General Introduction, Page 2

From the perspective of human development, a thousand years from now Rudolf Steiner will be looked upon as the evolutionary equivalent of Abraham.²

Such, at least, is my belief. These two led humanity, so to speak, at times respectively equidistant from the incarnation of the Christ, the former during the human being’s parabolic descent from the spirit world, the latter during its struggle to reascend thereto. Each served as the faithful agent of the Christ. The essential work of each was a remarkable departure, primarily of a spiritual nature, from his “home-land” (Gen 12,1-3, Mt 19,27-29, Mk 10,28-30, Lk 18,28-30), without large entourage or notable fanfare.

No thinking reader will accept the above uncritically, nor should such be done. It is only presented here to suggest the scope of newness and magnitude represented by the works of Rudolf Steiner. But how can this be, when even to this date, the name of Steiner hardly sparks any recognition, at least in the English-speaking world? There are at least four reasons for the lack of recognition: 1. His teachings do not fit neatly with much ecclesiastical dogma; 2. His works are so extensive and interrelated that great commitment of time and effort is necessary to comprehend them; 3. The world conditions were not conducive to the spread of a German’s spiritual teachings beyond the borders of Europe—two world wars involving his country separated by the direst economic conditions in his native land in the twenties and then worldwide in the thirties, followed after World War II by the greatest explosion of materialism the world has ever known; and 4. Not until 1965 were even small volume printings of any of his works available in English, and even now perhaps less than a third of the number of his total works can be purchased in the English language, and only if one knows where.³

While to a very large degree Rudolf Steiner’s powerful revelations carry within themselves the unique conviction of authority, particularly for those highly conversant with both scripture and phenomena, sooner or later the serious student must look intensely into his life story to evaluate the sources of his insight. Extensive biographical resources for that search are available. The following paragraphs taken from the Introduction by Christopher Bamford to the recent Anthroposophy in Everyday Life (AEL) will serve as a brief sketch of Steiner and the milieu into which he was placed:

A major task facing humanity as it moves into the new millennium is that of uniting spiritual and practical life.

In the Middle Ages—the time of Christendom—science, art, religion, and society were still to a great extent united. Untold monks and nuns labored and loved mightily for the sake of God and the world. Their lives of prayer and devotion, centered around the Eucharist, kept the interior flame of worship burning brightly. Radiating outward, the spiritual consequences of their steadfastness resonated throughout the landscape, impregnating villages, towns, and cities with a sense of the divine presence in the world.

At this time, too, great Cathedrals and humble churches alike filled ordinary people with the understanding that every aspect of life participated in God’s purpose. Scholars, philosophers, scientists, and crafts people—all of whom contributed to the creation of a sacramental vision of the world in which each thing and every human act were imbued with spiritual significance—gathered around these Houses of the Spirit, amplifying its effectiveness.

This pervasive sense of the sacred also existed in earlier, pre-Christian times, when the priests and hierophants of the ancient Mystery Centers and Temples coordinated human culture in a way that permitted the spirit to realize itself in the manner appropriate to the moment. But, with the rise of the Modern Age, a powerful cleft was driven between human beings, nature, and the divine. We may call the process “secularization.” Religion and spiritual life became increasingly marginalized. Instead of spiritual realities, human beings pursued this-worldly ends, such as comfort and wealth. Thus, gradually, the thread connecting saints and esoteric masters with the general life of humanity was broken; meaning fragmented; and the sacramental relation of human beings to each other and the cosmos ceased to function. Materialism in its many guises—positivism, Darwinism, Marxism etc.—now became the guiding principle in science and society. Religion and culture—religion and the state—were separated and spiritual, religious life became a question of individual responsibility.

This was a heavy burden to bear for individuals who had not only to create a spiritual life for themselves, but increasingly had to do so in opposition to the very quarters from which help might have been expected. For, as society plunged into materialism, the Churches, not wishing to be left out, joined willingly in the descent. There were, of course, exceptions to this tendency, but such generally was the situation at the beginning of the twentieth century when Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) began to teach, initially under the auspices of the Theosophical Society.