The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Eighth Lecture

[ 1 ] We have now attempted, from a wide variety of perspectives, to shed some light on the distinctive characteristics of the historical epoch that we must characterize as the fifth post-Atlantean period, which began at the start of the 15th century—the period in which we now find ourselves—and which will come to an end in the middle of the fourth millennium. Now, in our present time, there is much in the symptomatic events of history that is intimately connected with the events at the beginning of this period. For reasons that, if we have more time, will become clear in the following lectures—and which lie in the development of all humanity—this fifth post-Atlantean epoch can essentially be divided into fifths, and we are at a particularly important juncture where the turning point between the first and second fifths of this epoch must be decided.

[ 2 ] In seeking to present you with a sort of overview—so to speak, before your mind’s eye—of the impulses in the history of religion, insofar as they are symptomatic of this fifth post-Atlantean epoch, I will be compelled to express many of the points I make in this discussion in a suggestive and allusive manner. For as soon as one seriously delves into the evolution of humanity’s religious impulses, the realities one must keep in mind become so difficult to convey with the means of expression available in human language that it is only possible to speak of these things in an approximate, suggestive manner. Therefore, you will have to take much of what I say today and tomorrow in such a way that you truly try to see beyond the words and within the words as well—not because I wish to be secretive, but because language is too feeble to truly express the multifaceted nature of reality’s impulses. Above all, however, I must draw your attention today to the fact that anyone who considers such things from a spiritual-scientific perspective must first and foremost be willing to truly think. After all, modern humanity has more or less lost the habit of thinking. I do not, of course, mean the kind of thinking that underlies the arrogance of today’s so-called science, but rather the kind of thinking capable of engaging with precise distinctions in reality. In order to consider what we are now called upon to consider, I must, above all, draw your attention to the fact that I have presented two currents within human development to you. I do not know whether all those sitting here have listened so closely to the phrasing of my statements over the course of these reflections that they have already noticed this; however, I wish to emphasize it particularly today so that no misunderstanding arises in the following reflections.

[ 3 ] I began by highlighting one aspect related to evolution—specifically, the development of post-Atlantean humanity. I pointed out that humanity in the post-Atlantean era, if I may put it that way, is becoming younger and younger. This means that in the first epoch of this post-Atlantean era—the so-called Proto-Indian period—people remained capable of physical development up to their fifties; that is, they went through stages of development up to their fifties. Then, in the Proto-Persian period, this age limit was lower, and again in the Egyptian-Chaldean period, it was even lower. Then, in the Greco-Latin era, humanity entered an epoch in which it was capable of development only from the ages of 28 to 35. And now we are in the epoch in which humanity will remain capable of development only until the ages of 27 to 28; right now—as I have often emphasized—we are in the time when, through what the world provides them, people can only continue to develop until the age of 27. Whatever can give them further development, they must draw from spiritual impulses. Then a humanity will emerge that will remain capable of development only until the age of 14 to 21. That will be the sixth post-Atlantean epoch. And so it will continue. As humanity grows older, it will, in this sense, become younger and younger. That is one aspect of human evolution.

[ 4 ] Now we must pay particular attention—as I said, I don’t know if all of you have noticed—to the fact that this evolution, which I have just explained, concerns all of humanity. Humanity, then, is undergoing this evolution. So we can say: With regard to this—I will call it the first evolution—with regard to this first evolution, humanity is in a phase that lies between the ages of 28 and 21. These, however, are the years in which the feeling soul develops particularly strongly. So today we are in an epoch of development in which all of humanity is particularly developing the feeling soul. That is one evolution.

[ 5 ] But I have also told you about another kind of evolution. This other evolution consists in the fact that, during the first post-Atlantean epoch—the Proto-Indian epoch—humanity went through a period in which the individual human being developed through the etheric body. In the second post-Atlantean epoch, the Proto-Persian epoch, the individual human being developed through the sensory body; in the Egyptian-Chaldean epoch, through the sensory soul; in the Greek-Latin epoch, through the intellectual or emotional soul; and in the present epoch, through the conscious soul. This, then, is the second evolution. While one evolution is taking place that affects all of humanity, another evolution runs parallel to it, affecting the individual human being within all of humanity. The individual human being—if I consider our present era again—the individual human being within humanity brings the soul of consciousness to development.

