Lecture X

Here, my dear friends, we have the answer to a question of paramount importance for our age. At the time when the Third Epoch began to re-emerge in the life of our Fifth Epoch, the consciousness of men began to turn again to what can be revealed to the earthly human being as super-earthly reality. Men could not, however, experience this re-born “astral” religion as the ancient Egyptians or Chaldeans had experienced it. In this later age it came to them in the form in which it was experienced by on well-qualified to speak. In 1607, the following words were written... (Here followed a long extract from one of Kepler's works. See also: Günther's Kepler und die Theologie. 105-111.) Thus in the 17th century we again find evidence that the soul is gazing upwards, but now the experience is permeated with the Christ Impulse. These words were written by a profoundly spiritual man. By whom were they written? By the one who was the founder of all modern astronomy, without whom our modern astronomy could not have existed, namely, John Kepler. Is there a single Monist who will not sing the praises of Kepler? The attention of those who profess to be Monists should be called to the words just quoted for so much of what is said about Kepler is... well, something to which I prefer to give no name.