The Rudolf Steiner Archive

40. The Spirit of Truth from a Christian Perspective

[ 1 ] The Gospel of John is not merely a confessional text; rather, it presents a marvelous account, making it an extraordinarily important document for the world. The sending of the Spirit of Truth—first to the disciples—is depicted in a way that is deeply moving to the soul. The promise of Pentecost, the outpouring of the Spirit, the Spirit of Pentecost, upon the Twelve.

[ 2 ] The way one approaches the Bible can be divided into four stages:

1. the naive, the credulous,
2. the wise, the enlightened,
3. those who interpret symbolically,
4. the theosophist.

[ 3 ] It is a profound experience and a source of renewal for the Theosophist to realize that truly spiritual beings are behind the religious scriptures today. Theosophy seeks to precisely develop and unravel the spirit contained within the sacred scriptures. [Theosophy is not a new religion, but rather the most faithful tool for understanding the Gospels.]

[ 4 ] Let us therefore consider the Gospel of John, especially the passage that speaks of the Spirit of Truth.

I and the Father are one. (John 10:30)
I am in you, and you are in me. (John 14:20)
I must go to the Father; for if I do not go to the Father, the Spirit of truth cannot come to you. (John 16:7)

[ 5 ] Therefore: I must die so that the Spirit of Truth may come to dwell in you. Only the one who finds the way to the Father can proclaim the Spirit of Truth.

The words I speak are not my own; they come from the Father. (John 14:10)
Whoever keeps my commandments loves me, and whoever loves me keeps my commandments. (John 14:21)

[ 6 ] [Gap in the transcript?] Once we have grasped what concerns the astral body, we are satisfied. But as far as the etheric body is concerned, a prayer or a meditation—if one were to say that one had grasped the prayer or the meditation, that would mean: not being able to make sense of it. Repeating the same prayer over and over again is like a plant—which has an etheric body but no astral body—that repeatedly uses the same force to form a leaf again and again.

[ 7 ] And when someone gains control of the physical body and can send its blood cells wherever they please, then it is said: This person is forming their seventh limb, the Atma.

[ 8 ] When a person has transformed a large part of their etheric body into buddhi [life spirit = buddhi], they know that death is nothing, that the spirit endures; for what has been transformed remains forever—it is something eternal. They become aware of their victory over death. This is how a person is transformed. To the extent that they have been transformed

of the astral body; within it is the Holy One [Manas],
the spirit of the etheric body; within it is _the Son, the Christ [Budhi],
of the physical body; within it is the Father [Atma].

[ 9 ] Through what people heard in religious scriptures and teachings, they were lifted beyond themselves.

[ 10 ] In earlier times, if one wished to gain knowledge of the spiritual worlds, one had to undergo initiation. Just as light and color existed before our physical eyes were formed, so too do the spiritual worlds exist around us, even if we have not yet developed our spiritual eyes.

[ 11 ] In the earlier development of spiritual vision, the student was brought into a death-like state for three and a half days. While the etheric body was separated from the physical body during this time, it was able to absorb what the astral body had already taken in through the prayer-like exercises.

[ 12 ] When a person returned to the physical body, they could tell of the spiritual worlds; they had experienced that life is eternal.

[ 13 ] In the past, only a few were able to experience for themselves in the Mysteries what is now possible for everyone. [What had been experienced countless times in the mysteries now took place as a historical event on Golgotha. This event was so much greater because here the body truly died. In the mysteries, the body was only plunged into a catalytic sleep for a few days.]

[ 14 ] One must delve into the Gospel of John to understand how death was defeated and overcome through the miracle at Golgotha.

[ 15 ] One is a Jew by believing what Moses gave to his people, a Buddhist by following what Buddha left behind, and so on.

[ 16 ] For a Christian, what matters is not belief in the doctrine or its content, but rather belief in Christ himself—the sublime Being who incarnated at that time. Christ brought us not only doctrine, but also power.

[ 17 ] Among the ancient Jews: the community of blood = the community of the self. Through Christ came a spiritual understanding of the self. The self already exists before it is in the physical body,

Before Abraham was, the “I Am” was. (John 8:58) I and the Father are one (John 10:30),

[ 18 ] This is not the physical father, but rather the great community within each individual, which has descended into every single “I.”

[ 19 ] Spiritual communion had to take the place of blood ties or kinship. Only by developing the small, individual self can it become selfless.

[ 20 ] By receiving the blood, humankind has acquired too much selfishness. With the blood that flowed from the Savior’s wounds on Golgotha, the superfluous, selfish blood of sinful humanity was washed away. [This is redemption through the blood of Christ.] Through this, humanity received the right to membership in the great brotherhood. The “I” was able to transcend itself. This is the Mystery of Golgotha. This will transform the Earth into a planet of love.

[ 21 ] There can be no Christ within us without the external, historical Christ. [Each person must experience this inner Christ within themselves. Just as the eye owes its existence to the sun, so the inner Christ owes its awakening to the historical Christ.] The miracle of Golgotha is the greatest that has ever occurred in the entire history of the Earth.

[ 22 ] What actually happened at Golgotha flowed into the disciples as life, as the Spirit of Truth, in the mystery of Pentecost, so that they could go out and teach what they themselves had seen.

[ 23 ] The henchmen divided everything beneath the cross, except for the robe—that cannot be divided. That is to say: The land, the continents were divided—everything that the ego can distribute, everything it can subjugate. But the robe cannot be divided: the Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth—that is the circle of air surrounding the continents—this Spirit of Truth cannot be divided.

[ 24 ] The freest self—the one capable of giving love as a gift to another self—will come into being through the miracle at Golgotha.