Transcendental Christianity texts

[Clef_Burton]

Can anyone recommend some texts about this esoteric Christianity I have been hearing so much about? Should I start with the Bible? Which version? Eckhart, St Augustine? etc etc

[Nile577]

Don't know if they are all "transcendental" but I would start with:

Meister Eckhart - "Teacher and Preacher"
William Blake - The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
Tolstoy - Anna Karenin
Rudolf Bultmann - New Testament and Theology (A thinking of Christianity along the lines of Heidegger without the rejection of theism. John Macquarrie (the translator of Being and Time) writes a passable introductory book on Bultmann and Heidegger called "An existentialist theology.")

I have not yet read Rowan Williams' book on Dostoyevsky, but his previous writings lead me to expect thoughtfulness.

[K. Sear]

I would consider the Bible to be the most logical starting point for any Christian studies.

[Nile577]

Also, though I do not share his core disposition, Schopenhauer is a very underrated thinker. Huysmans' Durtal novels are an interesting account of a Schopenhauerian conversion to Christianity.

Thinking that reveals entities as other than commodities might be called authentically religious. Industrial deforestation, racial holocaust, disposable plastic utensils,  "IQ test" genetic determinism and fast food might, therefore, be called "unholy."

[Goluf]

The Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas is essential to an understanding of Christianity, although not really "esoteric". However, it is foundational, and paradoxically in many ways the apex, of Christian thought. Reading this book will probably amount to one of the more significant events in a person's spiritual development.

Full text online here:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/aquinas/summa/index.htm

[esoteric]

DH Lawrence - Sons and Lovers

[More Celt Than Sassenach]

After the bible I would recommended the Gnostic gospels. It must be remembered that Christianity and indeed the bible of today are heavily edited and reading the gnostic (and Islamic) texts provides greater insight into the whole spectrum of Christianity.

[Chains]

I consider Dante's Divine Comedy to be one of the best books ever written. Although it's more poetry than philosophy, I'd highly recommend it.

[nous]

About "this esoteric Christianity" there are many sources, for example:

http://www.corrupt.org/data/files/meister_eckhart/

I agree with Goluf, in that the ST should be the foundation for studies in Christian esoterism. An online version which links important terms to the Catholic Encyclopedia exists at www.newadvent.org/summa

You should clarify for yourself why the distinction of esoterism / exoterism in religion is being made. The corrupt.org link above mentions some authors who have written authoritatively on these matters.

[death metal black metal]

Thinking that reveals entities as other than commodities might be called authentically religious. Industrial deforestation, racial holocaust, disposable plastic utensils,  "IQ test" genetic determinism and fast food might, therefore, be called "unholy."

At that point, you're heading back to dualism. Why do you need a category when the mechanism is clear?

[desidia]

Anna Karenin? There's little about Christianity in there - if you want a Russian author who deals with that, Dostoyevsky is your man. Especially in The Brothers Karamazov. Although Anna Karenin is a better novel; the best even.

Why are you interested in 'esoteric Christianity'? I'm not sure what you mean by the term, but if medieval theology is what you are looking for, then I'd stop. I don't think there's much to be got from there, it's mostly dry as hell, and based on tedious biblical exegesis. For its conclusions to have any validity you have to accept the bible as (on a level not far below the literal) true. (Although I do like medieval Christianity: so much better than any other variant).

[ASBO]

Why are you interested in 'esoteric Christianity'?

I am because transcendental idealism is the right philosophy, and I'd like to unite transcendental idealists so we can take over society and get it back on track.

[Heydrich]

Why are you interested in 'esoteric Christianity'?

I am because transcendental idealism is the right philosophy, and I'd like to unite transcendental idealists so we can take over society and get it back on track.

Forgive me if I am being obtuse, but how do you see any manner of Christian thought, esoteric or otherwise, as a portal through which to achieve that goal? Is the idealism of esoteric Christianity so different from the idealism of the "mainstream" variety?         

[nous]

Forgive me if I am being obtuse, but how do you see any manner of Christian thought, esoteric or otherwise, as a portal through which to achieve that goal? Is the idealism of esoteric Christianity so different from the idealism of the "mainstream" variety?         

The "mainstream" variety doesn't have an esoteric core anymore (Cf. The Destruction of the Christian Tradition). When the kernel was lost, only the shell remained, and that shell is modern, "mainstream" Christianity. We simply assume that people like Thomas Aquinas and Meister Eckhart wrote and taught in a time in which the kernel was "still in place". This kernel, ASBO calls "transcendental idealism" ...

[Heydrich]

Forgive me if I am being obtuse, but how do you see any manner of Christian thought, esoteric or otherwise, as a portal through which to achieve that goal? Is the idealism of esoteric Christianity so different from the idealism of the "mainstream" variety?         

The "mainstream" variety doesn't have an esoteric core anymore (Cf. The Destruction of the Christian Tradition). When the kernel was lost, only the shell remained, and that shell is modern, "mainstream" Christianity. We simply assume that people like Thomas Aquinas and Meister Eckhart wrote and taught in a time in which the kernel was "still in place". This kernel, ASBO calls "transcendental idealism" ...

Yes, that much is clear to me. Beyond that though, what is the essence of this "core," this kernel, that it is worth considering in the first place?