Lecture VIII
We have attempted so far to throw light
from many different points of view upon the characteristic
features of the fifth post-Atlantean epoch in which we are
now living and which began in the early fifteenth century
(1413) and will end in the middle of the fourth millennium.
Now many of the symptomatic events of today are closely
associated with the events which occurred at the beginning of
this epoch. For reasons which will become evident in the
course of the following lectures and which are connected with
the whole of human evolution, the fifth post-Atlantean epoch
can be subdivided into five stages. We have now reached a
moment of particular importance, the decisive turning point
when the first fifth of this epoch passes over into the
second fifth.
I propose to
give you a general survey of the impulses which have
determined the history of religions, in so far as they are
symptomatic of this fifth post-Atlantean epoch. Many things
which I shall say in the course of this survey cannot be more
than pointers or indications. For when we embark upon a
serious study of the religious impulses of mankind the facts
we have to consider are so difficult to convey owing to the
limitations of language that we can only discuss them
approximately; we can only hint at them. And you must
therefore endeavour to read between the lines of what I shall
say today and tomorrow, not because I wish to be a mystery
monger, but because language is too powerless to express
adequately the multiplicity and variety of impulses of
spiritual reality. Above all I must call your attention today
to the fact that he who studies these things from the
standpoint of spiritual science must really be prepared to
think and reflect. Today mankind has more or less lost the
habit of thinking. I do not mean, of course, the thinking
that is the proud boast of modern science, but the thinking
which is capable of distinguishing precisely between
different forms of reality. In order to be able to study what
we are now called upon to examine, I must remind you that I
have already spoken of the two currents in the evolution of
mankind. I do not know whether all those present here
listened so carefully to the expressions I coined in the
course of my previous lectures that they have already noticed
what I wish to underline especially today, so that no
misunderstanding shall arise in the following
observations.
In the
evolution of post-Atlantean humanity I emphasized one thing
in particular, namely that mankind of the postAtlantean epoch
matures progressively at an ever earlier age. In the first
post-Atlantean epoch, that of ancient India, men remained
capable of developing physically up to the age of fifty; in
the ancient Persian epoch development ceased at an earlier
age, and in the Egypto-Chaldaean epoch at an even earlier
age. In the Graeco-Latin epoch development was only possible
up to the age of thirty-five and in our present epoch, as a
consequence of natural development, men cease to develop
beyond the age of twenty-eight. Any further development must
be derived from spiritual impulses. Then, in the sixth
post-Atlantean epoch, mankind will be unable to develop after
the age of twenty-one — and so on. With the passage of
time, therefore, mankind matures physically at an ever
earlier age.
It is important
to bear in mind that this evolution I have just mentioned
involves the whole of mankind. In relation to this first
current of evolution, as I shall call it, we can say that
mankind is at the stage of development which the individual
experiences between the ages of twenty-eight and twenty-one.
These are the years when the Sentient Soul especially is
developed. We are therefore at a stage in evolution when
mankind as a whole is in process of developing especially the
Sentient Soul. Such is the one current of evolution.
Now I have
already spoken of another current of evolution. In this
second evolution, in the first post-Atlantean epoch, that of
ancient India, the individual developed his etheric body; in
the second post-Atlantean epoch, that of ancient Persia, he
developed the sentient body; in the Egypto-Chaldaean epoch the
sentient soul, in the Graeco-Latin epoch the intellectual or
mind soul, and in the present epoch the consciousness soul.
Such is the second current of evolution. The first current of
evolution which concerns the whole of mankind runs its course
concurrently with the second evolution which concerns the
isolated individual within the body of mankind. To repeat,
the isolated individual develops the Consciousness Soul in
the present epoch.
The third
current of evolution to be considered is that which shows the
development of the different peoples over the whole earth. In
this context I have already pointed out that the Italian
people, for example, develops in particular the Sentient
Soul, the French people the Intellectual or Mind Soul and the
English speaking peoples the Consciousness Soul. This is the
third current of evolution. These currents are loosely
intermingled and I am unable to point to any particular
principle that is characteristic of our present
epoch.
