The Apocalypse of John is the most profound document of Christianity. It contains nothing less than a great part of the MYSTERIES of Christainity, that is the profoundest part of what may be described as esoteric Christianity. It is therefore not to be wondered that of all the Christian documents, this one has been most misunderstood. Almost from the begining of the spiritual movement of Christianity it has been misunderstood by all who were not really Christian initiates. And it has always been misunderstood at various times according to the prevailing thought and disposition of those times. It has been misunderstood by the times which, one might say, have thought in a spiritually materialistic way; by times that have forced great religious movements into one-sided fanatical party affairs; and it has been misunderstood in modern times by those who, in the grossest and most sense-bound materialism, believed themselves able to solve the riddle of the universe.
The high spiritual truths proclaimed at the starting point of Christianity, which those who were capable of understanding were brought to contemplate, are hinted at as far as possible in writing in the Apocalypse of John, the so-called canonical Apolalypse. But even in the early days of Christianity, which those in the more exoteric stream were little inclined to understand the deep spirituality of esoteric Christianity. Thus, in the very early days of Christianity the idea came into the exoteric stream that things which in the world's evolution first take place in the spiritual worlds, that such purely spiritual proceedings ought to take place externally in material life. And so it came about that while the writer of the Apocaplypse expressed in his work the results of his Christian initiation, others only saw, what the initiate knows can be seen spiritually taking place over thousands of years, must happen in the very near future in external life and be visable by the senses. They imagined that the writer was indicating something like a speedy return of Christ Jesus, a descent from the physical clouds. When this failed to occur, they simply extended the period and said: With the advent of Christ Jesus a new period has begun for the earth in contrast to the old religious teachings, but (this again was understood materialistically) after a thousand years the next events described in the Apocalypse will take place in the physical world. Thus it came about that when the year A.D. 1000 was dawning, many people actually expected the coming of some power hostile to Christianity; an Antichrist was to appear in the sense-world. As this again did not occur, the period was further extended, but the same time the whole prediction of the Apocalypse was elevated to a kind of symbolism- whereas the crass exoteric approach had represented the prophecy more literally. With the advent of a materialistic world-conception these things were enveloped in a certain symbolism; external events were invested with a symbolic significance.
Many people adopted this man's view that the Papal Church, this externalization of the spirituality of Christianity, was something hostile and anti-Christian. And this attitude was particularly fostered in the following centuries through the way certain Orders attached higher value to the spiritual aspect of Christianity, the element of spiritual fervour. Joachim of Flores found followers among the Franciscans, and these looked upon the Pope as the symbol of the Antichrist. Then in the age of Protestantism this conception passed over to those who looked upon the Roman Church as an apostate of Christianity and Protestantism as its salvation. More than ever they considered the Pope to be the symbol of the Antichrist, and the Pope retaliated by calling Luther the Antichrist.
Thus the Apocalypse was understood in such a way that each party drew it into the service of its own view, its own opinion. Each regarded the other as Antichrist and identified itself with true Christianity. This continued into modern times when materialism developed. For at that time spiritual faith and a certain spiritual comprehension still existed. People were unable to understand only because they had no initiates among them. A certain spiritual sense was there; for although it was crudely imagined that a Being would descend in a cloud, there still belonged to it a spiritual faith. A spiritual life such as this was no longer possible with the crass materialism of the 19th century. The thoughts of a genuine materialist of the 19th century regarding the Apocalypse may be described as follows: "No man can see into the future, for I myself cannot. No one can see anything more than I can see. To say that there are initiates is an old superstition. Such persons do not exist. What I know is the norm. I can scarely see what will happen in the ten years, therfore no one can say anything about what is to happen over a thousand years. Consequently, whoever wrote the Apocalypse, if he is to be taken as an honest man, must have been describing something which he had already seen- for I know what has already taken place and what I can discover from documents. Therefore the writer of the Aocalypse could see nothing more either. What, therefore, according to this, can he relate? Only what happened up to this time. Thus it is obvious that the events of the Apocalypse, the conflicts between the good, wise and beautiful world and the ugly, foolish and evil world, this dramatic contrast, is only intended to represent what the author had himself experienced, what had already taken place." The modern materialist speaks in this way; it is their opinion that the writer of the Apocaplyspe describes things as they do.
