The Rudolf Steiner Archive

4. The New Spiritual Age and the Second Coming of Christ

[ 1 ] If, as an anthroposophist, a person were to occasionally step back from everyday life, looking beyond what they have to do in their daily routine, and ask themselves: Is there, apart from what daily life is, apart from the daily toil and burdens that life brings to a person, anything else connected with human happiness and human striving?—then, as an anthroposophist, they would be able to give themselves a rich answer. He knows, for example, that he does not take in everything he absorbs through anthroposophy merely to give his soul something to occupy itself with—as if it felt unsatisfied in everyday life—but that what he takes in through the experience of anthroposophy can become a source of strength in his soul. He is always able to say to himself: As a human being, I am something other than what I am in the outer world.

[ 2 ] When we have such thoughts, we should take deep to heart the fact that, as human beings, we are always caught between two currents: One current that places us within everyday life, and another current through which the soul looks upward into a realm of the future, whereby it can only come to mean what it is meant to signify in the overall context. This idea should never lead us to regard any outward occupation—however unappealing it may be—as less significant for the life of the world as a whole than any other profession. We must be clear that, from a certain point of view, the smallest and the greatest things we can do are equally important for the whole. Life presents itself as a mosaic picture assembled from individual stones. The one who adds a single stone is no less important than the one who conceived the plan for the mosaic. In relation to what might be called the divine-spiritual order of the world, the smallest is just as significant as the greatest. If we realize this, it will be able to spare us from much dissatisfaction that might otherwise easily arise in life.

[ 3 ] Only such an attitude toward what we have to do in life can give us the right understanding of our inner work in the soul. Only then can we relate to the highest spiritual aspirations in the right way. For anthroposophists, such a matter should never be a mere thought, never just theory. Rather, the anthroposophist does well to frequently remind himself in inner contemplation how inappropriate it would be within the great order of the world if dissatisfaction were to arise from any position in life. The entire nature of world development could not take its course if we did not carry out even the seemingly most insignificant aspects of life correctly. Then we will also develop the right feelings toward the great phenomena of existence. Only then will the greatness and significance of the following statement become clear to us: Each of us should, in addition to what we represent on the physical plane, make as much of ourselves as possible in the spirit of the wisdom of the world. We should regard anthroposophical development itself as something necessary. Some say: What good is anthroposophical development if I cannot make myself useful in life through it? — But let us consider: What we are meant to do in life will be shown to us by the karma of life, once we learn to understand the signs of that karma. We do not merely have the task of doing this or that, but we truly have the task of making the most of ourselves. We must rise to the thought: Within us are infinite powers and abilities; we must not allow them to wither away in our soul. What the divine-spiritual world order will do with what we have made of our soul, we must leave to the divine-spiritual world order. If we work on our soul and heed the signs of karma, we will see what we have to do here and there.

[ 4 ] We should not spin out theories. One might easily think that the best anthroposophist is the one who works on themselves for a time and then engages in an outward, beneficial activity. But it may be that, in our external life circumstances, we are unable to apply in the world what we have worked out in our souls. This idea—that only those who apply what they have learned in the world are good anthroposophists—could be the most mistaken notion imaginable. It could be, for example, that for decades we are unable to apply anything of the anthroposophical impulse within us. Perhaps we then meet someone at a train station and are able to say just the right important word to them, something we otherwise could not have said. This single act might be more important for the context of life than a grand undertaking. We must realize what we can do, and that the opportunity to apply it at the right moment will be brought to us by a sign from karma.

[ 5 ] When one feels and senses this, then anthroposophy becomes something whose purpose one does not even question at first, because it is of absolute value. Only then does one gain the proper perspective on what connects us to the great, life-changing events of existence. It is sometimes assumed that all development proceeds only step by step. But the life of the whole does not proceed in such a way that one can say nature makes no leaps. That is not correct. Nature is constantly making leaps. Let us consider a plant. It constantly makes leaps in its development: in the transition from root to leaf, from leaf to calyx, from calyx to flower, and from flower to fruit. Just as here, rapid transitions exist in individual lives and also in the collective life of humanity. Everywhere we find that humanity lives on and develops successively for a while, like leaf by leaf on the plant. Then comes the time when humanity takes a tremendous leap forward, like the plant from leaf to calyx, from calyx to petal, from petal to fruit. Thus rapid transitions, leaps, occur everywhere in the course of humanity’s development. The most tremendous leap in the history of humanity is the leap that occurred through the events in Palestine. There a truly tremendous leap forward took place.

