The Rudolf Steiner Archive

10. The Second Coming of Christ

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[ 12 ] The abilities described now lie as seeds within the soul. In the future, they will be developed, and one will be able to say that human destiny lies, to a certain extent, in one’s own hands. It will be necessary for people, when this phenomenon occurs, to know what these abilities mean. Then it will be impossible for people to fall back into materialism, as they do now. When these abilities begin to manifest, people will not immediately take notice of them. People who possess these abilities will even be regarded as fanciful and sick. The message of spiritual science therefore has the mission of preparing people to understand such abilities. Thus, the ideals communicated by spiritual science are not arbitrary, but a necessary means for the development of humanity.

[ 13 ] What we have said will be repeated many times in the years to come, but it is essential that it be properly understood. It is possible that materialistic tendencies will penetrate the Theosophical Society to the point where people will believe that Christ will assume a material body when he returns. This would confirm that humanity has made no progress over the last 2,000 years. Christ appeared 2,000 years ago in a physical body for physical perception. For future clairvoyance, he will appear in the etheric body. We are preparing ourselves, through spiritual science, to understand the significant epoch that lies ahead of us. To be a Theosophist, it is not enough to understand Theosophy theoretically; one must live it within oneself. It will be necessary to observe this great event with the utmost precision.

[ 14 ] There will be enterprising individuals who, drawing on the materialistic strand of Theosophy, will attempt to exploit it for their own gain and lead people to believe that they are the Christ. And they will find people who believe them. It will be a test for true Theosophists to arm themselves against such temptations and, instead of degrading human sentiment, to elevate it to the spiritual worlds. Those who understand Theosophy correctly will say to these false Messiahs of the 20th century: You announce to us the appearance of the Christ on the physical plane, but we know that the Christ will manifest only as an ethereal apparition. — The true Theosophists will await the appearance of the Christ for the higher senses. Before death, a person must have understood the true meaning of the return of Christ; then this understanding will open the spiritual senses to them through the life between death and rebirth. But those who do not have the ability to understand the meaning of the return of Christ on Earth must await a new incarnation in order to acquire this understanding on the physical plane.

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

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

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

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

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

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