[ 6 ] The third evolutionary current that would come into consideration is the one I have mentioned on several occasions—the one that shows the development of individual national elements across the Earth. In this regard, I have explained to you how individual nations—such as the Italian people—develop in such a way that what comes through the nation particularly stimulates the feeling soul; how the French people develop in such a way that the intellectual or emotional soul is particularly stimulated; how the English-speaking peoples develop in a way that particularly stimulates the conscious soul; and so on. This is the third stage of evolution. As you can see, these aspects are intertwined; I cannot single out a single sentence that applies specifically to our particular time period.

[ 7 ] First Evolution: All of humanity contributes to the development of the feeling soul.

[ 8 ] Second Evolution: The individual human being within humanity brings about the development of the soul of consciousness.

[ 9 ] The Third Evolution: that of the peoples.

[ 10 ] But these three evolutions—which intersect within every human being—penetrate the soul of every person. Yes, my dear friends, the order of the universe is truly not simple! If you want the order of the universe to be expressed to you in the simplest of thoughts, then you must either become a professor or the King of Spain. For one need only recall that legend about the Spanish king who, when presented with a much less complicated order of the world than the one under consideration here, remarked: if God had left it up to him to arrange the world, he would not have made it so complicated, but much simpler. And certain textbooks, as well as other popular works of knowledge, have time and again pursued the principle: “Oh, the truth must be simple!”—This principle is, of course, not pursued on the basis of any reality, but solely on the basis of convenience; I might even say, on the basis of general human laziness. A mere schematism, under which everything can be categorized, truly does nothing to address reality. And those smooth—I might even say, slippery—concepts, which are particularly favored today in the realm of official science, are, I might say again, light-years away—to use this astronomical term—from true reality.

[ 11 ] But one must bear in mind what intervenes in the full evolution of humanity as a partial evolution if one wishes to understand what actually comes into play in the human souls of this fifth post-Atlantean epoch. For it comes into play slowly and gradually. And if we wish to take a look at the religious evolution of this epoch, we will need to keep this threefold evolution of humanity, so to speak, always in the background. It is indeed the case that around the time when the fifth post-Atlantean epoch begins, not only many other things but also the religious life of civilized humanity enters into a profound, turbulent movement—a movement that is by no means complete today, but which must be understood in its depths if people truly wish to make use of the consciousness soul. For only by coming to an understanding of what is happening—as I said yesterday—will people become capable of truly participating in the further evolution of humanity on Earth.

[ 12 ] Around the beginning of the 15th century, the religious impulses of civilized humanity were truly stirring. Let us first consider them in the context of Europe, for if we view them through the lens of Europe, a picture will emerge—I would say—of the entire globe. What was stirring there had actually been a long time in the making; it had been developing, more or less, since the 10th century—indeed, even since the 9th century—in the spiritual life of Europe and the Near East. And this development came about because the aftereffects of the Christ impulse were unfolding in a very special way within the civilized world. We know, of course, that this Christ impulse is something that continues to work through time. But the abstract statement that this Christ impulse is something that continues to work actually says very, very little. One must also understand in what ways this Christ impulse differentiates itself, and in what ways it then, through these differentiations, modifies itself—or rather, undergoes a metamorphosis—in the most diverse ways.

[ 13 ] If we consider how what began to take shape back in the early 15th century—and which today has a profound, profound effect on people, often unconsciously and without their having the slightest inkling of it—is connected to the current catastrophic events, this is expressed by the fact that from the 9th 10th centuries onward, the conditions were created in one region of the civilized world for the emergence of the true People of Christ—that people who, in a sense, received the special inner capacity to carry the revelation of Christ into the centuries to come. It is in the most fundamental sense that one speaks of this period when one says that, as a preparation for later times, a people was made particularly suited by world events to become the People of Christ.

[ 14 ] This came about because, as early as the 9th century, what continued to work as the Christ impulse had, in a sense, differentiated itself in Europe; and this differentiation of the Christ impulse is manifested in the fact that souls prove capable of allowing the Christ impulse, in its revelation, to flow directly into themselves, and that this part—this differentiation of the Christ impulse—was pushed toward Eastern Europe. What was accomplished at that time under Patriarch Photius and Pope Nicholas I was a pushing back of the Christ impulse, in its particular intensity, toward Eastern Europe.

