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by Rudolf Steiner (Author), Robert A. McDermott (Introduction by), Catherine E. Creeger (Translator)
10 lectures, Basel, September 15-26, 1909 (CW 114)
Rudolf Steiner was born with clairvoyant capacities, but it was not until he was forty that he could connect his inner experiences with Jesus Christ. After that "solemn festival of knowledge," as he described it in his Autobiography, Steiner received ceaseless revelations about the significance of the Christ's incarnation. For the next twenty years, he spoke of the hidden background to all four gospels, the Book of Revelations, and even what he called the Fifth Gospel, read directly from the spirit worlds.
These lectures present the most accessible and illuminating of Steiner's revelations about the significance of the Christ for the spiritual development of humanity. He discusses the link between the Buddha and the Christ, which unites Buddhism and Christianity--not in theory but in the spiritual activities of those two beings.
Steiner also describes the relationship between the Greek Mystery traditions and the Mystery of Golgotha: "A sign was to be placed before them as well, a sign that would now be enacted before the eyes of all humankind. The 'mystical death, ' which had been a ceremonial act in the Mystery temples for hundreds and thousands of years, would now be presented on the great stage of world history. Everything that had taken place in the secrecy of initiation temples was brought into the open as a single event on Golgotha."
Utilizing a historical overview, revealing the relationship between the great religious traditions, and how they have conspired together for the good of humanity, Steiner never loses sight of the Gospel's great inner meaning, as echoed in the Gospel of St. Luke: "The revelation of the spiritual worlds from the Heights and its answering reflection from human hearts brings peace to all whose purpose upon the evolving Earth is to develop good will."
