The Rudolf Steiner Archive

46. The Significance of Christianity for the Future

[ 1 ] Ladies and gentlemen! There are certain circles in our time who claim to stand on the ground of modern science and, from this standpoint, attempt to examine Christianity—specifically with regard to what it might still mean for people today, and especially for the people of the future. Today we shall not discuss these perspectives, which sometimes lead to a complete negation—even an eradication—of Christian conviction; rather, from the standpoint of spiritual science or theosophy—as this field of spiritual research has come to be called—we shall examine Christianity in terms of its capacity to influence the future.

[ 2 ] Yesterday we attempted to survey the religious development of humanity; today this reflection will culminate in our observing how the various religious currents have evolved, reaching a sort of climax in what is called the Christ impulse.

[ 3 ] Theosophy—and this misunderstanding cannot be dispelled often enough, so to speak—should not be understood as a new religion, nor as a religion at all; it should be regarded as a tool for understanding religions, for seeking the essential core within the successive religions. Even in relation to Christianity, theosophy takes the position of a tool for understanding it in its full significance.

[ 4 ] However, it arrives at a different conclusion than that of a negation. What emerged as the fruit of religious development was the most powerful earthly impulse. And the deeper theosophy delves into its inner core, the more it must come to the realization that, despite nearly 2,000 years of development of historical Christianity in terms of perception, feeling, and interest, Christian development is only just beginning within the course of Earth’s evolution, and that Christianity possesses within itself forces and impulses that point toward a broad earthly perspective. — This shall be the subject of our reflection today.

[ 5 ] To this end, we will now have to discuss the nature of Christianity. There is so much that is distinctive and fundamental—so much that would need to be said—if the entire scope were to be even briefly outlined, with the intention of bringing to the forefront of our consciousness one of the characteristic features of this impulse that can illustrate this principle particularly vividly.

[ 6 ] It is best characterized by the words that describe the contrast between the old law and the new freedom that came into Christianity through the Pauline law. Superficially, this can be characterized as follows: Over the course of its millennia-long development, humanity has gradually matured to the point of shaping its inner life with ever-greater intensity. Among all peoples in earlier stages of development, we find that this sense of “I,” this sense of independence, emerged very slowly and gradually. Therefore, the fundamental impulse of Christianity has not always been present in humanity, as it has been since the beginning of our era. People today can no longer bring themselves to realize that the way they perceive themselves as independent beings—as beings with their own impulses—is something that has only recently come into being. Among all peoples, however, we find a starting point where the individual did not feel himself as an individual in this intense way, but rather as a member of a tribe, a people, or some other community. Every person of every people felt this way; they did not say “I” to themselves as every person does today. Rather, they said “I” to the entire group, to the entire community—the tribe, the people—just as a finger would say “I” to our entire organism, not to itself, if it could speak and had to regard itself as an organ of a soul-self.

[ 7 ] You can still get a sense of this when you read that unique, wonderful historical work, Tacitus’s Germania. There you can read how the Cherusci, the Cherulers, saw themselves and felt themselves to be more a part of their tribe than an independent self.

[ 8 ] The human soul only gradually becomes centered; that is why we find that in that great culture which paved the way for Christianity—namely, Hebrew culture—Moses, with the words, “I and Father Abraham are one,” intended to say something very special, something by which he pointed to the forefather of the entire people. In the consciousness of the ancient Hebrew believer, the words “I and Father Abraham are one” carried great significance: the blood flowing down from the forefather of the people was something by which the individual felt sustained; he looked with reverent awe toward the source from which he and other human beings had sprung. It was a shared self, a collective self, that was being referred to when one invoked Father Abraham. I am immersed in it; in the stream of blood flowing down through the generations, I feel as though I am part of something enduring, whereas in my own being, between birth and death, everything is transient.

