James Foster is an author writing on Christianity’s esoteric and initiatory traditions, particularly their Hermetic and Neoplatonic dimensions, as they appear in history, theology, and lived practice. His work explores how these currents took shape in the Western tradition, how they articulate a non-dual and sacramental vision of Christianity, and how they continue to function today within initiatory and theurgic contexts.
James holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology, and his academic training informs his work with methodological rigor and disciplinary restraint. He is a long-time student of the Western Esoteric Traditions and writes from within living initiatory contexts.
Within Christianity, James is a bishop in the Independent Catholic Movement, a role he has fulfilled for over two decades. He is the founder and Patriarch-Emeritus of the Apostolic Johannite Church, and his work reflects sustained engagement with sacramental theology, liturgical symbolism, and ecclesial esotericism.
Alongside his Christian formation, James has practiced Buddhism in multiple forms since the late 1980s. He trained and ordained as a Tibetan monk in the Drikung Kagyu lineage and has also received Inga (Inka) transmission in the Korean Seon (Zen) lineage of Zen Master Seung Sahn. These traditions inform his understanding of non-duality, contemplative discipline, and the comparative grammar of religious realization, without displacing his Christian commitments.