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The Christ Impulse and the Development of the Ego-Consciousness
GA 116

2 February 1910, Berlin

III. The Entrance of the Christ-Being into the Evolution of Humanity

In each of the Gospels light is thrown on the great Mystery of Golgotha from one particular aspect. I have drawn your attention to the fact that the secret of Golgotha, the secret of Christ Jesus, is presented by the Gospel of St. Mark from the aspect of the great Cosmological connections, while that of St. Matthew shows how this secret was developed out of one special people, the ancient Hebrews. We have seen how that people had to develop little by little, from generation to generation, from the time of Abraham, so as to bring forth later, as their flower, the Human Being in whom could be contained the individuality of Zarathustra or Zoroaster. We have seen how all the qualities peculiar to the Hebrew people—qualities which had to become more and more intensified in the course of their descent from one generation to the next—were based entirely on the principle of physical inheritance. We were thus able to describe how the character of the mission of the old Hebrew people differed from that of others in that it had to inherit certain qualities, which could only be attained by physical inheritance, and which had gained in intensity from the oldest generations of the time of Abraham down to Jesus. The Gospel of St. Matthew contains many other secrets, as indeed do all the Gospels. Although in the course of this Winter we shall open up a few aspects and perspective glimpses into the Gospels, these can at the most only stimulate the understanding. For in order to understand the Gospels completely a never-ending spiritual work is necessary. Light shall be thrown to-day from one particular side on the Gospel of St. Matthew and it will be shown how the lessons to be drawn there from can be usefully applied by those who now form part of the anthroposophical spiritual stream.

If we look back at much of what we have learnt as the years went by, we shall see that the development of humanity, as described by Spiritual Science, passes through various crises; it reaches an important point, then continues for a while along a more level road, then comes another important point, and so on. We have often emphasised that one such important point in the development of humanity on earth was reached when the Christ-Impulse was given at the beginning of our era, according to the modern reckoning of time. When we look back beyond the Atlantean into the Lemurian age, we come to that point in time when the first rudiment of the human ego was implanted in the human being. To understand such an event, the words must be taken very accurately. For instance, we must make a clear distinction between the statement that in the Lemurian epoch ‘the first rudiments of the ego were implanted in the human being,’ and that other, that at the time of the Mystery of Golgotha began the period, the age, in which humanity became conscious of this ego. ‘There is a great difference between having the ego only in rudiment, as something working in man, and the knowledge that one possesses it. A sharp distinction must be made between these things, for otherwise it is impossible to understand the true laws of evolution.

We know that the implanting of the ego in man is part of the collective development of the earth. The earth passed through the Saturn, Sun and Moon ages, and then only did it become the structure it is to-day. On Saturn the germ of the physical body was laid, on the Sun that of the etheric body, on the Moon that of the astral body, and the germ of the ego was added on the earth; this germ was placed in the development of the earth in the Lemurian epoch. Now something else also took place in the Lemurian epoch, something that we have always called the ‘luciferic influence’. During that epoch man was endowed with the germ of the ego, which in the course of the subsequent earth-periods was destined to attain greater and greater perfection, and at the same time his astral body was ‘inoculated’ with the luciferic influence. The whole nature of man was altered by this influence, even to the forces and elements in his etheric and physical bodies. Thus in the Lemurian epoch man became an entirely different being from what he would have been if there had been no luciferic influence. We see him altering in two respects: we see him becoming an ego-being—and we see him becoming a being in whom the luciferic principle is hidden. Even if the luciferic principle had not set in, the ego-influence would still have entered man.

Now what took place in the human being as a result of the luciferic influence having made itself felt in the Lemurian epoch?

When such a circumstance is described from one aspect or another, I beg you not to consider that as all that can be said on the subject; for this may well be only one point of view, selected for the moment. In the course of years a great deal has been said as to what the luciferic influence brought about in the evolution of man; it is all part of the same, but we cannot repeat it all now. To-day we will select one point of view only, that describes one aspect; that is, that as a result of the luciferic influence man reached a certain point in evolution earlier than was intended, earlier than the wise guidance of the world had predestined for him. The luciferic influence caused him to descend more deeply into the three principles which came over from the former embodiments of the earth, (the astral body, etheric body and physical body) and he has become more entangled in them than would have been the case if no such influence had prevailed. Man, with his ego, would have remained nearer to the spiritual worlds, he would have continued for a longer time to feel himself, through his ego, a member of the spiritual world, if the luciferic influence had not caused that ego to descend more deeply into the three principles. We may say that as a result of the luciferic influence, man descended more deeply on to the earth in the Lemurian epoch. We can indicate the time when he would have descended thus far to the earth or into physical matter had there been no luciferic influence; it would have been in the middle of the Atlantean epoch. If no luciferic influence had come about man would have been obliged to wait till then for his descent to earth; but that influence caused him to descend earlier. It enabled him to become a free being, able to act in accordance with his own impulses. He would otherwise have remained entirely dependent upon the spiritual world until the middle of the Atlantis epoch; neither would he have been able before then to distinguish between good and evil, nor act from his own impulses. He could only have acted from psychic influences, that is to say, from forces implanted in his soul by Divine Spiritual Beings. The luciferic beings made it possible for him to begin at an earlier stage to decide between good and evil; not simply to allow himself to be guided by the laws of the divine-spiritual world Order, but to decide for himself, creating a kind of law and order for himself. This fact is expressed in a very profound way in the description of ‘the Fall’ which represents in a wonderful imaginative picture, what I have just stated. The Old Testament describes this by saying that Divine Spiritual Beings implanted into man a living soul. ‘Now if this living soul had merely remained as it was, man would have had to wait until later on, until the Divine Spiritual Beings had brought the living soul, or, in other words, the yet undeveloped ego, to the degree of maturity able to make distinctions. But now there came the luciferic influences, represented in the Bible as ‘the Serpent.’ Through these, man himself became able to distinguish between good and evil, instead of merely instinctively following the inpourings of Jehovah or the Elohim. From a being who till that time had been guided and led by Divine Spiritual Beings, man thus became a being able to decide for himself. The Bible clearly shows that self-decision was brought to man by the Serpent, or in other words, by the luciferic beings. We then hear the words ring forth, words spoken from the side of the gods: ‘Man has become as one of us!’ Or, if we wish to put this into plainer words:—‘Man has acquired something through the luciferic influence which has till now been reserved only for the gods. It was given to the gods to decide between good and evil, the beings dependent upon them had no such decisions to make.’

As a result of the luciferic influence man now became a being capable of making distinctions; that is, he became a being who developed divine qualities within him prematurely. In this way and through this influence, something entered human nature which would otherwise have been withheld from his evolution till the middle of the Atlantean epoch. As you can well imagine, man would have been quite different if this descent into matter had not taken place till then; his soul would have been more mature for the descent. He would have descended into matter as a better, a riper, man. He would have brought quite different qualities into his physical, etheric and astral bodies and would have possessed a very different power of distinguishing between good and evil. Because man was already a being able to distinguish between good and evil from the Lemurian epoch to the middle of the Atlantean epoch, he made himself worse than he would otherwise have been; he entered a state of lesser perfection. He would otherwise have spent all the intervening time in a much more spiritual way; but as it was, he passed through it more materially. The effect of this was that if he had received in the middle of the Atlantean epoch what the gods had intended him to have, he would have fallen utterly and completely.

What was it that would have been given to man at the middle of the Atlantean epoch, if he had continued to be guided and directed till that time, instinctively, as it were, by Divine Spiritual Beings?

He would have then received that which, the luciferic influence having in the meanwhile intervened, was afterwards given to him through the Mystery of Golgotha. The Christ-Impulse would have been given to man at the middle of the Atlantean epoch. Now, however, on account of the luciferic influence, man had to wait as long a time for the Christ-Impulse as had elapsed between the intervention of the luciferic influence and the middle of the Atlantean epoch. There was the same span of time between the entrance of Lucifer and the middle of the Atlantean epoch, as between that time and. the arrival of the Christ-Impulse. Thus, through man's having acquired a likeness to the gods before he was meant to do so, we have to describe a delay of the Christ-Impulse. For before that could come man had to go through the Earth-Karma due to him on account of the evil that had entered the earth through the luciferic impulse. He had to wait, not only till that influence had rendered him able to distinguish between good and evil, but until, in the course of the earth's development, all the consequences of the luciferic influence had come. He had to wait for these, for then only could the Christ-Impulse descend to the earth. In accordance with the wise guidance of the earth, man was not intended to escape for ever from what was to come to him through the luciferic influence, but it would not have come upon him till the middle of the Atlantean epoch. It must have come in any case; but it would certainly not have come in the same form. Not only did man acquire from Lucifer the power of free decision in everything connected with spiritual things, but also the capacity of enthusiasm for what is good and noble, wise and great. As human beings, we are not only able coldly to distinguish between good and evil, but also to feel a warm glow for the noble, good and wise. That is because something was carried into our astral body, which, if it had only reached man in the middle of the Atlantean epoch, would have been taken into the ego, that ego which is capable of judgment. All the feeling, the idealism and enthusiasm for what is good, for high ideals, we owe to the circumstance that something entered our astral body before we had acquired the likeness to God in our ego, before the acceptance of the Christ had taken place therein. The essential point is that this likeness to God, the possibility of finding the good within ourselves, had to come to man. If the luciferic influence had not come, this impulse would have come in the middle of the Atlantean period, but as things are it came in the age in which Christ Jesus Himself worked.

Thus through the Christ-Impulse the consciousness came to man that in his ego he had something of Divine substance and of Divine nature. The thought that man can take in the Divine in his Ego-being and that this Divine part can be active therein and distinguish between good and evil, underlies all the deeper sayings of the New Testament. We may therefore say that with the reception into the inner nature of man of the Christ-Impulse, it was made possible for man to say: ‘I must be my own guide for the knowledge of my existence and the distinction between good and evil.’

Now if we look back to the pre-Christian time, we must say that when the impulse enabling man to distinguish between good and evil was not yet present, such distinction, and the judgment of man as to the good, the beautiful and the true, was necessarily meagre; it did not actually proceed from his inner being. He could not, before the Christ-Impulse, have distinguished in his inner being between good and evil. In the pre-Christian time the decision as to the really Good, Beautiful and True could only be accomplished through certain beings—such as the Bodhisattvas—reaching up as time went on with a part of their being into the divine-spiritual worlds; the distinction between good and evil was therefore not made from out of man's inner being, but in the divine worlds. Through their companionship with divine spiritual beings these Guides acquired it and it flowed from them into the souls of men, as though by suggestion. Had it not been for those guides, men could only have made feeble distinctions between good and evil in those days. If these guides had depended on their own hearts alone, they could not have done this either; but because they descended into those depths of the soul which were not yet accessible to man and entered in their ego-being into the kingdoms of heaven, they received the impulse needed by man to help him to decide between good and evil at the time of his need, that the good might nevertheless be implanted in the earth by way of preparation. Thus, before the time of Christ, man was a being still insufficiently prepared to acquire the likeness to God. On this account, since the Lemurian epoch, everything done by man was done less well than would otherwise have been the case. This applies above all to what regards himself. His astral, etheric and physical bodies, which but for the luciferic influence would have remained more spiritual, were, through that influence, less well formed, made more material. That was the reason of all the evil which developed in the life of man as time went on. In the course of a very long time have these evils developed.

From the Lemurian epoch to the Mystery of Golgotha they developed in the physical, etheric and astral bodies. In the astral body a high degree of egotism was developed; in the etheric body the possibility of mistaken judgment and the possibility of lying. If man had remained under the influence of divine-spiritual beings, acting instinctively in accordance with their impulses, he would not to-day, when he desires knowledge of the world around him, be able to fall into error, nor could he be led into untruth. Thus did the tendency to lying and the danger of error find place in the development of man; and since the spiritual is always the origin of the physical, and because the luciferic influence and its consequences ate their way more and more deeply into the etheric body during incarnation after incarnation, the possibility of disease entered the physical body. Illness is the evil that entered the physical body through that development; but something of still greater significance has come. If man had not been subject to these influences, if he had not allowed them to work upon him, he would never have supposed that anything more than a change of life takes place when the physical body falls away from us; consciousness of death would not have come to him. If man had descended less deeply into matter and had kept hold of the threads uniting him with the divine-spiritual, he would have been aware that when the physical sheath is laid aside, a new form of existence begins; but he would never have looked upon that as a loss, as the end of an existence he had grown fond of. Everything in evolution would have taken on a different aspect.

Man descended more deeply into matter, he thus made himself more free and independent, but he also thereby made his own development more limited than it would have been.

Everything lacking in man will be made good by the Christ-Impulse; but one must not expect that to be done in a short time nor even in a comparatively short time. A very long time elapsed between the Lemurian epoch and the Mystery of Golgotha. Slowly and gradually, during incarnation after incarnation, came egotism, error and lying, disease and the realisation of death. Man is being led back into the spiritual world, so to speak, with the qualities he has acquired “from below.” The re-ascent will be a quicker progress than the descent; but it cannot be expected that in one or two incarnations man will be enabled, through what he can take in of the Christ-Impulse, to overcome selfishness and to heal his etheric body to such an extent that all danger of lying and error is at an end, still less can he be expected to be able to work healingly on his physical body. All this must go on slowly and gradually; but it is going on. Just as man has been led down into all those qualities by the luciferic impulse, so will he be led up out of them by the Christ-Impulse. Selfishness will be transmuted into selflessness, lying into truthfulness, the danger of error into absolute certainty and true judgment. Illness will become the foundation for more complete health; the illness we have overcome will be the germs of greater good-health; and when we have gradually learnt to understand death in such a way that the Death at Golgotha works as a prototype of death in our own soul, death will then have lost its sting. Man will then know why from time to time he must lay aside his physical covering, in order to rise higher and higher in the course of his embodiments. In particular, the Christ-Impulse brought with it the impulse to make good something connected with man's knowledge and observation, with his knowledge of the world.

We have said that man has become more entangled in matter, less perfect in his three bodies than he would have been if there had been no luciferic influence; this caused him to be possessed by an urge to sink more deeply into material existence, to soak himself more completely in mere matter. This refers more especially to his knowledge, but even that only came about slowly and gradually. Man did not, as soon as the luciferic influence made itself felt, immediately sink down so deeply as to close all the doors into the spiritual world behind him. He still remained, for a long time, in connection with the spiritual world from which he grew forth and with which he would have remained in connection with his whole being, if the luciferic influence had not come. He long remained a participator in it; for a long time he continued to feel that his finer, more spiritual instincts were guided by the threads from the divine-spiritual world. For a long time he still continued to feel that his impulse was not a merely human one, it was as though the Gods had been at work behind it. That was more particularly the case in more ancient times. Man was driven slowly into matter and he thus gradually lost the consciousness of the divine.

