GNOSTIC CHURCH AND CHRISTIANITY
by Tau Melchizedek

Many times people ask me about our Gnostic Church and its connection to Christianity. In the following paragraphs I want to speak about some of those connections and ideas pertaining to the Christian heritage of the church.
First off: We are not orthodox Christians and we are not Christians in the usual sense or Christians alone. However, one of our most important roots is firmly planted in the early Christian world.
The fact that our Gnostic Church stresses the importance of the Apostolic Succession in our system of gnostic attainment already indicates a spiritual connection to the Christian milieu of the first centuries A.D.

While we acknowledge a universal gnostic idea and a timeless development and presence of the gnosis per se, we work in a specific framework of attainment.
Drawing inspirations from a variety of sources we do not limit ourselves to one canon or doctrine. Our members are free and in fact encouraged to seek out any inspiration they think useful for their individual path. No gnostic path is alike as individual vision and understanding results in different descriptions and birth of the same gnostic idea and attainment. So we may have members whose gnostic illuminations are sometimes clad in more Buddhist terms, some may use more western and/or Christian concepts, but they are always expressions of the same divine truth.

However, at the center of initiation in our Gnostic Church lay the seven sacraments (Baptism, Chrism, Holy Eucharist, Redemption and Bridal Chamber which are the initiatory sacraments to which are added the two sustaining sacraments of Holy Orders and Extreme Unction and Healing) empowered by the Apostolic Succession. We do not view the sacraments in the same way the orthodox churches do but acknowledge the fact that these sacraments can only successfully be administered and conferred if they are given by a deacon, priest or bishop who has been rightfully ordained in the Apostolic Succession. Only such a person has the spiritual power to activate the special divine powers who are present in these sacraments. We are convinced that the master Jesus Christ was the initiator of a specific form of sacramental actions which of course have their roots in much older traditions. Given by Jesus Christ to his apostles and then in turn by them to their successors, this chain of conferment is the key to activate the powers conceiled in these sacraments. While we disagree with the orthodox churches in the interpretation and use of the sacraments, we acknowledge the power of the Apostolic Succession to unlock and release the divine powers of these sacraments.

We are far from saying that the gnostic use of the sacraments and the possession of the Apostolic Succession is the only road to gnosis, but we believe that they contain one of the most powerful ways to achieve the activation and perfection of Christ-Consciousness in a person.
As we have chosen to work with the Apostolic Succession and the sacraments initiated by the master Christ, we inevitably have a root in the early Christian tradition. So the understanding and study of this tradition is very vital to us in order to be able to fully restore the initiated use of the sacraments in the gnostic tradition.

We also possess and use esoteric knowledge handed down to us by different lines of transmissions, Christian and non-Christian, unrelated to the Apostolic Succession, however, these are used as supplemental and specific forms of initiation and empowerment for advanced members of the Church.
But the central system by which we work and which is available to all our members (and layity to a certain degree) by degree of their advancement is the gnostic interpretation and use of the sacraments empowered by the Apostolic Succession. Thus it can be said that a vital and important pillar of our Church is early and esoteric Christianity. It is important therefore for all our clergy to become closely acquainted with the history, sociology and anthropology of Christianity in general and early/esoteric Christianity in particular.

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