48. The Occult Meaning of the Gospel of John

GA 68a/1909-02-28/p006 ·1909-02-28 · English HighHigh alignmentThis translation's paragraph count matches the German original — the locus maps cleanly to the same paragraph in DE.
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In contrast to this is theosophy or spiritual science; it wants to be nothing more than the instrument for understanding these religious documents. Theosophy is completely without preconditions. Today, science does not take the same position as it did 300 years ago, when the teachings of Aristotle applied, and no one looked at nature! [Then] came the great Kepler, and humanity learned to see! On the one side were now the Aristotelians, on the other the unconditional naturalists, and indicative is the statement of the Aristotle student in an argument about the exits of the nerve cords, he believed more in Aristotle than in nature! At that time they had not yet developed the intuitive perception of what lies behind material things, which spiritual science is now trying to emphasize again, not with physical instruments but through spiritual faculties. Theosophy takes the path of first 'looking' and then studying the old records, and it always turns out that both give the same result: what has been seen is proved by the books!

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Cite: GA 68a/1909-02-28/p006 · edition English