Those spiritual movements and world-conceptions of humanity which had knowledge of these things, have also hinted at this. They said: There was once upon a time an age in which man was driven some way into material existence by the luciferic influence—though not so far as to prevent the divine influence from still having a powerful effect upon him. In the early ages of man's development this was known as the ‘Golden Age.’ This is no fanciful conception: ‘Golden Age’ is simply the expression used by those men of olden times who still had an inkling that there had been something like a primeval age of humanity, such as has just been described. This Golden Age, known to Eastern philosophy as Krita-Yuga, lasted, comparatively speaking, much longer than the Ages we still have to describe. After the Golden Age came the so-called ‘Silver Age.’ Man was pushed further down into the physical world; but the process went on slowly and gradually. Even then the doors of the spiritual world were not yet completely closed. Man still had intense moments in which, in a dreamy sort of clairvoyance, he saw the Gods at work behind his instincts. Man could no longer be called a companion of the Gods in this Silver Age, but he could still perceive them standing behind him. Eastern philosophy calls this age, Treta-Yuga. Then came an Age which extends into our own Post-Atlantean period; its last stragglers extended into historical times when there still were people gifted with the old dream-like, twilight consciousness. The consciousness of a spiritual world from which man had come forth, still existed; though only as a kind of memory remaining over from former incarnations. It was just as when we now remember our own childhood, our youth, and our present age. In childhood we had direct experience of our childish happenings; in like manner man still experienced in Treta Yuga in a direct way, the impulse of a divine-spiritual world. In the Age following on that, known as the ‘Bronze Age,’ what man had was more like a memory. It might be compared with the way a grown man contemplates his childhood; for we say: ‘I experienced my childhood; it was not a dream!’ That was like the state of things in the Third Age. Men then knew: ‘In earlier ages we had experience of communion with the Gods; that is now nothing but a memory!’ I have explained at some length how in the Old-Indian period of civilisation the memory of the Atlantean epoch worked retrospectively, thus enabling the holy Rishis to reveal their great divine teachings. This Bronze Age is known in Eastern philosophy as Dvapara-Yuga. That is followed by an Age in which all memory of the divine-spiritual world is lost, when man, with his knowledge and perception, is entirely given up to the physical world. That age began about the year 3101 B.C. In Eastern philosophy it is known as Kali-Yuga, ‘the dark age’; because man had then lost all connection with the spiritual world and become completely one with the physical world. I wish expressly to note that I am now using these expressions for smaller divisions of time, but they can also be applied to larger spans. We are now speaking of the divisions of time corresponding to the smaller ages, and we make Kali-Yuga begin, as does Indian philosophy, with the year 3101 before our era. The Age was then being prepared in which men were taught only to see that which conceals the divine-spiritual world as by a veil, by a covering; when they only perceived the external physical. At the beginning of Kali-Yuga there were still many who could either see or recollect the divine-spiritual world, but for normal humanity the time set in when they could only see the physical world of nature.

That was the descent of man to Kali-Yuga. It was the time of deepest descent. Into that had to come the impulse for re-ascent. That is why this impulse, the Christ-Impulse, had to come during the Kali-Yuga, in the “dark” age.

This Christ-Impulse was prepared for by the religion of Jahve or Jehovah; for this religion taught man how little reliance could be placed on his former decisions. During the time which extended from the old Lemurian epoch to the Revelation on Mount Sinai, we have that age in which man was given the power to choose good or evil, while at the same time he became liable to err in judging between them, and became more and more likely to bring on earth that which is known as ‘Sin.’ Sin then ate its way into the life of the earth. Man became ‘like to the Gods,’ but in return for this he acquired qualities which were in nowise ripe for the likeness to God. What had to happen then? First of all man had to be shown what the Godhead expected from him if he was to become a self-conscious ego. This was shown to him by the announcement made on Mount Sinai in the ‘Ten Commandments.’ The people then heard proclaimed through Moses: ‘The good and evil thou hast already developed are not sufficient. I will show thee how these Commandments should sound if thou hadst not descended, and in return for thy defective qualities, received the power of judging between good and evil.’ The Decalogue, the law, given to man on Sinai, was given to man as he had then become; so that out of the spiritual worlds man heard sounding forth that which was right, in contrast to what he had insufficiently developed. The Ten Commandments stand forth as a law of iron, as a torch, showing man what he had not become. He had to submit himself to that law, with all he had become. Man could not at first have submitted to the Ten Commandments, because he had become lacking in decision, lacking in self-guidance. Therefore, they had to be given to him by one who was inspired,—by Moses—that is to say, they were given him from above by Divine administration. They were, however, given in such a way that they were intended for the ego. They told man how an ego must act, if it is to attain the goal of humanity.

In the lecture on The Ten Commandments of Moses (16th November, 1908) this is traced out in detail. Therein is first shown the right attitude of the ego to the spiritual worlds; this is contained in the first three Commandments. The next ones refer to man's conduct towards his fellow-men in act and deed, and the last Commandments refer to the control of his feelings and sensations. The Ten Commandments give instructions for the education of the ego. This was the preparation by means of which the ego was to learn in its most inward being how to give itself the impulse after having descended into Kali-Yuga, into the age of darkness. At first man was to be given the Law from above. The Law of one's own ego could however, only become what it was to be, when that ego takes into itself the great Prototype of Golgotha, saying: ‘If I take into my soul such thinking as was thought by the Being Who offered Himself in sacrifice on Golgotha,—if I take into myself such feelings as were felt by the Being Who offered Himself as sacrifice on Golgotha,—if I take into myself such willing as was willed by the Being Who offered Himself in sacrifice on Golgotha, then will my being come to a decision within itself to develop increasingly a likeness to God, it will then no longer have to follow the Outer Law, the Ten Commandments, but an inner impulse, its own Law.’

Thus Moses first put before mankind the Law, but Christ gave them the Prototype and the strength which the soul ought to take in, whereby to develop itself. Hence all the spiritual impulses were to be taken into the innermost of the soul, even into the ego itself; they were all to be deepened into inwardness through Christ Jesus. That could only take place if men thought as follows, and Christ Jesus radiated it forth as an impulse:—

Man has descended into the dark age, into Kali-Yuga. Before that dark age men saw into the spiritual world with a dim twilight consciousness. They were then able, not merely to make use of the instruments of the physical body, but when they observed the physical world through their eyes, ears and so on, they perceived the spiritual surrounding all things, flowers, plants, stones, etc. As regards this observation of the spiritual, men were rich in those days. In the older times the spirit was bestowed on them; whereas, in the dark age, as regards the spirit they were reduced to beggary; for the spirit was no longer bestowed upon them. They had become poor in spirit. Kali-Yuga came upon them more and more, that time when men had to say to themselves: In the old days things were different, the spirit was then bestowed on men; they were able to look up into a spiritual world, they were then rich in spirit; the kingdoms of heaven were then accessible to them. Now men are pressed down into the physical world. The gates of the spiritual world are closed to human senses, and no view of the kingdoms of heaven is open to the physical body. But Christ was able to say: ‘Lay hold of the ego, where it must now be apprehended! Then will the Kingdoms of Heaven draw near to you. They will arise within your own ego. Though the spiritual light may be concealed from your eyes behind the external light which is perceptible to the senses, though spiritual sound may be concealed from your ears behind physical sound; yet, when Christ Himself shall raise you, ye shall find the Kingdoms of Heaven within you! ‘Unhappy were those who had become poor in the dark age, who had become beggars as regard the spirit. They can now become blessed, the impulse having been given through which Christ is able, from the spiritual world, from the Kingdoms of Heaven, to penetrate into the very ego or ‘ I ’ of man. Therefore, with respect to man's poverty of spirit, the highest Christian proclamation is this: ‘From henceforward, blessed are they who are beggars in spirit, who no longer receive the spirit bestowed upon them according to the old conception. Henceforth, they can be blessed if they take in the Christ-Impulse; for, through the developing of their ego, the Kingdoms of Heaven will be within them.’

Let us pass on to the etheric body, which is the builder of the physical body. What has entered that? Illness only expresses itself in the physical body. The trouble itself is first in the etheric body; that then expresses itself in a subsequent incarnation as illness in the physical body. ‘Now, however, something has entered the world,’ so Christ Jesus had to say, ‘whereby an impulse may arise within gradually to clear away the auction from the etheric body. Blessed may those now be who have an affliction attached to their etheric bodies if they take up the Christ-Impulse; for they have something within them which lifts them above the suffering and teaches them to find inner comfort, the inner paraclete, the inner comforter!’

Now what had the astral body become through the luciferic influence? It had become less perfect than before. It had been given the possibility which we have described as a good quality: of being able to be aglow for what is great and good, to feel enthusiasm for the sublime treasures of the true, the beautiful and the good. On the other hand it has to purchase this at the price of feeling sympathy or antipathy for the treasures of the earth. But a man who takes up the Christ-Impulse learns to control the astral body, which stirs his physical body to opposition to the treasures of the earth, he learns to bring it under the power of the spirit; and in so doing he becomes happy or blessed. ‘Blessed will he be who makes his astral body indifferent to the things of earth; which will thereby fall to his share. For when he is all afire for the things of earth, feeling both emotion and sympathy or antipathy for them, he casts away that which they might become to him; but when the astral body is brought under the power of the spiritual and he grows indifferent to the things of earth, the Kingdom of Earth is added as a reward.’

Let us now ascend to that which works as sentient soul within the astral body. Herein we still possess in a dim sort of way, a ruling ego, an ego which has not yet wholly emerged and hence is still developing the most egotistical passions. As long as the ego is still really within the sentient soul, it develops the most selfish egoism. The wish that others should have the same as we have is lacking. Egoism dims the sense of justice, for the ego wants everything for itself. But if the ego transmutes itself in imitation of the Christ-Impulse, it will hunger and thirst after justice for all the beings around us. ‘Blessed will be those who hunger and thirst after the feeling of justice in their sentient-soul; for they shall be satisfied. ‘They will be able to bring about conditions all over the world corresponding to the proper new spirit of justice in the depths of the soul.

Let us further ascend to the intellectual or mind soul. This principle brings about to a still greater extent the consideration of one man for another, not merely as a feeling of justice such as is produced by the sentient soul, but as compassion, a true compassion for the sorrows of others and a sharing in their joy. One who takes in the Christ-Impulse grows to feel what others feel, not only what he feels himself; he immerses himself in the ego of others and in so doing feels bliss in his intellectual or mind soul. Blessed is he who develops fellow-feeling; for only by feeling himself within the soul of others, does he stimulate them to feel themselves in him. He will receive the sympathy of others when he himself radiates fellow-feeling for them. ‘Blessed are those who feel with others, for others shall feel with them.’

You will now see how, having gone a little further in our study of these connections, we are able to understand in a different way from the very depths of the nature and being of man, those words in St. Matthew's Gospel, generally known as the Sermon on the Mount. Each sentence of the Sermon on the Mount relates to one of the nine principles of man. In the next lectures we will go further into this. The Sermon on the Mount must become transparent to our spiritual eyes as that deed of Christ Jesus by means of which he turned what was contained in the Old Law of Moses into something quite inward, an inner impulse enabling man's ego to become active, as it must become in all the nine principles of man for if the ego takes up the Christ-Impulse, it affects all these.

Thus we see the profound truth of what I have already indicated here once before: that in Kali-Yuga Christ made the ego of man capable of discovering something in the physical world which can lead man up into the spiritual world, into the Kingdoms of Heaven. Christ has made the ego of man a participator in the spiritual world. On ancient Saturn the physical body was taken straight out of the spiritual world. It was still within that world, because the physical body was at that time much more spiritual and was not aware that it could separate from the spiritual worlds. The etheric body was added on the Sun and the astral body on the Moon, but only on the earth was it made possible—through the development of the ego—to set oneself free from the divine-spiritual. In consequence of this, as the ego must be led back again, God had to descend to the physical plane, and on that plane show man how to find the way back to the Kingdoms of Heaven.

A most important event was brought about through the Christ-Impulse. Now just ask yourselves this question: Did all those living at the time when Christ Jesus worked on earth know that such an important event was taking place? Just reflect that Tacitus—the great historian, mentions the Christians as an almost unknown sect. A hundred years after Christ he only mentions the Christians as a sect living in a side-street in Rome, whose teacher was a certain Jesus; they are simply mentioned as living there. For a long time after the Christ-Event many people in Rome believed Jesus was a contemporary of theirs, as though he had only just appeared. In short, important events can take place in the evolution of man, without contemporaries noticing that anything has happened. The most important things may come about and pass unobserved if people do not cultivate the understanding for them. They would then miss the experience, and as far as that was concerned they would be barren and dried up. ‘Change your hearts! The Kingdoms of Heaven have approached!’ That was the proclamation of John the Baptist and of Christ Jesus Himself. They hinted to those who had ears to hear that something most important was occurring. That nothing is known in the world of an important happening is no proof that it is not taking place. Those whose business it is to-day to point out the signs of the times, are aware of what is taking place to-day. They must point to an occurrence which, though not one of the most cogent, is yet important. True it is that just in our own time something of infinite significance is developing. Just as John pointed to Christ, and Christ Himself pointed to the approach of the Kingdoms of Heaven, to the ego; so must we to-day point to another important event.

Christ descended once to the earth in a body of flesh; He spent the first years of our era on earth, in the flesh. In accordance with the wise guidance of our world-evolution it is not ordained that men should again see Christ in the flesh, as a physically incarnated man; nor is it necessary that they should. For Christ will not return in the flesh. Why? Because what we call the dark age—the Kali-Yuga—was completed at the end of the nineteenth century, and because with the twentieth century began a new age, in which men must prepare to develop new capacities, those faculties which were lost in the dark age. Slowly and gradually these are being prepared. These faculties will develop so far that single individuals will be here who will possess them as natural tendencies. These faculties will be seen in a certain number of persons, particularly between the years of 1930 and 1940, and by means of these a number of people will enter into new relation with the Christ.

