Preface

i

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CHRISTIANITY AS
MYSTICAL FACT

AND

THE MYSTERIES OF ANTIQUITY

BY -^

DR. RUDOLF STEINER

AUTHOR OF "MYSTICS OF THF RENAISSANCE," "THE GATES
OF KNOWLEDGE," ETC.

THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED
EDITED BY H.' COELISpN ,

THE AUTHOR^I^;ED ^NCXlSrt TRANSLATION

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

NEW YORK AND LONDON

Zbc fcnfcfterbockec press

1914

THE MEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
:>

AS rOR, Lf noa and
TILD-N FOUNDAI IONS

R 1915 L

Copyright, 1914

BY

H. COLLISON

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

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PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

r^HRISTIANITY 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 histori-
cally the mystical content of Christianity,
but to describe the origin of Christianity
from the standpoint' of mystical^ contempla-
tion. Underlying tjiis intention was the
thought that at'the g^neisis of Christianity
mystical facts ^€v^ %t 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

iii

iv Preface to the Second Edition

sense, and hence it is declared by many to be
a sphere of the human soul-Hfe 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 ;Hs'Viy;3ticiSm itt^yjalso be mys-
tically described.: FQr;it'is:not only a ques-
tion of the conterlts df.the bbok, but first and
foremost of tiiei : metliix^s. • of knowledge by
means of wKicii'^the 'stut^ffients 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

Preface to the Second Edition v

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 actu-
ally 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 know-
ledge 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

vi Preface to the Second Edition

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 misunder-
stand 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, com-
paring 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 in-
tended to show that Christianity presup-
poses the earlier mysticism just as a seed
must have its soil. It is intended to empha-
sise 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

Preface to the Second Edition vii

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, ^ 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 my s teres 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 circumstan-
tially than was then possible. Unfortunately

^ This book is to be had in an English t^-anslation, by
F. Rothwell, under the title of The Great Initiates, A
Sketch of the Secret History of Religions, by Edouard
Schur6 (Pub., Rider & Son, London).

viii Preface to the Second Edition

the author was obUged, 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, 1 910.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Preface to the Second Edition iii

CHAPTER