The Reappearance of the Christ [Paperback]

Alice A. Bailey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2006

-In every age I come back to deliver the holy, to destroy the sin of the sinner, to establish righteousness. So runs the well-known passage in the Bhagavad Gita (translation by Prabhavananda and Isherwood), giving works to an eternal hope in the human heart. In this book the reappearance of the Christ is recognised as inevitable within the continuity of divine revelation. Not only has God never left Himself without witness, but at definite periods in the history of human evolution, the word of God, the projected potency of His vital life, has manifested in form in order to establish the principles to be demonstrated during the coming cycle. There have been many such messengers over the ages, manifesting through one or another of the great world religions or followed by a new form of religion based on the new revelation. Divine revelation and the periodic appearance of messengers, or Avatars, occur, however, according to cosmic law, when certain conditions exist within the whole scheme affected by, and affecting, every part, large and small. Then a chain of events is set in motion which under law must eventually work out. The part that our little planet Earth plays in this intricate and smoothly functioning system of inter-relationships seems to be of vital importance at this time. The esoteric and planetary significances of the reappearance of the Christ are suggested in this book as underlying causes for His Aquarian service to humanity. This is the beginning and end of an age - the beginning of Aquarius and the end of Pisces - marking also a major turning point in the evolution of human consciousness from individual need to the needs of humanity as a whole, from personal salvation to world service, and from materiality to spirituality. It seems that this climaxing transition must be marked in both its stages, beginning and end, by the Christ Himself, and a principle anchored in human consciousness, which embodies not only the love of God established for the age of Pisces, but also the new potency for the future, the Will of God, into which only the Christ is as yet fully and perfectly absorbed. The imminence of the reappearance of the Christ is sensed and expected by many, belonging as He does to all humanity irrespective of differing religious dogma and doctrine. He for whom all men wait will Himself determine the manner and the timing of His appearance and the area of His work in a way which creates no divisions or separations between men, either religious, social or ideological. Not only does He come as the first Son of God, but as Head of the spiritual Hierarchy, the inner government of the planet. He is, therefore, a great world executive, representing the Kingdom of God, and fulfilling a definite function in the world of men. He is coming to establish through precept and example in world service the principles on which a united, interdependent and interactive world may create its new material systems and spiritual institutions for the new civilisation. Preparation for the second coming is the responsibility of humanity; it is for those who know and accept the imminent return of the Christ to prepare men's minds and hearts to recognise and receive Him, and to create those conditions of balance and spiritual alignment which will ultimately draw Him forth into our midst. For no matter what message or revelation the Christ may embody when He comes, no matter what principle or energy He may anchor on Earth for human use, He is not coming to save humanity from the results of its own sins, but once more to show humanity how to save itself in the new conditions and new opportunities with which the world is faced. The Reappearance of the Christ is part of a set of 24 books by Alice A. Bailey, written in cooperation with a Tibetan teacher between 1919-1949, constitute a continuation of the Ageless Wisdom.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An extract from the Tibetan teacher, written in 1934 briefly explains the intent of these teachings: The books that I have written are sent out with no claim for their acceptance. They may, or may not, be correct, true and useful. It is for you to ascertain their truth by right practice and by the exercise of the intuition. Neither I nor A.A.B. is the least interested in having them acclaimed as inspired writing, or in having anyone speak of them (with bated breath) as being the work of one of the masters. If they present truth in such a way that it follows sequentially upon that already offered in the world teachings, if the information given raises the aspiration and the will to serve from the plane of the emotions to that of the mind (the plane whereon the Masters can be found) then they will have served their purpose. If the teaching conveyed calls forth a response from the illumined mind of the worker in the world, and brings a flashing forth of the intuition, then let that teaching be accepted. But not otherwise. If the statements meet with eventual corroboration, or are deemed true under the test of the Law of Correspondences, then that is well and good. But should this not be so, let not the student accept what is said. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

