What is Anthroposophy?

What is Anthroposophy?

Unlike other works on this theme, Sergei Prokofieff’s short book is more of a personal work than an actual introduction to Anthroposophy. The author presupposes the reader’s familiarity with the basic principles of Anthroposophy and focuses on the central Christological insights that form the core of Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy.

This book is personal. It reflects one person’s attempts to build a connection to Anthroposophy. As the author states in his preface:

“As soon as we comprehend Anthroposophy as something living, we are concerned not merely with defining it intellectually but, rather, with developing a real relationship to it…. The content [of this book] will probably reveal more about the author and his relationship to Anthroposophy than about [Anthroposophy] itself, for its nature is basically beyond description and consequently evades any purely intellectual definition.”

This is a valuable addition to the body of secondary literature on Anthroposophy from an established and well-respected author on the subject.

Contents:

1. Anthroposophy and the Riddle of Man
2. The Anthroposophical Path of Knowledge
3. Ego-Consciousness and the Mystery of Golgotha
4. Rudolf Steiner’s Path of Development
5. The Being of the Christ and the Mystery of Man

About the Author

Sergei O. Prokofieff (1954-2014) was born in Moscow, where he studied fine arts and painting at the Moscow School of Art. At an early age he encountered the work of Rudolf Steiner and quickly realized that his life would be dedicated to the Christian path of esoteric knowledge. He wrote his first book, Rudolf Steiner and the Founding of the New Mysteries, while living in Soviet Russia, and it was published in English in 1994. After the fall of Communism, he helped establish the Anthroposophical Society in Russia. In 2001, he became a member of the Executive Council of the General Anthroposophical Society at the Goetheanum in Switzerland. More than 30 of his books have been translated into English. Sergei Prokofieff passed away in Dornach, Switzerland.

Simon Blaxland de Lange has for many years worked as an educator for people with special needs. He is also a prolific writer and translator and an amateur musician and gardener. Blaxland de Lange helped establish Pericles Translations and Research, Pericles Training and Work (for adults with special needs), and the Pericles Theatre Company. Together with Dr Vivian Law, he cofounded the Humanities Research Group in 1997 and the British group of the Humanities Section of the School of Spiritual Science in 1998. He met Owen Barfield in 1979, and has been a student of his work for the past thirty years.