Inner Light and the Logos

Transfiguration by Raphael, 1520, Pinacoteca, Vatican Museum, Rome. In this famous classic painting of the Renaissance, there is great balance, harmony, color and light. Moses and Elijah are shown next to Christ.

John 8:12  “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”           

In contemporary Christian religion, the Quakers or Society of Friends, seem to be most likely to make “the light within” the centerpiece of their religious life.  This appears to be Christ Consciousness and the God within that helps inform and nourish consciousness.  An interesting term used by George Fox, an early Quaker leader, is “the seed of God within“.  The Quakers “sprang up” in England during the religious wars of the reformation and counter reformation around 1650. 
   
A few words from Friend Isaac Penington’s The Light Within:  "Question 1. What is this light which we so earnestly testify of, and whereof we affirm, That all men are, or have been, in some measure, enlightened by it?  And what is the nature of it?   Answer, It is that which shineth from God in the heart, wherein God is near to men; and wherein and whereby men may seek after God, and find him." 
   
Even then, the question some Quakers would have, is the inner light received as a gift from God, or is it a part of human nature?  Is it sent from God or is this some neural connection awakened by the man (or woman)?  For us of the Next Reformation, we can not determine the answer, and thus, there is no value in proposing a hypothesis, as it could not be tested.  We can’t tell.  But seeking the inner light provides a more interesting journey than not seeking.

The Logos    

Diorama of Cavemen, National Museum of Mongolian History, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, showing making fire and cave art.

The origin of the Logos begins with early, primative humans about 30,000 years ago.  Teilhard Chardin theorizes that was about when humans developed self awareness - inner consciousness (The Phenomena of Man).  This "simply" was the development of neural connections that allowed man to think.  This allows us to think of "God".  Our evolving psyche receives images - projections from the unconscious - archetypes as C. G. Jung called it.

Mandala of the logos

The archeypes of the collective unconscious are part of, or interact with the Logos - the Son of God - the Word of God - Divine Consciousness.  Connected or reacting harmoniously - vibrating with our own inner self.

The ancient Greeks developed the idea of the Logos. Some of their many meanings of the term were:

• rational principle that governs the universe - logic and order

• ratio and proportion - sacred geometry

• principle of cause and harmony

  In Alchemy, the Logos is used synonymously with the Philosopher's Stone, Lapis and Christ to indicate the agent for the "transformation of our base nature to the higher noble nature".

Rebirth of the Divine, in Elementia Chemiae, Johann Conrad Barchusen, 1718.

In this strange old engraving from a book on alchemy, we can see the Phoenix rising in the flask.  The Phoenix was a strange bird that after a life, burns itself in flames and then rises again from the ashes.  It often used as a symbol or metaphor for rebirth, immortality and idealistic hope. 
The Alchemical Marriage was a common theme.  On the actual physical side, quicksilver (mercury) combines with brimstone (sulfur) to produce a salt (mercuric sulfide).  This kind of alchemy developed into our science of chemistry.  On the mystical side, the union of opposites (male and female, body and spirit, sun and moon) produce higher, more noble states.  This transmutation is an allegory that can helps us to a path of death and rebirth with Christ - the Logos - the higher state - the Hero in mythology.

The actual physical resurrection of Jesus is not critical for the Next Reformation.  It may or may not have occurred as described.  That is a matter for Faith.  We can have our own experiences of rebirth here on this plane and live our lives in ways to be afforded resurrection in any afterlife.

Next let us look at images - Icons and the Ten Commandments ~