What do you think?
Rate this book
Ristiusu salajane ajalugu: Jeesus, viimane inkling ja teadvuse evolutsioon
Kristlus on kriisis, märgib kirjanik ja psühhoterapeut Mark Vernon (snd 1966). Õpetused, mis aastasadu inimesi vaimselt toitsid, ei ole juba ammu suutnud seda teha nii nagu varasematel aegadel.
Otsides vastust küsimusele, miks see nii on, toetub Vernon C. S. Lewise ja J. R. R. Tolkieni lähedase mõttekaaslase, briti filosoofi Owen Barfieldi (1898–1997) läbinägelikele arutlustele. Barfield jõudis kultuure analüüsides järeldusele, et aja jooksul inimeste elukogemus ja teadlikkus maailmast muutuvad, ühes sellega ka taju loodusest, kosmosest ja jumalikust.
Raamatu autor kaevub 3000 aasta tagusesse aega, perioodi, kust on pärit Vana Testamendi vanimad osad, ja liigub järk-järgult tänapäeva, andes ülevaate, kuidas on selle aja jooksul muutunud inimese suhe jumalikuga. Kirjandusklassikute, kunstnike, müstikute, teadlaste jt abil arutleb Vernon, kuidas suudaks kristlus abstraktsete doktriinide asemel anda võimaluse vahetuks individuaalseks kogemuseks, mis avaks ennast igas südames, mõistuses ja hinges.
Otsides vastust küsimusele, miks see nii on, toetub Vernon C. S. Lewise ja J. R. R. Tolkieni lähedase mõttekaaslase, briti filosoofi Owen Barfieldi (1898–1997) läbinägelikele arutlustele. Barfield jõudis kultuure analüüsides järeldusele, et aja jooksul inimeste elukogemus ja teadlikkus maailmast muutuvad, ühes sellega ka taju loodusest, kosmosest ja jumalikust.
Raamatu autor kaevub 3000 aasta tagusesse aega, perioodi, kust on pärit Vana Testamendi vanimad osad, ja liigub järk-järgult tänapäeva, andes ülevaate, kuidas on selle aja jooksul muutunud inimese suhe jumalikuga. Kirjandusklassikute, kunstnike, müstikute, teadlaste jt abil arutleb Vernon, kuidas suudaks kristlus abstraktsete doktriinide asemel anda võimaluse vahetuks individuaalseks kogemuseks, mis avaks ennast igas südames, mõistuses ja hinges.
336 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2021
51 people are currently reading
270 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 16, 2023
4.5"intelligent, sustaining, hopeful" stars !!!
2020 Honorable Mention Read
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Christan Alternative for a copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review. This book was released in September 2019.
This was my 2019 Christmas read and I chose it at the exact right time for my spiritual development and practice. The book covers so much ground and is steeped in Ancient Israeli history, Greek Philosophy, the Gospels, depth psychology, science as a friend to spirituality, the nature of Jesus, aesthetics, poetry and everyday mysticism. Mr. Vernon captures all of these strands and weaves them into a most wonderful and museful tapestry. He invites the intuitive Christian to drop dogma and fully participate in the wonderful beauty of both earth and spirit.
There is so much here to reflect on and has deepened my faith and provides further ideas of where to glide to in my continued consciousness raising in my practices of Christian faith and Buddhist meditation.
2020 Honorable Mention Read
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Christan Alternative for a copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review. This book was released in September 2019.
This was my 2019 Christmas read and I chose it at the exact right time for my spiritual development and practice. The book covers so much ground and is steeped in Ancient Israeli history, Greek Philosophy, the Gospels, depth psychology, science as a friend to spirituality, the nature of Jesus, aesthetics, poetry and everyday mysticism. Mr. Vernon captures all of these strands and weaves them into a most wonderful and museful tapestry. He invites the intuitive Christian to drop dogma and fully participate in the wonderful beauty of both earth and spirit.
There is so much here to reflect on and has deepened my faith and provides further ideas of where to glide to in my continued consciousness raising in my practices of Christian faith and Buddhist meditation.
