The Rudolf Steiner Archive

31. On the Concept of God

[ 1 ] When asked about the concept of God, the Indian faces a situation quite different from that of the European. He refers to the Supreme Being as “Brahman” or does not speak of it at all. In our culture, over the centuries, it is not so much mystical experience that has been cultivated, but rather abstract thought.

[ 2 ] People today are so unaccustomed to thinking about the intermediate stages between human beings and the Supreme God that modern people cannot easily imagine these intermediate stages. The mystics recognized intermediary beings between human beings and the supreme deity: seraphim, cherubim, thrones, wisdoms, powers, authorities, primordial forces, archangels, and angels. In the past, people strove to recognize such beings. First, they sought to get to know the beings that stand above human beings.

[ 3 ] Even here on Earth, we come into contact with beings who do not live on the physical plane, but on the astral or mental plane. Human beings live on these three planes; however, there are beings who do not descend to the physical plane, and there are others who do not even descend to the astral plane, but remain only on the mental plane—for example, the devas, the gods of the Indians. The mystic who gains an understanding of these beings will not wish to form a concept of the supreme, sole God unless he ascends step by step. Today’s European is no longer familiar with this sequence of stages.

[ 4 ] What is the relationship between God and humankind? How is it that the Deity created humankind and that the world developed only gradually? Such questions occupy European thought. These questions are extremely difficult to answer. To gain some insight into them, one must engage in at least some of what is called yoga: inner development. In the ancient mysteries, one had to undergo catharsis for this purpose. The student was told: “You can only learn about the immortality of the soul once you no longer have any desire for immortality.” — This was taught in the ancient mysteries.

[ 5 ] One must approach these questions in the same way one approaches questions of mathematics. In doing so, passion and emotion do not come into play; that is why one can judge them entirely objectively. We must accustom ourselves to a lack of passion in the face of all questions, even the most profound ones. If desire did not play a role in these questions, then there would be consensus, even on matters such as the concept of God. The Pythagoreans first demanded catharsis from their students. This was also the case with Gnosticism. The Gnostics called their teaching on these matters “Mathesis.” The Gnostic teaching on these matters was called Mathesis because it was dispassionate, like mathematics.

[ 6 ] One’s passion must gradually fade, and one’s soul must grow ever calmer in order to address these questions in the proper way. Then one asks above all: What is the divine’s relationship to the world itself?

[ 7 ] If we go back in time, from our perspective, let us see if we encounter divine beings. Three kingdoms emerged before us: the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms. Human beings possess all the characteristics of these three kingdoms within themselves. They embody the laws of the mineral kingdom; they are a physical-chemical laboratory; that is his mineral nature. He possesses life and the power to reproduce. Furthermore, he possesses an animal nature, for he has sensation. For example, he can feel an external impact within himself. How did humankind come to encompass the four kingdoms within itself? It has developed to its present state at the expense of the other kingdoms.

[ 8 ] Before human beings became human, they contained the three other kingdoms within themselves. All minerals, all plants, and all animals were even more perfect then than they are today. We can illustrate this with an example: A liquid composed of four different liquids possesses certain properties as a result; we then extract one liquid as an essence. In the same way, humankind has been extracted as an essence from the other kingdoms. Its ascent has come at the cost of a decline in the other kingdoms.

[ 9 ] If we go back even further, the animal realm has not yet emerged, but the mineral and plant realms are even more perfect than they were later. The animal realm had not yet been extracted as an essence; it only developed at the expense of the mineral and plant realms. And so it goes back further, to the point when the mineral kingdom still contained within itself the plant, animal, and human kingdoms as part of the mineral kingdom. One must also recognize this on an emotional level; only then can one understand compassion for all beings. The theosophist says to himself: I left this animal behind on my own path so that I could develop; I developed at the expense of other beings, and therefore compassion must arise from such insights.

[ 10 ] The same is true in the human realm. If the sacred is to develop, then a certain number of people must be pushed down into decadence. For every saint, there are several criminals in the world. If there were only a middle state, there would be no development. Development is the process of bringing out the finer aspects from the previous state.

[ 11 ] Our current stage of development consists in human beings shaping the world through their intellect. Everything they do serves to shape the mineral kingdom, whether through mechanical engineering or by digging a mine, and so on. New forces are constantly being discovered through which the mineral kingdom is transformed. The artist infuses the spirit into the mineral kingdom. He combines what lives in the mineral kingdom into new forms. We cannot yet imbue any being with life through the spirit, but human beings work in the mineral kingdom, shaping it through their spirit. They once rejected the mineral kingdom so that they would later have material to work with. Now he permeates the entire mineral kingdom with his spirit; in this way, he will redeem it. Through this, he makes amends for what he had done wrong in the past. Gradually, the entire mineral kingdom will be dissolved in the spirit, transformed. An absorption of the mineral kingdom by the spirit will be brought about.

