The Rudolf Steiner Archive

The Gospel of John I

[ 1 ] Anyone who carefully observes modern intellectual life will find that there is a deep conflict within many people’s souls. From their earliest youth, instead of a unified worldview, they are presented with two: one through religious instruction and another through the natural sciences, which causes them to harbor doubts about the accuracy of religious traditions from the very beginning.

[ 2 ] One might think that Theosophy seeks to add a new religious creed to the existing ones. However, this is not the case. Theosophy is not a new religion, nor is it a new sect; it is more than a religion.

[ 3 ] The purpose of these lectures will be to use theosophy to demonstrate the significance of a religious text such as the Gospel of John. It is precisely in the study of this Gospel that the relationship between Theosophy and religious texts in general will become apparent. Theosophy serves to foster an understanding of the religious currents existing in the world. Those who are familiar with Theosophy accept Christianity as it is—as a fact of the highest significance for the entire spiritual life of humanity. It is only modern spiritual life that finds itself unable to grasp the depth of Christianity. “Theosophy is the instrument and means without which nothing can be accomplished. When we use this instrument, we can delve deeply into the wisdom of religious texts.” One could compare Theosophy to philology. Philology, too, allows us to study the Christian texts. Theosophy, however, introduces us to the spirit of these texts. The true interpreter of Euclidean geometry is not the one who merely understands the Greek language, but the one who possesses knowledge of the geometric facts.

[ 4 ] Theosophy is not intended to be a new religion for modern man, but rather the means by which he may once again come to know Christianity in its true essence. Christianity is the pinnacle of all religions. All other religions merely point to Christianity. Christianity is the religion of the future and will not be superseded by any other. The fountain of truth that springs forth from it is inexhaustible. It is so powerful that, as humanity continues to evolve, it will continually reveal new aspects of its nature. Theosophy is meant to show us Christianity from a new perspective.

[ 5 ] There are four different perspectives one can take regarding religious texts: First, the perspective of naive faith, in which a person simply adheres to the words given to them. Many cannot reconcile this standpoint with their modern way of thinking, and so they adopt the second standpoint: that of criticism, doubt, and rejection. This is the standpoint of intelligent, enlightened people. To them, religious truths represent an outdated way of thinking. Many of these enlightened people continue to investigate and find that there is, after all, a remarkable amount contained in these religious texts. They bring themselves to adopt the third standpoint: that of the symbolist. These people interpret the religious texts to a greater or lesser extent, depending on their spirit and knowledge. Many former freethinkers in Germany have come to adopt this standpoint. Finally, theosophy makes the fourth standpoint possible. One learns to take the religious texts literally again. We find remarkable examples of this when considering the Gospel of John.

[ 6 ] Among the four Gospels, the Gospel of John occupies a very special place. While the three Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke provide us with a historical portrait of Jesus of Nazareth, the Gospel of John is regarded as an apotheosis, a magnificent poem. It contains numerous contradictions with the accounts in the other three Gospels; but these contradictions are so glaringly obvious that it cannot be assumed that the ancient defenders of the Gospel of John failed to notice them.

[ 7 ] At present, the Gospel of John is considered the least credible. The reason for this lies in the materialistic mindset of our age. In the 19th century, humanity became materialistic in its feelings and, as a result, in its thinking as well; for as a person feels, so he judges. Materialism is not merely the worldview expressed in the books of Büchner, Moleschott, and Vogt; even those who, as interpreters of religious texts, seek to adopt a certain spiritual standpoint do so in a thoroughly materialistic manner. One could cite as an example the dispute between Karl Vogt and Professor Wagner of Göttingen. This dispute was fought out at the time in the Augsburger Zeitung and ended entirely in Karl Vogt’s favor. In it, Wagner defended the existence of the soul, but did so in a completely materialistic manner.

[ 8 ] Because our theologians also think in materialistic terms, the three Synoptic Gospels appeal to them more, since a materialistic interpretation is more readily permissible in those Gospels. Materialistic thinking is averse to accepting a being who towers above all human beings. They find it more appealing to see in Jesus of Nazareth merely a noble human being, the “simple man” from Nazareth. In the Gospel of John, however, the view that Jesus is merely what lives in every other human being is entirely untenable. The soul of Christ within the body of Jesus is something entirely different. The Gospel of John shows us Christ not only as a supreme human being, but as one who encompasses the entire earth.

[ 9 ] If one translates the Gospel of John not according to the letter but according to the spirit, the first fourteen verses read as follows:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

And the light shone in the darkness, but the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

He came as a witness to bear witness to the light, so that through him all might believe.

He was not the light, but a witness to the light.

For the true light, which enlightens every person, was to come into the world.

It was in the world, and the world was made through it, but the world did not recognize it.

It came to individual human beings—it came even to the “I”-human beings—but the individual human beings, the “I”-human beings, did not receive it.

But those who did receive it were able, through it, to reveal themselves as children of God.

Those who believed in his name were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we heard his teaching, the teaching of the only Son of the Father, filled with devotion and truth.»

[ 10 ] In John, truth—ἀλήθεια (aletheia)—is Manas; devotion—Χάρις (charis)—is Buddhi; and wisdom—σοφία (sophia)—is Atma.

[ 11 ] Even the very first word is taken by modern people in an abstract sense. One imagines the primordial beginning as an abstract start. But to grasp the true meaning of this word, one must recall what was taught about it in the Christian esoteric school of Dionysius the Areopagite: Minerals, plants, animals, and humans form the evolutionary sequence of those beings that require a physical body; above them are beings that exist without one. These are the angels, archangels, the primordial beginnings, the powers, authorities, dominions, thrones, cherubim, and seraphim—and ever higher still.

[ 12 ] The Primordial Beings are, therefore, real entities. This name was used to designate those entities that, at the beginning of our world’s evolution, had reached the same stage of development that humanity will reach during the volcanic phase of its evolution. If we consider the first verse in light of this perspective: “In the beginning was the Word, Logos…,” we can visualize the situation through the following analogy: Before the word is spoken, it lives within us as a thought. When the word is spoken, it sets the air around us into vibration. If we imagine these vibrations to be frozen by some process, we would see the words fall to the ground as forms and shapes. We would perceive the creative power of the Word with our own eyes. If, then, the Word is already acting creatively now, this will be the case to an even greater extent in the future. Modern humans possess organs that will only attain their full significance in the future, as well as others that are already in a state of decline. The latter include the reproductive organs; the former include the heart and the larynx, both of which are still in the early stages of their development. The heart is currently an involuntary muscle, although it is striated like all voluntary muscles. This striation is already an indication that the heart is in the process of transitioning from an involuntary to a voluntary organ. The larynx is destined to become the human reproductive organ in the distant future, as paradoxical as that may sound. Just as humans can already translate their thoughts into sound waves through speech, they will one day be able to create their own image through the word.

[ 13 ] The Primordial Beings already possessed this creative power at the very beginning of our present world’s development and can therefore rightly be regarded as divine entities. At the beginning of Earth’s development, a divine word was spoken, and this became minerals, plants, animals, and human beings.