First Evolution
The whole of mankind develops the
Sentient Soul.
|
Second Evolution
The individual develops the
Consciousness Soul.
|
Third Evolution
The evolution of the different
peoples.
|
These three
currents of evolution meet and cross in every human being;
they invade every individual soul. The world order is by no
means simple! If, for your benefit, you want the world order
to be explained in the simplest terms, then you must become
either professor or King of Spain. You will recall the legend
of the King of Spain who declared, when a much less
complicated cosmic system than the one envisaged here was
explained to him: had God entrusted the ordering of the world
to him he would not have made it so complicated, he would
have simplified things. And certain textbooks or other
popular encyclopaedias have always followed the principle
that truth of necessity must be simple! This principle is not
adopted of course on rational grounds, but solely for reasons
of convenience, I might even say, out of general human
indolence. By systematic arrangement where everything is
classified or catalogued one comes no nearer to reality. And
those facile, I might even say, slick concepts much favoured
today in the domain of the official sciences are light-years
away from true reality.
If we wish to
understand all that plays into the souls of men of this fifth
post-Atlantean epoch we must bear in mind the part-evolution
that intervenes in the total evolution of mankind. For this
part-evolution proceeds slowly and gradually. In order to
examine briefly the religious development of this epoch it
will be necessary to keep this threefold evolution to some
extent in the background. About the time when the fifth
post-Atlantean epoch began, not only many things, but also
the religious life of mankind was caught up in a movement
that has repercussions, a movement that is by no means
concluded today. We must have a profound understanding of
this movement if men really wish to make use of the
Consciousness Soul. For only when men arrive at a clear
insight and understanding of what is happening in evolution
will they be able to participate in the further development
of mankind on earth.
Towards the
beginning of the fifteenth century the first stirrings of the
religious impulses are perceptible. Let us first look at
these religious impulses in Europe for having seen them at
work in Europe we shall also have a picture of their impact
upon the rest of the world. The first religious stirrings had
long been prepared — since the tenth century or even
the ninth century in the spiritual life of Europe and the
near East. And this was due to the fact that the after effect
of the Christ impulse manifested itself in the civilized
world in a very special way. This Christ impulse, as we know,
is a continuous process. But this abstract statement —
that the Christ impulse is a continuous process — says
in reality very little. We must also ascertain in what way it
acquires a distinct and separate character, in what way, in
its differentiations, it is then modified, or better still,
in what way it is metamorphosed and assumes widely different
forms.
That which
began to awaken at the beginning of the fifteenth century and
which still exercises a profound influence on men today
— often unconsciously and without their suspecting it
— is related to the catastrophic events of the present
time. And this is explained by the fact that from the ninth
and tenth centuries onwards it was possible for the ‘people of
the Christ’ to emerge in a certain territory within the
civilized world, a people that was endowed with the special
inborn capacity to become the vehicle of the Christ
revelation for future generations. We express a profound
truth when we say that in this epoch and in readiness for
later times a people had been specially prepared by world
events to become the People of the Christ.
This situation
arose because, in the ninth century, that which continued to
operate as the Christ impulse acquired, to some extent, a
separate character in Europe and this differentiation is seen
in the fact that certain souls showed themselves capable of
receiving directly the revelation of the Christ impulse
(i.e. this particular form of the Christ impulse),
and that these souls were diverted towards Eastern Europe. And the
consequence of the controversy between the Patriarch Photius
[ Note 1 ]
and Pope Nicholas I was that the Christ impulse in its
particular intensity was diverted to the East of Europe.
As you know
this led to the famous filioque controversy —
the question whether the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father
and the Son, or from the Father only. But I do not wish to
enter into disputes over dogma. I want to discuss that which
has a lasting influence — that differentiation, that
metamorphosis of the Christ impulse which is characterized by
the fact that the inhabitants of Eastern Europe were
receptive to the continual influx of the Christ impulse, to
the continuous presence of the ‘breath’ of Christ. This
particular form (or metamorphosis) of the Christ impulse was
diverted to the East and in consequence, the Russian people,
in the widest sense of the term, became, within the framework
of European civilization, the People of the Christ.
