Blavatsky Pamphlets

An Open Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury

No. 1

An Open Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury

by H.P. Blavatsky
Reprinted from Lucifer! "a#a$ine 1%%& Published by 'he (.P.B. Library) 'oronto)On. Canada

"y Lord Primate of all *n#land)+ ,* make use of an open letter to your -race as a vehicle to convey to you) and throu#h you to the cler#y) to their flocks) and to Christians #enerally + .ho re#ard us as the enemies of Christ + a brief statement of the position .hich 'heosophy occupies in re#ard to Christianity as .e believe that the time for makin# that statement has arrived. ! /our -race is no doubt a.are that 'heosophy is not a reli#ion) but a philosophy at once reli#ious and scientific0 and that the chief .ork) so far) of the 'heosophical 1ociety has been to revive in each reli#ion its o.n animatin# spirit) by encoura#in# and helpin# en2uiry into the true si#nificance of its doctrines and observances. 'heosophists kno. that the deeper one penetrates into the meanin# of the do#mas and ceremonies of all reli#ions) the #reater becomes their apparent underlyin# similarity) until finally a perception of their fundamental unity is reached. 'his common #round is no other than 'heosophy + the 1ecret 3octrine of the a#es0 .hich) diluted and dis#uised to suit the capacity of the multitude) and the re2uirements of the time) has formed the livin# kernel of all reli#ion. 'he 'heosophical 1ociety has branches respectively composed of Buddhists. (indoos) "ahomedans) Parsees) Christians) and 4reethinkers) .ho .ork to#ether as brethren on the common #round of 'heosophy0 and it is precisely because 'heosophy is not a reli#ion) nor can for the multitude supply the place of a reli#ion) that the success of the 1ociety has been so #reat) not merely as re#ards its #ro.in# membership and e5tendin# influence) but also in respect to the performance of the .ork it has undertaken + the revival of spirituality in reli#ion) and the cultivation of the sentiment of BROTHERHOOD amon# men.[Page 2] ,e 'heosophists believe that a reli#ion is a natural incident in the life of man in his present sta#e of development0 and that althou#h) in rare cases) individuals may be born .ithout the reli#ious sentiment) a community must have a reli#ion) that is to say) a uniting bond under penalty of social decay and material annihilation. ,e believe that no reli#ious doctrine can be more than an attempt to picture to our present limited understandin#s) in the terms of our terrestrial e5periences) #reat cosmical and spiritual truths) .hich in our normal state of consciousness .e va#uely sense) rather than actually perceive and comprehend0 and a revelation) if it is to reveal anythin#) must necessarily conform to the same earth6 bound re2uirements of the human intellect. 7n our estimation) therefore) no reli#ion can be absolutely true) and none can be absolutely false. A reli#ion is true in proportion as it supplies the spiritual) moral and intellectual needs of the time) and helps the development of mankind in these respects. 7t is false in proportion as it hinders that development) and offends the spiritual) moral and intellectual portion of man8s nature. And the transcendentally spiritual ideas of the rulin# po.ers of the 9niverse entertained by an Oriental sa#e .ould be as false a reli#ion for the African sava#e as the #rovellin# fetishism of the Pa#e 1

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An Open Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury

No. 1

latter .ould be for the sa#e) althou#h both vie.s must necessarily be true in de#ree) for both represent the hi#hest ideas attainable by the respective individuals of the same cosmico6spiritual facts) .hich can never be kno.n in their reality by man .hile he remains but man. 'heosophists) therefore) are respectors of all the reli#ions) and for the reli#ious ethics of :esus they have profound admiration. 7t could not be other.ise) for these teachin#s .hich have come do.n to us are the same as those of 'heosophy. 1o far) therefore) as modern Christianity makes #ood its claim to be the practical reli#ion tau#ht by :esus) 'heosophists are .ith it heart and hand. 1o far as it #oes contrary to those ethics) pure and simple) 'heosophists are its opponents. Any Christian can) if he .ill) compare the 1ermon on the "ount .ith the do#mas of his church) and the spirit that breathes in it) .ith the principles that animate this Christian civili$ation and #overn his o.n life0 and then he .ill be able to ;ud#e for himself ho. far the reli#ion of :esus enters into his Christianity) and ho. far) therefore) he and 'heosophists [Page ] are a#reed. But professin# Christians) especially the cler#y) shrink from makin# this comparison. Like merchants .ho fear to find themselves bankrupt) they seem to dread the discovery of a discrepancy in their accounts .hich could not be made #ood by placin# material assets as a set6off to spiritual liabilities. 'he comparison bet.een the teachin#s of :esus and the doctrines of the churches has) ho.ever) fre2uently been made + and often .ith #reat learnin# and critical acumen + both by those .ho .ould abolish Christianity and those .ho .ould reform it0 and the a##re#ate result of these comparisons) as your -race must be .ell a.are) #oes to prove that in almost every point the doctrines of the churches and the practices of Christians are in direct opposition to the teachings of Jesus. ,e are accustomed to say to the Buddhist) the "ahomedan) the (indoo) or the Parsee< ='he road to 'heosophy lies) for you) throu#h your o.n reli#ion=. ,e say this because those creeds possess a deeply philosophical and esoteric meanin#) e5planatory of the alle#ories under .hich they are presented to the people0 but .e cannot say the same thin# to Christians. 'he successors of the Apostles never recorded the secret doctrine of :esus + the =mysteries of the kin#dom of (eaven= + .hich it .as #iven to them >his apostles? alone to kno.. @ 1. "ark iv 770 "atthe. 5iii0 Luke viii 1A B. 'hese have been suppressed) made a.ay .ith) destroyed. ,hat have come do.n upon the stream of time are the ma5ims) the parables) the alle#ories and the fables .hich :esus e5pressly6intended for the spiritually deaf and blind to be revealed later to the .orld) and .hich modern Christianity either takes all literally) or interprets accordin# to the fancies of the 4athers of the secular church. 7n both cases they are like cut flo.ers< they are severed from the plant on .hich they #re.) and from the root .hence that plant dre. its life. ,ere .e) therefore) to encoura#e Christians) as .e do the votaries of other creeds) to study their o.n reli#ion for themselves) the conse2uence .ould be) not a kno.led#e of the meanin# of its mysteries) but either the revival of mediaeval superstition and intolerance) accompanied by a formidable outbreak of mere lip6 prayer and preachin# + such as resulted in the formation of the CDE Protestant sects of *n#land alone + or else a #reat [Page !] increase of scepticism) for Christianity has no esoteric foundation kno.n to those .ho profess it. 4or even you) my Lord Primate of *n#land) must be painfully a.are that you kno. absolutely no more of those =mysteries of the kin#dom of (eaven= .hich :esus tau#ht his disciples) than does the humblest and most illiterate member of your church. 7t is easily understood) therefore) that 'heosophists have nothin# to say a#ainst the policy of the Roman Catholic Church in forbiddin# or of the Protestants churches in discoura#in#) any such private en2uiry into the meanin# of the =Christian= do#mas as .ould correspond to the esoteric study of other reli#ions. ,ith their present ideas and kno.led#e) professin# Christians are not prepared to undertake a critical e5amination of their faith .ith a promise of #ood results. 7ts inevitable effect .ould be to paraly$e rather Pa#e C

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An Open Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury

No. 1

than stimulate their dormant reli#ious sentiments0 for biblical criticism and comparative mytholo#y have proved conclusively + to those) at least) .ho have no vested interests) spiritual or temporal) in the maintenance of orthodo5y + that the Christian reli#ion) as it no. e5ists) is composed of the husks of :udaism) the shreds of pa#anism) and the ill6di#ested remains of #nosticism and neo6platonism. 'his curious con#lomerate .hich #radually formed itself round the recorded sayin#s >FGHIJ ?of :esus) has) after the lapse of a#es) no. be#un to disinte#rate) and to crumble a.ay from the pure and precious #ems of 'heosophic truth .hich it has so lon# over lain and hidden) but could neither disfi#ure nor destroy. 'heosophy not only rescues these precious #ems from the fate that threatens the rubbish in .hich they have been so lon# embedded) but saves that rubbish itself from utter condemnation 0 for it sho.s that the result of biblical criticism is far from bein# the ultimate analysis of Christianity) as each of the pieces .hich compose the curious mosaics of the Churches once belon#ed to a reli#ion .hich had an esoteric meanin#. 7t is only .hen these pieces are restored to the places they ori#inally occupied that their hidden si#nificance can be perceived) and the real meanin# of the do#mas of Christianity understood. 'o do all this) ho.ever) re2uires a kno.led#e of the 1ecret 3octrine as it e5ists in the esoteric foundation of other reli#ions0 and this kno.led#e is not in the hands of the Cler#y) for the Church has hidden) and since lost) the keys.[Page "] /our -race .ill no. understand .hy it is that the 'heosophical 1ociety has taken for one of its three =ob;ects= the study of those *astern reli#ions and philosophies) .hich shed such a flood of li#ht upon the inner meanin# of Christianity0 and you .ill) .e hope) also perceive that in so doin#) .e are actin# not as the enemies) but as the friends of the reli#ion tau#ht by :esus + of true Christianity) in fact. 4or it is only throu#h the study of those reli#ions and philosophies that Christians can ever arrive at an understandin# of their o.n beliefs) or see the hidden meanin# of the parables and alle#ories .hich the Na$arene told to the spiritual cripples of :udea) and by takin# .hich) either as matters of fact or as matters of fancy) the Churches have brou#ht the teachin#s themselves into ridicule and contempt) and Christianity into serious dan#er of complete collapse) undermined as it is by historical criticism and mytholo#ical research) besides bein# broken by the sled#e6hammer of modern science. Ou#ht 'heosophists themselves) then) to be re#arded by Christians as their enemies) because they believe that orthodo5 Christianity is on the .hole) opposed to the reli#ion of :esus0 and because they have the coura#e to tell the Churches that they are traitors to the "A1'*R they profess to revere and serveK 4ar from it) indeed. 'heosophists kno. that the same spirit that animated the .ords of :esus lies latent in the hearts of Christians) as it does naturally in all men8s hearts. 'heir fundamental tenet is the Brotherhood of "an) the ultimate reali$ation of .hich is alone made possible by that .hich .as kno.n lon# before the days of :esus as =the Christ spirit.= 'his spirit is even no. potentially present in all men) and it .ill be developed into activity .hen human bein#s are no lon#er prevented from understandin#) appreciatin# and sympathi$in# .ith one another by the barriers of strife and hatred erected by priests and princes. ,e kno. that Christians in their lives fre2uently rise above the level of their Christianity. All Churches contain many noble) self6sacrificin# and virtuous men and .omen) ea#er to do #ood in their #eneration accordin# to their li#hts and opportunities) and full of aspirations to hi#her thin#s than those of earth + follo.ers of :esus in spite of their Christianity. 4or such as these) 'heosophists feel the deepest sympathy0 for only a 'heosophist) or else a person of your -race8s delicate sensibility and #reat theolo#ical [Page #] learnin#) can ;ustly appreciate the tremendous difficulties .ith .hich the tender plant of natural piety has to contend) as it forces its root into the uncon#enial soil of our Christian civili$ation) and tries to blossom in the cold and arid atmosphere of theolo#y. (o. hard) for instance) must it not be to =love= such a -od as that depicted in a .ell6kno.n passa#e by (erbert 1pencer<

Pa#e D

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An Open Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury

No. 1

='he cruelty of a 4i;ian -od) .ho) represented as devourin# the souls of the dead) may be supposed to inflict torture durin# the process) is small) compared to the cruelty of a -od .ho condemns men to tortures .hich are eternal. . . . 'he visitin# on Adam8s descendants throu#h hundreds of #enerations) of dreadful penalties for a small trans#ression .hich they did not commit) the damnin# of all men .ho do not avail themselves of an alle#ed mode of obtainin# for#iveness) .hich most men have never heard of) and the effectin# of reconciliation by sacrificin# a son .ho .as perfectly innocent) to satisfy the assumed necessity for a propitiatory victim) are modes of action .hich ascribed to a human ruler) .ould call forth e5pressions of abhorrence.= >=Reli#ion< a Retrospect and a Prospect.=? /our -race .ill say) no doubt) that :esus never tau#ht the .orship of such a #od as that. *ven so say .e 'heosophists. /et that is the very #od .hose .orship is officially conducted in Canterbury Cathedral) by you) my Lord Primate of *n#land0 and your -race .ill surely a#ree .ith us that there must indeed be a divine spark of reli#ious intuition in the hearts of men) that enables them to resist so .ell as they do) the deadly action of such poisonous theolo#y. 7f your -race) from your hi#h pinnacle) .ill cast your eyes around) you .ill behold a Christian civili$ation in .hich a frantic and merciless battle of man a#ainst man is not only the distin#uishin# feature) but the ackno.led#ed principle. 7t is an accepted scientific and economic a5iom today) that all pro#ress is achieved throu#h the stru##le for e5istence and the survival of the fittest0 and the fittest to survive in this Christian civili$ation are not those .ho are possessed of the 2ualities that are reco#ni$ed by the morality of every a#e to be the best + not the #enerous) the pious) the noble6hearted) the for#ivin#) the humble) the truthful) the honest) and the kind + but those .ho are stron#est in selfishness) in craft) in hypocrisy) in brute force) in false pretence) in unscrupulousness) in cruelty and in avarice. 'he spiritual and the altruistic are =the .eak)= .hom the =la.s= that #overn the universe[Page $] #ive as food to the e#oistic and material + =the stron#.= 'hat =mi#ht is ri#ht= is the only le#itimate conclusion) the last .ord of the 1Eth century ethics) for) as the .orld has become one hu#e battlefield) on .hich =the fittest= descend like vultures to tear out the eyes and the hearts of those .ho have fallen in the fi#ht. 3oes reli#ion put a stop to the battleK 3o the churches drive a.ay the vultures) or comfort the .ounded and the dyin#K Reli#ion does not .ei#h a feather in the world at lar#e today) .hen .orldly advanta#es and selfish pleasures are put in the other scale0 and the churches are po.erless to revivify the reli#ious sentiment amon# men) because their ideas) their kno.led#e) their methods) and their ar#uments are those of the 3ark A#es. "y Lord Primate) your Christianity is five hundred years behind the times. 1o lon# as men disputed .hether this #od or that #od .as the true one) or .hether the soul .ent to this place or that one after death) you) the cler#y) understood the 2uestion) and had ar#uments in hand to influence opinion + by syllo#ism or torture) as the case mi#ht re2uire< but no. it is the e5istence of any such bein# as -od) at all) or of any kind of immortal spirit) that is 2uestioned or denied. 1cience invents ne. theories of the 9niverse .hich contemptuously i#nore the e5istence of any #od0 moralists establish theories of ethics and social life in .hich the non6e5istence of a future life is taken for #ranted0 in physics) in psycholo#y) in la.) in medicine) the one thin# needful in order to entitle any teacher to a hearin# is that no reference .hatever should be contained in his ideas either to a Providence) or to a soul. 'he .orld is bein# rapidly brou#ht to the conviction that #od is a mythical conception) .hich has no foundation in fact) or place in Nature0 and that the immortal part of man is the silly dream of i#norant sava#es) perpetuated by the lies and tricks of priests) .ho reap a harvest by cultivatin# the fears of men that their mythical -od Pa#e L

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An Open Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury

No. 1

.ill torture their ima#inary souls to all eternity) in a fabulous (ell. 7n the face of all these thin#s the cler#y stand in this a#e dumb and po.erless. 'he only ans.er .hich the Church kne. ho. to make) to such =ob;ections= as these) .ere the rack and the faggot0 and she cannot use that system of lo#ic now. 7t is plain that if the -od and the soul tau#ht by the churches be ima#inary entities) then the Christian salvation [Page %] and damnation are mere delusions of the mind) produced by the hypnotic process of assertion and su##estion on a ma#nificent scale) actin# cumulatively on #enerations of mild =hysteriacs=. ,hat ans.er have you to such a theory of the Christian reli#ion) e5cept a repetition of assertions and su##estionsK ,hat .ays have you of brin#in# men back to their old beliefs but by revivin# their old habitsK =Build more churches) say more prayers) establish more missions) and your faith in damnation and salvation .ill be revived) and a rene.ed belief in -od and the soul .ill be the necessary result=. 'hat is the policy of the churches) and their only ans.er to a#nosticism and materialism. But your -race must kno. that to meet the attacks of modern science and criticism .ith such .eapons as assertions and habit) is like #oin# forth a#ainst ma#a$ine #uns) armed .ith boomeran#s and leather shields. ,hile) ho.ever) the pro#ress of ideas and the increase of kno.led#e are underminin# the popular theolo#y) every discovery of science) every ne. conception of *uropean advanced thou#ht) brin#s the 1Eth century mind nearer to the ideas of the 3ivine and the 1piritual) kno.n to all esoteric reli#ions and to 'heosophy. 'he Church claims that Christianity is the only true reli#ion) and this claim involves t.o distinct propositions) namely) that Christianity is true reli#ion) and that there is no true reli#ion e5cept Christianity. 7t never seems to strike Christians that -od and 1pirit could possibly e5ist in any other form than that under .hich they are presented in the doctrines of their church. 'he sava#e calls the missionary an Atheist) because he does not carry an idol in his trunk0 and the missionary) in his turn) calls everyone an Atheist .ho does not carry about a fetish in his mind0 and neither sava#e nor Christian ever seem to suspect that there may be a hi#her idea than their o.n of the #reat hidden po.er that #overns the 9niverse) to .hich the name of =-od= is much more applicable. 7t is doubtful .hether the churches take more pains to prove Christianity =true=) or to prove that any other kind of reli#ion is necessarily =false=0 and the evil conse2uences of this) their teachin#) are terrible. ,hen people discard do#ma they fancy that they have discarded the reli#ious sentiment also) and they conclude that reli#ion is a superfluity in human life + a renderin# to the clouds of thin#s that [Page &] belon# to earth) a .aste of ener#y .hich could he more profitably e5pended in the stru##le for e5istence. 'he materialism of this a#e is) therefore) the direct conse2uence of the Christian doctrine that there is no rulin# po.er in the 9niverse) and no immortal 1pirit in man e5cept those made kno.n in Christian do#mas. 'he Atheist) my Lord Primate) is the bastard son of the Church. But this is not all. 'he churches have never tau#ht men any other or hi#her reason .hy they should be ;ust and kind and true than the hope of re.ard and the fear of punishment) and .hen they let #o their belief in 3ivine caprice and 3ivine in;ustice the foundations of their morality are sapped. 'hey have not even natural morality to consciously fall back upon) for Christianity has tau#ht them to re#ard it as .orthless on account of the natural depravity of man. 'herefore self6interest becomes the only motive for conduct) and the fear of bein# found out) the only deterrent from vice. And so) .ith re#ard to morality as .ell as to -od and the soul) Christianity pushes men off the path that leads to kno.led#e) and precipitates them into the abyss of incredulity) pessimism and vice. 'he last place .here men .ould no. look for help from the evils and miseries of life is the Church) because they kno. that the buildin# of churches and the repeatin# of litanies influence neither the po.ers of Nature nor the councils of nations0 Pa#e M

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An Open Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury

No. 1

because they instinctively feel that .hen the churches accepted the principle of e5pediency they lost their po.er to move the hearts of men) and can no. only act on the e5ternal plane) as the supporters of the policeman and the politician. 'he function of reli#ion is to comfort and encoura#e humanity in its life6lon# stru##le .ith sin and sorro.. 'his it can do only by presentin# mankind .ith noble ideals of a happier e5istence after death) and of a .orthier life on earth to be .on in both cases by conscious effort. ,hat the .orld no. .ants is a Church that .ill tell it of 3eity or the immortal principle in man) .hich .ill tell it at least on a level .ith the ideas and kno.led#e of the times. 3o#matic Christianity is not suited for a .orld that reasons and thinks) and only those .ho can thro. themselves into a mediaeval stale of mind) can appreciate a Church .hose reli#ious >as distin#uished from its social and political? function is to keep -od [Page '(] in #ood humour .hile the laity are doin# .hat they believe he does not approve0 to pray for chan#es of .eather0 and occasionally) to thank the Almi#hty for helpin# to slau#hter the enemy. 7t is not =medicine men=) but spiritual #uides that the .orld looks for today + a =cler#y= that .ill #ive it ideals as suited to the intellect of this century) as the Christian (eaven and (ell) -od and the 3evil) .ere to the a#es of dark i#norance and superstition. 3o) or can) the Christian cler#y fulfil this re2uirementK 'he misery) the crime) the vice) the selfishness) the brutality) the lack of self6respect and self6control) that mark our modern civili$ation) unite their voices in one tremendous cry) and ans.er + NON ,hat is the meanin# of the reaction a#ainst materialism) the si#ns of .hich fill the air todayK 7t means that the .orld has become mortally sick of the do#matism) the arro#ance) the self6sufficiency) and the spiritual blindness of modern science + of that same "odern 1cience .hich men but yesterday hailed as their deliverer from reli#ious bi#otry and Christian superstition) but .hich) like the 3evil of the monkish le#ends) re2uires) as the price of its services) the sacrifice of man8s immortal soul. And mean.hile) .hat are the Churches doin#K 'he Churches are sleepin# the s.eet sleep of endo.ments) of social and political influence) .hile the .orld) the flesh) and the devil) are appropriatin# their .atch.ords) their miracles) their ar#uments) and their blind faith. 'he 1piritualists + ohN Churches of Christ + have stolen the fire from your altars to illumine their sOance rooms + the 1alvationists have taken your sacramental .ine) and make themselves spiritually drunk in the streets0 the 7nfidel has stolen the .eapons .ith .hich you van2uished him once) and triumphantly tells you that =,hat you advance) has been fre2uently said before=. (ad ever cler#y so splendid an opportunityK 'he #rapes in the vineyard are ripe) needin# only the ri#ht labourers to #ather them. ,ere you to #ive to the .orld some proof) on the level of the present intellectual standard of probability) that 3eity + the immortal 1pirit in man + have a real e5istence as facts in Nature) .ould not men hail you as their saviour from pessimism and despair) from the maddenin# and brutali$in# thou#ht that there is no other destiny for man but an eternal blank) after a fe. short years of bitter toil and sorro.K + aye0 as their saviours from the [Page ''] panic6stricken fi#ht for material en;oyment and .orldly advancement) .hich is the direct conse2uence of believin# this mortal life to be the be6all and end6all of e5istenceK But the Churches have neither the kno.led#e nor the faith needed to save the .orld) and perhaps your Church) my Lord Primate) least of all) .ith the mill6stone of P%)AAA)AAA a year hun# round its neck. 7n vain you try to li#hten the ship by castin# overboard the ballast of doctrines .hich your forefathers deemed vital to Christianity. ,hat more can your Church do no.) than run before the #ale .ith bare poles) .hile the cler#y feebly endeavour to putty up the #apin# leaks .ith the =revised version=) and by their social and political dead.ei#ht try to prevent the ship from capsi$in# and its car#o of do#mas and endo.ments from #oin# to the bottom K Pa#e Q

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An Open Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury

No. 1

,ho built Canterbury Cathedral) my Lord Primate. ,ho invented and #ave life to the #reat ecclesiastical or#ani$ation .hich makes an Archbishop of Canterbury possibleK ,ho laid the foundation of the vast system of reli#ious ta5ation .hich #ives you P1M)AAA a year and a palaceK ,ho instituted the forms and ceremonies) the prayers and litanies) .hich) sli#htly altered and stripped of art and ornament) make the litur#y of the Church of *n#landK ,ho .rested from the people the proud titles of =reverend divine88 and ="an of -od= .hich the cler#y of your Church so confidently assumeK ,ho) indeed) but the Church of RomeN ,e speak in no spirit of enmity. 'heosophy has seen the rise and fall of many faiths) and .ill be present at the birth and death of many more. ,e kno. that the lives of reli#ions are sub;ect to la.. ,hether you inherited le#itimately from the Church of Rome) or obtained by violence) .e leave you to settle .ith your enemies and .ith your conscience0 for our mental attitude to.ards your Church is determined by its intrinsic .orthiness. ,e kno. that if it be unable to fulfil the true spiritual function of a reli#ion) it .ill surely he s.ept a.ay) even thou#h the fault lie rather in its hereditary tendencies) or in its environments) than in itself. 'he Church of *n#land) to use a homely simile) is like a train runnin# by the momentum it ac2uired before steam .as shut off. ,hen it left the main track) it #ot upon a sidin# that leads no.here. 'he train has nearly come to a standstill) [Page '2] and many of the passen#ers have left it for other conveyances. 'hose that remain are for the most part a.are that they have been dependin# all alon# upon .hat little steam .as left in the boiler .hen the fires of Rome .ere .ithdra.n from under it. 'hey suspect that they may be only playin# at train no.0 but the en#ineer keeps blo.in# his .histle and the #uard #oes round to e5amine the tickets) and the brakesmen rattle their brakes) and it is not such bad fun after all. 4or the carria#es are .arm and comfortable and the day is cold) and so lon# as they are tipped all the company8s servants are very obli#in#. But those .ho kno. .here they .ant to #o) are not so contented. 4or several centuries the Church of *n#land has performed the difficult feat of blo.in# hot and cold in t.o directions at once + sayin# to the Roman Catholics =Reason N= and to the 1ceptics =BelieveN= 7t .as ad;ustin# the force of its t.o6faced blo.in#) that it has mana#ed to keep itself so lon# from fallin# off the fence. But no. the fence itself is #ivin# .ay. 3isendo.ment and disestablishment are in the air. And .hat does your Church ur#e in its o.n behalfK 7ts usefulness. 7t is useful to have a number of educated) moral) un.orldly men) scattered all over the country) .ho prevent the .orld from utterly for#ettin# the name of reli#ion) and .ho act as centres of benevolent .ork. But the 2uestion no. is no lon#er one of repeatin# prayers) and #ivin# alms to the poor) as it .as five hundred years a#o. 'he people have come of a#e) and have taken their thinkin# and the direction of their social) private and even spiritual affairs into their o.n hands) for they have found out that their cler#y kno. no more about =thin#s of (eaven= than they do themselves. But the Church of *n#land) it is said) has become so liberal that all ou#ht to support it. 'ruly) one can #o to an e5cellent imitation of the mass) or sit under a virtual 9nitarian) and still be .ithin its fold. 'his beautiful tolerance) ho.ever) only means that the Church has found it necessary to make itself an open common) .here every one can put up his o.n booth) and #ive his special performance if he .ill only ;oin in the defence of the endo.ments. 'olerance and liberality are contrary to the la.s of the e5istence of any church that believes in divine damnation) and their appearance in the Church of *n#land is not a si#n of rene.ed life) but of [Page ' ]. approachin# disinte#ration. No less deceptive is the ener#y evinced by the Church in the buildin# of churches. 7f this .ere a measure of reli#ion .hat a pious a#e this .ould beN Never .as do#ma so .ell housed before) thou#h human bein#s may have to sleep by thousands in the streets) and to literally starve in the shado. of our ma;estic cathedrals) built in the name of (im .ho Pa#e &

