Christ Module 8 - Resurrection

For many the Resurrection is central to Christianity. However, and remarkably, in the one, three, five main introductory lectures that Rudolf Steiner gave on the Mystery of Golgotha, that theme was not even touched on. Instead focus was on the unification of humanity (see also Christ Module 1 - Unification of humanity).

As will become clear through these study modules, the 'unification of humanity' can be seen as the 'what' essence of Christianity, the 'resurrection' is a key to the 'how'.

To understand the resurrection, not only as a 'one-off historical event' but as a 'cosmic event with consequences for the whole of humanity' requires an understanding of the true nature of the Human physical body. Today we mainly consider our mineral physical matter as our body, but in fact the true physical body it is a spiritual body that originates from the Old Saturn planetary stage. As such it is the oldest of Man's bodily principles, and was adapted in every planetary stage to accomodate the higher principles, resulting in the miraculously complex structures of our body today. We need to distinguish that spiritual structure from the mineral matter with which this form was filled. The spiritual structure is referred to by the (rather unfortunate) terms 'phantom' or 'resurrection body'.

A second key to understanding is to realize the impact of the Luciferic influence on Man that happened in the Lemurian epoch. That influence brought good things to Man, such as true freedom, as opposed to being dependant on the guidance of higher spiritual beings. However, it also caused an infection of the human astral body, but also - as these influences work their way downward - of the etheric body and physical body. This means that these bodies require cleansing or purification in order to re-acquire their purely spiritual characteristics (see the process of Initiation or Man's transformation and spiritualization.

In Christ-Jesus this happened for the first time. This is why Christ-Jesus could 're-appear' after his death at Golgotha in the resurrection body. The detailed interpretation of this event is one area of study. The other aspect is the investigation what its implications are for mankind as a whole, and yourself in particular.

Therefore the scope of this module encompasses:

Human physical body and Cleansed phantom or resurrection body
impact of luciferic influence, ao in Fall and redemption - original sin and grace
the process of what happened from Christ-Jesus physical death at the cross, to the Resurrection
- the Three days descent into Hades or hell
study of the writings by St Paul on the resurrection, this includes the concept of the Second Adam and how it leads to Unification
integration of all the above in an overall understanding
the occurence of stigmata and its connection to the phantom or resurrection body (and the Christian initiation)
the principle of spiritual economy and christophori, the re-use of copies of Christ-Jesus' bodily principles. .

For interpretation of the events after Golgotha as described in the Gospels - see also 'After the resurrection'

Lecture coverage and references

1912-01-09-GA130

https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA130/English/Singles/19120109p01.html

... one might say that Thomas was challenged by the risen Christ, when He appeared to the disciples, to feel the scars with his hands ... then it must be supposed that the scars were still there — that Christ had come to the disciples with the same body which had been resolved to dust.
No! Imagine that some one has a wound: then the etheric body contracts in a special way and forms a kind of scar.
And in the specially contracted ether body, from which were drawn the constituents of the new ether body with which the Christ clothed Himself, these wound-marks were made visible — were peculiarly thickened spots ... so that even Thomas could feel that he was dealing with a reality.
This is a remarkable passage in the occult sense. It does not in any way contradict the fact that we have to do with an etheric body, condensed to visibility by the Christ force; and that then also the Emmaus scene could occur. We find it described in the Gospel, not as an ordinary receiving of nourishment, but a dissolution of the food directly by the etheric body, through the Christ forces, without the cooperation of the physical body.

1915-06-15-GA159

Solovyov's quote of and the strength of the words of Saint-Paul is provided with commentary

If Christ had not risen the world would be senseless, therefore Christ has risen

Daskalos in MOS

SWCC, in the context of materialization

`When Jesus was resurrected, did He dematerialize Himself?'
...
After the Resurrection it was something quite different.
He dissolved every cell of his material body. He became spirit, absolute spirit, and could at any moment, as a complete self-conscious personality, reconstruct a body identical to the physical body he had before, even with the marks of the wounds from the Crucifixion.
This is different from OBE.

Descent into Hades

1915-04-03-GA161

For the descent into Hades (three days in the grave) and the battle with Lucifer and Ahriman and the link to the judgment day on Future Jupiter, see 1915-04-03-GA161 in the section on the full planetary chain, link: Christ Impulse at planetary chain level#1915-04-03-GA161

1909-04-19-GA264

notes from memory by Mathilde Scholl (in GA264)

At the moment when the blood flowed from the wounds, when Christ started his journey into the spiritual world, he appeared in the spirit world (devachan). That was the spiritual mirroring in the heavenly world of the physical events in the world below.

Discussion

Music

Gustav Mahler

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) wrote his second symphony, unofficially called 'Resurrection', in the period 1889-1895. The dynamic of destruction and redemption is developed from the first movement (with memories of life of the deceased), to the resolution of the finale. Halfway through the final movement, the choir comes in with the words: ‘Rise again! Yes, rise again will you, my dust, after a short rest!’ Mahler borrowed the first eight lines of Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock’s poem 'Die Aufersterhung' (The Resurrection) poem and wrote the rest of the text himself.

Related pages

References and further reading

Maximilian Rebholz: essays on resurrection and phantom body
Max Hoffmeister: The Resurrection Corporeality: A Contribution to Understanding Christ Jesus (unpublished translation by FMC project), original: Die Auferstehungsleiblichkeit Ein Beitrag zum Verständnis des Christus Jesus (1992)
Frank Linde: Auferstehung: Band 1 und 2: Die Auferstehung im Werk Rudolf Steiners (2015)