[ 12 ] Thus, in the first cycle, a kingdom is shed that is reprocessed in the fourth cycle: the mineral kingdom. In the second cycle, the plant kingdom is shed, and it is processed in the fifth cycle. The animal kingdom was shed in the third cycle and will be taken up again in the sixth cycle. In the seventh cycle, humanity will redeem the human kingdom. Development on a smaller scale also takes place in this way.

[ 13 ] When a saint progresses, other people are left behind. But by moving ahead, he can later help the others make up for what they have missed and redeem them. This is how life and progress come about.

[ 14 ] This awareness must fill people with that all-pervading compassion for the world. They should never seek to attain a higher level of development without also seeking to help others. We must redeem the lesser beings. We are obligated to live in order to redeem these beings, for we have achieved our entire evolution at the expense of the rest of the world. Everything has been pushed out, cast aside by another, so that the other might evolve to a higher level.

[ 15 ] If we go back in the course of evolution to the time before the various kingdoms were cast off, we find spiritual beings. Even the mineral kingdom, as it was in the beginning, before the plant, animal, and human kingdoms evolved, had previously been cast out by something else. This leads to a contrast between the physical world and the spiritual world, which, through its higher development, cast out the mineral kingdom. The spiritual beings pushed down the mineral, plant, animal, and human kingdoms so that they could develop to a higher level. Then they became our guides and creative spirits. This is the Arupic contrast between the physical and the spiritual world, or between the earthly and the divine world.

[ 16 ] If we go [even further] back, we arrive at a God who was completely perfect. Here in Europe, we ask ourselves: Why did this Deity create the world, setting something apart from itself? If we were to decide to make every single thought just as perfect as we ourselves are, that would mean we are making a first free decision, namely: to transfer our perfection to each of our thoughts. The beginning of the Deity’s work was similar. The deity resolved to make every member perfect in [its] own essence, just as the deity itself is. It can do this only by granting some of the members the potential for development. These members can become perfect only by gradually making themselves as perfect as the deity itself is. But this necessarily requires that some develop at the expense of the other members. If a single member of the Deity were to become as perfect as the Deity itself, then that member would fill the entire Deity. Should this happen suddenly, in an instant, it could only achieve this at the expense of the destruction of all other members. Only slow development makes it possible for the individual member to gradually rise to perfection.

[ 17 ] This can also be observed in the life of the soul. When we form a thought, all other thoughts recede into the bosom of the unconscious. True development is possible only over time. When a single member stepped out [from the bosom] of the Divinity, another had to step back and become more imperfect than it had been previously within the bosom of the Divinity itself. This gave rise to the difference between good and evil. It is not possible for good to arise without its counterpart, evil, also arising. Good has developed at the expense of evil. One part of the Divinity was to develop toward perfection; therefore, another part had to be pushed back. The more advanced must continually spur the less advanced to catch up. Originally, individual entities emerged, and accordingly, others were pushed back, who then had to catch up. Higher spiritual beings stood above humanity; they had developed at the expense of others. These beings, who stand higher, draw up the beings who stand lower. This is how evil came into the world—that very thing which gives us the opportunity to attain higher perfection. By transforming evil into good, we bring about development.

[ 18 ] There is no other way to make every single aspect of the Divinity resemble the Divinity itself. We must not even think of trying to comprehend the Divinity with any power we currently possess. Our human intellect is not the highest faculty within us; it has been set aside so that other, higher faculties may develop. It has been set aside from above and is to be replaced by other faculties. It will rise again and again.

[ 19 ] We live in the Divinity and are evolving toward it. Beings are continually drawn back and led up to higher levels. We do not seek to comprehend the Divinity with our intellect. Our conception of the Divine must evolve into an ever more beautiful conception. Truth cannot be grasped as a limited construct of the imagination. Truth is alive. I live in the Divine, but I can comprehend the Divine only to the extent that my experiences reach. I can recognize the Divine only to the extent that I can perceive it, not beyond what I perceive.

[ 20 ] This development is to take place because God, in His infinite love, has willed to make all His individual members as perfect as He Himself is. It was a free decision, not a necessity. It was a sacrifice. Through this, we see the individual Persons of the Godhead developing toward godlikeness. Through their work, what lies within them as the potential for perfection is brought to light.