# Esoteric Christianity

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Esoteric :
People (by era or century)
Antiquity
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Origen
Thomasines
Gregory of Nyssa
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Paul of Thebes
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English
Richard Rolle
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Meister Eckhart
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15th · 16th
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Others
Catherine of Genoa
17th · 18th
French
Margaret Mary Alacoque
Pierre de Bérulle
Jean-Jacques Olier
Louis de Montfort
Charles de Condren
John Eudes
John of St. Samson
Others
Mary of Jesus of Ágreda
Anne Catherine Emmerich
Veronica Giuliani
Francis de Sales
19th
Dina Bélanger
Catherine Labouré
Mélanie Calvat
Maximin Giraud
Bernadette Soubirous
Conchita de Armida
Luisa Piccarreta
Mary of the Divine Heart
Thérèse of Lisieux
Gemma Galgani
20th
Padre Pio
Therese Neumann
Marthe Robin
Alexandrina of Balazar
Faustina Kowalska
Sister Lúcia of Fátima
Edgar Cayce
Simone Weil
Alfred Delp
Thomas Merton
Charles de Foucauld
Edvige Carboni
Elena Aiello
Contemporary papal viewsAspects of meditation (Orationis Formas, 1989)
Reflection on the New Age (2003) :
Literature and media
Lingua ignota
Ordo Virtutum
Scivias
Ascent of Mount Carmel
Dark Night of the Soul
Spiritual Canticle
Way of Perfection
Book of the First Monks
The Interior Castle
Abbey of the Holy Ghost
A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation
From Willow Creek to Sacred Heart
The Glories of Mary
The Imitation of Christ
The Ladder of Divine Ascent
Philokalia
Revelations of Divine Love
The Story of a Soul
Theologia Germanica
Devotio Moderna
Fatima in Lucia's Own Words
Calls from the Message of Fatima
The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima
Sol de Fátima
The Cloud of Unknowing
On the Consolation of Philosophy
The Mirror of Simple Souls
Sister Catherine Treatise
Tractatus de Purgatorio Sancti Patricii
The Vision of Adamnán
Divine Comedy
Inferno
Purgatorio
Paradiso
Fatima :
vte :
Esoteric Christianity is a mystical approach to Christianity which features "secret traditions" that require an initiation to learn or understand. The term esoteric was coined in the 17th century and derives from the Greek ἐσωτερικός (esôterikos, "inner").
These spiritual currents share some common features, such as heterodox or heretical Christian theology; the canonical gospels, various apocalyptic literature, and some New Testament apocrypha as sacred texts; and disciplina arcani, a supposed oral tradition from the Twelve Apostles containing esoteric teachings of Jesus the Christ.
Esoteric Christianity is closely related to Gnosticism, and survives in a few modern churches.
There are also esoteric Christian Societies such as the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia.

## History
### Ancient roots

Some modern scholars believe that in the early stages of proto-orthodox Christianity, a nucleus of oral teachings were inherited from Palestinian and Hellenistic Judaism. In the 4th century, it was believed to form the basis of a secret oral tradition which came to be called disciplina arcani. Mainstream theologians, however, believe that it contained only liturgical details and certain other traditions which remain a part of some branches of mainstream Christianity. Important influences on esoteric Christianity are the Christian theologians Clement of Alexandria and Origen, the leading figures of the Catechetical School of Alexandria.

### Present-day denominations

A denomination of esoteric Christianity is The Christian Community. It focuses on the experiential aspect of sacraments, with the Eucharist serving as "the Rite of the Consecration of Man".
Scholar Jan Shipps describes the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as having esoteric elements.

## Concepts
### Reincarnation

Influenced by the Platonic doctrine of metempsychosis, reincarnation of the soul was accepted by most Gnostic Christian sects such as Valentinianism and the Basilidians, but denied by the proto-orthodox one. While hypothetically considering a complex multiple-world transmigration scheme in De Principiis, Origen denies reincarnation in his work Against Celsus and elsewhere.
Despite this apparent contradiction, most modern esoteric Christian movements refer to Origen's writings (along with other Church Fathers and biblical passages) to validate these ideas as part of the esoteric Christian tradition outside of the Gnostic schools, who were later considered heretical in the 3rd century.