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the principle of UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD. This work, therefore, must be considered merely as setting forth the author's interpretation of the Esoteric Philosophy of the Secret Doctrine known more generally as Theosophy, in its relation to Christian Doctrine.

THE AUTHOR.

January, 1895.

INTRODUCTION

The title of this work, the Esoteric Basis of Christianity, implies the existence of a foundation or origin of the Christian religion other than that which is commonly accepted. It also implies that there are some hidden or inner truths or doctrines which lie deeper than those forms, creeds, or doctrines which are associated with the term Christian in the popular conception. The historical difficulties of the Bible narrative, the want of reliable information respecting the central figure of the Gospels, the uncertainty respecting the date and authorship of the various books of the Old and New Testaments, the obscurity of the early centuries of the Christian era, and the astonishing contradictions among various sections of the Christian community respecting the very essentials of their faith, though all claim their authority from the same records: these matters are well known to all who have passed beyond the mere Bible-class curriculum, and are seeking for more light and certainty than can be afforded from the orthodox

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presentations. They find but little encouragement in their search, from the accredited teachers of the religion they are seeking to understand. Their very attitude of mind is regarded as a want of faith, and they are repelled and alienated where they should find sympathy and help.

There are thousands of such, to whom the traditional teachings have become for ever impossible, but who still feel that behind the exoteric forms and records there is a real basis of truth, which those forms serve to conceal rather than to reveal. Such a basis is presented in Theosophy, and we shall now attempt to outline its teachings and method in the relation of some of its fundamental principles to Christian doctrine and tradition.

That which has been the highest and noblest theme of human thought and aspiration in all ages, that which is the object alike of philosophy, of science, and of religion, is the Truth concerning the nature of the great First Cause, which some name God, the nature of Man, and the relation which subsists between these two, God and Man. The very slightest acquaintance with the nature of the problem, with the limitations of human knowledge contrasted with the infinitude of time and space, and the unlimited possibilities of progress and evolution which lie behind and in front of the individual and the race, suggests at once that in the very nature of the case there must be