This indicates an important point in human development. Spiritual Science is here to open the understanding of men to these new faculties which will be developed in the world of men. Anthroposophy has not come into the world because a few people are in sympathy with it and would like to make it further known; it has come because it is wanted if people wish to understand what will take place in the first half of this century. For it is only by means of that which Spiritual Science can give mankind that it will become capable of understanding this. When people become capable of perceiving in the spirit that which will then occur, they will also be incapable of confusing that event with their mistaken representations. For as materialism spreads further, it will extend even to the spiritual conception of the world where it will have a particularly evil influence. In that realm it might tend to prevent men from understanding what should be spiritually comprehended. What should really be grasped in the spirit they will seek in the world of matter. Because we are to enter into a new relation to Christ in the course of the first half of our century, it must over and over again be emphasised during the next decades and until the event occurs, that false Messiahs, false Christs will arise who will knock at the doors of those who are only able to be materialists in the realms of Spiritual Science, and can only imagine a new relation to Christ if they see Him before them in the flesh. A number of false Messiahs will turn this to their own use, saying: ‘Christ has reappeared in the flesh!’

Anthroposophical wisdom has the duty of preparing the relation which can be attained during the first half of our century by purely human capacities. The responsibility of the Anthroposophical effort becomes ever greater and greater, for it has to prepare for a coming event which will only be understood if Anthroposophy makes its way into the souls of men and thus becomes fruitful for the further development of humanity. The alternative is that men will neglect to accept and make use of the instrument of Spiritual Science, through which this Event can be understood; in that case it will pass humanity by uncomprehended. For if men so entirely reject Spiritual Science that nothing of it should remain, they would not know that this event is there or would interpret it wrongly. The fruit of this event would then be lost to the future of humanity, and man would thus be thrust down into dreadful misery.

I have thus hinted at a new relation to the Christ which is germinating in the souls of men and which they will be able to evolve in a comparatively near future.

Dritter Vortrag

Durch ein jedes der Evangelien, so konnten wir bei einer unserer letzten Betrachtungen sagen, wird uns das große Geheimnis von Golgatha von einer besonderen Seite her dargestellt. Wir haben darauf aufmerksam gemacht, daß das Markus-Evangelium das Geheimnis von Golgatha, das Geheimnis des Christus Jesus, darlegt aus den großen kosmologischen Zusammenhängen heraus, während das Martthäus-Evangelium die Herausbildung dieses Geheimnisses darstellt aus einem Volkstum heraus, nämlich aus dem althebräischen Volkstum. Wir haben gesehen, wie nach und nach sich dieses althebräische Volkstum von Generation zu Generation seit der Zeit des Abraham entwickeln mußte, um dann als Blüte hervorzubringen dasjenige Menschenwesen, das in sich bergen konnte die Individualität des Zarathustra oder Zoroaster. Wir haben gesehen, wie alle die Eigenschaften des althebräischen Volkes, die sich nach und nach intensiver und intensiver gestalten mußten, indem sie sich von Generation zu Generation steigerten, auf dem Prinzip der physischen Vererbung beruhten. Damit haben wir den Unterschied gerade der Mission des althebräischen Volkes von den Missionen anderer Völker charakterisieren können. Die Mission des althebräischen Volkes lag darin, daß es gewisse Eigenschaften zu vererben hatte, die eben nur auf dem Wege der physischen Vererbung von den ältesten Generationen aus der abrahamitischen Zeit bis herunter zu dem Jesus sich steigernd vererben mußten. Das Matthäus-Evangelium birgt aber noch viele Geheimnisse, wie ja die anderen Evangelien auch. Und wenn wir auch im Laufe dieses Winters noch einzelne Ausblicke, einzelne Perspektiven in die Evangelien eröffnen, so kann doch das Verständnis höchstens zunächst angeregt werden. Denn um die Evangelien vollständig zu verstehen, ist eine schier nie zu endende geistige Arbeit notwendig. Heute soll von einer ganz bestimmten Seite her ein Licht zunächst auf das Matthäus-Evangelium geworfen und daran angeschlossen werden eine gewisse Nutzanwendung solcher Lehren, wie sie aus diesen Ausblicken folgen können für die heute in der anthroposophischen Geistesströmung stehenden Seelen.

Wenn wir heute eine Art Rückblick tun auf mancherlei von dem, was wir im Laufe der Jahre gelernt haben, dann werden wir sagen können, daß diese Entwickelung der Menschheit, wie wir sie geisteswissenschaftlich dargestellt haben, verschiedene Krisen durchmacht, an wichtige Punkte kommt, dann eine Weile fortgeht in einer gleichmäßigeren Art, dann wiederum an einen wichtigen Punkt kommt und so weiter. Wir haben ja oft betont, daß ein solcher wichtigster Punkt in der Erdenentwickelung der Menschheit die Zeit ist, in welcher im Beginne unserer neuzeitlichen Zeitrechnung der ChristusImpuls gegeben worden ist. Wenn wir von da aus weiter zurückgehen, finden wir, verschiedenes überspringend, einen wichtigen Punkt, auf den wir immer wieder hingedeutet haben. Wenn wir die atlantische Zeit durchschreiten und in die lemurische Zeit zurückgehen, finden wir dort jenen Zeitpunkt, in dem die erste Anlage zum menschlichen Ich in die menschliche Wesenheit verpflanzt worden ist.

Wenn so etwas verstanden werden soll, müssen die Worte ganz genau genommen werden. Man muß zum Beispiel genau unterscheiden, was da geschehen ist in der alten lemurischen Zeit, wenn gesagt wird: Damals ist die erste Anlage zum Ich in die Menschenwesenheit hineinversenkt worden -, und wenn gesagt wird: In der Zeit des Mysteriums von Golgatha begann die Periode, das Zeitalter, in dem sich die Menschheit dieses Ichs vollständig bewußt geworden ist. — Das ist ein bedeutsamer Unterschied: das Ich erst zu haben als Anlage, als etwas, was in dem Menschen arbeitet, oder mit seinem Wissen hingelenkt zu werden darauf, daß man dieses Ich hat. Diese Dinge muß man streng voneinander unterscheiden, sonst kommt man nicht zurecht mit den wirklichen Gesetzen der Entwickelung.

Wir wissen, daß die Hineinverpflanzung des Ich in den Menschen begründet ist in der Gesamtentwickelung der Erde. Die Erde ging durch die Saturn-, Sonnen- und Mondenzeit hindurch und wurde dann erst jenes Gebilde, das sie heute ist. Auf dem Saturn wurde die Anlage zum physischen Leibe gelegt, auf der Sonne zum Ätherleibe, auf dem Mond zum astralischen Leibe, und auf der Erde ist die Anlage zum Ich hinzugekommen. Diese Anlage zum Ich wurde also innerhalb der Erdentwickelung gelegt in der lemurischen Zeit. Nun aber ging in diesem lemurischen Zeitalter noch etwas anderes vor sich, dasjenige nämlich, was wir immer den luziferischen Einfluß genannt haben. Es wurde also in jenem Zeitraum der Mensch auf der einen Seite begabt mit dem Keim zum Ich, der bestimmt war, im Laufe der folgenden Erdperioden immer weiter und weiter ausgebildet zu werden, und gleichzeitig wurde dem astralischen Leib eingeimpft der luziferische Einfluß. Durch diesen luziferischen Einfluß wurde ja das gesamte Menschenwesen verändert, also auch alles am Menschen, was an Kräften, an Elementen im Ätherleibe und im physischen Leibe war. Der ganze Mensch wurde dadurch in der lemurischen Zeit eben ein anderer, als er geworden wäre, wenn es keinen luziferischen Einfluß gegeben hätte. So haben wir also den Menschen in der lemurischen Zeit in zweifacher Weise einen anderen werdend: Wir haben ihn werdend zu einer Ich-Wesenheit und außerdem werdend zu einem Wesen, das in sich selber birgt das luziferische Prinzip. Wenn das luziferische Prinzip nicht gekommen wäre, so wäre der Ich-Einfluß deshalb doch eingetreten.

Was ist nun am Menschenwesen dadurch geschehen, daß sich der luziferische Einfluß in der lemurischen Zeit geltend machte?

Wenn eine solche Sache von dieser oder jener Seite geschildert wird, so bitte ich Sie recht sehr, nehmen Sie eine solche Schilderurig niemals so, als ob gleich alles damit gegeben würde; sondern es kann immer nur ein Gesichtspunkt herausgegriffen werden. Es ist im Laufe der Jahre schon viel gesagt worden, was alles durch den luziferischen Einfluß im Laufe der Entwickelung geschehen ist. Das alles gehört auch dazu, aber das können wir jetzt nicht wiederholen. Heute werden wir nur einen Gesichtspunkt herauszuheben haben, der uns eine bestimmte Seite charakterisiert. Dieser Gesichtspunkt besteht darinnen, daß der Mensch durch diesen luziferischen Einfluß früher zu einer Entwickelungsstufe gekommen ist, als es ihm eigentlich vorausbestimmt war, als es sozusagen in der weisen Weltenlenkung für ihn vorgesehen war. Der Mensch ist durch den luziferischen Einfluß in seine drei von den früheren Verkörperungen der Erde herübergekommenen Wesensglieder, in seinen astralischen Leib, in seinen Ätherleib und in seinen physischen Leib tiefer hineingestiegen, ist mehr mit ihnen verstrickt worden, als wenn es keinen luziferischen Einfluß gegeben hätte. Der Mensch wäre mit seinem Ich sozusagen den geistigen Welten näher geblieben, hätte sich länger als ein Glied der geistigen Welt mit seinem Ich gefühlt, wenn der luziferische Einfluß nicht bewirkt hätte, daß dieses Ich tiefer hineingestiegen ist in astralischen Leib, Ätherleib und physischen Leib. Der Mensch ist sozusagen tiefer auf die Erde heruntergestiegen in der lemurischen Zeit durch den luziferischen Einfluß.

Wir können den Zeitpunkt angeben, wann der Mensch -: wenn es keinen luziferischen Einfluß gegeben hätte — so weit auf die Erde oder in die physische Materie heruntergestiegen wäre als er in Wirklichkeit in der lemurischen Zeit heruntergestiegen ist durch den luziferischen Einfluß: das wäre in der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit gewesen. Mit anderen Worten: Wäre kein luziferischer Einfluß gekommen, so hätte der Mensch mit seinem Herabstieg auf die Erde bis in die Mitte der atlantischen Zeit warten müssen. Durch den luziferischen Einfluß ist er früher heruntergestiegen. Dadurch ist er dazu gekommen, ein freies, aus seinen eigenen Impulsen heraus handelndes Wesen zu werden; denn er hätte sich sonst bis in die Mitte der atlantischen Zeit in vollständiger Abhängigkeit von der geistigen Welt erhalten, hätte bis dahin niemals irgendwie selber entscheiden können zwischen dem Guten und dem Bösen, niemals irgendeinen freien Impuls entfalten können, sondern hätte aus seelischen Instinkten heraus gehandelt, das heißt aus Kräften heraus, welche die göttlichgeistigen Wesenheiten in seine Seele verpflanzt hätten. Aber die luziferischen Wesenheiten haben ihm die Möglichkeit verschafft, früher als sonst zu entscheiden zwischen dem Guten und Bösen, sich nicht bloß nach den Gesetzen der göttlich-geistigen Weltordnung instinktiv lenken zu lassen, sondern selber zu entscheiden, sich selber eine Art Gesetzmäßigkeit zu machen.

Diese Tatsache wird uns ja in tiefsinniger Weise ausgedrückt in der Schilderung des Sündenfalles, der in einer wunderbaren Imagination nichts anderes darstellt als das, was ich jetzt erzählt habe. Das wird im Alten Testament dargestellt, indem gesagt wird: Es wurde eingepflanzt dem Menschen die lebendige Seele von den göttlich-geistigen Wesenheiten. - Wenn diese lebendige Seele nun bloß so geblieben wäre, hätte der Mensch jetzt warten müssen, bis später durch die göttlich-geistigen Wesenheiten diese lebendige Seele, das heißt das noch unentwickelte Ich, reif geworden wäre, die Entscheidungen zu treffen. Nun kommen die luziferischen Einflüsse, in der Bibel dargestellt durch die Schlange. Dadurch kommt der Mensch dazu, nicht bloß instinktiv den Einströmungen des Jahve oder der Elohim zu folgen, sondern selber zu entscheiden über Gut und Böse. Aus einem Wesen, das bis dahin gelenkt und geleitet worden ist von den göttlich-geistigen Wesenheiten, ist der Mensch dadurch zu einem Wesen geworden, das selbst entscheiden konnte. Das wird auch in der Bibel ganz klar dargestellt, daß durch die Schlange, das heißt durch die luziferischen Wesenheiten, die Selbstentscheidung des Menschen herbeigeführt worden ist. Und dann tönen Ihnen, von Götterseite gesprochen, aus der Bibel die Worte entgegen: Der Mensch ist geworden wie einer von uns! — das heißt, von den Göttern. Oder wenn wir es radikal ausdrücken wollen: Der Mensch hat sich durch den luziferischen Einfluß etwas angeeignet, was sich bis dahin nur für Götter geziemt hat. Götter haben die Entscheidungen getroffen über Gut und Böse, nicht diejenigen Wesen, die von den Göttern abhängig waren.

Nun ist der Mensch durch den luziferischen Einfluß zu einem Selbstentscheider, das heißt, zu einem solchen Wesen geworden, das göttliche Eigenschaften zu früh in sich entwickelte. So ist auf diese Weise durch den luziferischen Einfluß etwas in die Menschennatur hineingekommen, was sonst aufbewahrt geblieben wäre für die menschliche Entwickelung bis in die Mitte der atlantischen Zeit. Nun können Sie sich denken, daß der Mensch ein ganz anderer gewesen wäre, wenn ihm dieser Herunterstieg in die Materie erst in der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit beschieden gewesen wäre, denn dann wäre seine Seele reifer von diesem Herunterstieg getroffen worden. Er wäre als ein besserer, als ein reiferer Mensch in der Materie angekommen. Er hätte also in alles Physische, Ätherische und Astralische andere Eigenschaften hineingebracht und wäre ganz anders fähig geworden, zwischen dem Guten und dem Bösen zu entscheiden. Dadurch, daß sich der Mensch von der lemurischen Zeit bis zur Mitte der atlantischen Zeit zu einem Entscheider zwischen Gut und Böse gemacht hat, dadurch hat er sich schlechter gemacht, als er sonst geworden wäre, und kam dadurch in einem weniger vollkommenen Zustand an. Er hätte die ganze Zeit bis zur Mitte der atlantischen Zeit sonst in einer viel geistigeren Art durchgemacht, so aber hat er sie materieller durchlaufen. Dadurch wurde aber jetzt bewirkt, daß, wenn dem Menschen das nicht hinzugegeben worden wäre, was ihm die Götter in der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit zugedacht hatten, er dann vollständig heruntergefallen wäre.

