The Rudolf Steiner Archive

67. Apocalypse VI

Ladies and gentlemen!

[ 1 ] We have reached an important point in our examination of the Apocalypse. What remains to be said on this subject will lead us even deeper into certain hidden truths. We will see how this difficult-to-understand work conveys theosophical truths in a magnificent form. If we look back at what has already been said here, we must describe the Apocalypse as the “secret revelation” of what the human spirit is to experience in its future development. But it would be entirely incorrect for anyone to think that such predestination suppresses all human will, or to believe that everything must happen in a certain way regardless of what a person does. No, that is by no means the case. The great universal laws of the spirit are not given in such a way that they are imposed on human beings from the outside, but rather for the purpose that human beings may internalize them and develop themselves in accordance with their meaning. According to a very specific law of nature, oxygen and hydrogen must combine to form water; but the human will can bring about the conditions for their combination, and can thus be the reason why the laws come into effect. When a person delves deeply into the laws of nature, he himself becomes the executor of these laws. He absorbs them into his spirit and thus becomes a co-creator of nature. It is no different with the spiritual laws. It is ordained in the world that it should develop according to spiritual laws, just as it is established in nature that it should take shape according to natural laws. And just as a person becomes a worthy co-creator of nature only by acquiring knowledge of the laws of nature, so too can he be active in spiritual life only if he makes the spiritual laws part of his knowledge. If we know nothing of the laws of oxygen and hydrogen, we cannot participate in the way they combine. We fulfill our human task through knowledge—the understanding of the laws of nature. These laws would exist and be valid even without our understanding. But without our understanding, nature would pass us by. We would remain in our dullness and could be nothing more than mindless tools of its creation.

[ 2 ] Even the great spiritual laws would be at work in the world without our awareness of them. What is stated in the Book of Revelation would be true even if no human being ever understood it, just as the law governing the combination of chemical substances would be true even if no human being ever knew anything about it. But it is up to human beings to draw nearer to their divine purpose through observation of these laws. The light that reveals itself in the world through divine power must shine into their souls. It is in this highest sense that “childhood of God” must be understood from the human perspective. A father does not keep his knowledge to himself, but shares it with his child so that the child may develop in accordance with that knowledge. Certainly, the child would grow older even if it paid no attention to the laws and stood idly by, watching how the father acts. But the child would remain undeveloped. The father’s love, however, consists in bringing about the child’s development. And God’s love for humankind consists in the revelation of His will within the human soul. God has called humankind to become perfect. God not only creates, but He also reveals Himself; and man’s will must make the revelations of the Godhead the driving forces of his own will. What is to happen is, of course, determined from the beginning; but it is equally determined that man himself carry out the revelations of the Godhead. God has not excluded human action from His plan for the world, but has included it in that plan from the very beginning. Certainly, everything that is necessary would be accomplished by the Father if the child were inactive. But then the child would have no part in any of it.

[ 3 ] The Apocalypse was added to the Gospel. For Christians, the Gospel represents the good news of the Incarnation of God or the divine Word. This “Word” became flesh so that it might dwell among humanity. This sacrifice of God signifies the liberation of humankind from the bonds of matter. Through Christ, humankind is to be united with God in the Spirit. By clinging to Christ, humankind carries the Spirit of God in the heart. But this Spirit of God is the guide to the will of the “Father.” And the will of the Father is revealed in the Holy Scriptures, of which the Apocalypse is one. From Christ, the power is to flow to the Christian to understand what the Father has decreed for the world from the beginning. Christ died so that humanity might live—live in the Spirit. In the Book of Revelation lies the Father’s will of the Spirit. Whoever is initiated through Christ in faith receives the power to come to the Father through Christ. “No one comes to the Father except through me.” But the Christian is also to come to the Father—that is, to recognize the Father’s will in the Revelation. The Gospel is the good news of Christ’s sacrifice for the sake of humanity; the Apocalypse is the revelation of the divine will of the Father. Christ said that after his death he would send the “Spirit.” And John the theologian simply faithfully recorded what the Spirit promised by Christ revealed to him.

[ 4 ] When a Christian looks to Christ and feels united with Him, he receives the strength and life necessary to understand the will of the Spirit; when he looks to the Revelation, he knows how to apply the strength he has received from Christ. The Apocalypse is a book. And every book has value only if one has the strength to understand it. Life in Christ is meant to give the Christian the strength to understand the secret revelation. This strength is bestowed through grace, just as all spiritual strength is a gift of grace. But this strength must be developed. Christ wanted to unite people into a community of children of God; the Spirit of Revelation, however, is meant to bring the children of God to maturity.

[ 5 ] Building on this point, next time we’ll delve even deeper into the Book of Revelation. —