Has the Sphinx spoken at last? From lips of stone, has she finally proclaimed the solution of the old riddle, "What are God, Man, and the Universe?" It might so seem, did we credit the authenticity of a new book, called Esoteric Christianity, which W. J. Evans has recently published. If this book were true in its affirmations, hungry seekers after Truth might un-uncover their heads and bow down; weary pilgrims to sacred shrines need press forward no longer toward the Mecca of their hopes; patient toilers on the great sea of thought might relinquish their zealous pursuit of goodness; for, lo! the Delphic Oracle declares Christianity to be Esoteric! Not for you and me, not for the world at large, is the riddle of life to be solved; but for the few, the adepts, is there an open sesame to the secret chambers of a still more secret, or Esoteric, Christianity.
The last decade has witnessed the rise and fall of many theories, both unpalatable and improbable; but perhaps none have equalled, in presumption and absurdity, this mad attempt to force Christianity (the hope of the whole human race) into the farcical groves of Occultism, and to set before the public gaze a pantomime, whose characters are dead priests, magicians, and old-time philosophers, whose special hypotheses perished in the same centuries with themselves. What of starting a procession with Jesus of Nazareth at the head, and the author of Esoteric Christianity supporting the rear, and reducing God's omnipotent plans to man's comprehension, through legerdemain!
To suit the author's purpose, and create faith in an enigmatical Deity, myths of antiquity—legends, fables, superstitions, long-exploded tricks—are exhumed, musty and rank, or empty as air. These are clad with Eastern prestige, and linked to modern skepticism, credulity, ignorance, and relish for humbug.
