Awareness - Life - Form
GA 89
Part II: Introductory Remarks
In the last lecture of Part 1, Rudolf Steiner described the creation of the world as a triple manifestation of the Logos, divine spirit poured into the world. For his audience at the time, this related to two of his books which had just appeared: Mysticism at the Dawn of the Modern Age (GA 7, published in 1901 and based on a series of lectures given in the winter of 1900/01; tr. K. E. Zimmer; Blauvelt: Steinerbooks 1980) and Christianity as Mystical Fact (GA 8, published in 1902 and based on a series of lectures given in the winter of 1901/02; tr. A. Welburn; Hudson: Anthroposophic Press 1997).
In the first of these, great medieval mystics are given as examples to show how true insight into the world or God can only be gained through mystic, i.e. inner, experience. In the second book, we read how the way to achieve this was sought in the mysteries of antiquity. The mystic who was to be initiated, wanting to find his way to the divine, had to experience the cosmic drama of creation, with the Logos, the world soul, stretched on the world body in form of a cross. Then the Logos, which was poured out into the world, could have its resurrection in the soul, being born in the spirit in it. This became historical fact when at the beginning of our era the Logos became flesh in the human being called Jesus. He had to recapitulate the cosmic world process whilst existing in the flesh, be nailed to the cross and rise again from death. The Logos become man had to go through this as historical fact so that victory over death would hold true for the whole of humanity and not only chosen individuals. ‘Christianity as mystical fact is a stage in human evolution; and the events in the mysteries of old were a preparation for this mystical fact.’ (chapter on Christianity and pagan wisdom).
These two books, based on the mystic way of gaining insight and the logosophy of the ancient mysteries, established the foundations for a Christology based on the spiritual-scientific cosmology which Rudolf Steiner had started to present in 1903.
The audiences of that time were greatly interested in the Logos teaching of the ancient mysteries, for these had ranked highly in the Theosophical Society’s literature even before Rudolf Steiner.* See H. P. Blavatsky’s Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine, books by G. R. S. Mead and Annie Besant, especially Besant, A. The Ancient Wisdom. London: Theosophical Publishing House 1897. He soon found it necessary, however, to warn people against being too abstract in speaking of the Logos. Notes on a talk given in the Berlin Branch on 2 February 1904, unfortunately too inadequate for publication, include the following: ‘It is so tempting to speak of the first, second and third Logos in general terms. Beginners in particular are fond of talking of the Logos right away, wanting to discuss the whole world by establishing the missions of the three Logoi. That is not what we want, however.’ He went on to say that he felt it was important to show the mission of individual spirits in the evolution of the world. Something Rudolf Steiner would often emphasize was that spiritual investigation was not based on speculation but on genuine experiences in the spirit. Quite logically, we therefore read in a lecture given in Berlin on 18 December 1906 [in German] in GA 266/1: ‘No one can really have an idea of the three Logoi unless higher consciousness has awakened in them. We can however prepare the soul for right vision in the future by evoking the right images.’ ‘Right images’ undoubtedly mean images of the developmental stages for the Logos poured out in the world. From 1903 onwards they were presented more and more in real terms, and they were finally presented to the world in Occult Science in 1910.
Vorbemerkungen
Mit der Darstellung der Weltschöpfung als dreifache Manifestation des Logos, des in die Welt ergossenen göttlichen Geistes, wie sie bereits im letzten Vortrag von Teil I und in den folgenden Texten gegeben ist, wurde von Rudolf Steiner für die damaligen Zuhörer angeschlossen an seine beiden kurz vorher erschienenen Schriften: «Die Mystik im Aufgange des neuzeitlichen Geisteslebens und ihr Verhältnis zur modernen Weltanschauung» (erschienen 1901 als Zusammenfassung der während des Winters 1900/01 gehaltenen Vortragsreihe) und «Das Christentum als mystische Tatsache» (erschienen 1902 ebenfalls als Zusammenfassung der im Winter 1901/02 gehaltenen Vortragsreihe).
In der «Mystik» ist an großen Mystikern des Mittealters geschildert, wie erst durch mystische, d.h. innere Erfahrung wahre Selbsterkenntnis und aus dieser heraus auch wahre Welt- oder Gotteserkenntnis gewonnen werden kann. In der Schrift «Das Christentum als mystische Tatsache» ist dargestellt, wie der Weg dazu in den Mysterien des Altertums gesucht worden ist: daß der einzuweihende Myste, um zum Göttlichen zu gelangen, das kosmische Drama des Schöpfungs-Werdeganges, das Ausgespanntsein des Logos, der Weltseele, an den Weltenleib in Kreuzesform, als eigenes seelisches Schicksal erleben mußte, damit der in der Welt ausgegossene Logos seine Auferstehung in der Seele feiern konnte, auf geistige Art geboren werden konnte. Zur historischen Tatsache wurde dies, als im Beginn unserer Zeitrechnung der Logos in dem Menschen Jesus Fleisch geworden ist. Er mußte im Fleisches-Dasein den kosmischen Weltprozeß wiederholen, mußte ans Kreuz geschlagen werden und auferstehen. Als historische Tatsache mußte es der Mensch gewordene Logos durchmachen, damit die Besiegung des Todes nicht nur für einzelne Auserwählte, sondern für die ganze Menschheit Geltung haben kann. «Das Christentum als mystische Tatsache ist eine Entwicklungsstufe im Werdegang der Menschheit; und die Ereignisse in den Mysterien waren die Vorbereitung zu dieser mystischen Tatsache.» (Kap.: Christentum und heidnische Weisheit).
