The Essence of Christianity

GA 68a — 29 November 1910, Hamburg

56. Theosophy and the Bible

Members-only lecture

I would ask you to accept what is said here today as observations and experiences that the occultist can make of the Bible or other ancient documents of human development. In the most diverse records, among the most diverse peoples, one finds myths, sagas and legends that are strikingly similar to one another. Names and individual features of the narrative often, very often, differ; but great similarities can be found in such old legends, for example, among the Greek and Mexican peoples. Today's man of modern education, especially if he is quite clever, says, “These are the childish ideas that early man formed.” But from the point of view of occult research and by observing the Akasha Chronicle, one gains a tremendous respect for these ancient records. The old myths and legends spoke in images, but the nature of these leads us to assume that there was a correct understanding of the spiritual hierarchies that brought about what our earth is today with man. Not a child's imagination, but only a primal wisdom could create such images. ...

All ancient languages tell us through myths that language was given to man by the gods. This is not as fantastic a theory as the one put forward by modern scholars of antiquity. There must have been a primal wisdom that was given to the individual peoples, modified according to their aptitude. ...

But the occultist finds something else in one document, the Bible. An enormous amount of effort and diligence has been expended in order to understand its content; and it seems almost tragic when one realizes that in a certain respect all this was in vain, for whether the Bible is viewed from an orthodox or a liberal point of view, no one finds what is needed – it is all passed over. We must indeed have the greatest respect for the infinite diligence and great erudition; but all this serious and devoted research has been rendered completely useless by the materialism of the method: a harsh fate that befalls science!

I would like to explain what the method is like using an example. As a Goethe scholar, I tried to prove that a much-disputed essay – “On Nature” – was actually written by Goethe. There was sufficient evidence that Goethe had dictated the various sentences to the Swiss Tobler, who had an unusually good memory, during their daily walks, and that he had written them down immediately afterwards from memory. While I was of the opinion that I had clearly established Goethe's intellectual authorship, a respected philologist thanked me profusely for finally proving beyond doubt that it was not Goethe but Tobler who was the author! So for today's philologists, it depends on who dipped the pen in the ink! So they do not seek to explore the spiritual authors of the Bible, but the writers. But we do not need the Toblers, but the Goethes.

It is very difficult, especially in Genesis, to find the actual meaning of the wording; for the ancient peoples had a way of communicating through rhythm and the consonance of vowels, which our modern, so banal language has completely lost. “In the beginning God created heaven and earth.” There is something in this that today's man must first conquer again. The Bible offers the greatest knowledge of the human soul. As an occultist, for example, one discovers the relationship between the individual sense organs, and then one finds: these things are in the Bible; this discovery is one of the most harrowing experiences.

In all other legends there is only knowledge of nature – there are Babylonian tablets and so on where, so to speak, the Lord's Prayer is already written, and the Sermon on the Mount also contains very familiar sentences – but what is important about the Bible is a completely new nuance. For example, it says:

Blessed are they that mourn, and are in need; for your's is the kingdom of heaven.

Thy will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth. (Matt. 6:10)

The similarities that can be found with earlier texts prove nothing. But something else peculiar about the Bible comes to light. A special feature of all religious documents is that they have an inspiring effect, so that we ourselves progress – modern literature does not have an inspiring effect, but rather a stifling one. And the Old Testament in particular has an inspiring effect. For a time this inspiration satisfies the occultist, but there remains a residue that can only be removed by a remedy: one of the Gospels or one of the letters of Paul or Peter. These are observations that anyone can make. We must be clear about the reason for the difference.

All the documents, except the New Testament, can be traced back to the original revelation. In the days when the spiritual leaders walked the earth, people could look back on their previous incarnations at the initiation. But the further development progressed, the darker it became around people at these initiations. At the time when the New Testament begins, the disciple no longer really understood what he saw; it remained dark within him. The great pain that lives in such people, who can no longer connect with the spirit, becomes clear to us when we consider the fate of a personality who lived at the boundary between the Middle Ages and modern times in his last incarnation.

This embodiment of this extremely problematic personality was the great philosopher Empedocles, who worked in Sicily for a long time. He is the one who first proclaimed the doctrine of the four elements. If you delve into his soul, you realize that it was far ahead of its time. He presented the elements in their materiality, and he felt so close to them that he could only really be close to the spirit. Empedocles also introduced the mysteries to Sicily and had to taste the tragic fate of the initiates of that time; he could no longer recognize the common origin because the Christ impulse was already approaching. He wanted to become one with the elements and threw himself into the Etna. He would have been ripe to connect with the Primordial Source in a completely different way. If he had been able to find the Christ Impulse at that time, he could have united with it; he came either too late or too early.

Where otherwise darkness would begin, the modern occult researcher finds the Christ impulse; a man of earlier times could not do so. If the modern occultist passes by the Christ when exploring the Akasha Chronicle, he will inevitably fall into darkness.

A true monist today is able to tell you that modern science can confidently refer to Kepler! But it was precisely Kepler who formulated his three laws from the Harmonies of the Spheres! He found the Christ Impulse! His saying is well known: “I have stolen the sacred vessels of the Egyptians” and so on. When such facts are pointed out, the monists are accustomed to behaving very indulgently towards such great minds. The time at that was not yet able to think so sharply, one is accustomed to saying otherwise apologetically. But Kepler found that very special star constellations occurred at the time of the Christ event; that the arrival of the Christ was written in the planetary system. Kepler found that! When we engage in occultism, we first learn to recognize the tremendous significance of this event; we have to find it in the Akasha Chronicle!

Today there are people who claim that it cannot be proven that Jesus lived. This is a very reckless approach. For example, a respected theologian claims that a Petersburg scholar — who, incidentally, does not even have a Christian background — has presented irrefutable evidence that Jesus did not exist. The latter, although now 90 years old and blind, felt compelled to write a small paper to explain that he had asserted the exact opposite of what the aforementioned theologian had attributed to him. But who has read the small paper? The newspapers have not mentioned this contradiction, but the false assertions of the theologian have been in all the newspapers. That is how conscientiously one approaches such matters today; there is not much conscience left in our public writing. Drews's manner could have been used for centuries; it is not about evidence, but about sensations and feelings.

The significance of Theosophy will be that it does not need any documents at all; instead, one explores directly from within oneself. If there were no Gospels, the Akasha Chronicle would guide the occultist to confirmation and knowledge. While the outer world will lose the Gospels, it will bring the theosophical research to life again. — We are facing great decisions! Also in relation to other things, to important questions, for example, the doctrine of blood circulation and heart movement. The current theories about this are very flawed; today's researchers take the heart as a kind of pump that sets the blood in motion; but it is the blood that moves the heart!! Individual scientists have already come to this conclusion, but they think too materialistically. Benedict, for example, says: “The feeling of hunger and thirst and breathing are the...” [gap].

That is something, after all. Theosophy must intervene practically in the epistemological theories of modern times.

In the drama “The Portal of Initiation”, the seer Theodora points to the imminent event of the appearance of the etheric Christ. It is timely to proclaim today, as the Baptist did in his time:

Change your state of mind, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

We are beggars for the spirit, because we see more and more into the light. Now come the Kingdoms of Heaven; they have come to the human “I”.

In the Sermon on the Mount, we read:

For they will find the Kingdom of Heaven through themselves (Mt 5,3)... [gap] to bring themselves forward – automobiles... [gap]

Little by little, powers will arise in man to see Christ as Paul first saw him, then people will recognize the conclusiveness of the documents in the course of the next 3000 years.