[ 6 ] We must remember that the human soul, as it is today, has developed only slowly and gradually. Today, human beings live in such a way that they receive stimulation from the external world through the senses. Even someone like Helen Keller could only undergo development by receiving external stimulation. Today, human beings live in such a way that the entire development of their soul depends on external stimulation through the senses. For their judgment and the development of ideas, they depend on the instrument of the brain. Human beings were not always like this. There was once a life of the soul in which human beings were not dependent on such external impressions, in which they possessed an ancient, dark, dreamlike clairvoyance. In those days, clairvoyant images arose within them that reflected and expressed an external reality, but not the kind of external reality we have around us today. Everything we have around us today—plants and animals, air and water, clouds and mountains—was not yet present with defined boundaries for humanity back then; at most, people saw things as if through a mist. Back then, during a dreamlike, twilight state of consciousness, human beings looked up toward the next realm, the realm of the angels. In an even higher state of consciousness, they looked up to the realm of the archangels and to the realm of the spirits of personality. Just as we look up at the Steinteich today, so did people back then look up to the hierarchies they perceived in their dreamlike, twilight consciousness. Just as human beings today know that they are composed of mineral substances, so they knew back then: my soul has descended from the realm of the spirits of personality and is composed of the substances of the realm of the archangels and angels. They looked up to what stood above them as their spiritual home. From there he descended into becoming in the physical world and into perceiving the physical external world. First, his vision of the spirits of personality faded, and he became aware of the animal kingdom. Then his vision of the archangels faded, and he became aware of the plant kingdom; then his vision of the angelic realm faded, and he became aware of the mineral kingdom. For a long time yet, people were able to look up at certain times and knew that such higher beings existed. Only slowly and gradually was their gaze directed toward the mere external world. The gate to the spiritual world was closed. But that was not the only thing.

[ 7 ] For people who could still glimpse into the spiritual worlds themselves, illness and health meant something quite different than they do for us today. When illness struck a person in those times, it was possible for that person to induce a state—an intermediate state between waking and sleeping—through which they became clairvoyant to the spiritual world. In such clairvoyant and clairsentient states, they were permeated by the spiritual. This permeation by the spiritual acted as a remedy, as a healing force. The sick person had to fully immerse themselves in the power of the spiritual; this had a thoroughly healing effect on their illness. Today, humanity has descended into the physical world. As a result, the physical body has gained the greatest power, but the soul, on the other hand, has become powerless in relation to the physical body. One might compare soft wax with wax that has hardened. The latter is difficult to press into. The former is malleable. In ancient times, the human physical body was a malleable material that the soul could shape. When the soul connected with the spiritual, it could shape the physical. A strong devotion to the spiritual can cause the spiritual to have a healing effect. In ancient times, it was the case that human beings could permeate themselves with the spiritual not only for the sake of knowledge, but also for the sake of healing. In ancient times, people lived in communion with high spiritual beings. When people descended but still maintained a connection with the spiritual worlds, they could not protect themselves from harmful spiritual beings. They could also be permeated by evil spiritual powers, for example, those that dwell on the astral plane as elemental beings. At that time, humans could surrender to the good spiritual influences, but they were also exposed to evil spiritual beings. Today, we have less to do with such evil, demonic beings. In ancient times, these demonic beings acted upon the malleable human material in such a way that they possessed people. This was all because human beings had to descend to the physical plane in order to attain self-awareness. Human beings could not have attained true self-awareness if they had always been devoted to the spiritual world. They would then have been outside themselves. The ego has been at work in human nature since ancient times. It was only through the Christ impulse that human beings were to become fully conscious of themselves, to know what the ego means. The Christ impulse first manifested in the pillar of fire in which Jehovah appeared to Moses. It was reflected in the pillar of fire, just as moonlight reflects sunlight. Jehovah is nothing other than the reflected Christ, who first reveals himself as a reflection.