It is
particularly important to know this at the present time. Do
not say in face of present events
[ Note A ]
that such a truth seems strange, for that would be to
misunderstand the fundamental principle of spiritual wisdom,
namely, that, paradoxically, external events often contradict
their inner truth. That this contradiction may occur here and
there is not important; what is important is that we
recognize which are the inner processes, the true spiritual
realities. For example, we have here the map of Europe
(points to a diagram on the blackboard); we see sweeping
eastwards since the ninth century that spiritual wave which
led to the birth of the People of the Christ.
What do we mean
by saying that the People of the Christ arose in the East? We
mean by this — and it can be verified by studying the
symptoms in external history; you will find, if you bear in
mind the inner processes and not the external facts which
often contradict reality that this statement is fully
confirmed — we mean by this that a territory has been set
apart in the East of Europe where lived men who were directly
united with the Christ impulse. The Christ is ever present as
an inner aura impregnating the thinking and feeling of this
people.
One cannot find
perhaps any clearer or more direct proof for what I have said
here than the personality of Solovieff, the most outstanding
Russian philosopher of modern times. Read him and you will
feel — despite the peculiar characteristics of
Solovieff which I have already discussed from other points of
view — you will feel how there streams into him
directly what could be called the Christ inspiration. This
inspiration acts so powerfully within him that he cannot
imagine the entire structure of social life otherwise than
ordained by Christ the King, the Invisible Christ as
sovereign of the social community. To Solovieff everything is
imbued with the Christ, every single action performed by man
is permeated with the Christ impulse which penetrates even
into the muscular system. The philosopher Solovieff is the
purest and finest representative of the People of the
Christ.
Here is the
source of the entire Russian evolution up to the present day.
And when we know that the Russian people is the People of the
Christ we shall also be able to understand, as we shall see
later, the present evolution in its present form. That is the
one metamorphosis prepared by the People of the Christ one
example of the differentiations of the Christ impulse.
The second
differentiation of the Christ impulse was the work of Rome
which, having diverted the authentic and continuous
metamorphosis of the Christ impulse towards the East,
transformed the spiritual sovereignty of Christ into the
temporal sovereignty of the Church and decreed that
everything relating to Christ had been revealed once and for
all at the beginning of our era, that it had been a unique
revelation never to be repeated. And this revelation had been
entrusted to the Church and the task of the church was to
bear witness to this revelation before the world. As a
consequence, the Christian revelation became at the same time
a question of temporal power and was taken over by the
ecclesiastical authorities. It is important to bear this in
mind because it meant no less than that the Christ impulse
was thereby in part emasculated. The Christ impulse in its
totality resides in the People of the Christ who transmit it
in such a way that the Christ impulse actually continues to
exercise a direct influence at the present time. The Church
of Rome has interrupted this continuity, it has concentrated
the Christ impulse upon a historical event at the beginning
of our era and has attributed everything of a later date to
tradition or written records, so that henceforth everything
will be administered by the Church.
Thus, amongst
the peoples over whom the Church of Rome extended its
influence, the Christ impulse was dragged down from the
spiritual heights (in the East it had always remained at this
level) and was put at the service of political intrigue and
was caught up in that tangled relationship between politics
and the Church which, as I have already described to you from
other points of view, was characteristic of the Middle Ages.
In Russia, although the Czar had been nominated ‘father’ of
the Russian Orthodox Church, this troubled alliance between
politics and the Church did not really exist, it was only
apparent in external events. An important secret of European
evolution is here concealed. The real confusion of questions
of power and problems of ecclesiastical administration
originated in Rome.
This confusion
of Power politics and ecclesiastical administration, by
reason of inner grounds of historical evolution, had reached
a critical stage for the Christ impulse towards the beginning
of the fifth post-Atlantean epoch. As you already know this
epoch is the epoch of the Consciousness Soul when the
personality asserts itself and seeks to become self-reliant.
