... Viewed from this perspective, the story of the Fall is not an antiquated folk tale but a vivid and accurate account of the human predicament, and the story of Christ is not only an account of an historical man but also a figurative representation of the path that each of us must follow to attain liberation. As Christopher Walton, a 19th century English esotericist, put it "all that is said and declared, and recorded in the gospel, is only a plain record of that which is said and done, and doing in yourself [my emphasis].
Inner Christianity, Richard Smoley, pp 4-5
