Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Rudolf Steiner has said that we must learn to live with the etheric Christ in the Earth's aura in the same way that the disciples once lived with Christ Jesus on the physical plane. To do this, it is essential to understand what took place between Christ and his disciples. In numerous lecture cycles, Rudolf Steiner spoke about the inner community of the disciples, opening up perspectives that help us see how the disciples accompanied Christ Jesus during the three years of his earthly life and after the Resurrection. Especially in his lectures on the Fifth Gospel, Steiner shed light on the community of the disciples from the viewpoint of the processes of human consciousness that were intimately involved in the events at the beginning of the new era and were inscribed in the chronicle of evolution, the akashic record.
In this book, Dr. Peter Selg presents the most illuminating details of Rudolf Steiner's research into the hidden events that took place between Christ and his disciples. For three years the disciples were close to Christ. They shared his life; they were there when he performed healings, and even when he prayed. These events and the instructions they received from Christ, often within their own intimate circle, away from public view, form a significant part not only of the four Gospels but also of the Mystery of Golgotha itself.
In view of the challenges to consciousness that we are facing now in our times, it seems urgently important that we study this inner community revealed by Rudolf Steiner's research which found "the great new dawn that showed them the way after Pentecost."
Contents: - Finding the Disciples
- Christ's Activity in the Circle of Disciples
- Gethsemane and Golgotha
- The Disciples of the Risen One
- Ascension and Pentecost
This volume is a translation from German of
Christus und die Junger: Vom Schicksal der inneren Gemeinschaft (Ita Wegman Institut 2009).
Synopsis
"Occult events that took place between the Christ and the community of his disciples form a significant part not only of the four Gospels but also of the Christ Mystery or Golgotha Mystery itself. Today, many human souls are still moved by this apostolic community, by how the disciples accompanied Christ Jesus, by their place in history (as an esoteric circle charged with an exoteric task), by their failures, and by the great new dawn that showed them the way after Pentecost...For three years, they were close to Christ, shared his life, and received a great deal of instruction from him, often in their own intimate circle away from public view. They were there when Christ performed healings and even when he prayed.... "Rudolf Steiner once said that we in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries must live with the 'etheric Christ' in the Earth's aura in the same way that 'the disciples once lived with Christ Jesus on the physical plane.' If this is so, it is essential for us to focus on the community of Christ's disciples. Rudolf Steiner himself made major contributions to illuminating the depths of the disciples' relationship and life with the Christ, both during the three years of his earthly life and after the Resurrection. An essential element of Steiner's life work was to apply 'anthroposophically oriented cognition' to events of the beginning of the Christian era in order to 'bring the Gospels' deeper content to the light of day.' He spoke in detail about the Christ's community of disciples in many lecture cycles, and, in his lectures on the Fifth Gospel, he shed light on this community from the perspective of the processes of human consciousness that were intimately involved in events at the beginning of the new era and inscribed in the chronicle of evolution.... "In his lectures on the Fifth Gospel and elsewhere, Rudolf Steiner opened up many perspectives that help us understand what took place between Christ and his disciples. This book's purpose is to make those perspectives available and accessible. Although all of Steiner's statements have been published, they are widely scattered among his lectures and remain unknown to many individuals deeply committed to the community of Christ's disciples and to anthroposophical Christology. In view of the challenges to consciousness we face in modern times-including those that deal with Christianity and the Christ Event itself-it seems urgently important to present details of the positive and often illuminating results of Rudolf Steiner's research." As is true of other works by Peter Selg, Christ and the Disciples is one of those books that sharpens the reader's mind to cut through the myriad of representation (and misrepresentations) of Rudolf Steiner's teachings, clarifying many otherwise-knotty issues.