Consequently it is particularly difficult, after the birth of
the autonomous personality, to come to terms with the
question of the personality of Christ Jesus himself.
Throughout the Middle Ages and up to the fifteenth century
the Church had maintained its dogmas concerning the union of
the divine and spiritual with the human and physical in the
person of Christ. These dogmas of course had assumed
different forms without provoking hitherto deepseated
spiritual conflicts. In those countries where Roman
Catholicism had spread, these conflicts arose at a time when
the personality, seeking to arrive at inner understanding of
itself, also sought enlightenment upon the personality of
Christ Jesus. In reality the controversies of Hus, Wyclif,
Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, of the Anabaptists Kaspar
Schwenkfeld, Sebastian Frank and others revolved round this
question. They wanted clarification upon the relationship
between the divine and spiritual nature of Christ and the
human and physical nature of Jesus. This was the central
question and of course it created a great stir. It raised
many doubts about that current of evolution which had blunted
the unbroken influence of the Christ impulse to such an
extent that the Christ impulse was limited to a single event
at the beginning of our era and was to be transmitted
henceforth only by the Church authorities. And so we can say:
‘all those who came under the influence of Rome became the
People of the Church.’ Churches and sects, etcetera, were
founded which had a certain importance.
But sects were
also founded in Russia you will reply. Now to employ the same
word which has different connotations in different areas is
to lose all sense of reality. A study of Russian sects shows
that they do not bear the slightest resemblance to the
religious sects in the territories which at one time had been
under the influence of the Church of Rome. It is not a
question of designating things by the same term; what matters
is the reality pulsating through them.
For reasons I
have already mentioned, the life and aspirations of men at
the beginning of the fifteenth century are characterized by a
spirit of Opposition to the uniformity of the Roman Church
which operated through suggestionism.
This assault of
personality again provokes a reactionthe counter-thrust of
Jesuitism which comes to the support of the Romanism of the
Church. Jesuitism in its original sense (though everything
today, if you will forgive the brutal expression, is reduced
to idle gossip and Jesuitism is on everyone's lips) is only
possible within the Roman Catholic Church. For fundamentally
Jesuitism is based on the following: whilst in the true
People of the Christ the revelation of the Christ impulse
remains in the super-sensible world and does not descend into
the physical world (Solovieff wishes to spiritualize the
material world, not to materialize the spiritual world), the
aim of Jesuitism is to drag down the Kingdom of God into the
temporal world and to awaken impulses in the souls of men so
that the Kingdom of God operates on the physical plane in the
same way as the laws of the physical world. Jesuitism,
therefore, aspires to establish a temporal sovereignty in the
form of a temporal kingdom of the Christ. It wishes to
achieve this by training the members of the Jesuit order
after the fashion of an army. The individual Jesuit feels
himself to be a spiritual soldier. He feels Christ, not as
the spiritual Christ who acts upon the world through the
medium of the Spirit, but he feels Him — and to this
end he must direct his thoughts and feelings — as a
temporal sovereign whom he serves as one serves an earthly
King, or as a soldier serves his generalissimo. The
ecclesiastical administration, since it is concerned with
spiritual matters, will, of course, be different from that of
a secular military regime; but the spiritual order must be
subject to strict military discipline. Everything must be so
ordained that the true Christian becomes a soldier of the
generalissimo Jesus. In essence this is the purpose of those
exercises which every Jesuit practises in order to develop in
himself that vast power which the Jesuit order has long
possessed and which will still be felt in its decadent forms
in the chaotic times that lie ahead. The purpose of the
meditations prescribed by Ignatius Loyola
[ Note 2 ]
and which are faithfully observed by Jesuits is to make the Jesuit
first and foremost a soldier of the generalissimo Jesus Christ.
Here are a few
samples. Let us take, for example, the spiritual exercise of
the second week. The exercitant must always begin with a
preliminary meditation in which he evokes in imagination ‘the
Kingdom of Christ.’ He must visualize this Kingdom with
Christ as supreme commander in the vanguard leading his
legions, whose mission is to conquer the world. Then follows
a preliminary prayer; then the first preamble.