[ 15 ] As you know, this led to the famous controversy over whether the Holy Spirit should be conceived as proceeding from the Father and the Son, or whether one should conceive of it differently. But I do not wish to go into dogmatic disputes; I wish to address that which has a lasting effect. And so this differentiation came about—this metamorphosis of the Christ impulse—which is characterized precisely by the fact that the people of this region, the Eastern part of Europe, kept their souls open to the continuous inflow of the Christ impulse, to the everlasting, enduring presence of the breath of Christ. It so happened that this particular metamorphosis was shifted toward the East, and the Russian people, in the broadest sense of the word, thereby became the people of Christ within European civilization.

[ 16 ] Knowing this is especially important in today’s world. Please do not say that such a truth seems strange in light of current events. By saying such a thing, you would merely be failing to recognize the very foundation of spiritual wisdom: that external events often contradict the inner truth of what is happening in a downright paradoxical way. It does not matter at all whether, here or there in the world, external events contradict the inner truth of what is happening; what matters is that one also recognizes what the inner processes—the actual spiritual realities—are. These actual spiritual realities are such that, if we consider the region of Europe, a wave (drawn as an arrow) has been flowing eastward since the 9th century, which has led to the emergence of the People of Christ there.

[ 17 ] What does it actually mean when we say that the People of Christ came into being? What is meant by this—you can verify all of this by examining the symptoms of external history; you will see, if you focus on the inner processes rather than the external facts, which often contradict reality, that this is entirely true; I have, after all, explained in the introduction to today’s lecture what I wish to present to the soul’s eye— it means that a territory was created in this eastern part of Europe where people have always lived who are directly connected to the Christ impulse—people in whose souls the Christ impulse continually trickles in, in a certain way. Christ remains constantly present as an inner aura permeating the thinking and feeling of this people.

[ 18 ] Perhaps no stronger external evidence—though it is evidence in and of itself—can be found for what I have just said than a figure such as Soloviev, the greatest philosopher of the Russian people in modern times. Read him and feel how, despite all the characteristics I have discussed in Soloviev from other perspectives, everything that one might call Christ-inspiration flows directly into him; how this Christ-inspiration works so powerfully in his soul that he conceives the entire structure of human social life—even its external aspects—as arranged in such a way that Christ is the King, the invisible Christ is the King of human social community; that everything is permeated by Christ, that every single action a person performs is actually carried out because the Christ impulse is at work right down to the muscles. The purest, the most beautiful representative of the People of Christ is the philosopher Soloviev.

[ 19 ] This is the source from which the entire course of Russian evolution has flowed to the present day, to this very hour. And precisely when one knows that the Russian people are the people of Christ, then—as we shall see later—one will also be able to understand today’s evolution up to its present form. This is the one metamorphosis that the people of Christ have prepared—the Christ impulse in this particular differentiation.

[ 20 ] In a second differentiation, the Christ impulse took shape in such a way that Rome—which had shifted the actual, continuously active Christ metamorphosis to the East—transformed the spiritual reign of Christ into the worldly dominion of the Church. Rome proceeded by decreeing: Everything connected with Christ was a matter of a one-time revelation at the beginning of our era—a one-time revelation—and this revelation has been entrusted to the Church; the Church must carry this revelation outward. — But at the same time, the revelation of Christ became a matter of worldly power and was subsumed under church administration and church rule. It is important to bear this in mind.

[ 21 ] This resulted in nothing less than a fragment being torn away from the Christ impulse. The complete Christ impulse, after all, resides with the people of Christ, who pass it on in such a way that the Christ impulse continues to work in the immediate present. The Roman Church has severed this continuing influence; it has concentrated the Christ impulse on the beginning of our era and placed everything that followed on tradition or scriptural transmission, so that this is now to continue, administered by the Church. As a result, among the peoples over whom the Roman Church extended its influence, the Christ Impulse was, in a certain sense, brought down from the spiritual heights—where it had always remained in the East—and transformed into political machinations, into that conflation of politics and the Church that I have already described to you from other perspectives as characteristic of the Middle Ages. In Russia, although the Tsar was called the Pope of the Russian Church—as we shall see later—this confusion did not actually exist in reality, but only outwardly in apparent facts. Herein lies a significant mystery of European development. The real confusion of matters of actual power and matters of church administration took place from Rome.

