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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780835606905 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Quest Books |
| Publication date: | 06/01/1993 |
| Series: | Theosophical Heritage Classics Series , #1 |
| Edition description: | REVISED |
| Pages: | 230 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.25(w) x 8.25(h) x (d) |
Read an Excerpt
Hidden Wisdom in the Holy Bible Volume I
By Geoffrey Hodson
Theosophical Publishing House
Copyright © 1993 Theosophical Publishing HouseAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8356-0690-5
CHAPTER 1
The Symbolic Language
Some General Principles
The Christian Bible, as also the scriptures of other faiths, has from remote times been regarded as belonging to a special, even unique, category of literature. Exponents of Oriental religious writings, the early Kabbalists, the disciples of Ammonius Saccus, other Neoplatonists of Alexandria known as Analogeticists and their successors down to modern times—all these have regarded world scriptures as being largely, but not entirely, allegorical. They looked upon them as being constructed of symbols, analogies and parables. As previously stated—and this is the main theme of this work—these allegories are said to preserve for posterity, to reveal and yet to conceal, profound spiritual and therefore power-bestowing truths.
Reasons for Secrecy
This method of writing is referred to as the sacred or mystery language and is said to have been invented and used by sages of old in order both to reveal to those who would be helped and to conceal from those who might be harmed a deep spiritual wisdom which can bestow theurgic powers upon its possessors. The necessity for this reservation becomes clear when the use to which modern scientific discoveries are put is observed. One example of the misuse of knowledge is the release, as the explosive agent in atomic bombs, of the energy derived from nuclear fission and fusion.
Recognizing that their discoveries belonged to humankind, the philosophers and scientists of former days knew that such knowledge placed in general hands, and particularly in those of disruptive elements in society, could be extremely dangerous. They therefore constructed the cryptic language in which the inspired scriptures and mythologies of the world have been written. Although based in general upon historical events, these narratives, as earlier suggested, have undermeanings and, in some cases, even a sevenfold significance. While apparently founded on fact, each story is rather an historical metaphor, having an inner purport and containing within itself layer upon layer of hidden knowledge.
Teaching by Parables
Our Lord made use of this method of teaching. When addressing his disciples, he spoke openly of spiritual truths, but to nondisciples, in parables. Indeed, he used the words: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you" (Matt. 7:6). He also said to them, "Unto you is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without all these things are done in parables" (Mark 4:11).
One reason for this differentiation is not far to seek. Knowledge can bestow power, and the writers of the sacred language were in the same position in which a small group of modem scientists would find themselves after having first discovered atomic energy and the means for its controlled release. They would not dare immediately to make their discovery universally available. Similarly the sages of old, having investigated the structure of matter and the composition of both universe and human beings and having discovered the forces locked up within them, felt a tremendous sense of responsibility. They had to prevent the misuse of their knowledge and, at the same time, to insure its preservation for the future benefit of humanity.
Actually, in the case of knowledge of the superphysical and spiritual worlds, their structure, their natural forces and intelligences associated with them—and their correspondences with the superphysical vehicles and powers of human beings—the need for secrecy is far greater. In wrong hands the power which such knowledge makes available is far more dangerous than physical atomic energy. The products of nuclear fission and fusion can destroy only physical objects. If misused, hidden or esoteric knowledge and the power associated with it can, in addition, impair the integrity, harden and warp the nature and, in consequence, seriously retard the evolution of the transgressors and those under their malign influence. The ancient seers, therefore, devised not the algebraical symbols and formulas of the modern scientist but a cryptic language in which some of the words retain their normal meaning, while others are cryptograms or hierograms for spiritual and esoteric truths. In doing this, the writers of old knew that only those who possessed the keys of interpretation would be able to discover the truths which the sacred language both reveals and conceals. The secret is rendered still safer by the fact that, in order to use the keys successfully, one must have developed the intuitive faculty and be imbued with a sense of moral responsibility.
Such, briefly and but partially described, are the origin and some of the purposes of the sacred language in which the scriptures and mythologies of ancient peoples were written.
CHAPTER 2Problems of a Literal Reading of the Bible and Some Solutions
Since comprehension and appreciation of the esoteric teachings contained in the Bible depend upon a knowledge of the sacred language, a fuller and more detailed exposition of this particular category of literature must now be given. At the outset of this task it is recognized that to those who have up to now regarded the Bible solely as a record of historical events, the idea that it was written in allegory and symbol in order to transmit universal truths may seem strange and even incredible.
Preparatory Study
Since the subject is profound, impartial examination and progressive study are essential to its comprehension. Apart from the parables of Jesus, the language of analogy, dramatic allegory and symbol is for many people a little known art form. Vocabulary, grammar and composition must, in consequence, be carefully studied before the transmitted ideas can be perceived and wholly understood. Time, too, is always required in order to become accustomed to an unfamiliar method of presentation and previously unknown aspects of truth.