‘1. It
consists in a clear representation of the place; here I must
see with the eyes of imagination the synagogues, towns and
villages which Christ our Lord passed through on His
mission.’
All this must
be visualized in a complete picture so that the novice sees
the situation and all the separate representations as
something which is visibly present to him.
‘2. I ask
for the grace which I desire. Here I must ask of our Lord the
grace that I should not be deaf to His call, but should be
prompt and diligent to fulfil His most holy will.’
Then follows
the actual exercise. (What I have quoted so far were
preparatory exercises.) The first part again includes several
points. The soul is very carefully prepared.
‘ Point
1. I conjure up a picture of a terrestrial King chosen by God
our Lord Himself to whom all Christians and all princes
render homage and obedience.’
The exercitant
must hold this before him in his imagination with the same
intensity as a sensory representation.
‘Point 2.
I observe how the King addresses all his subjects and says to
them: “It is my will to conquer all the territories of
the infidels. Therefore whosoever would go forth with me must
be content with the same food as myself, the same drink and
clothing, etcetera. He must also toil with me by day and keep
watch with me by night so that he may share in the victory
with me, even as he shared in the toil.”’
This
strengthens the will, in that sensible images penetrate
directly into this will, illuminate it and spiritualize
it.
‘Point 3. I
consider how his faithful subjects must answer a King so kind
and so generous, and consequently how the man who would
refuse the appeal of such a King would be deserving of
censure by the whole world and would be regarded as an
ignoble Knight.’
The exercitant
must clearly recognize that if he is not a true soldier, a
warrior of this generalissimo, then the whole world will look
upon him as unworthy.
Then follows
the second part of this exercise of the ‘second week.’
‘The second
part of this exercise consists in applying the previous
example of the terrestrial King to Christ our Lord in
accordance with the three points mentioned above.
‘Point 1. If we
regard an appeal of the terrestrial King to his subjects as
deserving of our consideration, then how much more deserving
of our consideration is it to see Christ our Lord, the
Eternal King, and the whole world assembled before Hirn, to
see how He appeals to all and each one in particular saying:
“It
is my will to conquer the whole world and to subjugate my
enemies and thus enter into the glory of my Father. Whoever
therefore will follow me must be prepared to labour with me,
so that, by following me in suffering, he may also follow me
in glory.”’
‘Point 2 To
consider that all who are endowed with judgement and reason
will offer themselves entirely for this arduous service.’
‘Point 3 Those
who are animated by the desire to show still greater devotion
and to distinguish themselves in the total service of their
eternal King and universal Lord will not only offer
themselves wholly for such arduous service, but will also
fight against their own sensuality, their carnal lusts and
their attachment to the world and thus make sacrifices of
higher value and greater importance, saying:
“Eternal
Lord of all things, with Thy favour and help,
in the presence of Thy infinite Goodness and of Thy glorious
Mother and of all the saints of the heavenly Court, I present
my body as a living sacrifice and swear that it is my wish
and desire and my firm resolve, provided it is for Thy
greater service and praise, to imitate Thee in enduring all
injustice, all humiliation and all poverty, both actual and
spiritual, if it shall please Thy most holy Majesty to choose
me and admit me to this life and to this state.”
‘This
exercise should be practised twice a day, in the morning on
rising and one hour before lunch or dinner.’
‘For the second
week and the following weeks it is very beneficial at times
to read passages from The Imitation of Christ or from the
Gospels and lives of the Saints’ to be read in
conjunction with those meditations which train especially the
will through visualization. One must know how the will
develops when it is under the influence of these Imaginations
— this martial will in the realm of the Spirit which
makes Christ Jesus its generalissimo! The exercise speaks of
the ‘heavenly Court which one serves in all forms of
submission and humility.’ With these exercises, which through
the imagination train especially the will, is associated
something which exercises a powerful influence upon the will
when it is continually repeated. For the schooling of Jesuits
is above all a schooling of the will. It is recommended to
repeat daily the above meditation in the following weeks as a
basic meditation and where possible in the same form, before
the selected daily meditation, before the ‘contemplation.’
