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handled, the sword is sheathed."
The great goal for which man must strive is the attainment of
the power to gaze into the course of the evolution of humanity.
For the Mystery of Golgotha, too, through which earth-
evolution received its deeper meaning, will become fully
comprehensible when its place in the whole evolution of
humanity is understood. In future times, when, with the
disappearance of materialism, man will know, not in abstract
theory but as a concretely real experience, that he is of divine
origin, the ancient, holy Mystery-truths will again be
understood; then the intervening time will be over, a time in
which the Christ, it is true, lives on earth, but can be
understood only by the awakened consciousness. For the
Gnostic conception of Christ faded away; understanding for
Jesus developed in connection with the old Nertus cult, but in
unconsciousness. In the future, however, humanity will have
to bring both the unconscious streams to consciousness, and
unite them. And then an ever greater understanding of the
Christ will take foothold on earth, an understanding that will
unite the Mystery-knowledge with a great and renewed
Gnosis.
Those who take the anthroposophical view of the world
seriously, and the movement associated with it, will see in
what it has to say to mankind no child's play but great and
earnest, soul-shaking truths. And our souls must submit to
this because it is right that we should be shaken by greatness.
Not only is the earth a mighty living being; the earth is an
exalted spirit-being. And just as the greatest human genius
could not stand at the height he reaches in later life if he had
not first developed through childhood and adolescence, so the
Mystery of Golgotha could not have taken place, the Divine
would not have been able to unite with earth-evolution, if at
the beginning of earthly days the Divine  in a different
manner but in a manner still divine  had not descended to
the earth. The form taken by the revelation of the Divine from
the heavenly heights was not the same in the ancient Nertus
cult as it was at a later time, but for all that it was a true
revelation.
The knowledge contained in this ancient wisdom was, it is
true, atavistic in character, but for all that it was infinitely
more exalted than the materialistic view of the world which, in
the sphere of knowledge, so brutally reduces humanity to the
level of the animal.
In Christianity we have to do with a Fact, not with a theory.
The theory is a necessary consequence and of importance for
the consciousness that has had to develop in the further
course of human evolution. But the essence of Christianity as
such, the Mystery of Golgotha, is an accomplished Fact. The
impulse entered, to begin with, into subconscious currents, as
was still possible in Asia Minor at the time when the union of
Christ with the earth took place.
Shepherds, men bearing a similarity with those among whom
the Nertus cult flourished, are also described in the Gospel of
St. Luke. I can give only very brief indications of these things.
If we were able to speak of them at greater length you would
find that there are deep foundations for what I have told you
to-day. The human being has descended from spiritual heights
... hence the revelation of the Divine from the heavenly
heights ... The revelation had to be expressed in this form to
those who out of the ancient wisdom knew the destiny of man
to be united with the secrets of the stars of heaven. But what
must live on earth as the result of Christ's union with a man of
earth  that can be understood only very gradually. The
message is twofold:  Revelation of the Divine from the heights
  Peace in the souls on earth who are of good-will. Without
this second part, Christmas, the Festival of the birth of Christ,
has no meaning!
Not only was Christ born for men; men have also crucified
Him. Even behind this lies necessity. But it is none the less
true that men have crucified the Christ! And it may dawn
upon us that the crucifixion on the wooden Cross on Golgotha
was not the only crucifixion. A time must come when the
second part of the Christmas proclamation becomes reality:
 Peace to the men on earth who are of good-will. For the
negative side too is discernible. Men are very far indeed from
a true understanding of Christ and of the Mystery of Golgotha.
Does it not cut to the very heart that we ourselves should be
living at a time when men's longing for peace is shouted
down? (3) It seems almost a mockery to celebrate Christmas
in days when voices are raised in outcry against the desire for
peace. To-day, when the worst has not actually befallen, we
can but fervently hope that a change will take place in the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]