In art, some training in appreciation is necessary in order to enjoy and understand a great picture and receive the artist's message. Preparation and experience are needed in order to open the eyes and prepare the mind. This is true also of music. With the exception of those passages—perhaps the slow movements—which can be readily enjoyed, a symphony can at first hearing be difficult to comprehend. As one begins to perceive its significance, however, the work takes on an added meaning and evokes a new delight. To a child a wonderful jewel is but a glittering toy. The child will choose just as readily any shining thing, however tawdry and cheap. A connoisseur in precious stones, on the other hand, sees in them depths of beauty hidden from others, comprehends and appreciates both the stones themselves and the craftsmanship of the jeweler.
The language of allegory and symbol may, in its turn, be regarded as an art form. One, therefore, similarly needs to acquire by practice the ability to appreciate its many and varied metaphors and emblems and to discover their secret meanings. Without such preparation, allegories and symbols may be wrongly regarded as unnecessary obstructions and their interpretations as arbitrary or, at best, far-fetched. Since profound truths are conveyed and spiritual experience, knowledge and power can be obtained by the successful interpretation of the Bible, the student's preparations must in their turn be not only intellectual but spiritual as well. Indeed, such preparations assume the character of a vigil.
The Veil of Allegory
While many of the incidents in the Bible are doubtless founded upon fact, nevertheless, great wisdom and light are to be discovered within the scriptural record of historical and pseudohistorical events. When, however, statements are made which could not possibly be true, three courses of action present themselves. The reader can accept them unthinkingly in blind faith, discard them as unworthy of serious consideration, or study them carefully in search of possible undermeanings and revelations of previously hidden truths. Incidents such as the passage of three days and nights and the appearance on Earth of vegetation before the creation of the sun (Gen. 1:13–16), and the action of Joshua in making the sun and moon stand still (Josh. 10:12–14), cannot possibly have occurred. Here, as in so many other places, the Bible "piles the incredible upon the impossible." If, however, the intention was not to record supposed astronomical or historical facts and events alone but also to reveal abstract, universal and mystical truths and to give guidance in finding and treading "the way of holiness" (Isa. 35:8); and if, furthermore, night, sun and moon are but concrete symbols of abstract ideas, then the outwardly meaningless narrative may reveal inward truth and light. Before that truth and light can be perceived, however, the veil of allegory must be lifted, and the symbols interpreted. For, as previously stated, partly in order to render abstract ideas comprehensible by expressing them in concrete form and also to safeguard the truth and yet reveal it when the time should be ripe, the teachers of ancient days deliberately concealed within allegory and symbol the deep, hidden wisdom of which they had become possessed. Other reasons for such unveiling were to evoke wonder and so initiate inquiry; to preserve for posterity profound spiritual and therefore power bestowing truths; and to conceal from the profane knowledge which could be misused, even while revealing it to the selfless servant of humanity.
Time as Mirror of Eternity
The authors of the scriptures saw eternal truths mirrored in events in time. For them, illumined as they were, every material happening was alight with spiritual significance. They knew the outer world for what it was—the shadow of a great reality. They could say with Elizabeth Browning: "Earth's crammed with heaven and every common bush afire with God," and with her would add, "but only he who sees, takes off his shoes." Their records of the history of the universe and of the Earth—the scriptures of the world—portray far more than events in time; they reveal in concrete and therefore more readily understandable form eternal truth, ultimate reality, universal occurrences. Sometimes the real was more visible to them than the shadow, whereupon history took second place. At other times the record of physical events predominated. This concept of the purposes and the method of the ancient writers is advanced in this work as the key to the mystical study of the Bible, the clue to the discovery of the inexhaustible treasures of wisdom and truth concealed within the casket of exoteric scriptures.
The spiritual teachers of long ago, by using historical events as well as allegories and symbols, proved themselves able to overcome the limitations of time. They recorded history in such a way as to reveal to readers of both their own and later times the deeper truths of life. Even thousands of years after their deaths, such teachers are able to give to humankind both guidance along the pathway of spiritual illumination and the solutions of human problems. Concealment from the profane of truths which they desired to impart to the worthy, and to the worthy alone, is admitted. The motive was, as earlier stated, to safeguard both the individual and humanity from the dangers of premature discovery and possible misuse of knowledge which could bestow theurgic and thaumaturgic powers. Thus came into existence the legends, the mythologies and the scriptures of the world, many of them being pregnant with spiritual and esoteric ideas.
Some Difficulties Created by a Literal Reading of the Bible
In addition to its value as a vehicle for hidden wisdom, the sacred language can prove helpful in solving otherwise insoluble biblical problems. While belief or faith in the possibility of supernatural intervention makes some scriptural statements credible, nevertheless, physical laws and astronomical facts cannot be changed. Admittedly some miracles strain almost beyond reasonable limits one's power to believe them. The hydrostatic pressure exerted in dividing and holding back on either side of a dry bed the waters of the Red Sea (Exod. 14:21–31) and the river Jordan (Josh. 3:14–17) must have involved the use of almost incalculable energy. Nevertheless, if direct theurgic action is presumed to have occurred, then these "miracles" would not have been impossible.