September 6, 2019
I came to this book through the back door; that is, it was not the “Secret History of Christianity” that grabbed me (not a unique title), but the subtitle “the Last Inkling and the Evolution of Consciousness.” This phrase no doubt referred to Owen Barfield and his line of thought about the evolution of consciousness. Barfield has been on my radar for years as I’ve sought to become more familiar with his deep insights. While Barfield is a lucid writer, his thought dives deep and sometimes can leave the reader adrift. And unlike his more famous Inkling companions C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, Barfield never reached great numbers with his works (which only included a relatively small amount of fiction and poetry). So, I thought, perhaps this work would reveal more about Barfield’s project to me.
Alas, it did not. After an initial cursory introduction to Barfield’s key notion of “original participation” followed by “withdrawal participation” and “reciprocal participation,” and a nod to French anthropologist Lucien Levy-Bruehl about his idea of “participation mystique,” Vernon plunges directly into a history of the Hebrew Bible through the lens of the concept of “participation.” From that starting point, he moves on into a review of ancient Greek culture through the same lens. In both traditions, the earlier manifestations of those cultures were marked by “original participation” with the world around them. As Vernon describes it, the phenomena refer “to the felt experience of participating in life. Original participation dominates when there is little distinction between what’s felt to be inside someone and what’s outside because the boundaries of individual self - consciousness, which today we take for granted, are not in place.” (p. 3; loc. 264.) Or as Barfield describes it: “Early man did not observe nature in our detached way . . . . He participated mentally and physically in her inner and outer processes.” (p. 3; loc. 269.) Vernon proceeds to take the reader through a brief history of the Hebrew Bible to illustrate this phenomenon and the eventual shift away from a consciousness marked by original participation to one of “withdrawal participation,” which is marked by a shift away from immersion in the surrounding world into a greater sense of individuality. As Vernon describes it, “An awareness of separation, even isolation, is felt. A person will begin to sense that they have an inner life that is, relatively speaking, their own. (p. 3; loc. 273.)
After completing his brief but illuminating history of the Hebrew Bible, Vernon moves across the street, as it were, and does the same with ancient Greek culture, displaying the same dynamic at work. Like the Hebrew prophets, the emerging Greek philosophers (culminating in Socrates) promote a greater sense of individuality and individual agency. The world of Achilles in the Illiad is significantly different from that of Socrates. As Vernon points out, another way to look at this shift is to discern a growing sense of individuality and use of introspection by individuals.
With the advent of the Hellenistic Age in the wake of Alexander the Great and his successors, these two lines of thought—Hebrew and Greek—begin to encounter one another and interact. Out of this mixture arises the life of Jesus and the coming of Christianity. It’s at this point that I must quibble about the first part of the title of this book, “the Secret History of Christianity.” What Vernon writes about in this section and the sources he draws upon is not Dan Brown material. Rather, the sources that Vernon draws upon are neither secret nor very unorthodox. (Although he does cite the Gospel of Thomas, which is outside of the sanctioned Scriptures, but that’s about as far out of the mainstream that he goes.) Vernon’s portrait of Jesus draws upon the Four Evangelists and Paul to demonstrate that Jesus was taking his followers deeper into the interior life. Vernon demonstrates his argument with quotations from the Gospels and Paul that should prove familiar to any reader. He emphasizes the message of interiority preached by Jesus and the desire of Jesus to prompt a metanoia—a change of mind (or heart-mind, as I’m persuaded may prove a more adept translation). Vernon argues that Jesus didn’t intend to set down new sets of rules to follow, but instead, he intended to change our awareness; to find the root of our conduct on the inside. (I can’t help but recall the scene in Monty Python’s Life of Brian where the supposed messiah (Brian) loses a sandal while attempting to flee the crowd and the crowd takes this as a directive to shed their sandals--or something. Ah, literalism.) In short, Vernon provides a convincing and attractive portrait of Jesus that comports with Barfield’s theory of “participation” and that comports with sound Biblical scholarship. Sorry, no lost gospels or secret societies here.
