The Wisdom Contained in Ancient Documents and in the Gospels
GA 125
13 November 1910, Nuremberg
Translator Unknown
If we look back upon the evolution of humanity, if we look back—let us say—as far as history permits it, we shall encounter something very strange. Various phenomena enable us to examine what we thus encounter. Above all, (and we shall see to-day that what we are about to say may be applied to every human heart, to every human soul) we may examine the evolution of humanity with the aid of various documents, traditions and writings which have been pre served. We shall find in them something very strange and peculiar. If we go back to the conceptions which were formed by the various peoples of ancient times in connection with the origin of the world and of the sources of what is good and moral, we shall find that the conceptions which thus arose are laid down in legends—in myths and legends. We come across such legends and myths in a more or less beautiful, lofty, sublime or even less significant form among the various peoples of the earth. A modern man is so very much inclined to consider these myths and legends as poems and to say: They were invented by the peoples during their infancy, because they did not as yet possess the sources of modern science. They have, for instance, formed all kinds of ideas about the origin of the world: the Greeks and their gods, the ancient Germanic peoples and their gods, and, if you like, the American peoples, whose legends have recently been dscovered and which are found to correspond with what exists among other peoples. If we learn that among the Central-American peoples Quetzalcoatl and Vitzliputzli play a role which is more primitive but similar to that of other mighty characters created by other races we shall see that such legends and myths exist among all these peoples ... And, as already stated, a modern man is easily inclined to say: These are poems, fantastic inventions of man's spirit, in order to explain the origin of the various beings of the world and of the various phenomena of Nature!
Among the various documents, there is one which I have already considered with a greater number of the friends who are now present. It is a lofty, mighty document: the Genesis, the beginning of the Old Testament. At Munich we have already seen how infinitely deep are the contents of the Genesis.1Secrets at the Bible Story of Creation Several of you have also heard the explanations supplied by spiritual knowledge in connection with the various Gospels, which are, as it were, the last documents of this kind. We find that such documents have been preserved and that they have arisen at various periods of time as we were passing through our preceding incarnations, periods of time through which we have passed during our preceding lives on earth. Those who advance in spiritual knowledge must learn to realize that they have lived during times when men spoke, for instance, of Zeus, Hera and Chronos, and so forth, when they spoke of the phenomena of Nature in a different way from the one which is usual to-day, that they spoke of them in the form of myths, legends and fairy-tales. We must bear all this in mind. We must say to our selves: How do matters stand with our soul that has taken up these things (most people are not aware, so to speak, of what has been deposited within them) which now come to the fore again?
I shall now describe to you very simply what happens with a person who takes up within him these documents—to begin with, in the form of legends, myths and poems—and who then penetrates into occult science, into occultism, and who uses occult science as an instrument enabling him to understand them more and more. He will experience something very strange. I will take, for instance, just one case: What will take place within him in connection with the Old Testament?
In the case of the Old Testament, which most modern men read in such a way that they consider it as a very beautiful collection of all kinds of images about the world's origin, he will find that he will gradually say to himself: Infinite wisdom is contained in these things which are rendered in such a peculiar way! And he will gradually discover that the single words and sentences contain things—provided he understands them rightly—to which occult investigation can lead him along entirely independent paths. And his respect for these writings will grow. The most efficacious means perhaps of increasing our appreciation of these documents is to penetrate to some extent into spiritual science.
A question may then arise and may be placed before our soul. The human being may then say: How do matters really stand as far as this question is concerned? The ancient documents have been preserved: if we penetrate into them we discover in them the deepest, most significant spiritual meaning. Even if today we cannot feel entirely convinced of the fact that these documents contain, indeed, an overwhelming wisdom, we should persevere in our search and penetrate into them more and more. We shall then see that the wisdom which they contain is indeed overwhelming. It is not we who bring anything into them ... it would be quite ridiculous to say that we bring anything into them. The documents themselves contain this wisdom. Indeed, the greatest discoveries which can be made in the, sphere of spiritual science, the loftiest things which can be found again with great effort through occult investigation—all this may afterwards be discovered, for instance, in just one word of the Bible in the Genesis. This is very strange, is it not so?
We find, however, that there is a certain difference between the Old Testament and all the other legends, myths and documents. This is a fact which we should bear in mind. For there is a difference. Consider, for instance, the legends of the Greeks, of the ancient Germans, even what is contained in the Vedas of the Hindoos, or Persian documents. Take whatever you like—if you compare it with the Old Testament you will find a tremendous difference. This difference appears quite clearly to the unprejudiced investigation of an occultist the more he penetrates into these things. This difference appears in the following way: We shall gradually discover that all the other documents set forth in a legendary form the riddles of the phenomena of Nature, the riddles connected with all these phenomena of Nature, and also with the human being, in so far as he has a kind of natural form of life, in so far as the powers of Nature compel him to do this or the other thing. The Old Testament, however, is the one and only document in which we find the human being described from the very beginning as an ethical soul-being, not merely as a being of Nature. And everything in the Old Testament is described in such a way that the human being is placed within the course of evolution, as an ethical soul-being. Every other statement made by modern science rests upon a very weak foundation; it dissolves into nothing if we really observe things. This is the great difference which appears to us. We may therefore say: Everything else in the world shows us that men have obtained mighty revelations from one or the other direction, they have obtained mighty revelations which were expressed in the legendary form of myths and which have arisen out of deep wisdom. We may also say that as far as the Old Testament is concerned the human beings have had certain definite revelations which are connected with the ethical soul-mysteries of man. This is a fact which is, in any case, quite clear.
Another difference appears, however, if we compare the New Testament with all the other documents of this kind. We find in it a spirit which differs entirely from the one contained in any other document, even in the Old Testament. How can we grasp this difference if we approach the question as anthroposophists? We shall realize this difference if we first place another phenomenon before our soul.
Let us imagine, first of all, a man who has never heard anything about spiritual science, who is entirely the product of a scientific or of another so-called sensible education of our modern time, and who has, therefore, never had the chance to permeate the ancient documents with spiritual science. We may perhaps imagine him as a learned person or as an unlearned person—the difference is not so great—we may imagine him in any case as a person who has had no contact with spiritual science and we see him approach these ancient documents, Greek, Persian, Indian, Germanic documents, and so forth. We imagine him approaching these documents, equipped with everything which modern thinking can give him, if he is really unable to feel even a breath of what constitutes spiritual investigation a very strange thing will appear. There will be a difference according to his more or less greater inclination toward poetry or toward a matter-of-fact mentality, but on the whole we may say that something very strange will appear. Such a man will never be able to understand the ancient documents, he will never be able to penetrate into the way in which wisdom is offered by them, he is simply unable to do it, it is quite impossible for him to understand them. In this sphere, we come across the strangest examples; it may suffice to refer to one of the most recent attempts to explain these ancient documents. A little book has just appeared, which is extremely interesting because it is so absurd. It attempts to explain, as it were, all the myths up to the Gospels, beginning with the earliest documents of the most primitive peoples. It is really a book which is extraordinarily interesting because of its grotesque way, its grotesquely stupid way of grasping things. It is entitled “Orpheus,” and its author is Salomon Reinach, who is well known in France as an investigator in this sphere, and among scientists he is a characteristic example of a man who has not even had the slightest inkling of the way in which it is possible to penetrate into such things. In this book, a definite method is applied to everything, and the author passes sentence upon everything. He sees nothing but symbols, and there are no real beings behind Hermes, Orpheus, etc. These characters are merely symbols and allegories to him ... It is not proper to repeat the explanations which he gives for these symbols; he speaks of them in such a way that it is not necessary to repeat them. Every reality contained in these things can thus be proved to be non-existent ... the reality of Demeter and of Persephone is explained away, he decrees that they do not exist. According to this author, all these names are merely symbols. He follows a method according to which it would be easy to prove to children, eighty years hence, that a man named Salomon Reinach has never lived in France at all, at the beginning of the twentieth century, but that the civilization of that time has merely comprised the contents of this book in the name of Salomon Reinach. This could be proved quite well! In spite of all, these things have caused a great sensation. And according to this same method evidence has been produced in Germany to the effect that Jesus has never lived at all. This too has caused a great sensation.
You see, we may now ask: Why is it not possible to-day to penetrate into these things without the aid of spiritual science, (and it is a fact that it is not possible to do this without spiritual science) what is the true reason for this? If we wish to understand the true reason for this, we must gain a deeper insight into the evolution of humanity. We must look back a certain while into this evolution of humanity. And as a result we shall really feel compelled to say: Indeed, the science which men possess to-day, the science which is taught to-day in the elementary schools concerning the sun, and so forth, this is something which the ancients did not possess they did not possess a science which could be grasped with the understanding, with the intellect. This is something to which the human race has advanced little by little. And when our souls were born during earlier incarnations, they were certainly not able to take up this form of science, for this did not exist, this was not as yet incorporated in our civilization But the more we go back into the course of evolution, the more we shall find (quite apart from the fact of seeking the reasons for this which have often been explained to many of you here, in this or in that direction) that men possessed a deep wisdom of an entirely different kind from the one of to-day, wisdom concerning spiritual things which modern men are unable to express in their scientific form. This wisdom ruled in the souls of men, it lived in their souls. Wisdom was simply there. Particularly the initiated leaders of humanity possessed this wisdom, and if the anthroposophical spirit lives within us, it can be proved historically that a primal revelation, a primal wisdom was spread over the whole human race upon the earth, a wisdom which took on this or that form, ac cording to the various stages of evolution. If anyone considers history with a truly anthroposophical spirit he will discover this primal, original revelation. But something else is needed: the ordinary, modern scientific mentality must pass through a preparation if it wishes to penetrate into these documents and grasp their true meaning—I shall now relate a simple fact—a preparation is needed enabling a modern man to penetrate into the spirit of these writings. If he passes through this preparation he will be able to penetrate into the spirit of these writings. This preparation consists in the study of the only documents which can be studied to-day in a direct and immediate way, namely, the Gospels and the Epistles of St. Paul. If we are filled with an anthroposophical spirit it is possible to approach these documents in a direct and immediate way and to understand them.
Even if we know nothing whatever about Anthroposophy, but if our feelings are filled with an anthroposophical spirit (this can be the case with many people) we may feel that something special lives in the Gospels and in the Epistles of St. Paul. This is indeed a strange fact! And in the case of an occultist another strange thing arises, something quite special will arise in his case. Namely, in the case of an occultist we may find that in accordance with modern prejudices he has, let us say, a certain aversion to approach these Gospels. It is quite possible to be filled with an occultistic spirit and yet to feel an aversion to the Gospels, to say, that they are only one religion among many others. No attempt is made to approach the Gospels, and it is possible to understand this aversion. But if we do this as occultists, if we have this strange attitude as occultists, we shall find that we cannot grasp what is contained in other documents. Everywhere we shall find something which we cannot understand. We may be content with this, but if we continue to penetrate more and more deeply into these things we shall never reach a goal unless we have passed through a preparation by studying the Gospels. On the other hand, it is a fact that if someone who may even be a well-trained occultist approaches an oriental or an occidental document and comes across a very hard nut which he cannot crack ... he will immediately be enlightened about the things contained in other documents if he approaches—even if it is only in spirit—the events of Palestine and if he allows them to inspire him. This is an undeniable fact. A ray of light can go out of the Gospels, and this is an experience which can be made. We must admit that the Gospels and the Epistles of St. Paul are indeed necessary if we wish to go back into earlier times. It is not possible to ignore them, to take no notice of them. Particularly the occultist will always realize this. If he is really able to read the spiritual documents, the Akasha Chronicle, it will not be necessary for him to consult the written Gospels—but he must approach the events of Palestine, he cannot ignore them. Otherwise, certain preceding things will always remain dark. I am therefore not drawing your attention to the records, or to the written word, but to the events, in the form in which they have rea1ly taken place within the course of human evolution. This is a very important fact.
I wish to throw some light upon this fact also from another side. Let us bear in mind what I have already stated. It is not possible to ignore, as it were, the event of the Christ, and if we wish to understand what has been given to humanity in the form of a primordial revelation we shall always trip up somewhere. I must say the following if I wish to describe the true aspect of things. Let us suppose that a modern occultist investigates the past and that he has no understanding (for it is this understanding which is so important) for the event of the Christ. He disregards the event of the Christ and proceeds to investigate earlier events of human evolution. He will then find that he grows uncertain everywhere, really everywhere. Of course, he can persuade himself that he feels quite certain about these things, but if he is honest he will have to admit that things are not entirely as they should be. Let us now imagine an occult investigator before the time of Christ Jesus, an occult investigator who has reached such a high degree of development in clairvoyance and also in other directions that he is able, even before the Christian era, to survey the whole past in such a way that, had he lived after the event of the Christ, he would have passed through the Christ event in his retrospective survey, a man who is therefore in advance of his time. Let us suppose that he lived five or six centuries before Christ and that he reached the maturity of a modern occultist; that is to say he is able to go back into the earlier events of human evolution by passing through the Christ event. And we may then ask ourselves: How would an occultist who is so much in advance of his time, that even five or six centuries before Christ he can go back into the earlier events of human evolution by passing through the Christ event, how would such an occultist have to appear in order to avoid falling a prey to the luciferic and ahrimanic powers? Let us suppose that it would really be necessary for him to pass through the Christ event ... This Christ event, however, has not yet taken place at the time in which he lived. In the case of such a man it appears that he will easily content himself with what he discovers—and he will then speak of all kinds of things which are not quite correct, for it is not possible to speak correctly about things if they are not seen correctly—but otherwise nothing will happen to him. Or else he will reach the point of saying: “There is something amiss, something I cannot find when I turn my gaze backwards. I cannot discover this something which I need along my path.” And he will then have to admit to himself: “Here I begin to grow uncertain. I must find this missing ‘something,’ but it does not exist as yet upon the earth. It cannot as yet be found within the evolution of the earth.”
You see, I have now painted theoretically, as it were, the portrait of a personality who lived during the 5th and 6th century before Christ, a personality who would have been mature enough to discover Christ Jesus in a retrospective survey, but he could not discover him because Christ Jesus had not as yet appeared upon the earth. He could not discover Christ Jesus as an earthly fact. A short time ago this theory took on the form of a vivid reality. I experienced it this year during a visit to one of our groups abroad which has adopted the anthroposophical manner of contemplating the world, during a visit to our group at Palermo. As the ship approached Palermo, I suddenly realized: “The solution of a riddle will present itself to you, a riddle which can only be solved easily here, at this place, through the immediate impressions which can be gained here.” Soon afterwards I found the solution of the riddle. The personality concerning whom I have just spoken to you in a theoretical manner, immediately appeared in the whole atmosphere of Sicily, I might say, in the whole astral body of Sicily. His presence was an altogether living one. In the whole atmosphere of Sicily continued to live a personality that is very enigmatic in many respects, the personality of Empedocles, the ancient philosopher. This ancient Greek philosopher has in fact lived in Sicily during the fifth century before Christ, and even external history knows that he was a profound initiate in many different spheres and that he accomplished magnificent things just here, in Sicily.
