The Rudolf Steiner Archive

78. The Wisdom Teachings of Christianity: The Ideals of Humanity and the Ideals of the Initiates

[ 1 ] At the request of the Theosophical Society (Adyar), Dr. Rudolf Steiner gave a lecture on January 15 titled “The Wisdom Teachings of Christianity.” The core of all religions reveals the development of humanity from a divine seed, the descent into material existence in order to unfold into the God-man. When human beings first appeared on Earth, their first task was to learn to use their organs in the struggle for existence. In the second epoch, humanity added, from within itself, its own realm to the existing realms of nature—a realm characterized by the concept of law. Between the second and third epochs, the Christian idea comes to life: what could previously be experienced only by the mystery student through inner vision is now presented as an ideal accessible to faith; the inner experience of the mystic becomes a historical event. Thus the task of the third epoch—in which we still find ourselves today—is presented to humanity: the conquest of external nature, leading to the enveloping of the entire globe with the works of human culture. And this is then followed by the fourth epoch with its sublime mission: to imbue with a soul that which humanity has physically created; through an internalization of Christianity—the path to which the Christian mystics of the Middle Ages had already pointed—a brotherhood of souls is to arise that will one day encompass the world, just as culture does today. The speaker shed light on the wisdom teachings of Christianity by expounding on the profound meaning of Christian dogmas and pointing out their significance for the development of humanity. – On January 16, Dr. Steiner spoke on “The Ideals of Humanity and the Ideals of the Initiates.” The essence of idealism is rarely properly understood. The idealist acts because he recognizes it as necessary, not with an eye toward success. For this reason, he is often regarded as impractical and out of touch with reality. In truth, however, it has not been the so-called “practical people” who have laid the foundation for human progress, but precisely these idealists. And this stems from the fact that idealism consists not only in the recognition of ideals, but is above all a state of mind from which a powerful force for action flows to the individual. The ideals of humanity originate from the leaders in the spiritual realm—the artists, scientists, and so on. The leaders themselves derive their ideals, consciously or unconsciously, from the impulses of the great leaders of humanity, whom we call the great Initiates. They are beings who have already brought to maturity the divine seed that humanity is to unfold over the course of time. A mystery lies hidden within every human being, but it is only at the level of the great Initiates that one becomes aware of it. This mystery, also called the inner word—which each person can experience only within themselves—is planted into the world by the great Initiates as a driving force. This is the impulse that provides the geniuses of humanity with their ideals and thus guides the development of the human race.