Theos-Talk Archives (January 1997 Message tl00163)

On Wed, 8 Jan 1997, K. Paul Johnson wrote:
> There's so much bullshit among Theosophists about who
> is and is not a real Theosophist, so much of the same kind of
> exclusivism in Baha'i where believers are always bashing one
> another as not being orthodox enough.  It was a real homecoming
> in a number of ways to go to that service where the message was
> essentially "We don't care what you believe, who you are, what
> you've done-- you are welcome at the table of the Lord's
> supper, to share our oneness with Christ at a level that cannot
> be expressed in words or understood in concepts." 

Paul ...
	While I agree in part with a lot of the post (I don't myself
"believe" in Christianity, but I do admire the art of ceremonial magic,
and the Catholic Church in particular puts on a magnificent ceremony -
that is ... I like it for aesthetic rather than philosophical reasons. But
I must point out that one cannot compare the high point of one tradition
to the shadow of another ... Certainly there aree places and moments of
wonderful unity and warmth in Christianity - but there are in Theosophy as
well. And just as surely there are places in Christianity in which who is
or is not a "real" Christian is subject of vehement discussion. In fact
that sort of discussion has grown somewhat dramatically in recent years
with the rise of fundamentalisms. 

IMO to really compare Theosophy with Christianity the best should be
compared to the best, and the shadows to the shadows. At its best,
Theosophy seems (IMO) to contain concepts that lead to behaviour as
selfless, altruistic and graceful as the best of Christianity - and if one
wants to compare shadows, I wonder whether Christianity is not somewhat
worse ... after all, while Adyar excommunicated the Canadian and Danish
Sections, it didn't make its arguments with plastic explosives ... which
Christianity at its worst has (and still is) known to resort to.
							Regards, -JRC