The Rudolf Steiner Archive

21. Gnosis and the Apocalypse

[ 1 ] Last time, we began to characterize the Apocalypse. It represents a later product of the various views that took shape around the time of Christ’s birth—specifically, those that developed in the schools from which the deeper theological teachings of Christianity emerged, teachings that only later took on a popular form. We might imagine the process that took place there something like this: in the most diverse places of learning, in the most diverse mystery schools of the first and perhaps even the second century A.D., the ancient teachings that originated in the mysteries were preserved in a wide variety of ways and, in particular, underwent a spiritual—that is, a theological—deepening; these ancient teachings and this theological deepening undoubtedly form the foundation of later Christian theology. As for this later Christian theology, ecclesiastical Christianity, under the guidance of the spiritual world—the bishops and so on—then sought to make it accessible to the general public. Now I believe that one gains insight into the way in which, in the first centuries [after the birth of Christ], what now presents itself to us as Christian mystical theology took shape, if one traces how Christian dogma was formed in its true spiritual essence. One then comes to see that it developed essentially under the influence of a wide variety of mystery cults. What, then, is the relationship between the Book of Revelation and this world of mystery cults and later theology? One can still see in the Apocalypse that it arose from the endeavor to take up the teachings of the ancients, to process them, and to teach them as a preparation—as it were, as something ordered toward the new Christianity, as something called to replace the ancient mysteries and to proclaim their deeper content as a universal gospel.

[ 2 ] If one follows the Apocalypse in its entirety, one can clearly see this dual character. One can clearly see that the ancient beliefs are faithfully represented in the fundamental elements, and then one also sees a glimmer of the truth: Now the time is fulfilled; a new kind of path to salvation has come into the world. This new kind is the one that has found its fulfillment in Christianity.

[ 3 ] Thus, we can trace the two intertwined components of the Apocalypse, which are presented to us in two sets of seven: one set of seven looking back to the past and one set of seven looking toward the future. Everything told to us at the opening of the seven seals refers to the past, and what is told to us about the sounding of the seven trumpets refers to the future. The fact that the Book of the Seven Seals refers only to the past is evident from the interpretation of the seals themselves. If one wishes to understand the whole situation, one must bear in mind: What was taught in the theosophical-mystical schools? One must also have an idea of who the author of the Apocalypse was. It is not the specific individual that matters, but rather the source from which these views arose, the foundation upon which they were formed. It was not until the middle of the second century that they were compiled into the form in which we have them today. The author emerged from Gnostic schools, which were still flourishing everywhere in the second century A.D. They were a continuation of the ancient Gnostic schools, which did nothing more than further develop the mysteries. It is difficult to ascertain what was taught in these Gnostic schools. There are only a few documents that can provide us with the necessary insights into the actual spiritual world [of these schools]. These Gnostic schools, which were widespread throughout the world at that time, held a spiritualized view of the ancient mystery cults. I do not mean to say that this represents a higher level. The spiritual aspect of knowledge need not be a higher level than that which one encounters when one delves into life and grasps the spiritual there. The true Gnostics, who form the basis of Christian doctrine, were essentially theologians and philosophers who cultivated a highly intellectual doctrine. The main thing among the Gnostics—the fundamental impulse that we can distill from the various schools—was, in fact, a kind of longing to connect the world of the human being with the great world of the cosmos. Last time, I showed that the Christ teaching is the cosmic conviction that the history of humanity’s redemption is a model of what takes place within the individual human being.

[ 4 ] I would like to provide a summary of the worldview that may not have been truly held [in this way] by any single Gnostic school, but which emerges as a general conception. We must understand that the aim is to demonstrate a strict parallelism between the course of events in the greater world and the life of the individual human being. Above all, the Gnostic sought to portray the individual human life as one that, on its path through the various stages of development, repeats the macrocosm on a microcosmic level, just as the history of the world also repeats itself.

