{"corpus":"steiner","locus":"GA 52/1904-01-04/p020","lang":"en","edition":"English","edition_basis":null,"is_original":false,"is_default_edition":true,"text":"It was not irrelevant who brought this teaching into the world; rather, its founder had truly become flesh in the world. Therefore, in the early days of Christianity, less emphasis was placed on evidence than on the living memory of the Lord. This is continually emphasized. It is personality, god-filled personality, that holds the greatest communities together. That is why the early Christian teachers tell us again and again that it is the merit of the historical event from which Christianity originated. We have a reference from Irenaeus that he himself knew people who in turn had known apostles, those who had seen the Lord face to face. And he emphasizes that the fourth pope, Clement Romanus, still knew many apostles who had also seen the Lord face to face. That is true. And why does he emphasize this? The first teachers did not want to speak only of doctrine, not only of logical proofs, but above all they wanted to speak of the fact that they themselves had seen with their eyes and felt with their hands what had come down from above into the earthly world; that they were not there to prove anything, but to bear witness to the living Word. But this was not the personality that could be seen with the eyes or perceived with the senses. It is not the personality that could then be called the simple man from Nazareth that proclaims the first teaching of Christianity. A single word from a certainly authoritative witness must speak for the fact that something higher lies at the foundation. And this word of Paul cannot be emphasized enough: “If Christ has not been raised, then our message is futile and our faith is in vain.” Paul names the risen Christ as the foundation of Christianity, not the Christ who walked in Galilee and Jerusalem. Faith is in vain if Christ has not been raised. The Christian is in vain if he cannot profess the risen Christ.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"title":"IV. Theosophy and Christianity","site_heading":null,"date":"1904-01-04","location":null,"word_count":331,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/52/1904-01-04/p020","alignment_confidence":"high","alignment_reason":"beads:identity","two_voice_volume":false,"translation_credit":{"scope":"unit","status":"established","translator":"Steiner Online Library","identified_edition":"SOL2025","book_title":"Spiritual Teachings Concerning the Soul","publisher":"Steiner Online Library","publisher_inferred":true,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA052/English/SOL2025/19040104p01.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line","publisher_note":"The publisher is inferred from the edition code in this lecture's source URL, not stated by the source page. The translator IS verified for this lecture: its own source names the translator (evidence: the lecture's page, rsarchive's lecture list, or the cover of the book it was published in), and that page's text was matched against this unit (see match_score and source_url). Cite the translator with confidence; attribute the publisher only as probable."},"edition_coverage":{"de":["original"],"en":["English"]},"available_versions":[{"lang":"de","edition":"original","edition_basis":null,"is_original":true,"is_default_edition":true,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/52/1904-01-04/p020"},{"lang":"en","edition":"English","edition_basis":null,"is_original":false,"is_default_edition":true,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/52/1904-01-04/p020","paragraph_aligned":true}],"record":{"record_type":"unknown","scope":"volume","note":"How this text was taken down (shorthand transcript, listeners' notes or manuscript) is not on record here. Unknown is not an assurance of a stenogram: check the edition's own notes before resting an argument on one word.","evidence":null,"evidence_translation":null,"evidence_source":null},"paired_german":{"status":"paired","german":[{"locus":"GA 52/1904-01-04/p020","passage_number":20,"text":"Nicht gleichgültig war es, wer diese Lehre in die Welt gebracht hat, sondern deren Stifter war in der Welt wirklich Fleisch geworden. Daher wird im Anfange des Christentums weniger auf Beweise als auf die lebendige Erinnerung an den Herrn Wert gelegt. Dies wird fortwährend betont. Es ist die Persönlichkeit, die gotterfüllte Persönlichkeit, welche die größten Gemeinschaften zusammenhält. Deshalb sagen uns die ersten christlichen Kirchenlehrer immer und immer wieder, daß es das Verdienst des historischen Ereignisses ist, von dem das Christentum seinen Ausgang genommen hat. Wir haben von Irenäus den Hinweis darauf, daß er noch selbst Menschen gekannt habe, die ihrerseits noch Apostel gekannt hatten, jene, die den Herrn von Angesicht zu Angesicht gesehen haben. Und er betont, daß der vierte Papst, Clemens Romanus, noch viele Apostel gekannt hat, die auch den Herrn von Angesicht zu Angesicht gesehen hatten. Das ist so. Und warum betont er das? Die ersten Lehrer wollten nicht allein von der Lehre, nicht allein von logischen Beweisen sprechen, sondern sie wollten vor allen Dingen davon sprechen, daß sie das, was von oben her in die Erdenwelt eingetreten war, selbst mit Augen gesehen, mit Händen gefühlt haben; daß sie nicht dazu da seien, um etwas zu beweisen, sondern um Zeugnis abzulegen von dem lebendigen Wort. Das war aber nicht die Persönlichkeit, die man mit Augen sehen, mit Sinnen wahrnehmen konnte. Nicht die Persönlichkeit, die dann der schlichte Mann aus Nazareth genannt werden konnte, ist es, die die erste Lehre des Christentums verkündigt. Ein einziges Wort eines gewiß maßgebenden Zeugen muß dafür sprechen, daß etwas Höheres zugrunde liegt. Und dieses Wort des Paulus, es kann nicht genug betont werden: «Ist Christus nicht auferstanden, dann ist nichtig unsere Botschaft und eitel unser Glaube.» Als Grundlage des Christentums nennt Paulus den auferstandenen Christus, nicht den Christus, der in Galiläa und Jerusalem gewandert ist. Eitel ist der Glaube, wenn der Christus nicht auferstanden ist. Eitel ist der Christ, wenn er sich nicht bekennen kann zum auferstandenen Christus.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":325,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/52/1904-01-04/p020"}],"english":["GA 52/1904-01-04/p020"],"method":"identity","confidence":"high","correspondence":"established","length_check":{"de_words":325,"en_words":331,"ratio":1.02,"partial":false},"pairing_state":"verified","verified":true,"evidence":["length","meaning","anchors","audit"]},"witness_completeness":{"ratio":1.02,"band":"comparable","note":null,"word_count":7261,"original_word_count":7118,"may_be_abridged":false},"witness_quality":{"translator":{"scope":"unit","status":"recorded","translator":"Steiner Online Library","identified_edition":"SOL2025","book_title":"Spiritual Teachings Concerning the Soul","publisher":"Steiner Online Library","publisher_inferred":true,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA052/English/SOL2025/19040104p01.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line","publisher_note":"The publisher is inferred from the edition code in this lecture's source URL, not stated by the source page. The translator IS verified for this lecture: its own source names the translator (evidence: the lecture's page, rsarchive's lecture list, or the cover of the book it was published in), and that page's text was matched against this unit (see match_score and source_url). Cite the translator with confidence; attribute the publisher only as probable."},"entity_parity":{"status":"ok","checked_against":["GA 52/1904-01-04/p020"],"missing_from_translation":[],"present_only_in_translation":[],"bead_confidence":"high","note":"Every load-bearing name in the German counterpart appears in this English passage. That is a check on NAMES only: a translation can keep every name and still reverse who acts on whom, change a number, or soften a claim. Read the German for anything you intend to rest an argument on."},"note":"quote_safe certifies the bytes of this text. This block is about the translation as a WITNESS: who made it, and whether it carries the same names as the original. See witness_completeness for how much of the original this witness holds."}}