Was wäre dem Menschen in der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit gegeben worden, wenn er bis dahin wie instinktiv von geistig-göttlichen Wesenheiten gelenkt und geleitet worden wäre?

Es wäre ihm das gegeben worden, was ihm, nachdem der luziferische Einfluß einmal da war, gegeben worden ist durch das Mysterium von Golgatha! Der Christus-Impuls wäre ihm in der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit gegeben worden. Jetzt mußte er aber, weil der luziferische Einfluß da war, auf diesen Christus-Impuls so lange warten, als die Zeit betrug von dem luziferischen Einfluß bis zur Mitte der atlantischen Zeit. So viel Zeit früher, als Luzifer vor der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit an den Menschen herangetreten ist, so viel Zeit später kam der Christus-Impuls. So haben wir dadurch, daß der Mensch sich seine Gottähnlichkeit früher erworben hat als es hätte sein sollen, eine Verzögerung des Christus-Impulses zu verzeichnen. Denn der Mensch mußte erst alles durchmachen, was ihm im Erdenkarma werden mußte für das, was in ihn Schlechtes hineingekommen war durch den luziferischen Einfluß. Das mußte erst sozusagen ausgelitten werden durch die Menschheit. Der Mensch mußte warten, bis nicht nur der luziferische Einfluß ihn zu einem Entscheider gemacht hatte zwischen Gut und Böse, sondern bis im Laufe der Erdenentwickelung auch alles das eingetreten war, was als Folge dieses luziferischen Einflusses kommen mußte. Das mußte abgewartet werden. Dann erst konnte der Christus-Impuls auf die Erde herniedersteigen. Der Mensch sollte nicht etwa nach der weisen Lenkung der Welt dasjenige ewig entbehren, was ihm durch den luziferischen Einfluß geworden ist, sondern er hätte es in der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit erhalten sollen. Werden sollte es ihm also unter allen Umständen. Allerdings in der Form, in der es ihm geworden ist durch den luziferischen Einfluß, wäre es ihm im anderen Falle nicht geworden. Durch Luzifer hat der Mensch für alles, was zusammenhängt mit geistigen Dingen, nicht nur die freie Entscheidung bekommen, sondern auch die Fähigkeit, sich zu enthusiasmieren für das Gute und Edle, Weise und Große. Wie wir als Menschen heute sind, können wir nicht bloß kalt, nüchtern und trocken entscheiden zwischen Gut und Böse, sondern wir können auch für das Schöne, für das Edle, Gute und Weise entflammt werden. Das rührt davon her, daß in unseren astralischen Leib etwas hineingetragen worden ist, was sonst, wenn es erst in der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit dem Menschen zugekommen wäre, nur in das Ich, in das urteilende Ich hineingetragen worden wäre. Also alles, was wir an Gefühlen, an Idealismus, an Entflammtsein haben für das Gute, für hohe Ideale, das verdanken wir dem Umstande, daß in unseren astralischen Leib etwas hineingekommen ist, bevor uns die Gottähnlichkeit in unserm Ich, die Aufnahme des Christus in unserm Ich zuteil geworden ist. Das ist das Wesentliche, daß diese Gottähnlichkeit, diese Gottgleichheit, diese Möglichkeit, das Gute in sich selbst zu finden, über den Menschen kommen sollte. Wäre der luziferische Einfluß nicht gekommen, so wäre dieser Impuls in der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit gekommen; so ist er aber jetzt in der Zeit gekommen, in der der Christus Jesus eben gewirkt hat.

Es ist also durch den Christus-Impuls in den Menschen das Bewußstsein eingezogen, daß er in seinem Ich etwas von göttlicher Substanz und Wesenheit hat. Das liegt ja all den tieferen Aussprüchen auch des Neuen Testamentes zugrunde, daß der Mensch in seine IchWesenheit das Göttliche aufnehmen kann, und daß dieses Göttliche darin wirken und Entscheidungen treffen kann zwischen Gutem und Bösem. Wir können daher sagen, mit der Aufnahme des Christus-Impulses in das menschliche Innere kam über den Menschen die Möglichkeit, sich zu sagen: Ich bin mir Richtschnur für die Erkenntnisse meines Daseins, für die Entscheidungen über Gut und Böse.

Wenn wir nun zurückblicken auf die vorchristlichen Zeiten, müssen wir sagen: Da damals jener Impuls, der den Menschen zum wahren Entscheider macht zwischen Gut und Böse, noch nicht da war, so war die Entscheidung zwischen Gut und Böse, war das Urteil, die Erkenntnis über das Gute, Schöne und Wahre in der vorchristlichen Zeit notwendig eine mangelhafte und eine solche, die sich nicht eigentlich aus dem Innersten des Menschen heraus ergeben konnte. Der Mensch hatte auch nicht die Möglichkeit, bevor der ChristusImpuls gekommen war, aus seinem innersten Wesen heraus über das Gute und das Böse zu entscheiden. Die Entscheidung über das richtige Gute, über das richtige Wahre, über das richtige Schöne konnte in vorchristlichen Zeiten nur dadurch getroffen werden, daß einzelne Individualitäten, wie die Bodhisattvas, mit einem Teile ihres Wesens im Laufe der Zeit hinaufreichten in göttlich-geistige Welten, also die Entscheidung über Gut und Böse nicht eigentlich aus dem Innersten der Menschennatur holten, sondern aus den göttlichen Welten. Durch ihren Verkehr mit göttlich-geistigen Wesenheiten bekamen sie es und flößten es dann wie suggestiv der Menschenseele ein. Ohne solche Führer hätten die Menschen in den vorchristlichen Zeiten immer nur mangelhafte Entscheidungen treffen können über Gut und Böse. Wenn sich diese Führer auf ihr eigenes Herz verlassen hätten, so hätten sie es auch nicht gekonnt; nur dadurch, daß sie herunterstiegen in die Tiefen der Seele, die dem Menschen noch nicht beschert waren, dadurch, daß sie aus ihrer eigenen Ich-Wesenheit herausgingen in die Reiche der Himmel, bekamen sie die Impulse, welche die Menschen brauchten, um in der Zeit des mangelhaften Entscheidens über Gut und Böse dennoch das Gute vorbereitend auf die Erde zu verpflanzen.

So war der Mensch in der vorchristlichen Zeit ein Wesen, welches sich für noch nicht genügend gereifte Eigenschaften die Gottgleichheit angeeignet hatte, für etwas, was noch gar nicht dazu geeignet war, die Gottgleichheit zu haben. Dadurch hat der Mensch seit der lemurischen Zeit alles, was er getan hat, schlechter, mangelhafter getan, als er es sonst getan haben würde. Vor allen Dingen hat er durch den luziferischen Einfluß in der vorchristlichen Zeit dasjenige schlechter und mangelhafter getan, was sich auf ihn selbst bezieht. Seinen astralischen Leib, Ätherleib und physischen Leib, die sonst geistiger geblieben wären, wenn nicht der luziferische Einfluß gewirkt hätte, hat er dadurch, daß das alles so gekommen ist, schlechter, materieller gestaltet. Dadurch sind aber auch alle Übel in das Menschenleben gekommen, die sich im Laufe der Zeit entwickelt haben. Im Laufe einer langen Zeit haben sie sich entwickelt.

Von der lemurischen Zeit bis zum Mysterium von Golgatha haben sich im physischen Leibe, im Ätherleib und im astralischen Leibe Übel entwickelt. Im astralischen Leibe hat sich ein hochgradiger Egoismus entwickelt, im Ätherleibe haben sich entwickelt die Möglichkeiten des Irrtums, wenn wir irgend etwas beurteilen wollen, und die Möglichkeit der Lüge. Wenn der Mensch unter dem Einfluß göttlich-geistiger Wesenheiten geblieben wäre, instinktiv nach ihren Impulsen gehandelt hätte, so würde er, wenn er sich heute Erkenntnisse würde erwerben wollen über die Umwelt, weder in Irrtum verfallen können, noch zur Lüge verführt werden können; so aber ist der Hang zur Lüge und die Gefahr des Irrtums in die menschliche Entwickelung hineingekommen. Und weil das Geistige immer der Verursacher ist des Physischen, und weil der luziferische Einfluß und dessen Folgen sich von Inkarnation zu Inkarnation immer mehr hineingefressen haben in den Ätherleib, so ist dadurch in den physischen Leib hineingekommen die Möglichkeit zur Erkrankung. Krankheit ist das Übel im physischen Leibe, das durch diese Entwikkelung gekommen ist.

Aber etwas noch Bedeutsameres ist gekommen. Wäre der Mensch nicht diesen Einflüssen unterlegen, hätte er sie nicht auf sich wirken lassen, so wäre auch nicht das Bewußtsein gekommen, daß in dem Moment, wo der physische Leib von uns abfällt, irgend etwas anderes geschieht, als eine Verwandlung im Leben: Das Bewußtsein des Todes wäre nicht gekommen. Denn wenn der Mensch weniger tief in die Materie heruntergestiegen wäre und die Fäden, die ihn mit dem Göttlich-Geistigen verknüpfen, behalten hätte, so würde er gewußt haben, daß mit dem Ablegen der physischen Hülle eben nur eine andere Form des Daseins beginnt. Er hätte es nicht angesehen als das Verlieren, als das Ende einer ihm lieb gewordenen Existenz. Also alle Dinge in der Entwickelung würden ein anderes Gesicht bekommen haben.

Weil der Mensch nun tiefer hinuntergestiegen ist in die Materie, hat er sich dadurch freier und unabhängiger gemacht, aber er hat auch seine Entwickelung zu einer mangelhafteren gemacht, als sie sonst geworden wäre.

Das alles, was im Menschen mangelhaft geworden ist, wird durch den Christus-Impuls wiederum geheilt. Nur verlange man nicht, daß es geheilt werde in einer wesentlich kürzeren Zeit, als es bewirkt worden ist, oder gar in einer sehr kurzen Zeit. Die Zeit von der lemurischen Epoche bis zum Mysterium von Golgatha ist eine sehr lange. Und langsam und allmählich, von Verkörperung zu Verkörperung wirkend, sind gekommen Egoismus, Irrtum und Lüge, Krankheit und Todesgefühl. Dadurch, daß der Christus-Impuls in der Menschheit wirkt, werden in einer aufsteigenden Entwickelung des Menschen diese Eigenschaften alle wiederum zurück verwandelt. Der Mensch wird sozusagen mit seinen Fähigkeiten, die er sich unten erworben hat, zurückgeführt in die geistige Welt. Es wird sogar schneller geschehen, als der Herunterstieg vor sich ging. Aber man verlange nicht, daß der Mensch in ein oder zwei Inkarnationen durch das, was er durch den Christus-Impuls aufnehmen kann, imstande sein wird, die Selbstsucht zu besiegen, sich in seinem Ätherleib so zu heilen, daß keine Gefahr für Lüge und Irrtum mehr da wären, noch daß er gar bis in seinen physischen Leib hinein gesundend wirken könne. Das muß langsam und allmählich geschehen. Aber es geschieht. Gerade so, wie durch den luziferischen Einfluß der Mensch heruntergeführt worden ist zu all den geschilderten Eigenschaften, ebenso wird er wieder heraufgeführt werden durch den Christus-Impuls: Es wird die Selbstsucht in Selbstlosigkeit umgewandelt werden, die Lügenhaftigkeit wird zur Wahrhaftigkeit, die Gefahr des Irrtums wird zur Treffsicherheit und zur Wahrheit des Urteils werden. Krankheit wird zu einer Unterlage für eine um so größere Gesundheit werden. Jene Krankheiten, die wir überwunden haben, werden die Keime zu einer höheren Gesundheit sein. Und wenn der Tod allmählich so begriffen wird, daß der Tod auf Golgatha in unserer Seele selber als das Vorbild des Todes wirkt, dann wird der Tod seinen Stachel verloren haben. Der Mensch wird wissen, warum er von Zeit zu Zeit seine physische Hülle ablegen muß, um immer höher zu dringen im Laufe der Verkörperungen. Was aber insbesondere durch den Christus-Impuls eingetreten ist, das ist, daß der Anstoß gegeben worden ist, etwas gut zu machen, was insbesondere die menschliche Erkenntnis und die menschliche Beobachtung, das Wissen des Menschen von der Welt berrifft.

Wir haben gesagt, daß der Mensch mehr in die Materie hineinverstrickt worden ist, sich in seinen drei Leibern mangelhafter gemacht hat, als er geworden wäre, wenn kein luziferischer Einfluß gekommen wäre. Dadurch ist der Mensch erfaßt worden von einem Antrieb, immer tiefer hinunterzusteigen in das materielle Dasein, immer gründlicher hineinzusausen in das bloße Materielle. Das ist ihm insbesondere mit seiner Erkenntnis passiert. Aber auch das ist langsam und allmählich gekommen. Nicht gleich, als der luziferische Einfluß gewirkt hat, ist der Mensch sozusagen so tief heruntergesunken, daß er nun alle Tore nach der geistigen Welt hinter sich zugeschlossen gehabt hätte. Der Mensch war noch lange in Verbindung mit der geistigen Welt, aus der er herausgewachsen ist, und in der er geblieben wäre mit seinem ganzen Wesen, wenn der luziferische Einfluß nicht gekommen wäre. Noch lange ist der Mensch dieser geistigen Welt teilhaftig geblieben, er fühlte noch lange, wie in seine feineren geistigen Instinkte hineinführten die Fäden der göttlich-geistigen Welt. Er handelte noch lange Zeit so, daß der Impuls nicht ein bloß menschlicher war, sondern ein solcher, wie wenn die Götter hinter ihm gewirkt hätten. Das war besonders in den ältesten Zeiten so. Erst langsam wurde der Mensch hineingestoßen in das Materielle, und damit verlor er dann auch das Bewußtsein des Göttlichen.