[ 5 ] [To illustrate how historical worldly life was understood in the Gnostic view—and to show how it was expressed—I will use the “Exodus from Egypt” as an example.] It is an allegory of the soul’s inner development. The land is to be understood as the body of the individual. [Thus, when the Exodus from Egypt is spoken of in the history of the Israelites, it corresponds to the entry into the “Garden of Eden” and the exodus from the physical body.] The Gnostic seeks to overcome this, to “exode” from it, as it were. As he draws nearer to the Higher, he is led out [of the physical nature] by the Initiate. He is not immediately led to Palestine, to the “Promised Land.” He must first pass through various stages of development. We find a symbol in the “bronze serpent” raised by Moses as a remedy against the many serpents. Anyone bitten by a serpent was doomed to die. But upon seeing the bronze serpent, he was to remain alive. The bronze serpent was nothing other than the prophetic foreshadowing of salvation through Christ Jesus. The serpent has always been an important symbol. The people then entered the inner realm, the life of the soul, the Promised Land, where the Messiah must appear. This is how the Gnostics interpreted this event: as an allegory of the inner life of the soul. The serpent is universally regarded as a symbol of the development of spiritual life as it winds its way through matter. The [bronze] serpent signifies the destruction of the final material manifestation. The very last stage, the coarsest stage, is precisely the one in which the Logos—the highest Spirit of God—expresses itself, from which the human being, the human individuality, must [extricate itself]. The return, the journey back of the earthly to the divine, must begin there. The bronze serpent is the symbol of the exemplary human being who has reached a stage where, through his own spiritualization, he can help bring about the spiritualization of the rest of the world. This is how the Gnostics interpreted all historical events. They viewed them as allegories for the individual soul processes of the true human being and, through this, grew to comprehend the divine processes of the world.

[ 6 ] I would like to present here such a conception, in which the cosmological emerges [from the depths]: the idea of the world’s initial state. The Gnostic conceives of the beginning of the world as having been formed out of universal nothingness. Two great world lights then appear: [the Father and the Son; the eternal world spirit and the image of the eternal world spirit]. Third, the All-Mother appears. The All-Mother is the material principle, and here the absence of matter prevails. The Gnostics conceived of matter as something that must be overcome. The highest entity in this context is the Father with the Son. These divine beings act in order to recognize themselves, to become life. This is what the development of the world, what actual becoming, means.

[ 7 ] As the World Spirit—Father and Son—merges within the womb of the Universal Mother, what are known as the four elements—fire, earth, air, and water—come into being. In their spiritual essence, these four elements represent what the Gnostics conceived of as the Supreme Christ. They conceived of this as a supreme being brought forth through the union of the spiritual with the material. The material realm initially existed as dark matter, a primal principle, under the image of the Universal Mother, [who was just as primordial as the Father]. The two highest spiritual beings—the Father and the Son—unite with these four elements and give rise to a spiritual-material being: [the Christ]. The Christ strives once more toward the primal source of existence.

[ 8 ] We then find that [the Gnostics] conceived of heaven as a kind of closed circle. However, they did not envision the vault of heaven in isolation. Heaven, with the Father and the Son, is first and foremost the Logos, the spiritual-material entity that is now hidden in the universe and represents Christ: As the highest heavenly, spiritual-etheric entity, they conceived of it as the cosmological entity of the universe. In addition to the fertilization of the “Mother of the Universe,” a tiny drop of light, known as Sophia, the Wisdom, flowed out into the chaos. Through this secondary light—which, having been lost in the cosmos, entered into a different kind of connection with matter than that represented by Christ—through this secondary light, through this Sophia, everything arose that led to the formation of humanity, according to the Gnostics’ view. This is the lower realm, the one we will come to know even more fully. Because it, too, originates from the two primordial lights, there will be a kind of parallelism with the Upper. Through Sophia’s union with the chaotic, with the material element, that which is actually described to us in Gnosticism comes into being. The entire doctrine of the origin of the world, as found in Gnosticism, arose only from these small satellite planets of the “great light.” The “Sophia, Mother of the World”—in contrast to the “Mother of the Universe”—further fertilized matter. From this union of the drop of Sophia emerged the son Jaldabaoth. He begot seven further sons, and these are the seven forces, the seven spheres. Here before us are the seven fundamental forces of the visible world—that is, the very elements from which the natural world is composed: the actual matter, the life principle, the astral body, the animal soul, and the three higher spiritual forces. The whole human being is composed of these [seven fundamental forces]. But these arose from the union of Sophia with the elements, so that Gnosticism has renewed the origin of the world. While Christ represents the actual product of the union of earthly light, Jaldabaoth represents a kind of sub-deity that has [acted] all the way down to human existence and brought forth humankind. This, then, is a cosmological doctrine that extends all the way down to humankind.

