The New Spirituality

The constitution of the human soul has undergone a profound

transformation in recent centuries. With the rise of ‘I’-

consciousness, individuality and intellectual thought have moved

to the foreground, opening a path toward freedom and selfdetermination.

Yet this gain has come with a loss: the vivid,

instinctive spiritual perception of earlier epochs has faded. In this

unique series of lecture, Rudolf Steiner traces this decisive shift in

consciousness and situates it within a wide panorama of world

history.

Central to our time is the question of Christ’s continuing presence.

Steiner follows the changing perception of Christ, from early

Gnosis through the formation of Church doctrine to the modern

age, indicating a renewed mode of spiritual perception –

Imagination – through which Christ may again be experienced as a

living reality. This reappearance, not in physical form but within

the etheric realm, marks a decisive threshold for contemporary

humanity.

Through a ‘symptomatic’ reading of events, Steiner explores the

distinct spiritual missions of East, West and Central Europe,

illuminating their contrasting modes of thought, social life and

cultural inheritance. Platonism and Aristotelianism, economy and

jurisprudence, spirituality and civic life emerge as interwoven

streams shaping humanity’s present crisis and future task. With

reflections on Goethe, Schiller and the threefold social principle,

these lectures articulate a form of spirituality suited to modern

consciousness – one that honours human freedom while awakening

new faculties of perception.

This revised edition features an introduction by Richard

Ramsbotham.