Let us take, for example, the fourth day. We have the normal
preliminary prayer then a first preamble.
‘We visualize
the historical event — Christ summons and assembles all
men under His standard, and Lucifer, on the other hand, under
his standard.’
One must have
an exact visual picture of the standard. And one must also
visualize two armies, each preceded by its standard, the
standard of Lucifer and the standard of Christ.
‘2. You form a
clear picture of the place; here a vast plain round about
Jerusalem, where stands Christ our Lord, the sole and supreme
commander of the just and good, with His army in battle
order; and another plain round about Babylon where stands
Lucifer, chief of the enemy forces.’
The two armies
now face each other — the standard of Lucifer and the
standard of Christ.
‘3. I ask for
what I desire: here I ask for knowledge of the lures of the
evil adversary and for help to preserve myself from them;
also for knowledge of the true life of which our sovereign
and true commander is the exemplar, and for grace to imitate
Him.’
Now follows the
first part of the actual exercise: the standard of Lucifer;
the exercitant therefore directs his spiritual eye of
imagination upon the army which follows the standard of
Lucifer.
‘Point 1.
Imagine you see the chief of all the adversaries in the vast
plain around Babylon seated on a high throne of fire and
smoke, a figure inspiring terror and fear.’
‘Point 2.
Consider how he summons innumerable demons, scattering them
abroad, some to one City, some to another and thus over the
whole earth without overlooking any province, place, station
in life or any single individual.’
This despatch
of demons must be visualized concretely and in detail.
‘Point 3.
Consider the address he makes to them, how he enjoins upon
them to prepare snares and fetters to bind men. First, they
are to tempt men to covet riches, as he (Lucifer) is
accustomed to do in most cases, so that they may the more
easily attain the vain approbation of the world and then
develop an overweening pride.’
‘Accordingly,
the first step will be riches, the second fame, the third
pride. And from these three steps Lucifer seduces man to all
the other vices.’
Second Part. The standard of
Christ
‘In the same
way we must picture to ourselves on the opposing side, the
sovereign and true commander, Christ our Lord.
‘Point 1.
Consider Christ our Lord, beautiful and gracious to behold,
standing in a lowly place, in a vast plain about the region
of Jerusalem.’
‘Point 2.
Consider how the Lord of the whole world chooses so many
persons, apostles, disciples, etcetera, and sends them forth
into all lands to preach the Gospel to men of all stations in
life and of every condition.’
‘Point 3.
Consider the address which Christ our Lord holds in the
presence of all His servants and friends whom He sends on
this crusade, recommending them to endeavour to help all,
first urging upon them to accept the highest spiritual
poverty, and, if it should find favour in the eyes of His
divine Majesty and if, should he deign to choose them, to
accept also actual poverty; secondly to desire humiliation
and contempt, for from these two things, poverty and
humiliation, springs humility.’
‘Accordingly
there are three steps: first, poverty as opposed to riches,
secondly, humiliation and contempt as opposed to worldly
fame, thirdly, humility as opposed to pride. And from these
three steps the ambassadors of Christ shall lead men to the
other virtues.’
The spiritual
exercises are practised in this way. As I have already said,
what matters is that a temporal kingdom, and organized as
such, must be represented as the army of Christ Jesus.
Jesuitism is the most consistent, the best, and moreover
extremely well organized expression, of what I referred to as
the second current — the impulse of the People of the
Church. We shall find in effect that fundamentally this
impulse of the People of the Church is to reduce the unique
revelation which occurred at Jerusalem to the level of a
temporal Kingdom. For the end and object of the exercises is
ultimately to bring the exercitant to choose himself as
soldier serving under the banner of Christ and to feel
himself to be a true soldier of Christ. That was the message
entrusted to Ignatius Loyola through a revelation of a
special kind. He first performed heroic deeds as a soldier,
then as he lay on a sick bed recovering from his wounds was
led as a result of meditations (I will not say by what power)
to transform the martial impulse which formerly inspired him
into the impulse to become a soldier of Christ. It is one of
the most interesting phenomena of world history to observe
how the martial qualities of an outstandingly brave soldier
are transformed through meditations into spiritual
qualities.
