The Rudolf Steiner Archive

10. The Second Coming of Christ

[ 1 ] Today, as we are gathered here together for the first time, we will discuss intimate matters pertaining to our Spiritual Science. First, we will discuss general topics, and next time we will address details concerning the development of human individuality. For one can only understand the life of a single individual if one also knows the era in which that individual lived. The human soul develops through the ages as it progresses from one incarnation to the next. The soul’s abilities today are not the same as in earlier times. Today, these abilities have reached the point where human beings can perceive the sensory world and process it within themselves. Before this epoch, when the human soul still possessed a certain clairvoyance—which, one might say, was dreamlike—this was quite different.

[ 2 ] In that epoch, human beings could not have developed self-awareness or a sense of the self. The ancient, dreamlike clairvoyance had to disappear, and human beings had to be confined to the world of the senses in order to attain self-awareness through the discernment of physical phenomena. In the future, human beings will regain clairvoyance and, at the same time, be able to maintain their self-awareness.

[ 3 ] Although this development was slow and gradual, it is still possible to pinpoint the exact moment when the state of consciousness characterized by physical-sensory perception began. This was the year 3101 before the coming of Christ on Earth. Until then, natural clairvoyance existed. Then it gradually disappeared, and from that point on began the dark age, the Lesser Kali Yuga, so called because during this epoch the human soul could no longer perceive the spiritual world.

[ 4 ] Let us now imagine the state of the souls in the early days of that dark epoch. Drawing on memories of past epochs, the human soul could say: I was able to gaze upon the spiritual beings; I saw at least a part of the world in which the ancient Rishis and the ancient Zoroaster taught. And I was able to listen to these great masters, these great guides, who spoke to me of the wisdom that springs from the spiritual world.”—But this sense grew ever weaker in those souls.

[ 5 ] 3,000 years after the beginning of the Dark Age, a new possibility arose for human beings to connect with the spiritual world. This possibility consisted in the fact that human beings could achieve union with the spiritual world through their “I”—that is, they had the ability to perceive this spiritual world even though human perception was limited to the senses. This possibility arose through the incarnation of the Christ. All other great guiding beings incarnated in such a way that their spiritual essence was united with the astral body. If we strive to understand the beings of the Bodhisattvas, we find that their spiritual part, which was active on Earth, ascended into the higher worlds and was united only with the astral body. Only in the case of the Christ do we find that his divine-spiritual being is in direct connection with a physical body; that is to say, the “I” of Jesus leaves his physical, etheric, and astral sheaths, and the Christ incarnates as the “I” within them, so that the “I” of every human being can have a connection with the Christ. Consequently, we see that in the early epochs, the great leaders of humanity could be perceived in such a way that one could only approach an understanding of their connection to the spiritual world through images. In the case of the Christ, however, his entire biography consists of facts that can be expressed in the physical world; that is to say, the Christ event can be grasped by the intellect, by the physical mind.

[ 6 ] God had to descend to the physical plane because human perception could no longer rise above the world of the physical senses. Hence the great prophecy of John the Baptist in the Gospel that the state of the soul must be transformed so that the Kingdom of Heaven may come near to us.

[ 7 ] In the past, it was possible to approach the realms of heaven to a certain extent through human clairvoyance. Now, one had to find them in Christ himself through the senses. So that humanity would not lose its connection with the spiritual world during the dark age of Kali Yuga, that world had to descend to the physical plane.

[ 8 ] The Dark Age lasted for 5,000 years. We are therefore living at the crucial moment marking the end of the Kali Yuga. Since 1899, the Dark Age—which began in 3101 B.C.—has already come to an end, and since that time, certain abilities that have not yet been recognized by human science have slowly begun to develop. In our 20th century, new human soul abilities will gradually develop in a portion of humanity. For example, before the 20th century comes to an end, it will be possible to perceive the human etheric body. Another ability will be that, when one looks within, one perceives—as in a dream—the image, the counter-image, of an action one is about to perform. Certain people with a particular predisposition will have yet another experience. What Paul experienced on the road to Damascus—and which was a personal experience for him—will become a common experience for a certain number of people.

[ 9 ] The significance that this event will have in the 20th century can be seen from the following. Paul could have known about everything that happened in Palestine without this being enough to transform Saul into Paul. His state of mind was such that he could not be convinced that the Christ lived in the Nazarene. It was only the event on the road to Damascus that revealed to his clairvoyant consciousness: The Christ is present.

[ 10 ] Those who experience the Damascus event in the 20th century will receive direct knowledge of the Christ; they will not need to rely on documents to recognize the Christ, but will possess the direct knowledge that today is held only by the initiated. All the abilities acquired today through initiation will in the future be common to all of humanity. This state of the soul, this spiritual experience, is called the “Second Coming of Christ” in occultism. Christ will not be reincarnated in a physical body, but will appear in an etheric body, as on the road to Damascus.

[ 11 ] Christ incarnated on the physical plane when humanity was limited to its physical body. Today we can echo the words of the Gospel of John: Change your mindset so that your faculties may open up to the spiritual world. For those with etheric clairvoyance will see Christ before them in His etheric body.