[ 22 ] This conflation of political power issues and ecclesiastical administrative matters had led to a certain crisis for the Christ Impulse due to inner, reality-based factors of historical evolution, precisely around the time of the beginning of the fifth post-Atlantean epoch. We know, of course, from what we have been considering these past few days, that this fifth post-Atlantean epoch is precisely the epoch of the consciousness soul, that the personality asserts itself particularly strongly during this time, and that the personality seeks to stand on its own. Consequently, as the dawn of this self-assertion of the personality broke, it became particularly difficult to come to terms with the question of the personality of Christ Jesus himself. Throughout the Middle Ages up to the 15th century, the Church had its dogmas regarding the union of the divine-spiritual in Christ with the human-physical. These dogmas had, of course, taken various forms. But such profound waves of inner spiritual struggle had not actually existed earlier in relation to this question; they arose in those regions where Roman Catholicism had spread by that time, as the personality sought to grasp itself and therefore also demanded an explanation of what the personality of Christ Jesus is. And, in essence, the entire controversy—that of Hus, Wycliffe, Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin, as well as the controversy later waged by the Anabaptists and led, for example, by Kaspar Schwenckfeld, Sebastian Franck, and many others—revolved around this very question; this controversy was always about seeking clarification on how the divine-spiritual nature of Christ relates to the worldly-human nature of Jesus. That was the crux of the matter. Naturally, this stirred up a great deal. It raised many doubts about that strand of thought in which the ever-active Christ impulse had been dulled—so dulled that it was supposed to exist only at the beginning of our calendar, and that it was then to be perpetuated solely through church administration. So one can say: Everything that was influenced by Rome… became part of the church community… ...churches, sects, and so on were founded that have a certain significance. [Gaps].

[ 23 ] Do not say: “Sects were also founded in Russia.” — It is precisely by using such terms that one distorts one’s view of reality, when one applies a word here and there to something that is entirely different in one area than in another. Anyone who studies Russian sectarianism will find that it bears, in truth, not the slightest resemblance to what sectarianism was like in all the regions where the Roman Catholic Church once exerted influence. What matters is not whether things are called by the same name, but what pulsates within them as a factor of reality.

[ 24 ] Rebellion—for the reasons I have already cited, and also for the reason I have now cited once again—against the unified Roman Catholic Church, which exerted its influence through subconscious suggestion, is precisely what characterized people’s lives and aspirations around the beginning of the 15th century.

[ 25 ] And once again, as a counterforce to this onslaught of individualism, we see something else: We see how what came to be known as Jesuitism comes to the aid of the Church’s Romanism; in its original meaning—even if today everything is, forgive the harsh expression, “talked to death,” and people speak of Jesuitism everywhere—it is possible only within the Roman Catholic Church. For what is it based on? Jesuitism is essentially based on the following: When, among the true people of Christ, that revelation of the Christ impulse—I might say—remains within the supersensible cloud and does not descend into the physical-sensory world — Soloviev, in a sense, wants to elevate the earthly realm into the Kingdom of God, but he does not want to bring the Kingdom of God down into the earthly realm — then Jesuitism is based precisely on bringing the Kingdom of God down into the earthly realm and stirring impulses in souls in such a way that the Kingdom of God works within the physical plane, in accordance with the laws of that physical plane. Thus, Jesuitism strives for a worldly realm of dominion and seeks to organize it in such a way that it appears to be a kingdom—but a worldly kingdom—of Christ. It seeks to achieve this above all by training its members—the members of the Jesuit Order themselves—as if they were a military community, a community of soldiers. The individual Jesuit sees himself as a spiritual soldier, and he does not perceive Christ as the spiritual Christ who influences the world through spiritual means; rather, he is to orient all his thoughts and feelings in such a way that he perceives Christ as a secular king, that he serves Christ as one serves a secular king, and that he serves just as a soldier serves his generalissimo. Church institutions, of course, will differ from those of secular militarism precisely because they deal with spiritual matters; yet a strictly military order is to be introduced into the spiritual order. Everything is to be arranged so that the true Christian is a soldier of the Generalissimo Jesus. This is, in essence—if we wish to characterize today, from a different perspective, a matter that I once expounded upon in Karlsruhe — the purpose of those exercises that every Jesuit performs in order to cultivate within himself that immense power which has long resided within the Jesuit Order and which, in its manifestations of decadence, will continue to have an effect in that era of chaos into which we are entering. To first transform the Jesuit himself into a soldier for the Generalissimus Jesus Christ—this is the aim of all the meditations prescribed by Ignatius of Loyola and faithfully observed by the Jesuits.

