"The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ" is still surprisingly popular in New Age circles, although almost unknown to the general public. First published in 1908, it claims to be a channelled message from the Akashic Records, transcribed by the otherwise relatively unknown Levi Dowling, a Christian minister who eventually developed ideas more close to what we would call New Age.
Levi's book is written in the style of a real Christian gospel, but the message is very different from traditional Christianity. Theosophy, Nikolas Notovich, Freemasonry and perhaps Rosicrucianism and New Thought seems to have been the main influences on Levi. Although the work makes the rather bold claim that it's actually true, critics have pointed out a number of anachronisms and historical errors. "The Aquarian Gospel" is best read as a New Age meditation on the Gospels, neither more nor less.
The main point of the "The Aquarian Gospel" is that Jesus wasn't divine in the exclusive Christian sense of that term. He attained Christ consciousness and became a spiritual teacher, pointing out the way to the rest of humanity. Apparently, all of us can become a Christ. In the book, Jesus goes through a mystery initiation in Heliopolis, and only after that is he considered ready to take on the mantle of the Christ. Another idea repudiated in the book is worship of Jesus. Priestcraft, animal sacrifice and empty ritualism are also criticized. A moving scene has Jesus as a young boy challenging the Jewish temple priests on the question of animal sacrifice. He is backed up by Hillel!
Levi's work is strongly syncretistic, claiming that the message of Jesus was similar to Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and Zoroastrianism. As a boy in Nazareth, Jesus reads the Vedas and the Avesta. Abraham is claimed to be the son of a Brahmin, and eventually a Hindu sage visits Jerusalem and asks Hillel to take the young Jesus to India, to complete his training. Just as in Notovich's "Life of St. Issa", Jesus ends up condemning the idolatry, caste system and priestcraft of the Hindus, making you wonder what exactly he is supposed to have picked up in India in the first place? In reality, the message of Jesus the Christ sounds more like a very liberal form of Christianity, blended with New Age. He also criticizes Buddhism, making it sound as if Buddhism believed in Darwinian evolution! He then visits Tibet, Kashmir, Persia, Assyria and Greece.
"The Aquarian Gospel" ends in pretty much the same way as the traditional gospels. The Jewish leadership wants Jesus dead, Pilate wants to save him (even more than in the canonical gospels), but eventually he is betrayed by Judas, railroaded by Caiaphas, and crucified. At least Levi balances his positive appraisal of Pilate with the claim that the Sanhedrin wanted to free Jesus, too. Caiaphas gets all the blame in this version. Levi's description of the resurrection is quite dramatic, and witnessed by the Roman soldiers at the tomb. Jesus even appears to Caiaphas and Annas. A curious twist is that Levi apparently believed that the resurrection was in some sense a physical event, in contrast to the ancient Gnostics (and some very liberal Christians!), who regard it as purely spiritual. Ironically, the descriptions of the crucifixion and resurrection sound quite traditional.
The strange title of the work is derived from an astrological speculation about world ages. Today, we supposedly live in the Age of Pisces, since the sun rises in that star constellation on the vernal equinox. The fact that Jesus was born around the time this age began, has lead to all kinds of speculations in New Age circles, especially since the fish was an important symbol among early Christians. In the near future, the sun will seemingly shift position on the vernal equinox, rising in the constellation of Aquarius instead. A meaningless astronomical fact to most people, but very significant if you believe in astrology! A new age is dawning. "The Aquarian Gospel" claims that a new saviour will appear during the Aquarian age, but one somehow gets the feeling that this new Messiah will have exactly the message attributed to Jesus in Levi's book.
"The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ", also known as "The Aquarian Age Gospel of Jesus, the Christ of the Piscean Age" is obviously a work of fiction, written by Levi Dowling himself. Still, it's quite interesting for those who want to know more about New Age beliefs.
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