[ 9 ] How, then, do the Gnostics conceive of the creation of humankind? They believe that humankind is composed of the seven fundamental parts. However, through the marriage of Sophia, these parts came into being in such a way that they follow a downward path. We must now take the return journey. We must, therefore, find our way back. The Gnostics envisioned it this way: Jaldabaoth had become embroiled in a kind of dispute with Sophia, who herself originates from the heavenly lights. Had Jaldabaoth formed humankind alone, humankind would undoubtedly have been lost. It is only because the dispute gave rise to a continuous collaboration between Jaldabaoth and Sophia that it has been made possible for humankind to find the way back to God.

[ 10 ] We must imagine the story of creation intertwined with human history in a mystical, allegorical form. The divine spark of light, “Sophia,” remained with humankind. They carried it back with them; it was, after all, a descent from the spiritual to the material. However, the return journey was not possible through their own power alone. It was possible only because help now came to humankind from the next sphere. This occurred through the connection of a perfect human being with that which had previously developed into the highest sphere. This is symbolized in a Gnostic manner. The Gnostics conceived of humanity’s return to God in such a way that it enabled human beings to embark upon and complete the path to heaven, so that, over the course of their various lifetimes, they could gradually draw nearer to the Divine. When a human being has progressed to the point where they have developed their memory to such an extent—this is the Gnostic perspective—that they can look back and survey the entire cosmological development, as I have now described it as a general Gnostic concept, —so that they can see it not merely as a doctrine but as a fact before them—when a person has thus traveled another stretch of the path so that the remainder lies clearly before their spirit, then they are the one who is capable of making the waters of the Nile flow upstream.

[ 11 ] Such people—so the Gnostics assume—do exist. The Gnostics knew such people. These are the “Messiahs.” Now comes something that [the Gnostics] see in Christianity. There arises a beginning, a connection formed halfway between Jesus and Christ. In Jesus is embodied a personality capable of uniting with the Christ of the higher realm. Thus the Gnostics viewed the emergence of the “Son of Man”—and also the emergence of the Buddha—on the one hand; and on the other hand, the descent of the Christ, the World Spirit, and his union with these “gods” developing from below.

[ 12 ] I hope I have thereby at least given a general idea [of Gnosis]. [In its essence], Gnosis consists in the fact that, in the course of various reincarnations, a person can attain this high level of development, and that he has reached the highest level when his memory encompasses not only his personal life, but when he can look back so far—when his memory is so expansive—that he is able to encompass all his incarnations in his memory. Jesus, who emerged from the tiny droplet of subsidiary light, had reached this stage. He is ripe, as a “Vahän,” as a “vessel,” to receive the Christ from the higher regions. The human being becomes the bearer of the Christ. Thus we have the Christ born from the spiritual world and the Jesus Christ of the Gnostics.

[ 13 ] This is the concept of Christ that gradually took shape during the first two centuries. It is the Christ [who guides an initiated person to higher levels of development]. An initiated person is one who is being developed. An initiated person is one who has developed to the highest human state, and a Christ is one who has ascended to the highest spiritual realm. According to the Gnostics, it was a connection halfway between the two.

