Self Knowledge and the Christ Experience

Self Knowledge and the Christ Experience

A lecture given in Dornach, February 2, 1923

“One should be able to say to himself: `I live in this or that epoch. I am not human in the full sense of the word if I give myself over to chance. Chance has deposited me in earthly life through birth. But to give myself up to chance as far as my consciousness is concerned would simply be to abandon myself to karma. I am only human, in the full sense of being human, if I take account of what the historical development of humanity asks from my soul life, belonging as I do to this particular epoch.'”

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.