Vernon continues his tour of Christian culture and belief through the early Church on to Augustine, whose interiority further expands this Christian insight and who develops the idea of the will to better understand an individual’s volition. Vernon follows this path continuing up through the Renaissance, which—contra Burkhardt—Vernon argues does not provide a definitive break with medieval culture and belief. But the Reformation, which follows upon the Renaissance and does alter the course of the evolution of consciousness. The Reformation, in the words and works of Luther and Calvin and their followers, placed a significantly increased emphasis on the individual’s conscience. The Reformation, along with the Scientific Revolution, altered the ways that individuals saw themselves and their world. The advent of the printing press, like the advent of literacy and private reading in earlier times, greatly facilitated (or perhaps more it’s more accurate to say, helped cause) this change in consciousness. Humanity became more aware of how to manipulate the world around it and gained an increased sense of individual agency. But these gains came at the cost of losing much (and in some cases all) of the sense of belonging to the cosmos that had survived through the Renaissance. Christianity, as a result, tended more toward literalism and faith as belief rather than trust. This trend has continued up through the present, but Vernon identifies signs that humanity may be ready to move into a mode of “reciprocal participation.”
Vernon identifies “imagination” as the key to reaching a state of reciprocal participation. In this argument, Vernon echoes many of the themes that Gary Lachman identified in his 2017 publication, Lost Knowledge of the Imagination. As both authors note, imagination is not another word for fantasy; both authors draw upon Samuel Taylor Coleridge for guidance in describing the role and function of imagination and its distinction from what Coleridge labeled as “fantasy.” Also, Vernon discusses the body of poetic and visual works of William Blake as a master of an informed imagination.
Thus, while I didn’t experience an in-depth dive into Barfield’s thought (although Barfield’s work does resurface prominently toward the end of the book), I did receive a persuasive application of how Barfield’s perspective can apply to the history of Western Christianity. An for those who want a helpful introduction of Barfield’s project, one can turn to Gary Lachman, who refers to Barfield frequently, and at depth in his works A Secret History of Consciousness and Caretakers of the Cosmos. And as to having a not-so-secret history of Christianity added to the piles of books written about the history of Christianity, Vernon’s effort is worthwhile. The fact the sources that Vernon draws upon are not occult doesn’t mean that the project isn’t valuable; it is. While not secret, his understanding of Christianity is not widespread so far as I can discern. The description that he provides is one that could prove useful as we go forward to meet the challenges ahead. He hopes to see Christianity (along with other wisdom traditions) bridge the gap between our alienation from the world around us (and ourselves) and the gifts that individuality and science have brought to us. This is a noble and vital enterprise, and one that deserves our thanks—and our reading time.
Alas, it did not. After an initial cursory introduction to Barfield’s key notion of “original participation” followed by “withdrawal participation” and “reciprocal participation,” and a nod to French anthropologist Lucien Levy-Bruehl about his idea of “participation mystique,” Vernon plunges directly into a history of the Hebrew Bible through the lens of the concept of “participation.” From that starting point, he moves on into a review of ancient Greek culture through the same lens. In both traditions, the earlier manifestations of those cultures were marked by “original participation” with the world around them. As Vernon describes it, the phenomena refer “to the felt experience of participating in life. Original participation dominates when there is little distinction between what’s felt to be inside someone and what’s outside because the boundaries of individual self - consciousness, which today we take for granted, are not in place.” (p. 3; loc. 264.) Or as Barfield describes it: “Early man did not observe nature in our detached way . . . . He participated mentally and physically in her inner and outer processes.” (p. 3; loc. 269.) Vernon proceeds to take the reader through a brief history of the Hebrew Bible to illustrate this phenomenon and the eventual shift away from a consciousness marked by original participation to one of “withdrawal participation,” which is marked by a shift away from immersion in the surrounding world into a greater sense of individuality. As Vernon describes it, “An awareness of separation, even isolation, is felt. A person will begin to sense that they have an inner life that is, relatively speaking, their own. (p. 3; loc. 273.)
After completing his brief but illuminating history of the Hebrew Bible, Vernon moves across the street, as it were, and does the same with ancient Greek culture, displaying the same dynamic at work. Like the Hebrew prophets, the emerging Greek philosophers (culminating in Socrates) promote a greater sense of individuality and individual agency. The world of Achilles in the Illiad is significantly different from that of Socrates. As Vernon points out, another way to look at this shift is to discern a growing sense of individuality and use of introspection by individuals.