[ 26 ] I will give a few examples of this. Take, for instance, among the spiritual exercises that a Jesuit is to practice—through which he draws his strength—the one from the second week, which for him must always begin with an introductory meditation in which he visualizes the Kingdom of Christ. But he must conceive of this Kingdom of Christ in such a way that Christ, at the forefront as supreme commander, leads his legions, which are to conquer the world. This is followed by a preparatory prayer. Then comes the first preliminary exercise.

[ 27 ] “1. It consists of a vivid mental image of the place; here I am to see, through the eyes of my imagination, the synagogues, the cities, and the towns through which Christ our Lord traveled while preaching.”

[ 28 ] All of this must be presented in its entirety, so that the pupil, the student, perceives the situation and all the individual concepts within it as something he can sense directly.

[ 29 ] “2. I ask for the grace I desire. Here I am to implore our Lord for the grace that I may not be deaf to His call, but ready and eager to fulfill His most holy will.”

[ 30 ] Then comes the other part—the actual exercise. What I have described so far were preliminary exercises. The first part again covers several points. The soul is prepared very carefully.

[ 31 ] “Point 1. I envision an earthly king, chosen by God our Lord Himself, to whom all princes and all Christians show reverence and obedience.”

[ 32 ] However, he must have all of this present in his imagination just as immediately as a sensory perception, with the same intensity.

[ 33 ] “2. I have noticed how this king addresses all his people, saying: ‘It is my will to subjugate the entire land of the unbelievers. Whoever therefore wishes to march with me must be content with the same food as I, and likewise with the same drink and the same clothing, and so on. Likewise, he must exert himself by day and keep watch by night, just as I do, and so on, so that he may later share in the victory with me, just as he shared in the hardships.”

[ 34 ] This then strengthens the will, as sensory images enter directly into it, igniting it and imbuing it with spirit.

[ 35 ] “3. I consider what good subjects must reply to such a noble and affable king, and consequently also how much someone who were to refuse the request of such a king would deserve to be censured by the whole world and regarded as a poor soldier.”

[ 36 ] He must therefore make this very clear to himself: if he is not a proper soldier, a warrior of this Generalissimo, then he must be regarded as a degenerate human being throughout the world.

[ 37 ] Now comes the second part of the second week.

[ 38 ] “The second part of this exercise consists in applying the parable of the earthly king, mentioned earlier, to Christ our Lord in accordance with the three points cited.

[ 39 ] Point 1. If we already consider such a call from an earthly king to his subjects to be noteworthy, how much more worthy of consideration is it to see Christ our Lord, the eternal King, and before him the entire world, as he calls and addresses it as a whole and each individual in particular: “It is my will to subdue the whole world and all enemies and thus enter into the glory of my Father. Whoever, therefore, wishes to come with me must labor with me, so that just as he followed me in hardship, so also he may follow me in glory.”

[ 40 ] 2. I consider how all those who possess judgment and reason will devote themselves entirely to those efforts.

[ 41 ] 3. Those who are inspired by a desire to show even greater devotion and to distinguish themselves in every service to their eternal King and Most High Lord will not only offer themselves entirely to those labors, but will also fight against their own sensuality and against their love for the flesh and the world, thus offering sacrifices of higher value and greater significance, saying:

[ 42 ] “Eternal Lord of all things, I offer myself as a sacrifice with your favor and help, before your infinite goodness and in the presence of your glorious Mother and all the saints of the heavenly court, and I affirm that it is my desire and longing, and that it is my well-considered decision—provided it serves Your greater service and praise—to imitate You in bearing every hardship, every humiliation, and every poverty, both material and spiritual, if Your most holy Majesty is willing to choose and accept me into such a life and state.”

[ 43 ] This exercise is performed twice a day: in the morning after getting up, and one hour before lunch or dinner.

[ 44 ] “For the second week and those that follow, it is very beneficial to read from time to time from *The Imitation of Christ*, the Gospels, and the lives of the saints.”

