The Rudolf Steiner Archive

5. The Christ of the Twentieth Century

[ 1 ] Ladies and gentlemen! Since I have often had the opportunity to speak here about spiritual science and its findings, please allow me this evening to address a particular topic that is undoubtedly very close to the hearts of many: the question of Christ—not only because there is an ever-growing need in wide circles today to approach this question more closely, but also because spiritual science, in particular, has something to say about how the question of Christ should be integrated into our culture. Spiritual science does not seek to be the seed of a new religion, but rather to show the way to penetrate realms that are inaccessible to the ordinary senses and to modern science. It will not be possible to speak about the subject at hand without briefly pointing out the many changes that human hearts have undergone in relation to this question. This requires a brief review.

[ 2 ] If we simply consider the emergence of Christianity into the world, we can say, first of all, that at the beginning of our era, something happened that gave the entire course of human development a new impetus, an upward turn. Even non-believers will have to admit, for historical reasons alone, that the impulse brought about by Christianity was a powerful one. At the time the Christ impulse entered the world, the human soul was in a very different state than it is today, and a change in this state will inevitably occur in the future simply because new powers of knowledge will awaken within the human soul. One historically significant fact stands out: The most enlightened minds of the West, equipped with the deepest knowledge, had to recognize—under the utmost strain of their cognitive powers, through the greatest mental acuity they could muster—that something mighty had entered human life through the Christ impulse. Let us first consider the view of the Gnostics, whom the most distinguished and outstanding scholars of our time call “religious geniuses.” We do not wish to discuss the epistemological value of Gnosticism at all, but rather to ask: How did the Gnostics view Christ?—We shall attempt to characterize the Gnostic attitude toward Christ. Gnosticism is a theory of evolution that must seem fantastical to people today. When one speaks of [human] evolution today, one asks: How has the human body developed through the various stages? – The Gnostic, on the other hand, said: When one thinks with an open mind, one is led back not to a material but to a spiritual origin; if one considers the point at which humanity descended from the spiritual into matter, one finds that something was left behind in the purely spiritual realms, to later enter into human evolution. It was only by becoming increasingly entangled in matter that humanity could [initially] progress. Had it not done so, it would never have attained the unfolding of freedom—it had to become alienated from the spiritual in order to find the possibility of freedom within matter. Then, at the moment when humanity was most deeply entangled in materiality, that which had previously been held back in the spiritual world at the dawn of humanity had to pour into the Earth’s development in order to save humanity from sinking completely into materiality. That which flowed down from the spiritual worlds has been connected to the Earth ever since, and Christ has lived on ever since through the development of humanity.

[ 3 ] If we ask, using the methods of spiritual science, how the Gnostics arrived at such ideas, we see upon careful examination: These ideas, which the Gnostics drew forth from the strain of their deepest spiritual powers, originate from an epoch when direct perception still existed, for in earlier times the human soul was attuned quite differently. Ideas such as the Gnostic ones developed out of this original knowledge. Gnosis appears as a legacy of ancient knowledge. A lofty concept of Christ confronts us here, which even those who find Gnosticism fanciful must acknowledge: the Gnostic idea is a bold, grandiose one. We can quickly move past the early Church Fathers, who worked to establish [Christian] dogmas. People later strayed entirely from what the Fathers had dared to believe at that time. By the middle of the Middle Ages, this view had been completely abandoned. It was said then: Human understanding does not reach the heights at which Christ’s entry into the earthly sphere might be revealed. Faith was substituted for true knowledge. Thus we see how the conception of Christ changes over the centuries, just as the character of the times changes with culture.

[ 4 ] In the sixteenth century, we enter the age of great advances in the natural sciences. This required the emergence of [new] knowledge—a [new] way of understanding that was primarily concerned with comprehending the material world and its laws. It emerged as a major factor in development that transformed the entire [external] commercial and industrial life. Medieval humanity was still fully devoted to faith; the Middle Ages believed what the Gnostics had once recognized. The external world, which is our physical environment, shaped the new era. Thus the entire conception of Christ underwent a transformation: whereas the Gnostics could speak of a divine being who had merely taken up residence in a human being, in more recent times it became increasingly impossible to imagine a God incarnate. It would be interesting to show how, in the various phases, the earlier conception gave way more and more in favor of an [externally] tangible Christ. Due to their inner spiritual disposition, people were compelled to turn away from the God who had descended into the flesh and instead to see in him more and more the human being—albeit one of the most extraordinary kind. Today, people seek the starting point of Christianity in a human soul, in the man from Nazareth, rather than seeing in this man merely the gateway through which the Christ entered [the earthly sphere].

