The Crux of Christianity

 

Rudolf Steiner:

They hear that within esoteric Christianity it is understood that, in the course of Earth evolution, what is known as Lucifer approached humankind, as part of their human evolution. They hear that, through this, humanity descended further than would have been the case without such luciferic influence. Further, they hear that we look aloft as if to a circumstance of the Gods when we focus on Lucifer's rebellion and outrage in face of the progressive Gods. We are actually looking at a circumstance of the Gods. And then we hear from Christians who really understand their faith that the compensatory balance for this divine situation — playing out as it does between the progressive Gods and Lucier —  had to be what we know as the Mystery of Golgotha. Why was this so?

Well, in its present form, death and all that pertains to death really came about through luciferic influence. Death is something which can only be found on physical Earth. There is no death in supersensible worlds, inasmuch as it is accessible to human beings through clairvoyant consciousness. Not even do the group souls of animals die; they merely transform, they metamorphose. Metamorphosis exists, but not what we call death. Death in the form of decay and dissolution of parts of an entity only exists in the physical world. By way of a compensatory force, super-earthly beings had to choose — and this can only be hinted at — an experience of undergoing death in order to establish community or common circumstance with human beings, something that would create a balance for the luciferic outrage. In order to triumph over Lucifer, divinity had to undergo death. For this to take place, divinity had to descend to Earth.

What took place through the Mystery of Golgotha is therefore a concern of the Gods, through which recompense for Lucifer's activities could be created. This is the only divine situation that has played out in full view of humanity. This unique impetus can be portrayed in no other way than that a divine being underwent death on the physical plane and that Christ's force has been streaming out into the Earth's atmosphere ever since. This is seen as the original and fundamental element of Christianity by the Christians who understand their faith.

Source: May 16, 1912. GA 143. Three Paths to Christ, pp. 160-161