This work is a literal translation of the fourth Gospel, preserving its philosophical and mystical terminology, and, as far as possible, the peculiarities of its literary form. The modern English style is followed in this translation, not only for the sake of clearness, but also because it fairly represents the simple, homely, and halting Greek of the Gospel. The lack of English equivalents for many of the Greek words and phrases makes it impossible to render these satisfactorily in some passages, but in all such cases explanatory footnotes are added, giving definitions and more adequate renderings than could be observed in the close and literal translation. These notes, being indexed, form a glossary of all the important words in the Gospel, thus enabling the reader, even if unacquainted with the Greek language, to follow the terminology as closely in the translation as could be done in the Greek text itself, and affording him almost every advantage to be had from a study of the original. The, introductory essays and other explanatory matter deal with the philosophical basis and mystical sense of the Gospel, without entering needlessly into controversial subjects. That the teaching of Jesus was largely allegorical is clearly apparent from the subject matter of the four Gospels, as well as from such express statements as that in Matthew xiii 34: "All these things Jesus spoke to the people in parables, and without a parable he did not speak (anything) to them." That the teaching had an inner and concealed meaning, divulged only to the few who were worthy to receive it, is evident from many passages in the New Testament; and it was so held by all the early Christian sects, and plainly admitted by the patristic writers.
About the Author: James Morgan Pryse (1859 - 1942) was an author, publisher, and theosophist. Pryse was born in New London, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati), and died in Los Angeles, California. James began his career in law, but gave it up for journalism. In adult life he travelled extensively, helping create a utopian colony in Topolobampo, Mexico, and editing the Topolobampo periodical from his New Jersey home. James settled in Los Angeles, California in 1886. He joined the Los Angeles branch of the Theosophi-cal Society on July 28, 1887. His brother John was already a member at that time. John later dropped out of the Theosophical Society and founded the Gnostic Society in 1928. The original headquarters of the Gnostic Society was in John's home in Los Angeles. In July 1888 the Pryse brothers arrived in New York City. In 1889, members of the Theosophical Society from New York City and Chicago purchased a printing press and type, for the purpose of setting up a publishing company which would handle the publishing needs of the various branches of the Theosophical Society located in the United States. This theosophical publishing company, named the Aryan Press, was located at 144 Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York City. James was recruited to set up and operate the Aryan Press, which was in full operation by December 1889. Due to the success of the Aryan Press, a larger printing press was purchased and shipped to Lon-don, England. In August 1890, James was contacted by Helena Blavatsky (co-founder of the Theosophi-cal Society) and summoned to London, for the pur-pose of setting up and operating this new publishing company, known as the H. P. B. Press (Printers to the Theosophical Society). This printing press was also referred to as the "Blavatsky Press." James left New York City for London in September 1890, at which time his brother John took over operation of the Aryan Press. The H. P. B. Press (Blavatsky Press) was installed in London about November 1890. Blavatsky had asked James to publish her Esoteric Instructions in the United States, so the work would be accessible to members of the American branches of the Theosophical Society. Blavatsky's Esoteric Instructions was duly published by the Aryan Press in 1890. In The Apocalypse Unsealed (1910) Pryse pub-lished the secret key to decoding the esoteric meaning of the Biblical Book of Revelation. His The Re-stored New Testament (1914) also shows esoteric meaning.