With the advent of the Hellenistic Age in the wake of Alexander the Great and his successors, these two lines of thought—Hebrew and Greek—begin to encounter one another and interact. Out of this mixture arises the life of Jesus and the coming of Christianity. It’s at this point that I must quibble about the first part of the title of this book, “the Secret History of Christianity.” What Vernon writes about in this section and the sources he draws upon is not Dan Brown material. Rather, the sources that Vernon draws upon are neither secret nor very unorthodox. (Although he does cite the Gospel of Thomas, which is outside of the sanctioned Scriptures, but that’s about as far out of the mainstream that he goes.) Vernon’s portrait of Jesus draws upon the Four Evangelists and Paul to demonstrate that Jesus was taking his followers deeper into the interior life. Vernon demonstrates his argument with quotations from the Gospels and Paul that should prove familiar to any reader. He emphasizes the message of interiority preached by Jesus and the desire of Jesus to prompt a metanoia—a change of mind (or heart-mind, as I’m persuaded may prove a more adept translation). Vernon argues that Jesus didn’t intend to set down new sets of rules to follow, but instead, he intended to change our awareness; to find the root of our conduct on the inside. (I can’t help but recall the scene in Monty Python’s Life of Brian where the supposed messiah (Brian) loses a sandal while attempting to flee the crowd and the crowd takes this as a directive to shed their sandals--or something. Ah, literalism.) In short, Vernon provides a convincing and attractive portrait of Jesus that comports with Barfield’s theory of “participation” and that comports with sound Biblical scholarship. Sorry, no lost gospels or secret societies here.
Vernon continues his tour of Christian culture and belief through the early Church on to Augustine, whose interiority further expands this Christian insight and who develops the idea of the will to better understand an individual’s volition. Vernon follows this path continuing up through the Renaissance, which—contra Burkhardt—Vernon argues does not provide a definitive break with medieval culture and belief. But the Reformation, which follows upon the Renaissance and does alter the course of the evolution of consciousness. The Reformation, in the words and works of Luther and Calvin and their followers, placed a significantly increased emphasis on the individual’s conscience. The Reformation, along with the Scientific Revolution, altered the ways that individuals saw themselves and their world. The advent of the printing press, like the advent of literacy and private reading in earlier times, greatly facilitated (or perhaps more it’s more accurate to say, helped cause) this change in consciousness. Humanity became more aware of how to manipulate the world around it and gained an increased sense of individual agency. But these gains came at the cost of losing much (and in some cases all) of the sense of belonging to the cosmos that had survived through the Renaissance. Christianity, as a result, tended more toward literalism and faith as belief rather than trust. This trend has continued up through the present, but Vernon identifies signs that humanity may be ready to move into a mode of “reciprocal participation.”
Vernon identifies “imagination” as the key to reaching a state of reciprocal participation. In this argument, Vernon echoes many of the themes that Gary Lachman identified in his 2017 publication, Lost Knowledge of the Imagination. As both authors note, imagination is not another word for fantasy; both authors draw upon Samuel Taylor Coleridge for guidance in describing the role and function of imagination and its distinction from what Coleridge labeled as “fantasy.” Also, Vernon discusses the body of poetic and visual works of William Blake as a master of an informed imagination.
Thus, while I didn’t experience an in-depth dive into Barfield’s thought (although Barfield’s work does resurface prominently toward the end of the book), I did receive a persuasive application of how Barfield’s perspective can apply to the history of Western Christianity. An for those who want a helpful introduction of Barfield’s project, one can turn to Gary Lachman, who refers to Barfield frequently, and at depth in his works A Secret History of Consciousness and Caretakers of the Cosmos. And as to having a not-so-secret history of Christianity added to the piles of books written about the history of Christianity, Vernon’s effort is worthwhile. The fact the sources that Vernon draws upon are not occult doesn’t mean that the project isn’t valuable; it is. While not secret, his understanding of Christianity is not widespread so far as I can discern. The description that he provides is one that could prove useful as we go forward to meet the challenges ahead. He hopes to see Christianity (along with other wisdom traditions) bridge the gap between our alienation from the world around us (and ourselves) and the gifts that individuality and science have brought to us. This is a noble and vital enterprise, and one that deserves our thanks—and our reading time.
January 28, 2022
I enjoy reading and listening to Mark Vernon. He is mystical yet not at the expense of mental effort and hard work – there is so much to learn in such a way that one is not just in-formed but in-spired. He is spiritually adventurous and not afraid to step off the beaten track - yet still maintains his Christian Integrity.
