Brief reflections on esotericism in the Jewish-Christian doctrine
giugno 18th, 2012
The Gospel of John is not the only one containing elements that suggest a link between Christian doctrine and the esoteric and hermetic culture of the time.
Matthew
In Matthew 7:6 Jesus explicitly says:
Do not give the holy [holy things] to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.
This expression is interpreted by many as a clear and severe call not to indiscriminately spread the knowledge, not to disclose the secrets of a profound wisdom to an audience unable to understand it and therefore likely to turn the message against the same people who have conveyed it:
• But isn’t this exactly what happened?
• Hasn’t the Church begun its largest development ever since it became a mass religion, losing its connotations as mystery and a cult initiator? Yet it is Jesus himself who openly reveals his desire to talk to few, to communicate only with those who are able to understand, to unveil the true knowledge only to those who are ready to receive it.
When disciples would ask him why he talked in parables, he used to answer (Mt 13,10-17):
To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to those [others] was not given [...] because seeing [watching] they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand…
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