[ 45 ] — to be read alongside such reflections that, through the imagination, specifically train the will. One must understand how the will is transformed when these imaginings take effect within it—this soldierly will in the spirit that makes Christ Jesus the Generalissimo! He speaks of the “heavenly court, which is served in all forms of submission and obedience.” Connected to such exercises is, in turn, something that has an immensely powerful effect when it is poured into the will through ceaseless repetition. For Jesuit training is, above all, training of the will. It is recommended that the meditation just outlined be repeated daily as a fundamental practice in the coming weeks, if possible in the same form, before the day’s “meditation of choice,” the “contemplation.” Let us take the fourth day as an example. There we have “the preparatory prayer as usual,” followed by a first preliminary exercise.

[ 46 ] “1. It presents the historical process—in this case, how Christ calls everyone to his banner and seeks to gather them, while Lucifer, on the other hand, seeks to gather them under his own.”

[ 47 ] One must visualize the banner clearly. And one must imagine two armies carrying the two banners—the banner of Lucifer and the banner of Christ.

[ 48 ] “2. A vivid depiction of the place; here one sees a scene of the entire region of Jerusalem, where Christ our Lord stands as the sole supreme commander of the good; but another scene in the region of Babylon, where Lucifer appears as the leader of the enemies.”

[ 49 ] Now the two armies stand facing each other: the banner of Lucifer and the banner of Christ.

[ 50 ] “3. I ask for what I desire, and specifically, I ask here for insight into the deceptions of the evil leader and for help to guard myself against them, as well as for insight into the true life shown by the highest and true Commander, and for the grace to imitate him.”

[ 51 ] Now comes the first part of the actual exercise: the banner of Lucifer. The practitioner thus directs the spiritual gaze of the imagination toward the army that is under the banner of Lucifer.

[ 52 ] “Point 1. I imagine I see the leader of all enemies on that great plain of Babylon, as it were, sitting on a high throne of fire and smoke, in a terrifying and dreadful form.

[ 53 ] 2. Consider how he summons countless evil spirits and how he scatters them—some to this city, others to another, and so on throughout the entire world, without omitting any country, any social class, or any individual.»

[ 54 ] So this transmission must be presented in detail and in concrete terms.

[ 55 ] “3. Consider the speech he gives to them and how he urges them to cast out nets and chains; specifically, they are to first tempt people through the desire for riches—as he himself is accustomed to doing with most—so that they may more easily attain the vain glory of the world and then an unbridled arrogance.

[ 56 ] According to this, the first stage is wealth, the second is honor, the third is pride, and from these three stages Lucifer leads people into all other vices.»

[ 57 ] Part Two: The Banner of Christ.

[ 58 ] “In a similar way, one should imagine, on the opposite side, the highest and truest commander-in-chief, who is Christ our Lord.

[ 59 ] Point 1. Consider how Christ our Lord takes his place on a large plain in the vicinity of Jerusalem, in a simple setting, looking beautiful and gracious.

[ 60 ] 2. Consider how the Lord of the whole world chooses so many people—apostles, disciples, and so on—and sends them out across the entire world, so that they may sow the seed of His holy teaching among people of all walks of life and in all circumstances.

[ 61 ] 3. Consider the address that Christ our Lord gives to all his servants and friends whom he sends out on such a mission; how he exhorts them to seek to help everyone by first leading them to the greatest spiritual poverty and, if his divine majesty should be pleased and choose to do so, to real poverty as well; second, to a desire for insults and contempt, because humility springs from these two things, poverty and contempt.

[ 62 ] There are, therefore, three stages: first, poverty as opposed to wealth; second, disgrace and contempt as opposed to worldly honor; third, humility as opposed to pride; and from these three stages, Christ’s messengers are to guide people toward all other virtues.»