What, then, was the most dreadful thing to a Christian of the first century? It was the beast which rebelled against the spiriual power of Christianity, against the true Christianity. Unfortunately, the few people who perceived that there was something behind this did not know how to interpret it correctly.
The high spiritual truths proclaimed at the starting point of Christianity, which those who were capable of understanding were brought to contemplate, are hinted at as far as possible in writing in the Apocalypse of John, the so-called canonical Apolalypse. But even in the early days of Christianity, which those in the more exoteric stream were little inclined to understand the deep spirituality of esoteric Christianity. Thus, in the very early days of Christianity the idea came into the exoteric stream that things which in the world's evolution first take place in the spiritual worlds, that such purely spiritual proceedings ought to take place externally in material life. And so it came about that while the writer of the Apocaplypse expressed in his work the results of his Christian initiation, others only saw, what the initiate knows can be seen spiritually taking place over thousands of years, must happen in the very near future in external life and be visable by the senses. They imagined that the writer was indicating something like a speedy return of Christ Jesus, a descent from the physical clouds. When this failed to occur, they simply extended the period and said: With the advent of Christ Jesus a new period has begun for the earth in contrast to the old religious teachings, but (this again was understood materialistically) after a thousand years the next events described in the Apocalypse will take place in the physical world. Thus it came about that when the year A.D. 1000 was dawning, many people actually expected the coming of some power hostile to Christianity; an Antichrist was to appear in the sense-world. As this again did not occur, the period was further extended, but the same time the whole prediction of the Apocalypse was elevated to a kind of symbolism- whereas the crass exoteric approach had represented the prophecy more literally. With the advent of a materialistic world-conception these things were enveloped in a certain symbolism; external events were invested with a symbolic significance.
Many people adopted this man's view that the Papal Church, this externalization of the spirituality of Christianity, was something hostile and anti-Christian. And this attitude was particularly fostered in the following centuries through the way certain Orders attached higher value to the spiritual aspect of Christianity, the element of spiritual fervour. Joachim of Flores found followers among the Franciscans, and these looked upon the Pope as the symbol of the Antichrist. Then in the age of Protestantism this conception passed over to those who looked upon the Roman Church as an apostate of Christianity and Protestantism as its salvation. More than ever they considered the Pope to be the symbol of the Antichrist, and the Pope retaliated by calling Luther the Antichrist.
Thus the Apocalypse was understood in such a way that each party drew it into the service of its own view, its own opinion. Each regarded the other as Antichrist and identified itself with true Christianity. This continued into modern times when materialism developed. For at that time spiritual faith and a certain spiritual comprehension still existed. People were unable to understand only because they had no initiates among them. A certain spiritual sense was there; for although it was crudely imagined that a Being would descend in a cloud, there still belonged to it a spiritual faith. A spiritual life such as this was no longer possible with the crass materialism of the 19th century. The thoughts of a genuine materialist of the 19th century regarding the Apocalypse may be described as follows: "No man can see into the future, for I myself cannot. No one can see anything more than I can see. To say that there are initiates is an old superstition. Such persons do not exist. What I know is the norm. I can scarely see what will happen in the ten years, therfore no one can say anything about what is to happen over a thousand years. Consequently, whoever wrote the Apocalypse, if he is to be taken as an honest man, must have been describing something which he had already seen- for I know what has already taken place and what I can discover from documents. Therefore the writer of the Aocalypse could see nothing more either. What, therefore, according to this, can he relate? Only what happened up to this time. Thus it is obvious that the events of the Apocalypse, the conflicts between the good, wise and beautiful world and the ugly, foolish and evil world, this dramatic contrast, is only intended to represent what the author had himself experienced, what had already taken place." The modern materialist speaks in this way; it is their opinion that the writer of the Apocaplyspe describes things as they do.
What, then, was the most dreadful thing to a Christian of the first century? It was the beast which rebelled against the spiriual power of Christianity, against the true Christianity. Unfortunately, the few people who perceived that there was something behind this did not know how to interpret it correctly.
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