The Second Coming of Christ E-Book

Rudolf Steiner

• Herausgeber: Rudolf Steiner Press
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

"The being whom we call Christ once walked the earth in flesh and blood at the beginning of our era. He will never again return in a physical body, for that was a unique event and will not be repeated. But He will come again in an etheric form in the period I have mentioned. People will learn to perceive Christ by virtue of growing towards him through this etheric perception." Many contemporaries were unaware of Christ's incarnation on earth at the beginning of the modern era. And today, says Rudolf Steiner, many remain ignorant of the most important event of our time: the appearance of Christ in the etheric - or life - realm of the earth. Fundamentalist and millennial groups await a second physical incarnation, while atheists and materialists deny spirit altogether. Nevertheless, an incisive transformation is taking place in the human soul that will lead to an emerging clairvoyance. Just as Paul perceived Christ at Damascus, so may every human being experience Him today.

Leseprobe

About the Author

RUDOLF STEINER (1861–1925) called his spiritual philosophy ‘anthroposophy’, meaning ‘wisdom of the human being’. As a highly developed seer, he based his work on direct knowledge and perception of spiritual dimensions. He initiated a modern and universal ‘science of spirit’, accessible to anyone willing to exercise clear and unprejudiced thinking.

From his spiritual investigations Steiner provided suggestions for the renewal of many activities, including education (both general and special), agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, philosophy, religion and the arts. Today there are thousands of schools, clinics, farms and other organizations involved in practical work based on his principles. His many published works feature his research into the spiritual nature of the human being, the evolution of the world and humanity, and methods of personal development. Steiner wrote some 30 books and delivered over 6,000 lectures across Europe. In 1924 he founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world.

THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

RUDOLF STEINER

Sophia Books

Sophia Books An imprint of Rudolf Steiner Press Hillside House, The Square Forest Row RH18 5ES

www.rudolfsteinerpress.com

Published by Rudolf Steiner Press 2012

First published in a translation by D. S. Osmond and C. Davy by Anthroposophical Publishing Co. in 1961

This translation revised by Matthew Barton © Rudolf Steiner Press 2008

Originally published in German as part of the volume entitled Das Ereignis der Christus-Erscheinung in der ätherischen Welt (volume 118 in the Rudolf Steiner Gesamtausgabe or Collected Works) by Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach. This authorized translation is published by permission of the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung, Dornach

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 85584 327 1

Cover by Andrew Morgan Typeset by DP Photosetting, Neath, West Glamorgan

Contents

THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

Notes

Further Reading

Publisher’s Note on Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures

When someone engages for a time with the view of the world that spiritual science offers, allowing the various ideas, thoughts and insights he gains from it to work upon him, a great many questions arise. He becomes a spiritual scientist himself to the degree he connects such questions—which are really those of feeling, of the heart, of the character, in fact of life in general—with ideas derived from the science of the spirit. By their very nature these ideas do not merely satisfy our theoretical or academic curiosity, but rather shed light on life’s riddles, on the mysteries of existence. And they bear fruit in a real sense only when we no longer merely reflect on and feel their significance, value and meaning but also, through their influence, learn to look differently at the world around us. These ideas should inwardly warm us, should become impetus for our lives, and forces of heart and soul. Increasingly this is so when the answers we find to certain questions give rise to new questions, and when answers to these in turn become questions followed by new answers, and so on. By this means we can make progress both in spiritual knowledge and in the life of spirit.

Although some time will have to pass before the more intimate aspects of spiritual life can be aired in public lectures, the time should be near at hand for doing so within our own groups. It is inevitable that new members may be taken aback or even shocked when they hear certain things, but we must take this in our stride since we cannot progress in our work without illuminating more sensitive issues through spiritual-scientific investigation and knowledge. Therefore—although misunderstandings may arise in those of you who have engaged in spiritual life for a comparatively short time only—we will today again consider some of these more intimate insights of spiritual knowledge.

There is no doubt that an earnest question will rise in us when we think about the idea of reincarnation, of many earth lives—not merely as abstract theory but when we ponder deeply on the meaning and implications of this spiritual fact. The significant answer that reincarnation gives us will be followed by new questions. We may ask, for instance, what the deeper meaning is of the fact that we live many times on earth, returning again and again in new incarnations. The usual answer is that by passing through many repeated lives we ascend ever higher, experiencing the fruits and results of former lives on earth in subsequent ones, and thus progressing and developing. But that is still a rather general, abstract answer. It is only through more precise knowledge of the whole purpose of life on earth that we can fathom the significance of repeating incarnations.

If we kept returning to an earth that never changed but essentially remained the same, there would be little to learn from successive incarnations. These incarnations are important because, as we pass through each one, we can learn new things and have new experiences on earth. This is not so clearly perceptible over short periods, but if we survey long periods, as the science of the spirit enables us to do, it becomes evident that each epoch of our earth differs substantially from another in character, and that we thus undergo new and different experiences. But we have to realize something else too, taking these changes in the life of the earth into account: if in a particular epoch we neglect the opportunity to experience and learn what that epoch has to offer, then although we return in a new incarnation we have missed something, have failed to assimilate what we should have done in a previous epoch. In the next epoch, therefore, this means we are unable to make proper use of our forces and faculties.

Speaking still in quite a general sense, we can say that in our epoch something is now possible on earth, indeed almost everywhere on the globe, that was not possible in the former incarnation of those now alive. Strange as it may seem there is a certain and indeed great significance in this. In their present incarnation it is possible for certain numbers of people to find their way to spiritual science—that is, to absorb and integrate the findings of spiritual investigation available today in the field of spiritual science. It may of course be regarded as unimportant that a few people gather and acquire the knowledge made available by spiritual investigation; but people who think this fail to understand the importance of reincarnation or that certain things can be learned only during one particular incarnation. If they are not learned, something has been missed and will be lacking in subsequent incarnations.

Above all we should realize that what we learn today in spiritual science is incorporated into our soul, and we bring it with us when we descend again to a new incarnation.