Spiritual Science in the Third Millennium

"When, in the case of a flower, the colored blossom appears, this does not come as a correction of a faulty green leaf. It is, on the contrary, a further metamorphosis of the plant, which--without the existence of the green leaf--would not have been able to arise. Rudolf Steiner was always comparing the arising of his spiritual science with the evolution of a living organism" (Pietro Archiati).

Can there be such a thing as spiritual science today? Should faith and spirit remain purely private concerns or--as some traditions would have it--solely a purview of the Church?

When Rudolf Steiner founded Anthroposophy in the early twentieth century, his intention was to create a fundamentally scientific approach to the spirit. His foundational, written works detail methods for developing spiritual consciousness, allowing the individual to replicate the results of his research. This key aspect distinguishes anthroposophy from the wealth of spiritual teachings, sects, cults and religions within the modern cultural milieu. But did Steiner fail in his endeavor to build a scientific path to spiritual knowledge? Is anthroposophy just another "theory" based on intellectual thought, to be analyzed and dismissed?

Until now, academia has largely ignored Rudolf Steiner's work. In 2013, however, the first volume of a new series (a critical edition of Steiner's writings, edited by a professor of the largest religious university in the U.S.) was published by a respected German academic press. Taking this concrete case as an illustration, Pietro Archiati argues that academia--with its built-in bias toward atheistic assumptions of materialistic science--will nearly always misrepresent Steiner's work. Anthroposophy is a "spiritual science," whose transforming nature requires penetration of its essence for a true understanding of its significance.

Pietro Archiati's exposition works not only as a critique of a specific new edition of Steiner's works, but also as an introduction to key tenets of anthroposophic methodology and thought.

C O N T E N T S

Preface

1. Is there Such a Thing as Spiritual Science?
Christian Clement's Introduction to His "Critical Edition" of Rudolf Steiner's Fundamental Texts

2. Are Faith and Spirit Merely a Private Concern?
An Attempt to Shelve Spiritual Science

3. Does Anthroposophy Have a Future?
Intellectuality and Human Beings in Search of Spirit

Postscript