Christ and the Mystery of Golgotha: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:38, 16 February 2019

Introduction

“.. the deepest lesson — the mission of earthly love in its connection with the Mystery of Golgotha — has not yet been grasped”(1911-12-03-GA130)

Where to start, when one wants to get an understanding of the Mystery of Golgotha?

Rudolf Steiner touched on it in - literally - many hundreds of lectures. There are so many angles to shedding light on this, that it becomes intimidating trying to lecture or cover the topic. Here's just a first grab of some full cycles (not considering the cycles on the Gospels):

GA097 in 1906/7 - The Chrystian Mystery
GA116 of 1909-10 - Christ Impulse and the development of ego consciousness
GA131 of 1911 - From Jesus to Christ
GA152 in 1913/14 - Approaching the Mystery of Golgotha
GA165 in 1915/16 - Unifying Humanity Spiritually through the Christ Impulse
GA175 of 1917 - Building stones for an understanding of the MoG
GA187 of 1918-12 - How Can Humanity Find the Christ Again

One would think that, to get the 'essence' of the MoG, one just has to go to one of these cycles and 'gets it', but this is not so. One can read and study lectures for many years, and still not see the forest through the trees and have a really good understanding of what the Mystery of Golgotha is all about.

The more one reads and studies Rudolf Steiner's lectures, the more one comes to appreciate the bewildering breath and depth of the coverage presented in the GA Collected Works. But at the same time this becomes a challenge to integrate, assimilate, incorparate, grasp .. and conceive to represent and bring this in a clear and didactic way.

These few pages are a prototype pilot exercise in support of lectures and study materials for people who want to gain an understanding or some insight into the Christ Impulse and the Mystery of Golgotha. Or at least an introduction. I assume you are familiar with spiritual science and it's foundation works and concepts to some degree.

The approach consists of the following four steps. Each step deepens the understanding and is more demanding, both in time invested and, much more importantly, mental-emotional and intellectual energy.

Step 1 is real short and concise, the main work lies in Step 2. Only having gone through this stage in depth, can we spend much longer periods of study on Steps 3 and 4. The difference is that Step 3 we are 'guided' by essays by authors who take us along a journey or story. In Step 4 we present study topics that are still at a deeper level.

Introduction to spiritual science

Classical – biblical chronological storytelling

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 Rudolf Steiner touched on it in - literally - many hundreds of lectures. There are so many angles to shedding light on this, that it becomes intimidating trying to lecture or cover the topic.
 Here's just a first grab of some full cycles (not considering the cycles on the Gospels):
-* GA97 - 1906/7 - The Chrystian Mystery
+* GA097 in 1906/7 - The Chrystian Mystery
-* GA116 - 1909-10 - Christ Impulse and the development of ego consciousness
+* GA116 of 1909-10 - Christ Impulse and the development of ego consciousness
 * GA131 of 1911 - From Jesus to Christ
 * GA152 in 1913/14 - Approaching the Mystery of Golgotha
 * GA165 in 1915/16 - Unifying Humanity Spiritually through the Christ Impulse
-* GA 175 in 1917 - Building stones for an understanding of the MoG
+* GA175 of 1917 - Building stones for an understanding of the MoG
-* GA187 - 1918-12 - How Can Humanity Find the Christ Again
+* GA187 of 1918-12 - How Can Humanity Find the Christ Again
-In my experience, one can read and study lectures for many years, and still not see the forest through the trees and have a really good understanding of what the Mystery of Golgotha is all about.
+One would think that, to get the 'essence' of the MoG, one just has to go to one of these cycles and 'gets it', but this is not so. One can read and study lectures for many years, and still not see the forest through the trees and have a really good understanding of what the Mystery of Golgotha is all about.
 The more one reads and studies Rudolf Steiner's lectures, the more one comes to appreciate the bewildering breath and depth of the coverage presented in the GA Collected Works. But at the same time this becomes a challenge to integrate, assimilate, incorparate, grasp .. and conceive to represent and bring this in a clear and didactic way.
@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
-These few pages are a prototype pilot exercise in support of lectures and study materials for people who want to gain an understanding or some insight into the Christ Impulse and the Mystery of Golgotha. Or at least an introduction. I assume you are familiar with spiritual science and it's foundation works and concepts to some degree.
+These few pages are a '''prototype pilot exercise''' in support of lectures and study materials for people who want to gain an understanding or some insight into the Christ Impulse and the Mystery of Golgotha. Or at least an introduction. I assume you are familiar with spiritual science and it's foundation works and concepts to some degree.
-The approach consists of the following steps. Each step deepens the understanding and is more demanding, both in time invested and, much more importantly, mental-emotional and intellectual energy.
+The approach consists of the following four steps. Each step deepens the understanding and is more demanding, both in time invested and, much more importantly, mental-emotional and intellectual energy.
-  <p class="mw_paragraph"> Introduction to spiritual science<br />
+  Step 1 is real short and concise, the main work lies in Step 2. Only having gone through this stage in depth, can we spend much longer periods of study on Steps 3 and 4. The difference is that Step 3 we are 'guided' by essays by authors who take us along a journey or story. In Step 4 we present study topics that are still at a deeper level.
+<p class="mw_paragraph"> Introduction to spiritual science<br />
 <ol><li>- [[First statement]]<br /></li><li>- [[Initializing the understanding]]<br /></li><li>- [[Study essays]]</li><li>– [[Gaining insight]] in cosmic dimension</li></ol>