Rudolf Steiner's Fifth Gospel

About the Book

Between 1908 and 1913 Rudolf Steiner, the Austrian scientist and clairvoyant, delivered public lectures to share his personal investigations into the Akashic Records about the life of Jesus the Christ.  Steiner was not raised Christian.  He was raised a "free thinker," independent of all established traditional churches.  But he was curious about Christianity.  According to him, once inside the Akasha, he "read" it by uniting himself with the point of view of the persons around Jesus.  In his lectures Steiner put into words what they saw, their reactions, and how they felt about what they experienced.  

Steiner wanted to share his findings because thinking people of his time were rejecting Sunday school images of the Christ, asking for more than the picture truths of the Gospels.  They were hungry for the "full story."  Dr. Steiner saw modern-day mankind throwing the baby out with the bathwater in rejecting Christ because of Sunday school imagery and authoritarian explanations.  Steiner made himself available to correct this and create a modern place to stand to view the Christ impulse.  

From the seven never-edited, never-revised lecture transcripts, the present work extracts and distills the narrative portions of what he called the Fifth Gospel.  It leaves aside the vast terrain of his commentaries on Christ, commentaries on Christianity, commentary on the Gospels, commentaries on angels, and so on.  This is a good story put into story form.  For the first time, Steiner's narrative is in chronological, readable order.  This manuscript does not interpret Steiner; we only polish the gem.  

The source material delivered in different cities to different audiences repeats itself.  Many sentences are composites of up to four sources to collect all discrete facts and nuances.  We stay as close to his exact words as possible.  

Content Highlights--

Dr. Steiner validates and builds on the Renaissance tradition of the two Jesus Children, one described in the Mark gospel, the other in the Luke gospel.  Steiner found confirmation of these legends in the Akashic record.  He explains why and how two children resolves the blatant time discrepancies in the Mark and Luke Gospels.  

The personal growth in the interior life of Jesus of Nazareth comes to the foreground.  Steiner's findings on the process of personal and spiritual growth Jesus went through on the way to Christ Jesus imparts much psychological reality to the Christ as no other book has done.  

The contribution of the former Buddha to the Christ mission is given.

The prior embodiments of Jesus as both the original Adam and Zarathrustra are made psychologically convincing.

The origin of the Lord's Prayer is given, a reversal of a pre-Christian pagan prayer.  The transformation of the old into the new is won through Jesus's life experiences.

How Christ escaped His enemies in crowds by shining and speaking first through one then another of His disciples.  

The life of Appolonius of Tyana is compared to the life of Christ raising into sharp relief the divine ordinariness of the Christ.  The source of The Aquarian Gospel is called into question.  An alternate origin in polite fiction is suggested.  

A most cogent description of the purpose and essence of the Essene community is found in this material, unique in our experience.  

Steiner attempts to bring to rest much inter-faith rivalry over the true meaning of Christ.  

Rudolf Steiner's Fifth Gospel in Story Form, based on Rudolf SteinerÆs exact words

About the Author

Bruce is a Waldorf teacher and storyteller in California. He is grateful for the practice in getting out of the way so this material could speak with a clearer voice. He learned a lot and hopes to learn more.