About the Author

*Alice A. Bailey, (1880-1949) From her conservative British background, Alice Bailey's life led her in many directions, but always in one direction--towards the time when through drastic personal experience of many kinds she had acquired a synthesis of outlook and understanding, and an absolute conviction that one divine life pervades and animates the one humanity; that the Plan for humanity requires the cooperation and service of trained and dedicated human beings intelligently informed about world affairs, in collaboration with those who form the spiritual Hierarchy, the inner government of the planet. Her life work became an integral part of this synthesis and this realization. Without in the least losing any of her very human qualities and involvement, her soul took up its commitment to her Master, and her personality provided full cooperation in the field of her accepted service. Basically her work developed as a duality--her discipleship service which included the establishment of an esoteric school; and her initially reluctant agreement to work with the Tibetan, Djwhal Khul, in the writing of a series of books presenting the next phase in the continuity of the Ageless Wisdom teaching. A total of twenty-four books were written by Alice Bailey. These books constitute a continuation of the Ageless Wisdom, a body of esoteric teaching handed down from ancient times in a form which is always suitable to each period. Intended to precede and condition the New Age, the Alice Bailey books offer an unparalleled spiritual approach to the teaching on Shamballa and the Path of spiritual evolution; the spiritual Hierarchy; the new discipleship and training in meditation as a form of service; the teaching on the seven rays and the new psychology of the soul; and the common thread of truth linking all the major world faiths. In addition to her work as an author and lecturer, Alice Bailey established the Lucis Publishing Company, making the teachings of Djwhal Khul available to spiritual seekers and students around the world for over 75 years. Reprinting of the books is financed through a revolving Fund under the administration of the Lucis Trust, a non-profit organization also founded by Alice A. Bailey. No royalties are paid and copyrights are owned by the Lucis Trust. Through these organizations, Alice Bailey provided for the continued publication of these teachings beyond her physical lifetime.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Lucis Publishing Company; 11th. edition (June 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 085330114X
• ISBN-13: 978-0853301141
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,023,182 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ALICE A. BAILEY (1880-1949) From her conservative British background, Alice Bailey's life led her in many directions, but always towards the time when she acquired: (1) A synthesis of outlook and understanding leading to an absolute conviction that one divine life pervades and animates the one humanity; (2) A realization that the Plan for humanity requires the cooperation and service of trained and dedicated human beings intelligently informed about world affairs, in collaboration with those who form the spiritual Hierarchy, the inner government of the planet. From that point on, Alice Bailey's life work became an integral part of this synthesis and this realization. Without losing any of her very human qualities and involvement, her soul took up its commitment to her Master, and her personality provided full cooperation in the field of her accepted service. Basically Alice Bailey's work developed as a duality, her discipleship service which included the establishment of the Arcane School; and her initially reluctant agreement to work with the Tibetan, Djwhal Khul, in the writing of a series of spiritual books. A total of twenty-four books were written by Alice Bailey. These books constitute a continuation of the Ageless Wisdom, a body of esoteric teaching handed down from ancient times in a form which is always suitable to each period. Intended to precede and condition the New Age, the Alice Bailey books offer an unparalleled spiritual approach to the teaching on Shamballa and the Path of spiritual evolution; the spiritual Hierarchy; the new discipleship and training in meditation as a form of service; the teaching on the seven rays and the new psychology of the soul; and the common thread of truth linking all the major world faiths. In addition to her work as an author and lecturer, Alice Bailey established the Lucis Publishing Company, making the teachings of Djwhal Khul available to spiritual seekers and students around the world for over 75 years. Reprinting of the books is financed through a revolving Fund under the administration of the Lucis Trust, a non-profit organization also founded by Alice A. Bailey. No royalties are paid and copyrights are owned by the Lucis Trust. Through these organizations, Alice Bailey provided for the continued publication of these teachings beyond her physical lifetime.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Reappearance of the Christ, September 9, 2001

By 

Murmurd (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reappearance of the Christ (Hardcover)

Alice Bailey clearly explains the work of the Christ from a metaphysical, spiritual and religious point of view. She also correlates this work with that of the aspirant and of the disciple, who wishes to collaborate with the GREAT WORK of Salvation. A good book for meditation. A practical book for anyone, who wishes to follow in the footsteps of THE MASTER. A primer for the New world Religion.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Cult teaching, May 1, 2011

By 

Malcolm Schosha (NYC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Reappearance of the Christ (Paperback)

This review is intended as a general comment on the entire Alice Bailey teaching, and not just one book. What follows represents my current evaluation of the books, an evaluation that has evolved and changed over many years, following my personal experience studying the books. In the 1960s and 70s I had extensive contact with some of Bailey's co-workers who knew her, and her teaching, well and I had help from them in understanding her teaching. My current views on the Alice Bailey teaching would not please them, but I have tried to be careful and not to be unkind. However, there is just no avoiding the conclusion that while the books are somewhat interesting, they are very defective as a guide to life which is the purpose for which they are intended.


