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Author : Steiner Rudolf
Title : Christianity as Mystical Fact and the mysteries of antiquity
Year : 1914

Link download : Steiner_Rudolf_-_Christianity_as_Mystical_Fact.zip

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 tjiis intention was the thought that at the geneisis 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-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. ...