The Foundation Course

The Foundation Course: Spiritual Discernment, Religious Feeling, Sacramental Action

A course of 15 lectures and discussions given in Dornach, Switzerland in 1921 (GA 343)

In this course, in which more than one hundred people interested in the questions of a renewal of religious life and work participated, Rudolf Steiner talks about the ways in which religious activity can be fertilized through spiritual knowledge and brought into new forms of worship.

The “Documentary Supplements” included in the separate German edition containing reproductions of blackboard drawings and addresses, notebook entries, etc., is included in this English translation. The translator worked closely with priests from the Christian Community for clarification of the more esoteric phrases.

About the Author

Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he grew up. As a young man, he lived in Weimar and Berlin, where he became a well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, known especially for his work with Goethe’s scientific writings. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his early philosophical principles into an approach to systematic research into psychological and spiritual phenomena. Formally beginning his spiritual teaching career under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, Steiner came to use the term Anthroposophy (and spiritual science) for his philosophy, spiritual research, and findings. The influence of Steiner’s multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, various therapies, philosophy, religious renewal, Waldorf education, education for special needs, threefold economics, biodynamic agriculture, Goethean science, architecture, and the arts of drama, speech, and eurythmy. In 1924, Rudolf Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world. He died in Dornach, Switzerland.