The Alice Bailey books are complex and difficult. Many good things, and even some great ideas, are to be found in them. On occasion, in the past, I have recommended them to people searching for an esoteric vision of the Christian teaching. I would no longer recommend them to anyone. There are many serious problems with the Bailey books, and there there are far better spiritual teachings to be found elsewhere.

The problems of the books include:

1. Alice Bailey, and her (frequently over-enthusiastic) followers insist that her books are a universal teaching for the New Age. But they are actually a neo-Gnostic Christian teaching dressed up with with some Theosophical Society terminology and some terminology derived from the mysticism of India. Behind the facade of that terminology, the strongly Christian orientation of her youth (she was a missionary in India), comes through in all her books, but now strongly influenced by Gnosticism. For instance, this short quote from `Rays and the Initiations' p.637: "The decision anent the Jews is one of hierarchical importance, owing to the karmic relation of the Christ to the Jewish race, to the fact that they repudiated Him as the Messiah and are still doing so, and of the interpretive nature of the Jewish problem as far as the whole of humanity is concerned."

But if you are sympathetic to Christian Gnosticism (repudiated, for good reason, by every Christian denomination I know of), you might find Bailey's books an interesting experiment in neo-Gnosticism.

2. Despite the claims that the books were dictated telepathically to Bailey, who was living in NJ, by a Tibetan lama called Djwal Khul, who was in Tibet; there is no Buddhism to be found in the twenty-four books that Bailey wrote. That discrepancy leaves a core claim of the books, i.e. their origin, totally unsupported.

If you want to spend years studying a series of esoteric books which make claims of fact that are not rationally supported by anything, these books are for you. And because of the nature of the books it will take you years.

3. The ideas found in the books are difficult to understand because in addition to the dry writing style, her ideas are peculiar. It is quite likely they have virtually no relation to any ideas with which you are familiar; unless you are familiar with the of Theosophical Society writings of Helena Blavatsky, particularly with `The Secret Doctrine'. There is a certain similarity to the Blavatsky books. However, the Theosophical Society has publicly repudiated Bailey, and in fact Bailey was kicked out of the Theosophical Society at the time she started to write her books. There are many long passages, sometimes continuing for dozens of pages, which are incomprehensible. One of her closest co-workers (who I knew personally) admitted that neither he nor anyone else can explain the meaning of many of those passages. For me, this brings to mind the comment that Robert Browning made about one of his early poems, "When I wrote it only God and I knew what it meant, now only God knows."

(parenthetically: The account of the so-called Masters of the Ancient Wisdom' which are central to support virtually all of Alice Bailey's claims, originated with Helena Blavatsky. K. Paul Johnson has shown in his scholarly study of Blavatsky, called `The Masters Revealed', that Blavatsky's account of a Hierarchy of Masters' is a fantasy. Djwal Khul is no more a reality than Gandalf in the "Lord of the Rings", but Gandalf is probably a better model for ethical living.)

But if you enjoy being puzzled by long dry passages, that may not have any meaning at all, you might find Alice Bailey's books just what you are looking for.

4. If you do buy an Alice Bailey book, and get confused trying to understand what it means (if anything) , there is help available. You will find in all the books a message directing you to contact the Arcane School, an organization founded by Alice Bailey as a way to promote her teaching. There are now also a number of other groups giving such help, including the School for Esoteric Studies, and the University of the Seven Rays. You will find that the people at the Arcane School, and the other groups, are very nice, very helpful, even well educated; and you will probably like them. They will be anxious to help you. But if you express doubts about anything that is contained in the books, no matter how problematic that content is, or how absurd it seems; you will be told (nicely at first) that you are wrong and that what you think is an incorrect, or absurd, statement are actually the words of the Master Djwhal Khul, who has an understanding that is above human understanding. In other words, they consider the content of the books divinely inspired, and that every statement, in every sentence, is correct and can not be questioned. So although it is called a New Age teaching, it is actually completely authoritarian and fundamentalist at its heart.

That is the inverse of what the New Age claims to be, but if what you are looking for is fundamentalism and authoritarianism in New Age dress, the Alice Bailey teaching may be just what you want.

5. There are also the well known accusations of Alice Bailey's antisemitism. Sorry to say that those accusations are not only true, but that her antisemitism is woven through the books in such a way that they become an integral part of her teaching. Also, since every statement in the books is considered the divinely inspired word of the Master, you are not allowed to question claims such as, for example, Bailey's view that Jews brought a force she calls "cosmic evil" to this world from another world where they previously existed, and that Jews are the exponents of "materialism" and "separatism" on this planet. In fact, these views are very similar to what Hyam Maccoby describes as the view of many Gnostic sects, "that the Jews are representatives of cosmic evil, the people of the Devil."

