For this new edition - freshly translated by Matthew Barton and introduced by Coralee Frederickson - the original shorthand transcripts have been compared exhaustively with typed records and the notes of course participants. These notes included numerous sketches, many of which have been reproduced here to complement the text.
Lectures and Courses on Christian-religious Work IV
Focused on the spiritual and practical aspects of Christian-religious work, this collection features four lectures delivered by Rudolf Steiner to priests in Stuttgart in 1923. It includes a variety of supplementary materials, such as original manuscripts, a speech from a notable cremation, and a special note from GA# 342. The work represents Part IV of Steiner's broader contributions and is presented in a translated and edited format by Hanna von Maltitz and James D. Stewart, offering insights into Steiner's teachings and their implications for religious practice.
With the unprecedented global conflict of the First World War as an overarching theme, Rudolf Steiner addresses timeless issues such as the search for harmony between peoples and nations, the development of the human capacity for love, the contemporary presence of Christ, and the questions of reincarnation and life after death.
In a broad-ranging series of lectures, Rudolf Steiner shines new light on the spiritual background to the outbreak of the Great War in Europe. Spiritual entities stand behind the various peoples of the world, he says. He describes how these beings - Folk Souls - relate to the cultural diversity of Europe, America and the East.
With rituals or cultic forms as his central motif, Steiner refers extensively to Indian, Persian and in particular Egyptian initiation rites, and how these enabled people of antiquity to connect with specific spiritual beings. He explains the practical purpose of mummification for the religious life of ancient Egypt.
Barely four months after the end of the First World War, with Europe in chaos and exhausted from years of conflict, Rudolf Steiner offered these lectures of hope and renewal. Despite continuing social troubles around the world, he knew that human beings had an opportunity to organize society in a new way.
Replete with fresh immediacy, rich spiritual content, innovation and occasional humour, these talks were given at a time when Rudolf Steiner was preparing for independence from the Theosophical Society. The lectures are complemented with an introduction by Margaret Jonas, detailed notes and an index.