If to begin with, we turn, as it were, our spiritual gaze upon this man he will appear to us, from an occult standpoint in a very strange light. The occult fact which presents itself to us is the following. If we look back upon the development of Empedocles, if we follow his occupations as statesman, architect and philosopher, if we follow him upon his journeys, if we see him in the midst of his enthusiastic pupils initiating them into the various mysteries of the world—if we follow him spiritually in this manner, without the aid of external history, we shall discover in him a personality who possessed an infinite amount of scientific knowledge of the kind which is only known to a modern man. Empedocles had an altogether modern mentality, a modern aura, and he was indeed constituted in such a way that he sought to discover the origin of the world. In fact, according to his degree of development and everything which had taken place, he would necessarily have found the Christ in his retrospective survey. But the Christ had not yet appeared. It was not possible as yet to find Him upon the earth; He was still absent from the earth. These experiences in particular made Empedocles waver and developed within him a strange desire, and in his case it transformed itself into something entirely different from what takes place in the superficial minds of modern times. This desire transformed itself into the passion to consider the world in a materialistic way. Lucifer approached him. We should try to form a vivid picture of the way in which this took place. Empedocles possessed a modern spirit, but at the same time he was initiated in many different mysteries. He was clairvoyant to a high degree. Let us now imagine vividly that his modern way of thinking made him feel inclined to consider the world from a materialistic aspect; he has, in fact, drawn up a materialistic system which describes the world more or less from the stand point of a modern materialistic chemist, namely, as a combination and separation of elements. The one difference is that Empedocles distinguishes only four elements. He thought that various beings arise according to the way in which these four elements combine. As a result of these thoughts he felt the strong desire to discover in a true and real way what lies behind these material elements, what air and water really contain. If we peruse the Akasha Chronicle today and look into water, air, fire and earth we shall discover in them etherically the Christ. Empedocles could not find Him, but he felt the tremendous impulse to discover something in air and water, fire and earth, to find out what they really contain. And we can see how this personality is seized by the strong desire to penetrate at all costs into what constitutes the material elements. This desire finally induces him to make a kind of sacrifice. It is not merely a legend that Empedocles threw himself into the crater Aetna in order to unite himself with the elements. The luciferic force, the strong desire to grasp the elements, led him to a bodily union with the elements. The death of Empedocles continues to fill the atmosphere of Sicily, and this is a great mystery connected with this strange country.
Let us now picture the soul of Empedocles who has laid aside his body by allowing it to be burned. His soul is born again in a later period of time, when the Christ has already appeared upon the earth. Entirely new conditions now exist for this soul. In the past, this soul has, as it were, sacrificed itself to the elements. Now it is born again. But now it can discover the Christ when it looks back into time. And all the past knowledge concerning the elements rises up again in a new form, the knowledge which this soul once possessed arises in a completely new form. In fact, the personality of Empedocles was born again later, but at the present moment it is not permissible for me to mention his name. If we study the reincarnation of Empedocles in a more northern country, if we observe him as he then lived at the turning point of the Middle Ages and the modern time and if we compare this character with the Empedocles who threw himself into Mount Aetna, we shall see livingly before us the gigantic impulse which has arisen through the fact that the Christ event has in the meantime taken place upon the earth.
What thus takes place in the case of this one definite personality applies, however, to every soul, to the souls of each one of you. At the time in which the Christ event was drawing nigh, all these souls have looked back with a certain feeling of discomfort into past, even if they have not felt the mighty impulse experienced by Empedocles. They felt uncomfortable because they had lost their bearings and because the time of the modern scientific man who looks back into the past ... was gradually approaching, and something resembling the case of the men of earlier times begins to spread ... If we go back to earlier times we find that those who have preserved this tradition faced the masses and related to them—let us imagine this vividly—mighty tales which are contained, for instance, in the legends told to the ancient Greeks. But this induced the ancient Greeks to experience the truth of these legends, when they were, let us say, in a special condition which was still possible at that time to a greater extent than now, and these legends gave them, as it were, a push enabling them to look into the spiritual world. But the human beings lost this capacity. The inner force enabling them to rise into the spiritual world was lost to the extent in which intellectual knowledge began to develop. You may calculate and find in any little manual when our modern conceptions began to arise, these modern conceptions which children take up, if not with the mother's milk, at least with the school milk! These modern conceptions reach back to a few centuries before our Christian era. This is a tremendous turning-point. And if we wish to go back still further, if we wish to understand the ancient documents, it will not be possible for us to understand them, for now they appear to us merely as poems, legends and myths. We cannot go back further, and this is something which should really be borne in mind more clearly. More and more it will be the case that people who do not bring with them, as it were, an inherited disposition to understand the ancient documents, will be unable to understand them.
The opinion will gradually spread that there is a great field of illusion behind everything which is accepted as science, because the majority of scientists believes that now we fortunately know how the earth moves round, and that all the explanations of earlier times in this connection are nonsense. This opinion is already prevalent to-day. We go backwards into time ... The Copernican world-conception arises somewhat later, but even in the case of geometry we cannot go back further than Euclid. And further back, behind all this, a modern man can only see black darkness. He cannot find wisdom and the primordial revelation, he cannot find the path which leads into them. If we really accept this as a fact, something resulting from the deepest anthroposophical studies may then condense itself to a fundamental conviction—and this may take place even in the simplest mind, provided the feelings are sound.
Man must, after all, reach the point of saying to himself “The form in which I see the world is not its true aspect.” If this were its true aspect it would not be necessary to investigate it. Investigation would not be necessary at all, for the world would immediately appear in its true aspect. Modern investigation, however, does not consider the world in this way. The Copernican system would not exist if men were simply to accept what the senses reveal to them. Even external science contradicts the experiences gained through the senses. If we progress we shall see that we cannot stay by what the senses give us, by what we obtain through the external experiences which we make in the physical world. These must in any case be corrected, even by external science. This fact is perhaps not generally recognised; nevertheless, it is true. As soon as we begin to understand our own being—even if it is only with the aid of ordinary thinking and with what we can learn to-day—we shall be obliged to admit that the essential point of everything is to have an insight into the illusion created by the senses, for otherwise science would not exist and reflection would not exist. If this is indeed the case, we must discover something which enables us to understand without any difficulty in which direction and toward which goal the world is gradually developing. We shall find the confirmation of this fact if we consider matters a little in the light of Anthroposophy. We may therefore say to ourselves: Once upon a time there was a primordial wisdom; the human beings were constituted in such a way that they received a primordial wisdom which they could only see in pictures, but nevertheless they possessed such a primordial wisdom, and they have gradually lost the understanding for such a wisdom the more human evolution progressed; men were less and less able to grasp this primordial wisdom. And another fact is quite clear, namely, that they began to lose this understanding to the extent in which science and the intellectual understanding developed. We may now ask: What can have arisen at a certain definite moment?
Let us imagine the whole situation. Let us picture a man of pre-Christian times, who lived under certain conditions. He will have looked out into the world, he will have seen all manner of things, but within his soul there also lived the possibility of seeing behind these things. He still possessed this disposition. Consequently, it was an undeniable fact for him that there is an etheric body behind every flower. This was a fact for him. Gradually he began to lose this capacity. He lost it because it was banished by the intellectual understanding which rules to-day. The intellectual capacity cannot be united with the other one, for they are two hostile forces. This is an undeniable fact, and every occultist knows by experience that the understanding, or ordinary thought, sears and burns the clairvoyant manner of looking upon things. Even in the course of history, the knowledge based upon the ancient clairvoyance was lost to the extent in which the understanding, or the intellect in the ordinary meaning, have arisen, and the loss of the old clairvoyant wisdom also implied the loss of the capacity to understand the ancient traditions. A few centuries had to pass, and the kind of man I have just described to you had to be replaced by another kind who might perhaps have said: “It would, of course, be a serious prejudice to think the truth can be discovered in the way in which the world presents itself to our senses. Human reason must supplement everything!” Particularly this belief in human reason was the decisive factor; human reason must first pounce upon the phenomena which appear to the senses and then grasp them logically.
Such a kind of man would perhaps have said: “The special advantage of the human being over all the creatures of the earth is the fact that he is endowed with reason, that he can understand cause and effect as they manifest themselves behind the sense-phenomena. He is able to discover this. And his intellect enables him to communicate with other men through the means of speech. For it is easy to see that speech is a child of reason.” And he might also have said: “Reason is, of course, the highest of all things.” Now, if we wish to draw a vivid picture of such a person, we should imagine him saying to himself: “Rely on your understanding and reason, dissect everything with your reason, and then you will surely reach the truth!” Let us suppose that we are actually facing such a man. I have given you a description from a theoretical standpoint, yet this particular type of man has appeared very frequently. A characteristic thinker of this kind was Cicero, who lived shortly before Christ. If you study Cicero you will immediately see that he thinks exactly in this way, namely, that reason is able to grasp everything. It is not true that the world appears as it presents itself to the senses, nevertheless human reason is able to grasp everything! Just in the case of people who lived shortly before Christ we find an invincible faith in reason. They even identify reason with God himself, who rules within things. Cicero adopts this standpoint.
Let us suppose, however, that someone succeeds in discovering the secrets connected with all this. Let us suppose that someone contemplates all this in an entirely unprejudiced way and sees how everything results little by little. How would he then describe the whole period? Let us suppose that one century before Christ a man who is endowed with deep insight contemplates all these things ... How would the whole course of history appear to him? Well, he would say: “We can see two currents in humanity. One is the old clairvoyant power, with a descending course. Reason appears in its place, and it roots out and destroys within the human being the possibility of looking into the spiritual world. A great darkness spreads over the spiritual world. Those who accept the authority of reason will indeed think that their reason can discover what lies behind things. But these people forget the true nature of reason, about which they talk so much. Reason is linked up exclusively with the brain. It is a force which can only use the brain as its instrument. It belongs to the physical world and must, therefore, share the qualities of the physical world” ... Such a man would say: “You may, if you like, rely on your intellect and I say that it enables you to grasp what lies behind things, since the things in themselves are not real. Consider, however, that reason itself belongs to these things. You are a physical being among other physical beings, and your reason belongs to the physical world. If you think that reason enables you to discover what lies behind all the other things, you will demolish the foundation under your feet.” This is what he would say, and he would add: “Indeed, men are more and more inclined to use their reason, to rely upon their intellect. They have this inclination. But in doing so, they raise up before them a wall hiding the spiritual world, for they make use of an instrument which can not be applied to the spiritual world, for it is limited to the physical world. Humanity, however, unfolds in the very direction of developing this instrument.” And if this man had known the real course of events, he would also have said: “If men return to the spiritual world at all, they should not only be able to use their intellect, which can be applied solely to the physical world, but an impulse must arise enabling them to ascend once more to the spiritual worlds, an impulse which drives the intellect itself along this upward path. But this can only take place,” this person would have said, “if something dies within the human being, if something which calls forth in him the firm belief in the exclusive rule of reason perishes. This must die.” In fact, we imagine the human being gradually descending into the material world and developing his brain more and more. If the human being were to depend exclusively on his reason, he would be unable to abandon it, to come out of it. His physical body would then deceive him and persuade him to do away with everything which cannot be grasped by earthly reason. But it is the physical body which dulls man in this manner, because it gradually develops to a very high degree, and man does not realise that he thus remains within the physical world. Try to imagine this and you will see that the human being is then caught as if in a trap. He is quite unable to escape out of himself. Human evolution has so far reached the point of preventing man from going out of his own self, and so he faces the danger, of being gradually overwhelmed by his physical body. What can help the human being at all in this case? If just at the time when the intellect reaches this point, there arises the possibility of changing the intellect so, that the part which blinds it, dies, then this part must die. An impulse must arise which is able to overcome once and for all that part in man which can overwhelm him through a blind faith in mere reason. Try to feel the power of this impulse; try to feel that this was the meaning of human evolution! The bodily constitution developed in such a way that it would have overwhelmed man. He would have reached the point of thinking that he must remain within the physical world and yet be able to penetrate through Maya, without bearing in mind that he himself lived in this Maya through his intellect. This would have taken place had not something arisen which can tear him out of it, as soon as he accepts it, and which is able to counteract the fall into the physical sphere. Indeed, its influence reaches as far as the etheric body, so that the etheric body is then able to kill what leads man into a similar illusion. The human being would otherwise have remained imprisoned in this trap.
Let us now turn away from such a person who would have spoken in this way when the time of Christ Jesus was approaching, and let us consider the way in which a modern man, or anyone of us, would look at things. He would say to himself: If I consider the development of man in an unprejudiced way and see how the intellect, this instrument belonging to Maya, has gradually gained strength, I would undoubtedly be on the wrong track if I follow merely the course of the world's evolution. For, this is arranged in such a way that if I do not take up within me the impulse which kills that part leading me astray in this direction, I am unable to free myself from the intellect. What must therefore have taken place? I must be able to look back upon a time in which this impulse has entered. I must find something within the historical evolution of humanity which brings about the fact that the continuous stream of evolution has been reversed in a materialistic sense. If to-day I were to look within my own being without finding anything of this kind, what would I then have to find? I would trace in that case the gradual growth of the intellect, until I reached a time, at the beginning of our era, when the intellect began to work ... and further back? There it grows dark, pitch black darkness rules there, and I shall need something entirely different. Then it will grow light, and here everyone must encounter the Christ! Anyone who is at all willing to believe in the possibility of progress, and that during the following incarnations he will have within him something which will lead him upwards and will prevent his being overwhelmed by Maya, must meet the Christ when he looks back into time. Upon looking back, everyone must encounter the Christ. This can give him an impulse leading him upwards.