Diejenigen Geistesströmungen und Weltanschauungen in der Menschheit, die ein Wissen von diesen Dingen gehabt haben, haben daher immer darauf hingedeutet: Es hat ein altes Zeitalter gegeben, da war der Mensch zwar durch den luziferischen Einfluß schon etwas heruntergestoßen ins materielle Dasein, aber doch noch nicht so weit, als daß nicht dieser göttliche Einfluß noch stark in ihm gewirkt hätte. Dieses Zeitalter nannte man in alten Zeiten der Menschheitsentwickelung das goldene Zeitalter. Das ist nicht irgendein Phantasieprodukt, sondern der Ausdruck «goldenes Zeitalter» ist einfach ein Ausdruck, welchen diejenigen Bekenner gebraucht haben, die in älteren Zeiten noch eine Ahnung davon hatten, daß es so etwas wie eine Urzeit der Menschheit, wie sie eben geschildert wurde, einmal gegeben hat. Dieses goldene Zeitalter, das man mit einem Ausdruck der orientalischen Philosophie als «Krita Yuga» bezeichnet, hat verhältnismäßig von all den Zeitaltern, die wir noch charakterisieren werden, am längsten gedauert.

Nach diesem goldenen Zeitalter kommt dann das sogenannte silberne Zeitalter. Da war der Mensch schon mehr heruntergestoßen in die physische Welt. Aber alles geschah langsam und allmählich. Es waren auch jetzt noch nicht die Tore gegenüber der geistigen Welt ganz zugeschlossen. Der Mensch hatte noch starke Momente, in denen er wie in einem traumhaften Hellsehen die Götter treibend hinter seinen Instinkten merkte. In diesem silbernen Zeitalter könnte man den Menschen zwar nicht mehr einen Genossen der Götter nennen, aber er merkte noch, daß Götter hinter ihm standen. Dieses Zeitalter wird mit einem Ausdruck der orientalischen Philosophie auch «Ireta Yuga» genannt.

Dann kommt ein Zeitalter, das geht hinein bis in unser nachatlantisches Zeitalter; es erstreckt seine letzten Ausläufer bis in historische Zeiten hinein, wo es noch immer Menschen gegeben hat, mit altem traumhaftem, dämmerhaftem Hellsehen begabt. Aber das Bewußtsein von der geistigen Welt, aus der der Mensch herausgewachsen war, war in diesem Zeitalter nur noch wie eine Art Erinnerung vorhanden, die geblieben war aus früheren Inkarnationen. Es war so, wie wenn Sie sich heute Ihre Jugend, Ihr Kindesalter und Ihr jetziges Lebensalter denken. In unserer Kindheit haben wir die Kindheitserlebnisse unmittelbar erlebt, so haben die Menschen noch im Treta Yuga unmittelbar die Impulse der göttlich-geistigen Welt erlebt. In dem Zeitalter, das dann darauf folgte, das man auch das eherne Zeitalter nennt, da war nur mehr etwas wie eine Erinnerung daran vorhanden. Man könnte es vergleichen mit der Art, wie der erwachsene Mensch seine Kindheit betrachtet. Denn Sie werden sagen: Ich habe meine Kindheit erlebt, es ist kein Traum! So war es in dem dritten Zeitalter, da wußten die Menschen: Wir haben in früheren Zeiten den Zusammenhang mit dem Göttlichen erlebt, aber jetzt ist er nur noch wie eine Erinnerung da. — Ich habe ausführlich gezeigt, wie in der altindischen Kultur die Erinnerung an die atlantische Zeit nachwirkte; daher konnten die heiligen Rishis, weil diese Erinnerung noch nachwirkte, auch gerade damals ihre großen göttlichen Lehren verkündigen. Dieses eherne Zeitalter wird in der orientalischen Philosophie als «Dvapara Yuga» bezeichnet.

Danach kommt ein Zeitalter, in dem die Erinnerung an die göttlich-geistige Welt verlorengeht, wo der Mensch mit seinem Erkennen und Anschauen ganz herausgesetzt wird in die physische Welt. Dieses Zeitalter beginnt etwa mit dem Jahre 3101 vor unserer Zeitrechnung, vor der Geburt des Christus Jesus, und man nennt es auch mit einem Ausdruck der orientalischen Philosophie «Kali Yuga», das finstere Zeitalter, weil da der Mensch alle Zusammenhänge mit der geistigen Welt verloren hat und vollständig zusammengewachsen ist mit der physischen Welt.

Ich bemerke ausdrücklich, daß ich diese Ausdrücke jetzt gebrauche für kleinere Zeitabschnitte; man kann sie aber auch ausdehnen über größere Zeiträume. Wir sprechen also von jener Auffassung der Zeitalter, wie sie zunächst den kleineren Zeitaltern entsprechen, und lassen Kali Yuga beginnen, wie es die indische Philosophie lehrt, mit dem Jahre 3101 vor unserer Zeitrechnung. Da bereitet sich jener Zeitraum vor, in welchem die Menschen angewiesen werden, nur dasjenige zu sehen, was wie ein Schleier, wie eine Hülle die göttlich-geistige Welt verbirgt, wo sie nur das äußere Physisch-Sinnliche wahrnehmen. Zwar sind im Anfange des Kali Yuga noch viele Menschen vorhanden, die hineinschauen oder sich erinnern können an die göttlich-geistige Welt, aber für die normale Menschheit beginnt jetzt die Zeit, wo sie nur noch Physisch-Sinnliches wahrnimmt.

Das war das Heruntersteigen der Menschen bis zu einem Kali Yuga. Das war die Zeit des tiefsten Herunterstieges. Da hinein mußte der Impuls fallen, wieder hinaufzusteigen. Daher kommt der Impuls wieder hinaufzusteigen, der Christus-Impuls, im Kali Yuga, im finsteren Zeitalter.

Dieser Christus-Impuls war vorbereitet worden durch die Jahve- oder Jehova-Religion. Denn durch die Jahve-Religion war der Mensch aufmerksam gemacht worden auf das Mangelhafte seiner früheren Entscheidungen. Während des Zeitraumes von der alten lemurischen Zeit bis zur Verkündigung auf dem Sinai haben wir ja jenes Zeitalter, wo der Mensch zwar zu einem Selbstentscheider wird über Gut und Böse, wo er auf der anderen Seite aber auch in Irrtum verfällt über das Böse und Gute und immer mehr dasjenige auf die Erde bringt, was in der Bibel die Sünde genannt wird. Da frißt sich die Sünde ein in das Erdenleben. Der Mensch hat sich die Gottgleichheit angeeignet, aber er hat sie für Eigenschaften in Anspruch genommen, die durchaus nicht reif waren für die Gottgleichheit. Was mußte nun geschehen?

Zunächst mußte dem Menschen gezeigt werden, was die Gottheit von ihm verlangt, wenn er ein selbstbewußtes Ich werden sollte. Und das wurde ihm gezeigt durch die Verkündigung auf dem Sinai, durch die Verkündigung der Zehn Gebote. Da hörten die Menschen durch Moses: Was du bisher entwickelt hast über Gut und Böse, das ist mangelhaft. Ich zeige dir, wie die Gesetze lauten würden, wenn du nicht heruntergestiegen wärest und für deine mangelhaften Eigenschaften die Entscheidung über Gut und Böse in Anspruch genommen hättest! — So steht das Gesetz vom Sinai, der Dekalog, zu dem, was der Mensch geworden war, so daß ihm heruntertönt aus den geistigen Welten, was das Richtige wäre gegenüber dem, was er als mangelhaft ausgebildet hat. Als ein ehernes Gesetz stehen die Zehn Gebote da, als eine Fackel, welche dem Menschen anzeigt alles, was er nicht geworden ist. Er soll sich diesem Gesetz unterwerfen mit all dem, was er geworden ist. Der Mensch konnte sich diese Zehn Gebote zunächst nicht selbst geben, weil er in seinem Entscheiden, in seiner eigenen Gesetzgebung mangelhaft geworden war. Daher mußten ihm die Zehn Gebote durch einen Inspirierten, durch Moses gegeben werden, das heißt durch göttliche Eingebung von oben. Aber sie waren so gegeben, daß sie alle auf das Ich gerichtet waren. Sie sagten dem Menschen, wie sich ein Ich benehmen muß}, wenn es das Ziel der Menschheit erlangen soll.

In dem Vortrag über die Zehn Gebote des Moses, am 16. November 1908, ist das im einzelnen ausgeführt worden. Da ist gezeigt worden, wie das Ich zunächst sich benehmen soll zu den geistigen Welten, in den ersten drei Geboten, wie es sich verhalten soll zu den Mitmenschen in bezug auf seine Taten und Handlungen, in den nächsten Geboten und wie es sich benehmen soll in bezug auf seine Empfindungen und Gefühle, in den letzten Geboten. Die Erziehung, die Kultur des Ich wird befohlen in den Zehn Geboten. Das war die Vorbereitung dafür, daß das Ich in seinem Innersten lernen sollte, sich selber den Impuls zu geben, nachdem es in das Kali Yuga, bis in das finstere Zeitalter hinuntergestiegen ist. Es sollte den Menschen zunächst vorgeführt werden ein Gesetz von oben. Was das Gesetz des eigenen Ich werden sollte, das konnte es aber nur werden, wenn das Ich das große Vorbild von Golgatha in sich aufnahm, wenn das Ich sich sagte: Wenn ich in meine Seele ein solches Denken aufnehme, wie das Wesen gedacht hat, das sich auf Golgatha geopfert hat, wenn ich ein solches Fühlen in mich aufnehme, wie das Wesen gefühlt hat, das sich auf Golgatha geopfert hat, wenn ich ein solches Wollen in mich aufnehme, wie das Wesen gewollt hat, das sich auf Golgatha opferte, dann wird mein Wesen in sich selber die Entscheidung finden, wird die Gottgleichheit immer mehr und mehr entwikkeln, wird nicht mehr bloß zu folgen haben einem äußeren Gesetz, den Zehn Geboten, sondern einem inneren Impuls, seinem eigenen Gesetz!

So hat Moses zunächst das Gesetz hingestellt vor den Menschen, der Christus aber das Vorbild und die Kraft, welche die Seele aufnehmen sollte, um sich zu entwickeln. Daher mußte alles bis zur Innerlichkeit vertieft werden durch den Christus Jesus, alles bis in die tiefste Seele hineingetragen werden, was an geistigen Impulsen da war, bis in das Ich selber. Das konnte nur geschehen, wenn folgendes gedacht wurde, wenn der Christus Jesus folgendes als einen Impuls ausstreute.

Der Mensch ist heruntergestiegen bis in das finstere Zeitalter, bis in das Kali Yuga. Vor diesem finsteren Zeitalter haben die Menschen hineingesehen im dumpfen, dämmerhaften Hellsehen in die geistige Welt. Da haben sie sich nicht bloß der Instrumente des physischen Leibes bedienen können, sondern indem sie durch ihre Augen, Ohren und so weiter die physische Welt beobachtet haben, ist ihnen überall ein Geistiges erschienen: um Blumen, Pflanzen, Steine und so weiter. Diese Menschen waren reich in bezug auf ihre Beobachtung an Geist. Der Geist wurde ihnen in alten Zeiten geschenkt. Jetzt, in dem finsteren Zeitalter, sind sie Bettler geworden in bezug auf den Geist, denn der Geist wurde ihnen jetzt nicht mehr geschenkt. Arm sind sie geworden an Geist. Immer mehr und mehr war das Kali Yuga herangekommen, wo die Menschen sich sagen mußten: In den alten Zeiten war es anders; da wurde der Geist den Menschen noch geschenkt, da konnten sie hinaufschauen in eine geistige Welt, da waren sie reich an Geist, da waren ihnen die Reiche der Himmel zugänglich. Jetzt aber sind die Menschen heruntergedrängt worden in die physische Welt. Geschlossen haben sich die Tore zu der geistigen Welt vor den menschlichen Sinnen, und der physische Leib eröffnet keine Aussicht in die Reiche der Himmel.

Aber der Christus konnte sagen: Ergreift das Ich da, wo ihr es jetzt ergreifen sollt, dann sind die Reiche der Himmel nahe herbeigekommen. In eurem Ich werden sie aufgehen! Wenn auch eure Augen euch hinter dem äußeren sinnlichen Licht verschließen das geistige Licht, wenn auch eure Ohren euch hinter dem physischen Ton den geistigen verschließen, wenn ihr zu dem Christus selber euch erhebt, werdet ihr in euch finden die Reiche der Himmel! - Unselig waren die, welche durch das finstere Zeitalter arm geworden waren, Bettler geworden waren um Geist. Selig konnten sie jetzt werden, nachdem der Impuls gegeben war, daß bis in das menschliche Ich hinein der Christus dringen konnte, diejenige Wesenheit, welche ihnen Kunde geben konnte von dem Geistigen, von den Reichen der Himmel. So ist in bezug auf die Verarmung des Menschen an Geist die höchste christliche Verkündigung die: Selig können von jetzt ab sein diejenigen, die da Bettler sind um Geist, die nicht mehr den Geist geschenkt bekommen durch eine alte Anschauung; selig können sie doch werden von jetzt ab, wenn sie den Christus-Impuls aufnehmen; dann können ihnen selber werden durch die Entwickelung ihres Ich die Reiche der Himmel!

Gehen wir zum Ätherleib, der der Bildner des physischen Leibes ist. Was ist in ihn hineingekommen? — Im physischen Leibe drückt sich die Krankheit nur aus. Das Leiden selbst ist zuerst im Ätherleibe, und das Leid im Ätherleibe drückt sich in einer späteren Inkarnation im physischen Leibe in der Krankheit aus. Jetzt aber ist etwas in die Welt gekommen, so hatte der Christus Jesus zu sagen, wodurch im Innern ein Impuls aufgehen kann, um nach und nach hinwegzuräumen das Leid aus dem Ätherleib. Selig können jetzt, wenn sie den Christus-Impuls in sich aufnehmen, diejenigen werden, die das Leid in ihrem Ätherleibe verankert haben; denn es ist etwas in ihnen, wodurch sie das über das Leid Hinausführende, den Innentrost finden, den inneren Paraklet, den inneren Tröster finden!