[ 14 ] We see this view expressed once again in the Book of Revelation, though it now interprets the matter in this way—I would like to describe it as follows: The person who is on the path to perfection traces the primordial forces back, step by step. One by one, the seven seals are unsealed. Thus he follows the path of initiation of the ancients. This path existed at the dawn of the Christian era. But there is also something higher: the Gospel of Christ, which consists in the fact that, through long and preparatory study, human beings have matured in their entirety to receive the Gospel within themselves. Thus, what was once a place of worship is now to be replaced. In its place, the entirety of all humanity is now to take its place. It is to be the temple of God.

[ 15 ] Later, it was said that the Church had taken the place of the Temple, and that the new sacrifice at Mass had replaced the former form of worship.

[ 16 ] In the four parts of the Mass, we see the spiritual life and its transformations expressed. First comes the spiritual, the Gospel—the path of return is proclaimed. It runs through two parts of the Mass; bread and wine are brought forth. It then continues until the Consecration, in which the Body and Blood are actually transformed into the Divine. And in Communion, where the human being receives the Divine, Christ is received through Jesus.

[ 17 ] Later Christianity merely externalized what had been cultivated in the Gnostic schools. Anyone who observes and understands a Catholic Mass will see nothing but an embodiment of what the Gnostics, from their perspective, regarded as humanity’s path to Christ—nothing but a popularization of the ancient mystery teachings. Whereas in the past the individual had to undergo initiation, this initiation is now structured for the entire congregation; every day this symbolism is repeated for the congregation, and this repetition is intended to awaken those who are called.

[ 18 ] Later Christianity strove to obscure the ancient traditions. It sought to emphasize that it was something new, that a new era had dawned. Nevertheless, one can rediscover numerous Gnostic ideas even in the external symbolism, and through them one can uncover ancient mysteries. But at the same time, one will see that only those who grasp the true meaning of the matter can penetrate Christian symbolism and reveal its depths. However, this is a matter of popularization, and that is why [the Mass] must be repeated over and over again.

[ 19 ] The Church Fathers—in their stance against the Gnostics—hold almost the same [position]. Their aim was to blur what had been carried over from the “Old,” and yet we can still find all of these teachings expressed in symbolism within the new Church, which was meant to be—and seeks to be—“universal.” Essentially, the Apocalypse represents this replacement of the earlier mysteries with the universal communion of saints. The Apocalypse is nothing other than a paraphrase of this single sentence: The Mystery is to become popular. The sole aim is to ensure that, in the conception of the unique primordial initiation—in the repetition of the Mass—it is repeatedly emphasized that everyone should walk the path and that they will find it when they are ready.

[ 20 ] I would like to draw your attention to just one passage in the final chapter. There, the angel says to John: “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy in this book, for the time is near...” and so on. These things will show us that, for us, the Apocalypse is a rephrasing of the statement: The Mystery is to become widespread. It is to be revived as the Church.

[ 21 ] We need only keep the entire framework of the Apocalypse in mind to see that it is nothing more than a popularization of the stages of Gnostic thought. The seven seals represent humanity’s path back. The opening of the first seal symbolizes the overcoming of the material. The opening of the second seal symbolizes how humanity develops the higher spiritual powers within itself. The opening of the third seal symbolizes how an understanding of measure, order, and harmony in the universe dawns within humanity, how the relationship between spirit and matter becomes clear to humanity, and how the great mystery of the world is revealed to humanity.

[ 22 ] So first, human beings are caught up in the material world; then they come to the principle of life.

