Second Coming, Page 2

We need not here greatly belabor the almost universally accepted view that the early disciples expected “an imminent” return of Christ. That such did not happen is accepted. That there was an element of popular expectation at the time of Christ can hardly be denied, especially considering the eschatological and apocalyptic belief among certain segments of that society. But among the Apostolic Fathers themselves, only Judas Iscariot can be seen in the end to have gone off on this line of persuasion. During Christ’s ministry, there may have been an expectation of his return among his close group, as the inquiries leading to the “Little Apocalypses” would suggest. But that they were left with this understanding after the Resurrection is not necessarily indicated, and is contrary to what we may now come to understand. What we can now see is that with the darkening of knowledge and consciousness among those Church Fathers and the larger congregation following the passage of the true apostolic group, it was seemingly taken for granted that there had been a “delay” in what had been expected (see Christ and the Spiritual World/The Search for the Holy Grail [CSW], Lect. 2). And the existence of such a delay, or at least of an early belief in it, has come down to us as virtually accepted doctrine to this day. But it is not justified, or at least not required, by the Biblical testimony if that is understood in the light of anthroposophical knowledge. When the Apocalypse of John is properly understood, it will be seen not only to have no necessary connection with contemporary persecution but to be inconsistent with the expectation of an early return of Christ (e.g., Rev 1,1 and Rev 22,6- 7,10,12,20). So extensive was Paul’s esoteric training (Gal 1,14) and spiritual insight that we also misapprehend his words to take them as indicating the imminence of an early return. His recognition of being “untimely born” (1 Cor 15,8) and his understanding, as we shall see, of deep mysteries of the faith, demand a reevaluation of any interpretation of his sayings as betraying such an expectation on his part. His advice not to marry (1 Cor 7,9) because “the appointed time has grown very short” (1 Cor 7,29) and “the form of this world is passing away” (1 Cor 7,31) can be taken as an indication of the urgency of devoting all the time allotted to one’s life in service to the Lord (cf. Heb 9,27), not to mention his recognition that sexual division would cease before the end of time. Only because we have forgotten the reality of reincarnation dowe mistakenly assume that in 1 Th 4,15 (“we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep”) Paul refers to their present incarnation. In 2 Th 2,1-12, he outlines events of the type described by Christ in the “Little Apocalypse” (Mt 25, 31-46; Mk 13, 26-27; Lk 21,36). When Paul speaks of “the last trumpet” (1 Cor 15,52; 1 Th 5,16) he demonstrates his deep esoteric knowledge of the long evolution of human consciousness. The emphasis by all the Evangelists and Paul upon the seminal pronouncement in Is 6,9-13 suggests their understanding of what can now be seen as true prophecy. It behooves me here to say only that this whole issue is quite peripheral and essentially irrelevant because the Second Coming clearly had not occurred before our time.

We will look first at what anthroposophy says about the Second Coming of Christ, and then examine how it illuminates the relevant scriptural passages. The Second Coming cannot, however, be adequately understood save in relation to other related terms herein including “Lord of Karma,” “Karma and Reincarnation,” “Forgiven Sins,” “I AM,” “Bush” and “Akashic.”

Two young anthroposophic writers, Sergei O. Prokofieff and Robert Powell (in the Cognate Writings section, Vol. 3, Companions Along The Way), from quite different perspectives, have given us an immensely helpful exposition on the Second Coming. Both necessarily presume their readers have extensive anthroposophical background. While their contributions are of immense worth for Christian posterity, and are here highly recommended for further study, my immediate mission is to dismantle that wall heretofore separating anthroposophists and more traditional Christians. To this end, we need to look at what they say about the Second Coming.

In The Cycle of the Year as a Path of Initiation (CYPI), Sec. 12 (“The Modern Mysteries of the Etheric Christ”) and particularly Subsec. 2 (“The New Appearance of Christ in the Etheric Realm”), Prokofieff explores Steiner’s teachings. In Subsec. 2 we read:

The new appearance of Christ in the etheric realm is to be seen as the most significant event taking place in the supersensible world nearest to the Earth in the twentieth century. According to indications given by Rudolf Steiner, this event began in the year 1909 [citing Cosmic and Human Metamorphoses (CHM), Lect. 1], the year at the end of which the mysteries of the Fifth Gospel and—in the cycle on the Gospel of St. Luke—the mystery of the two Jesus children, were revealed for the first time.¹

In Hermetic Astrology, Vol. 1 (HA1), App. 2 and Chap. 3 (at pp. 76- 79), as well as in HA2, Chap. 9, Powell gives extensive provocative consideration to the Second Coming as reflected in “hermetic astrology,” a spiritual science for which Steiner gave the impetus so that humanity could again come to know its vital formative relationship with the “stars.” In HA1 Powell writes: “Unlike the first coming of Christ, which was a physical event, i.e. incarnation by way of the baptism in the Jordan into the physical vessel provided by Jesus, the second coming is a spiritual event: the birth of Christ in the hearts and minds of human beings” (p. 76). “Jesus Christ in his second coming is now manifesting himself in the Earth’s etheric aura . . . in a radiant light-filled etheric form” (p. 324). But human beings must prepare themselves before they will be able to behold the Second Coming: “In order for Christ to appear in the earthly realm—the sphere of man—human beings have first to recognize on the level of knowledge that the second coming is under way. Then, after it has become a fact of knowledge, it is a matter of inner transformation in order to be able to meet with Christ. This inner transformation entails a moral-spiritual development” (p. 326). Unlike Prokofieff, Powell places the onset of the Second Coming in 1933, based both on astronomical events and on its connection with an incarnation in this century of the future Maitreya Buddha, the current Bodhisattva of humanity (successor of the Bodhisattva who became Gautama Buddha), whose mission is to mediate the Christ Impulse issuing from the Second Coming (p. 76); see also “Robert Powell” in the Cognate Writings section, Vol. 3.