Und was war durch den luziferischen Einfluß aus dem astralischen Leib geworden? Er war mangelhafter geworden, als er früher war. Er hat die Möglichkeit, die wir als eine gute Eigenschaft haben schildern können, empfangen, für das Gute und Große sich zu entflammen, für die hehren Güter des Wahren, Schönen und Guten Enthusiasmus zu haben. Aber er hat dafür auch das andere in Kauf nehmen müssen: für die Güter der Erde in Sympathie oder Antipathie in weitgehendstem Maße sich zu entflammen. Wer den ChristusImpuls aufnimmt, der wird lernen, dieses was seinen physischen Leib in Emotion versetzt gegenüber den Gütern der Erde, den astralischen Leib, zu sänftigen, ihn unter die Gewalt des Geistigen zu stellen, und dadurch wird er glücklich oder selig werden. Selig wird der werden, der seinen astralischen Leib gleichmütig macht in bezug auf die Erdendinge; dadurch aber werden sie ihm gerade zufallen. Denn wenn er in Emotion, in Sympathie oder Antipathie für die Erdendinge entflammt wird, dann verscherzt er sich gerade das, was sie ihm werden können. Wenn der astralische Leib aber unter die Gewalt des Geistigen kommt, wenn man gleichmütig wird gegenüber den Erdendingen, dann wird einem das Erdenreich zum Lose gegeben!

Steigen wir auf zu dem, was im astralischen Leib als Empfindungsseele wirkt. Darinnen haben wir noch ein in dumpfer Weise waltendes Ich, das noch nicht so recht herausgekommen ist, und das daher noch in Leidenschaften den schlimmsten Egoismus entfaltet. So lange das Ich noch so recht in der Empfindungsseele drinnensteckt, entfaltet es den selbstsüchtigsten Egoismus. Es ist dann des Wunsches bar, den anderen Menschen dasselbe zukommen zu lassen, was ihm selber zukommt. Der Egoismus trübt den Sinn für Gerechtigkeit, weil das Ich alles selber haben will. Wenn aber jetzt das Ich sich in die Nachfolge des Christus-Impulses stellt, dann wird es zu einem solchen, das da dürstet nach Gerechtigkeit unter allen Wesen, die um uns herum sind. Selig werden diejenigen sein, welche da dürsten und hungern nach dem Gerechtigkeitsgefühl in ihrer Empfindungsseele, denn sie werden gesättigt werden. Sie werden imstande sein, auf der Erde und auf der ganzen Welt solche Zustände herbeizuführen, die in dem richtigen neuen Geist aus den Tiefen der Seele heraus solchen Zuständen der Gerechtigkeit entsprechen!

Steigen wir weiter herauf zur Verstandes- oder Gemütsseele. Sie ist dasjenige Glied, welches das Geltenlassen von Mensch neben Mensch noch mehr bewirkt, und es nicht nur als ein Gerechtigkeitsgefühl bewirkt wie die Empfindungsseele, sondern als ein Mitgefühl, als ein wirkliches Mitfühlen von Leid und Lust des anderen. Derjenige, der den Christus-Impuls aufnimmt, erlangt ein Gefühl nicht nur für das, was er fühlt, sondern auch für das, was das andere Ich fühlt; er taucht unter in das andere Ich und wird dadurch beseligt in seiner Verstandes- oder Gemütsseele. Beseligt ist der, der da Mitgefühl entwickelt, denn nur dadurch, daß er sich in die Seele des anderen hineinfühlt, regt er auch die andere Seele an, sich in ihn hineinzufühlen. Er wird Mitgefühl bei der anderen Seele erlangen, wenn er auch Mitgefühl ausstrahlt. Selig sind die Mitfühlenden, denn mit ihnen wird gefühlt werden!

Damit sehen Sie schon, wie wir jetzt, nachdem wir einige Zeit vorwärtsgeschritten sind in der Betrachtung dieser Zusammenhänge, in ganz anderer Weise imstande sind, die Worte des Matthäus-Evangeliums, die gewöhnlich in der «Bergpredigt» zusammengefaßt werden, aus der Tiefe der menschlichen Natur und Wesenheit heraus zu verstehen. Jeder Satz der Bergpredigt bezieht sich auf eines der neun Glieder des Menschen. Das soll das nächste Mal noch weiter ausgeführt werden. Die Bergpredigt soll durchsichtig vor unser geistiges Auge treten als diejenige Tat des Christus Jesus, durch die er das, was im alten Gesetz des Moses enthalten war, ganz verinnerlicht hat, ganz zu einem inneren Impuls gemacht hat, wodurch das Ich des Menschen wirksam wird, wie es wirksam werden muß für alle neun Wesensglieder des Menschen. Denn wenn das Ich den Christus-Impuls aufnimmt, wirkt es auf alle neun Wesensglieder des Menschen. So sehen wir, wie tief wahr das ist, was hier schon einmal angedeutet worden ist, daß der Christus im Kali Yuga das Ich des Menschen fähig gemacht hat, in der physischen Welt etwas zu finden, was den Menschen hinaufführt in die geistige Welt, in die Reiche der Himmel. Das Ich des Menschen hat der Christus zu einem Anteilnehmer an der geistigen Welt gemacht.

Auf dem alten Saturn war der physische Leib unmittelbar aus der geistigen Welt herausgenommen. Er war noch ganz in der geistigen Welt drinnen, weil damals der physische Leib geistiger noch war und nicht ein Bewußtsein hatte, so daß er sich hätte trennen können von den geistigen Welten. Auf der Sonne war der Ätherleib, auf dem Monde der astralische Leib dazugekommen, und auf der Erde erst war die Möglichkeit gegeben, durch die Ich-Entwickelung sich loszutrennen von dem Mutterschoß des Göttlich-Geistigen in der Welt. Und die Folge war, daß dieses Ich wieder zurückgeführt werden mußte, daß der Gott heruntersteigen mußte bis zum physischen Plan und auf dem physischen Plan dem Menschen zeigen mußte, wie er den Weg zu den Reichen der Himmel wieder zurückfinden kann.

Was durch den Christus-Impuls geschah, war somit ein wichtigstes Ereignis. Fragen Sie aber jetzt einmal: Haben es alle Menschen dazumal gewußt, die zu der Zeit gelebt haben, als der Christus Jesus auf Erden wirkte, daß da ein so wichtiges Ereignis vorgeht? Bedenken Sie, daß der große Geschichtsschreiber Tacitus von den Christen wie von einer fast unbekannten Sekte spricht! Hundert Jahre später erzählt er von den Christen nur, es käme in einer Seitenstraße in Rom eine Sekte auf, die von einem gewissen Jesus angeführt würde, die treibe da ihr Wesen. Es glaubten ja lange Zeit nach dem ChristusEreignis noch viele Menschen in Rom, daß der Jesus ihr Zeitgenosse sei, als wenn er jetzt eben aufgetreten wäre. Kurz, es kann Wichtiges vorgehen in der Menschheitsentwickelung, ohne daß die Zeitgenossen etwas davon merken. Wichtigstes könnte sogar vorübergehen, wenn die Menschen nicht geneigt wären, sich Verständnis dafür zu verschaffen! Dann aber würde die Menschheit dieses Wichtigste nicht erleben, würde in bezug auf dieses Wichtigste verdorren und veröden. — «Ändert den Sinn, die Reiche der Himmel sind nahe herbeigekommen!» so war die Verkündigung des Täufers Johannes und des Christus Jesus selber. Damit wiesen sie hin für die, welche Ohren hatten zu hören, daß ein Wichtigstes geschähe. Daß man von einem Wichtigsten in der Welt nichts weiß, das ist kein Beweis dafür, daß es nicht da ist.

Diejenigen, welche heute die Zeichen der Zeit zu deuten haben, die wissen, was heute geschieht, die müssen auf ein Ereignis — wenn auch nicht von schlagendster Bedeutung, so aber doch auf ein wichtiges Ereignis — hinweisen. Wahr ist es, es entwickelt sich etwas von unendlicher Bedeutung gerade in unserer Zeit! Und während dazumal auf den Christus hingewiesen wurde von dem Johannes, und wenn von ihm selber hingewiesen wurde auf das Herankommen der Reiche der Himmel, auf das Ich, so muß heute hingewiesen werden auf ein anderes wichtiges Ereignis.

Der Christus ist ins Fleisch nur einmal heruntergestiegen auf die Erde. Im Fleische hat er die Zeit im Beginne unserer Zeitrechnung auf der Erde verweilt. Im Fleische werden die Menschen den Christus als physisch verkörperten Menschen nach der weisen Führung unserer Weltenentwickelung nicht wiederum sehen, aber auch nicht wieder zu sehen brauchen. Denn im Fleische wird der Christus nicht wiederkommen. Dennoch müssen wir sprechen von einer neuen Beziehung der Menschen zu dem Christus. Warum? Weil dasjenige Zeitalter, das wir das finstere nennen, das Kali Yuga, abgelaufen ist gerade in unserer Zeit mit dem Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts, und weil mit dem Beginne des 20. Jahrhunderts ein neues Zeitalter beginnt, wo sich neue Fähigkeiten der Menschen vorbereiten, jene Fähigkeiten, welche in dem finsteren Zeitalter verlorengegangen sind. Langsam und allmählich bereiten sich neue Fähigkeiten vor. Bis zu dem Grade werden sich neue Fähigkeiten vorbereiten, daß einzelne Menschen da sein werden, welche dieselben als eine natürliche Anlage haben werden. Diese Fähigkeiten werden sich bei einer Anzahl von Menschen besonders zeigen zwischen den Jahren 1930 und 1940, und durch diese neuen Fähigkeiten werden neue Beziehungen zu dem Christus bei einer Anzahl von Menschen eintreten.

Damit ist auf ein Wichtigstes in der Menschheitsentwickelung hingedeutet. Und Geisteswissenschaft ist dazu da, den Menschen das Verständnis zu eröffnen für diese neuen Fähigkeiten, die sich in der Menschenwelt zeigen werden. Nicht weil einzelne Menschen Lust und Sympathie haben, die Ergebnisse der Geistesforschung zu verbreiten, gibt es eine Geisteswissenschaft in der Welt, sondern weil Geist-Erkenntnis notwendig ist, wenn die Menschen verstehen wollen, was in der ersten Hälfte unseres Jahrhunderts geschieht. Denn nur durch das, was eine Geisteswissenschaft dem Menschen geben kann, wird man fähig werden zu begreifen, was in der ersten Hälfte unseres Jahrhunderts geschehen wird. Und wenn man fähig werden wird, dasjenige im Geiste zu erkennen, was dann geschehen wird, dann wird man auch imstande sein, die Ereignisse nicht zu verwechseln mit ihren irrtümlichen Darstellungen. Denn dadurch, daß der Materialismus sich immer mehr verbreitet, verbreitet er sich auch in die geistigen Weltanschauungen hinein, und da wirkt er besonders schlimm. Da könnte er dazu führen, daß die Menschen nicht verstehen werden dasjenige, was im Geiste erfafst werden soll, auch wirklich im Geiste zu erfassen, daß sie es suchen werden in der materiellen Welt. Und weil eine neue Beziehung zu dem Christus eintreten soll in der ersten Hälfte unseres Jahrhunderts, so wird in den nächsten Jahrzehnten, bis das Ereignis geschieht, immer wieder betont werden, daß falsche Messiasse, falsche Christusse sich finden werden, die pochen werden auf diejenigen, welche auf den Gebieten der Geisteswissenschaft nur Materialisten werden können, und die sich eine neue Beziehung zu dem Christus nur so vorstellen können, daß sie ihn im Fleische vor sich haben werden. Eine Anzahl falscher Messiasse wird das benutzen und sagen: Der Christus ist im Fleische wieder da!

Die Beziehungen aber, welche rein durch die menschlichen Fähigkeiten zu gewinnen sein werden für die erste Hälfte unseres Jahrhunderts, die hat die anthroposophische Weisheit vorzubereiten. Damit wächst die Verantwortlichkeit des anthroposophischen Strebens ins Ungeheure, indem die Geisteswissenschaft auf ein Ereignis vorbereitet, das kommen wird, und das entweder, wenn die Geisteswissenschaft sich in die Menschenseelen einlebt, verstanden werden wird und dann für die weitere Menschheitsentwickelung fruchtbar werden wird, oder das ohne Verständnis an der Menschheit vorbeigehen wird, wenn sich die Menschen weigern werden, das Instrument anzunehmen, durch welches dieses Ereignis wird begriffen werden können: das Instrument der Geisteswissenschaft. Wenn aber die Menschen die Geisteswissenschaft so weit zurückweisen würden, daß nichts bleiben würde von ihr, dann würden sie auch nicht wissen, daß dieses Ereignis da ist, oder würden es falsch deuten. Die Frucht dieser Ereignisse würde für die Menschenzukunft verlorengehen und die Menschheit würde dadurch in ungeheures Elend gestürzt werden.

Damit ist hingedeutet auf eine neue Beziehung der Menschen zu dem Christus als auf etwas, was dem Christus in einer verhältnismäßig kurzen Zeit in der Menschenseele entgegenkeimt.

Third Lecture

In one of our last reflections, we said that each of the Gospels presents the great mystery of Golgotha from a particular perspective. We pointed out that the Gospel of Mark presents the mystery of Golgotha, the mystery of Christ Jesus, from the perspective of the great cosmic connections, while the Gospel of Matthew presents the development of this mystery from a folk tradition, namely from the ancient Hebrew folk tradition. We have seen how this ancient Hebrew folk tradition had to develop gradually from generation to generation since the time of Abraham in order to bring forth as its flower the human being who could contain within himself the individuality of Zarathustra or Zoroaster. We have seen how all the characteristics of the ancient Hebrew people, which had to become more and more intense as they increased from generation to generation, were based on the principle of physical inheritance. This has enabled us to characterize the difference between the mission of the ancient Hebrew people and the missions of other peoples. The mission of the ancient Hebrew people was to pass on certain characteristics that could only be passed on through physical inheritance from the oldest generations of the Abrahamic period down to Jesus. However, the Gospel of Matthew still holds many secrets, as do the other Gospels. And even if we open up individual insights and perspectives into the Gospels in the course of this winter, this can at most stimulate understanding. For a complete understanding of the Gospels, a never-ending spiritual work is necessary. Today, we will first shed light on the Gospel of Matthew from a very specific angle and then connect this to a certain practical application of the teachings that can be derived from these insights for souls who are currently part of the anthroposophical spiritual stream.

If we look back today on some of what we have learned over the years, we can say that the development of humanity, as we have presented it from a spiritual scientific perspective, goes through various crises, reaches important points, then continues for a while in a more even manner, then reaches another important point, and so on. We have often emphasized that one such important point in the earthly development of humanity is the time when the Christ impulse was given at the beginning of our modern era. If we go back further from there, skipping over various points, we find an important point to which we have repeatedly referred. If we pass through the Atlantean epoch and go back to the Lemurian epoch, we find the point in time when the first seed of the human I was implanted into the human being.