[ 8 ] We can only understand the Gospel of John if we realize that the Christ impulse is actually the most significant work within human evolution concerning the sense of self.

[ 9 ] Human beings should be freed from the influences that flow into them without their self-awareness. In this way, they could acquire self-awareness and prepare themselves to regain the clairvoyance of ancient times. But they had to be freed from demonic influences. The more power one has in one’s ego, the more one can keep oneself free from demonic influences. Only then can one understand the healings of the demons. A number of sick people were brought into the presence of Christ precisely at the time when the spiritual Christ could work most powerfully. It was not the physical sunlight—the garment of the spiritual light—that was to work, but the spiritual light itself. When the sun had set, those sick people were brought to Christ. Now we must imagine the actual process of healing as follows: The people who came there had the firm faith, the firm conviction, that through Christ the impulse was working that could drive back the demons. If this had been accomplished through an external means, then Christ would not have worked through the I. One recognizes Christ only when he unfolds all his power within one’s own inner being. He can work only where this power finds expression in the human I. From all this we see that back then, in that crucial time, humanity stood at a momentous turning point. It was the final phase of an old era and, as it were, the emergence of a powerful impulse that led people into a new era. There, people could look back and see: In the past, humanity was even more closely connected to the spiritual world. Through ecstasy, people could find the path to the spiritual world. But now we must find the point of connection within the ego in order to enter the spiritual world. This impulse was given through the powerful call of John the Baptist and through Christ himself: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Within yourselves must be sought the bond that connects you with the Kingdom of Heaven.

[ 10 ] To those to whom one could say this with complete sincerity, one could say: There was a time long ago when human souls were such that, when they stepped out of their ego, they entered a spiritual realm. There the spiritual was given to them for their healing. They had become rich, that is, possessors of the spirit. Then a turning point came. Now it is precisely those who have become beggars for the spirit who are called to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who are beggars for the spirit can now become divine and blessed. The spiritually poor will receive the Kingdom of Heaven within themselves.

[ 11 ] Those who are suffering will also become blessed or divine if they receive the Christ impulse. By seeking the connection to the spiritual world within their ego, they will be healed. Those who once raged out of their passions could formerly be pacified when they became spiritualized in ecstasy. By now finding the connection with Christ within themselves, in the ego, they are to pacify the raging passions and wild instincts. The lot of the earthly mission is that it falls to those who temper their passions through the ego. Those who suffer will lose their suffering by receiving Christ within the I; those who receive Christ within the I can become equanimous, and they will rule the earth.

[ 12 ] The first sentence of the Sermon on the Mount refers to the physical body, the second to the etheric body, the third to the astral body, and the fourth—the statement that one should not develop a conscience focused solely on the physical—to the sensory soul. Those in the soul of feeling who hunger and thirst for righteousness may now become godlike or blessed.

[ 13 ] What a person can find in the intellectual or emotional soul is expressed in the sentence: Those who are merciful can become divine. What must occur when we ascend from the sentient soul to the intellectual or emotional soul? First, the “I” ascends. Human beings must develop this by perceiving themselves as an “I” and perceiving everyone else as an “I,” so that what lives in the soul is conveyed from “I” to “I.” In what passes from one person to another, the subject and predicate must be the same. In the first sentences of the Beatitudes, the subject differs from the predicate. Now, in the sentence referring to the intellectual or emotional soul, we find that subject and predicate are the same. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy or love.”

[ 14 ] Here we see a document so magnificent that there is scarcely another document of such depth. It is marked by that momentous transition brought about by the Christ. The Kali Yuga, the dark age, had already lasted for 3,000 years. The Kali Yuga, in the strictest sense, began in 3101 B.C. That is the year when the spiritual world began to close off. Before the year 3101, we still find a direct awareness of the spiritual worlds. Then the spiritual world grew increasingly dark. After the Kali Yuga had reigned for 3,101 years, that impulse occurred through which humanity is led back into the spiritual world. But how could that impulse have come about? Only through a God descending into the physical world. There the first step is taken toward returning to the spiritual world. A tremendous leap in the development of humanity was made through humanity gaining the ability to ascend once more into the spiritual world from the ego. Humanity needed Christ, so to speak, because it had ascended as far as the ego. The descent of Christ was necessary so that the human ego would not wither away, would not fall out of the course of development.