[ 9 ] That sense of oneness within a whole—which gave rise to love—became increasingly relaxed; and love was therefore bound up with this sense of oneness as a whole. Kindred souls felt drawn to one another from person to person. During earthly education, human beings are meant to develop more and more in love, and so we see how the individual increasingly separates himself from the whole. If this separation had been the end of the matter—if no other impulse had entered into human development—what would have become of us?

[ 10 ] Even within the ancient Hebrew community of believers, it was necessary to regulate human coexistence through external commandments—coexistence that would have drifted further and further apart if the “I” had increasingly separated itself from the whole. The Christ impulse arose in the midst of this development of humanity. People no longer relied on the old blood ties; instead, they regarded the human being as an “I.” Therefore, Christ replaced the ancient Hebrew saying, “I and Father Abraham are one,” with the significant statement, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30); that which lives within me as an “I”-being is not only one with an earthly being linked by blood ties, but one with a spiritual being.

[ 11 ] There is a spiritual reality that underlies all physical existence, and with which every individual self is one. Regardless of our other connections, each of us has established a connection with the spiritual Father-principle of the universe.

[ 12 ] Before Abraham was, there was the “I Am” (John 8:58),

[ 13 ] In other words, there is something in human beings that is eternal and imperishable—something that existed within each of us before anything outwardly visible came into being; even before Abraham existed, this spiritual essence was already there.

[ 14 ] Within every individual “I” lies a source of activity, of action, and of understanding the world. This had to come into being within every human being. When an individual is drawn to seek a connection with Christ, that person must be given the opportunity to replace the old love with a new love—spiritual love—a love that is independent of all blood ties, a love that springs from every soul and flows from every soul to every soul.

[ 15 ] Through Christ, that impulse entered into the development of the Earth which, when it has fully played out, will work love within every soul, causing every soul to find the right relationship to the world and the right love for humanity. And it is precisely in this sense, precisely in this regard, that we stand at the beginning of Christianity. Through this process of assimilation, every “I” becomes freer and freer. Paul expressed this as follows:

[ 16 ] It is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me. (Gal 2:20)

[ 17 ] We must not understand this Christianity to mean that the old is abolished by the new freedom, by that love which is spiritual; the new love does not seek to take away, dissolve, or destroy the old, but rather to preserve the old and add something new to it—not to impoverish the old, but to enrich it. The love from one human soul to another is added to the love of kin and blood. This new love, which will ultimately—when the Earth reaches its goal—embrace all people, is the Christ impulse. It is the impulse of brotherhood encompassing the entire Earth and is therefore, at the same time, the essence of everything that human beings can ever achieve on Earth.

[ 18 ] When Christ appeared, the remnants of ancient wisdom still existed; at that time, those who were versed in the mysteries of religion had a goal. And we find it wonderfully expressed precisely in the early Christian period, when all those equipped with ancient wisdom set out to give expression to Christianity. How did they conceive of the relationship between what could be known from the ancient creeds and Christ himself? Something truly extraordinary appeared in the Christian essence of Jesus of Nazareth. In what the Rishis called Vishva Karman, in what Zarathustra referred to as Ahura-Mazdao, and again in the Egyptian Hermetic teachings, which stated: “When the soul passes through the gate of death, it becomes one with Osiris”—in all of this, reference is made to the one great being who appeared in Jesus of Nazareth. And the ancient sages held this conviction: We must draw upon everything the ancient founders of religion have said in order to comprehend this unique manifestation.

[ 19 ] For example, within that circle, Gnosis was referred to as that which was present precisely to stir up all human sensibilities in order to comprehend Christ. It was far, far removed from today’s reductive scholarship, which seeks to reduce the uniqueness of the Christ event to trivial concepts of material life. Such was, roughly speaking, the education that the early Christian teachers imparted to the believers: that no wisdom can reach high enough to comprehend the Christ-event. This sentiment is also evident in the Pauline Epistles and persisted into the fourth and fifth centuries among those who understood Christianity—not among those who corrupted it. What could be taught in this way came into the world as the first fruit of Christianity.