Where the
continuous influence which the Christ impulse had exercised
within the People of the Christ had been blunted, it is clear
that Jesuitism had to assume this extreme form. And the
question arises: is there not another form of Christianity
diametrically opposed to that of Jesuitism? In that event a
force would have to emerge in the territory occupied by the
People of the Church. From the different reactions of
Lutheranism, Zwinglianism,
[ Note 3 ]
Calvinism, Schwenkfeldism and the
Anabaptists, from this chaos and fragmentation, a force would
have to emerge which not only follows the line of Jesuit
thought (for Jesuitism is only an extreme expression of
Catholic dogma) — but which is diametrically opposed to
Jesuitism, something which seeks to break away from this
community of the People of the Church, whilst Jesuitism seeks
to be ever more deeply involved in it. Jesuitism wishes to
transform the Christ impulse into a purely temporal
sovereignty, to found a terrestrial state which is at the
same time a Jesuit state, and which is governed in accordance
with the principles of those who have volunteered to become
soldiers of the generalissimo Christ. What could be the force
which is the antithesis of Jesuitism?
The
counter-impulse would be that which seeks, not to materialize
the spiritual, but to spiritualize the material world. This
impulse is a natural endowment amongst the true People of the
Christ and finds expression in Solovieff
[ Note 4 ]
though often tentatively. Within the territory of the true People
of the Church there exists something which is radically opposed to
Jesuitism, something which rejects any direct intervention of
the spiritual in power politics and external affairs, and
wishes the Christ impulse to penetrate into the souls of men,
and indirectly through these souls to operate in the external
world. Such an impulse might well appear in the People of the
Church — because, in the meantime, much might tend in this
direction; but it would seek to direct evolution in such a
way that the spiritual Christ impulse penetrates only into
the souls and remains to some extent esoteric, esoteric in
the best and noblest sense of the term. Whilst Jesuitism
wishes to tranform everything into a temporal kingdom, this
other current would simply regard the temporal kingdom as
something which, if need be, must exist on the physical
plane, something, however, which unites men so that they can
lift up their souls to higher realms. This current which is
the polar opposite of Jesuitism is Goetheanism.
The aim of
Goetheanism is the exact opposite of that of Jesuitism. And
you will understand Goetheanism from a different angle if you
consider it as by nature diametrically opposed to Jesuitism.
That is why Jesuitism is, and ever will be the sworn foe of
Goetheanism. They cannot coexist; they know each other too
well and Jesuitism is well informed on Goethe. The best book
on Goethe, from the Jesuit standpoint of course, is that of
the Jesuit father, Baumgartner.
[ Note 5 ]
What the various German professors and the Englishman, G. H. Lewes
[ Note 6 ],
have written about Goethe is pure dilettantism compared with the
three volumes by Baumgartner. He knows what he is about! As an
adversary he sees Goethe with a more critical eye. Nor does
he write like a German Professor of average intelligente or
like the Englishman, Lewes, who depicts a man who was indeed
born in Frankfurt in 1749; he is said to have lived through
the same experiences as Goethe, but the man he depicts is not
Goethe. But Baumgartner's portrait is reinforced with the
forces of will derived from his meditations. Thus
Goetheanism, which is destined to play a part in the future,
is linked to something which is directly associated with the
epoch beginning with the fifteenth century and leading via
the Reformation to Jesuitism.
I will discuss
the third current tomorrow. I have described to you today the
People of the Christ, the People of the Church and the third
current which interpenetrates them and then the reciprocal
action of these currents, in order to give you an insight
into recent religious developments through a study of their
symptoms. I will say more of this tomorrow.
Translator's Notes:
Note A:
i.e. the Russian Revolution.
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