Let us now suppose that the gospels did not exist, and that we would not need them as anthroposophists. Let us suppose that we do not need the gospels; that all we need is to study the course of human evolution in an unprejudiced way and to say: What would become of every human being if he were unable to look back upon an event which has swung the whole meaning of the earlier course of evolution over to the other side? We simply must encounter the Christ if we go back into the course of evolution! Anthroposophists must be able to find Him, and the clairvoyants will find him under every circumstance. This is a mystery which is connected particularly with Christianity. Documents may be questioned. Indeed, the gospels are not real historical documents. All the clever people, Jensen and others, who decree in a trivially learned manner that the gospels do not exist and upon them as mere legends, have a certain justification for doing this, because they depend solely upon their external reason. But if we are anthroposophists we are able to say that we do not need the gospels; we only need the facts supplied by spiritual science itself, and if we go back into time we shall discover the living Christ, as He appeared to Paul in the event of Damascus. Paul has experienced in advance what we, too, are able to experience if we search for the Christ in a truly anthroposophical spirit. Paul was, after all, in the same position of a modern anthroposophist who does not wish to accept the gospels. At his time the gospels did not exist, but Paul was able to go to Jerusalem. Nevertheless, this did not convince him, for otherwise he would not have left Jerusalem. The events described in the gospels did not convince him. It is not necessary, therefore, that the contents of the gospels should convince a modern person. All that is necessary is that he should be in a position to experience, through Anthroposophy, what Paul has experienced, and this experience will then become for him an event of Damascus. He will then have the proof of Christ's existence, in the same way as Paul, without the aid of documents.
Of course, this points to very deep things in human evolution, to extraordinarily deep things in the evolution of man. In a certain sense, every human being, even the simplest man, may experience what the reincarnated Empedocles has experienced during the 15th and 16th century, who looked back into earlier times and was able to see what he was unable to see before. Before, he had grown so uncertain that he threw himself into Mount Aetna. He cast his glance backwards during the 15th and 16th century and what he was unable to grasp in any way during his previous incarnation he was now able to grasp clearly through the Christ principle. And this enabled him to become one of the most remarkable personalities of the later era.
This is how matters appear to every human being, without the aid of any document, simply through retrospection. At some later time, all men will be able to look back into an earlier incarnation and they will distinguish exactly the incarnations before and after Christ. What may be felt to-day instinctively by a simple soul who reads the gospels, will arise, later, in the form of knowledge. This is the chief difference between the gospels and other documents: they are the first documents which we must understand. The gospels are a great, beautiful and mighty point of transition. It we pass through it, light begins to spread, while everywhere else there is darkness.
It is indeed so. Christianity is only at the beginning of its evolution, and a modern man may find that he often loses his thread when he investigates earlier things. But if he returns to one of the events in the life of the Christ he will feel inspired, and it will grow light about him. Even a simple person may experience what occultists discover, namely, he will be able to feel within his soul a reflection, as it were, of what I have just explained. He may feel very depressed owing to his human weaknesses and mistakes and he may admit to himself: “What I am to-day, is the result of all the generations!” But then he would deny this and would have to admit to himself, instead, that he himself has been his own father and his own mother. There is, consequently, something within us connecting us with the rest of humanity, and we may feel very depressed by all human mistakes, weaknesses and illnesses. Nevertheless, even the simplest soul always has the possibility of rising. These words should not be understood in the orthodox meaning. What is possible for an occultist is also possible for the simplest soul. Such a simple man may feel as weak possible, but if he begins to read the gospels, strength will flow out of the gospels, because the power of the Word streams out of them and penetrates into the etheric body. The gospels are strengthening words, words of strength. They do not speak merely to the intellect, but penetrate into the deeper forces of the soul. And they are not merely based upon the intellect which exists in Maya, but they penetrate into the deeper forces, which can, as it were, console the intellect concerning its own nature. This is the great strength of the gospels; they exist for every one of us, and this is the powerful element distinguishing them from all the other documents. This fact, too, may not be accepted, but its rejection would imply that the possibility of human progress is denied altogether.
You see, this points to a fact which cannot be grasped right away. And now you will be able to realize what was needed for the preparation of a person whom I have already set before your soul hypothetically, who announced, one century before our era: “A man must come who will give us the impulse which will bring about the great turning point in the course of events.”
This person was a significant man, and he also underwent the necessary preparation. For a long time, the attempt had already been made, among those who knew things, to bring about the possibility that at least a few people, as it were, should understand the times which were approaching, that they should understand what was being prepared, namely, that, on the one hand, men were being drawn into a snare, and that, on the other hand, through the appearance of the Christ, they could be led upwards again. This was taught prophetically. The man who was chosen to teach this prophetically, more than one century before our era, within the circles of people who were able to understand these teachings, was an initiate of the community of the Essenes, which was closely related to the circles frequented by the Christ. He announced the coming of One Who would lead men upwards again. The man who taught this within the community of the Essenes was a very significant individuality. External history really knows very little about him, but at least a few writers mention the legends referring to him which were handed down traditionally. Thus he is not merely a mythological character, or one who is named exclusively in occultism, He lived a hundred years before Christ and he even instructed one of his five or six pupils to write down his teachings. One of the pupils of this man, who drew attention to the Christ and announced His coming, understood the meaning of his teachings. This man, therefore, had a pupil, who was called Matthew, and he wrote down the mysteries relating to the Christ. The individuality who taught them was Jeshu ben Pandira.2Compare the lecture published in German by the Philos. Anthrop. Verlag “Jeshu ben Pandira, der Vorbereiter für ein Verständnis des Christus-Impulses.” He had to suffer martyrdom because he taught these things, he was stoned to death in his own country, and afterwards his lifeless body was hanged. We should not confuse Jeshu ben Pandira with Jesus of Nazareth. Jeshu ben Pandira, the great prophet of the Christ, instructed his pupils to write down what he knew, and these documents then came into the hands of the man who included them with the mysteries which they contained, into the gospel which is known to us as the Gospel according to Matthew. It is an important, a preeminently important fact to realize, in the first place, the necessity of the Christ impulse, and in the second place, in an occult historical way, how Jeshu ben Pandira, through the fact that he was first stoned and immediately afterwards crucified, set forth, as it were, symbolically what took place afterwards in the Mystery of Golgotha. Christ was not stoned, but crucified, and a wonderful thing took place simultaneously with His death, for at the very moment when His blood streamed out of His wounds something passed over into the atmosphere of the earth, which brings to those who take up this event in their etheric body when they look back into time, to those who pass through this event and look, as it were, into the grave of the Christ, something leading them into a past filled with light, because they have passed through this moment. But without this experience, darkness spreads over everything which lies before it.
Consider what has been said to-day. It was my task to point this out to you. This subject, however, is so vast and encompassing that mere indications can be given. Nevertheless, these indications were treated so that if you investigate what you already know and what you carry in your heart, you will find to what a great extent life itself and your own soul prove the truth of what I have told you to-day.
Die Weisheit Der Alten Urkunden Und Der Evangelien. Das Christus-Ereignis
Wenn wir zurückblicken auf die Menschheitsentwickelung, zunächst so weit zurück, als es uns die Geschichte gestattet, so tritt uns etwas sehr Eigentümliches entgegen. Was uns da entgegentritt, können wir an den verschiedensten Erscheinungen prüfen. Wir können vor allen Dingen — und wir werden heute noch sehen, wie im Grunde genommen das, was jetzt gesagt werden soll, Anwendung findet auf jedes menschliche Herz, auf jede menschliche Seele — diese Menschheitsentwickelung prüfen an den verschiedenen Urkunden, Überlieferungen und Schriften, die uns erhalten sind. Wenn wir zu dem zurückgehen, was die einzelnen Völkerschaften des Altertums sich an Vorstellungen bildeten über die Entstehung der Welt, über das Verhältnis des Menschen zur Welt, über die Quellen des Sittlichen und des Guten, so finden wir, daß diese Vorstellungen in Sagen, in Mythen, in Legenden niedergelegt sind. Wir finden solche Sagen, Mythen, Legenden in mehr oder weniger schöner, großartiger, gewaltiger oder auch weniger bedeutender Gestalt bei den verschiedensten Völkern des Erdkreises. Der heutige Mensch ist so sehr geneigt, diese Mythen, Sagen und Legenden als Dichtungen zu behandeln und zu sagen: Das haben Völker in ihrem Kindheitszeitalter ausgedacht, weil sie noch nicht die Quellen der heutigen Wissenschaften hatten. — Sie haben sich allerlei Vorstellungen gemacht, wie die Welt entstanden ist, im Sinne der Griechen durch ihre Götter, im Sinne der alten Germanen durch ihre Götter, meinetwillen im Sinne der amerikanischen Völker, deren Sagen uns erst die letzte Zeit gebracht hat und die übereinstimmen mit dem, was man bei anderen Völkern findet. Wenn wir hören, wie Quetzalcoatl und Vitzliputzli bei den mittelamerikanischen Völkern eine Rolle spielen, ähnlich, nur primitiver wie andere gewaltig ausgebildete Gestalten bei anderen Völkern, so sehen wir, daß bei allen solchen Völkern sich Sagen und Mythen finden. Und wie schon erwähnt wurde, ist der moderne Mensch leicht geneigt zu sagen: Das sind Dichtungen, phantastische Ausbildungen des Menschengeistes, der auf diese Weise sich hat erklären wollen, wie die verschiedenen Wesenheiten der Welt, die verschiedenen Naturerscheinungen entstanden sind.
Unter den mancherlei Urkunden finden wir nun eine gewaltige, die eine größere Anzahl von Ihnen erst vor kurzem mit mir betrachtet hat, eine gewaltige Urkunde, die Genesis, den Beginn des Alten Testaments. Und wir haben ja in München gesehen, welche unendliche Tiefen in dieser Genesis liegen. Für manchen von Ihnen ist nun auch schon aus der Geist-Erkenntnis heraus gesprochen worden über die verschiedenen Evangelien, die letzten der Urkunden dieser Art. Solche finden wir erhalten, stammend aus den verschiedenen Zeiten, in denen unsere vorhergehenden Inkarnationen verlaufen sind, die wir in früheren Erdenleben mitgemacht haben. Der in der Geisteserkenntnis Vordringende muß es begreifen lernen, daß er in den Zeiten da war, in denen man, sagen wir, von Zeus und Hera und Kronos und anderen Göttern gesprochen hat, gesprochen hat über die Naturerscheinungen in anderer Weise als heute, in solcher Form eben, wie es in Mythen, Sagen und Märchen enthalten ist. Das alles müssen wir uns vor Augen halten. Und wir müssen uns fragen: Wie verhält es sich denn nun eigentlich mit unseren Seelen, die solche Dinge aufgenommen haben, welche jetzt — für die meisten Menschen gewissermaßen ohne daß sie wissen, was sich dazumal in ihnen abgeladen hat - in ihren Seelen wieder hervorkommen?
Nun, ich will Ihnen ganz einfach schildern, wie es mit diesen Urkunden demjenigen geht, der zunächst beginnt, sie hinzunehmen als Sagen, Mythen, Dichtungen, der aber dann in die Geisteswissenschaft eindringt und diese als ein Instrument benützt, um diese Urkunden immer mehr und mehr zu begreifen.
Mit dem Alten Testament zum Beispiel, das die meisten heutigen Menschen vielleicht lesen wie recht schöne Zusammenstellungen von allerlei Bildern über die Weltentstehung, geht es ihm so, daß er sich nach und nach sagt: In diesen Dingen, die da in einer so merkwürdigen Weise wiedergegeben sind, ist eine unendliche Weisheit enthalten. — Und immer mehr kommt er darauf, daß in den einzelnen Worten und Wendungen und Sätzen Dinge enthalten sind, wenn man sie richtig versteht, auf die uns die Geistesforschung heute ganz selbständig wiederum führt. Es gibt vielleicht kein wirksameres Mittel, um die Schätzung solcher Urkunden immer größer werden zu lassen, als ein wenig einzudringen in die Geisteswissenschaft. Denn die subtilsten Entdekkungen, die man auf dem Gebiet der Geisteswissenschaft machen kann, die gewaltigsten Dinge, die mit aller Mühe durch geisteswissenschaftliche Forschung wiedergefunden werden, entdeckt man hinterher in irgendeinem Bibelwort, sagen wir der Genesis.
Nun zeigt sich aber ein gewisser Unterschied zwischen dem Alten Testament und allen anderen Sagen und Mythen und Urkunden. Das muß man festhalten. Nehmen Sie die Sagen der Griechen, der alten Germanen, selbst das, was in den Veden der Inder enthalten ist, was in den persischen Urkunden enthalten ist, nehmen Sie alles dieser Art. Gegenüber dem Alten Testament gibt es einen gewaltigen Unterschied. Dieser Unterschied stellt sich dem unbefangen Prüfenden so dar, daß er in allen übrigen Urkunden in sagenhafter Weise dargestellt findet die Rätsel der Naturerscheinungen, die Rätsel alles dessen, was sich auf die Naturerscheinungen bezieht, auch auf den Menschen, insofern er eine Art natürlichen Daseins hat, insofern die Naturgewalten den Menschen zu diesem oder jenem drängen, daß aber in dem Alten Testament einzig und allein ihm entgegentritt, daß der Mensch von Anfang an als sittlich-seelisches Wesen gefaßt ist, nicht als bloßes Naturwesen. Und alles, was da erzählt wird, geht davon aus, daß der Mensch in die Entwickelung als sittlich-seelisches Wesen hineingestellt wird. Was die heutige Wissenschaft nach dieser Richtung sagt, ruht auf sehr schwankendem Grunde. Das ist alles in nichts zerfallend, wenn man die Dinge wirklich geistgemäß betrachtet. Es ergibt sich also ein durchgreifender Unterschied, so daß man sagen kann: Durch alles andere, was uns sonst in der Welt an Urkunden gebracht wird, zeigt sich uns, daß die Menschen gewaltige Offenbarungen hatten von irgendeiner Seite her, gewaltige Offenbarungen, die in dieser sagenhaften Form, wie die Mythen sie haben, ausgesprochen wurden, die aus dem Grunde tiefer Weisheit heraus entstanden sind, die sich aber nicht beziehen auf die sittlich-seelischen Mysterien des Menschen. Das also ist unter allen Umständen klar.
Nun tritt wiederum ein großer Unterschied auf, wenn man mit allen übrigen Urkunden dieser Art das Neue Testament vergleicht. Da herrscht ein ganz anderer Geist als in allen übrigen Urkunden, auch als im Alten Testament. Wie könnte man diesen Unterschied fassen, wenn man vom anthroposophischen Gesichtspunkt an die Sache herantritt? Dieser Unterschied wird uns klar werden, wenn wir uns erst eine andere Erscheinung vor die Seele rücken.