[ 20 ] Then came the great figures of the Middle Ages. Of course, one could also list its dark sides. But today we want to highlight the greatness in the development of the Middle Ages; for the other falls from the tree of development, while the great continue to grow.

[ 21 ] The first stage shows us what Christ was. In the second stage, the Central European peoples enter Christianity. A new era begins for Christianity. Here we see that much-maligned science of the Middle Ages, which, as true science, proceeds from a very specific principle that should not be misunderstood: it embodies the feeling that filled Christianity in its early days—that the figure of Christ is in harmony with the entire supersensible world in all its individual manifestations. The Christian scholars of the Middle Ages regarded it as their task to apply all human acumen to understanding what happened during the events in Palestine and how they are connected to the entire supersensible world.

[ 22 ] An enormous amount of intellectual effort has been devoted to understanding how Christ is connected to the spiritual world and how the other spiritual beings that underlie this physical world are connected to him, as well as how the good and bad aspects of human nature are present within it. So much intellectual acumen has been devoted to this that it seems far too subtle to the modern age, and it regards everything directed toward it as scholastic fantasy—a fine exercise of the human intellect applied to an object that has been accepted as revelation and to which the intellect should not be applied. Today, philosophy takes such pride in appealing to this intellect and does not engage with this insubstantial scholastic fantasy; what medieval Christian scholarship represented is regarded as something that has been overcome. Let us adopt a point of view for a moment—one that need not actually be true—to see what is meant by scholastic contemplation. Let us say that it does not matter at all to know how Christ relates to the spiritual world, and let us focus solely on the one thing that cannot be historically denied: that the educated people of the Middle Ages devoted themselves to applying their intellect to these problems in the most astute manner. Whether directed toward worthy or unworthy problems, the intellect was thereby trained to become something that otherwise would not have developed into a human capacity. Let us ask: What has come of this? We see how, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the intellect became capable of ushering in the modern advances of the material world. For those who do not succumb to prejudice, it is clear that everything we have in the much-admired modern science, practice, and culture is owed to the intellect trained throughout the Middle Ages. Why was Copernicus able to think so clearly, to exercise his intellect so effectively, that he arrived at the new view of the celestial bodies? Because the strength of the intellect emerged from this school. — Let us now ask: Where did Kepler’s spirit come from, Galileo’s striking acumen, and the reformatory power of Giordano Bruno? When we look at what these minds were capable of achieving—at all that they accomplished—we find that their powers were ignited by the Christian development of the Middle Ages.

[ 23 ] So what, then, has modern science brought us? What is the source of today’s industry’s ability to take on its current form? What has modern trade and transportation brought about? It is the forms of thought that underlie everything, and they have grown out of the Christian education of the Middle Ages.

[ 24 ] People are right to stand in awe before a marvel of engineering such as the Gotthard Tunnel. Who built it? We ask this, not in reference to its outward appearance, but to its inner essence; for those who built it were guided by those who understand such things. But what must one understand in order to be able to create such a marvel? One must understand what a mind like Leibniz’s has laid at the foundation of this science. By discovering this method of calculation and incorporating it into all of modern thought—has he not thereby helped build the Gotthard Tunnel and the entire modern culture? Where else but in the thinker’s solitary study does all this originate? Imagine Leibniz without the entire education of the Middle Ages! If you wish to think realistically: the intellectual capacities underpinning all of modern culture owe their development to, and date back to, the time when Christianity became established in the Central European world.

[ 25 ] First, the text addresses, as it were, those who are contemporaries and successors of Jesus of Nazareth—first regarding what physically exists, then regarding what memory has preserved. Then, that which has developed as a capacity emancipates itself and establishes the entire modern culture.

