The Whitsun Impulse and Christ's Activity in Social Life


Book Description

What is Whitsun, or Pentecost, and how can its impulse be furthered for the future of society? How can social life become the bearer of the Christ impulse, and how can Christ himself enter social life directly? In this small booklet, Sergei Prokofieff discusses the significance of spiritual work conducted in a social setting and its crucial role in preparing for the future epoch of the spirit-self. The spiritual and social tasks before us, he tells us, can be achieved only "through mutual efforts with one another." Moreover, for such social activity, the General Anthroposophical Society, "with all of its different groups and branches, which unite all anthroposophists in the world," plays a fundamental role. Thus, the spiritual tasks of the General Anthroposophical Society gradually unite with the tasks of all humankind. This booklet, consisting of the report of a lecture and supplemented with an essay, is an important companion to another publication by this author, The Esoteric Significance of Spiritual Work in Anthroposophical Groups.




Reverse Ritual


Book Description

Religious ritual is often seen as a way of bringing divine influences down into the material world. In this profound and stimulating work, Rudolf Steiner and Friedrich Benesch introduce the idea of "reverse ritual"--a way that each of us can raise our souls to the spiritual realm. In this process, the everyday world becomes a portal through which we can enter the dimension of the sacred. Here, each of us can be a "priest," and each of our actions can be a cosmic, ritual act. This stimulating collection of writings on spiritual communion of humanity includes two further lectures by Steiner that show how this process can engage our social lives. Also included are two additional essays as appendices: "Sacramental and Spiritual Communion" by Dietrich Asten and "Human Encounters and Karma" by Athys Floride. The introduction by Christopher Schaefer brings these ideas into focus for modern seekers. Contents: Part One: "The Spiritual Communion of Humanity" (5 lectures from GA 219) Part Two: "Preparing for the Sixth Epoch" Part Three: Commentaries by Friedrich Benesch Appendices: Selections from Dietrich Asten: "Spiritual and Sacramental Communion" & Athys Floride: "Human Encounters and Karma."




Technologies of the Self


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Minima Moralia


Book Description

Written between 1944 and 1947, Minima Moralia is a collection of rich, lucid aphorisms and essays about life in modern capitalist society. Adorno casts his penetrating eye across society in mid-century America and finds a life deformed by capitalism. This is Adorno's theoretical and literary masterpiece and a classic of twentieth-century thought.




The Living Church


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The Christ Impulse


Book Description

Rudolf Steiner's teachings of Christ are unique. Christ, he says, is an objective universal force, existing independently of Christian churches and confessions, and working for the whole of humanity. The impulse that Christ brought to earth acts for the advancement of all people, irrespective of religion, creed or race. Among the myriad other themes that emerge here are the introduction of the 'I' (or self) in human development and its connection to Christ and the meaning of the Ten.




Unorganized Religion: Pentecostalism and Secularization in Denmark, 1907-1924


Book Description

The Pentecostal movement has turned the world of religion upside down in the last century but had only sporadic impact on Europe, the traditional centre of Christendom. This book uses Denmark as its case study to work out why.




We Experienced Christ


Book Description

‘And at this moment a peculiar, inconceivable, but wonderful thing happened. Suddenly – I assure you, completely unexpected and unwished for – I felt precisely that Someone stood beside me, Someone who radiated comfort and strength. And I heard, but without sound... as clearly and distinctly as if someone had literally spoken to me: “Do not despair, you are not alone, I am alive.”’ Curious as to what they might discover, two theologians advertised in a national Swedish newspaper for people to write in with their personal experiences of meeting Christ spiritually. They received more than one hundred rich and varied responses, even from some people who described themselves as non-religious. The reports described extraordinary, surprising and usually unrequested experiences. Most of the correspondents had not previously spoken of what had happened to them, often out of fear for what others might think. These precious and valuable experiences are gathered together here and complemented with wise and insightful commentary by the authors, Professor Berndt Gustafsson and Dr Gunnar Hillerdal, both serious academics. The accounts they present form an extraordinary testimony, which will be of interest to any open-minded person seeking truth and meaning in life. ‘It is about a number of individuals, independent of each other and not influenced by anyone or anything, who have appeared as spontaneous witnesses. One cannot bypass such a thing, regardless of any explanations and intellectual judgements. It is simply about facts.’ – Professor Boris Tullander, Ph.D., from the Foreword







Handbook of Doctrine


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