If something like this is to be understood, the words must be taken very precisely. For example, one must distinguish precisely between what happened in the ancient Lemurian era when it is said: At that time, the first seed of the I was sunk into human beings — and when it is said: In the time of the Mystery of Golgotha, the period began, the age in which humanity became fully conscious of this I. This is a significant difference: to have the ego first as a seed, as something working within the human being, or to be guided by one's knowledge to have this ego. These things must be strictly distinguished from one another, otherwise one cannot cope with the real laws of evolution.

We know that the implantation of the I into human beings is rooted in the overall development of the Earth. The Earth passed through the Saturn, Sun, and Moon epochs and only then became the entity it is today. On Saturn, the foundation for the physical body was laid; on the Sun, for the etheric body; on the Moon, for the astral body; and on Earth, the foundation for the I was added. This foundation for the I was thus laid within the Earth's development during the Lemurian epoch. But something else happened during this Lemurian epoch, namely what we have always called the Luciferic influence. During that period, human beings were endowed with the seed of the I, which was destined to be developed further and further during the following Earth epochs, and at the same time the Luciferic influence was implanted in the astral body. This Luciferic influence changed the entire human being, including all the forces and elements in the etheric and physical bodies. As a result, during the Lemurian period, the whole human being became different from what it would have been without the Luciferic influence. Thus, during the Lemurian period, the human being became different in two ways: We see them becoming an I-being and, in addition, becoming a being that harbors the Luciferic principle within itself. If the Luciferic principle had not come, the I-influence would have entered all the same.

What happened to the human being as a result of the Luciferic influence in the Lemurian epoch?

When such a thing is described from this or that point of view, I beg you not to take such a description as if it were the whole truth; for only one point of view can ever be taken. Much has been said over the years about what has happened through the influence of Lucifer in the course of evolution. All of that is also part of it, but we cannot repeat it here. Today we will only highlight one point of view that characterizes a certain aspect. This point of view consists in the fact that through this Luciferic influence, human beings reached a stage of development earlier than was actually predestined for them, than was, so to speak, intended for them in the wise governance of the world. Through the Luciferic influence, human beings descended more deeply into the three elements of their being that had been carried over from their earlier incarnations on Earth—into their astral body, their etheric body, and their physical body—and became more entangled with them than they would have been if there had been no Luciferic influence. Human beings would have remained closer to the spiritual worlds with their ego, so to speak, and would have felt themselves to be part of the spiritual world for longer if the Luciferic influence had not caused this ego to descend more deeply into the astral body, etheric body, and physical body. Through the influence of Lucifer, human beings descended deeper into the earth during the Lemurian epoch, so to speak.

We can specify the point in time when, if there had been no Luciferic influence, human beings would have descended to Earth or into physical matter as far as they actually did in the Lemurian epoch through the Luciferic influence: that would have been in the middle of the Atlantean epoch. In other words, if there had been no Luciferic influence, human beings would have had to wait until the middle of the Atlantean epoch to descend to Earth. Through the Luciferic influence, they descended earlier. This enabled him to become a free being, acting on his own impulses; for otherwise he would have remained completely dependent on the spiritual world until the middle of the Atlantean epoch, would never have been able to decide between good and evil, would never have been able to develop any free impulses, but would have acted out of soul instincts, that is, out of forces that the divine-spiritual beings had implanted in his soul. But the Luciferic beings gave him the opportunity to decide earlier than usual between good and evil, not to allow himself to be guided instinctively by the laws of the divine-spiritual world order, but to decide for himself, to make a kind of law for himself.

This fact is expressed in a profound way in the description of the Fall, which, in a wonderful imagination, represents nothing other than what I have just told you. This is depicted in the Old Testament, where it is said: The living soul was implanted in man by the divine-spiritual beings. If this living soul had remained just that, man would have had to wait until later, when the divine-spiritual beings had brought this living soul, that is, the still undeveloped ego, to maturity, before he could make decisions. Now the Luciferic influences come into play, represented in the Bible by the serpent. This causes man to no longer follow instinctively the inflowings of Yahweh or the Elohim, but to decide for himself between good and evil. From a being that had hitherto been guided and directed by the divine-spiritual beings, man has thus become a being capable of deciding for himself. This is also clearly shown in the Bible, that through the serpent, that is, through the Luciferic beings, man's self-determination was brought about. And then, spoken from the side of the gods, the words resound from the Bible: Man has become like one of us! — that is, like the gods. Or if we want to express it more radically: Through the influence of Lucifer, man has appropriated something that until then had been the preserve of the gods. It was the gods who made decisions about good and evil, not those beings who were dependent on the gods.

Now, through the influence of Lucifer, man has become a self-determined being, that is, a being who developed divine qualities too early. In this way, through the influence of Lucifer, something has entered into human nature that would otherwise have been preserved for human development until the middle of the Atlantean epoch. Now you can imagine that human beings would have been completely different if this descent into matter had not taken place until the middle of the Atlantean epoch, for then their souls would have been more mature when this descent occurred. They would have arrived in matter as better, more mature human beings. He would have brought different qualities into everything physical, etheric, and astral, and would have become quite different in his ability to decide between good and evil. By making himself a decision-maker between good and evil from the Lemurian period to the middle of the Atlantean period, man made himself worse than he would otherwise have become, and thus arrived in a less perfect state. Otherwise, they would have gone through the entire period up to the middle of the Atlantean epoch in a much more spiritual way, but instead they went through it in a more material way. However, this now meant that if humans had not been given what the gods had intended for them in the middle of the Atlantean epoch, they would have fallen completely.

What would have been given to man in the middle of the Atlantean epoch if he had been guided and directed instinctively by spiritual-divine beings until then?

He would have been given what was given to him through the Mystery of Golgotha once the Luciferic influence was present! The Christ impulse would have been given to him in the middle of the Atlantean epoch. But now, because the Luciferic influence was there, he had to wait for this Christ impulse for as long as the time lasted from the Luciferic influence until the middle of the Atlantean epoch. The Christ impulse came as much later as Lucifer approached human beings earlier, before the middle of the Atlantean epoch. Thus, because human beings acquired their likeness to God earlier than they should have, we see a delay in the Christ impulse. For human beings first had to go through everything that had to become their earthly karma for what had entered into them as evil through the Luciferic influence. This had to be suffered through by humanity, so to speak. Man had to wait until not only the Luciferic influence had made him a decision-maker between good and evil, but until, in the course of Earth's development, everything that had to come as a consequence of this Luciferic influence had also come to pass. This had to be waited for. Only then could the Christ impulse descend to Earth. Human beings were not meant to be deprived forever of what they had gained through the influence of Lucifer, according to the wise guidance of the world, but should have received it in the middle of the Atlantean epoch. It was meant to be theirs under all circumstances. However, in the form in which it came to them through the influence of Lucifer, it would not have come to them in any other case. Through Lucifer, human beings have not only gained free will in everything connected with spiritual matters, but also the ability to become enthusiastic for what is good and noble, wise and great. As human beings today, we cannot merely make cold, sober, and dry decisions between good and evil, but we can also become inflamed with enthusiasm for what is beautiful, noble, good, and wise. This stems from the fact that something has been carried into our astral body which, if it had only come to man in the middle of the Atlantean epoch, would have been carried only into the I, into the judging I. So everything we have in the way of feelings, idealism, and enthusiasm for the good, for high ideals, we owe to the fact that something entered our astral body before we received the godlikeness in our ego, the reception of Christ into our ego. That is the essential thing, that this likeness to God, this God-likeness, this possibility of finding the good within oneself, should come upon human beings. If the Luciferic influence had not come, this impulse would have come in the middle of the Atlantean epoch; but now it has come at the time when Christ Jesus was working.

Thus, through the Christ impulse, the awareness has entered into human beings that they have something of divine substance and essence in their I. This is also the basis of all the deeper sayings of the New Testament, that human beings can take the divine into their I-being, and that this divine can work within them and make decisions between good and evil. We can therefore say that with the reception of the Christ impulse into the human inner being, the possibility came to human beings to say to themselves: I am the guiding principle for the insights of my existence, for the decisions about good and evil.

If we now look back to pre-Christian times, we must say that since the impulse that makes human beings true decision-makers between good and evil did not yet exist at that time, the decision between good and evil, the judgment, the knowledge of what is good, beautiful, and true, was necessarily deficient in pre-Christian times and could not actually arise from the innermost being of human beings. Before the Christ impulse came, human beings did not have the possibility of deciding between good and evil from their innermost being. In pre-Christian times, decisions about what was truly good, truly true, and truly beautiful could only be made because individual beings, such as the bodhisattvas, reached up into the divine-spiritual worlds with part of their being over time. Thus, they did not actually draw the decision about good and evil from the innermost core of human nature, but from the divine worlds. Through their contact with divine-spiritual beings, they obtained it and then instilled it suggestively into the human soul. Without such guides, people in pre-Christian times could only have made inadequate decisions about good and evil. If these guides had relied on their own hearts, they would not have been able to do so; only by descending into the depths of the soul, which had not yet been granted to humans, by stepping out of their own ego-being into the realms of heaven, did they receive the impulses that humans needed in order to prepare the ground for the good on earth, even in a time of inadequate decision-making about good and evil.

Thus, in pre-Christian times, human beings were beings who had appropriated godlikeness for qualities that were not yet sufficiently mature, for something that was not yet suitable for having godlikeness. As a result, since the Lemurian epoch, human beings have done everything they have done worse and more imperfectly than they would otherwise have done. Above all, through the Luciferic influence in pre-Christian times, he did worse and more imperfectly that which related to himself. His astral body, etheric body, and physical body, which would otherwise have remained more spiritual if the Luciferic influence had not been at work, he made worse and more material because all this came about. But this also brought all the evils into human life that have developed over time. They developed over a long period of time.

From the Lemurian epoch to the Mystery of Golgotha, evils developed in the physical body, the etheric body, and the astral body. A high degree of egoism developed in the astral body, and in the etheric body developed the possibility of error when we want to judge anything, and the possibility of lying. If human beings had remained under the influence of divine spiritual beings and had acted instinctively according to their impulses, they would not be able to fall into error or be tempted to lie when they seek knowledge about their environment today. But the tendency to lie and the danger of error have entered into human development. And because the spiritual is always the cause of the physical, and because the Luciferic influence and its consequences have eaten deeper and deeper into the etheric body from incarnation to incarnation, the possibility of illness has entered the physical body. Illness is the evil in the physical body that has come about through this development.

But something even more significant has come about. If human beings had not succumbed to these influences, if they had not allowed them to affect them, then the awareness would not have come that at the moment when the physical body falls away from us, something else happens other than a transformation in life: the awareness of death would not have come. For if human beings had descended less deeply into matter and had retained the threads that connect them to the divine-spiritual, they would have known that with the shedding of the physical shell, only another form of existence begins. They would not have regarded it as a loss, as the end of an existence that had become dear to them. Thus, all things in evolution would have taken on a different appearance.

Because man has now descended more deeply into matter, he has made himself freer and more independent, but he has also made his evolution more deficient than it would otherwise have been.

Everything that has become deficient in man will be healed again through the Christ impulse. But we must not expect this to be healed in a much shorter time than it took to bring about, or even in a very short time. The time from the Lemurian epoch to the Mystery of Golgotha is very long. And slowly and gradually, working from incarnation to incarnation, egoism, error, and falsehood, illness, and the feeling of death have come into being. Through the working of the Christ impulse in humanity, all these qualities will be transformed again in the ascending development of the human being. The human being will, so to speak, be led back to the spiritual world with the abilities he has acquired below. This will happen even more quickly than the descent took place. But we should not expect that in one or two incarnations, through what they can take in through the Christ impulse, human beings will be able to overcome selfishness, heal themselves in their etheric body so that there is no longer any danger of lies and error, or even that they can work their way back to health in their physical body. This must happen slowly and gradually. But it will happen. Just as man has been led down to all the characteristics described through the Luciferic influence, so will he be led up again through the Christ impulse: selfishness will be transformed into selflessness, deceitfulness will become truthfulness, the danger of error will become accuracy and truthfulness of judgment. Illness will become the foundation for even greater health. The illnesses we have overcome will be the seeds of a higher health. And when death is gradually understood in such a way that the death on Golgotha works in our own souls as the model of death, then death will have lost its sting. Human beings will know why they must shed their physical shell from time to time in order to ascend ever higher in the course of their incarnations. But what has come about in particular through the Christ impulse is that the impetus has been given to make amends for something that particularly affects human knowledge and observation, human knowledge of the world.

We have said that human beings have become more entangled in matter, have made themselves more deficient in their three bodies than they would have been if no Luciferic influence had come. As a result, human beings have been seized by an impulse to descend ever deeper into material existence, to plunge ever more thoroughly into the mere material. This has happened to them especially with their knowledge. But this too came slowly and gradually. It was not immediately, when the Luciferic influence took effect, that human beings sank so deeply, so to speak, that they now had all the gates to the spiritual world closed behind them. Man remained connected to the spiritual world from which he had grown and in which he would have remained with his entire being if the Luciferic influence had not come. For a long time, man remained part of this spiritual world; for a long time, he still felt how the threads of the divine-spiritual world led into his finer spiritual instincts. For a long time, they acted in such a way that the impulse was not merely human, but as if the gods were working behind them. This was especially true in the earliest times. Only slowly were human beings thrust into the material world, and with that they also lost their awareness of the divine.

Those spiritual currents and worldviews in humanity that had knowledge of these things have therefore always pointed to the fact that there was an ancient age when human beings, although already somewhat pushed down into material existence by the influence of Lucifer, were not yet so far down that the divine influence was not still strongly at work within them. In ancient times, this age was called the Golden Age of human development. This is not some figment of the imagination, but rather the expression “Golden Age” is simply a term used by those who, in earlier times, still had some inkling that there had once been something like a primeval age of humanity, as just described. This golden age, which is referred to in Eastern philosophy as “Krita Yuga,” lasted relatively longer than all the other ages that we will characterize.