[ 26 ] But this only brings us as far as ourselves. Yet in doing so, we see Christianity on a certain path, as it were, internalizing itself, moving into people; at first as something external, which is inconceivable without someone pointing to Jesus of Nazareth, who lived and died in Palestine. It is said that one cannot prove one’s closeness to him through reason. Reference is made to facts, to people who have laid their hands on the wounds. Careful attention is drawn to this, and to those who still sat at the feet of the apostles, who experienced the appearance of Christ. — This gradually fades away and retreats into the inner self.

[ 27 ] From Nicholas of Cusa through the scientific tradition up to Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler, we find everywhere the belief that the human intellect is capable of comprehending what has happened. And furthermore, we see how the very capacity—the keen insight—that developed in relation to the Christian subject breaks away and becomes modern thought, the way of life of our new science.

[ 28 ] And let us ask: Where is the arsenal of intellectual acuity and critical thinking that enabled, for example, a David Friedrich Strauss to combat Christianity so vigorously? Where is the arsenal of the incisive insight that gave rise to the entire field of biblical criticism? Christian development itself is the arsenal for these ideas. Even the critics who turn against Christianity owe their abilities to Christian development. One will, of course, deny this if one takes a modern standpoint; but for those who truly traverse this development, it becomes proof that could not be stronger.

[ 29 ] Amid all the forces that were developing there—and which brought about the power and splendor of our culture—something else emerged that was to carry Christianity even further into the human innermost being, into the depths of the human soul. In the middle of the Middle Ages, in figures such as Johannes Tauler, Meister Eckhart, and Angelus Silesius, we see this. We see how these people speak of a Christian manifestation that is no longer based on external facts, nor on memories, nor does it appeal to the intellect, but rather to the deepest part of the human being: the human “I,” as they point out with all their fervor that within every “I” the Christ impulse can shine forth—that which Paul himself so significantly described as “Christ in man” (Gal 2:20); this can shine forth in every single individual.

[ 30 ] Thus we are entering a phase that can pave the way for a new era in the future. Meister Eckhart pointed in particular to the human “I,” which can experience Christ within itself. In the case of such spirits, however, we must not speak merely of an inner, abstract Christ. Yes, it would suit our modern people to say: We do not concern ourselves with the external, historical Christ. If he is born within, what business is the historical Christ to us! It is thoughtless to say that he could exist within without the external Christ.

[ 31 ] All we need to do is bring another thought to mind. How often is it repeated today in the subjective school of philosophy: “Without the eye, there is no light.” Certainly, one born blind cannot see. Without the eye, the world around us would be colorless; without the ear, there would be no sounds for us to hear. But now let us consider the other side of the matter—the very simple fact that arises time and again whenever such things are discussed. There are animals with eyes; they change their way of life, moving into dark caves. There, they have no need to see; their eyes atrophy. Other organs they need become stronger. Only vestiges of the eyes remain. Due to the absence of light, the eyes regress.

[ 32 ] Similarly, the eyes were formed only in the course of evolution. That is why Goethe, who looked deeply into these matters, said: “The eye was formed by light for the sake of light.” Light gradually formed the eye out of indifferent organs. Once, in primeval times, human beings were organisms in which there were merely indifferent points; through light, the eye was brought forth from them. That is why the same Goethe who spoke these beautiful words:

[ 33 ] If the eye were not like the sun, it could not perceive the sun; the other side is also emphasized: that the eye, if it exists for the sake of light, could only have come into being if the light unleashed the magical power to develop this eye.

[ 34 ] Just as there is a light-sensitive power in the eye, so there is in the soul a Christ-sensitive power—the power that can perceive the mystical Christ. But how can this power continue to develop in the world? — Through the historical Christ! For the mystical development of Christ, he had to be present as an objective entity, as the historical Christ. As the historical Christ, he had to be there first, for it is from the objective spiritual power that the force emanates from which the perception of Christ can arise, and from which the experience of Christ emerges.

[ 35 ] Just as the eye is shaped by sunlight, so the experience of Christ is shaped by Christ Himself; and when the experience of Christ enters into the development of the Earth, this experience of Christ within the “I” will be increasingly guided toward the recognition of the great historical figure of Christ. People will experience him as the eye experiences light. This now stands before us as a great ideal, through which I can best point toward the future of Christianity.