Somit ist mit diesen beiden Schriften, ausgehend von der mystischen Erkenntnisart und der Logosophie der alten Mysterien die Voraussetzung geschaffen worden für eine geisteswissenschaftliche kosmologisch orientierte Christologie, wie sie von 1903 an darzustellen begonnen wurde.
Da bei den damaligen Zuhörern großes Interesse für die Logoslehre der alten Mysterien bestand, denn diese hatte in der Literatur der Theosophischen Gesellschaft schon vor Rudolf Steiner einen großen Stellenwert,1Vgl. H. P. Blavatskys Werke «Die entschleierte Isis» und «Die Geheimlehre»>; Schriften von G. R. S.Mead und Annie Besant, insbesondere «Die uralte Weisheit». sah er sich bald veranlaßt, davor zu warnen, zu abstrakt über den Logos zu sprechen. In den für den Druck leider völlig unzulänglichen Notizen von Ausführungen über die drei Logoi im Berliner Zweig am 2. Februar 1904 findet sich die Bemerkung: «Man ist so sehr versucht, in allgemeinen Vorstellungen von erstem, zweitem, dritten Logos zu sprechen. Besonders Anfänger sprechen sehr gern gleich vom Logos und wollen mit Auseinandersetzungen, was erster, zweiter, dritter Logos für eine Aufgabe haben, die ganze Welt erörtern. Das ist aber nicht das, was wir wollen.» Ihm ginge es vielmehr darum, klarzumachen, was innerhalb der Entwicklung der Welt die Aufgabe der einzelnen Wesen ist. - Wie sich oft und oft von ihm betont findet, beruht geisteswissenschaftliche Forschung eben nicht auf Spekulation, sondern auf wirklicher geistiger Erfahrung. Folgerichtig heißt es darum (Berlin, 18. Dezember 1906, in GA 266/I) «Eigentlich kann kein Mensch, in dem nicht das höhere Bewußtsein erwacht ist, sich eine Vorstellung vom Wesen der drei Logoi machen. Aber doch kann man durch Hervorrufen der richtigen Bilder die Seele vorbereiten für richtiges Schauen in der Zukunft.» Mit den «richtigen Bildern» sind zweifellos die Bilder von den Entwicklungsstufen des sich in der Welt ausgegossenen Logos zu verstehen, wie sie von 1903 an immer weiter ins Konkrete hinein dargestellt worden sind und in dem Werk «Die Geheimwissenschaft im Umriß» (1910) der Öffentlichkeit vorgelegt wurden.
H.W.
Preliminary Remarks
With his description of the creation of the world as a threefold manifestation of the Logos, the divine spirit poured into the world, as already given in the last lecture of Part I and in the following texts, Rudolf Steiner linked this to his two recently published writings for his audience at that time: "Mysticism in the Dawn of Modern Spiritual Life and Its Relationship to the Modern Worldview“ (published in 1901 as a summary of the lecture series given during the winter of 1900/01) and ”Christianity as a Mystical Fact" (published in 1902, also as a summary of the lecture series given in the winter of 1901/02).
In “Mysticism,” great mystics of the Middle Ages describe how true self-knowledge, and from this, true knowledge of the world or God, can only be gained through mystical, i.e., inner experience. The writing “Christianity as a Mystical Fact” describes how the path to this was sought in the mysteries of antiquity: in order to attain the divine, the initiate mystic had to experience the cosmic drama of the creation process, the stretching out of the Logos, the world soul, onto the world body in the form of a cross, as his own spiritual destiny, so that the Logos poured out into the world could celebrate its resurrection in the soul and be born spiritually. This became historical fact when, at the beginning of our era, the Logos became flesh in the man Jesus. He had to repeat the cosmic world process in his fleshly existence, had to be crucified and resurrected. As a historical fact, the Logos made flesh had to go through this so that the defeat of death could apply not only to a select few, but to all of humanity. “Christianity as a mystical fact is a stage in the development of humanity; and the events in the mysteries were the preparation for this mystical fact.” (Chapter: Christianity and Pagan Wisdom).
Thus, based on the mystical mode of knowledge and the Logosophy of the ancient mysteries, these two writings created the prerequisites for a spiritual-scientific, cosmologically oriented Christology, as it began to be presented in 1903.
Since the audience at that time was very interested in the Logos teaching of the ancient mysteries, which had already been of great importance in the literature of the Theosophical Society before Rudolf Steiner,1See H. P. Blavatsky's works “Isis Unveiled” and “The Secret Doctrine”>; Writings by G. R. S. Mead and Annie Besant, especially “The Ancient Wisdom.” he soon felt compelled to warn against speaking too abstractly about the Logos. In the notes on the three Logoi in the Berlin branch on February 2, 1904, which are unfortunately completely inadequate for printing, the following remark can be found: “One is so tempted to speak in general mental images about the first, second, and third Logos. Beginners in particular like to talk about the Logos right away and want to discuss the whole world with arguments about what tasks the first, second, and third Logos have. But that is not what we want.” Rather, he was concerned with clarifying what the task of individual beings is within the development of the world. As he often emphasized, spiritual scientific research is not based on speculation, but on real spiritual experience. Consequently, he says (Berlin, December 18, 1906, in GA 266/I) “Actually, no one in whom the higher consciousness has not awakened can form a mental image of the nature of the three Logoi. But by evoking the right images, one can prepare the soul for correct vision in the future.” The “right images” are undoubtedly to be understood as the images of the stages of development of the Logos poured out into the world, as they were presented in ever greater detail from 1903 onwards and made public in the work “An Outline of Esoteric Science” (1910).
H.W.