Blavatsky Pamphlets

An Open Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury

No. 1

had not .here to lay (is head. But did :esus tell you) your -race) that reli#ion lay not in the hearts of men) but in temples made .ith handsK /ou cannot convert your piety into stone and use it in your lives0 and history sho.s that petrifaction of the reli#ious sentiment is as deadly a disease as ossification of the heart. ,ere churches) ho.ever) multiplied a hundred fold) and .ere every cler#yman to become a centre of philanthropy) it .ould only be substitutin# the .ork that the poor re2uire from their men but not from their spiritual teachers) for that .hich they ask and cannot obtain. 7t .ould but brin# into #reater relief the spiritual barrenness of the doctrines of the Church. 'he time is approachin# .hen the cler#y .ill be called upon to render an account of their ste.ardship. Are you prepared) my Lord Primate) to e5plain to /our "A1'*R .hy you have #iven (is children stones) .hen they cried to you for breadK /ou smile in your fancied security. 'he servants have kept hi#h carnival so lon# in the inner chambers of the Lord8s (ouse) that they think (e .ill surely never return. But (e told you (e .ould come as a thief in the ni#ht0 and loN (e is comin# already in the hearts of men. (e is comin# to take possession of (is 4atherRs Sin#dom there) .here alone (is kin#dom is. But you kno. (im notN ,ere the Churches themselves not carried a.ay in the flood of ne#ation and materialism .hich has en#ulfed 1ociety) they .ould reco#ni$e the 2uickly #ro.in# #erm of the Christ6spirit in the hearts of thousands) .hom they no. brand as infidels and madmen. 'hey .ould reco#ni$e there the same spirit of love) of self6sacrifice) of immense pity for the i#norance) the folly) and the sufferin#s of the .orld) .hich appeared in its purity in the heart of :esus) as it had appeared in the hearts of other holy Reformers in other a#es< and .hich is the li#ht of all true reli#ion) and the lamp by .hich the 'heosophists of all times have endeavoured to #uide their steps alon# the narro. path that leads to salvation + the path [Page '!] .hich is trodden by every incarnation of C(R71'O1 or the 1P7R7' O4 'R9'(. And no.) my Lord Primate) .e have very respectfully laid before you the principal points of difference and disa#reement bet.een 'heosophy and the Christian Churches) and told you of the oneness of 'heosophy and the teachin#s of :esus. /ou have heard our profession of faith) and learned the #rievances and plaints .hich .e lay at the door of do#matic Christianity. ,e) a handful of humble individuals) possessed of neither riches nor .orldly influence) but stron# in our kno.led#e) have united in the hope of doin# the .ork .hich you say that your "A1'*R has allotted to you) but .hich is so sadly ne#lected by that .ealthy and domineerin# colossus + the Christian Church. ,ill you call this presumption) .e .onderK ,ill you) in this land of free opinion) free speech) and free effort) venture to accord us no other reco#nition than the usual anathema) .hich the Church keeps in store for the reformerK Or may .e hope that the bitter lessons of e5perience) .hich that policy has afforded the Churches in the past) .ill have altered the hearts and cleared the understandin#s of her rulers0 and that the comin# year) 1%%%) .ill .itness the stretchin# out to us of the hand of Christians in fello.ship and #ood.illK 'his .ould only be a ;ust reco#nition that the comparatively small body called the 'heosophical 1ociety is no pioneer of the Anti6Christ) no brood of the *vil one) but the practical helper) perchance the saviour) of Christianity) and that it is only endeavourin# to do the .ork that :esus. like Buddha) and the other =sons of -od= .ho preceded him) has commanded all his follo.ers to undertake) but .hich the Churches) havin# become do#matic) are entirely unable to accomplish. And no.) if your -race can prove that .e do in;ustice to the Church of .hich you are the (ead) or to popular 'heolo#y .e promise to ackno.led#e our error publicly. But + 17L*NC* -7T*1 CON1*N'=.

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