Rudolf Steiner Audio CW 200 The New Spirituality and the Experience of Christ: Lecture 6: The development of the perception of Christ from Gnosis up to the present. (30 October, 1920) by Rudolf Steiner
Oct 8, 2021
A historical sweep of how the image of Christ changed from ancient clairvoyant Gnosis through Roman legal theology to modern philology. The talk traces institutional authority replacing living spiritual sight and the suppression of alternative gospels. It connects cultural and educational stages to humanity's capacity for renewed spiritual perception and urges preparation for a forthcoming conscious vision.
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Christ Understood First Through Ancient Clairvoyance
- Rudolf Steiner explains that the mystery of Golgotha was initially grasped through remnants of ancient instinctive clairvoyance.
- These oriental clairvoyant remnants informed the earliest Christian gnosis and the Gospel accounts before intellect later dominated.
Roman Law Turned Christian Vision Into Authority
- Steiner traces how Christianity moved west and was reframed by Roman dialectical legal thinking into authority-based doctrine.
- This produced a Church-empire where clergy became bureaucrats and spiritual vision was replaced by juridical forms and symbols like the Mass.
Authority Replaced Spiritual Selection
- Authority replaced spiritual selection: ancient mysteries chose pupils with inborn clairvoyant faculties, while the Middle Ages justified rule by legal and ecclesiastical authority.
- The Church forbade Bible reading because Gospels require a spiritual soul constitution, not dialectical intellect.