The heliocentric system, however, cannot be altered. The sun is at the center of our solar system, for which it is the source of light. Planets throughout their orbital motion around the sun revolve on their axes, without which rotation there could be no alternation of day and night. Yet in the first chapter of Genesis, it is plainly stated that there were three days and three nights before the sun, moon and stars were created. This would have been an astronomical impossibility.
Biology, Nomenclature and the Limitations of Time
In the New Testament, also, difficulties are met if a literal reading of certain passages is accepted. In the case of Jesus, some of the Evangelists affirm an immaculate conception and a virgin birth (Matt. 1:18, Luke 1:34–35)—regarded as a virtual impossibility—and others do not. The genealogies of Jesus as given in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke are totally different and can hardly apply to the same person. St. Matthew traces Jesus' descent through Joseph, which is entirely meaningless in the case of a virgin birth. St. Luke, however, traces the genealogy through Mary. Furthermore, the events of the night before the Crucifixion of Jesus are too numerous to have occurred within the prescribed time. Here is a list of them: the Last Supper; the agony in the garden; the betrayal by Judas; the questioning, first before Annas and Caiaphas, second before the Sanhedrin, third before Pilate and finally in the Hall of Judgment—regardless of the fact that the courts did not sit in the middle of the night; the visit to Herod (recorded only by St. Luke); the return to Pilate; Pilate's speeches and his washing of his hands; the scourging, the mocking and arraying of Jesus in a purple robe; the long and painful bearing of the cross to Golgotha, followed by the Crucifixion—all these events could not possibly have occurred in so short a time. According to the estimated chronology (given in the Oxford Cyclopedic Concordance), the arrest of Jesus occurred at midnight on a Thursday, and the Crucifixion at 9:00 A.M. on Good Friday.
A Solution of the Problem
Most, if not all, of these difficulties disappear if one assumes that the author's intention was less to record history than to reveal cosmogonical, solar and planetary ideas and to describe mystical and psychological conditions and experiences. Incredibilities and impossibilities in both the Old and New Testaments are referred to later on, and explanations and interpretations of some of them are offered.
One explanation given of these incongruities is that they were not contained in the original writings. Later interpreters, editors and translators are, by some biblical scholars, held responsible for a number of them. Belief in the literal verbal inspiration of the Bible has been applied, it is said, to these altered and translated versions and not to the original texts. While doubtless there is some truth in this view, many of the criticisms can successfully be met and most of the problems solved if the existence of the sacred language is accepted and its symbolism applied in interpretation of the scriptures. The words of Moses Maimonides, the Jewish theologian and historian, may here usefully be repeated: "Every time you find in our books a tale, the reality of which seems impossible, a story which is repugnant to both reason and common sense, then be sure that the tale contains a profound allegory veiling a deeply mysterious truth; and the greater the absurdity of the letter, the deeper the wisdom of the spirit."
The Testimony of Early Authorities
The existence of a secret meaning of the Scriptures is again openly confessed by Clement of Alexandria (150–220 A.D. approximately) when he says that the mysteries of faith are not to be divulged to all. "But," he says, "since this tradition is not published alone for him who perceives the magnificence of the word, it is requisite, therefore, to hide in a Mystery the wisdom spoken, which the Son of God taught."
Not less explicit is Origen with regard to the Bible and its symbolical fables. "If we hold to the letter," he exclaims, "and must understand what stands written in the law after the manner of the Jews and common people, then I should blush to confess aloud that it is God who has given these laws; then the laws of men appear more excellent and reasonable."
"What man of sense," he writes, "will agree with the statement that the first, second and third days, in which the evening is named and the morning, were without sun, moon, and the stars, and the first day without a heaven? What man is found such an idiot as to suppose that God planted trees in Paradise, in Eden, like a husbandman, and planted therein the tree of life, perceptible to the eyes and senses, which gave life to the eater thereat; and another tree which gave to the eater thereat a knowledge of good and evil? I believe that every man must hold these things for images, under which hidden sense lies concealed."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Hidden Wisdom in the Holy Bible Volume I by Geoffrey Hodson. Copyright © 1993 Theosophical Publishing House. Excerpted by permission of Theosophical Publishing House.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Publisher's Note,Preface,
Introduction,
Part One The Quest for Light,
1 The Symbolic Language,
2 Problems of a Literal Reading of the Bible and Some Solutions,
3 The Interpretation of Allegories,
4 The Sun Stands Still upon Gibeon,
5 The Ageless Wisdom,
Part Two The Mysteries of the Kingdom,
6 The Reality behind the Shadow,
7 Four Keys of Interpretation,
8 A Rosetta Stone for the Language of Symbols,
9 The Symbolism of Numbers,
Part Three The Cycle of Forthgoing and Return,
10 Introduction to the Parable of the Prodigal Son,
11 The Path of Forthgoing,
12 The Path of Return,
Part Four The Life of Christ,
13 The Nativity,
14 From Baptism to Ascension,
Part Five The Path of Discipleship and Initiation,
15 The Way of Holiness,
16 Steps on the Path,
Bibliography,