Reason and Resurrection: Gurdjieff, the Gospel of Christ, and the Soul’s Birth in the Fire of Understanding

In an age where knowledge is abundant but wisdom is scarce, we must recover a forgotten doctrine: that the soul is not guaranteed, that salvation is not automatic, and that Reason—not merely as thought, but as divine intelligence integrated into the whole being—is the measure by which a person participates in the eternal.

Gurdjieff presents an uncompromising anthropology: a human being is not born with a soul, but with the potential to form one. This potential is not realized through belief, ritual, or moral conformity alone, but through conscious labor, intentional suffering, and the active harmonization of one's inner centers under the governance of what Gurdjieff calls Objective Reason. Remarkably, this doctrine of Reason, though cast in cosmic terms, finds a deep connection in the Gospel of Christ.

The Divine Measure of Reason

In Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, Gurdjieff introduces the “sacred Determinator-of-Reason,” a scale which measures the totality-of-self-awareness of every cosmic being. This scale determines not only a being’s level of Reason but also “the degree-of-justification-of-the-sense-and-aim-of-their-existence” (BT, p. 769). In other words, Reason is the very axis of ontological justification.

Biblically, this corresponds to the Logos, the Divine Word or Reason, through whom all things were made and in whom all things cohere (John 1:1–3; Colossians 1:16–17). Christ is not simply the bearer of divine ideas; He is the incarnation of the Cosmic Reason, the pattern of intelligible order. To abide in Christ, then, is to come into alignment with this deeper Reason—a spiritual Logos that redeems not through intellectual assent but through ontological participation.

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4).

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

Three Kinds of Reason

Gurdjieff identifies three kinds of Reason:

1. Automatic Reason: This is the lowest form—a fragmented, automatic mentation based on reactions and accumulated impressions. It is the "reason-of-knowing" which, as Gurdjieff insists, is ephemeral and not integrated into the essence of the being. This aligns with St. Paul's condemnation of the “wisdom of this world”:

   • “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Corinthians 3:19).

   • “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7).

     
     

2. Okiartaaitokhsa Reason: This emerges when the Kesdjan or Astral body (the higher being body; the middle part of the Soul) begins to form and function independently. It aligns with what Paul calls the “inner man,” the awakened heart that begins to respond to grace:

   • “Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

   • “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God… but he that is spiritual judgeth all things” (1 Corinthians 2:14–15).

     
     

3. Objective Reason: This is the Reason proper to the highest-being-body (the highest part of the Soul) which Gurdjieff says must become the “center-of-gravity” of the whole being. It is formed only through intense inner work and full engagement with being-Partkdolg-duty—conscious labor and intentional suffering—from the sacred Martfotai to the sacred Anklad. In Christian terms, this is the nous fully redeemed, the transfigured intelligence of the new man in Christ:

   • “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind [nous], that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).

   • “We have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16).

     
     

Objective Reason, then, is not just spiritual intelligence—it is salvific intelligence. It is the intelligence of a soul.

From Knowledge to Understanding

Gurdjieff insists on a radical distinction between knowledge and understanding. Knowledge, unless metabolized through the harmonization of the three centers, remains external, mechanical, and ultimately forgettable.

Understanding, by contrast, emerges only when new impressions are processed through the sacred Triamazikamno (Law of Three, The Holy Trinity)—affirmation, denial, and reconciliation—within the full being. This “Zernofookalnian friction” produces the sacred substances Abrustdonis and Helkdonis, which are required for the coating of the soul (BT, p.1168).

Jesus Christ echoes this distinction in multiple parables. The seed of the Word (Logos) is only fruitful in “good soil”—a being properly prepared to receive and integrate divine impressions:

“Those who hear the word, and understand it, who indeed bear fruit” (Matthew 13:23).

“He who hears My words and puts them into practice is like a man who built his house on rock” (Luke 6:47–48).

Christ’s entire teaching ministry was aimed not at giving men more knowledge, but at generating understanding—a transformative awareness that takes root in the heart and transfigures the whole being. When He opens the Scriptures to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, their response is not intellectual satisfaction but existential ignition:

“Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us?” (Luke 24:32).

Understanding, then, is not about memory. It is about fire. It is about the soul’s ignition.

Salvation as Soul Formation

Contrary to much modern theology, salvation in the New Testament is not just forensic justification—it is ontological regeneration. Gurdjieff’s anthropology says likewise: salvation is not a status; it is a structure. The higher being-bodies must be coated and perfected—connected directly and sustainbly to the Higher Psychic Centres. This echoes Paul’s eschatological emphasis:

“Until Christ be formed in you” (Galatians 4:19).

“We grow up in all things into Him who is the Head, Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).

To be “in Christ” is not merely to believe in Him but to become conformed to Him in substance and essence. The “new man” is not a metaphor—it is a metaphysical event. As Gurdjieff states, the higher-being-body must become the “center-of-gravity” of the whole being. This is what it means to be truly born again—not sentimentally, but structurally.

Justice, Harmony, and the Whole Presence

In his final reflections, Gurdjieff explains that the correct operation of Reason depends on the just functioning of the three centers: thought, feeling, and movement. One must not overburden the planetary body, nor allow one center to dominate the others. This is a sacred justice—an echo of the divine harmony of the Megalocosmos (BT, pp. 1171–1172).

This vision reflects Christ’s teaching of the Greatest Commandment:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart [feeling], all your soul [movement/will], and all your mind [thought]” (Matthew 22:37).

The perfection of the human being, according to Christ and Gurdjieff alike, is the harmonization of all centers in loving obedience to the divine order. This is Reason fulfilled. This is the soul made flesh.

Becoming the Measure

We live in a world awash in information and starving for transformation. The tragedy of modern religion is that it has substituted belief for being, knowledge for understanding, and sentiment for structure.

Gurdjieff’s doctrine of Reason, far from being a rival to Christianity, revives its esoteric heart. It demands that we take Christ at His word—that the path is narrow, the cost is total, and the prize is nothing less than the birth of a real “I Am.”

The soul is not given. It is earned. It is not a guarantee. It is a task. And that task is measured by the Reason we acquire through the sacred labor of conscious transformation.

“Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning” (Luke 12:35).

“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).