purpose: we meditate to accentuate our spiritual evolution.

“Now Is the Acceptable Time”: Reincarnation and Exoteric and Gnostic Christianity

In the early centuries of Christianity those running the Church decided to remove certain esoteric ideas--prominent among them, reincarnation and karma--from the teachings exoterically presented to the many.