[ 36 ] Let us first take another look at the origins of Christianity. How did it come into being? — Critics are so fond of referring to the first three Gospels in order to view Christ in human form, because it makes them uncomfortable to look up to what is higher, to the unattainable. But let us look at the one who beheld Christ in his true form. Who could have known best? — The one who witnessed it firsthand! — We do not mean to diminish the value of the first three Gospels; certainly not.

[ 37 ] But let’s look further. Did Saul become Paul because of what he experienced in Palestine? It was solely through the event at Damascus (Acts 22:6–8)—through which he was transported out of the sensory world and came to experience that this Being, who walked in Palestine, was crucified, and died, is real—that the same One who bled on the cross can be perceived by the spiritual eye; this is what transformed Saul into Paul.

[ 38 ] No one who does not truly appreciate the fact that Christ can be recognized only through supersensory perception and knowledge—through gazing into the spiritual world—can understand him. Only those who awaken their slumbering spiritual eyes and ears can do so. In Paul’s case, it was as if by grace, as if through a premature birth, that he was called to look into the spiritual world and to behold the Christ who lives there.

[ 39 ] This is what will be understood once again after Christianity has been internalized to such an extent that it is experienced anew. Theosophy, or spiritual science, is nothing other than the knowledge and message of what can be experienced in the spiritual world. What spiritual researchers see in the spiritual world is put into words and expressed in teachings. Paul once found Christ in the spiritual world, and all true theosophy will find Christ in the spiritual world.

[ 40 ] If spiritual science has a future, if it touches people’s hearts and feelings, then it will open up this world to them. And so, like a spiritual fluid, the whole world will be permeated by the Christ Being—that Being who is at once the historical Being and thus imperishable! Only our time can gradually fulfill what Christianity holds as its impulse: the whole truth, the whole power, and the whole love of Christ.

[ 41 ] This can only be instilled in human beings little by little. But as the human “I” acts, loves, and wills, it will increasingly become Christ, and it will increasingly learn to let Christ speak through it. The ideal we envision is a time when peace reigns within human beings, when the Christ principle has taken root. The more people it enters, the more light the impulse brings into each individual, and the more people will possess the ability to let brotherly love take root in the world. Just keep preaching brotherly love! If the practical principle is missing, it’s as if you were preaching to a stove: “Burn nicely, dear stove,” without putting any fuel in it. No matter how much you preach, it won’t get warm. But if you put wood in it and light it, then you don’t need to say much at all. So it is with people: No matter how much you preach about brotherly love—morality cannot be preached in this way—give the soul fuel; place within the soul that which is positive, which can be kindled through contemplation of the great Christ-soul, and from every soul the spiritual bond will flow from person to person. In this way, you establish brotherhood by making the essence of the Christ principle accessible to every soul; when we understand Christianity in its spiritual principles, when we receive Christ into our souls, we bring about that future which we envision as the true goal of life on earth.

[ 42 ] In Christianity, we can find much of what it has already given to humanity; but we can find even more. The deeper we look into it, the more we can draw out of it. It is greater than anything we can teach today. True are the words spoken by the Creator of Christianity:

[ 43 ] I still have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it yet. (John 16:12)

[ 44 ] That is why we can view Christianity as a living source, as something that always has something new to teach. When we discover Christianity as Paul did, we come to understand the Word:

[ 45 ] I am with you always. (Mt 28:20)

[ 46 ] Let us learn from Christ, who is with us every day!

[ 47 ] If we immerse ourselves in the spiritual aspect of Earth’s evolution, we will find it in every age; then we can learn from the One who lived on Earth, who can still be seen today as a living being in the spiritual world, who has given the Earth a principle for all time that can always be found, from which everyone can always learn and always discover. Therein lies the significance of Christianity for the entire future of the Earth.