2. Human beings as Spiritual and Soul Beings

But this in turn leads to an enormously widespread prejudice. The idea that the human soul, if it methodically sets out to do so, is capable of arriving at completely different possibilities and powers of cognition than those used in pure natural science is still rejected in the widest circles today. Therefore, we are faced with only two possibilities: either to leave the soul and spirit uncomprehended, or to cross this Rubicon in order to familiarize ourselves with what it actually means: the human soul can develop beyond the standpoint which, I would say, it already occupies of its own accord in relation to the world order. In this way, it can attain such powers of knowledge that tell it more than what pure natural science can tell it, even when it is as perfect as possible. Here we encounter a sharp prejudice. From the point of view of spiritual science, one must say: Natural science actually relates to spiritual science in the same way as someone who can only describe letters printed on a page relates to someone who can read. If I may express myself comparatively, I would like to say: What natural science can only describe, spiritual science seeks to read. What it has to say about the phenomena of the world, about their content and about the meaning of events, is like reading to the description of the mere letters that make up the words. So, to continue with the comparison, which must be superficial at first but will be elaborated on later, there is the possibility of truly penetrating the living soul and spirit by acquiring from the soul itself the ability to read nature. This ability relates to the mere observation of nature in the same way as the free ability to read, flowing from the soul, relates to the mere description of letters.