I started this book and realised that the content was based on a book by Owen Barfield (One of the Inklings - a group consisting of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams etc) who I'd only heard of. I took a step back and over Christmas decided to read "Saving the Appearances" before I continued and have written a review on Goodreads. Reading Barfield was not necessary but was a great help. The 2 books go together every well.
Mark Vernon's book takes the basic 3 stages of consciousness inspired by OB's book which are:
1. Original Participation,
2. Withdrawal of Participation and
3. Reciprocal Participation.
He traces this path in various cultures that have inspired western thought: The Early Israelites; The birth of the Bible; The Ancient Greeks; Plato, Aristotle and Socrates.
The general trajectory is:
1. a mutual connectedness through nature, ancestry and perceived local gods to
2. a disconnect through some form of rational enquiry resulting in individualism
3. to a new connectedness rooted, not in a local earthbound context but a sense of the Absolute.
Mark then, for me comes to the pique of his study with the following two chapters (and the third) concentrating on Jesus Christ who fulfils in his person, and all he communicates to mankind, the relational connectedness that God the Father represents. Jesus was "closing the gap between God and the individual".
There are interesting references to the "Cynics" in these chapters and other ascetic influences but for Jesus this lifestyle was not done as a moral exercise but a relational devotion towards God. This was the whole life of Jesus - therefore he could never be contained within the societal and religious demands of the time. He became an offence because he just would not play the game for the Jews, Romans, the zealots or anyone else - hence the Cross and the loneliness associated with it. In so doing he was "instituting a thoroughgoing change in worldview and imagination" - union with God.
Our tendency is, for the sake of control through clarity, to reduce life, religious life especially, to a collection of moral precepts. While this may give us a form of security we lose the vitality, zeal and joy which life (zoe) is supposed to bestow. This is why Jesus spoke in parables to jolt us out of the well-worn ruts our thought has bound us to.
There are suggested 3 stages of deliverance:
1. "Aporia" (not knowing);
2. Imaginative daring and expectancy;
3. A seeing - but rather an "experience not of 'getting it' but rather 'being got by it'".
All this to bring a change of consciousness - into reciprocal participation.
How all this relates to the world we live in is taken further. A vital distinction is made between virtue and morality. He sums up: "The virtuous person encourages others to be so because he or she comes across as appealing and beautiful, uncalculating and undefended. Others want to know what they know. I imagine this was the kind of impact that Jesus had upon those around him." - This engendered perception indicates that "God is a gratuitous giver and that salvation is not attained but perceived and received. It’s what the prodigal son realized and it’s why the secret way is one of freedom." For the disciples "they didn’t so much reach a decision as something clicked."
A serious consideration of death and desolation is recommended summarised (quoting one of my most influential philosophers!) "“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” he cries from the cross. (Mark 15:34). Without such desolation there is no knowing the depths of God because there is no knowing the depths of human experience. The philosopher, A.N. Whitehead, noted that such “scenes of solitariness” haunt the religious imagination. It’s the central moment in any spiritual journey of weight and has subsequently been given many names from the dark night of the soul to having a breakdown. “It belongs to the depth of the religious spirit to have felt forsaken, even by God,” Whitehead said. But it is the forsakenness that opens up the depths." The sacrificial inner habit, as opposed to using sacrifice for future benefits, "re-orientates the sacrificer to the kingdom, and lets them drop into the life of God."
The resurrection of Jesus is to be apprehended with a "revelation not an explanation" - the chapter is summed up: "you do not need facts and texts to cross check. You need eyes to see and ears to hear." This perhaps explains the difference between "withdrawal from participation" to "Reciprocal participation".
Paul and the early church continued "the project of reciprocal participation (RP) by developing the most penetrating consciousness of individuality yet." The medieval Christians read the Bible in highly imaginative ways and continued in the vein of RP.
Things began to change with the Reformation (MV believes this against the view of many that the changes were initiated by the Enlightenment). There was a contraction - a withdrawal - which we see in the world of scientism and religion today - a disconnection from living reality to concepts which become idols of thought. Luther lost sight of the medieval meditative dimensions of faith and mystics were classed as heretics. The Reformation "prepared the human mind for a different way of observing the natural world and an approach that dissected things, in what came to be called the scientific method". The rest is, as they say, history.
