All traditional churches are esoteric in nature. That is, their authoritative writings are presented as having inner meanings for the initiated and an outer or literal meaning for the uninitiated. With Christianity, for example, the inner meanings have long been forgotten and people have now been reduced to guessing. In any event, trying to present multiple uncertain meanings as being truthful is dishonest.
In the case of the Bible, the writers themselves point out that the literal meaning is for the profane or uninitiated and the inner or true meaning is reserved for the chosen. In the case of Jesus talking to his disciples he says outright that they will know the secrets of the parables, but non-disciples will not.
Some examples using the Revised Standard Version of the Bible follow:
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Mark 4:11- When asked about the parable, Jesus said that the disciples have been given the secret of God, but for those outside, everything is in parables; they may see, but not perceive; they may hear, but not understand.
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John 16:25 - I have said this to you in figures (i.e. parables); the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in figures, but tell you plainly of the Father.
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Matthew 13: 1-23 - The Parable of the Sower
The parable of the sower that Jesus told to a great crowd must be explained to the disciples since the meaning certainly is not obvious. Other parables in the Bible are not provided an explanation such as this one. When asked by his disciples about using parables Jesus answered “that to you is given the secrets of heaven, but to them it has not been given”
Jesus is saying outright that only the disciples will understand his message. It is promised in John 16 that some time in the future the communication will be clear, but has not been up to now. Christianity, of course, centers around Jesus, but Jesus says openly to Christians that you will not understand what I am saying. His message is very clear. The question is - Why do Christians depend of the Bible as an authoritative writing when they are told by Jesus that they will not understand it?
People depend on Bible scholars to interpret the esoteric writings of the Bible, i.e. accept the word of experts. People should not fool themselves into believing experts - Jesus said that his teachings would be made clear to his disciples, not experts after two thousand years. By getting into the mindset of accepting the word of experts, society suffers from having members accepting the word of experts rather than developing critical thinking skills.
Esoteric religions that depend on multiple possible meanings are inconsistent with honesty. In fact, they become a untruthful environment for their members. Trying to translate old, esoteric writings is nothing more than guessing.
Since existing esoteric religions are not based on truthfulness; an alternative would be the formation of philosophical communities based on honesty with its authoritative writings clearly stated in the language of its adherents vs. the dishonest nature of esoteric religious groups. The members of philosophical communities would be assured that other members were truthful. These philosophical communities could be secular or religious, but would not be esoteric since esotericism is not consistent with an honest culture.
Is the Bible revealing that it cannot be understood and that possibly other options should be considered?