Wir denken uns einmal einen Menschen, der niemals von Geisteswissenschaft etwas gehört hat, der aber ganz herausgeboren ist aus den wissenschaftlichen oder aus den sonstigen sogenannten vernünftigen Erziehungen der Gegenwart, der also nicht die Gelegenheit hat, die alten Urkunden mit Geisteswissenschaft zu durchdringen. Wir können uns ihn vorstellen, vielleicht gar nicht gelehrt oder auch sehr gelehrt der Unterschied macht nicht viel aus —, wir denken ihn uns der Geisteswissenschaft fernstehend und nehmen an, er trete dann an diese alten Urkunden heran, an die griechischen, persischen, indischen, germanischen Urkunden und so weiter, er trete heran mit alledem, was ihm das moderne Denken geben kann. Wenn er nun wirklich gar keinen Hauch von dem verspürt, was Geistesforschung ist, so tritt eine eigentümliche Erscheinung auf. Je nachdem er mehr oder weniger geneigt ist, poetisch oder nüchtern zu sein, wird allerdings ein Unterschied auftreten, aber im ganzen, dürfen wir sagen, zeigt sich eine Erscheinung. Ein solcher Mensch kann niemals in Wirklichkeit heute noch die alten Urkunden verstehen, er kann nicht eindringen in die Art und Weise, wie da die Weisheit gegeben wird. Wir erleben die allergroteskesten Beispiele auf diesem Gebiete. Man braucht nur hinzuweisen auf die allerneuesten Versuche, solche alten Urkunden zu erklären. Da gibt es gerade heute wiederum ein Büchlein, das eigentlich durch seine Lächerlichkeit interessant ist, in dem ein umfassender Versuch gemacht wird, alle Mythen bis herauf zu den Evangelien, von den ersten Urkunden der primitivsten Völker an, zu erklären. Es ist ein Büchelchen, das gerade durch seine groteske Art, ja durch seine grotesk törichte Art, die Dinge aufzufassen, außerordentlich interessant ist. «Orpheus» heißt das Büchelchen. Es ist von Salomon Reinach, der in Frankreich als Forscher auf diesem Gebiet berühmt ist. Er ist gerade unter den Gelehrten ein bezeichnendes Beispiel für einen Mann, der auch nicht einen Hauch von dem Weg verspürt hat, wodurch man in solche Dinge eindringen kann. Da wird auf alles eine bestimmte Methode angewendet, und es wird alles wegdekretiert. Alle Dinge sind nur symbolisch. Hinter Hermes, Orpheus und anderen stehen keine wirklichen Wesenheiten. Diese Gestalten sind nur Symbole und Allegorien. Es schickt sich gar nicht, unter anständigen Menschen das zu wiederholen, was als Deutung dieser Symbole gegeben wird; es wird da so gesprochen, daß man es nicht wiedergeben möchte. Auf diese Weise kann alles, was an Realitäten in den Mythen lebt, wegbewiesen werden, und so wird da die Realität der Demeter und der Persephone wegdekretiert, wegbewiesen. Alle diese Namen seien nur da als Symbole. Das wird nach einer Methode gemacht, nach der man Kindern leicht den Beweis vorführen könnte, daß, wenn schon achtzig Jahre vergangen wären, niemals in Frankreich im Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts ein Mann des Namens Salomon Reinach gelebt hat, sondern daß die zeitgenössische Kultur unter dem Namen Salomon Reinach zusammengefaßt hat, was in seinem Buch vorliegt. — Das ließe sich wunderbar beweisen. Dennoch machen solche Dinge heute außerordentlich viel Aufsehen. Und nach derselben Methode wird jetzt auch in Deutschland der Beweis geführt, daß Jesus niemals gelebt hat, was in den letzten Zeiten ebenfalls großes Aufsehen gemacht hat.
Wenn wir uns nun fragen: Was ist denn der wirkliche Grund, daß man heute ohne Geisteswissenschaft nicht in die Sachen eindringen kann - und es ist eine Tatsache, daß man ohne sie nicht eindringen kann -, was ist der wirkliche Grund? - Wenn man diesen Grund einsehen will, muß man schon etwas tiefer in die Menschheitsentwickelung hineinschauen. Man muß eine Weilezurückblicken in dieseMenschheitsentwickelung. Dann bietet sich einem dar, daß man sich sagen muß: Solche Wissenschaften, wie sie die Menschen heute haben, solche Wissenschaften, wie sie sie in den elementarsten Schulen lehren über die Sonne und anderes, hatten die Alten gewiß nicht. Solche Wissenschaften, die mit dem Verstand, mit der Vernunft begriffen werden. — Das ist etwas, wozu die Menschheit erst vorgedrungen ist. Und unsere Seelen haben ganz gewiß, wenn sie in früheren Inkarnationen geboren waren, nicht solche Wissenschaften aufnehmen können, denn das gab es nicht, das war der Kultur nicht einverleibt. Aber je weiter wir zurückgehen in der Entwickelung, desto mehr finden wir — ob wir jetzt die Gründe dafür, die wir für viele von Ihnen öfters auseinandergesetzt haben, da oder dort suchen -, daß die Menschen eine Weisheit in ganz anderer Form als heute gehabt haben, eine Weisheit über die geistigen Dinge, welche die Menschen von heute nicht fähig sind, in ihrer wissenschaftlichen Form auszusprechen. Aber Weisheit beherrschte die Seelen, lebte in den Seelen. Sie war eben da. Vor allen Dingen hatten die eingeweihten Führer der Menschheit diese Weisheit, und es kann historisch nachgewiesen werden, wenn man anthroposophischen Geist hat, daß über die gesamte Menschheit der Erde eine Uroffenbarung, eine Urweisheit ausgegossen war, die sich nach den verschiedenen Abstufungen der Entwickelung da oder dort so und so ausgelebt hat. Wenn jemand mit einem wirklich anthroposophischen Geist die Geschichte betrachtet, so findet er diese Uroffenbarung. Nur ist noch etwas notwendig dazu. Der gewöhnliche jetzige wissenschaftliche Menschengeist muß, wenn er in all diese Urkunden ihrem wahren Sinne nach eindringen will, allerdings noch eine Vorbereitung durchmachen - ich erzähle jetzt einfach eine Tatsache -, eine Vorbereitung, die ihn befähigt, in den Geist jener alten Schriften einzudringen. Diese besteht darin, daß er die Urkunden studiert, die man heute unmittelbar studieren kann. Das sind die Evangelien, das sind die Paulinischen Briefe. Man kann durch das, was da geschildert ist, unmittelbar an die Uroffenbarung in den alten Urkunden herandringen und kann diese verstehen. Das ist eine merkwürdige Tatsache. Würde aber ein Geistesforscher nach den Vorurteilen der heutigen Zeit eine gewisse Abneigung haben, an diese Evangelien heranzutreten — er könnte ja sagen: Das ist eine Religion unter vielen —, dann würde sich zeigen, daß er doch nicht zurechtkommt mit dem, was die anderen Urkunden sind. Überall bliebe für ihn ein unverständlicher Rest. Tritt er aber, sei es auch nur im Geiste, an irgendeine Erscheinung der Ereignisse von Palästina heran, läßt er sich von ihnen gleichsam inspirieren, dann kann tatsächlich ein Strahl der Erleuchtung von den Evangelien über die Dinge in den anderen Urkunden ausgehen. Das ist eine Tatsache, und das kann man als eine Erfahrung machen. Und dann gesteht man sich wohl, daß diese Evangelien und die Paulusbriefe zum richtigen Zurückgehen in die früheren Zeiten eigentlich notwendig sind. Man kann sie nicht ignorieren, nicht außer acht lassen. Man braucht gar nicht, wenn man nur wirklich in den geistigen Urkunden, in der Akasha-Chronik lesen kann, an die geschriebenen Evangelien heranzugehen — über die Ereignisse von Palästina muß man aber gehen. Sonst bleiben gewisse Dinge in bezug auf das Vorhergehende immer unklar. Also nicht auf das geschriebene Wort wollte ich positiv hinweisen, sondern auf die Ereignisse, wie sie sich uns in der Wirklichkeit dargestellt haben in der Menschheitsentwickelung. Das ist eine sehr, sehr wichtige Tatsache.
Ich möchte auf diese Tatsache noch von einer anderen Seite her ein wenig Licht werfen. Halten wir fest, was ich gesagt habe: Man kann über das Christus-Ereignis nicht hinwegschreiten, wenn man verstehen will, was als eine Uroffenbarung der Menschheit gegeben ist, sonst strauchelt man irgendwo. Wenn ich beschreiben soll, wie sich die Sache eigentlich darstellt, so muß ich folgendes sagen: Nehmen wir an, der heutige Geistesforscher forscht in der Vergangenheit, und er hat keinen Sinn -— auf den Sinn kommt es sehr viel an — für das Christus-Ereignis, er geht an dem Christus-Ereignis vorüber und geht an die anderen, früheren Ereignisse der Entwickelungen heran, dann wird er überall, wirklich überall finden, daß er unsicher wird. Nehmen wir aber an, es läge uns ein solcher Geistesforscher vor, der vor dem Christus Jesus geboren ist und gelebt hat und der schon sehr weit gekommen war in bezug auf die Hellsichtigkeit und auch sonst weit entwickelt war, der in einer gewissen Weise schon vor der Christuszeit reif gewesen wäre, die ganze Vergangenheit so zu überschauen, daß er bereits damals durch das Christus-Ereignis hätte gehen können, weil er seiner Zeit voraus war. Nehmen wir an, er hätte fünf oder sechs Jahrhunderte vor Christus gelebt, wäre reif gewesen wie ein heutiger Geistesforscher, zurückzugehen über den Christus und zu den früheren Ereignissen zu kommen, dann können wir uns förmlich fragen: Wie würde sich ein solcher Geistesforscher ausnehmen müssen, um nicht den luziferischen oder ahrimanischen Gewalten zu verfallen? - Nehmen wir an, ein solcher würde es eigentlich brauchen, über das Christus-Ereignis zu gehen, aber dieses Christus-Ereignis sei noch nicht da gewesen, als er gelebt hat. Da würde es sich für einen solchen herausstellen, daß er entweder sich leichten Herzens beruhigen würde mit dem, was sich ihm ergibt, was er sehen kann - er würde dann allerlei Dinge reden, die nicht ganz stimmen -, oder aber er würde an den Punkt kommen, wo er sich sagt: Jetzt fehlt mir etwas, ich finde etwas nicht, indem ich den Blick zurückwende, ich finde etwas nicht, was ich auf meinem Wege brauche. — Und weiter würde er sich gestehen: Hier werde ich unsicher. Ich muß etwas suchen, was ich brauche, aber es ist auf der Erde noch nicht da, es ist in der Erdenentwickelung nicht zu finden.
Ich habe Ihnen da sozusagen aus der Theorie heraus eine Persönlichkeit des 5., 6. Jahrhunderts vor Christus gemalt, die etwa reif gewesen wäre, den Christus Jesus schon bei der Rückschau zu finden. Aber weil dieser noch nicht auf der Erde da war, ist er als irdische Tatsache für ihn nicht aufzufinden. Für mich wurde diese Theorie vor kurzer Zeit recht stark eine Realität. Und zwar war es, als ich in diesem Jahr unseren Zweig in Palermo besuchen konnte. Als ich auf dem Schiff gegen Palermo zu fuhr, war mir mit einem Schlage eines klar: Irgendein Rätsel wird sich dir lösen, das sich dir nur durch den unmittelbaren Eindruck hier an diesem Orte leicht lösen kann. — Und das hat sich auch sehr bald gelöst. Die Persönlichkeit, von der ich Ihnen eben theoretisch gesprochen habe, trat mir in der ganzen Atmosphäre Siziliens - ich möchte sagen im ganzen Astralleib Siziliens - sofort entgegen. Sie war da, ganz lebendig. Es lebt sozusagen in der ganzen Atmosphäre Siziliens diese Persönlichkeit fort, die vielfach als eine rätselhafte erscheint. Es ist die des Empedokles. Dieser alte griechische Philosoph hat im 5. Jahrhundert vor Christus auf Sizilien gelebt. Er war, wie auch der äußere Historiker weiß, ein in die verschiedensten Dinge tief Eingeweihter und hat gerade in Sizilien großartige Leistungen vollbracht.
Wenn man nun zunächst geistig den Blick auf ihn richtet, so stellt sich diese Persönlichkeit merkwürdig dar. Indem man auf die Entwickelung des Empedokles zurückblickt, ihn verfolgt in dem, was er als Staatsmann, als Architekt, als Philosoph getrieben hat, wie er umhergezogen ist, wie er seine begeisterten Schüler gehabt hat, wie er sie in die verschiedenen Geheimnisse der Welt eingeweiht hat, wenn man ihn geistig so verfolgt, nicht an der Hand der äußeren Geschichte, dann entdeckt man, daß das eine Persönlichkeit war, die unendlich viel von dem wußte, was erst die heutigen Menschen an wissenschaftlichem Wissen haben. Einen ganz modern gearteten Geist hatte diese Persönlichkeit, eine moderne Aura. Empedokles war in der Tat so weit, daß er nach dem Ursprung der Welt gefragt hat. Und er wäre wirklich auch so weit gewesen, daß er nach dem, wie alles geworden war, den Christus auf dem Wege der Rückschau hätte finden müssen. Der war aber noch nicht da gewesen, den konnte man dazumal noch nicht auf der Erde finden, er fehlte noch auf der Erde. Unter diesen Erlebnissen wurde Empedokles schwankend, und gerade das bildete ein eigentümliches Verlangen in ihm aus, und dieses Verlangen verwandelte sich in ihm — in ganz anderer Art als bei den Triviallingen der heutigen Zeit — in eine Leidenschaft, die Welt materialistisch anzusehen. Luzifer trat an ihn heran. Man muß sich nur lebendig vorstellen, wie das geschah. Er war ein moderner Geist, dabei in die verschiedensten Geheimnisse eingeweiht, hellsichtig in hohem Grade. Durch sein modernes Denken war er geneigt, die Welt materialistisch anzuschauen, und es gibt auch so ein materialistisches System von ihm, in dem er die Welt ungefähr darstellt wie der heutige materialistische Chemiker durch Zusammenmischen und Entmischen der Elemente. Nur unterscheidet er bloß die vier Elemente. Je nachdem sie sich mischen, dachte er, bilden sich die verschiedensten Wesenheiten. Diese Anschauung erzeugte in ihm eine mächtige Leidenschaft, dahinterzukommen, was denn hinter diesen materiellen Elementen, was in der Luft, was in dem Wasser steckt.
Wenn man heute durch die Akasha-Chronik zurückblickt und in Luft und Wasser und Feuer und Erde schaut, so findet man ätherisch den Christus darin. Empedokles konnte ihn nicht finden. Für ihn entstand ein ungeheurer Drang, in Luft und Wasser und Feuer und Erde etwas zu finden, dahinterzukommen, was darinnen ist. Und man sieht diese Persönlichkeit, wie sie von diesem mächtigen Drange ergriffen wird, doch hineinzudringen in das, was die materiellen Elemente sind. Und das führt ihn endlich dazu, tatsächlich eine Art Opfer zu bringen. Denn es ist keine bloße Sage: er hat sich in den Ätna gestürzt, um sich mit den Elementen zu vereinigen. Die luziferische Macht, der Drang, mit den Elementen fertig zu werden, das trieb ihn zu dieser körperlichen Vereinigung mit den Elementen. Dieser Tod des Empedokles lebt fort in der geistigen Atmosphäre Siziliens. Das ist ein großes Geheimnis dieses merkwürdigen Landes.
Und nun denken wir uns diese Seele des Empedokles, die auf diese Weise den Leib abgelegt hat, indem sie ihn verbrennen ließ. Sie wird wiedergeboren in späterer Zeit, wo der Christus schon da gewesen ist. Da ist ein ganz anderer Fall für diese Seele gegeben. Früher hat sie sich gleichsam den Elementen hingeopfert, dann ersteht sie wieder neu, aber indem sie jetzt zurückblickt, erblickt sie den Christus. Und es ersteht alles elementarische Wissen neu. Was diese Seele gewußt hat, ersteht in einer ganz neuen Form. Die Persönlichkeit des Empedokles ist tatsächlich später wiedergeboren worden. Es ist mir nur in diesem Augenblick nicht gestattet zu sagen, unter welchem Namen. Aber wenn man die spätere Wiederverkörperung des Empedokles, die mehr im Norden geschah, wenn man diese Gestalt, wie sie später lebt von der Wende der mittleren zur neueren Zeit, vergleicht mit der des Empedokles, der sich in den Atma gestürzt hat, dann stellt sich einem lebendig vor Augen der Riesenimpuls, der dadurch gekommen ist, daß dazwischen das Christus-Ereignis auf der Erde da war.
Was so bei irgendeiner Persönlichkeit auftritt, das vollzieht sich aber für jede Seele, auch für alle Ihre Seelen. Wenn auch alle diese Seelen nicht den mächtigen Drang verspürt haben, den Empedokles verspürt hat, so haben sie doch gegen die Zeit herein, in der das Christus-Ereignis heranrückte, mit gewissem Unbehagen in die Vergangenheit zurückgeschaut, weil sie sich nicht auskennen konnten, weil immer mehr die Zeit heranrückte, in der das alte Wissen dahinschwand. Wenn wir in die frühere Zeit zurückgehen, so finden wir, daß diejenigen, welche die Tradition des alten Wissens bewahrten, vor das Volk hintraten; daß sie erzählten - stellen wir uns das einmal vor die Seele — gewaltige Erzählungen, wie sie meinetwillen in der griechischen Sage erhalten sind, wie sie mitgeteilt wurden den alten Griechen. Das war aber nur ein Anlaß dazu, daß die alten Griechen, wenn sie, sagen wir, in einem besonderen Zustand waren — was dazumal noch in größerem Maße eintrat als jetzt -, die Wahrheit dieser Sagen empfanden, und daß diese Sagen ihnen den Ruck gaben, hineinzusehen in die geistige Welt. Aber diese Veranlagung verlor sich bei den Menschen. Es kam so, daß jene innerliche Kraft, hinaufzublicken in die geistige Welt, gerade in dem Maße verlorenging, als die Verstandeswissenschaft heranrückte. Sie können es nachrechnen, können es in jedem kleinen Handbuch nachlesen, wie wenig weit unsere Anschauungen, die heute, ich möchte sagen, schon die Kinder, wenn auch nicht mit der Muttermilch, so doch mit der Schulmilch einsaugen, zurückgehen. Ein paar Jahrhunderte vor den Beginn der christlichen Zeitrechnung gehen sie zurück. Da ist ein gewaltiger Einschnitt. Wenn die Menschen weiter zurückgehen und die alten Urkunden verstehen wollen, dann können sie es nicht mehr; da erscheinen sie ihnen nurmehr als Dichtungen, als Sagen, als Mythen. Das ist etwas, was man wirklich genauer ins Auge fassen sollte. Es wird immer mehr solche Menschen geben, welche, ohne vererbt irgendwelche Anlagen mitzubringen, um alte Urkunden zu verstehen, die alten Urkunden nicht verstehen werden. Man wird zu der Ansicht kommen, daß hinter alledem, was als Wissenschaft gilt, sich ein großes Feld des Irrtums ausbreitet, weil die meisten Gebildeten die Meinung haben, daß man jetzt glücklich weiß, wie sich die Erde bewegt, und daß man früher in dem, was man darüber gesagt hat, nur Unsinn gesagt hat. Also es ist das ja schon da; man geht bezüglich der Erdbewegung nur zurück bis zur Kopernikanischen Ansicht. Das ist ein etwas spätes Beispiel. Aber selbst mit der Geometrie geht man nur bis Euklid zurück. Vor dieser Zeit sieht der moderne Mensch schwarze Finsternis auf diesem Gebiet. Es findet also der moderne Mensch die Weisheit, die Uroffenbarung nicht, er findet keinen Weg, da hineinzudringen.
Wenn man dies nun wirklich als eine Tatsache hinnimmt, dann kann sich — und das kann sich schon bei dem einfachsten Gemüt durch eine gesunde Empfindung herausstellen —, dann kann sich etwas, was aus den allerhöchsten anthroposophischen Studien sich ergibt, zu einer Grundüberzeugung verdichten. Der Mensch muß doch dazu kommen, sich zu sagen: Dies ist nicht die wahre Gestalt, in der ich die Welt erblicke. - Wenn das die wahre Gestalt wäre, dann brauchte er eigentlich gar nicht zu forschen. Dann wäre überhaupt keine Forschung notwendig, dann müßte die Welt sich so ergeben, wie sie ist; aber so nimmt sie die moderne Forschung auch nicht hin. Es gäbe keinen Kopernikanismus, wenn man das, was die Sinne darbieten, roh hinnehmen würde. Da widerspricht auch die äußere Wissenschaft der Sinneserfahrung. Wenn man weitergeht, wird man sehen, daß man nicht stehenbleiben kann bei dem, was die Sinne geben, was die äußere Erfahrung der physischen Welt gibt. Das muß unter allen Umständen korrigiert werden vom Menschen, auch von der äußeren Wissenschaft. Das gesteht man sich vielleicht gewöhnlich nicht, aber wahr ist es doch. Sobald man sich selbst versteht — auch nur als gewöhnlicher Denker mit dem, was man heute lernt —, muß man sich sagen: Alles geht darauf aus, die Sinnestäuschung zu durchschauen, sonst gäbe es keine Wissenschaft, gäbe es kein Nachdenken. — Wenn dem aber so ist, dann gibt es eigentlich etwas, was uns recht leicht verstehen läßt, wozu die Welt sich nach und nach heranentwickelt. Wenn wir die Sache ein wenig im anthroposophischen Licht betrachten, so wird sich das bestätigen. Wenn man sich also sagt: Es gab eine Urweisheit, die Menschen waren so, daß ihnen eine Urweisheit gegeben war, die sie zwar nur in Bildern schauten, aber es gab eine solche Urweisheit, nur ging mit der Weiterentwickelung der Menschheit immer mehr das Verständnis derselben verloren, immer weniger und weniger begriffen die Menschen diese Urweisheit —, dann ist auch wiederum ganz klar: in dem Maße begriffen sie sie weniger, als die Wissenschaft, als sich der Verstand, die Vernunft entwickelten.
Nun können wir fragen: Was wird also zu einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt eingetreten sein? — Stellen wir uns die Sache vor, stellen wir uns einen vorchristlichen Menschen vor, der unter gewissen Voraussetzungen gelebt hat. Er wird den Blick in die Welt gerichtet haben, wird die verschiedensten Dinge gesehen haben, aber außerdem war in der Seele dieses Menschen die Möglichkeit, hinter diese Dinge zu schauen. Diese Anlage war noch da. Also es war für ihn eine Tatsache, daß hinter jeder Blume ein Ätherleib ist. Das war für ihn eine Tatsache. Aber diese Fähigkeit ging nach und nach verloren. Sie ging verloren, weil Vernunft, Verstand, wie sie heute herrschen, diese Fähigkeit verbannen. Die läßt sich nicht vereinigen mit der anderen Fähigkeit, das sind zwei feindliche Gewalten. Es ist einmal so — das ist eine gemeinsame Erfahrung aller wirklichen Geistesforscher —, daß Verstand, Nachdenken im gewöhnlichen Sinne, versengend, verbrennend wirken auf das, was initiiertes Anschauen der Dinge ist. So daß auch in der Geschichte in dem Maße, als Verstand, Vernunft im gewöhnlichen Sinne eingetreten sind, die Wissenschaft der alten Geistesschau verlorengegangen ist und damit das Verständnis für die alte Überlieferung. Da mußte also eine Anzahl von Jahrhunderten vergehen, da mußte jetzt anstelle des Menschen, den ich Ihnen geschildert habe, ein anderer treten, und der mußte sich vielleicht sagen: Das wäre natürlich ein schlimmes Vorurteil, wenn man glauben würde, daß die Wahrheit so sei, wie sie die Welt sinnlich darbietet. Da muß überall die menschliche Vernunft hinzukommen. — Es war der Glaube an die menschliche Vernunft maßgebend. Sie muß erst die Dinge, wie sie sind, zergliedern, sie muß sich über die Sinneserscheinungen hermachen und diese logisch begreifen.
Ein solcher Mensch würde vielleicht gesagt haben: Das ist der Vorzug des Menschen vor den übrigen Geschöpfen der Erde, daß er Vernunft hat, daß er Ursache und Wirkung begreifen kann, so wie sie hinter den Sinnesdingen sind. Er kann sie erschließen, er kann dadurch, daß er Vernunft hat, sich mit der Sprache verständigen von einem Menschen zum anderen. — Denn das konnte man bald einsehen, daß die Sprache eine Tochter der Vernunft ist. Und es könnte ein solcher Mensch sagen: Das Höchste ist natürlich die Vernunft. - Und wenn wir uns ihn recht anschaulich machen wollten, so müßten wir uns einen Menschen denken, der sagt: Also, Mensch, traue deiner Vernunft nur, zergliedere alles mit deiner Vernunft, dann wirst du auf das Wahre kommen. — Nehmen wir an, es würde ein solcher Mensch gekommen sein. Ich schilderte Ihnen einen solchen, wie er sich Ihnen theoretisch ergeben kann, aber diesen Menschen hat es sehr stark gegeben. Eine charakteristische Figur dieser Art ist Cicero, der kurz vor Christus gelebt hat. Den brauchen Sie nur vorzunehmen, so werden Sie sehen, daß er ganz genau so denkt, nämlich: Vernunft kann alles begreifen. Es ist nicht wahr, daß die Welt so ist, wie sie den Sinnen sich darbietet; aber die Vernunft kann alles begreifen. - Und gerade bei diesen Leuten, die kurz vor Christus aufgetreten sind, ist ein unbesieglicher Glaube an die Vernunft da. Sie nennen die Vernunft den Gott selber, der in den Dingen waltet. So tut es Cicero.
Nehmen wir aber einmal an, irgend jemand kommt hinter die Geheimnisse dieses Ganzen. Nehmen wir an, jemand schaut unbefangen dieser ganzen Sache zu, schaut zu, wie sich das alles nach und nach ergibt. Wie würde er dann die ganze Zeit beschreiben? Nehmen wir an, ein Jahrhundert vor Christus würde ein tief Einsichtiger der ganzen Sache zuschauen. Wie müßte sich die ganze Geschichte für ihn darstellen? Nun, er würde sagen: Da sehen wir zwei Strömungen in der Menschheit. Die eine ist im Untergang: die alte hellsichtige Kraft. Dafür tritt die Vernunft auf. Sie rottet aus und vertilgt im Menschen die Möglichkeit, in die geistige Welt hineinzuschauen. Tiefe Finsternis wird sich gegenüber der geistigen Welt ausbreiten. Da meinen zwar diejenigen, die an die Autorität der Vernunft glauben, daß sie durch ihre Vernunft hinter die Dinge kommen können. Diese Menschen vergessen ganz, was denn diese Vernunft ist, von der sie reden. Diese Vernunft ist doch lediglich an das Gehirn gebunden, sie kann sich keines anderen Instrumentes bedienen als des Gehirns, sie gehört also zur physischen Welt, sie muß daher die Eigenschaften der physischen Welt teilen. — Eine solche Persönlichkeit würde also sagen: Pocht nur auf eure Vernunft und sagt, ihr könnt mit ihr das begreifen, was hinter den Dingen ist, denn die Dinge seien an sich selber nicht wahr, aber denkt daran, daß diese Vernunft selber diesen Dingen angehört. Ihr seid physische Wesen unter den anderen, eure Vernunft gehört der physischen Welt an. Und wenn ihr glaubt, daß die Vernunft just das ist, durch das ihr hinter alles andere kommen könnt, so zieht ihr euch den Boden selbst unter den Füßen weg.
So würde eine solche Persönlichkeit gesprochen haben. Und weiter würde sie gesagt haben: Gewiß, die Menschen neigen dahin, immer mehr und mehr Vernunft zu gebrauchen, immer mehr auf den Verstand zu pochen, Aber indem sie das tun, bauen sie sich eine Mauer vor die geistige Welt, denn sie gebrauchen ein Instrument, das auf die geistige Welt gar nicht anwendbar ist, das in der physischen Welt beschlossen ist. Und dennoch entwickelt sich die Menschheit gerade nach der Ausbildung dieses Instrumentes hin. — Und vielleicht würde diese Persönlichkeit, wenn sie den Gang der Ereignisse genau gewußt hätte, auch noch gesagt haben: Wenn die Menschen überhaupt wiederum zur geistigen Welt zurückkommen, dann muß die Möglichkeit eintreten, daß sie sich nicht bloß ihrer Vernunft, dieses nur für die physische Welt wirkenden Werkzeuges bedienen wollen, sondern daß ein Anstoß kommt, der sie fähig macht, wiederum hinaufzukommen, ein Anstoß, der die Vernunft selber hinauftreibt in die geistigen Welten. Das kann aber nicht anders geschehen, als wenn etwas im Menschen stirbt, was in ihm den festen Glauben auf die bloße Alleinherrschaft der Vernunft begründet. Das muß sterben.
Wir haben uns also den Menschen zu denken immer mehr und mehr in die materielle Welt herunterkommend, das Gehirn immer mehr ausbildend. Wenn der Mensch so ganz abhängig würde von seiner Vernunft, dann könnte er aus ihr gar nicht heraus. Denn dann würde ihm sein physischer Leib vorgaukeln: Nur fort mit allem, was unser Erdenverstand nicht erfassen kann. — Das ist aber der physische Leib, der, indem er sich in feiner Weise ausbildet, den Menschen betäubt, so daß der Mensch nicht einsehen kann, daß er dabei in der physischen Welt bleibt. Malen Sie sich das aus, so werden Sie einsehen, daß da der Mensch eigentlich wie in einer Schlinge gefangen ist. Er kann gar nicht durch sich selbst heraus. Die bisherige Menschheitsentwickelung hat den Menschen dahin gebracht, daß er gar nicht aus sich heraus kann, daß er der Gefahr entgegengeht, durch die physische Leiblichkeit nach und nach vollständig überwältigt zu werden. Was kann da überhaupt dem Menschen helfen? Wenn in der Zeit, in welcher die Vernunft auf diesem Standpunkt angekommen ist, in welcher die Möglichkeit entsteht, daß die Vernunft umgestimmt wird, so daß in ihr ersterben kann, was sie blendet, dann muß dies ersterben. Es muß aber einen Impuls geben, wodurch ein für allemal dasjenige, was den Menschen in dem bloßen Glauben an die Vernunft überwältigen könnte, überwunden wird. Fühlen Sie die Gewalt dieses Impulses, fühlen Sie, daß der Sinn der Menschheitsentwickelung so war. Die Leiblichkeit hatte sich so entwickelt, daß sie den Menschen überwältigt hätte, und der Mensch wäre dahin gekommen, zu glauben, er müsse innerhalb der physischen Welt bleiben und könne doch hinter die Maja kommen - gar nicht bedenkend, daß er mit der Vernunft selbst in der Maja ist —, wenn nicht etwas gekommen wäre, das ihn herausreißt, sobald er es aufnimmt, und das dem Verfallen in das Physische entgegenwirken kann, das wirklich bis hinein in den Atherleib wirkt, so daß dieser die Möglichkeit hat, das zu töten, was zu solchem Irrtum führt. Sonst wäre der Mensch in der Schlinge seiner ihn überwältigenden Leiblichkeit geblieben.
Und jetzt wollen wir absehen von einem Menschen, der so gesprochen hätte beim Herannahen des Christus Jesus. Jetzt wollen wir sehen, wie ein gegenwärtiger Mensch die Sache ansehen kann, irgendeiner von uns. Er kann sich sagen: Betrachte ich unbefangen, wie die Menschen sich entwickelt haben, wie immer stärker und stärker die Vernunft geworden ist, dieses Instrument, das der Maja angehört, so muß ich unbedingt im Irrtum sein, wenn ich mich nur dem Gang der Weltentwickelung überlasse. Dieser ist, wenn ich nicht aufnehme den Impuls, daß derjenige Teil ersterben kann, der mich zu solchem verführt, so gerichtet, daß ich nicht aus der Vernunft herauskomme. Was muß da geschehen sein? Ich muß zurückblicken können auf eine Zeit, in welcher dieser Impuls hereingekommen ist. Ich muß etwas finden, was auf ein Ereignis in der historischen Entwickelung der Menschheit hindeutet, dahin wirkend, daß der fortlaufende Gang der Entwickelung im materialistischen Sinne umgestülpt worden ist. Blickte ich heute in mein Inneres und fände nicht so etwas, was sonst müßte ich denn da finden? Da würde ich die Vernunft immer weiter und weiter kommen sehen bis auf einen Punkt im Beginne unserer Zeitrechnung, wo sie gerade anfängt zu wirken. Aber weiter? Da wird es finster, da wird es schwarz, da brauche ich ganz etwas anderes. - Dann aber wird es lichter, denn da muß jeder auftreffen auf den Christus. Es muß jeder, wenn er überhaupt an die Möglichkeit glauben will, daß er fortschreitet, daß in den folgenden Inkarnationen in ihm etwas sein kann, was ihn aufwärts treibt, was ihn nicht überwältigt sein läßt von der Maja, es muß jeder beim Zurückschauen auf den Christus treffen. Das kann ihm den Aufstieg geben.
Nehmen wir an, die Evangelien wären nicht da, dann kann man sagen: Wir brauchten sie nicht als Anthroposophen, wir brauchten keine Evangelien, wir brauchten nur den Gang der Menschheitsentwickelung unbefangen zu betrachten und uns zu fragen: Was würde aus jedem Menschen, könnte er nicht zurückblicken auf ein Ereignis, in welchem der ganze Sinn der früheren Entwickelung auf die andere Seite gedreht worden ist? —- Dann müssen wir auf den Christus treffen, wenn wir in der Entwickelung zurückgehen. Der Anthroposoph muß ihn finden können, und der initiiert Erkennende findet ihn unter allen Umständen.
Das ist ein Geheimnis des Christentums. Die Urkunden, man kann sie anfechten, gewiß, es sind auch keine historischen Dokumente. All die gescheiten Leute, Jensen und andere, die in trivial gelehrter Weise die Evangelien wegdekretieren, als bloße Sagen ansehen, haben eine gewisse Berechtigung für sich, weil sie sich bloß auf die äußere Vernunft berufen. Aber in dem Augenblick, wo wir Anthroposophen sind, können wir sagen: Wir brauchen gar keine Evangelien, wir brauchen bloß die Tatsachen, die uns die Geisteswissenschaft selber gibt, und wir finden beim Rückgang durch die Menschheitsentwickelung den lebendigen Christus, wie ihn Paulus gefunden hat durch das Ereignis von Damaskus. Das ist vorausgenommen, was wir auch haben können, wenn wir in anthroposophischem Sinn den Christus aufsuchen. Denn schließlich war Paulus in einer ähnlichen Lage wie ein moderner Anthroposoph, der die Evangelien nicht anerkennen will. Die Evangelien waren zu seiner Zeit noch nicht da, aber er hat nach Jerusalem gehen können. Was er dort hörte, was später in den Evangelien beschrieben wird, das hat ihn nicht überzeugt, sonst wäre er nicht von Jerusalem fortgegangen. Also braucht auch einen heutigen Menschen gar nichts zu überzeugen, was darin steht. Er muß nur in der Lage sein, durch die Anthroposophie so etwas zu erleben, was Paulus erlebt hat. Dann ist es ein Ereignis von Damaskus, dann hat er den ChristusBeweis ganz ohne alle Dokumente, wie es bei Paulus auch der Fall ist.
Es ist nun ganz natürlich, daß damit hingewiesen wird auf Tiefes in der Menschheitsentwickelung, auf außerordentlich Tiefes in der Menschheitsentwickelung. In einer gewissen Beziehung besteht das für jeden, auch für den einfachsten Menschen, was für den wiedergeborenen Empedokles im 15., 16. Jahrhundert da war, der zurückschaute in frühere Zeiten und dann sah, was er früher nicht hat sehen können. Früher war er so unsicher geworden, daß er sich in den Ätna stürzte. Im 15., 16. Jahrhundert sah er zurück und das, was ihm dazumal durch nichts erklärlich war, erklärte sich nun durch das Christus-Prinzip. Und dadurch wurde er eine der merkwürdigsten Persönlichkeiten der späteren Zeit.
So stellt sich die Sache für jeden Menschen ohne Dokumente einfach im Rückgang dar. Später werden alle Menschen zurückblicken in frühere Inkarnationen und werden genau unterscheiden können: das sind Inkarnationen, die vor, und das sind Inkarnationen, die nach dem Christus liegen. Und was die einfache Seele heute instinktiv fühlt, wenn sie die Evangelien liest, wird dann in Form eines Wissens auftreten. Das macht den Unterschied der Evangelien von den anderen Urkunden, daß sie die nächsten Urkunden sind, die man verstehen muß. Das ist ein großer, schöner, gewaltiger Durchgangspunkt: die Evangelien. Wenn wir da durchschreiten, da wird es licht, während sich sonst die Finsternis ausbreitet.
Es ist in der Tat so. Dem modernen Menschen geschieht es zuweilen, weil ja das Christentum erst im Anfang seiner Entwickelung steht, daß ihm der Forschungsfaden ausgeht gegenüber früheren Dingen. Wenn er aber zurückkehrt zu einer Erscheinung im Christusleben, dann ist er inspiriert, dann wird es hell. Und was der Geistesforscher findet, das kann ja auch der einfache Mensch erfahren. Er kann einen Abglanz in bezug auf sein Gemüt durchmachen von dem, was ich eben auseinandergesetzt habe. Er kann so recht bedrückt sein durch menschliche Schwächen und Fehler, aber er muß sich natürlich sagen: Was ich heute bin, bin ich geworden durch all die Generationen. — Denn würde er das leugnen, dann sollte er auch gleich behaupten, daß er sein eigener Vater und seine eigene Mutter gewesen ist. Es ist also etwas, was zurückführt auf die übrige Menschheit, und der Mensch kann sich recht bedrückt fühlen von mancherlei Fehlern, Krankheiten, Schwächen, die er hat. Es gibt aber immer die Möglichkeit, sich zu erheben, auch für das einfachste Gemüt. Ich sage das nicht im orthodoxen Sinn. Was es für den Geistesforscher gibt, das gibt es auch für das einfachste Gemüt. Wenn es sich so recht schwach fühlt, die Evangelien nimmt und liest, so wird Kraft aus den Evangelien fließen, weil aus ihnen die Kraft des Wortes fließt, das in den Ätherleib geht. Die Evangelien sind Kraftworte. Das ist etwas, was nicht bloß zum Verstande spricht, sondern was in tiefere Seelenkräfte hineingeht, was gar nicht bloß auf diesen in der Maja befindlichen Verstand baut, was vielmehr in tiefere Kräfte geht und den Verstand sozusagen über sich trösten kann. Das ist die große Kraft der Evangelien, die für jeden einzelnen Menschen da ist, und das ist das Gewaltige an diesen Urkunden; dadurch unterscheiden sie sich von allen anderen. Diese Tatsache kann man auch leugnen, dann aber wird man zu einer Leugnung der Fortschrittsmöglichkeit der Menschen überhaupt kommen.
Hier wird auf eine Tatsache hingewiesen, die nicht ohne weiteres leicht zu verstehen ist. Da können Sie auch begreifen, was notwendig war, um jenen Menschen vorzubereiten, den ich zunächst hypothetisch vor Ihre Seele gestellt habe, der etwa ein Jahrhundert vor unserer Zeitrechnung vorhergesagt hätte: es müsse einer kommen, der den Impuls gibt, welcher den Umschwung bringt.
«Das mußte eine bedeutsame Persönlichkeit sein. Sie wurde auch genügend vorbereitet. Man versuchte seit langer Zeit in den Kreisen derer, die da wissen, die Möglichkeit herbeizuführen, daß sozusagen wenigstens einige die herannahende Zeit begreifen, dasjenige begreifen, was sich da vorbereitet: was auf der einen Seite die Menschen in die Schlinge führt, und was auf der anderen Seite die Menschen wiederum hinaufführt durch die Erscheinung des Christus. Das wurde prophetisch gelehrt. Und derjenige, der etwas mehr als ein Jahrhundert vor unserer Zeitrechnung ausersehen war, prophetisch das zu lehren in Kreisen, die dies verstehen konnten, war ein Eingeweihter der Essäergemeinde, die jenen Kreisen nahe war, in die Christus hineintrat, und der verkündete: es werde der kommen, der die Menschheit wiederum aufwärts führt. Derjenige, der dieses innerhalb der Essäergemeinde lehrte, war eine sehr bedeutende Individualität. Die äußere Geschichte kennt ihn eigentlich wenig, aber er ist sagenhaft überliefert wenigstens bei einzelnen Schriftstellern, so daß er nicht eine bloß mythologische Figur ist oder nur aus der Geisteswissenschaft heraus genannt wird. Er hat hundert Jahre vor Christus gelebt, hat auch Aufzeichnungen machen lassen durch einen seiner fünf bis sechs Schüler. Einer der Schüler dieser Persönlichkeit, die auf Christus hinwies, die ihn voraus verkündete, wußte, um was es sich handelt. Es hatte jene Persönlichkeit einen Schüler, der Mathai genannt wurde, der das aufzeichnete, was die Geheimnisse über den Christus sind. Die Persönlichkeit aber war Jeshu ben Pandira. Dafür, daß er solches gelehrt hat, mußte er auch das entsprechende Martyrium erdulden. Er ist in seiner Gegend gesteinigt und nach der Steinigung — tot —- aufgehängt worden. Dieser Jeshu ben Pandira - man darf ihn nicht verwechseln mit Jesus von Nazareth -, der der große Vorverkünder des Christus war, hatte aufzeichnen lassen, was er wußte, und diese Urkunde kam dann in die Hände desjenigen, der sie da hineinfügte mit ihren Geheimnissen in das Evangelium, das wir das Evangelium nach Matthäus nennen. Das ist eine wichtige, eine hervorragend wichtige Tatsache, einzusehen: erstens die Notwendigkeit des Christus-Impulses, dann, geisteswissenschaftlich-historisch, wie Jeshu ben Pandira in gewisser Weise sogar bildlich vorlebt - indem er zuerst gesteinigt und dann gleichsam hinterher gekreuzigt wird — das, was dann als das Christus-Mysterium von Golgatha sich vollzieht. Christus ist ja nicht gesteinigt, sondern gekreuzigt worden. Und in diesem Tode geschieht das Wunderbare, daß dazumal, in dem Moment, in welchem das Blut aus den Wunden floß, in die Erdatmosphäre dasjenige überging, was dann denen, die in ihren Ätherleib bei der Rückschau dieses Ereignis aufnehmen, die durchschreiten durch dieses Ereignis, die gleichsam hineinschauen in das Grab des Christus, das bringt, daß sie, indem sie durch diesen Punkt schreiten, in eine lichtvolle Vergangenheit hineinkommen. Dagegen wird sich ohne dieses Ereignis Finsternis verbreiten über alles, was vorher lag.
Denken Sie nach über das, was heute gesagt worden ist. Ich hatte die Aufgabe, Ihnen dieses anzudeuten. Es ist ein so umfassendes Thema, daß nur Andeutungen gegeben werden konnten. Aber ich habe die Andeutungen so gehalten, daß, wenn Sie prüfen, was Sie wissen und kennen und im Herzen tragen, Sie darauf kommen werden, wie sehr durch das Leben und durch das eigene Seelische sich das bewahrheiter, was ich heute zu Ihnen habe sprechen müssen.
The Wisdom of Ancient Documents and the Gospels. The Christ Event
When we look back on the development of humanity, as far back as history allows us, we encounter something very peculiar. We can examine what we encounter there in a wide variety of phenomena. Above all, we can examine this development of humanity in the various documents, traditions, and writings that have been preserved for us, and we will see today how what is now to be said applies to every human heart, to every human soul. When we go back to the ideas that the individual peoples of antiquity formed about the origin of the world, about the relationship of human beings to the world, about the sources of morality and goodness, we find that these ideas are recorded in myths, legends, and sagas. We find such legends, myths, and tales in more or less beautiful, magnificent, powerful, or even less significant forms among the most diverse peoples of the earth. People today are very inclined to treat these myths, legends, and tales as fiction and to say: “The peoples of the past invented these things in their childhood because they did not yet have the sources of modern science.” They formed all kinds of ideas about how the world came into being, in the sense of the Greeks through their gods, in the sense of the ancient Germanic peoples through their gods, or, for that matter, in the sense of the American peoples, whose legends have only recently been brought to us and which correspond to what we find among other peoples. When we hear how Quetzalcoatl and Vitzliputzli play a role among the Central American peoples, similar to, but more primitive than, other powerfully developed figures among other peoples, we see that legends and myths are found among all such peoples. And as already mentioned, modern man is easily inclined to say: These are poems, fantastic creations of the human mind, which in this way has sought to explain how the various beings of the world and the various phenomena of nature came into being.
Among the various documents, we now find a powerful one, which many of you have recently examined with me, a powerful document, the Genesis, the beginning of the Old Testament. And we have seen in Munich what infinite depths lie in this Genesis. For some of you, spiritual knowledge has already shed light on the various Gospels, the last of the documents of this kind. We find these preserved, originating from the various times in which our previous incarnations took place, which we experienced in earlier earthly lives. Those who are advancing in spiritual knowledge must learn to understand that they were there in the times when people spoke, let us say, of Zeus and Hera and Kronos and other gods, when they spoke about natural phenomena in a different way than we do today, in the form found in myths, legends, and fairy tales. We must keep all this in mind. And we must ask ourselves: What is actually happening to our souls, which have absorbed such things and which are now emerging again in their souls — for most people, without them knowing what has been deposited in them in the past?
Well, I will describe to you in very simple terms what happens to these documents to someone who initially accepts them as legends, myths, or poetry, but then enters into spiritual science and uses it as an instrument to understand these documents more and more.
With the Old Testament, for example, which most people today perhaps read as a beautiful collection of all kinds of images about the creation of the world, they gradually come to say to themselves: There is infinite wisdom contained in these things that are recounted in such a strange way. And he comes to realize more and more that the individual words, phrases, and sentences contain things which, when properly understood, lead us back to what spiritual research today independently reveals to us. There is perhaps no more effective means of increasing our appreciation of such documents than to delve a little into spiritual science. For the most subtle discoveries that can be made in the field of spiritual science, the most powerful things that are rediscovered with great effort through spiritual scientific research, are subsequently found in some passage of the Bible, say in Genesis.
Now, however, a certain difference becomes apparent between the Old Testament and all other legends, myths, and documents. This must be noted. Take the legends of the Greeks, the ancient Germanic peoples, even what is contained in the Vedas of the Indians, what is contained in the Persian documents, take everything of this kind. There is a tremendous difference between these and the Old Testament. This difference presents itself to the impartial examiner in such a way that in all other documents he finds the mysteries of natural phenomena, the mysteries of everything that relates to natural phenomena, including human beings insofar as they have a kind of natural existence, presented in a legendary way. insofar as the forces of nature urge man to do this or that, but that in the Old Testament the only thing that confronts him is that man is conceived from the beginning as a moral and spiritual being, not as a mere natural being. And everything that is told there proceeds from the assumption that man is placed in evolution as a moral and spiritual being. What modern science says in this regard rests on very shaky ground. It all falls apart when you really look at things spiritually. So there's a big difference, and you can say: Everything else that has been handed down to us in the world shows us that human beings have had tremendous revelations from some source, tremendous revelations that were expressed in the legendary form of myths, that arose from a foundation of deep wisdom, but that do not relate to the moral and spiritual mysteries of human beings. This is clear under all circumstances.
Now, however, a great difference arises when we compare the New Testament with all other documents of this kind. There is a completely different spirit than in all other documents, including the Old Testament. How can we grasp this difference when we approach the matter from an anthroposophical point of view? This difference will become clear to us when we first bring another phenomenon before our soul.
Let us imagine a person who has never heard of spiritual science, but who has been brought up entirely in the scientific or other so-called rational education of the present day, and who therefore has no opportunity to study the ancient documents from a spiritual scientific perspective. We can imagine him, perhaps not at all educated or even very educated—the difference does not matter much—we imagine him to be far removed from spiritual science and assume that he then approaches these ancient documents, the Greek, Persian, Indian, Germanic documents and so on, approaching them with everything that modern thinking can give him. If he really has no inkling of what spiritual research is, a peculiar phenomenon occurs. Depending on whether he is more or less inclined to be poetic or sober, a difference will certainly arise, but on the whole, we may say that a phenomenon becomes apparent. Such a person can never really understand the old documents today; he cannot penetrate the way in which wisdom is given there. We experience the most grotesque examples of this in this field. One need only point to the latest attempts to explain such old documents. There is a little book out right now that's actually interesting because it's so ridiculous. It's a comprehensive attempt to explain all myths up to the Gospels, starting with the earliest documents of the most primitive peoples. It's a little book that's super interesting because of how weird it is, like how it tries to explain things in a really silly way. The little book is called “Orpheus.” It was written by Salomon Reinach, who is famous in France as a researcher in this field. Among scholars, he is a typical example of a man who has not the slightest inkling of the way in which one can penetrate such things. Everything is subjected to a specific method and everything is decreed away. All things are only symbolic. There are no real beings behind Hermes, Orpheus, and others. These figures are only symbols and allegories. It is not proper among decent people to repeat what is given as an interpretation of these symbols; they are spoken of in such a way that one does not wish to repeat them. In this way, everything that lives in the myths as reality can be disproved, and thus the reality of Demeter and Persephone is decreed away, disproved. All these names are said to be only symbols. This is done according to a method by which one could easily prove to children that, even if eighty years had passed, a man named Salomon Reinach had never lived in France at the beginning of the 20th century, but that contemporary culture had summarized in the name Salomon Reinach what was in his book. — This could be proven wonderfully. Nevertheless, such things cause an extraordinary amount of sensation today. And the same method is now being used in Germany to prove that Jesus never lived, which has also caused a great stir in recent times.If we now ask ourselves: What is the real reason why it is impossible to penetrate things today without spiritual science—and it is a fact that it is impossible without it—what is the real reason? If we want to understand this reason, we must look a little deeper into human evolution. We must look back for a while into this human evolution. Then it becomes clear that one must say: The sciences that people have today, the sciences that are taught in elementary schools about the sun and other things, were certainly not available to the ancients. These are sciences that can be understood with the intellect, with reason. This is something that humanity has only recently achieved. And our souls, if they were born in earlier incarnations, certainly could not have absorbed such sciences, for they did not exist; they were not incorporated into the culture. But the further back we go in evolution, the more we find — whether we now seek the reasons for this, which we have often explained to many of you, here or there — that people had a wisdom in a completely different form than today, a wisdom about spiritual things which people today are not able to express in their scientific form. But wisdom ruled the souls, lived in the souls. It was simply there. Above all, the initiated leaders of humanity possessed this wisdom, and it can be proven historically, if one has an anthroposophical spirit, that a primordial revelation, a primordial wisdom, was poured out over the whole of humanity on earth, which lived out in various ways here and there according to the different stages of development. If someone looks at history with a truly anthroposophical spirit, they will find this original revelation. But something else is necessary. The ordinary scientific spirit of the present day must undergo a preparation if it wants to penetrate all these documents in their true sense — I am simply stating a fact here — a preparation that enables it to penetrate the spirit of those ancient writings. This preparation consists in studying the documents that can be studied directly today. These are the Gospels and the Pauline Epistles. Through what is described there, one can directly approach the original revelation in the ancient documents and understand it. This is a remarkable fact. But if a spiritual researcher, influenced by the prejudices of our time, had a certain aversion to approaching these Gospels—he might say, “This is just one religion among many”—then it would become apparent that he could not come to terms with the other documents. Everywhere there would remain an incomprehensible residue for him. But if he approaches any manifestation of the events in Palestine, even if only in spirit, and allows himself to be inspired by them, then a ray of enlightenment can actually shine from the Gospels onto the things in the other documents. That is a fact, and it can be experienced. And then one admits that these Gospels and the letters of Paul are actually necessary for a correct return to earlier times. One cannot ignore them or disregard them. If one can really read the spiritual documents, the Akashic Records, one does not need to approach the written Gospels — but one must go through the events in Palestine. Otherwise, certain things relating to what went before will always remain unclear. So I did not want to refer positively to the written word, but to the events as they have presented themselves to us in reality in the evolution of humanity. That is a very, very important fact.
I would like to shed a little light on this fact from another angle. Let us hold fast to what I have said: one cannot pass over the Christ event if one wants to understand what has been given as a primordial revelation to humanity; otherwise one stumbles somewhere. If I am to describe how the matter actually stands, I must say the following: Let us assume that today's spiritual researcher investigates the past and has no sense — and sense is very important here — for the Christ event. He passes over the Christ event and approaches other, earlier events in the course of evolution, and then he will find everywhere, truly everywhere, that he becomes uncertain. But let us suppose that we have such a spiritual researcher who was born and lived before Christ Jesus and who had already come very far in terms of clairvoyance and was also highly developed in other respects, who in a certain sense was already mature before the Christ era to survey the entire past in such a way that he could have already passed through the Christ event at that time because he was ahead of his time. Let us assume that he had lived five or six centuries before Christ, that he was as mature as a spiritual researcher of today, able to go back beyond Christ and arrive at earlier events. Then we can ask ourselves: How would such a spiritual researcher have to behave in order not to fall prey to the Luciferic or Ahrimanic forces? Let us assume that such a person would actually need to go beyond the Christ event, but that this Christ event had not yet taken place when he lived. Then it would turn out that he would either calm himself lightly with what presented itself to him, what he could see—he would then say all sorts of things that were not entirely true—or he would come to the point where he said to himself: Now something is missing, I cannot find something by looking back, I cannot find something that I need on my path. And he would go on to admit to himself: Here I am becoming uncertain. I must seek something I need, but it is not yet here on earth; it cannot be found in the earth's evolution.
I have, so to speak, painted for you from theory a personality of the 5th or 6th century BC who would have been mature enough to find Christ Jesus already when looking back. But because he was not yet on earth, he cannot be found as an earthly fact for him. This theory became quite real to me recently. It was when I was able to visit our branch in Palermo this year. As I was sailing towards Palermo, it suddenly dawned on me: some mystery will be solved for you, one that can only be easily solved through the immediate impression here in this place. — And it was solved very quickly. The personality I just told you about theoretically immediately appeared to me in the whole atmosphere of Sicily—I would say in the whole astral body of Sicily. It was there, very much alive. This personality, which often appears enigmatic, lives on, so to speak, in the whole atmosphere of Sicily. It is that of Empedocles. This ancient Greek philosopher lived in Sicily in the 5th century BC. As external historians know, he was deeply versed in a wide variety of subjects and accomplished great things in Sicily.
If we first turn our intellectual gaze to him, this personality appears strange. Looking back on Empedocles' development, following him in his activities as a statesman, architect, and philosopher, seeing how he traveled around, how he had enthusiastic students, how he initiated them into the various secrets of the world, if one follows him spiritually in this way, not by the hand of external history, then one discovers that this was a personality who knew an infinite amount of what modern people have in scientific knowledge. This personality had a very modern mind, a modern aura. Empedocles was indeed so advanced that he asked about the origin of the world. And he would indeed have been so far advanced that, after finding out how everything had come into being, he would have had to find Christ by looking back. But Christ had not yet come; he could not yet be found on earth at that time; he was still missing from the earth. Under these experiences, Empedocles became vacillating, and this gave rise to a peculiar desire in him, and this desire was transformed in him—in a completely different way than in the trivial people of today—into a passion to view the world materialistically. Lucifer approached him. One must vividly imagine how this happened. He was a modern spirit, initiated into the most diverse mysteries, highly clairvoyant. His modern thinking inclined him to view the world materialistically, and he also developed a materialistic system in which he represented the world in much the same way as today's materialistic chemists do by mixing and separating the elements. The only difference is that he distinguished between only four elements. Depending on how they mix, he thought, the most diverse beings are formed. This view created in him a powerful passion to find out what lies behind these material elements, what is in the air, what is in the water.
When we look back today through the Akashic Records and look into air and water and fire and earth, we find the Christ in an ethereal form. Empedocles could not find him. He felt an immense urge to find something in air, water, fire, and earth, to discover what was inside them. And we see this personality seized by this powerful urge to penetrate into what the material elements are. And this finally leads him to actually make a kind of sacrifice. For it is not mere legend that he threw himself into Mount Etna in order to unite with the elements. The Luciferic power, the urge to come to terms with the elements, drove him to this physical union with the elements. This death of Empedocles lives on in the spiritual atmosphere of Sicily. That is a great mystery of this strange land.
And now let us imagine this soul of Empedocles, which has thus cast off the body by allowing it to be burned. It is reborn in a later time, when Christ has already been here. This is a completely different case for this soul. Previously, it sacrificed itself, as it were, to the elements, then it arises again, but now, looking back, it sees Christ. And all elemental knowledge arises anew. What this soul knew arises in a completely new form. The personality of Empedocles has indeed been reborn later. I am not permitted to say at this moment under what name. But if one compares the later reincarnation of Empedocles, which took place further north, if one compares this figure, as he later lived from the turn of the Middle Ages to the modern era, with that of Empedocles, who threw himself into the Atma, then one can vividly imagine the giant impulse that came about through the Christ event on earth in between.
What happens in this way with any personality, however, takes place for every soul, including all your souls. Even if all these souls did not feel the powerful urge that Empedocles felt, they nevertheless looked back with a certain uneasiness toward the past as the time of the Christ event approached, because they could not understand it, because the time when the old knowledge was fading away was drawing ever nearer. If we go back to earlier times, we find that those who preserved the tradition of ancient knowledge stood before the people; they told—let us imagine this for a moment—powerful stories, such as those preserved for us in Greek mythology, as they were communicated to the ancient Greeks. But that was only a reason why the ancient Greeks, when they were in a special state of mind — which was more common then than now — felt the truth of these legends, and why these legends gave them the impetus to look into the spiritual world. But this predisposition was lost among people. It came about that this inner power to look up into the spiritual world was lost in precisely the same measure as intellectual science advanced. You can calculate it, you can read in any small handbook how little progress our views have made, which today, I would say, even children absorb, if not with their mother's milk, then certainly with the milk they drink at school. They go back a few centuries before the beginning of the Christian era. There is a huge break there. If people want to go further back and understand the old documents, they can no longer do so; they appear to them only as poetry, legends, myths. This is something that really needs to be looked at more closely. There will be more and more people who, without having inherited any predisposition to understand old documents, will not be able to understand them. People will come to the conclusion that behind everything that is considered science there is a vast field of error, because most educated people believe that we now know how the earth moves and that what was said about it in the past was nonsense. So it is already there; with regard to the movement of the earth, one only goes back to the Copernican view. That is a somewhat late example. But even with geometry, one only goes back to Euclid. Before that time, modern man sees black darkness in this field. So modern man does not find wisdom, he does not find a way to penetrate it.
If one really accepts this as a fact, then something that emerges from the highest anthroposophical studies can become a fundamental conviction, even in the simplest mind, through healthy perception. Human beings must come to say to themselves: This is not the true form in which I see the world. If this were the true form, then there would be no need for research. Then no research would be necessary at all; the world would have to be as it is. But modern research does not accept this. There would be no Copernicanism if we were to accept what the senses present to us at face value. Here, too, external science contradicts sensory experience. If we go further, we will see that we cannot stop at what the senses give us, at what external experience of the physical world gives us. This must be corrected under all circumstances by human beings, including by external science. Perhaps we do not usually admit this, but it is nevertheless true. As soon as we understand ourselves — even as ordinary thinkers with what we learn today — we must say to ourselves: Everything depends on seeing through the deception of the senses, otherwise there would be no science, no reflection. But if this is the case, then there is actually something that makes it quite easy for us to understand how the world is gradually developing. If we look at the matter a little from an anthroposophical perspective, this will be confirmed. So if we say to ourselves: there was a primordial wisdom, human beings were such that they were given a primordial wisdom which they could only see in images, but there was such a primordial wisdom, only with the further development of humanity, understanding of it was increasingly lost, and human beings understood this primordial wisdom less and less — then it is also quite clear that the less they understood it, the more science, the intellect, and reason developed.
Now we can ask: What will have happened at a certain point in time? — Let us imagine the situation, let us imagine a pre-Christian human being who lived under certain conditions. He will have looked at the world, will have seen the most diverse things, but in addition, there was the possibility in this human being's soul to look behind these things. This predisposition was still there. So it was a fact for him that behind every flower there is an etheric body. That was a fact for him. But this ability was gradually lost. It was lost because reason and intellect, as they prevail today, banish this ability. It cannot be reconciled with the other ability; they are two hostile forces. It is a common experience of all true spiritual researchers that the intellect, thinking in the ordinary sense, has a scorching, burning effect on what is initiated perception of things. So that in history, to the extent that the intellect and reason in the ordinary sense have come into play, the science of ancient spiritual perception has been lost, and with it the understanding of the ancient tradition. So a number of centuries had to pass, and in place of the human being I have described to you, another had to come, and he had to say to himself: It would of course be a terrible prejudice to believe that the truth is as the world presents it to the senses. Human reason must be brought to bear everywhere. — It was faith in human reason that was decisive. It must first dissect things as they are, it must tackle the phenomena of the senses and grasp them logically.
Such a person might have said: The advantage of humans over other creatures on earth is that they have reason, that they can understand cause and effect as they are behind the things of the senses. They can deduce them, and because they have reason, they can communicate with one another through language. — For it was soon apparent that language is a daughter of reason. And such a person might say: Reason is naturally the highest good. And if we wanted to visualize this clearly, we would have to imagine a person who says: “So, human being, trust only your reason, analyze everything with your reason, and you will arrive at the truth.” Let us assume that such a person had come along. I have described to you how such a person might appear to you in theory, but there have been people like this in real life. A characteristic figure of this kind is Cicero, who lived shortly before Christ. You need only take him as an example, and you will see that he thinks exactly like this, namely: Reason can comprehend everything. It is not true that the world is as it appears to the senses; but reason can comprehend everything. And it is precisely in these people who appeared shortly before Christ that there is an invincible faith in reason. They call reason the God himself who rules in things. This is what Cicero does.
But let us suppose that someone discovers the secrets of this whole thing. Let us suppose that someone looks at this whole thing with an unbiased mind, watching how it all gradually unfolds. How would he describe the whole period? Let us suppose that a century before Christ, a deeply insightful person observed the whole thing. How would the whole story appear to him? Well, he would say: We see two currents in humanity. One is in decline: the old clairvoyant power. Reason is taking its place. It is eradicating and destroying in human beings the ability to see into the spiritual world. Deep darkness will spread over the spiritual world. Those who believe in the authority of reason think that they can get behind things through their reason. These people completely forget what this reason is that they talk about. This reason is bound solely to the brain; it can use no other instrument than the brain; it therefore belongs to the physical world and must therefore share the properties of the physical world. Such a personality would therefore say: Insist on your reason and say that with it you can comprehend what lies behind things, for things are not true in themselves, but remember that this reason itself belongs to these things. You are physical beings among others, your reason belongs to the physical world. And if you believe that reason is precisely what enables you to get behind everything else, then you are pulling the ground from under your own feet.
This is how such a personality would have spoken. And it would have gone on to say: Certainly, human beings tend to use more and more reason, to insist more and more on the intellect. But in doing so, they build a wall in front of the spiritual world, because they use an instrument that is not applicable to the spiritual world at all, that is confined to the physical world. And yet humanity is developing precisely in the direction of developing this instrument. — And perhaps this person, if they had known the course of events exactly, would also have said: If human beings ever return to the spiritual world, then the possibility must arise that they will not want to use only their reason, this tool that works only for the physical world, but that an impulse will come that enables them to rise again, an impulse that drives reason itself up into the spiritual worlds. But this cannot happen unless something dies in man that establishes in him the firm belief in the sole dominion of reason. That must die.
We have therefore imagined man descending more and more into the material world, developing his brain more and more. If man became so completely dependent on his reason, he would not be able to escape from it. For then his physical body would delude him: Away with everything that our earthly intellect cannot grasp. — But it is the physical body which, as it develops in a subtle way, numbs man so that he cannot see that he remains in the physical world. If you imagine this, you will see that human beings are actually caught in a trap. They cannot escape by themselves. The development of humanity thus far has brought human beings to the point where they cannot escape from themselves, where they are in danger of being gradually and completely overwhelmed by their physical bodies. What can possibly help human beings in this situation? When reason has reached this point, when the possibility arises that reason may be changed so that what blinds it can die within it, then this must die. But there must be an impulse that once and for all overcomes what could overwhelm man in his mere belief in reason. Feel the power of this impulse, feel that this was the meaning of human evolution. Physicality had developed in such a way that it would have overwhelmed human beings, and human beings would have come to believe that they must remain within the physical world and yet be able to see behind the Maya — without realizing that with reason itself they are in the Maya — if something had not come along to tear them out of it as soon as they took it up, and which could counteract the decline into the physical, which really works right into the etheric body, so that the latter has the possibility of killing what leads to such error. Otherwise, human beings would have remained in the snare of their overwhelming physicality.
And now let us disregard a person who would have spoken thus at the approach of Christ Jesus. Let us now see how a present-day person, any one of us, might view the matter. He can say to himself: If I look impartially at how human beings have developed, how reason, this instrument belonging to Maya, has become stronger and stronger, then I must necessarily be in error if I simply abandon myself to the course of world development. If I do not accept the impulse that the part of me that leads me to such a conclusion can die, then I am so conditioned that I cannot escape from reason. What must have happened? I must be able to look back to a time when this impulse entered my consciousness. I must find something that points to an event in the historical development of humanity that has had the effect of reversing the continuous course of development in the materialistic sense. If I looked within myself today and found nothing of the sort, what else could I find? I would see reason advancing further and further until it reached a point at the beginning of our calendar when it just began to have an effect. But what then? There it becomes dark, there it becomes black, there I need something completely different. But then it becomes lighter, for there everyone must encounter Christ. Everyone, if they want to believe in the possibility that they are progressing, that in the following incarnations there can be something in them that drives them upward, that does not allow them to be overwhelmed by Maya, everyone must encounter Christ when they look back. That can give them the ascent.
Let us assume that the Gospels did not exist. Then we could say: We did not need them as anthroposophists; we did not need the Gospels; we only needed to look impartially at the course of human evolution and ask ourselves: What would become of every human being if he could not look back on an event in which the whole meaning of earlier evolution was turned to the other side? —- Then we must encounter Christ when we go back in evolution. The anthroposophist must be able to find him, and the initiated knower finds him under all circumstances.
This is a mystery of Christianity. The documents can certainly be challenged; they are not historical documents. All the clever people, Jensen and others, who dismiss the Gospels in a trivially scholarly manner, regarding them as mere legends, have a certain justification for themselves because they appeal solely to external reason. But the moment we become anthroposophists, we can say: we do not need the Gospels at all, we only need the facts that spiritual science itself gives us, and as we look back through human evolution, we find the living Christ, as Paul found him through the event on the road to Damascus. This is anticipated, and it is what we can also have if we seek Christ in the anthroposophical sense. After all, Paul was in a similar situation to a modern anthroposophist who does not want to accept the Gospels. The Gospels did not yet exist in his time, but he was able to go to Jerusalem. What he heard there, which is later described in the Gospels, did not convince him, otherwise he would not have left Jerusalem. So today's human beings do not need to be convinced by anything written in the Gospels. They only need to be able to experience through anthroposophy what Paul experienced. Then it is an event like that at Damascus, and then they have proof of Christ without any documents, as was the case with Paul.
It is now quite natural that this points to something profound in human evolution, something extraordinarily profound in human evolution. In a certain sense, what was there for the reborn Empedocles in the 15th and 16th centuries, who looked back to earlier times and then saw what he had not been able to see before, exists for everyone, even for the simplest human being. He had become so uncertain in the past that he threw himself into Mount Etna. In the 15th and 16th centuries, he looked back and what had been inexplicable to him at the time was now explained by the Christ principle. And this made him one of the most remarkable personalities of later times.
This is how things appear to every human being without documents, simply in retrospect. Later, all human beings will look back on previous incarnations and will be able to distinguish precisely: these are incarnations that took place before Christ, and these are incarnations that took place after Christ. And what the simple soul instinctively feels today when reading the Gospels will then appear in the form of knowledge. This is what distinguishes the Gospels from other documents: they are the next documents that must be understood. The Gospels are a great, beautiful, powerful gateway. When we pass through it, light shines forth, whereas otherwise darkness spreads.
This is indeed the case. Because Christianity is still in its infancy, modern people sometimes lose the thread of their research into earlier things. But when they return to an event in the life of Christ, they are inspired, and then everything becomes clear. And what the spiritual researcher discovers can also be experienced by the simple person. He can experience a reflection in his mind of what I have just explained. He may well be depressed by human weaknesses and mistakes, but he must of course say to himself: What I am today, I have become through all the generations. For if he were to deny this, he would also have to claim that he was his own father and mother. So there is something that leads back to the rest of humanity, and people can feel quite depressed by the various faults, illnesses, and weaknesses they have. But there is always the possibility of rising above this, even for the simplest mind. I am not saying this in an orthodox sense. What exists for the spiritual researcher also exists for the simplest mind. If it feels very weak and takes up the Gospels and reads them, strength will flow from the Gospels, because the power of the word flows from them into the etheric body. The Gospels are words of power. They are something that does not merely speak to the intellect, but penetrates into deeper soul forces, something that does not merely build on the intellect, which is in Maya, but rather goes into deeper forces and can, so to speak, comfort the intellect. This is the great power of the Gospels, which is there for every single human being, and this is what is so powerful about these documents; this is what distinguishes them from all others. One can deny this fact, but then one will end up denying the possibility of human progress altogether.
This points to a fact that is not easy to understand. You can also understand what was necessary to prepare the person I initially presented to you hypothetically, who, about a century before our era, would have predicted that someone would come who would provide the impetus for the change.
“This had to be a significant personality. He was also sufficiently prepared. For a long time, those in the know had been trying to bring about the possibility that at least some people would understand the approaching times, understand what was being prepared: what on the one hand would lead people into the snare, and what on the other hand would lift them up again through the appearance of Christ. This was taught prophetically. And the one who was chosen a little more than a century before our era to teach this prophetically in circles that could understand it was an initiate of the Essene community, which was close to the circles into which Christ entered, and who proclaimed: there will come one who will lead humanity upward again. The one who taught this within the Essene community was a very important individual. External history knows little about him, but he has been handed down in legend, at least by individual writers, so that he is not merely a mythological figure or mentioned only in spiritual science. He lived a hundred years before Christ and also had one of his five or six disciples make records. One of the disciples of this personality, who pointed to Christ and proclaimed him in advance, knew what it was all about. This personality had a disciple named Mathai, who recorded the secrets about Christ. But the personality was Jeshu ben Pandira. For teaching this, he had to suffer the corresponding martyrdom. He was stoned in his neighborhood and, after being stoned, hung up dead. This Jeshu ben Pandira – not to be confused with Jesus of Nazareth – who was the great forerunner of Christ, had recorded what he knew, and this document then came into the hands of the one who inserted it, with its secrets, into the Gospel that we call the Gospel according to Matthew. This is an important, an extremely important fact to understand: first, the necessity of the Christ impulse; then, from a spiritual-scientific-historical point of view, how Jeshu ben Pandira in a certain sense even exemplifies this figuratively — by first being stoned and then, as it were, crucified afterwards — that which then takes place as the Christ mystery of Golgotha. Christ was not stoned, but crucified. And in this death, the miraculous happens that at that moment, when the blood flowed from the wounds, that which then passed into the earth's atmosphere brought about that those who, in their etheric body, look back on this event, who pass through this event, who look, as it were, into the tomb of Christ, This causes them, as they pass through this point, to enter into a luminous past. Without this event, however, darkness would spread over everything that came before.
Think about what has been said today. It was my task to hint at this to you. It is such a comprehensive subject that only hints could be given. But I have kept the hints such that, if you examine what you know and carry in your heart, you will come to realize how much what I have had to say to you today is true through life and through your own soul.