[ 5 ] Enlightened minds, setting aside all theology, have struggled to find an answer to the question: How can a modern person relate to the Christ event? – It is interesting, after all, that these three figures—all born in the same year a little over a hundred years ago—sought to grapple with this Christ event. Otto Ludwig grappled with this material in an effort to shape it into a drama; Friedrich Hebbel jotted down the outline for a Christ drama. It is evident from what they both wrote that they could not come to terms with the problem—it was too great for them. We also know that Richard Wagner worked on this task and was unable to complete it.

[ 6 ] As for this materialistic view of Jesus as a mere human being, it must be said that it has not remained fruitless; the theology of Jesus has also produced some beautiful fruits. One need only mention Rittelmeyer’s little book *Jesus*: it is something that can deeply move the heart and soul. Modern theology has produced much of this kind. A contemporary poet who is rightly popular, Peter Rosegger, has constructed his own image of Jesus. If one imagines Rosegger himself, with all his fine, likable qualities idealized to the highest degree, one has his conception of Jesus of Nazareth.

[ 7 ] Despite all the tremendous achievements of theology in recent times, a curious discovery was made: that if one examines the Gospels impartially, Jesus Christ [in fact] could not have been a human being at all. Thus, Benjamin Smith asserted that all interpretations of Christ as the simple man from Nazareth fly in the face of all scientific rigor, that this is untenable, that it is incompatible with all tradition to view Christ as merely a human being—even the most ideal one; one therefore realizes that Jesus Christ must be a god. This realization comes at a time when humanity can no longer even conceive of what a God is. And so the conclusion is drawn: Since there can only be human beings on earth, but Christ must be a God, he cannot have existed on earth at all. — Under such circumstances, based on such premises, what has been causing such a stir for years has come to pass: the outright denial of the personality of Jesus of Nazareth.

[ 8 ] This briefly outlines the development of the concept of Christ through the centuries. How, then, does spiritual science relate to the Christ event? How can it address the most important problem in human development? Spiritual science proceeds from the premise that human beings possess not only the knowledge based on observation of the external world, but that through the development of dormant powers they can also ascend to a higher level of knowledge.

[ 9 ] Just as the chemist, by separating hydrogen and oxygen, creates something entirely new from water—extracting from it a substance with entirely different properties—so, through appropriate methods, something entirely new can emerge from the human being. Just as we cannot tell by looking at water what is contained within it, so we cannot tell by looking at a person what powers lie within them. Through a kind of spiritual chemistry—using exercises described in detail in my books—something new can be developed within a person; the soul can act beyond the body and become conscious of itself in the spiritual world. This is still entirely foreign to wide circles and will only gradually become accepted. Today, at the dawn of an era in which this insight will gradually become common knowledge, an understanding of the spiritual world is possible, [just as was once the case with the] Copernican worldview, which was also initially ridiculed but has nevertheless become accepted. Today, heretics who speak of a perception of the soul independent of the body are no longer burned at the stake, but they are mocked and ridiculed.

[ 10 ] When one approaches Gnosticism from this perspective, something emerges that is not merely a further development or revival of Gnosticism: one finds, in fact, that the human soul carries over into later [lives] what has been accomplished in earlier epochs. If one embraces the teaching of repeated earthly lives, one arrives at a more precise characterization of the earthly epochs themselves. The course of history must be observed using the methods of spiritual science. Then it becomes apparent that just as human beings [naturally] experience hunger and thirst, so in ancient times they were able to perceive the inner mysteries of existence in images and visions through their very constitution. Then the human soul lost this ability; human beings had to develop the capacity to form concepts on their own. This ability arose only [later]—on the basis of imaginings [of a pictorial and visionary nature]. Only short-sightedness can lead one to deny that conceptual understanding, too, had to develop over time.