[ 12 ] The abilities described now lie as seeds within the soul. In the future, they will be developed, and it will be possible to say that a person’s destiny lies, to a certain extent, in their own hands. When this phenomenon occurs, it will be necessary for people to understand what these abilities mean. Then it will be impossible for people to fall back into materialism, as they do now. When these abilities begin to manifest, people will not pay immediate attention to them. People who possess these abilities will even be regarded as fanciful or ill. The message of Spiritual Science therefore has the mission of preparing people to understand such abilities. Thus, the ideals communicated by Spiritual Science are not arbitrary, but a necessary means for the development of humanity.

[ 13 ] What we have said will be repeated even more often in the years to come, but it is essential that it be understood correctly. It is possible that materialistic tendencies will infiltrate the Theosophical Society to the point where people will come to believe that Christ will assume a material body when he returns. This would amount to acknowledging that humanity has made no progress over the past 2,000 years. Christ appeared 2,000 years ago in a physical body perceptible to the physical senses. For future clairvoyance, he will appear in the etheric body. Through Spiritual Science, we are preparing ourselves to understand the significant era that lies ahead. To be a Theosophist, it is not enough to understand Theosophy theoretically; one must live it within oneself. It will be necessary to observe this great event with the utmost precision.

[ 14 ] There will be enterprising individuals who, drawing on the materialistic strand of Theosophy, will attempt to exploit it for their own gain and lead people to believe that they are the Christ. And they will find people who believe them. It will be a test for true Theosophists to arm themselves against such temptations and, instead of degrading human emotion, to elevate it to the spiritual realms. Those who understand Theosophy correctly will say to these false Messiahs of the 20th century: “You announce to us the appearance of the Christ on the physical plane, but we know that the Christ will manifest only as an etheric presence.”—True Theosophists will await the appearance of the Christ through the higher senses. Before death, a person must have understood the true meaning of the return of Christ; then this understanding will open their spiritual senses through the life between death and rebirth. But those who lack the ability to understand the meaning of the return of Christ on Earth must await a new incarnation in order to acquire this understanding on the physical plane.

[ 15 ] We are living in a very important era. We must characterize the event of Christ’s return, as experienced by the clairvoyant. We can characterize this event by turning our attention to the cosmos and by pointing to an event that is close at hand in our own time. This event is the appearance of Halley’s Comet, which is also a subject of study in Rosicrucian theosophy. The appearance of this comet is connected to events in the spiritual world. Just as the motion of the planets orbiting the Sun corresponds to regular events in the evolution of humanity, so does the appearance of a comet correspond to an influence that adds to these regular events. Rosicrucian research has shown that every comet exerts a specific influence on human development. The particular influence of the current comet is that it exerts a deepening impulse toward materialism. Every time Halley’s Comet has appeared, an impulse toward materialism has always taken place. Its appearance in 1759 corresponds to the era when Voltaireanism was at its peak; its appearance in 1835 coincided with the materialism of Moleschott, Büchner, and others. Now, in the same way, there will be a new impulse toward materialism, and the outward sign of this is the comet’s appearance. Those people who allow themselves to be carried away by this influence will fall into the deepest materialism.

[ 16 ] Today, however, there is not only this impulse, but also another influence that should elevate humanity to spiritual heights. This has been observed by those who understand the signs of the times. In the macrocosm, the sign of this influence is that, at the spring equinox, the sun enters the sign of Pisces. At the time Christ appeared, the sun entered the sign of Aries at the spring equinox. About 800 years before Christ, the sun began to enter this sign, and by the time of the event at Golgotha, it had already entered it to some extent. Now the sun has been in the sign of Pisces for centuries. In the near future, it will have advanced so far in this sign that it will be the outward sign of Christ’s appearance in the etheric body. So you see that anthroposophy is not proclaimed as just any theoretical doctrine in the world, but that the signs of the times give us the task of teaching anthroposophy. This proclamation has already been prepared in the West for many centuries by those who call themselves Rosicrucians. Among the Rosicrucians, a fifth Gospel was taught alongside the four Gospels. Through this spiritual Gospel, the other four can be understood, and it will be given to a portion of humanity in the 20th century, just as those were given at the time of Christ’s appearance. The followers of the Rosicrucian movement, who will have a clear consciousness, will understand the significance of this Gospel for humanity.

[ 17 ] As you devote more and more attention to Rosicrucian theosophy, your spiritual quest will become integrated into the progress of humanity, enabling it to understand the Christ who appears in a new form. The time will come when we will be able to recognize the Christ directly, even if—which is almost impossible—all the Gospel texts were to be lost.

[ 18 ] One can speak about these matters only within a circle where a certain level of preparation exists—one acquired not merely through theoretical study, but through continually breathing the atmosphere of our groups—whereas in public lectures one must observe certain limits. But since such an atmosphere is breathed in this group, it was possible to speak of these great truths this evening. Our soul must not be content merely to express such truths in words, but must draw from them strength for our daily work, a light that radiates into ordinary life every day, and strength for the future.

[ 19 ] We must become wiser through the truth, but we must also speak of it with ever-greater courage, as if it were spiritual blood that we wish to let permeate our feelings and our will.

[ 20 ] The next internal presentation will highlight matters of particular importance.