If you are a person who dislikes Jews, combined with an interest occult books, the Alice Bailey books may offer just the combination of those that you have been looking for.

But if, instead, you are a person who is looking for a good teaching, a teaching which is a Way to become a better person and live a more ethical life, a teaching which is a Path that will make it possible to contribute positively to the world, and which is based on a systematic teaching; what I would suggest is to study the writings of those great individuals who were living examples of their philosophy and their religion as a way of life. Such writings can be found in the schools of Greek or Roman philosophy, in the writings of the great Christian theologians and philosophers, and in the books from similarly helpful teachers that are found in Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, and Judaism. Why waste time on the absurdities of the Alice Bailey cult writings when there are so many better options?

5 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great work, with this caveat....., May 3, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Reappearance of the Christ (Hardcover)

Like Banjamin Creme's work this has extraordinary merit and certainly helps in preparing the world for what is coming, but at this point I find another announcement being made in another (recently published) book much more credible -- that the Christ will not come this time, but has instead sent a messenger.

You see, as Jesus said, "there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, who shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that they shall deceive and seduce the very elect." (Matthew 24:24 and Mark 13:22) That was not merely to warn us of imposters and pretenders. It was also to confirm that the person who would actually fulfill Judeo-Christian prophecy would not be the Christ, but His messenger.

Other evidence of this is that the prophesied messenger is the "bridegroom-lamb," our "brother and fellow servant who has the testimony of Jesus" (Revelations 19:10). He is also the messenger for the "Spirit of Truth" that Jesus said would come, to "guide us unto all truth, show us things to come, and glorify me (Jesus)." (John 16:13-14) What's more, he is the "son of man who (unlike Jesus) first suffered many things and was rejected by his generation," as prophesied by Jesus. (Luke 17:24-25 and Isaiah 49:4) He is also the son of man who was first "stricken and afflicted." (Isaiah 53:4 and 57:15-17) All those biblical facts, along with others, indicate the truth about today's messenger of God, who is not a superman, and not holier than thou, but a prodigal son of man who delivers the true message for the Spirit of Truth.

The messenger has no personal agenda and will play no other role. In fact, he prefers to remain anonymous and writes under a pen name. He fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah in that "the servant and witness of God will not make his voice heard in the street" (or in public), but sends "his work before him." (Isaiah 42:1-2 and 62:11) He says the world does not need another would-be savior to scorn and crucify, or to exalt and put on a pedestal, and no man should be tempted with such great worldly power or bear its responsibility. He says the world needs truth, and nothing but the truth, and submits that the new covenant of God frees us from sovereign authority or sovereign leadership of any kind. He says there is no hierarchy in Christ, and he repeats what Isaiah wrote, that "besides God there is no savior." (Isaiah 43:10-11)

The book is titled Real Prophecy Unveiled, by Joseph J. Adamson. It's really about our total liberation and the fulfillment of prophecy, and it includes a comprehensive critique of what and who causes our main problems. It turns the tables on the Religious Right, establishing that Jesus (like all other enlightened ones) was really a "bleeding heart liberal," and it exposes the error and hypocrisy of right-wing religious leaders who claim otherwise. This, the messenger submits, is absolutely necessary because in order for the humble and meek to inherit the earth, the proud and militant must be exposed and rebuked to fulfill the prophecies of Isaiah and Jesus. And he is not "lukewarm and neither hot or cold" about it, knowing the Christ's desire that the judgment from the son of man be strong and firm.

The messenger also establishes the value and need for secular government, separation of church and state, equality of religions, and an end to misguided patriarchal traditions. He also dispels myths and false beliefs and explains the value of esoteric teachings. He even gives us a way to abolish partisan politics and be rid of the "pretender to the throne" so we can share the throne of God's "new kingdom" as the equal joint heirs that we really are according to the Bible, creating government that is finally of, for, and by the people. It is an overall view of prophecy we can enthusiastically live with and even celebrate!

That is why, unless an actual Maitreya actually reveals himself and demonstrates that he is not merely a false christ who shows great signs and wonders, I will accept Joseph's work as the message from the Spirit of Truth. While there are many claims being made about the existence or the coming of the Christ (AKA the Saoshyant/Avatar/Buddha/Imam Mahdi), Joseph evidently is the person who really serves the Holy One according to prophecy.