[ 11 ] The epoch in which the human soul underwent this transformation is the time when Christ entered into human evolution; as a result, the human soul has become something different from what it was before the Christ event. In ancient times, human beings perceived through images what lay hidden behind sensory existence. This is the defining characteristic of the ancient worldview: that human beings gained insight—in the form of images—into how they were connected to the cosmos and to the gods. This was still the perspective of the ancient Hebrew era, in which, as it were, a connection existed between the spiritual and the sensory worlds through the prophets and seers. Yet this connection was felt to grow weaker and weaker the closer the time of the Mystery of Golgotha drew near. If a special impulse had not entered into the development of the Earth at that time, the human soul would have felt increasingly isolated; for from that point on, humanity was left to its own devices, yet at the same time became isolated. It is no empty phrase [to say] that we are moving toward the age of individualism. But with this came the possibility of finding something new—something that souls in pre-Christian times had not yet been able to find: the Christ presence. Since the dawn of Christianity, what was once found in nature can now be found in the spirit. [Before the Christ event], human beings could no longer find the connection to the divine forces that they had possessed in ancient times. The development of Christianity to date is merely a preparation [for the Christianity of the future]; people will see that, even after a [relatively] short time, the state of the world will change completely.

[ 12 ] There may be many who are content with what is provided by the Bible and tradition; that is a selfish point of view. At a breakneck pace, souls will evolve to the point where they can no longer approach Christ in the old way. With [conventional] concepts and ideas, human beings will find themselves increasingly alone. Human beings once felt themselves to be spirits among spirits; modern human beings can feel only as bodies among bodies. Yet the souls who yearn to reach the inexplicable within themselves will ask: How am I, how is my self, connected to a spiritual world? If we observe these processes with a soulful eye and understanding, a comparison suggests itself: When certain animals prepare for something special, they tend to fast. As a result, processes take place within them such that the forces of the organism—which are thereby set free—flow in a different direction. [And when we look at] human beings, [we see that they] have acquired more and more concepts about matter and its laws, but spiritually they have starved in terms of knowledge of the soul. At the same time, the direct perception of Christ in the spiritual world has been preparing itself. Over the centuries, the human soul has deprived itself of spiritual nourishment and, through this starvation, has developed those faculties that will unfold in the future.

[ 13 ] Humanity is moving toward a goal of development where they will find the Christ just as they [today] find a law of nature. But they will not find him as a dead law, but as a [living] being, and they will know: Since the Mystery of Golgotha, a being has [entered] the course of Earth’s evolution that was not there before. — Laws cannot comfort, nor can they help us overcome pain, but the connection with Christ—which one will feel as a force within the soul—can help. One will not be able to find Christ through dogmatic means; one will be able to find Christ in a completely different way; in a completely different way will one find the truth of the words: “I am with you until the end of the age.” A time will come when it will no longer be considered scientifically impossible that, since the Mystery of Golgotha, the Christ Spirit has been living on Earth, within the earthly development of humanity. Until now, only those who know this or that about the Christ have been recognized as Christians. In the future, people will know that the Christ came into earthly life not only to bring a teaching, but to accomplish a deed. Then one will also be able to find the Christ seed [in non-Christians]—in Hindus, in Japanese, and in Muslims.

[ 14 ] I am fully aware that I am not speaking from a medieval perspective, but from one that fully acknowledges all that science has achieved. But just as one comes to understand the laws of electricity, radioactivity, and so on, one will come to recognize that the mystery of Golgotha is a superphysical matter. In order for Christ to be found by humankind, he had to undergo birth, baptism, and death; and by overcoming death, he has poured himself out into the development of the Earth.

[ 15 ] We have gone through a preparatory period in which Christianity was [merely] regarded as a doctrine. A time will come when Christ can be found by those souls who seek him, because he is on earth. He has [always] worked through his very existence, and people will come to see his existence as something that can reunite humanity, for he will be the One [for all people], for every [single] person, as people become increasingly individualized. This is the Christ-idea [at a time when] humanity is heading toward a future that is even more de-divinized than monism can even imagine.