[ 63 ] This is how the exercises are carried out. What matters is what I have told you: essentially, a secular kingdom that is to be organized as a secular kingdom, but presented in such a way that it is the army of Christ Jesus. This Jesuitism is simply the most consistent, best, and exceptionally well-organized manifestation of what I have described as the second current: the impulse of the church’s congregation. Essentially, one will find that the impulse of the Christian laity consists in bringing down into a secular realm the unique revelation that took place in Jerusalem. For all the exercises ultimately lead to this: that the person performing the exercises ultimately chooses to join the banner of Christ as a soldier, so that he feels himself to be a true soldier of Christ. That was, after all, the meaning that was revealed to Ignatius of Loyola through a revelation of a special kind; he, who had initially performed all manner of deeds as a soldier, was then—after his wounding, while on his sickbed—guided through meditations in such a way—I will not say by what power —that everything within his soul that had previously lived as a soldierly impulse was transformed into the impulse of the soldier of Christ, the soldier of Jesus. It is one of the most interesting phenomena in world history that a distinctly brave soldier is wounded and, through meditation, has what he was as a soldier transformed into that of a spiritual soldier.

[ 64 ] Where the Christ impulse took effect in such a way that it dulled the ongoing influence it had within the People of Christ themselves, it goes without saying that this had to be the most extreme manifestation of the Christ impulse. One might now ask: Is there not also another, opposite manifestation of what is present in Jesuitism? — Then something would have to arise within the territory permeated by the church community. Out of these various reactions—Lutheranism, Zwinglianism, Calvinism, Schwenckfeldism, the Anabaptists, and so on—out of this chaos, which is, after all, becoming fragmented, something would have to emerge that does not merely follow the line of Jesuitism—for, after all, Jesuitism is the most extreme manifestation, and much follows in its wake— but something must emerge that is completely opposed to Jesuitism, something that, in a sense—just as Jesuitism seeks to penetrate ever deeper and deeper into the church community—seeks to break free from this church community. Jesuitism seeks to transform the Christ impulse into a purely worldly dominion; it seeks, so to speak, to establish the earthly state—that earthly state which is at the same time the Jesuit state and which is governed as it can be governed when one has made oneself a soldier of the Generalissimo Christ. What would be the opposite of this?

[ 65 ] The opposite would be not to bring down what is above, but to constantly try to lift up what is here below into the spiritual world. Among the true People of Christ, this is present as a natural disposition; in Soloviev, it found expression, albeit often haltingly. Within the realm of the true Church people, there is now something that is diametrically opposed to Jesuitism—something that, in terms of external power structures and external contexts, wants nothing at all to do with the spiritual; something that desires the Christ impulse to always work within the souls, and to act in the external world only indirectly through the souls. Such an impulse would indeed arise within the Christian community—because certain circumstances would arise in time—but it would always seek to guide evolution in such a way that what is the spiritual Christ impulse would act only within souls, remaining, so to speak, esoteric, albeit esoteric in the best and noblest sense. While Jesuitism seeks to transform everything into a worldly kingdom, this world current would always regard any worldly kingdom merely as something that must exist, if necessary, on the outer physical plane—but which unites people so that they may, in their souls, elevate themselves into the higher worlds. This diametric contrast, this polar opposite of Jesuitism, is Goetheanism.

[ 66 ] Goetheanism seeks the exact opposite of what Jesuitism seeks, and you, in turn, understand Goetheanism from a different perspective when you view it in this polar opposition to Jesuitism. Hence the eternal enmity that Jesuitism has sworn—and will continue to swear—against Goetheanism. They cannot coexist. Each knows the other very well. Jesuitism knows Goethe very well: the Jesuit Father Baumgartner has written the best book on Goethe—from a Jesuit perspective, of course. What the various German professors or the Englishman Lewes have written about Goethe is all sheer drivel compared to what Jesuit Father Baumgartner has written in his three volumes on Goethe, for he knows why he writes! The adversary’s gaze sharpens everything he sees in Goethe. Nor does he write like a German professor with a middle-class mindset, or even like the Englishman Lewes, who portrays a man—who was indeed born in Frankfurt in 1749—as having supposedly gone through the same experiences as Goethe, but who is not Goethe. Rather, the Jesuit Baumgartner portrays Goethe through everything that has poured into his will from his meditations. And so, on this one point, something that is to play a role in the future—Goetheanism—already converges with something that was directly linked to the period beginning in the 15th century, a period that, with the Reformation, led to Jesuitism.

[ 67 ] I will describe the third one tomorrow.

[ 68 ] So today I have described to you the People of Christ and the People of the Church, as well as the third factor at play here, and then their interaction; tomorrow I will describe how this provides an inner insight into the development of religion in modern times as reflected in its symptoms.