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The Rosicrucian Philosophy in Question & Answers
THE MISSION OF CHRIST
QUESTION: If the world is a training school and we must all evolve some time,
why was it necessary for Christ to die for our salvation? (Vol. II, #100)
ANSWER: If you have studied the Western Wisdom Teachings, you will remember
that at different periods in the development of the world there were certain
stragglers who did not come up to the requirements and needed to go into the
next class, as it were. This is on the same principle that we see in our
schools of today. In every class of children there are some who do not apply
themselves as much as others, and therefore, when the time of examination
comes, they are not ready to go into a higher class and must consequently be
left behind. Under the regime of Jehovah egoism was instilled into early
mankind to evolve humanity. In early Atlantis the Spirit had just entered the
body, and all felt universal kinship as children of the great Father. However,
they were designed to conquer the world and evolve individuality, and to this
end they were divided into nations and families.
Having been given dominion over all things, they were encouraged to acquire
possessions. Material favor, increase of children, of cattle, and of land,
were given to them as rewards for obedience to the dictates of their various
Race Spirits who were regarded by them as messengers of God. Contrariwise, if
they transgressed and disobeyed the commandments of Jehovah, they must pay in
famine, pestilence, or other material calamity. There was under the regime of
Jehovah no promise of a heaven, for it was said that "even the heavens are the
Lord's but the Earth has he given to the children of men." Furthermore, they
were told that they would be rewarded with long life to dwell in their land,
if they were obedient to His commandments. Thus, by degrees egoism and self-
seeking were made paramount, and the good deeds which are the basis of heaven
life, where spiritual progress is made, were neglected. The more intelligent
the people became the more their cunning, and covetousness were exercised to
lay up treasure on Earth, but never a thought bestowed on the treasure in
heaven, so necessary to spiritual advancement. The body also crystallized more
and more by this method, and had it been pursued indefinitely, evolution would
have come to a standstill. Humanity builds both the Earth and their own bodies
in the Second Heaven, between two lives, and they would have crystallized the
Earth and themselves in their grasping egoism, until it would have become like
the Moon.
To escape such a calamity another influence was necessary, and the seer who
can read the Memory of Nature sees that ages before the actual advent of
Christ His benefic influence was exercised from without. He was preparing to
act as Indwelling Spirit of our planet and thereby raise the vibration so as
to purify the moral atmosphere and change the motto, "An eye for an eye, a
tooth for a tooth," to "Love your enemies." Jehovah is the ruler of all the
satellites in our solar system. In order to stir the backward class of Spirits
which are contained on these moons, it is necessary to use the most strenuous
means indefinitely, but as soon as a sufficiently enlightened stage has been
reached by the people on a planet the Cosmic Christ takes them in hand to save
them from the law by love. He generates in them and the planetary atmosphere
the altruistic vibrations of brotherhood.
Sinking His consciousness in such low and material conditions with
sufficient concentration to effect His object involves a temporary death to
the higher, spiritual realms; but this is necessary, and therefore Christ must
die to save the world.
BIBLICAL PROOF OF REBIRTH
QUESTION: Can you prove from the Bible that the Ego is born and reborn until
it is fit to be in God's presence? (Vol. II, #104)
ANSWER: There are some people who believe that the Bible is absolutely true,
word for word, from cover to cover. Moreover, in controversy they seem to
argue as though it had originally been written in English and every word meant
just what is said and nothing else.
As a matter of fact, the Bible has been translated, transcribed, edited, and
re-edited so many times that interpolations have, of course, crept in. Some
have been inserted unintentionally, due to the fact that a copyist will make a
slip with the pen occasionally. There have also been cases where
interpolations were put in to support a certain doctrine in which the copyist
believed and which was not clearly enunciated. Among scholars it is well
recognized that only a general outline of the original teachings remains with
us today.
In all religions an exoteric side was always given to the multitude. This
contained the more elementary teachings, but a deeper place was given to those
who had fitted themselves by their lives for understanding the deeper
mysteries. We may take the counsel of Christ to His disciples: "Unto you it is
given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens but unto these
parables," as an indication that there is a similar arrangement in the
Christian religion.
Among these mysteries was the doctrine of rebirth, which you will see He
must have taught from the following conversation. He asked them: "Who do men
say that I, the son of man, am?" They answered and said: "Some say that you
are John the Baptist, some Elijah, and some that you are Jeremiah, or one of
the prophets." These personages had all died and their bodies must have
decayed in the grave. Yet we find people believing that Jesus was one of them
reborn. If this principle of rebirth had been wrong, it would have been His
duty as a teacher to have set His disciples right, and He would probably have
said: "What nonsense! How can I be one of those? They have been gone for
centuries." Instead He asks, "Who do you say that I am?"
In the case of Elijah He taught this doctrine outright, for He said to His
disciples concerning John the Baptist: "This is Elijah if you will receive
it." There is no equivocation, but a straightforward statement: "This is
Elijah." This statement was reiterated later on when they left the Mount of
Transfiguration, for on that occasion Christ said to His disciples: "Elijah
has come and they have done to him as they listed." Then they knew that He
spoke of John the Baptist.
This article was adapted from "The Rosicrucian Philosophy in Questions
and Answers, Vol. II," by Max Heindel, published by The Rosicrucian Fellowship.