The last chapter is full of my highlights and is an inspiration for further study. As a way forward from our present condition of withdrawal from participation MV returns to the second of the three actions above – The imagination (Gk = Imago) especially how it is used by the inspired poets, mystics and visionaries over the centuries to allow their use of language to facilitate a looking beyond ourselves to that I AM – The God of the Bible whose Logos and spoken word corresponds to the spoken poetic medium (Gk = poiesis) and its creative power. The mystical transformation in discerning the revelation of I AM is incarnated within us as I AM in our own existence – we are partakers of the divine nature as our vision is directed by the Holy Spirit. Our I am is lost in the I AM yet retaining its individuality – we are engaged in Reciprocal Participation.
This is illustrated by the works of: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shakespeare, Einstein, J S mill, Barfield, Shelley, McFarlane, C S Lewis, Blake, Traherne and many others. These are all “Geniuses of the Spirit” and it may be concluded that all this is for the educated and spiritual elite but “no” says the author we all know what it is to imagine from being little children and play is key in the imaginative activity. We must not be intimidated by genius but rather value the accessibility of the childlike approach which Jesus encourages. “The difference is that the great imaginers have learnt to let the sun of their personal perceptions set, so that the stars of a wider inspiration can come out.”
CONCLUSION
This is a great book for those who want to deepen their relationship with God and let go of the unnecessary religious strictures we place upon ourselves. It is not full of religious jargon. Neither does it suffer from the dogmatism we so often see in Christian books but is “theologically playful”. It also is great for further study. I intend to read more of Mark’s books.
* My apologies for any misinterpretations of the book – I’m happy to alter any mistakes.
I started this book and realised that the content was based on a book by Owen Barfield (One of the Inklings - a group consisting of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams etc) who I'd only heard of. I took a step back and over Christmas decided to read "Saving the Appearances" before I continued and have written a review on Goodreads. Reading Barfield was not necessary but was a great help. The 2 books go together every well.
Mark Vernon's book takes the basic 3 stages of consciousness inspired by OB's book which are:
1. Original Participation,
2. Withdrawal of Participation and
3. Reciprocal Participation.
He traces this path in various cultures that have inspired western thought: The Early Israelites; The birth of the Bible; The Ancient Greeks; Plato, Aristotle and Socrates.
The general trajectory is:
1. a mutual connectedness through nature, ancestry and perceived local gods to
2. a disconnect through some form of rational enquiry resulting in individualism
3. to a new connectedness rooted, not in a local earthbound context but a sense of the Absolute.
Mark then, for me comes to the pique of his study with the following two chapters (and the third) concentrating on Jesus Christ who fulfils in his person, and all he communicates to mankind, the relational connectedness that God the Father represents. Jesus was "closing the gap between God and the individual".
There are interesting references to the "Cynics" in these chapters and other ascetic influences but for Jesus this lifestyle was not done as a moral exercise but a relational devotion towards God. This was the whole life of Jesus - therefore he could never be contained within the societal and religious demands of the time. He became an offence because he just would not play the game for the Jews, Romans, the zealots or anyone else - hence the Cross and the loneliness associated with it. In so doing he was "instituting a thoroughgoing change in worldview and imagination" - union with God.
Our tendency is, for the sake of control through clarity, to reduce life, religious life especially, to a collection of moral precepts. While this may give us a form of security we lose the vitality, zeal and joy which life (zoe) is supposed to bestow. This is why Jesus spoke in parables to jolt us out of the well-worn ruts our thought has bound us to.
There are suggested 3 stages of deliverance:
1. "Aporia" (not knowing);
2. Imaginative daring and expectancy;
3. A seeing - but rather an "experience not of 'getting it' but rather 'being got by it'".
All this to bring a change of consciousness - into reciprocal participation.
How all this relates to the world we live in is taken further. A vital distinction is made between virtue and morality. He sums up: "The virtuous person encourages others to be so because he or she comes across as appealing and beautiful, uncalculating and undefended. Others want to know what they know. I imagine this was the kind of impact that Jesus had upon those around him." - This engendered perception indicates that "God is a gratuitous giver and that salvation is not attained but perceived and received. It’s what the prodigal son realized and it’s why the secret way is one of freedom." For the disciples "they didn’t so much reach a decision as something clicked."
