Christianity As Mystical Fact; and The Mysteries of Antiquity: (Aziloth Books)

I did not realize I was a Christian, until I read this book! It shows how esoteric Christianity is an extension of and transformation of the ancient the mystery wisdoms. Definitely not the old-time-religion of my parents' day!

This book covers in essay form a series of lectures Steiner gave in 1902. The material covered includes the nature of the near-eastern mysteries and their relationship to Christ's life and teachings. Steiner's highly original insights are only beginning to be appreciated.

Of particular interest for me when I read this was the juxtaposition of Jesus and St. Augustine. There are many paths for the mystic and truth lies deeply somewhere within all of them. Extremely informative!

I learned about this book while reading translator Andrew Welburn's excellent book The Beginnings of Christianity: Essene Mystery, Gnostic Revelation and the Christian Vision. These two books should be treated as a set. I was apprehensive about reading Steiner, not wanting anything to do with occult, psychic, or reincarnation ideas -- fortunately, none of these appear in this particular book. Highly recommended to anyone who is interested in the original, esoteric forms of Christianity as a Jewish-styled version of the Hellenistic mystery-religion, as described in the book The Jesus Mysteries, by Freke and Gandy.

In this book, Steiner describes how Christianity evolved from earlier esoteric traditions such as the mystery schools, Egyptian and Eastern wisdom, and Greek philosophy. Steiner interprets the life of Chrsit as a model for the path of an initiate. As examples, he offers elegant insights into parts of the gospels which have previously left me "in the dark." Some say that Steiner's approach to the Christianity has been continued by Joseph Campbell. If you like Campbell, you'll like this book. This book has reinvigorated Christianity for me-- by showing me how it can be interpreted like a myth. Now I can look at the gospels in a new manner, and gain new insights from them. I think that it helps to have a little background in Greek philosophy to read this book, but I don't think that its absolutely necessary.