After this golden age came the so-called silver age. By then, human beings had already been pushed down more into the physical world. But everything happened slowly and gradually. Even now, the gates to the spiritual world were not yet completely closed. Man still had moments of clarity in which he perceived the gods driving him behind his instincts, as if in a dreamlike clairvoyance. In this silver age, man could no longer be called a companion of the gods, but he still sensed that the gods stood behind him. This age is also called “Treta Yuga” in Eastern philosophy.

Then comes an age that extends into our post-Atlantean age; its last remnants extend into historical times, when there were still people with the old dreamlike, dim clairvoyance. But the awareness of the spiritual world from which human beings had grown out of was only present in this age as a kind of memory that remained from earlier incarnations. It was like when you think of your youth, your childhood, and your current age today. In our childhood, we experienced childhood experiences directly, just as people in the Treta Yuga directly experienced the impulses of the divine-spiritual world. In the age that followed, which is also called the Iron Age, only something like a memory of this remained. You could compare it to the way adults view their childhood. You would say: I experienced my childhood, it is not a dream! That is how it was in the third age, when people knew: We experienced the connection with the divine in earlier times, but now it is only a memory. I have shown in detail how the memory of the Atlantean era continued to have an effect in ancient Indian culture; because this memory was still effective, the holy rishis were able to proclaim their great divine teachings at that particular time. This Iron Age is referred to in Eastern philosophy as the “Dvapara Yuga.”

After that comes an age in which the memory of the divine-spiritual world is lost, where human beings, with their knowledge and perception, are completely removed into the physical world. This age begins around the year 3101 BC, before the birth of Christ Jesus, and is also called, in an expression from Eastern philosophy, “Kali Yuga,” the dark age, because human beings have lost all connection with the spiritual world and have become completely fused with the physical world.

I would like to emphasize that I am using these terms here to refer to shorter periods of time, but they can also be extended to cover longer periods. We are therefore referring to the concept of ages as they correspond to shorter periods of time, and we will allow Kali Yuga to begin, as Indian philosophy teaches, in the year 3101 BC. This is the period in which human beings are instructed to see only that which hides the divine-spiritual world like a veil or a shell, where they perceive only the outer physical-sensory world. At the beginning of Kali Yuga, there are still many people who can see into or remember the divine-spiritual world, but for normal humanity, the time is now beginning when they perceive only the physical-sensory world.

This was the descent of humanity into the Kali Yuga. This was the time of the deepest descent. Into this had to fall the impulse to ascend again. Hence the impulse to ascend again, the Christ impulse, arises in the Kali Yuga, in the dark age.

This Christ impulse had been prepared by the Yahweh or Jehovah religion. For through the Yahweh religion, human beings had been made aware of the shortcomings of their earlier decisions. During the period from the ancient Lemurian time to the proclamation on Mount Sinai, we have that age in which human beings become self-determined in matters of good and evil, but on the other hand also fall into error about good and evil and increasingly bring onto the earth what is called sin in the Bible. Sin eats its way into earthly life. Man has appropriated godlikeness, but he has claimed it for qualities that were not at all mature for godlikeness. What had to happen now?

First, man had to be shown what the Godhead demands of him if he is to become a self-conscious I. And this was shown to him through the proclamation on Mount Sinai, through the proclamation of the Ten Commandments. There, through Moses, people heard: What you have developed so far about good and evil is inadequate. I will show you what the laws would be if you had not descended and claimed the right to decide between good and evil for your inadequate qualities! — Thus stands the law of Sinai, the Decalogue, in relation to what man had become, so that what is right in relation to what he has developed as deficient resounds down to him from the spiritual worlds. The Ten Commandments stand there as an iron law, as a torch that shows man everything he has not become. He is to submit to this law with all that he has become. Human beings could not initially give themselves these Ten Commandments because they had become deficient in their decision-making, in their own law-making. Therefore, the Ten Commandments had to be given to them by an inspired person, by Moses, that is, through divine inspiration from above. But they were given in such a way that they were all directed toward the I. They told man how an I must behave if it is to attain the goal of humanity.

This was explained in detail in the lecture on the Ten Commandments of Moses on November 16, 1908. There it was shown how the ego should first behave toward the spiritual worlds in the first three commandments, how it should behave toward its fellow human beings in relation to its deeds and actions in the next commandments, and how it should behave in relation to its feelings and emotions in the last commandments. The education, the culture of the ego, is commanded in the Ten Commandments. This was the preparation for the ego to learn in its innermost being to give itself the impulse after it had descended into the Kali Yuga, into the dark age. First, a law from above had to be demonstrated to human beings. But what was to become the law of the self could only become so if the self took in the great example of Golgotha, if the self said to itself: If I take into my soul such thinking as the being who sacrificed himself on Golgotha thought, if I take into myself such feeling as the being who sacrificed himself on Golgotha felt, if I take into myself such a will as the being who sacrificed itself on Golgotha willed, then my being will find the decision within itself, will develop more and more into godlikeness, will no longer have to follow merely an external law, the Ten Commandments, but an inner impulse, its own law!

Thus Moses first presented the law to the people, but Christ presented the example and the power that the soul should take up in order to develop. Therefore, everything had to be deepened to the innermost through Christ Jesus, everything that was there in spiritual impulses had to be carried into the deepest soul, into the I itself. This could only happen if the following was thought, if Christ Jesus spread the following as an impulse.

Human beings have descended into the dark age, into the Kali Yuga. Before this dark age, human beings looked into the spiritual world with dull, dim clairvoyance. There they were not merely able to use the instruments of the physical body, but by observing the physical world through their eyes, ears, and so on, a spiritual world appeared to them everywhere: around flowers, plants, stones, and so on. These people were rich in terms of their observation of the spirit. The spirit was given to them in ancient times. Now, in the dark age, they have become beggars in terms of the spirit, for the spirit is no longer given to them. They have become poor in spirit. More and more, the Kali Yuga had come, where people had to say to themselves: In ancient times it was different; then the spirit was still given to people, then they could look up into a spiritual world, then they were rich in spirit, then the kingdoms of heaven were accessible to them. But now people have been pushed down into the physical world. The gates to the spiritual world have closed to the human senses, and the physical body offers no view of the kingdoms of heaven.

But Christ could say: Seize the I where you should now seize it, then the realms of heaven will come close to you. They will open up in your I! Even if your eyes close the spiritual light behind the outer sensory light, even if your ears close the spiritual sound behind the physical sound, if you lift yourselves up to Christ Himself, you will find the realms of heaven within yourselves! Unhappy were those who had become poor through the dark age, who had become beggars for spirit. They could now become blessed, after the impulse had been given that Christ could penetrate into the human ego, the entity that could give them knowledge of the spiritual, of the realms of heaven. Thus, in relation to the impoverishment of the human spirit, the highest Christian proclamation is this: Blessed are those who are beggars for the spirit, who no longer receive the spirit as a gift through an old way of thinking; they can become blessed from now on if they accept the Christ impulse; then, through the development of their ego, the kingdoms of heaven can become their own!

Let us turn to the etheric body, which is the formative element of the physical body. What has entered into it? — In the physical body, illness merely expresses itself. Suffering itself is first in the etheric body, and the suffering in the etheric body expresses itself in a later incarnation in the physical body as illness. But now something has come into the world, as Christ Jesus had to say, through which an impulse can arise within us to gradually remove suffering from the etheric body. Now, if they take the Christ impulse into themselves, those who have suffering anchored in their etheric body can become blessed; for there is something in them through which they can find that which leads beyond suffering, the inner consolation, the inner Paraclete, the inner comforter!

And what had become of the astral body through the Luciferic influence? It had become more deficient than it had been before. It had received the ability, which we have described as a good quality, to become inflamed with enthusiasm for the good and great, for the noble goods of truth, beauty, and goodness. But in return it had to accept the other side of the coin: to become inflamed with sympathy or antipathy for the goods of the earth to the highest degree. Those who accept the Christ impulse will learn to calm the astral body, which stirs their physical body into emotion in response to the goods of the earth, and to place it under the control of the spirit, and thereby they will become happy or blessed. Blessed will be those who make their astral body equanimous in relation to earthly things; but thereby they will fall to them. For if they are inflamed with emotion, sympathy, or antipathy for earthly things, they forfeit precisely what these things can become for them. But when the astral body comes under the control of the spiritual, when one becomes equanimous toward earthly things, then the earthly realm is given to one as a reward!

Let us ascend to what works in the astral body as the soul of feeling. Therein we still have an ego that reigns in a dull manner, that has not yet fully emerged, and that therefore still develops the worst egoism in passions. As long as the ego is still stuck in the soul of feeling, it develops the most selfish egoism. It is then devoid of the desire to give other people what is due to them. Egoism clouds the sense of justice because the ego wants to have everything for itself. But when the ego now follows the Christ impulse, it becomes one that thirsts for justice among all beings around us. Blessed are those who thirst and hunger for a sense of justice in their sentient soul, for they will be satisfied. They will be able to bring about conditions on earth and throughout the world that correspond to such conditions of justice in the right new spirit from the depths of the soul!

Let us ascend further to the intellectual or mental soul. It is the link that brings about the acceptance of one human being by another even more, and does so not only as a feeling of justice, as the sentient soul does, but as compassion, as a real empathy with the suffering and joy of others. Those who take up the Christ impulse attain a feeling not only for what they themselves feel, but also for what the other I feels; they immerse themselves in the other I and are thereby blessed in their intellectual or emotional soul. Blessed is the one who develops compassion, for only by feeling his way into the soul of another does he also stimulate the other soul to feel its way into him. He will attain compassion in the other soul if he also radiates compassion. Blessed are the compassionate, for they will be felt with!

Now that we have advanced some way in our consideration of these connections, you can see how we are able to understand the words of the Gospel of Matthew, which are usually summarized in the “Sermon on the Mount,” in a completely different way, from the depths of human nature and essence. Each sentence of the Sermon on the Mount refers to one of the nine members of the human being. This will be explained further next time. The Sermon on the Mount should appear clearly before our spiritual eyes as the deed of Christ Jesus through which he completely internalized what was contained in the old law of Moses, made it completely an inner impulse, through which the human ego becomes effective as it must become effective for all nine members of the human being. For when the ego takes up the Christ impulse, it acts upon all nine members of the human being. Thus we see how deeply true is what has already been hinted at here, that in the Kali Yuga Christ enabled the human ego to find something in the physical world that leads human beings up into the spiritual world, into the realms of heaven. Christ has made the human ego a participant in the spiritual world.

On ancient Saturn, the physical body was taken directly from the spiritual world. It was still completely within the spiritual world because at that time the physical body was more spiritual and did not have consciousness, so that it could separate itself from the spiritual worlds. On the Sun, the etheric body was added, on the Moon the astral body, and only on Earth was it possible to separate from the womb of the divine-spiritual in the world through the development of the I. And the consequence was that this I had to be brought back, that God had to descend to the physical plane and show human beings on the physical plane how they could find their way back to the realms of heaven.

What happened through the Christ impulse was therefore an extremely important event. But ask yourself now: Did all people who lived at the time when Christ Jesus was working on earth know that such an important event was taking place? Consider that the great historian Tacitus speaks of Christians as if they were an almost unknown sect! A hundred years later, he only mentions the Christians as a sect that had sprung up in a side street in Rome, led by a certain Jesus, who was up to his old tricks there. For a long time after the Christ event, many people in Rome still believed that Jesus was their contemporary, as if he had just appeared. In short, important things can happen in the development of humanity without their contemporaries noticing anything. The most important things could even pass by if people were not inclined to understand them! But then humanity would not experience these most important things and would wither and die in relation to them. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” was the proclamation of John the Baptist and of Christ Jesus himself. With this they pointed out to those who had ears to hear that something most important was happening. The fact that one knows nothing about something most important in the world is no proof that it does not exist.

Those who today have to interpret the signs of the times, who know what is happening today, must point to an event — if not of the most striking significance, then at least an important event. It is true that something of infinite significance is developing in our time! And just as John pointed to Christ in his time, and pointed to the coming of the kingdom of heaven, to the I, so today we must point to another important event.

Christ descended into the flesh only once upon the earth. In the flesh, he spent time on earth at the beginning of our calendar. In the flesh, human beings will not see Christ again as a physically embodied human being, according to the wise guidance of our world evolution, but neither will they need to see him again. For Christ will not return in the flesh. Nevertheless, we must speak of a new relationship between human beings and Christ. Why? Because the age we call the dark age, the Kali Yuga, has just come to an end in our time with the end of the 19th century, and because with the beginning of the 20th century a new age is beginning in which new abilities are being prepared for human beings, those abilities which were lost in the dark age. Slowly and gradually new abilities are being prepared. These new abilities will prepare themselves to such an extent that there will be individuals who will have them as a natural disposition. These abilities will manifest themselves particularly in a number of people between 1930 and 1940, and through these new abilities, new relationships with Christ will arise in a number of people.

This points to one of the most important things in human development. And spiritual science is there to open people's understanding to these new abilities that will appear in the human world. Spiritual science does not exist in the world because individual people have a desire or sympathy for spreading the results of spiritual research, but because spiritual knowledge is necessary if people want to understand what is happening in the first half of our century. For only through what spiritual science can give to human beings will we be able to understand what will happen in the first half of our century. And when we become able to recognize in the spirit what will then happen, we will also be able to avoid confusing events with their erroneous representations. For as materialism spreads more and more, it also spreads into spiritual worldviews, where it has a particularly harmful effect. It could lead people to fail to understand what is to be grasped in the spirit, to seek it instead in the material world. And because a new relationship with Christ is to arise in the first half of our century, it will be emphasized again and again in the coming decades, until the event takes place, that false messiahs, false Christs, will appear who will appeal to those who can only become materialists in the fields of spiritual science and who can only imagine a new relationship with Christ in such a way that they will have him before them in the flesh. A number of false messiahs will take advantage of this and say: Christ is back in the flesh!

But the relationships that will be gained purely through human abilities in the first half of our century must be prepared by anthroposophical wisdom. Thus the responsibility of anthroposophical striving grows enormously, in that spiritual science is preparing for an event that will come and that will either be understood, if spiritual science takes root in human souls, and then become fruitful for the further development of humanity, or that will pass humanity by without being understood if people refuse to accept the instrument through which this event can be understood: the instrument of spiritual science. But if people were to reject spiritual science to such an extent that nothing remained of it, then they would not know that this event is taking place, or they would interpret it incorrectly. The fruit of these events would be lost to the future of humanity, and humanity would be plunged into immense misery.

This points to a new relationship between human beings and Christ as something that sprouts in the human soul in a relatively short time.