A serious consideration of death and desolation is recommended summarised (quoting one of my most influential philosophers!) "“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” he cries from the cross. (Mark 15:34). Without such desolation there is no knowing the depths of God because there is no knowing the depths of human experience. The philosopher, A.N. Whitehead, noted that such “scenes of solitariness” haunt the religious imagination. It’s the central moment in any spiritual journey of weight and has subsequently been given many names from the dark night of the soul to having a breakdown. “It belongs to the depth of the religious spirit to have felt forsaken, even by God,” Whitehead said. But it is the forsakenness that opens up the depths." The sacrificial inner habit, as opposed to using sacrifice for future benefits, "re-orientates the sacrificer to the kingdom, and lets them drop into the life of God."
The resurrection of Jesus is to be apprehended with a "revelation not an explanation" - the chapter is summed up: "you do not need facts and texts to cross check. You need eyes to see and ears to hear." This perhaps explains the difference between "withdrawal from participation" to "Reciprocal participation".
Paul and the early church continued "the project of reciprocal participation (RP) by developing the most penetrating consciousness of individuality yet." The medieval Christians read the Bible in highly imaginative ways and continued in the vein of RP.
Things began to change with the Reformation (MV believes this against the view of many that the changes were initiated by the Enlightenment). There was a contraction - a withdrawal - which we see in the world of scientism and religion today - a disconnection from living reality to concepts which become idols of thought. Luther lost sight of the medieval meditative dimensions of faith and mystics were classed as heretics. The Reformation "prepared the human mind for a different way of observing the natural world and an approach that dissected things, in what came to be called the scientific method". The rest is, as they say, history.
The last chapter is full of my highlights and is an inspiration for further study. As a way forward from our present condition of withdrawal from participation MV returns to the second of the three actions above – The imagination (Gk = Imago) especially how it is used by the inspired poets, mystics and visionaries over the centuries to allow their use of language to facilitate a looking beyond ourselves to that I AM – The God of the Bible whose Logos and spoken word corresponds to the spoken poetic medium (Gk = poiesis) and its creative power. The mystical transformation in discerning the revelation of I AM is incarnated within us as I AM in our own existence – we are partakers of the divine nature as our vision is directed by the Holy Spirit. Our I am is lost in the I AM yet retaining its individuality – we are engaged in Reciprocal Participation.
This is illustrated by the works of: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shakespeare, Einstein, J S mill, Barfield, Shelley, McFarlane, C S Lewis, Blake, Traherne and many others. These are all “Geniuses of the Spirit” and it may be concluded that all this is for the educated and spiritual elite but “no” says the author we all know what it is to imagine from being little children and play is key in the imaginative activity. We must not be intimidated by genius but rather value the accessibility of the childlike approach which Jesus encourages. “The difference is that the great imaginers have learnt to let the sun of their personal perceptions set, so that the stars of a wider inspiration can come out.”
CONCLUSION
This is a great book for those who want to deepen their relationship with God and let go of the unnecessary religious strictures we place upon ourselves. It is not full of religious jargon. Neither does it suffer from the dogmatism we so often see in Christian books but is “theologically playful”. It also is great for further study. I intend to read more of Mark’s books.
* My apologies for any misinterpretations of the book – I’m happy to alter any mistakes.
November 8, 2019
This is not an easy read. I got lost several times and had to double back to pick up my thread again. There were occasions when I considered giving up and I did put the book aside a few times, but I am glad I persevered. Mark Vernon is a widely read, knowledgable man but I don’t think he is a natural storyteller when the concepts he is conveying are as huge as these. I did think to put in a few quotes but out of context they wouldn’t add much to the review as the writing is all well linked into a wider narrative.
The last Inkling (a reference to the 3 Oxford friends C S Lewis, J R R Tolkien and Owen Barfield) refers to Barfield as the often forgotten Inkling. He was less popular/famous than his friends and his writings were less easy to understand. He was involved in mysticism and consciousness and science and Mr Vernon takes all these aspects as he traces Christianity back to the very beginning elements.
The book is complex and stuffed full of facts and research and there are times when the language becomes a bit dense but it is worth persevering. There is gold here about how Christianity needs to think differently if it wants to stay relevant and how it can do so by helping people look inward and consider their own relationships with faith and meaning.
I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for for an honest review.
