False prophets

It must also be stated repeatedly that the false prophets would be able to prevent the good and the great were they to succeed in spreading the opinion that Christ would appear again in the flesh. If anthroposophists were to fail to grasp this, it would be possible for them to fall prey to that illusion that would enable false messiahs to arise.

These false messiahs will appear; they will count on souls that are so weakened by materialism that they cannot imagine anything but that when Christ appears again, He must necessarily appear in material substance, in the flesh. This misinterpretation of the prophecy is an evil thing, and it will appear in the form of a dangerous temptation for humanity.

It is the task of anthroposophy to protect human beings from this temptation. This cannot be emphasized too strongly for all who have ears to hear. We can see by this, moreover, that anthroposophy has important things to say; we do not merely “pursue” anthroposophy because we are curious to know all kinds of truths but because we know that these truths must be used for the salvation and gradual perfecting of humanity.

Source: Rudolf Steiner – GA 118 – The Reappearance of Christ in the Etheric: II: Spiritual Science as Preparation for a New Etheric Vision – Heidelberg, 27th January 1910

Translated by Gilbert Church & Alice Wulsin

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Danger

A wave is spreading across the world which tends completely towards a totalitarian State (German: Zwangsstaate). And it is in fact so that Western civilization is exposed to the danger of being overwhelmed by a culture with certain Asian characteristics, which also embraces something spiritual. People do not want to see this, but it will come.

Source (German): Rudolf Steiner – GA 303 – Die gesunde Entwickelung des Menschenwesens – Dornach, January 3, 1922 (page 329)

Translated by Nesta Carsten-Krüger

Previously posted on December 21, 2016

Sacrifice and karma

Who then are those who principally labour for the good of humanity in general, and who set themselves universal tasks in later incarnations? They are those who in earlier incarnations, have in some way or other died a death of sacrifice. The devotional natures, those given up to the spiritual here on the earth, owe this to their life of martyrdom in a previous incarnation. The earth could not progress unless people sacrificed themselves.

Source: Rudolf Steiner – GA 157a – The Forming of Destiny and Life after Death – Lecture 3 – Berlin, 20th November 1915

Translated by Harry Collison

Previously posted on April 15, 2014

About the immortality of the human soul

One of the most central questions for human life is how to gain knowledge about the immortality of the soul, about the eternal being of the human soul beyond birth and death. What could be of more interest to the human soul than this question? The human being focuses on this question out of interest. Now, an old spiritual science maxim says: only he can obtain actual knowledge about immortality, who has developed so far, that it is equally bearable, equally sympathetic to him, whether he is immortal or not. Before that, personal interest blurs true knowledge. Only when you are so advanced, have your feelings so well in hand, that the thought ‘in death I disappear into nothingness’ is of equal interest to you as the thought ‘I live on after death’ -, only then is it possible to have objective knowledge, through inspiration, of the immortality of the soul. It requires cumbersome inner labour to be thus in control of one’s inner life.

Source (German): Rudolf Steiner – GA 69a – Wahrheiten und Irrtümer der Geistesforschung/ Geisteswissenschaft und Menschenzukunft – Munich, November 25, 1912 (page 119-120)

Translated by Nesta Carsten-Krüger

Incorrect criticism

Something that especially harms esoteric development is the untested, superficial and therefore objectively incorrect criticism that we often direct at people. I’m not saying that criticizing is wrong, but it should always be directed to facts and not at people whom one doesn’t happen to like.

Source: Rudolf Steiner – GA 266 – From the Contents of Esoteric Classes: Part II – Muenchen, 26th February 1912