[ 15 ] We see that for a long time, many people knew nothing about the fact that Christ had lived over there in the small country of Palestine. Tacitus, for example, knew very little about it. About a hundred years later, it was said that a sect living in a narrow alley in Rome was teaching about Jesus. At that time, this most powerful impulse—the Christ impulse—passed many people by. It could have passed all people by. But that did not happen. Humanity accepted the Christ impulse at that time. If a similar impulse were to arise again in humanity, then humanity must be capable of not letting such a leap in human development pass unnoticed.

[ 16 ] In 1899, the Dark Age, the Kali Yuga, came to an end. Humanity is moving along an upward trajectory. The Dark Age lasted 5,000 years. Today we are living at the beginning of an age in which entirely new powers and abilities are developing within humanity. Before the first half of the 20th century has come to an end, it will become apparent that a number of people possess special abilities as a result of natural development. With the end of the Kali Yuga, beginning in 1899, a certain ability to see into the etheric realm is developing within humanity. Between the years 1930 and 1940, this etheric vision will have developed in a number of people. Two things may then be possible. Humanity may continue to live in the materialistic quagmire. Materialism may flood everything. Humanity may miss this event just as it could have missed the Christ event. If people do not experience this etheric vision, it will come to pass that they will sink into the materialistic morass. Or a sufficiently large number of people will develop over the course of 2,500 years in such a way that they become etheric-sighted. This is the beginning of clairvoyance, which humanity will reclaim for the sake of ego-consciousness.

[ 17 ] There is something else to add here. Once a number of people have developed a sense of this through an understanding of spiritual science, it will come to pass that these people will be able to convince themselves of the truth of the Christ event just as Paul was able to convince himself of it during the Damascus event. Between 1930 and 1940 there will be a small number of people who develop this ability, and then, over the course of 2,500 years, more and more people will see the Christ in the etheric body. As people develop the ability to see into the etheric, they will see Christ in His etheric body, though they can only attain this through spiritual scientific understanding and feeling. This is the new descent of Christ to the people of Earth. In truth, it is rather an ascent, for Christ will no longer incarnate in the flesh. But those who develop themselves to him will be able to perceive him in his etheric body. They will know from direct experience that Christ lives. For those who wish to recognize Christ, he will appear again in his etheric body. They will know of Christ through vision.

[ 18 ] It is precisely through the development of the soul that we will gain an understanding of what constitutes the most important event for humanity in our time. If spiritual science did not guide humanity toward this, the event would pass humanity by unnoticed. Spiritual science is meant to prepare us to make the most of this greatest event following the end of the Kali Yuga. Those people will be important—regardless of their profession—who have prepared themselves to perceive the event. But the event will also be important for those who find themselves in that world between death and a new birth. For this event also has an effect on the spiritual worlds, but only because one has prepared oneself here on Earth. Here on Earth, we must prepare ourselves specifically for that event and create the organs necessary for it. The new Christ event of the 20th century—that is what we are now proclaiming. It will later be explained as an event that continues to have an effect on all of humanity. This will be proclaimed in the near future. It will be a touchstone for Theosophy. It could be that materialism is carried into the theosophical conception of the Christ event itself. Only a materialistic consciousness could believe that the Christ could return in a physical form. It will become clear whether theosophy has been understood when the event comes. In the first half of the 20th century, we will see false messiahs asserting themselves here and there. In our age, it would be a tragedy if people were not able to rise to a spiritual perspective sufficient to accept that the Christ will reappear in his etheric form. There would be no evolution of humanity if the Christ were to appear again in the flesh.

[ 19 ] Humanity is evolving to perceive the Messiah with higher faculties. This will be the litmus test of whether Theosophy has truly led humanity to understand this event correctly, so that humanity has elevated itself spiritually enough to comprehend the return of the Christ in his true form. For a number of people who will be forerunners, he will return in this century, just as he once came in the event at Damascus for Paul.

[ 20 ] Disbelief is becoming more and more widespread through the criticism of historical documents. The more historical evidence loses its power over people, the more the ability to see the Christ will grow within them. The Christ in reality will be given to those who, through spiritual science, can rise to the level of understanding and seeing the true return of the Christ.