The last Inkling (a reference to the 3 Oxford friends C S Lewis, J R R Tolkien and Owen Barfield) refers to Barfield as the often forgotten Inkling. He was less popular/famous than his friends and his writings were less easy to understand. He was involved in mysticism and consciousness and science and Mr Vernon takes all these aspects as he traces Christianity back to the very beginning elements.
The book is complex and stuffed full of facts and research and there are times when the language becomes a bit dense but it is worth persevering. There is gold here about how Christianity needs to think differently if it wants to stay relevant and how it can do so by helping people look inward and consider their own relationships with faith and meaning.
I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for for an honest review.
April 21, 2022
This is a really difficult book for me to assess cohesively. I was interested in Owen Barfield's concept of evolution of consciousness, and so read Mark Vernon's philosophical treatment. I like Vernon's writing and it is a striking thesis. I am also attacked to a mystical approach to Christian spirituality, though I'm not very good at it myself. However, in each of Vernon's choices about classical and biblical history and culture, Vernon makes exactly the opposite decision about the moment than I have made along the way. Some of it was wearying--not just going back to my years in school studying these things and making choices about how to read history, but where Vernon says "clearly" or "without doubt," I write at his reductionism. And yet, we are not far apart in the general thread of the evolution of consciousness and his final chapter is something that I would encourage in the religious contexts that he frequents. So what is that, in the end? A book that I loathed reading during all the inside bits, and which I thought the author made all the wrong choices, but with which I have some kinship in its conclusion? I don't know.
July 5, 2021
I got about 3/4 of the way before I decided to give up for now. I started to lose interest partway into Chapter 4 when he stops talking about Socrates and starts talking about poetry. I tried to stick with it but was sort of disappointed. I can’t even say why right now. Maybe one day I’ll come back to this book and understand why I’m disappointed, or I’ll buy more into his interpretation of Jesus. It just seems like he might overstate some things. That’s my instinct, but it’s difficult to articulate right now.
April 9, 2022
Very good exposition on Barfield and Christian anthroposophy
Mark Vernon is a very good writer and this book is very engaging as well as giving a great exposition on Owen Barfield's Christian faith and his anthroposophism. However, Vernon takes for granted many "higher critical" assumptions and as such, this book should not be read by someone who has not yet taken the time to engage with the flaws in higher criticism. Great book, but should only be read by the seasoned Christian.
Mark Vernon is a very good writer and this book is very engaging as well as giving a great exposition on Owen Barfield's Christian faith and his anthroposophism. However, Vernon takes for granted many "higher critical" assumptions and as such, this book should not be read by someone who has not yet taken the time to engage with the flaws in higher criticism. Great book, but should only be read by the seasoned Christian.
June 26, 2023
This wasn't what I was expecting - in a good way. I'd slot this more solidly into the spirituality category, than necessarily straight up religious. I loved how Vernon wove together history, philosophy, and poetry with spiritual beliefs in a way that gets you thinking without feeling overwhelming or preachy. I'm not Christian, but I thought this was interesting, easy to read, and engaging. If you're interested in philosophy/spirituality/how Christianity has evolved over the years, I recommend reading this!
December 5, 2019
This is a book I could hardly out down. A rich exploration of the relationship between Christian faith and philosophy and how the former comes alive through that 'evolution of consciousness'. Mark's recognition that we need to reclaim the mystical, spiritual tradition - which western Christianity tended to loose through the Reformation. Thankfully, there are any who are doing this, although popular culture has not awoken to them.
October 22, 2025
mark vernon is a wonderful living fountain of information and insight and I thought this was a great place to start with his writing. I am ever grateful for this book introducing me to owen barfield. at time of writing i have just read barfield's saving the appearances (my first barfield read) and it is the most impactful, insightful book i have read in a long time. so thank you mark vernon.
February 16, 2024
Having long ago read works like Campbell's "The Masks of God", Huxley's "The Perennial Philos0phy", and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan's "Eastern Religions and Western Thought", I found this book to be somewhat uninteresting. Perhaps just not the right book for me at this stage of my life...
April 21, 2025
I don't like the title as there is nothing conspiratorial about this book. Mark Vernon's work has helped me make sense of so many things and made this religious tradition so much more rich for me.
October 9, 2025
I came so close to understanding this... but then didn't
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews