13 March 2026
"The modern Gnostic is therefore a Seeker in pursuit of Truth. Yet, since he can only find this Truth within his own being, he is bound to rest the edifice for his knowledge of Truth upon such cognizance as he has attained to with regard to his own self. His business is to expand this Self of his into a “world-Self,” and since the Self presents the greatest of all enigmas, it is the Self which most needs to be unriddled. Modern Gnosis is therefore, in the truest sense of the word, Self-Knowledge, on the Path to Freedom.
But, since our true self is spiritual and divine, Gnosis, too, may claim to be spiritual knowledge, or Apprehension of God. And, since like can alone apprehend like, it follows that Gnosis in the present day must be self-knowledge of the spirit, or of the in-dwelling God. In this sense, therefore, modern Gnosis is identical with Spiritual Science, or Divine Wisdom; with that knowledge of the in-dwelling Spirit of God to which man has of himself attained; identical, in short, with the Theosophy, which has become Anthroposophy.
Considering that there have been Gnostics, or Knowers, since the earliest times, there would seem to be no valid reason why they should not be at work in the present day, and it would be a bad thing for us—and for the world, too—if this stream of spiritual life were checked and we were thrown back again on “officially approved” science and religion: on Universities and Churches, where all spiritual life has now become dried up. At no time has there been a greater need than now that we should give ear to the Gnostics, for our era has up to now been unable to reach up to either Spirit—or God. Never before, assuredly, was man so completely separated from both; indeed, this is an “achievement” in which we may be entitled to claim a unique “record,” for it is of entirely our own making! And never before has the need for scientific Gnosticism been so glaringly apparent."
Ernst Boldt, From Luther to Steiner, III. The Spirit of Evolution (1923).