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CHRISTIANITY AS
MYSTICAL FACT
AND
THE MYSTERIES OF ANTIQUITY


BY

DR. RUDOLF STEINER
AUTHOR OF "MYSTICS OF THE RENAISSANCE," "THE GATES
OF KNOWLEDGE," ETC.


_THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED_


EDITED BY H. COLLISON


THE AUTHORIZED ENGLISH TRANSLATION


G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
The Knickerbocker Press
1914




COPYRIGHT, 1914
BY
H. COLLISON


The copyrights, the publishing rights, and the editorial
responsibility for the translations of the works of Rudolf Steiner,
Ph.D., with the exception of those already published under the
editorial supervision of Mr. Max Gysi, are now vested in Mr. Harry
Collison, M.A., Oxon.

The Knickerbocker Press, New York




PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION


_Christianity as Mystical Fact_ was the title given by the author to
this work, when, eight years ago, he gathered into it the substance of
lectures delivered by him in 1902. The title indicated the special
character of the book. In it the attempt was made, not merely to
represent historically the mystical content of Christianity, but to
describe the origin of Christianity from the standpoint of mystical
contemplation. Underlying this intention was the thought that at the
genesis of Christianity mystical facts were at work which can only be
perceived by such contemplation.

It is only the book itself which can make clear that by "mystical" its
author does not imply a conception which relies more on vague feelings
than on "strictly scientific statements." It is true that "mysticism"
is at present widely understood in the former sense, and hence it is
declared by many to be a sphere of the human soul-life with which
"true science" can have nothing to do. In this book the word
"mysticism" is used in the sense of the representation of a spiritual
fact, which can only be recognised in its true nature when the
knowledge of it is derived from the sources of spiritual life itself.
If the kind of knowledge drawn from such sources is rejected, the
reader will not be in a position to judge of the contents of this
book. Only one who allows that the same clearness may exist in
mysticism as in a true representation of the facts of natural science,
will be ready to admit that the content of Christianity as mysticism
may also be mystically described. For it is not only a question of the
contents of the book, but first and foremost of the methods of
knowledge by means of which the statements in it are made.

Many there are in the present day who have a most violent dislike to
such methods, which are regarded as conflicting with the ways of true
science. And this is not only the case with those willing to admit
other interpretations of the world than their own, on the ground of
"genuine knowledge of natural science," but also with those who as
believers wish to study the nature of Christianity.

The author of this book stands on the ground of a conception which
sees that the achievements of natural science in our age must lead up
into true mysticism. In fact, any other attitude as regards knowledge
actually contradicts everything presented by the achievements of
natural science. The facts of natural science itself indeed cannot be
comprehended by means of those methods of knowledge which so many
people would like to employ to the exclusion of others, under the
illusion that they stand on the firm ground of natural science. It is
only when we are prepared to admit that a full appreciation of our
present admirable knowledge of nature is compatible with genuine
mysticism, that we can take the contents of this book into
consideration.

The author's intention is to show, by means of what is here called
"mystical knowledge," how the source of Christianity prepared its own
ground in the mysteries of pre-Christian times. In this pre-Christian
mysticism we find the soil in which Christianity throve, as a germ of
quite independent nature. This point of view makes it possible to
understand Christianity in its independent being, even though its
evolution is traced from pre-Christian mysticism. If this point of
view be overlooked, it is very possible to misunderstand that
independent character, and to think that Christianity was merely a
further development of what already existed in pre-Christian
mysticism. Many people of the present day have fallen into this error,
comparing the content of Christianity with pre-Christian conceptions,
and then thinking that Christian ideas were only a continuation of the
former. The following pages are intended to show that Christianity
presupposes the earlier mysticism just as a seed must have its soil.
It is intended to emphasise the peculiar character of the essence of
Christianity, through the knowledge of its evolution, but not to
extinguish it.

It is with deep satisfaction that the author is able to mention that
this account of the nature of Christianity has found acceptance with
a writer who has enriched the culture of our time in the highest sense
of the word, by his important works on the spiritual life of humanity.
Edouard Schure, author of _Les Grands Inities_,[1] is so far in accord
with the attitude of this book that he undertook to translate it into
French, under the title, _Le mystere chretien et les mysteres
antiques_. It may be mentioned by the way, and as a symptom of the
existence at the present time of a longing to understand the nature of
Christianity as presented in this work, that the first edition was
translated into other European languages besides French.

The author has not found occasion to alter anything essential in the
preparation of this second edition. On the other hand, what was
written eight years ago has been enlarged, and the endeavour has been
made to express many things more exactly and circumstantially than was
then possible. Unfortunately the author was obliged, through stress
of work, to let a long period elapse between the time when the first
edition was exhausted, and the appearance of the second.

                                        RUDOLF STEINER.

  May, 1910.


FOOTNOTES:

[1] This book is to be had in an English translation, by F. Rothwell,
under the title of _The Great Initiates_, A Sketch of the Secret
History of Religions, by Edouard Schure (Pub., Rider & Son, London).




CONTENTS


                                                             PAGE

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION                                 iii

CHAPTER

   I.--POINTS OF VIEW                                           1

  II.--THE MYSTERIES AND THEIR WISDOM