[ 23 ] In the fourth stage, matter—both spirit and matter—is overcome through death. At the opening of the fifth seal, we see the spiritual powers of humankind emerge; we see the spiritual soul of humankind unsealed—“the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God.” After being born again, “they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘O Lord, you who are holy and true, how long will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’”

[ 24 ] When the seventh seal is opened, the Day of Wrath breaks out—the day on which God’s wrath is poured out upon all that is material, when the Higher is born from the Lower: the Budhi forces, wisdom. Humanity becomes ripe to sense the true Divine. It becomes ripe to let the true trumpets sound. This proclamation took place in the Gospel, and there we see how this ripeness is expressed in the new message: Christ has come into the world and resounds through nature.

[ 25 ] The seven trumpets represent the spiritualization, the transformation into Christ, of all human principles. While the Book of Revelation initially follows the old path of the mysteries, the sounding of the trumpets is meant to show us a new path that we are to find. In the Book of Revelation, we also see a kind of “Exodus from Egypt”—in the second part. That is why there are always allusions to the plagues brought by animals, frogs, and locusts. One can read this as a parallel to the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt to Palestine.

[ 26 ] The Exodus from Egypt is tailored to individual human beings. When the writer then ascends to the primordial cosmological spirits, when he finds himself amidst the heavenly powers of the world and what is revealed in the higher heavens—with the Lamb, the Christ, at the center—that is when he perceives these cosmological ideas.

[ 27 ] The Book of the Seven Seals reveals to him the teachings of the ancient mystery cults. He imagines that he is being led before the Savior, Christ Jesus. The seven seals of the book are unsealed for him. This means nothing other than: It becomes clear to me that the world is built upon seven principles that have flowed forth from the Eternal. Something new is now proclaimed; after humanity has reached the highest level, after wisdom and spiritual powers have developed, the first trumpet sounds—the voice of the Lamb. Then Christ leads humanity further. Within a larger human community, humanity is led back to the Divine. We see this particularly clearly when we observe how the seventh vision [that of the New Jerusalem] is described at the end. This is nothing other than the new, larger community in contrast to the earlier, more intimate community. The New Jerusalem is the new Church, the new community. “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.” In the past, heaven and earth had also been depicted: the light of morning shone into the burial chambers.

[ 28 ] Christ once called himself the cornerstone, the highest point of the pyramid. He is the one who has reached the highest point. — “And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” She is the new bride who is to be married in the new Spirit. The Spirit is to unite with the church, and the church is to represent the temple. “And the One who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new!’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and certain!’ And He said to me, ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give to the thirsty from the spring of living water freely.’” The living water is the path upward. Man must make his way upward through the material world; he must turn his gaze upward. “He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.” The New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb, is the new Church.

[ 29 ] Four paths lead to the new city. It “had twelve gates, and at the gates were twelve angels, and names written on them—namely, the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.” Each path passes through three gates. “Three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.” The twelve gates and twelve angels represent twelve powers. The length, width, and height of the city are equal—just as with the pyramid. The wall measures “one hundred forty-four cubits according to the measure of a man, which the angel possesses.” … “The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” ... “The foundations of the wall were adorned with precious stones.” ... “The twelve gates were twelve pearls.” ... “I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord, the almighty God, is its temple, and so is the Lamb.” - This makes it clear that the physical place is replaced by the spiritual temple. “The city needs neither the sun nor the moon.” These ancient lights have been replaced. “The light is the Lamb.” All the old symbols have been absorbed into the Lamb, who brought the true Gospel. Yet they prepared the way for Christianity.

[ 30 ] I would like to briefly summarize once again the fundamental nature of what the Apocalypse seeks to convey: The Christian Church has incorporated the ancient mysteries into itself. What the ancient mysteries tell us is the doctrine of the seven-part human path. What Christianity tells us is presented in a way that is generally understandable. In place of the temples of old, the Church emphasizes the return of the microcosmic to the macrocosmic. One can understand the Book of Revelation only by approaching it from the perspective of Gnosticism: that we see in Jesus Christ the Paschal Lamb who has conquered the world, that through his religion he has made himself the bearer of all humanity, and thus the mystery temples are replaced by the Church. And this is the central tenet that the Book of Revelation is meant to express.