[ 16 ] Just as we relate to external substances through physical nourishment, so do we relate to the Spirit of Christ through our spiritual life. A great mind, a distinguished thinker of our time, Eliot, has said that the old religion is a sad and painful one; in the future, a religion will emerge that brings joy. It cannot be denied that pain and death exist in the world, and because they affect human beings, they need a powerful impulse to overcome pain and death—[the Christ impulse]. Modern philosophy suffers from the fact that it finds no balance for pain and death. And humanity will progress from the scholarly Christ, the Christ as World Teacher, to the Christ as a living reality. Those engaged in spiritual science will not fear being labeled [monists]; it is not the one who denies the spirit who is a monist, but the one who recognizes the spirit as the source of being, who finds the [monon] in the spirit.

[ 17 ] Spiritually and psychologically, human beings are immortal. In pre-Christian times, the soul was still understood to be connected to the gods of nature. It was not until the twentieth century that people became aware of the soul’s spiritual connection to the spiritual world—to Christ. What Angelus Silesius says is absolutely correct:

[ 18 ] Even if Christ were born a thousand times in Bethlehem and not within you, you would still remain lost forever.

[ 19 ] The mystical Christ, [of whom Angelus Silesius speaks], however, became possible only through the historical Christ. [As Goethe says:] If the eye were not like the sun, how could we see the light? — [So one might say:] If Christ were not there for our souls, how could we rise up to him, how could a sense of Christ arise in our souls?—The historical Christ Jesus is as real as the sun is in the universe. Without dismissing the [biblical] traditions, one cannot overlook the fact that Christ is a God. According to the Darwinists’ theory of evolution, however, human beings are merely a link in the chain of living beings’ development. Yet the Darwinists have a great adversary: the great Darwin himself, who writes that it is unmistakable that a God breathed life into beings at the beginning. He writes, in fact:

[ 20 ] I believe that all living beings that have ever lived on this Earth are descended from a primordial form into which the Creator breathed life.

[ 21 ] This is something that modern Darwinists would like to deny—in fact, this sentence is missing from the German translations. But the person who made this claim is none other than Charles Darwin.

[ 22 ] When one considers these things, one may arrive at a surprising insight: Monistic natural philosophy actually had to deny the mind, because [according to it] everything depends on the laws of nature. But then, essentially, the distinction between good and evil ceases to exist. One would actually have to draw that conclusion, but people simply do not. Yet whatever one may think of the great symbol [of the temptation scene] in Genesis, where Lucifer says to humankind, “You will be like God and know what is good and evil,” these words do convey something significant. It does not matter whether we describe our time as a transitional period—what is significant is recognizing what makes it a transitional period. If humanity did not come to the realization that Christ is the most significant force in Earth’s evolution, it would come to believe that human soul experiences are merely animal soul forces heightened to the highest degree. If one were to follow this logic to its conclusion, the soul’s ability to distinguish between good and evil would cease. Yet another tempter speaks in our time, but people lack the courage to hear his whisper: “You will become like animals and will no longer distinguish between good and evil.”

[ 23 ] But there is such a thing as the Christ impulse, which lives to show us that we come from the spiritual world and are connected to spiritual beings, that our moral world order is intimately linked to Christ through the fact that, with him, the principle of love came to Earth. And his voice says: You shall not be like the animals; you shall be with me, and with me you shall distinguish between good and evil.

[ 24 ] One will effectively perceive the relationship of sonhood. The fact that the son comes from the father is scientifically grounded. But the father does not [necessarily] need to have the son. The moral world relates to [the natural order] as the son relates to the father. Just as the father does not have to have the son, so [morality does not automatically follow from the rule of natural laws]. It is precisely through the concept of the Son that [the transformation of the natural order into a moral one through Christ] becomes wonderfully clear.

[ 25 ] The humanities feel in harmony with what has inspired the finest, most prominent minds of humanity. Schiller, who is no longer as beloved today as he once was, but whom people will come to love again, once said:

Now the dull barrier of animality fell,
And humanity stepped onto the cloudless brow!
And the sublime stranger, the thought
Leapt from the astonished mind.

[ 26 ] The thought will find its way to the one referred to [here]: the Christ of the twentieth century.