The Christ Laws for Today

Divine law is a dynamic structure, upholding a dynamic system, which we call the universe. Thinkers and mystics in every age must review and renew their comprehension of law, discussing it and restating it in the language of their era to refresh our understanding.

The search for truth always begins with the desire to know more than you have been taught. You fervently believe that more truth really is available, if you can just find it. Great souls often come to earth with a vision of purpose and a sense of “mission.”


“The thinkers and mystics in every age must review and renew
their comprehension of law.”


In her own words, Edna Miriam Lister said, “I came to earth with one idea: I knew everyone could walk with Jesus. I desired a career in grand opera and the political world, but a stranger asked, ‘What is that to thee? Follow thou me.’ Then I saw the Master, who said, ‘God is deathless, ageless and abiding. Follow me and avoid the appearance of evil.’ All I have given you has come from this.”

In the body of her work, Edna Lister has given us an astonishing legacy of practical and spiritual wisdom. We have drawn from her personal papers, outlines for sermons and lectures and from her student’s notes taken in private classes and counseling sessions.

What follows is a general outline for approaching your spiritual journey on the Via Christa, the path of conquering self and ascension of soul consciousness. You can drink as deeply as you desire, or take only a sip at a time from Wisdom’s Well.

— Linda Hildebrand Mihalic, Via Christa site editor; Chairman, The Society of the Universal Living Christ.


The Categories of Christ Laws for Today

Light » Read it here »


The Emanations (Wisdom, Love and the Logos) » Read it here »


Absolute Principles » Read it here »


Abstract Principles » Read it here »


Formal Initiations » Read it here »


Initiation » Read it here »


Laws of Being » Learn more »


Laws of Doing » Read it here »


Seven Sacred Degrees (Neophyte, Disciple, Adept, Mystic, Master, Priest, and Christos) » Read it here »


Sin » Learn more »


Soul Faculties » Learn more »


Soul Taints » Read it here »


Speaking the Word » Read it here »


Talents: » Read it here »


Via Christa Degrees » Read it here »


Virtues: » Read it here »




Edna Miriam Lister
1884 – 1971
The original Christian Pioneering Mystic,
Platonist philosopher, American Idealist, Founder, Society of the Universal Living Christ, minister, teacher, author, wife, and mother.


Edna Lister


Born in Tacoma, Washington, December 5, 1884, Edna Miriam Lister belonged to a generation whose parents saw little benefit in educating daughters. Yet, “hungry for truth,” she never stopped educating herself, and left a massive personal library, collection of correspondence, and personal papers.

In 1910, she married Henry T. Abstein, a mining engineer, and went to homestead in the Idaho Rockies. They arrived near Yellow Pine in winter, having traveled the last thirty-some miles by dogsled. Their tiny one-room cabin was half a day's horseback ride from the nearest town and they had no neighbors.

Her reading material included a King James Authorized Version Bible, and the available works of Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus. She wrote in her books, which were obviously her best friends.

Edna Lister's book notations reveal that she embraced Platonic Idealism and favored the works of Thomas Carlyle, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. She rejected the Transcendentalists' Unitarian views in favor of Christian Universalism. She disliked sophistry, materialism, the pragmatic and utilitarian philosophers, but revered Plato and often used elenchus, Socrates' questioning method. She displayed a tendency toward the Stoic view.

Edna Lister left the mountains and her marriage in 1924. In less than a year she began working for Dr. Thomas Parker Boyd, an Episcopalian priest, who also taught psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. She completed the education she had longed for, under his tutelage, and became the Business Manager of Boyd-Lister Publishing in 1929.

Dr. Boyd, Dr. Henry J. Kleefisch, and Edna Lister incorporated the Society of the Healing Christ in San Francisco, California, February 24, 1933, at which time Dr. Boyd conferred upon her an honorary doctorate of letters (LittD) for completion of the curriculum of his University of the Christ Science. Two days later, Dr. Boyd and Dr. Kleefisch, a Bishop of both the Byzantine Universal and Russian Orthodox Churches, ordained Edna Lister to the ministry. Thus, she carried three lines of Apostolic Succession.

In 1934, Dr. Boyd named her his successor and she ministered, counseled, and lectured nonstop for the next thirty-seven years. Her loyal students from across the U.S. saved their notes of lectures, sermons, group meetings, and private consultations, making them available to Edna Lister’s organization, the Society of the Universal Living Christ.